Andalusian Magi

This article details some ideas and options for non-Roman magi hailing from the lands of the former Caliphate of Cordoba. To date, descriptions of the Hermetic culture of Iberia in previous editions of Ars Magica have focussed mainly on magi and covenants from the Christian Reconquista kingdoms of the northern peninsular: Aragon, Catalonia, Leon-Castile and Portugal and have touched only briefly on the potential of Basque, Sephardic, mozarab (Arabized Christians) or the Islamic Arabic, Berber or muwalladin (descendants of Christian convert) magi born in Andalusia and across the straits in the Maghreb. 

The first official Iberian material for ArM5 has been the introduction of the non-Hermetic sahir of House Ex-Miscellanea detailed in Houses of Hermes: Societates, but these magi represent only one facet of a potentially rich source of ideas for exotic Hermetic magi. If using Hermetic sahir as a basis for an Andalusian magus this particular supplement is highly recommended to gain the most use out of this article, but Troupes interested in using this article to play Islamic magi that are not Hermetic Sahir may well find Art & Academe, Hedge Magic: Revised Edition, Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, The Cradle and the Crescent and The Mysteries: Revised Edition helpful to consult.

Playing Andalusian Magi

• Design Notes for Non-Christian Magi
  • Islamic Magic and 5th Edition (by Niall Christie)
  • Ringing the Changes: Magi Ex Miscellanea al-Andalusi
  • A Flambeau Sahir? Never!
  • Lost Mysteries of the Hermetic Sahir
  • The Banu’l-Mash’al, Islamic heirs of Flambeau
  • Andalusian Merinitia and the Faerie Problem
• Languages of Iberia
  • Arabic as a Hermetic Magical Language
• Astrology and Geomancy
• Mechanics
  • Abbas ibn Firnas, the Last Mechanician?
• Notable Andalusian Books
  • The Picatrix

Further Resources

In addition to the material above, the older articles originally published in former issues of Sub Rosa, “Jinn as Characters” (Issue #3) and “Dar al-Nujum Covenant” (Issue #5) provide further concepts and ideas that may help running stories set in Andalusia. Both articles have now been reposted on this site for easy reference.