The Book of Goetia, or the Lesser Key of Solomon the King. Although impossible to verify, it is often claimed that Mathers did not want to publish this work, but Crowley did so anyway without his permission. MacGregor Mathers is credited as the translator of this edition, and Crowley is given the title of editor. Crowley was then asked to step in and finish what the previous author had begun. who translated ancient texts from French, Hebrew, and Latin, but was unable to complete his labors because of the martial assaults of the Four Great Princes. In the preface to this edition, it is explained that a "Secret Chief" of the Rosicrucian Order directed the completion of the book. Mathers and Crowley indicate their edition is a translation only of the first book: Goetia. Traditionally, the source material is divided into five books: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria. Many others have assembled their own version of this ancient material since, and it is important to realize that it is the contents rather than the book itself that make up the Lesser Key. He was followed by Mathers and Crowley in 1904 who published The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon. In 1898, Arthur Edward Waite published his The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, which contained large portions of the Lemegeton. The Lesser Key of Solomon, or the Clavicula Salomonis Regis, or Lemegeton, is a compilation of materials and writings from ancient sources making up a text book of magic or "grimoire." Portions of this book can be traced back to the mid-16th to 17th centuries, when occult researchers such as Cornelius Agrippa and Johannes Trithemisus assembled what they discovered during their investigations into their own great works.Īs a modern grimoire, the Lesser Key of Solomon has seen several editions with various authors and editors taking liberty to edit and translate the ancient writings and source material.
Included are: illustrations of Solomon's Magic Circle & Triangle, Enochian translations of the Goetia book, step by step guides for invocation, as well as definitions and explanations for the ancient terms seen throughout the Lesser Key of Solomon book. In this work, Crowley and Mathers assemble descriptions and directions for the invocation of over 72 demons or spirits. This edition also contains Crowley's original comments located in over 35 annotations to help the reader understand the lesser keys of Solomon the king. Beware of other editions that do not contain the Lesser Key of Solomon seals they were painstakingly researched by Mathers and Crowley, and Solomon's lesser key is enhanced by their inclusion. This edition of The Lesser Key of Solomon the King contains all of the over 150 seals, sigils, and charts of the original lesser book of Solomon. Ars Notoria-With roots that go back to the 13th century Latic manuscripts, and probably even early oral traditions, this collection of orations and prayers in interspersed with magical words said to have mystical properties that can impart communion with God and knowledge of divine and human arts and sciences.This edition is a fully illustrated reprint of the 1904 publication by Aleister Crowley and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers.Ars Almadel-attributed to an Arab of the same name, this text describes twenty beneficial sprits that govern the zodiac.
The text is purported to have been discovered by the Apostle Paul after he had been snatched up to heaven and includes "The Conjuration of the Holy Guardian Angel."