Magical Calendar
The Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum, commonly called the Magical Calendar is a late renaissance (c.1619-1620) grimoire and esoteric print of calendar engravings. It is in three sheets, measuring more than four feet long and about two feet wide, and includes an early example of a Pentagrammaton.
Author
The "author" in the 1619 (or 1620) Frankfurt print is given as Johann Baptist Grossschedel von Aicha (Frankfurt 1620), and attributes some of the engravings to Tycho Brahe. The original engraver is given as Theodor de Bry (Flemish-born German engraver, 1528–98) as originally published in 1582. The 1620 engraver used by Grossschedel may be Matthäus Merian the Elder (Swiss engraver, 1593–1650). The work predated, and influenced, the Rosicrucian furor.
Content
The calendar contains sigils and magical squares that may be used for evoking specific angels and demons during various days of the year. It gives lists of angels that rule over the days of the week as well as the angels that rule over the 12 signs of the zodiac. Although the calendar is written primarily in German, with some Latin, it also contains Hebrew characters, in an attempt to relate the astrological information to the principles of the Kabbalah.