The Naming of Magi
by Mark D F Shirley
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The Naming of Magi
by Alexander Scriptor, scholae Tytali
I am constantly amazed at the lack of regard that magi of today have for the
traditions laid down by our forebears, in the early days of the Order of
Hermes. Take the giving of Hermetic names, for example. Like many things in
the Order, the early magi took as their precedent the conventions of ancient
Rome when assigning the formal attribution of a new magus before his or her
tribunal. This formal name is recorded in the tribunal records and is used
for all official business. It is unique to the magus, so there can be no
question to the magus's identity, although the Order even today is not of
sufficient size for this to be a problem. Some derivation of the formal name
is used for the day-to-day business of the magus.
So, what are the elements of a magus's formal name? As I have already
mentioned, it is modelled on the pattern of Rome, and therefore has six
elements:
-
The Praenomen. This was the Roman's personal name, and was only used by
family members. In Hermetic usage, the praenomen is the magus's vulgar name
- that given to him or her by their mundane parents. The magus is likely to
have some attachment to this name, having borne it for much of his childhood
life, and probably thoughout apprenticeship as well. It is normally reserved
for members of the same House or Covenant.
-
The Nomen, or nomen genticulum. this was the Roman's surname, indicating
which gens or family group they belonged to. This was the name used in
everyday life by his colleagues. The nomen is the magus's Hermetic name,
that chosen by his master. This is often the same as the vulgar name - in my
own case, Alexander was the name given me by my mundane parents, and
retained by my master. Indeed, when the magi of House Ex Miscellanea bother
to use the formal naming system, they rarely make up new names to mark the
passing of an apprentice and the birth of a magus.
-
The Patronymium. To a Roman, the patronymic indicated who his father was. It
consisted of the word "filius" (son), followed by the genitive form of his
master's name. For brevity, only the nomen (and in some cases, the cognomen,
see below) of the name of the parens is used. Roman women had a much less
complicated system of names that was not adopted by the Order, who treat
women as equal to men. A maga uses the term "filia" (daughter).
-
The Nomen Patricus. The fourth element in a Roman's name was the name of
which of the 35 tribes or voting districts that he belonged to. The direct
Hermetic analogy of this is the House. To indicate House affiliation, we say
"scholae" or "doctrinae", followed by the genitive form of the House's name.
"scholae XX" indicates "of the school or sect of XX" whereas "doctrinae XX"
means "of the learning or doctrine of XX". For this reason a perculiarity
arises with the House of Bjornaer, who only ever use "doctrinae Bjornaeris",
never "scholae Bjornaeris". Of the other Houses, only Bonisagus shows any
preference between the two options, prefering "scholae Bonisagi".
For those of you who cannot remember their first year latin, here are the
genitive forms of the House names:
- Bonisagi
- Bjornaeris
- Criamonis
- Flambonis
- Guernici
- Jerbitonis
- Mercandi
- Merinitae
- Tremendi
- Tytali
- Verditii
There are two additional points to note for the nomen patricus. Magi of
House Ex Miscellanea are not "followers of Ex Miscellanea", because they do
not descend from a Founder like the other Houses. Instead, the nomen
patricus is simply Magus Ex Miscellanea. In addition, redcaps who lack the
gift often style themselves Magus Mercurialis, though they are perfectly
entitled to the usual appelation of House Mercere.
-
The Cognomen. To a Roman, the cognomen was a nickname, used to distinguish
between members of the same family who had the same praenomen. This usage is
not required for the Hermetic name, but the cognomen has by no means been
abandoned. Instead, it has become an important part of the name of a magis.
It is used as a description - often a magus will adopt a cognomen
appropriate to his magics or deeds. Some use the nickname given them by
their masters. Most magi use their nomen and cognomen when introducing
themselves - for example, the name I most commonly use is "Alexander
Scriptor", the cognomen, meaning "writer" indicating my fondness for books.
Magi Ex Miscellanea often use the cognomen to indicate their lineage within
their House, and this practice is by no means limited to them - I know
several Flambeau who use the cognomen Eversor, indicating their preference
for Perdo magics, and declaring themselves to be of the lineage of Apromar.
-
Origo. Finally, the origo indicated the place of origin of the Roman man, or
his domicile. To the magus, this final section can indicate three things.
Firstly, it can be the physcial place of origin. In most cases this takes
the adjectival form, "Germanicus" for example. Else it can indicate the
covenant that the person belongs to, when it takes the form "ab XX" (where
XX is the ablative form of the covenant's name - "ab Malinboite" - "from
Malinbois"). Finally, some magi who have switched Houses use the origo to
indicate which House they were originally inducted into - "ab Flambone", "ab
Bonisago", etc.
There is one final element to a formal name - the title. These are few and
far between, and are placed at the beginning of the name. Currently, the
only official titles recognised are Praeco, Primus, Quaesitor, Archimagus
and Hoplite. the final one has difficulty in translation, being a Greek word
- some use the pseudo-Latin "hoplitus", others prefer the true Latin "ultor
/ ultrix" (masculine and feminine forms, respectively).
To use myself as the example of a formal name:
Alexander filius Geniculi doctrinae Tytali Scriptor ab Durenmare
Note that my praenomen and nomen are the same. Commun usage reduces this to
just a nomen and cognomen for brevity - Alexander Scriptor.
Another example:
Quaesitor Jeanne-Marie Piacula filia Iasoni Munis scholae Jerbitonis
Maioribus Claravallensis, otherwise known as Piacula Maioribus of Clairvaux.
This convention - though somewhat cumbersome, is nevertheless the invention
of our Hermetic ancestors, and I urge people to return their names to their
formal beauty.