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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought
The Ancient and Accepted Rite for England and Wales covers the
4th-33rd degrees, including the 18th 'Rose Croix' degree. The
author explores the historic background to this important part of
Freemasonry with the original being published in 1980. A second
edition appeared in 1987 which was a completely revised work after
much new documented evidence was discovered, and this third edition
is another reprint of this authoritative study.
The end of the eighteenth century saw the end of the witch trials
everywhere. This volume charts the processes and reasons for the
decriminalisation of witchcraft but also challenges the widespread
assumption that Europe has been 'disenchanted'. For the first time
surveys are given of the social role of witchcraft in European
communities down to the end of the nineteenth century and of the
continued importance of witchcraft and magic as topics of debate
among intellectuals and other writers
Between the age of St. Augustine and the sixteenth century
reformations magic continued to be both a matter of popular
practice and of learned inquiry. This volume deals with its use in
such contexts as healing and divination and as an aspect of the
knowledge of nature's occult virtues and secrets.
"The Goetia" is the most famous grimoire after the Key of Solomon.
This volume contains a transcription of a hitherto unpublished
manuscript of the Lemegeton which includes four whole grimoires:
"Liber Malorum Spituum seu Goetia"; "Theurgia-Goetia"; "Ars
Paulina" (Books 1 & 2); and, "Ars Almadel". This was owned by
Dr Thomas Rudd, a practising scholar-magician of the early
seventeenth century. There are many editions of the "Goetia", of
which the most definitive is that of Joseph Peterson, but here we
are interested in how the "Goetia" was actually used by practising
magicians in the 16th and 17th century, before the knowledge of
practical magic faded into obscurity. To evoke the 72 demons listed
here without the ability to bind them would be foolhardy indeed. It
was well known in times past that invocatio and ligatio, or
binding, was a key part of evocation, but in the modern editions of
the "Goetia" this key technique is expressed in just one word
'Shemhamaphorash', and its use is not explained. This volume
explains how the 72 angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash are used to
bind the spirits, and the correct procedure for safely invoking
them using special seals incorporating the necessary controlling
angel, whose name is also engraved on the breastplate and Brass
Vessel.
This is a work of fundamental importance for our understanding of
the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Europe.
Stuart Clark offers a new interpretation of the witchcraft beliefs
of European intellectuals based on their publications in the field
of demonology, and shows how these beliefs fitted rationally with
many other views current in Europe between the fifteenth and
eighteenth centuries. Professor Clark is the first to explore the
appeal of demonology to early modern intellectuals by looking at
the books they published on the subject during this period. After
examining the linguistic foundations of their writings, the author
shows how the writers' ideas about witchcraft (and about magic)
complemented their other intellectual commitments-in particular,
their conceptions of nature, history, religion, and politics. The
result is much more than a history of demonology. It is a survey of
wider intellectual and ideological purposes, and underlines just
how far the nature of rationality is dependent on its historical
context.
This work includes the complete unabridged version with variants of
"The Nine Great Keys", a vital early 17th century manuscript
detailing the invocation of the Archangels and nine Orders of
Angels. The full practical techniques of summoning the Archangels,
details of the hierarchies of spiritual beings, and how the full
Enochian system fits in with the Angelic and Demonic hierarchies
are all covered, as well as the theology and philosophy associated
with Angelic magic, giving the context that these magical
practitioners were working with. It includes the evocation of the
Four Demon Princes and their role within the traditional system of
magic. The book deals clearly with the full continuum of spiritual
creatures from Archangels through Angels to Demon Princes (Fallen
Angels), to Olympic Spirits and Elementals. This is presented in
practical detail, with much rare manuscript material being made
available in print for the first time.
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