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The Book of ceremonial Magic

The Book of ceremonial Magic

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the Sworn <strong>Book</strong>, while that entitled Liber Lunæ, concerning the intelligences <strong>of</strong> the<br />

mansions <strong>of</strong> the moon, the squares <strong>of</strong> the planets, their seals, rings and so forth--which,<br />

by the way, seems in this form unknown to modern critics--has given material to other<br />

and later collections.<br />

<strong>The</strong> unprinted literature <strong>of</strong> Ceremonial <strong>Magic</strong> <strong>of</strong>fers a considerable field to research,<br />

though even in the historical or bibliographical interest it is questionable whether it<br />

would repay the pains, unless research <strong>of</strong> all kinds whatsoever is to be regarded as its<br />

own reward. Among the miscellaneous MSS. in the British Museum, it is here only<br />

necessary to notice two,<br />

p. 23<br />

as they contain materials connected with the present design. Sloane 3884 includes a<br />

process in Necromancy--how to call the ghost <strong>of</strong> a dead body--the invocation <strong>of</strong> spirits<br />

into a crystal--the form for summoning spirits within the circle--and a method <strong>of</strong><br />

exorcism in the Tuscan language,--all impudently attributed to the author <strong>of</strong> the Nullity <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>Magic</strong>--that is to say, Roger Bacon. In the second part <strong>of</strong> my present work a special<br />

chapter is devoted to Infernal Necromancy, and the MS. here mentioned will be useful for<br />

purposes <strong>of</strong> reference. Sloane 3850 is a MS. <strong>of</strong> the seventeenth century, which contains<br />

transcripts from the fourth book <strong>of</strong> Cornelius Agrippa and from the Heptameron <strong>of</strong> Peter<br />

de Abano in Latin. <strong>The</strong>re is also a Good and Proved Experiment for evocation, which<br />

uses the Pater, Ave, Credo and Litany <strong>of</strong> the Saints as magical formulae. Finally, there<br />

are processes, mostly in Latin, but some in English, for the discovery <strong>of</strong> things lost, the<br />

recovery <strong>of</strong> things stolen, for the spirits <strong>of</strong> the dead who cannot rest in their graves, and<br />

for persons possessed by evil spirits. <strong>The</strong> treatise De Novem Candariis Salomonis,<br />

containing curious figures and sigils, deserves particular mention, as this again seems<br />

unknown to students. Its attribution notwithstanding, it is the work <strong>of</strong> a Catholic writer.<br />

THE SACRED URÆUS OR BASILISK<br />

Footnotes

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