Studio Esoterico Cornelio: the Symbolic Bestiary

The Symbolic Bestiary is one of the educational websites curated by the Studio Esoterico Cornelio, active online since 2014 in the field of esotericism. Like the other sites in the network, devoted to history, symbols and traditions, it was created to offer clear and documented texts on a subject that fascinates many readers but is rarely told with attention to the sources.

Animals in the esoteric tradition

Few symbolic languages are as ancient and widespread as that of animals. The Egyptians recognised in animals the presence of the gods, the Greeks placed the creatures of their myths in the sky, medieval Christians read in the behaviour of the lion or the pelican a lesson about salvation. The esoteric tradition gathered and reworked this heritage: alchemy has its dragons, its ouroboros and its salamander living in fire, astrology has the zodiac, and Renaissance natural magic the sympathies between animals, plants and stones.

One need only leaf through the first book of De occulta philosophia by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486-1535), the author whom the Studio's name recalls as a simple cultural reference, to find long lists of animals associated with the planets and the elements. Studying animal symbolism therefore means entering one of the most concrete and lively chapters in the history of esoteric ideas.

Real animals, imagined animals

The site places two families of creatures side by side without confusing them. There are real animals, with their observable features, and there are those that exist only in stories, from the phoenix to the basilisk. Both are presented through the sources that described them: Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, the Physiologus, Isidore of Seville, the illuminated bestiaries, the treatises on demonology and the folklore collected by scholars.

When an ancient report is wrong, like the beaver that mutilates itself to escape hunters or the lynx that sees through walls, the articles explain it and tell why it was believed. Legends, superstitions and folk beliefs are always presented as such, together with their history, and not as truths or as guidance to follow. In this way readers can appreciate their poetic power without losing sight of the facts.

Learning more about the Studio

The name and trademark of the Studio Esoterico Cornelio are registered. On the official website studioesotericocornelio.com you can find information about the Studio and the list of the other sites in its network, devoted to different themes of the esoteric tradition.