The Lesser Key of Solomon
Product ID: 104410803
This edition is a fully illustrated reprint of the 1904 publication by Aleister Crowley and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. 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. 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 also contains Crowley’s original comments located in over 35 annotations to help the reader understand the lesser keys of Solomon the king. In this work, Crowley and Mathers assemble descriptions and directions for the invocation of over 72 demons or spirits. 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. 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. As 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. In 1898, Arthur Edward Waite published his The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, which contained large portions of the Lemegeton. He was followed by Mathers and Crowley in 1904 who published The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon. 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. Traditionally, the source material is divided into five books: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria. Mathers and Crowley indicate their edition is a translation only of the first book: Goetia. In the preface to this edition, it is explained that a “Secret Chief” of the Rosicrucian Order directed the completion of the book. The original editor was a G. H. Fra. D.D.C.F. 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. Crowley was then asked to step in and finish what the previous author had begun. Traditionally, S. L. MacGregor Mathers is credited as the translator of this edition, and Crowley is given the title of editor. 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. Review: A fascinating and fun read! - I’ve gotten interested in demonology recently, and heard that The Lesser Key of Solomon is a good starting point for learning about this stuff. And after reading It, I agree that it’s a decent book to start learning about demonology, IMHO. The book jacket is adequate but not great: it’s a little oversized, all the graphics on the cover are still legible/visible but they’re slightly blurry on the edges; the book jacket is functional and looks nice, but it’s nothing like a high quality leather bound book. Last but most important, the contents of the book: I loved it! I read it cover-to-cover on the same day I received it! In the first part of this book, it contains some of Aleister Crowley’s and S. L. Mathers’ thoughts on demonology & The Lesser Key, which was fairly interesting to read. Then obviously there’s the Ars Goetia, which was riveting! The Goetic sigils are some of the most beautiful symbols I’ve seen; and reading about the different demons was just fascinating! Overall, it was a very satisfying book to read. The Lesser Key of Solomon doesn’t contain everything about demonology, but I think it’s a good starting point. And this particular hardcover version makes it a decent introductory book: it’s a budget hardcover, but it’s durable and pretty for its price. 10/10 would recommend! Review: Book is key - impress your occult friends with these simple tricks! Seriously though, cool book
| Best Sellers Rank | #62,237 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #4 in Gnosticism (Kindle Store) #10 in Occult Satanism #13 in Mysticism (Kindle Store) |
J**N
A fascinating and fun read!
I’ve gotten interested in demonology recently, and heard that The Lesser Key of Solomon is a good starting point for learning about this stuff. And after reading It, I agree that it’s a decent book to start learning about demonology, IMHO. The book jacket is adequate but not great: it’s a little oversized, all the graphics on the cover are still legible/visible but they’re slightly blurry on the edges; the book jacket is functional and looks nice, but it’s nothing like a high quality leather bound book. Last but most important, the contents of the book: I loved it! I read it cover-to-cover on the same day I received it! In the first part of this book, it contains some of Aleister Crowley’s and S. L. Mathers’ thoughts on demonology & The Lesser Key, which was fairly interesting to read. Then obviously there’s the Ars Goetia, which was riveting! The Goetic sigils are some of the most beautiful symbols I’ve seen; and reading about the different demons was just fascinating! Overall, it was a very satisfying book to read. The Lesser Key of Solomon doesn’t contain everything about demonology, but I think it’s a good starting point. And this particular hardcover version makes it a decent introductory book: it’s a budget hardcover, but it’s durable and pretty for its price. 10/10 would recommend!
D**Y
Book is key
impress your occult friends with these simple tricks! Seriously though, cool book
K**N
Read it
A good book to read
M**R
Highly Ritualized Seals
“The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King: Lemegeton - Clavicula Salomonis Regis, Book 1” by S.L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley is a companion to the former author’s “The Key of Solomon the King: Clavicula Salomonis” published in 1888. The crux of MacGregor Mathers and Crowley’s magic is binary opposition. For example, a single male deity (in this case, the Abrahamic God) and Lucifer. The authors focus primarily on seals and sigils and the 72 “chief spirits of the Goetia.” Like MacGregor Mathers’ 1888 volume, the authors claim that the Goetia and the seals originated with the Israeli King Solomon, but an investigation has revealed that this knowledge was actually produced about two hundred years prior. According the authors, King Solomon placed the seals in a vessel of brass and, like Pandora’s Box, it was opened by the unwitting. The lack of antiquity doesn’t negate the seals’ importance as part of a magical ritual, however, as it is acknowledged by many Pagans that spiritual beings continue to gain power over time through collective use. Likewise, with gods and goddesses, the power of belief is accumulated over time. In fact, that is why eregores are often destroyed after tasks are completed by practitioners of chaos magic(k). The Goetia are all arranged according to a European, and particularly British, form of hierarchy of which both authors were familiar (e.g., kings, princes, dukes, marquises, and etc). What I found interesting is that the authors included the more democratic and non-aristocratic title of “president” as well. For individuals inclined to ritualized magic(k) based upon the Keys of Solomon, I would recommend Konstantinos’ “Summoning Spirits: The Art of Magical Evocation.” For those interested in similar forms, including the use of both seals and sigils but minus the highly ritualized forms, I would recommend chaos magic(k).
N**C
Great product
Great knowledgeable book
W**S
The Grimoire of Grimoires.
Excellent product.
T**S
More of an explanation of certain spirits and very interesting in that.
The book itself is very easy to pick up and read about a few spirits, look at very nice looking artwork associated with them. Goes over how to summon said spirits although not in extreme detail as the greater keys do. This work is good for both those interested in the subject matter and also for those interested in general writing yourself, both in the terms of if you need nice sounding names for a fiction that also has external meaning but also seeing the wonderfull emblems riddled throughout the book. While it is 260 pages a lot of them are 50% illustrations so don't be to discouraged by the length (a much easier read than the greater key of solomon!). The edition itself is 5 stars but the subject matter of the book goes down 1 simply because it wasn't what i was expecting and skims over some potentially interesting details.
B**N
Goetica
Well worth a read
Z**N
The Lesser Key of Solomon
A beautiful book,very helpful
C**N
BELLO
Acquistato in formato kindle, ottimo manuale operativo.
M**H
Expectations met.
Just as described.
S**K
Great book to fall asleep to
I don't understand any of this book so it's great to read before bed time as I fall asleep very fast!
R**I
Masterpiece of Crowley...
Crowley has done a great job 👍👍
Trustpilot
1 month ago
3 weeks ago