AMBIX,Vol.

40, Part 3, November 1993

BETWEEN MAGIC AND SCIENCE: NUMERICAL MAGIC SQUARES

By VLADIMIR KARPENKO*

THE peculiar properties of numerical magic squares became involved from quite early times
in philosophical speculations and in practical activities. 1 To philosophers, the squares
seemed to promise the discovery (after appropriate analysis) of new relations between things
and their properties. However, this application of the squares was relatively limited when
compared with their use in magic. Here they were particularly important because the occult
properties attributed to numbers-or to any other symbols derived from them -seemed to
be enhanced in squares. In magical practices, a certain property might be ascribed to the
square as such-for example the third-order square might be used as a talismanic symbol to
promote easier delivery in childbirth. For this purpose, it was important that the property
could be formulated generally-it did not have to relate to the numbers of any particular
square. In philosophical speculations, the situation was different. In this case certain
relations between specific numbers and particular kinds of matter (or their properties) were
sought·
In this way, numerical magic squares survived for centuries somewhere between magic,
philosophy and 'proto-science,' particularly alchemy. They were never particularly
prominent, remaining rather shadowy entities surrounded by superstition. It is not easy to
trace them through the history of the sciences-particularly of alchemy, which itself was
anything but an accessible body of knowledge. Nevertheless, we can discover some cases
where magic squares affected the alchemical speculations and experiments of adepts in the
remote past. With some simplification, this process can be described in two steps. In the
first, significant links between the squares and philosophical principles were sought. Then
the resulting hypothesis was applied to actual, or imaginary, experiments.

MAGIC SQUARES, PLANETS AND METALS

An important aspect of magic squares was their relationship with astrological and
alchemical speculations. Squares were linked with planets via the metals, a practice which
indicates the ancient origins of the squares themselves. By the seventh century A.D., the
pairing of planets with metals was firmly established,2 though the roots of this beliefmust be
sought in ancient Mesopotamian astrology. An interesting relationship between planetary
gods and numbers was noted by Stapleton.3 In the Harranian culture, the planet-metal
pairing was institutionalized in temple worship, where idols of the gods were made of the
corresponding metal (with the exception of mercury; here the metal was inside the statue in a
small vessel). In Europe, a relationship between numbers (the order of the square), planets
and metals was recognized somewhat later, in a magical context. Significantly, Saturn (lead)
always appeared on one of the ends of the series. This obviously relates to the ancient belief
that lead was the 'father of metals,' which can be traced to writings by Greek authors as early
as the first century A.D.4 Two centuries later, Zosimos maintained that' ... it is from lead
that the other bodies are derived.'s

* Department of Physical and l\!facromolecular Chemistry, Charles University, Albertov 2030, 128 40 Prague 2,
Czech Republic.
122 VLADIMIR KARPENKO

Zosimos, however, left open the question of whether some, at least, of the numbers which
appeared in his writings might be con~ected with the simplest magic square. In his Visions,6
the seven steps mentioned in the first sentence of Lesson Two undoubtedly symbolize the
seven metals. The fifteen steps leading to the altar described in Lesson One are more difficult
to explain. The number of steps might reflect the constant of the simplest magic square; but
in this case, it seems that Zosimos adopted different relations between the squares and
metals than are common in Harran (see Table I). Zosimos stated that lead is the father of
metals, but in the Harranian system, Saturn was associated with the number nine.7

Table I. The link between numbers and planets

The nurnber of steps to the

throne/ the order of the Harran Agrippa
square Cardanus Esch mezareph

3 Moon Saturn
4 Mercury jupiter
5 Venus Mars
6 Sun Sun
7 Mars Venus
8 jupiter Mercury
9 Saturn Moon

As mentioned above, the third-order magic square was generally used in all cultures as a
talisman for easier delivery, making its identification with lead as the father of metals look
more plausible. At the same time, it suggests that the system of numbers/squares and metals
adopted in Harran remained rather limited in use and did not spread significantly in the
ancient world.

ARABIC ALCHEMY

Arabic alchemy yields a rather different picture. This art, nourished by older cultural and
philosophical traditions-such as astrology and the esoteric ideas of the neo-Pythagor-
eans-reached its peak in the works attributed tojabir Ibn Hayyan. He was able to draw on
work by earlier Arabic scholars on magic squares, a treatise on the topic having already been
written by Tabit Ibn Qurra (836-901 A.D.).8 The role of the third-order square can serve as
an illustration of jabirian numerology9 and its attemp.ted application to laboratory
operations. jabir's approach was developed in Kutub al-Mawiizzn, a collection of treatises on
his theory of balances.lO Significantly, the numerical values of the basic Aristotelian
qualities (coldness, humidity, etc.) were ascribed to each letter of the Arabic alphabet. In
this way, the numerical value of the names of substances could be examined. Silver (fidda),
for example, should have contained the following proportions of properties. I I
 BETWEEN MAGIC AND SCIENCE: NUMERICAL MAGIC SQUARES 123

Result of Analysis of
Letters Complement Total

Heat I~ danaq 5~ danaq 1-5dirham

Coldness I~ danaq 3i dirham 3~ dirham
(=3xI~)
Humidity 5~ dirham 5~ dirham
(=5xI~)
Dryness 9~ dirham 9~ dirham
(=8XI~)
Sum I9~ dirham
(=I7xI~)

This analysis suggests that, in this case, the wish was father to the thought.
Complements were chosen intentionally so that I~ dirham was obtained as the basic unit.
Then for all four named properties the resulting quantities stood in the proportion 1:3:5:8.
The choice of these numbers was not accidental, as can be seen from the results of similar
analyses made with lead and gold.12 The Kutub al-Mawiizin reveals the following
interrelations between the properties of lead and gold:

Lead: outer qualities 3 parts of coldness

8 parts of dryness
Lead: inner qualities I part of heat
5 parts of humidity
together 17 parts
Gold: outer qualities 3 parts of heat
8 parts of humidity
Gold: inner qualities I part of coldness
5 parts of dryness
together 17 parts

Summing up the qualities in this way, Jabir could not detect any significant differences
between the two metals. According to his analysis, they each should have contained
seventeen pairs of certain qualities, the relative proportions of which decided the nature of
the given metal. With proper treatment, the proportions of the qualities could be changed,
resulting in the transmutation of lead into gold. Jabir's approach was straightforward: the
relation between the above numbers and the third-order square is quite obvious. As
Stapleton pointed out, the numbers I, 3, 5, and 8 can be obtained by the gnomonical analysis
of this square.13 InJabir's theory, these numbers were linked to the Aristotelian elements: 1-
fire, 3-earth, 5-water, 8-air. The third-century-A.D. Neoplatonist, Theodorus of Asine, 14 is
said to have arrived at his numbers for the four elements (water 9, earth 7, fire I I and air 13)
by a somewhat similar procedure: I + 8 = 9, 3 + 4 = 7, 9 + 2 = I I and 7 + 6 = 13.

EUROPEAN ALCHEMY

The use of numerology in Arabic alchemy represented the highest flourish of magic squares
in their role as guides to the miraculous transmutation for which the alchemists hoped.
124 VLADIMiR KARPENKO

However, although European alchemy developed from translations of Arabic sources, magic
squares did not become part of its equipment. This is perhaps surprising; alchemy was
always accompanied by esoteric beliefs, yet European alchemists seemed unaware of this
suggestive aspect. The first European tract to deal with magic squares and some details of
their construction was a purely mathematical one, written by the Byzantine mathematician
Manuel Moschopoulos who was active around 1300. His principles for the construction of
the odd-order squares were adopted by later authors. 15
However, according to Ahrens,16 it was a work by al-Buni (d. 1225) which may have
been of significant influence on later European authors. AI-Buni's book displayed numerous
magic squares, many of them of the third and fourth order, derived from the basic form
where only the numbers I through n2 are used. In his approach, however, the multiples of
these basic sets were used, or even systems of quadruplets. 17The intention was to arrive at
certain values of the magic constant of the square, corresponding to the numerical value of a
particular word, typically one of the names of God.
AI-Buni used combinations of magic squares and planets and, in his work, all squares
were of the seventh order, differing only in their construction. This is further proof that
systems relating squares to planets existed before their first known use by Europeans. (The
influence of still older cultures, like Harran, was apparently not of great importance.) It was
significant for later developments in Renaissance Europe that, by the mid-fifteenth century,
two systems existed in the Arabic world -one with Saturn, and the other with the Moon as
the first planet and smallest square.
The next appearances of magic squares after the work of Moschopoulos occurred almost
simultaneously in the magic treatise of 153 I, Occulta ph ilosophia, by Agrippa von
Nettesheim18 and in the mathematical treatise of 1539, Practica arithmetice et Mensurandi
singularis, by Girolamo Cardano (see Figure I). In both books there are identical magic
squares of the orders from three to nine, attributed to eighteen planets but arranged in an
opposite sequence (see Table I above). Numerical magic squares had become the exclusive
property of the manipulators of magic forces. Three decades later in 1567, a similar book
appeared, Archidoxa Magica, which is attributed to Paracelsus. In the Seventeenth book of
this work, the seals of the planets are always associated with their corresponding magic
squares.19 The correlation of squares with planets and metals is the same as in Aprippa's
treatise and, with one exception,20 the squares are identical in both works.
Both Agrippa's and Paracelsus' works influenced European mysticism deeply. Material
proof of this is provided by surviving talismanic medals, bearing numerical magic squares as
their symbols. Sometimes these medals were wrongly attributed to the activity of alchemists.
Even a brief examination of such medals permits certain general conclusions.21 The medals
can be divided into two groups. The first used Arabic numerals; the second used Hebrew
letters instead of numbers (although, as Ahrens points out, these medals were not ofjewish
origin).22 In all the cases examined by the present author, the order of squares on the medals
corresponds with the planets according to Agrippa's system. The planets are represented
symbolically (figurative motives often appear-like Saturn with his scythe, the Sun as a lion,
etc.), and the names attributed by Agrippa to the inteligentia of planets are frequently added.
Unfortunately information about the metal of the medals is rather scarce, so no general
conclusions can be drawn. It seems that approximately equal attention was paid to the
advice of Agrippa and to that of Para eelsus, except that in the case of medals with the sixth
order squares, gold seems to prevail.
 BETWEEN MAGIC AND SCIENCE: NUMERICAL MAGIC SQUARES 125

tam •• Mcrcmiu.~ Jupitft~

~191~1 J +1~41~~ I else Ij91 ~I 4;61..i6; I 1-'

~ISl7' '91 71 CSII~f 14911 j 1141~ l'~J '1 111 01~6,
1611) 61 , ~IIIIIO, 81 1411Z,JIl.l.lf+14;ll ,'1814&1
'161 11 " 1)1 I J1,lj+l,j'~~I18 I fSf; ~t1j I
140I~CSI11' ;71; d I ;OfJI "11
11-"41'¥110 12.114;1.11241
I 91 ~~lj411111 1)1 1:>~j161
14 11 61 60 71~'

Vel' us. M~rj.

111 I~I 7~' ~I 1111471131411101,51 4J
f 411 ~iiSr8;I~f I ,,~ , ,481111+11111.19'
'171 ~Il ;'1.1' 91 1;<'1 611af.1491 lSI ~6111j
I10t Itl, 111411%1 II!I 'II 711~14JlliljJ'
L% t' 61191 ~II jl , J.!I.~~:.I;1.' 111'1 ff IUJI
1111;'1 8 I J JI 1'1714~
1~'1"40' 91 ff' ,,~,
Fig. I. Magic squares for the heavenly bodies, Girolamo Cardano, Practica aritmetice et mensurandi singlllaris, 1539.

Of particular interest is the fourth-order magic square depicted in Durer's Melencolia I.

(see Figure 2). Two central numbers in the lowest row of this square, 15 and 14, form the
date of origin of this engraving. The artist's intention has always been a matter of
speculation.23 Most explanations interpret the fourth order square as a Jupiter amulet,
which corresponds with Agrippa's system (see Table I above). In Fischer's view, however,
the square in Melencolia I must have been derived from Arabic numerical mysticism, where
the number 34, the constant of this square, coincides with the numerical value of one of
Allah's names. Fischer supposed that agal (meaning 'time-limit' in the Qunln) should be
read as symbolizing the transient nature of human life. This would also explain other
symbols in this engraving, such as the hour-glass and the balance.
Although this explanation is strikingly original, we should also note that the constuction
of this square is exeedingly simple, and leads to a symmetrical magic square.24 In this type of
square, any two rows or columns can be interchanged without destroying its magical
126 VLADIMIR KARPENKO

Fig. 2. Detail from Albrect Durer's engraving Melencolia I (1514). [Mansell collection]

properties. In the first step of construction, the numbers in the lower row are in the sequence
14,15. Following the transposition of columns, this becomes 15,14. Because of this simple
coincidence, an explanation based on the date of the engraving also seems quite reasonable.
One further European source should be mentioned separately here-aJewish work Esch
mezareph)25 (""S7~ tfN), written not later than the sixteenth century.26 It is, at least in some
parts, an alchemical treatise. In it, magic squares are connected explicitly not only with ·the
planets, but with the metals as well. Significantly influenced by the Jewish Cabala, this book
rela tes the Sephiroth (spheres of ligh t representing the ten basic forces of the cosmos) with
planets and metals. The numbers of individual Sephiroth are in the same sequence as the
order of squares of the corresponding metal as given by Agrippa.27
Numerical magic squares represent an interesting episode in the evolution of the science
of matter in general, and of alchemy in particular. Since Hellenistic, Arabic and European
alchemy followed a more or less continuous line of development, the question remains: why
did the triad planet-metal-square, having developed during the earlier two periods, lose its
mathematical part-the magic square-in the final European stage?

NOTES AND REFERENCES

I. A numerical magic square consists ofa set of numbers arranged in a square, such that the sums of the numbers
along each horizontal row, each vertical column and each long diagonal yields the same result. In a more
general discussion nothing else need be specified about the numbers in a square. In the present paper, unless
otherwise stated, only "normal squares" will be considered. These consist of the integers from 1 to n2-where n
denotes the order of the square. (Other sets of numbers which produce similar results when arranged in a
different geometrical shape, e.g. a cross, may also be discussed under this heading.)
It is obvious that the simplest instance is the third order square. (It appears to be the oldest one known,
several ancient civilizations having discovered it independently.) It might seem that eight different squares of
this order could be constructed, but in fact they are all products of rotations and reflections of a single version.
With higher orders, the picture changes dramatically-there are 880 different fourth-order squares and
275,305,224 squares of the fifth order. See, W. H. Benson and O.Jacoby, New Recreation with Magic Squares (New
York: Dover, 1976). The smallest squares can be constructed by trial and error, but this approach becomes very
difficult as the order of the square increases. From the first appearance of such squares techniques were sought
which would permit the construction of any square using certain simple rules. Such rules were soon found for all
odd-order squares and for even-order squares where n is a multiple of four. Construction of other even-order
squares is not as easy. For the history of magic squares see S. Gunther, Vermischte Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der
 BETWEEN MAGIC AND SCIENCE: NUMERICAL MAGIC SQUARES 127

mathematischen Wissenschaften (Leipzig, 1876), ch. 4; M. Cantor, Geschichte der Mathematik (Berlin, 1907), vol. I,
pp. 438, 516; W. Ahrens, Mathematische Unterhaltungen und Spiele (Leipzig: G. Teubner, 1918), vol. 2.
2. Iv!. P. Crosland, Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry (London: Heinemann, 1962), pp. 79-81.
3. H. E. Stapleton, "The Antiquity of Alchemy," Ambix, 5 (1953), 1-43·
4. E. O. von Lippmann, Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie (Hildesheim: G. alms, 1978), p. 59.
5. J. M. Stillman, The Story of Alchemy and Early Chemistry (New York: Dover, 1960), p. 166.
6. F. Sherwood Taylor, The Alchemists (St. Alban's: Paladin, 1976), p. 57fT.
7. It is not quite clear to what extent the Hellenistic world was familiar with magic squares. Although it seems
improbable that the simplest third-order square was unknown, the square by Theon of Smyrna (2nd century
A.D.) is not magic [Cantor, op. cit. (I )]; the numbers were written here from the top downward and from the left
to the right.
1 4 7
2 5 8
3 6 9
On the other hand al-Quazwini wrote that Archimedes worked out the science of magic squares. See E.
Wiedemann, "Zu den Ivlagischen Quadraten," Der Islam, 8 (1918), p. 94. The Greek scientist was also said to
have recommended the third-order square as a talisman for easier delivery in childbirth, and that a square of
1000 X 1000, put on flags of an army, world bring victory. The second statement is typical of the legends that
have been fabricated in the history of science; nevertheless, it suggests that knowledge of magic squares may
have been considerable in the Hellenistic world.
8. Ibid.
9. Stapleton, op. cit. (3).
10. P. Kraus,}iibir Ibn Hayyiin (Cairo, 1942), vol. 2, pp. 223-36.
I I. Ibid., p. 229. See also, K. Garbers andJ. Weyer, Quellengeschichtliches Lesebuch zur Chemie und A lchemie der Araber im
j\;fittelalter (Hamburg: H. Buske, 1980), pp. 30, 86.
12. Kraus, op. cit., (10), p. 229. It should be noted here that when he was describing metals as such, Jabir always
attributed two 'inner' and two 'outer' qualities to each of them; E. J. Holmyard, Alchemy (Harmondsworth:
Penguin Books, 1957), pp. 74fT.
13. H. E. Stapleton, "The Gnomon," Ambix, 6 (1957), 1-9. The gnomon consists ofa stick and its shadow which
together form an L shape like a carpenter's rule. When an L-shaped combination of cells is removed from any
magic square, it is converted into the next lower one. For instance, iffrom a square with 16 cells the utmost right
column of cells and the bottom cells which together form an L shape or gnomon shape are removed, the result is
a square with 9 cells.
14. Stapleton, op. cit. (3).
15. Cantor, op. cit. (I). This procedure, called the first method of Moschopoulos, is closely related to the Indian
method. In both, the numbers are written diagonally, in the first case starting from the cell situated
immediately under the central field of the square, in the second case starting from the central cell in the first-
row. The method of Moschopoulos was used by both Agrippa and Cardanus. Benson and Jacoby, op. cit. (I)
introduce the method of Moschopoulos as the Method of Bachet de Meziriac; and indeed, it appears again in
Bachet de Meziriac, Problemes plaisants et delectables (Paris, 1624), problem XXI, p. 161. The Indian method is
also referred to as Laloubere's and described in S. de Laloubere, Du royaume de Siam (Amsterdam: Henry & la
Veuve de Theodore Boom, 1700), t. 2, pp. 235-88.
16. W. Ahrens, "Die 'magischen Quadrate' al-Buni's," Der Islam, 12 (1922), pp. 235-88.
17· Ibid., p. 167. Quadruplets [5,6,7,8; 9,10, I 1,12; 78, 79,80,81; and 900,901,902,903] appear in the following
example:
900 10 80 8
7 81 9 901
12 902 6 78
79 5 903 11
18. According to K. A. Nowotny, the editor of the facsimile edition of the 1533 edition of De occulta philosophia, the
text to which Agrippa goes back is by Imam Abu Ishak Ibrahim bin Yahya an-Nakkas az-Zarkani, The Book on
the Assigning of the Right Place to the Heavens and their Influence on the Earth and on Man. [See George Sarton, Introduction
to the History of Science, 3 vols. (Baltimore, Ivld.: Carnegie Institution, 1927-I948), vol. I, pp. 758-9.] This Arabic
text remained untranslated in I957 when Nowotny mentioned it in the appendix to his edition of De Occulta
philosophia, where he maintained that this, or a similar text, was the basis for the Latin text, De septem quadraturis
planetarum excerpted by Agrippa. It could have been accessible to him in the Hrabanus l\Iaurus Codex 5239
(Philos. 418 and 455from the I Ith or 12th century in the Vienna National Library). According to R. Eisler,
"Zur Terminologie und Geschichte der Jiidischen Alchemie," Monatschr. fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des
}udentums, (1926), 70. Jahrgang, Neue Folge 34, p. 196, the Picatrix is the probable source of Agrippa's magic
squares. According to W.-D. Ivliiller-Jahncke, j\;fagie als Wissenschaft im friihen /6. }ahrhundert, Inaugural-
128 VLADIMiR KARPENKO

Dissertation, Universitat Marburg, 1973, p. 34, n.l, the author of the Picatrix was probably Pseudo-Majriti, for
whom he gives no date.
19. Both Paracelsus and Agrippa recommended a metal for each 'seal', in which the corresponding square should
be engraved (mercury had to be alloyed with lead). Agrippa's concept, however, was broader. Depending on
the aspect (favourable or unfavourable) of the planet, the metal for such a talisman could be chosen so as to
have different effects. The recommendations of both authors can be compared:

Order of Parace1sus Agrippa

the square Aspect of the Planet
Favourable Unfavourable

3 Pb Pb not stated
4 Sn Ag/coral not stated
5 Fe Fe Cu
6 Au Au not stated
7 Cu Ag Cu
8 Hg (with Pb) Ag/Sn/brass not stated
9 Ag Ag Pb

20. The fifth-order square is constructed in a less common way, similar to the 'knight's move' described by
Benson and Jacoby, op. cit. (I), p. 17. In this case, the next number is written in the cell situated two places
upward and three to the right. This method had already been described by Moschopoulos; Ahrens, op. cit.,
(I), p. 31.
2 I. V. Karpenko, "Cfselne magicke Ctverce na medailfeh [Numerical magic squares on medals]," Numismaticki
listy (Czech), forthcoming.
22. W. Ahrens, Hebriiishce Amulette mit magischen Zahlenquadraten (Berlin: L. Lamm, 1916).
23. L. Fischer, "Zur Deutung des magischen Quadrates in Diirers Melencolia !," Zeitschrift dem Deutschen
Morgenliindischen Gesellschaft, 103 (1953), p. 308.
24. This is a semi-pandiagonal, Type III in Benson and Jacoby, op. cit. (I).
25. G. Scholem, "Alchemie und Kabbala," Monatschr. fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums (1925), 69.
Jahrgang, Neue Folge 33, pp. 13~30; 95-110.
26. Eisler, op. cit. (18).
27. Was Esch mezareph, then, the swan song of magic squares in alchemy? This system is a matter for debate,
since three different sources offer different views: compare Scholem, op. cit. (25), table on p. 25; H. Gebe1ein,
Alchemie (Diederichs Verl., 1991), p. 83; and K. R. H. Frick, Die Erleuchteten (Graz: Akademische Druck-
u.Verlagsanstalt, 1973). The latter two both depict the cabbalistic tree of Hfe. The picture in Frick's book
corresponds with A. Kircher's Oedipus Aegypticus (1562). If, instead of the planetary symbols corresponding
to metals assigned to individual Sephiroth, the symbols of chemical elements are written, there is
considerable but not complete correspondence among the three sources.

Sephiroth Scholem Gebe1ein Frick

2 Chokma Chokma
3 Chokma, Pb Binah, Pb Binah
4 Binah, Nezach, Sn Chessed, Sn Chessed, Sn
5 Tipheret, Fe Geburah, Fe Pechad, Pb
6 Geburah/Tipheret, Au Tipheret, Au Tipheret, Au
7 Hod, Cu Nezach, Cu Nezach, Cu
8 Jessod, Hg Hod, Hg Hod, Cu
9 Chessed, Ag Jessod, Ag Jessod, Hg
IO Malkuth, Ag Malkuth, Ag