A Comparison Of Five Overlapping Occult Books

What follows is a comparison of five different occult works from two overlapping traditions; the Oraculum and the Fortune Telling hand guide. What might have otherwise been two disparate traditions overlaps so significantly that each time I encountered one of the texts I was surprised to a fairly large degree.

What culminates is a fusion and evolution of two literary traditions; the late 1700s fortune teller and the early 1800s oracle book. I intend to release an edition of Mrs. Bridget's Fortune Teller, although I am hesitant to bother releasing the second version of the Oraculum when Tousey's version is so much more interesting; the former version, from the early 1900s, is heavily stripped down.

It is worth noting a second layer of interesting comparison: Fortey released a work in 1860 alongside his version of the Universal Fortune Teller on dream interpretation containing a similar catalog of interpretations to the 1790 work of Mrs. Bridget, while there is also a work from 1823 which stylistically is almost identical to the Philosophical Merlin and also contains an expose on the meaning of moles on the body.

Here, thus, are the comparisons based upon content:

Napoleon's Oraculum Version 2: Fisher and Brothers (1908?) NOFB

Napoleon's Oraculum: Tousey (1884) NOF

Universal Fortune Teller: Fortey (1860) UFTT

Universal Fortune Teller: Mrs. Bridget (1790) UFTB

Philosophical Merlin: (1822) PM

----

An Oraculum

NOFB: Yes, expansive question oracle
NOF:  Yes, shortened question oracle
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   Yes, a nativity casting oracle

Prognostication for Children

NOFB: Yes, simple
NOF:  Yes, simple
UFTT: Yes, simple
UFTB: Yes, expansive
PM:   No

Charms And Rites Section

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PPM:  No

Dream Interpretation

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, very expansive
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moderately expansive
PM:   No

Tricks with cards

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, several tricks
UFTT: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
UFTB: Yes, one fortune-telling trick
PM:   No

Tricks with Dominoes

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Tricks with Dice

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes
UFTT: No
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Choosing a Husband by the Hair

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM:   No

Astrology

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTT: Yes, simple horoscopes
UFTB: Yes, complex horoscopes and astronomy
PM:   Technically yes

Palmistry

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes, complex
UFTB: Yes, simple with illustration
PM:   No

Tea Leaf Reading

NOFB: No
NOF:  No
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: No
PM:   No

Moles and their Importance

NOFB: No
NOF:  Yes, moles and their meanings
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, moles and their meanings
PM:   Yes, their likely presence as determined via Oraculum

Largely Fictional Backstory Regarding Origin

NOFB: Yes, of Napoleon
NOF:  No
UFTT: No
UFTB: Yes, of the Norwood Gypsy
PM:   Yes, of Napoleon

Unlucky Days List

NOFB: No
NOF:  No, but contains a list of days not to cast the oracle
UFTT: Yes
UFTB: Yes
PM:   No

Origin

NOFB: United States
NOF:  United States
UFTT: England
UFTB: England
PM:   England

The Philosophical Merlin: Available Now on Amazon

BUY IT HERE

The second of the second slew of grimoire editions is finally here; the Philosophical Merlin, produced originally in 1822 in what was then the rising British Empire.

The book(let) itself was mostly overlooked in its time period, overshadowed by numerous French cycle grimoires (The Black Pullet comes from the same time period) and thus attempted to market itself by claiming Napoleonic lineage. While this is likely untrue, and it was of primordial British manufacture, I did note its similarity to the I-Ching and other systems from the East (which were being contacted by the British at the time) and in this manner it is hardly much different from the Turkish and Arabic systems encountered by the expanding French empire around the same time.

Its content is not so much that of a standard western folk magick grimoire, nor an abrahamized treatise of kaballah or similar systems derived thereof, so much as a divinatory manuscript with references to the celestial and to standard horoscopes and astrology. Through the use of this system, the reader is able to denote their general nativity under this selfsame system and proceed with divining their possible future insofar as marital bliss, power, wealth, and possible dangers to their health are concerned.

It should be duly noted that at the time of manufacture, the average literate Englishman was of at least middle class stock, with most of the lower class being functionally illiterate to a great degree; the fixation on wealth, travel, and so forth, present in this work, is a sign of the time and place in which it was made. It also fixates upon the concept of the rites of Venus, Venus here representing sexuality and lust, and makes numerous cryptic references to the acts of Venus here, which is merely the polite, upper class British manner of saying "sexual intercourse" in the early 19th century.

The only other edition present anywhere on the web is a poorly made scan of the original 1822 edition with no additional notes or introduction to explain the text and its context in history, and which has retained all errors in the original material; my own edition is also half the price of this other cheaply produced crap.