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Wikipedia / The Lesser Key of Solomon

The Lesser Key of Solomon, also known by its Latin title Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis or simply the Lemegeton, is an anonymously authored grimoire on sorcery, mysticism, and magic. It was compiled in the mid-17th century from materials several centuries older.

It is divided into five books: the Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria. It is based on the Testament of Solomon and the ring mentioned within it that he used to seal demons.

laArs Goetia

Terminology

The text is more properly called , or, The Little Key of Solomon. The title most commonly used, The Lesser Key of Solomon, does not in fact occur in the manuscripts. A. E. Waite, in his 1898 Book of Black Magic and of Pacts does use the terms "so-called Greater Key" and "Lesser Key" to distinguish between the Clavicula Salomonis and Lemegeton, so he may have been the one to coin it. The Latin term refers to the evocation of demons or evil spirits. It is derived from the Ancient Greek word () meaning "charm", "witchcraft", or "jugglery".

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, was generally considered evil and heretical, in contrast to (theurgy) and (natural magic), which were sometimes considered more noble. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, writes, "Now the parts of ceremonial magic are goetia and theurgia. Goetia is unfortunate, by the commerces of unclean spirits made up of the rites of wicked curiosities, unlawful charms, and deprecations, and is abandoned and execrated by all laws."

Sources

The most obvious source for the is Johann Weyer's in his . Weyer does not cite, and is unaware of, any other books in the , suggesting that the was derived from his work, not the other way around. The order of the spirits changed between the two, four additional spirits were added to the later work, and one spirit (Pruflas) was omitted. The omission of Pruflas, a mistake that also occurs in an edition of cited in Reginald Scot's The Discovery of Witchcraft, indicates that the could not have been compiled before 1570. Indeed, it appears that the is more dependent upon Scot's translation of Weyer than on Weyer's work in itself. Additionally, some material came from Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the grc-LatnnoHeptameron by pseudo-Pietro d'Abano, and the Magical Calendar.

Weyer's , which is likely related to a 1583 manuscript titled The Office of Spirits, appears to have ultimately been an elaboration on a 15th-century manuscript titled (30 of the 47 spirits are nearly identical to spirits in the ).

In a slightly later copy made by Thomas Rudd (1583?–1656), this portion was labeled , and the seals and demons were paired with those of the 72 angels of the which were intended to protect the conjurer and to control the demons he summoned. The angelic names and seals derived from a manuscript by Blaise de Vigenère, whose papers were also used by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918) in his works for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1887–1903). Rudd may have derived his copy of from a now-lost work by Johannes Trithemius, who taught Agrippa, who in turn taught Weyer.

This portion of the work was later edited by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and published by Aleister Crowley in 1904 under the title The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King. Crowley added some additional invocations previously unrelated to the original work (including some evocations in the Enochian language), as well as essays describing the rituals as psychological exploration instead of demon summoning.

The seventy-two demons

The demons' names (given below) are taken from the , which differs in terms of number and ranking from the of Weyer. As a result of multiple translations, there are multiple spellings for some of the names, which are given in the articles concerning them. The demons Vassago, Seere, Dantalion, and Andromalius are new additions in that are not present in the that it is based upon. In contrast, the demon Pruflas appears in the but not in .

  1. King Bael

  2. Duke Agares

  3. Prince Vassago

  4. Marquis Samigina

  5. President Marbas

  6. Duke Valefor

  7. Marquis Amon

  8. Duke Barbatos

  9. King Paimon

  10. President Buer

  11. Duke Gusion

  12. Prince Sitri

  13. King Beleth

  14. Marquis Leraje

  15. Duke Eligos

  16. Duke Zepar

  17. Count/President Botis

  18. Duke Bathin

  19. Duke Sallos

  20. King Purson

  21. Count/President Morax

  22. Count/Prince Ipos

  23. Duke Aim

  24. Marquis Naberius

  25. Count/President Glasya-Labolas

  26. Duke Buné

  27. Marquis/Count Ronové

  28. Duke Berith

  29. Duke Astaroth

  30. Marquis Forneus

  31. President Foras

  32. King Asmodeus

  33. Prince/President Gäap

  34. Count Furfur

  35. Marquis Marchosias

  36. Prince Stolas

  37. Marquis Phenex

  38. Count Halphas

  39. President Malphas

  40. Count Räum

  41. Duke Focalor

  42. Duke Vepar

  43. Marquis Sabnock

  44. Marquis Shax

  45. King/Count Viné

  46. Count Bifrons

  47. Duke Vual

  48. President Haagenti

  49. Duke Crocell

  50. Knight Furcas

  51. King Balam

  52. Duke Alloces

  53. President Caim

  54. Duke/Count Murmur

  55. Prince Orobas

  56. Duke Gremory

  57. President Ose

  58. President Amy

  59. Marquis Orias

  60. Duke Vapula

  61. King/President Zagan

  62. President Valac

  63. Marquis Andras

  64. Duke Flauros

  65. Marquis Andrealphus

  66. Marquis Kimaris

  67. Duke Amdusias

  68. King Belial

  69. Marquis Decarabia

  70. Prince Seere

  71. Duke Dantalion

  72. Count Andromalius

A footnote in one variant edition lists the kings of the cardinal directions as Oriens or Uriens, Paymon or Paymonia, Ariton or Egyn, and Amaymon or Amaimon, alternatively known as Samael, Azazel, Azael, and Mahazael (purportedly their preferred rabbinic names). Agrippa's Occult Philosophy lists the kings of the cardinal directions as Urieus (east), Amaymon (south), Paymon (west), and Egin (north); again providing the alternate names Samuel (i.e. Samael), Azazel, Azael, and Mahazuel. The Magical Calendar lists them as Bael, Moymon, Poymon, and Egin, though Peterson notes that some variant editions instead list: "Asmodel in the east, Amaymon in the south, Paymon in the west, and Aegym in the north"; "Oriens, Paymon, Egyn, and Amaymon"; or "Amodeo (king of the east), Paymon (king of the west), Egion (king of the north), and Maimon."

laArs Theurgia Goetia

The mostly derives from Trithemius's , though the seals and order of the spirits are different due to corrupted transmission via manuscript. Rituals not found in were added, in some ways conflicting with similar rituals found in the and . Most of the spirits summoned are tied to compass points: four emperors are tied to the cardinal points (Carnesiel in the east, Amenadiel in the west, Demoriel in the north, and Caspiel in the south); and sixteen dukes are tied to cardinal points, inter-cardinal points, and additional directions between those. There are eleven "wandering princes", so a total of thirty-one spirit leaders each rule several spirits, up to a few dozen.

laArs Paulina

Derived from book three of Trithemius's and from portions of the , but purportedly delivered by Paul the Apostle instead of (as claimed by Trithemius) Raziel. Elements from The Magical Calendar, astrological seals by Robert Turner's 1656 translation of Paracelsus's Archdiocese of Magic, and repeated mentions of guns and the year 1641 indicate that this portion was written in the later half of the seventeenth century. Traditions of Paul communicating with heavenly powers are almost as old as Christianity itself, as seen in some interpretations of 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 and the apocryphal Apocalypse of Paul. The is in turn divided into two books, the first detailing twenty-four angels aligned with the twenty-four hours of the day, the second (derived more from the Heptameron) detailing the 360 spirits of the degrees of the zodiac.

laArs Almadel

Mentioned by Trithemius and Weyer, the latter of whom claimed an Arabic origin for the work. A 15th-century copy is attested to by Robert H. Turner, and Hebrew copies were discovered in the 20th century. The instructs the magician on how to create a wax tablet with specific designs intended to contact angels via scrying.

laArs Notoria, quam Creator Altissimus Salomoni revelavit

The , or The Notory Art, which the Almighty Creator Revealed to Solomon, is a seventeenth-century composite text consisting of two separate and imperfect magical texts, the fourteenth century Ars Notoria, or the Notory Art (glossed version), and the mid-fourteenth century Ars Brevis, or the Short Art. From the original Ars Notoria (glossed version), the compiler of the Ars Notoria, quam Creator Altissimus Salomoni revelavit presents a new rearrangement of a series of mysteriously formulated prayers (which are also found in the London manuscript of The Sworn Book of Honorius) intended to enhance the mental faculties, such as memory, eloquence, and understanding, of the magician. Some editions of the contain the 1657 English translation of The Notory Art, which the Almighty Creator Revealed to Solomon being published and retitled by Robert Turner of Holshott as Ars Notoria: The Notory Art of Solomon, Shewing the Cabalistical Key of Magical Operations, The liberal Sciences, Divine Revelation, and The Art of Memory. Other editions of the Lemegeton omit this work entirely; A. E. Waite ignores it completely when describing the .

Editions

  • Crowley, Aleister (ed.), S. L. MacGregor Mathers (transcribed) The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King. Translated into the English tongue by a dead hand (Foyers, Inverness: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1904) 1995 reprint: .

  • Greenup, A. W., "The Almadel of Solomon, according to the text of the Sloane MS. 2731" The Occult Review vol. 22 no. 2, August 1915, 96–102.

  • Henson, Mitch (ed.) Lemegeton. The Complete Lesser Key of Solomon (Jacksonville: Metatron Books, 1999) . Noted by Peterson to be "uncritical and indiscriminate in its use of source material".

  • de Laurence, L. W. (ed.), The Lesser Key of Solomon, Goetia, The Book of Evil Spirits (Chicago: de Laurence, Scott & Co., 1916) 1942 reprint: ; 2006 reprint: . A plagiarism of the Mathers/Crowley edition.

  • Peterson, Joseph H. (ed.), The Lesser Key of Solomon: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis (York Beach, Maine: Weiser Books, 2001). Considered "the definitive version" and "the standard edition".

  • Runyon, Carroll, The Book of Solomon's Magick (Silverado, California: C.H.S. Inc., 1996). Targeted more toward practicing magicians than academics, claims that the demons were originally derived from Mesopotamian mythology.

  • Shah, Idries, The Secret Lore of Magic (London: Abacus, 1972). Contains portions of Ars Almandel and split sections the Goetia, missing large portions of the rituals involved.

  • Skinner, Stephen & Rankine, David (eds.), The Goetia of Dr Rudd: The Angels and Demons of Liber Malorum Spirituum Seu Goetia (sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic) (London and Singapore: The Golden Hoard Press 2007)

  • Thorogood, Alan (ed.), Frederick Hockley (transcribed), The Pauline Art of Solomon (York Beach, Maine: The Teitan Press, 2016)

  • Veenstra, Jan R. "The Holy Almandal. Angels and the intellectual aims of magic" in Jan N. Bremmer and Jan R. Veenstra (eds.), The Metamorphosis of Magic from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), pp.189–229. The Almadel is transcribed at pp.217–229.

  • Waite, Arthur Edward, The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts. Including the rites and mysteries of goëtic theurgy, sorcery, and infernal necromancy, also the rituals of black magic (Edinburgh: 1898). Reprinted as The Secret Tradition in Goëtia. The Book of Ceremonial Magic, including the rites and mysteries of Goëtic theurgy, sorcery, and infernal necromancy (London: William Rider & Son, 1911). Includes the Goetia, Pauline Art and Almadel.

  • White, Nelson & Anne (eds.) Lemegeton: Clavicula Salomonis: or, The complete lesser key of Solomon the King (Pasadena, California: Technology Group, 1979). Noted by Peterson to be "almost totally unreadable".

  • Wilby, Kevin (ed.) The Lemegetton. A Medieval Manual of Solomonic Magic (Silian, Lampeter: Hermetic Research Series, 1985)

See also

References

Notes

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

  • Lesser Key of Solomon, Peterson (1999), Online Edition

  • Lesser Key of Solomon, deLaurence (1916), Online Edition or Here (2024, Project Gutenberg)

  • Lesser Key of Solomon, Mathers & Crowley (1904), Online Edition (2002, Sacred-Texts.com)