Liber Salomonis: Sepher Raziel, Now Available

PURCHASE HERE

At long last one of the most important grimoires is here; the infamous Liber Salomonis, the so-called Sepher Raziel (which doesn't have much in common with the actual Kabbalistic text of the same title.)

As aforementioned on this blog it is arranged into seven treatises, all subjected to astronomical and Lesser Keys-style angelic names and powers. Like many grimoires, it arranges things into categorical systems using numbers like 24 (the hours of the day), 7 (the days of the week), and so forth. It contains thus a list of 24 sacred stones like topaz and sapphire, a list of 24 sacred beasts in four elemental categories, a list of 24 herbs and their powers, seven types of incense used as fumigation, seven angels, and such, all subject to the four elemental classifications.

A great proportion of this work dwells upon calling, expelling, or securing answers from "airy spirits" and devils of various kinds- not exactly a diabolical work per se, as all of these workings and enchantments are in turn subject to the practitioner remaining "clean and chaste" and fasting while praising the various names of the judeochristian deity. Interestingly, it alludes as well to transfigurations and other workings popular at the time- such as the use of a simple enchantment which is able to make a building seem flooded by water using only a squid and a bucket of sea water, the same being true of snow, blood, or apparently any other fluid.

I have modernized the text without changing its meaning and have left much of the invocation material in old english for continuity- elsewhere I have attempted to translate sometimes unused, archaic terms to their modern equivalent. For example, most of the herbs and animals are referred to either by their old-time name or even in Latin (like psyllium.) I have removed the Latin headers which once existed there because they merely echo the english in the subsequent paragraph for no reason.

82 pages.

Coming Soon: Liber Salomonis

I am now three quarters of the way through editing the (extremely antiquated) Liber Salomonis; a Hermetic era compilation of treatises masquerading as a Kabbalistic work from the times of Solomon or (as the text claims) even the times of Adam under the name "Sepher Raziel." I have already discussed in brief the obviously falsifiable claim of its ancient origin, but as a purely European text merely deriving content from Hebraic material it does not disappoint; it's extremely dense, and sometimes you will see the same word spelled in four or five variations in a single treatise, but the resulting material, once edited into an easier form, is quite good.

Perhaps the most important part of the work, the Ala or wings, which I have completed already, dwells upon the natures of twenty four each of herbs, beasts, stones, and letters, as well as speaking of the elements and principle virtues and powers behind the same. It gives lengthy passages on the creation of incense used to fumigate oneself, or a home, or a tomb, or anything else, and by means of the same work various enchantments. Interestingly, most of the "fish" spoken of (whales, dolphins, squid) aren't fish, biologically speaking; quite telling, regarding its date of origin.

A few of the species of herbs mentioned in this work I covered in Fruits of Eden and the use thereof and the virtues or evils from each species appear to largely agree with the other materials I consulted for writing my own herbal- marjoram and chicory are mentioned frequently both in the herblore as well as the creation of seven specific fumigations each for one day of the week and each with its own power and purpose.

Funnily enough, while this work speaks of Solomon and Hebrew letters, at the time it was made the jews, in Europe, were being frequently outed by kingdom after kingdom, migrating around the continent as worried christians remarked that they were causing outbreaks of plague or poisoning wells and fields alike.

In other news the; Stone of Urine, by Hollandus, is already fully edited, but I have not yet illustrated the same; I'm too focused on the Liber Salomonis and I'm still suffering from the end of a mild cold; sneezing on ones' illustrations is not a good way to spend your time productively!

Aradia Update 2: Delayed/ Liber Salomonis Update

I'm glad I made my prior post about the Aradia.

As it turns out the copyright wasn't an issue; what did emerge was that the template I used was faulty somehow and the cover art was off-center by a good centimeter or so. I sized it properly from Createspace' own template site so I'm not sure how this happened, but I'm a stickler for format now, and even plan to go back and correct (minor) flaws in my older works as soon as my current work is done. It may be a few days to a week before this is fixed since I have to redesign the cover, apparently, in a different format.

In other news I have begun work on the Liber Salomonis which of course is a hermetic era text masquerading as a Kabbalistic work called the Sepher Raziel. Since there are at least three major versions of the same I decided to use the one which was most complete, even though the antiquation of the language usage is making the editing more slow than for other versions. This specific text claims to be Solomonic but is certainly of primordial European manufacture as evidenced by its ritualized content which appears to both borrow from and give content to other contemporary grimoires in the European tradition; especially the Red Dragon.

It's a good work overall and longer than some grimoires at about 90 pages before any artistic content is added. It will be a worthy contribution to the literature I'm releasing.

I also have a basic schedule for when other works will be done:

-Liber Salomonis should be done by early March.
-Both of Hollandus' short-ish works done by mid to late March. These might require no more than two or three days to edit apiece.
-An edition of the Ars Goetia done by the end of March, or at latest mid April.
-A full edition of the Lesser Keys to be released, containing the Ars Goetia as well as the traditional content therein done by mid May.

I am additionally preparing to re-edit "Morbid Stories" into a proper format with new art, and release Morbid Stories II. I'm still in the beginning stages on my other works.

Forthcoming Occult Titles

Over the course of the coming months, presumably before spring has sprung and I can once again occupy myself with a bit of work outdoors, I plan to release a slew of new occult titles, within the same general scope as the edited works I have already released; with "Sonic Occultism" now done and awaiting its final edit and cover art, and with another fairly short work I plan to release in December or January underway, the time is ripe for stage two of the occult manuscripts I need to release editions of. I will summarize them here briefly.

Grimorium Verum

A long-ish grimoire (compared to most similar works) dwelling largely on black magick more diabolical than even the Red Dragon and probably the result of an occultist familiar with the latter. It claims to date to the 15th century but is almost certainly of 18th century manufacture. I finally obtained the old english translation needed to release it, after not being able to find it for some time.

The Picatrix

Many are familiar with the Warnock translation of this text but as far as I can tell some of the content there is fancy; I possessed an older version some time ago, as I did the Grimorium Verum, before a computer crash destroyed the files, and was unable to re-obtain it similarly. This mixture of magick dwells on what we would generally term alchemy, the talismanic arts, and some black magick as well as white magick in standard form. It is one of the more important occult works of the world, nonetheless only generally available in potentially flawed form.

The Grimoire of Turiel (Or Secret Grimoire of Turiel)

A rather odd work which may largely plagiarize Waite but which shows enough differences to be re-edited into a properly understood work. It contains a series of prayers, sigils, and benedictions. I may or may not choose to release this due to its controversial nature and potential legal gray-area status as a copyrighted work.

Sepher Raziel

Similar to the Sepher Yetzirah and Sepher Bahir in being gnostic-influenced Hebraic magick of a sort. It is more philosophy than spellwork, but is still philosophically valuable for those on a kabbalists' or gnostic path.

Aradia: The Witches' Gospel

A sort of Victorian era work of slightly dubious nature that nonetheless must of necessity be included in any comprehensive release of magickal content. It heavily influenced latter-day wicca. The work is fortuitously out of copyright due to an apparent public domain placement some time ago.