Francis Barrett (ca. 1770–1802) was an English occultist. Barrett claimed himself to be a student of chemistry, metaphysics and natural occult philosophy. He was known to be an extreme eccentric who gave lessons in the magical arts in his apartment and fastidiously translated Kabbalistic and other ancient texts into English, such as von Welling's work, Philosophy of The Universe circa 1735, from German (1801).  Barrett was enthusiastic about reviving interest in the occult arts, and published a magical textbook called The Magus. It was a compilation, almost entirely consisting of selections from Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy attributed to Agrippa, and Robert Turner's 1655 translation of the Heptameron of Peter of Abano. Barrett made modifications and modernized spelling and syntax. The Magus dealt with the natural magic of herbs and stones, magnetism, talismanic magic, alchemy, numerology, the elements, and biographies of famous adepts from history. When writing about witches Barrett stated that he did not believe that their power to torment or kill by enchantment, touch or by using a wax effigy came from Satan. He claimed if the Devil wanted to kill a man guilty of deadly sin, he did not need a witch as an intermediary.

KEYWORDS: witchcraft, witches, warlocks, sorcery, black magic, demons, devils, Lucifer, satan, satanic, antichrist, evil, hell, occult, pentagram, paranormal.