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Annie Lui — THE BATTALION

Found in Cushing Library’s Rare Books and Manuscripts collection, “De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres” explores occult religions and philosophies.

Centuries-old occult book housed in the Cushing Memorial Library contains series of eerie additions By Salvador Garcia @SalGarJr Used books often bear traces left by previous readers. Sometimes these marks are as familiar as coffee stains; other times they can be as uncanny as the devil’s signature. In the Rare Books and Manuscripts collection in the Cushing Library lies Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa’s “De Occulta Philosophia Libri Tres.” In fear of condemnation from the church, Agrippa hesitated before allowing his writings to be published in 1533. Opening the book reveals occult symbols and descriptions for their use, but it also exposes the stories of

those who have held it before. Pages corrupted by stains and fading ink sketch the tendencies of readers. During its circulation, the book also gained a note and signature that appears to be written in blood. English Ph.D. student Micheala Baca said even though Agrippa’s book might be viewed as containing conjurations, the author did not intend for his work to offer anything more than a scientific understanding for people curious about occult religions and philosophies. “There’s no sort of spell-type stuff,” Baca said. “This is like a science textbook, basically. It discusses all of the various symbols and elements and things that make up human life in the world and creates the balance between all of them.” Baca said she’s particularly interested in the notes found in the book’s margins, such as the bloody message and signature. According to Baca, the translation of this message states “When

you have done all that is contained here, I will be at your command — Beelzebub.” Since preserving the book means the page can’t be tested, it’s unclear whether the message is truly written in blood. However, Baca said the signature “Beelzebub,” often used as synonym for the devil, indicates serious occult possibilities. Other surviving copies of this book do not contain such unique and unsettling marks. “I can’t prove anything one way or another, but I think [our copy] is probably completely unique,” Baca said. “This one seems to have been used differently, like it was used by someone who was invested in it, rather than just looking at it from a scientific application standpoint.” Assistant professor in the department of performance studies BOOK ON PG. 2

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2015 TB145 was discovered three years ago but will not appear near Earth again until 2080.

Spooky sight in the night sky PROVIDED

Aggie astronomers weigh in on ‘Halloween’ asteroid

Local shops in Downtown Bryan have come together to host a pub crawl, costume contests and giveaways during the Halloween season.

By Vanessa Hernandez @Galileaaa6

Dawn of the downtown dead

A skull-shaped asteroid is passing by Earth again just a short while after Halloween. The asteroid is named 2015 TB145, but it has been called the ‘Halloween asteroid’ because of the time it came into view three years ago. It was first observed in October of 2015, and will be passing by Earth again in early November. Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told CNN that this

Bryan prepares for sixth annual Zombie Pub Crawl on Saturday By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens Encouraging community members to dress up as zombies for the Halloween season, Downtown Bryan restaurants, bars and other businesses are

hosting the sixth annual Zombie Pub Crawl on Saturday. A $5 wristband will give attendees access to special deals and events at all of the participating businesses, as well as the zombification station face painting booth located outside of The Village and Downtown Uncorked Wine Bar. Additionally, attendees who purchase a ticket ZOMBIE ON PG. 3

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time the asteroid will not come close enough to appear “any larger than a dot of light.” Postdoctoral researcher in physics and astronomy Peter Brown said getting people excited and thinking about astronomy is important, and he -believes the skull-shaped asteroid does just that. Although the asteroid won’t pass as close to Earth as it did in 2015, it’s still an interesting occurrence, Brown said. According to Brown, this particular asteroid coming into view at this time is completely random. If the asteroid came around any other time, it probably would not have been interpreted as skull shaped.

“Sometimes our eyes tend to find faces in objects because our brains are tuned to find faces, so we happen to do that in nature, like the skull-shaped asteroid,” Brown said. Astronomy professor Darren DePoy said that while he never heard of a skull-shaped asteroid before this one, asteroids tend to come in all shapes and sizes. “Asteroids are material left over from the formation of the solar system that did not incorporate into planets,” DePoy said. “They generally formed early in the history of the solar system from material in the disk of material that was around the Sun as it collapsed to become a ASTEROID ON PG. 6

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