Vernacular Era Flashcards
Key of Solomon
Recognizable form dates from 15th century. Technically a Latin grimoire even though it’s in the vernacular module
Earliest known copy in Italian predates oldest known Latin copy
Ancestors: Hygromanteia and Sepher ha-Otot for seals
Major change from Hygromanteia is de-complexification of ruling spirit from hours down to just days
Claims to be written by Solomon, based on divine revelation
Buried in ivory box for someone worthy to find it
‘Toz Graecus’ was assisted by a spirit in understanding it
Prominence in 16th century owed to in part Pico and Agrippa’s appropriated Kabbalism
Favorite of G is Colorno Key2. It’s the Super Bowl half time Solomonic invocation. All you need is a spirit list
Heptameron
First printed in Venice in 1485
But if Peter de Abano is the author (as Skinner thinks) then it was composed in 1310
Abano: tried twice by the Inquisition for an interest in magic. One of his other books refers to a Clavicula
Different circles for each day and each season
An earlier date might imply demonic seals evolved from a largely Jewish/Classical tradition of circles (remember Honi)
Only Solomonic magic definitely prescribed detailed inscription of God or angel names within that circle. Certainly an essential part of Byzantine and Western European grimoires (Skinner)
Other forms of magic do not use a detailed drawn circle for the protection of the magician
15th century, Menahem Ziyuni: “those who invoke demons draw circles around themselves because spirits have not the power to trespass from the public to the private arena”
Daily angelic prayers, combined with ritual implements that owe a debt to the Clavicula
Invocations in the Ars Goetia originate here
Published along with the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy in the 17th century
And in Francis Barrett’s The Magus in the 19th century
My favourite angelic grimoire
Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
Likely late 15th century. Earliest manuscript is 1608
Translated by Mathers, looking for a less diabolical Lemegeton
6 month operation to contact your holy guardian angel
Contains 4 kings, though Egyn is called Ariton
Has a scattering of spirit name matches to the Ars Goetia
‘Sleeping Ointment’ by the woman of Linz suggests a nightshade hallucinogen used to contact spirits
Livre de Espiritz
Late 15th century, partially based on earlier lists from13th century
No seals, lists the hierarchy and description of hell’s spirits
47 spirits, 30 of which are recognizable in the Ars Goetia names.A higher match if you look at their descriptions and function.
12 demons of the LdE don’t appear in the psuedomonarchia daemonum and Ars Goetia
Has LBS, Four Princes (kings) and then the rest of a hierarchy
De Occulta Philosophia
Agrippa, 1533 ( written 1509)
Divided into 3 books. First two deal with natural and celestial things, a post-Ficino ‘. Astral magic’,elementary, celestial, religious. Based on a kabbalistic division as Agrippa understood it
Book 3 is ritual magic. Also uses Ficino’s concept of finding one’s genius I.e. The operators self-understanding is at the center of ritual magic when it never was before
Included along with a medieval idea of a guardian angel, and from this point many errors formed
Well-written, well-designed
Re-frames all ritual magic as quest for divine through religious exercises
Intended to be a complete summation/ recreation of ancient high magic (as understood by Renaissance thinkers I.e. Wrong)
With advent of printing, became most commonly consulted grimoire. Used to fill missing info and gaps in other grimoires.
Reorganized existing traditions under a Neoplatonist / kabbalistic model, and deliberately avoided getting into the down and dirty of how one activates this knowledge.
Did not write The Fourth Book, which contains the Heptameron, details how to generate spirits names, both of which suggest attempting to work out a Lemegeton method.
Book of the Offices of the Spirits
Late 15th, early 16th century
Earliest copy is 1583
Trithemius mentions two versions
No ‘original’ found
Dr Al: Thesaurus Spirituum/De Nigromancia calls ‘the book of St Cyprian’ ‘the book of the offices of the spirits’
The Book of Oberon (approx 1575)
- has a variant of Offices
- describes the LBS trinity
- has pictures of spirits
- contains excerpts from other texts (psalms, Catholic indulgences)
- likely owned by a succession of vicars and academics in mid/late 16th century, suggestive of a group of grimoire magicians on both sides of channel working on similar material
- groups may explain high mutation rate
De Occulta Philosophia
Agrippa, 1533 ( written 1509)
Divided into 3 books. First two deal with natural and celestial things, a post-Ficino ‘. Astral magic’,elementary, celestial, religious. Based on a kabbalistic division as Agrippa understood it
Book 3 is ritual magic. Also uses Ficino’s concept of finding one’s genius I.e. The operators self-understanding is at the center of ritual magic when it never was before
Included along with a medieval idea of a guardian angel, and from this point many errors formed
Well-written, well-designed
Re-frames all ritual magic as quest for divine through religious exercises
Intended to be a complete summation/ recreation of ancient high magic (as understood by Renaissance thinkers I.e. Wrong)
With advent of printing, became most commonly consulted grimoire. Used to fill missing info and gaps in other grimoires.
Reorganized existing traditions under a Neoplatonist / kabbalistic model, and deliberately avoided getting into the down and dirty of how one activates this knowledge.
Did not write The Fourth Book, which contains the Heptameron, details how to generate spirits names, both of which suggest attempting to work out a Lemegeton method.
Book of the Offices of the Spirits
Late 15th, early 16th century
Earliest copy is 1583
Trithemius mentions two versions
No ‘original’ found
Dr Al: Thesaurus Spirituum/De Nigromancia calls ‘the book of St Cyprian’ ‘the book of the offices of the spirits’
The Book of Oberon (approx 1575)
- has a variant of Offices
- describes the LBS trinity
- has pictures of spirits
- contains excerpts from other texts (psalms, Catholic indulgences)
- likely owned by a succession of vicars and academics in mid/late 16th century, suggestive of a group of grimoire magicians on both sides of channel working on similar material
- groups may explain high mutation rate
Arbatel
1575, Switzerland
49 Christian planetary aphorisms
Unique set of Olympian spirits and Paracelsan nature spirits
Probably influence on Dee
Part of and contributed to rise of contemporaneous Christian esotericism
Psuedomonarchia Daemonum
69 demons listed, compared to later Ars Goetia’s 72. No seals attributed to the demons.
Pruflas included, but absent from Ars Goetia
Vassago, Seere, Dantalion and Andromalius are absent from PD
Gives names, descriptions and appropriate hours for summoning. Spirits listed in different order to Ars Goetia
Peterson: Weyer deliberately broke the list so people wouldn’t use it
LBS missing from Weyer, which seems deliberate.
Ars Goetia
No earlier than 1570, based on its inheritance of PD by way of Scot’s Discoverie
Dr Rudd’s is earlier, potentially based on whatever Weyer used
No LBS hierarchy, though it presumably had one
72 demons. To which Dr Rudd added the 72 angels of the Shemhamemforash
Rudd clearly had access to earlier versions of AG and/or other spirit lists, as he restored the LBS, meaning Rudd’s demon list could be better than the lesser key’s Ars Goetia
Lesser Key of Solomon
Contains: Ars Goetia (16c), Ars Notoria, Ars Almadel
Also two books based on translations of Trithemius and the Heptameron , both being pretty pointless: Ars Theurgia Goetia, summonings based on compass points, based largely on Steganographia, Ars Paulina, giving angelic hours.
All five known to Trithemius in 1500. One of his books mentions a now lost book called Composition of the names and characters of the evil spirits
Best candidate for the missing link for the Ars Goetia’s spirit list and seals
Rudd’s Goetia is called Liber Malorum Spirituum, which is Latin for the above.
May have put his book together from an older version of the Lemegeton and/or this missing book
May explain why he also had a separate LBS invocation
Excellent Booke on the Arte of Magicke
1560s
Unusual as contains scrying record of Gilbert/Davis as well as rituals
Gilbert conjured and bound azazel, forcing him to bring shades of dead magicians
Adam, Job, Solomon, Roger Bacon, Agrippa, St Luke, John the Baptist show up
Azazel and Aosal called before the four kings
Enchiridion of Pope Leo
17th century bleu grimoire, possibly 16th
Describes magic given by Pope Leo to Charlemagne
Very Catholic, saints etc
Large parts of Oberon
Crossed Keys
