Owing perhaps to the circumstance that the indispensable "Baedecker" accords only a three or four line notice to the "Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal"; but few English or American visitors to Paris are acquainted with its name, situation, or contents, though nearly all know at least by sight the "Bibliothèque Nationale" and the "Bibliothèque Mazarin".

This "Library of the Arsenal," as it is now called, was founded as a private collection by Antoine René Voyer D'Argenson, Marquis de Paulny, and was first opened to the public on the 9th Floréal, in the fifth year of the French Republic (that is to say, on 28th April, 1797), or just a century ago. This Marquis de Paulny was born in the year 1722, died in 1787, and was successively Minister of War, and Ambassador to Switzerland, to Poland, and to the Venetian Republic. His later years were devoted to the formation of this library, said to be one of the richest private collections known. It was acquired in 1785 by the Comte D'Artois, and today belongs to the State. It is situated on the Right Bank of the Seine, in the Rue de Sully, near the river, and not far from the Place de la Bastille, and is known as the "Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal". In round numbers it now possesses 700,000 printed books, and about 8000 manuscripts, many of them being of considerable value.¹

Among the latter is this Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin, as delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his son Lamech; which I now give to the public in printed form for the first time.

Many years ago I heard of the existence of this manuscript from a celebrated occultist, since dead; and more recently my attention was again called to it by my personal friend, the well-known French author, lecturer, and poet, Jules Bois, whose attention has been for some time turned to occult subjects. My first-mentioned informant told me that it was known both to Bulwer Lytton and Eliphas Levi, that the former had based part of his description of the sage Rosicrucian Mejnour on that of Abra-Melin, while the account of the so-called observatory of Sir Philip Derval in the Strange Story was to an extent copied from and suggested by that of the magical oratory and terrace, given in the eleventh chapter of the second book of this present work. Certainly also the manner of instruction applied by Mejnour in Zanoni to the neophyte Glyndon, together with the test of leaving him alone in his abode to go on a short journey and then returning unexpectedly, is closely similar to that employed by Abra-Melin to Abraham, with this difference, that the latter successfully passed through that test, while Glyndon failed. It would also be especially such experiments as those described at length in the third book, which the author of the Strange Story had in view when he makes Sir Philip Derval in the MS. history of his life speak of certain books describing occult experiments, some of which he had tried and to his surprise found succeed.

This rare and unique manuscript of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin, from which the present work is translated, is a French translation from the original Hebrew of Abraham the Jew. It is in the style of script usual at about the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, and is apparently by the same hand as another MS. of the Magic of Picatrix² also in the "Bibliothèque de L'Arsenal". I know of no other existing copy or replica of this Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin, not even in the British Museum, whose enormous collection of occult manuscripts I have very thoroughly studied. Neither have I ever heard by traditional report of the existence of any other copy.³ In giving it now to the public, I feel, therefore, that I am conferring a real benefit upon English and especially American students of occultism, by placing within their reach for the first time a magical work of such importance from the occult standpoint.

The manuscript is divided into three books, each with its separate title page, surrounded by an ornamental border of simple design, in red and black ink, and which is evidently not intended to be symbolical in the slightest degree, but is simply the work of a conscientious caligraphist wishing to give an appearance of cleanness and completeness to the title page. The wording of each is the same: "Livre Premier (Second or Troisième, as the case may be) de la Sacrée Magie que Dieu donna à Moyse, Aaron, David, Salomon et à d'autres Saints Patriarches et Prophetes qui enseigne la vraye sapience Divine laissée par Abraham à Lamech son Fils traduite de l'hébreu 1458". I give the translated title at the commencement of each of the three books.

On the fly-leaf of the original MS. is the following note in the handwriting of the end of the eighteenth century: —

"This volume contains three books, of which here is the first. – The Abraham and the Lamech, of whom there is here made question, were Jews of the fifteenth century, and it is well known that the Jews of that period possessing the Cabala of Solomon passed for being the best sorcerers and astrologers." Then follows in another and recent hand: –

The style of the French employed in the text of the MS. is somewhat vague and obscure, two qualities unhappily heightened by the almost entire absence of any attempt at punctuation, and the comparative rarity of paragraphic arrangement. Even the full stop at the close of a sentence is usually omitted, neither is the commencement of a fresh one marked by a capital letter. The following example is taken from near the end of the third book; "Cest pourquoy la premiere chose que tu dois faire principalement ates esprits familiers sera de leur commander de ne tedire jamais aucune chose deuxmemes que lorsque tu les interrogeras amoins queles fut pour tavertir des choses qui concerne ton utilite outon prejudice parceque situ ne leur limite pas leparler ils tediront tant etdesi grandes choses quils tofusquiront lentendement et tu ne scaurois aquoy tentenir desorte que dans la confusion des choses ils pourroient te faire prevariquer ettefaire tomber dans des erreurs irreparables ne te fais jamais prier en aucune chose ou tu pourras aider et seccourir tonprochain et nattends pas quil tele demande mais tache descavoir afond," etc. This extract may be said to give a fair idea of the average quality of the French. The style, however, of the first book is much more colloquial than that of the second and third, it being especially addressed by Abraham to Lamech, his son, and the second person singular being employed throughout it. As some English readers may be ignorant of the fact, it is perhaps as well here to remark that in French "tu," thou, is only used between very intimate friends and relations, between husband and wife, lovers, etc.; while "vous," you, is the more usual mode of address to the world in general. Again, in sacred books, in prayers, etc., "vous" is used, where we employ "thou" as having a more solemn sound than "tu". Hence the French verb "tutoyer," = "to be very familiar with, to be on extremely friendly terms with any one, and even to be insolently familiar". This first book contains advice concerning magic, and a description of Abraham's travels and experiences, as well as a mention of the many marvellous works he had been able to accomplish by means of this system of Sacred Magic. The second and third books (which really contain the magic of Abra-Melin, and are practically based on the two MSS. entrusted by him to Abraham, the Jew, but with additional comments by the latter) differ in style from the former, the phraseology is quaint and at times vague, and the second person plural, "vous," is employed for the most part instead of "tu".

The work may then be thus roughly classified:

• First book: = Advice and autobiography; both addressed by the author to his son Lamech.
• Second book: = General and complete description of the means of obtaining the magical powers desired.
• Third book: = The application of these powers to produce an immense number of magical results.

Though the chapters of the second and third books have special headings in the actual text, those of the first book have none; wherefore in the "Table of Contents" I have supplemented this defect by a careful analysis of their subject matter.

This system of Sacred Magic Abraham acknowledges to have received from the mage Abra-Melin; and claims to have himself personally and actually wrought most of the wonderful effects described in the third book, and many others besides.

Who then was this Abraham the Jew? It is possible, though there is no mention of this in the MS., that he was a descendant of that Abraham the Jew who wrote the celebrated alchemical work on twenty-one pages of bark or papyrus, which came into the hands of Nicholas Flamel, and by whose study the latter is said eventually to have attained the possession of the "stone of the wise". The only remains of the church of Saint Jacques de la Boucherie which exists at the present day, is the tower, which stands near the Place du Châtelet, about ten minutes' walk from the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal; and there is yet a street near this tower which bears the title of "Rue Nicolas Flamel," so that his memory still survives in Paris, together with that of the church close to which he lived, and to which, after the attainment of the Philosopher's Stone, he and his wife Pernelle caused a handsome peristyle to be erected.

From his own account, the author of the present work appears to have been born in A.D. 1362, and to have written this manuscript for his son, Lamech, in 1458, being then in his ninety-sixth year. That is to say, that he was the contemporary both of Nicholas Flamel and Pernelle, and also of the mystical Christian Rosenkreutz, the founder of the celebrated Rosicrucian Order or Fraternity in Europe. Like the latter, he appears to have been very early seized with the desire of obtaining magical knowledge; like him and Flamel, he left his home and travelled in search of the initiated wisdom; like them both, he returned to become a worker of wonders. At this period, it was almost universally believed that the secret knowledge was only really obtainable by those who were willing to quit their home and their country to undergo dangers and hardships in its quest; and this idea even obtains to an extent in the present day. The life of the late Madame Blavatsky is an example in point.

This period in which Abraham the Jew lived was one in which magic was almost universally believed in, and in which its professors were held in honour; Faust (who was probably also a contemporary of our author), Cornelius Agrippa, Sir Michael Scott, and many others I could name, are examples of this, not to mention the celebrated Dr. Dee in a later age. The history of this latter sage, his association with Sir Edward Kelly, and the part he took in the European politics of his time are too well known to need description here.

That Abraham the Jew was not one whit behind any of these magicians in political influence, is evident to any one who peruses this work. He stands a dim and shadowy figure behind the tremendous complication of central European upheaval at that terrible and instructive epoch; as adepts of his type always appear and always have appeared upon the theatre of history in great crises of nations. The age which could boast simultaneously three rival claimants to the direction of two of the greatest levers of the society of that era -- the Papacy and the Germanic Empire -- when the jealousies of rival Bishoprics, the overthrow of dynasties, the Roman Church shaken to her foundations, sounded in Europe the tocsin of that fearful struggle which invariably precedes social reorganisation, that wild whirlwind of national convulsion which engulfs in its vortex the civilisation of a yesterday, but to prepare the reconstitution of a morrow. The enormous historical importance of such men as our author is always underrated, generally doubted; notwithstanding that like the writing on the wall at Belshazzar's feast, their manifestation in the political and historical arena is like the warning of a Mene, Mene Tekel, Upharsin, to a foolish and undiscerning world.

The full and true history of any adept could only be written by himself, and even then, if brought before the eyes of the world at large, how many persons would lend credence to it? and even the short and incomplete statement of the notable events of our author's life contained in the first book, will be to most readers utterly incredible of belief. But what must strike all alike is the tremendous faith of the man himself, as witnessed by his many and dangerous journeyings for so many years through wild and savage regions and places difficult of access even in our own day with all the increased facilities of transit which we enjoy. This faith at length brought him its reward; though only at the moment when even he was becoming discouraged and sick at heart with disappointed hope. Like his great namesake, the forefather of the Hebrew race, he had not in vain left his home, his "Ur of the Chaldees," that he might at length discover that light of initiated wisdom, for which his soul had cried aloud within him for so many years. This culmination of his wanderings was his meeting with Abra-Melin, the Egyptian mage. From him he received that system of magical instruction and practice which forms the body of the second and third books of this work.

In the manuscript original this name is spelt in several different ways, I have noted this in the text wherever it occurs. The variations are: Abra-Melin, Abramelin, Abramelim, and Abraha-Melin. From these I have selected the orthography Abra-Melin to place on the title page, and I have adhered to the same in this introduction.

As far as can be gathered from the text, the chief place of residence of Abraham the Jew after his travels was Würzburg, or, as it was called in the Middle Ages, "Herbipolis". He appears to have married his cousin, and by her to have had two sons, the elder, named Joseph, whom he instructed in the mysteries of the holy Qabalah, and Lamech, the younger, to whom he bequeaths this system of Sacred Magic as a legacy, and to whom the whole of the first book is addressed. He speaks further of three daughters, to each of whom he gave 100,000 golden florins as a dowry. He expressly states that he obtained both his wife, and a treasure of 3,000,000 golden florins, by means of some of the magical operations described in the third book. He further admits that his first inclination to Qabalistical and magical studies was owing to certain instructions in the secrets of the Qabalah, which he received when young from his father, Simon; so that after the death of the latter his most earnest desire was to travel in search of an initiated master.

To the sincere and earnest student of occultism this work cannot fail to be of value, whether as an encouragement to that most rare and necessary quality, unshaken faith; as an aid to his discrimination between true and false systems of magic; or as presenting an assemblage of directions for the production of magical effects, which the author of the book affirms to have tried with success.

Especially valuable are the remarks of Abraham the Jew on the various professors of the "art which none may name" in the course of his wanderings and travels; the account of the many wonders he worked; and, above all, the careful classification of the magical experiments in the third book, together with his observations and advice thereon.

Not least in interest are the many notable persons of that age for or against whom he performed marvels: The Emperor Sigismund of Germany: Count Frederic the Quarreller: the Bishop of his city (probably either John I, who began the foundation of the Würzburg University in 1403 with the authorisation of Pope Boniface IX, or else Echter von Mespelbrunn, who completed the same noble work): the Count of Warwick: Henry VI of England: the rival Popes -- John XXIII, Martin V, Gregory XII, and Benedict XIII: the Council of Constance: the Duke of Bavaria: Duke Leopold of Saxony: the Greek Emperor, Constantine Palæologos: and probably the Archbishop Albert of Magdeburg: and also some of the Hussite Leaders -- a roll of names celebrated in the history of that stirring time.

Considering the era in which our author lived, and the nation to which he belonged, he appears to have been somewhat broad in his religious views; for not only does he insist that this sacred system of magic may be attained by any one, whether Jew, Christian, Mahometan, or pagan, but he also continually warns Lamech against the error of changing the religion in which one has been brought up; and he alleges this circumstance as the reason of the occasional failures of the magician Joseph of Paris (the only other person he mentions besides himself and Abra-Melin who was acquainted with this particular system of magic), namely that having been brought up a Christian, he had renounced that faith and become a Jew. At first sight it does not seem clear from the occult point of view what particular occult disadvantage should be attached to such a line of action. But we must remember, that in his age, the conversion to another religion invariably meant an absolute, solemn and thorough renunciation and denial of any truth in the religion previously professed by the convert. Herein would be the danger, because whatever the errors, corruption, or mistakes in any particular form of religion, all are based on and descended from the acknowledgment of supreme divine powers. Therefore to deny any religion (instead of only abjuring the mistaken or erroneous parts thereof) would be equivalent to denying formally and ceremonially the truths on which it was originally founded; so that whenever a person having once done this should begin to practise the operations of the Sacred Magic, he would find himself compelled to affirm with his whole will-force those very formulas which he had at one time magically and ceremonially (though ignorantly) denied; and whenever he attempted to do this, the occult Law of Reaction would raise as a ceremonial obstacle against the effect which he should wish to produce, the memory of that ceremonial denial which his previous renunciation had firmly sealed in his atmosphere. And the force of this would be in exact proportion to the manner and degree in which he had renounced his former creed. For of all hindrances to magical action, the very greatest and most fatal is unbelief, for it checks and stops the action of the will. Even in the commonest natural operations we see this. No child could learn to walk, no student could assimilate the formulas of any science, were the impracticability and impossibility of so doing the first thing in his mind. Wherefore it is that all adepts and great teachers of religion and of magic have invariably insisted on the necessity of faith.

But though apparently more broad in view in admitting the excellence of every religion, unfortunately he shows the usual injustice to and jealousy of women which has distinguished men for so many ages, and which as far as I can see arises purely and simply from an innate consciousness that were women once admitted to compete with them on any plane without being handicapped as they have been for so many centuries, the former would speedily prove their superiority, as the Amazons of old did; which latter (as the writings even of their especial enemies, the Greeks, unwillingly admit) when overcome, were conquered by superior numbers, not by superior valour. However, Abraham the Jew grudgingly admits that the Sacred Magic may be attained by a virgin, while at the same time dissuading anyone from teaching it to her! The numerous advanced female occult students of the present day are the best answer to this.

But notwithstanding the forementioned shortcomings, his advice on the manner of using magical power, when acquired, to the honour of God, the welfare and relief of our neighbour, and for the benefit of the whole animate Creation, is worthy of the highest respect; and no one can peruse it without feeling that his highest wish was to act up to his belief.

His counsel, however, of a retired life after attaining magical power by his system (I do not speak of the retirement during the six months' preparation for the same) is not borne out by his own account of his life, wherein we find him so constantly involved in the contests and convulsions of the time. Also, however much the life of a hermit or anchorite may appear to be advocated, we rarely, if ever, find it followed by those adepts whom I may perhaps call the initiated and wonder-working medium between the great concealed adepts and the outer world. An example of the former class we may find in our author, an example of the latter in Abra-Melin.

The particular scheme or system of magic advocated in the present work is to an extent "sui generis," but to an extent only. It is rather the manner of its application which makes it unique. In magic, that is to say, the science of the control of the secret forces of Nature, there have always been two great schools, the one great in good, the other in evil; the former the magic of light, the latter that of darkness; the former usually depending on the knowledge and invocation of the angelic natures, the latter on the method of evocation of the demonic races. Usually the former is termed white magic, as opposed to the latter, or black magic.

The invocation of angelic forces, then, is an idea common in works of magic, as also are the ceremonies of pact with and submission to the evil spirits. The system, however, taught in the present work is based on the following conception: (a) That the good spirits and angelic powers of light are superior in power to the fallen spirits of Darkness. (b) That these latter as a punishment have been condemned to the service of the initiates of the magic of Light. (This Idea is to be found also in the Koran or, as it is frequently and perhaps more correctly written, "Qûr-an".) (g) As a consequence of this doctrine, all ordinary material effects and phenomena are produced by the labour of the evil spirits under the command usually of the good. (d) That consequently whenever the evil demons can escape from the control of the good, there is no evil that they will not work by way of vengeance. (e) That therefore sooner than obey man, they will try to make him their servant, by inducing him to conclude pacts and agreements with them. (z) That to further this project, they will use every means that offers to obsess him. (h) That in order to become an adept, therefore, and dominate them; the greatest possible firmness of will, parity of soul and intent, and power of self-control is necessary. (q) That this is only to be attained by self-abnegation on every plane. (i) That man, therefore, is the middle nature, and natural controller of the middle nature between the angels and the demons, and that therefore to each man is attached naturally both a guardian angel and a malevolent demon, and also certain spirits that may become familiars, so that with him it rests to give the victory unto the which he will. (k) That, therefore, in order to control and make service of the lower and evil, the knowledge of the higher and good is requisite (i.e., in the language of the Theosophy of the present day, the knowledge of the higher self).

From this it results that the magnum opus propounded in this work is: by purity and self-denial to obtain the knowledge of and conversation with one's guardian angel, so that thereby and thereafter we may obtain the right of using the evil spirits for our servants in all material matters.

This, then, is the system of the Secret Magic of Abra-Melin, the mage, as taught by his disciple Abraham the Jew; and elaborated down to the smallest points.

Except in the professed black magic Grimoires, the necessity of the invocation of the divine and angelic forces to control the demons is invariably insisted upon in the operations of evocation described and taught in Mediaeval magical manuscripts and published works. So that it is not so much, as I have before said, this circumstance, as the mode of its development by the six Moons' preparation, which is unusual; while again, the thorough and complete classification of the demons with their offices, and of the effects to be produced by their services, is not to be found elsewhere.

Apart from the interest attaching to the description of his travels, the careful manner in which Abraham has made note of the various persons he had met professing to be in the possession of magical powers, what they really could do and could not do, and the reasons of the success or failure of their experiments, has a particular value of its own.

The idea of the employment of a child as clairvoyant in the invocation of the guardian angel is not unusual; for example, in the "Mendal," a style of oriental divination familiar to all readers of Wilkie Collins' novel, The Moonstone, ink is poured into the palm of a child's hand, who, after certain mystical words being recited by the operator, beholds visions clairvoyantly therein. The celebrated evocation at which the great Mediaeval sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, is said to have assisted, also was in part worked by the aid of a child as seer. Cagliostro⁴ also is said to have availed himself of the services of children in this particular. But for my part I cannot understand the imperative necessity of the employment of a child in the angelic evocation, if the operator be pure in mind, and has developed the clairvoyant faculty which is latent in every human being, and which is based on the utilisation of the thought-vision. This thought-vision is exercised almost unconsciously by everyone in thinking of either a place, person, or thing, which they know well; immediately, coincident with the thought, the image springs before the mental sight; and it is but the conscious and voluntary development of this which is the basis of what is commonly called clairvoyance. Among the Highlanders of Scotland, the faculty, as is well known, is of common manifestation; and by the English it is usually spoken of as "second sight".

Unfortunately, like far too many modern occultists, Abraham the Jew shows a marked intolerance of magical systems differing from his own; even the renowned name of Petrus di Abano⁵ is not sufficient to save the Heptameron or Magical Elements from condemnation in the concluding part of the third book. Works on magic, written conjurations, pentacles, seals, and symbols, the employment of magical circles, the use of any language but one's mother tongue, appear at first sight to be damned wholesale, though on a more careful examination of the text I think we shall find that it is rather their abuse through ignorance of their meaning which he intends to decry, than their intelligent and properly regulated use.

It will be well here to carefully examine these points from the occult standpoint of an initiate, and for the benefit of real students.

Abraham in several places insists that the basis of this system of Sacred Magic is to be found in the Qabalah. Now, he expressly states that he has instructed his eldest son, Joseph, herein as being his right by primogeniture, even as he himself had received somewhat of Qabalistic instruction from his father, Simon. But this system of magic he bequeaths to his younger son, Lamech, expressly as a species of recompense to him for not being taught the Qabalah, his status as a younger son being apparently a serious traditional disqualification. This being so, the reason is evident why he warns Lamech against the use of certain seals, pentacles, incomprehensible words, etc.; because most of these being based on the secrets of the Qabalah, their use by a person ignorant hereof might be excessively dangerous through the not only possible but probable perversion of the secret formulas therein contained. Any advanced student of occultism who is conversant with Mediaeval works on magic, whether MS. or printed, knows the enormous and incredible number of errors in the sigils, pentacles, and Hebrew or Chaldee names, which have arisen from ignorant transcription and reproduction; this being carried to such an extent that in some cases the use of the distorted formulas given would actually have the effect of producing the very opposite result to that expected from them. (I have commented at length on this subject in my notes to the Key of Solomon, published by me a few years ago.) Wherefore Abraham the Jew it appears to me, in his anxiety to save his son from dangerous errors in magical working, has preferred to endeavour to fill him with contempt for any other systems and methods of operation than the one here laid down. For also besides the unintentional perversions of magical symbols I have above mentioned, there was further the circumstance not only possible but probable of the many black magic grimoires falling into his hands, as they evidently had into Abraham's, the symbols in which are in many cases intentional perversions of Divine Names and seals, so as to attract the evil spirits and repel the good.

For the third book of this work is crowded with Qabalistic squares of letters, which are simply so many pentacles, and in which the names employed are the very factors which make them of value. Among them we find a form of the celebrated Sator, Arepo, Tenet, Opera, Rotas, which is one of the pentacles in the Key of Solomon. Abraham's formula is slightly different: —

and is to be used for obtaining the love of a maiden.

The pentacle in my Key of Solomon is classed under Saturn, while the above is applied to the nature of Venus. I give the Hebrew form (see Appendix A, Table of Hebrew and Chaldee Letters) of equivalents:--

Or in Latin letters:

In the Key of Solomon it is (as being a pentacle) inscribed within a double circle, wherein is written the following versicle from Psalm lxxii, v. 8 "His dominion shall be also from the one sea unto the other, and from the flood unto the world's end". In the Hebrew, this versicle consists of exactly twenty-five letters, the number of the letters of the square. It will be at once noticed that both this form and that given by Abraham the Jew are perfect examples of double acrostics, that is, that they read in every direction, whether horizontal or perpendicular, whether backwards or forwards. But the form given as a pentacle in the Key of Solomon the King is there said to be of value in adversity, and for repressing the pride of the spirits.

This example therefore shows clearly that it is not so much the use of symbolic pentacles that Abraham is opposed to, as their ignorant perversions and inappropriate use.

It is also to be observed, that while many of the symbolic squares of letters of the third book present the nature of the double acrostic, there are also many which do not, and in the case of a great number the letters do not fill up the square entirely, but are arranged somewhat in the form of a gnomon, etc. Others again leave the centre part of the square blank.

In Appendix C to the Introduction I will, for the sake of comparison, give some examples of angelic invocation taken from other sources.

Abraham the Jew repeatedly admits, as I have before urged, that this particular system of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin has its basis in the Qabalah. It is well to examine what is here meant. The Qabalah itself is divided into many parts; the great bulk of it is of a mystic doctrinal nature, giving the inner occult meaning of the Jewish sacred writings. Also it employs the numerical values of the Hebrew letters, to draw analogies between words, the total numerical value of whose letters is the same; this branch alone is a most complicated study, and it will be foreign to our purpose to go into it here; the more so as my work, the Kabbalah Unveiled, treats at length of all these points. The so-called practical Qabalah is the application of the mystic teachings to the production of magical effects. For the classification of divine and angelic names; of hosts and orders of angels, spirits, and demons; of particular names of archangels, angels, intelligences, and demons, is to be found carried out even to minute detail in the Qabalah, so that the knowledge hereof can give a critical appreciation of the correspondences, sympathies, and antipathies obtaining in the invisible world. Therefore what Abraham means is, that this system of Sacred Magic is thoroughly reliable, because correct in all its attributions, and that this being so, there is no chance of the operator using names and formulas on wrong occasions and in error.

But also it is notable that Abraham the Jew (probably again with the intent of confusing Lamech as little as possible) speaks only of two great classes of spirits: the angels and the devils; the former to control, the latter to be controlled; and leaves entirely out of consideration, or rather does not describe that vast race of beings, the elemental spirits, who in themselves comprise an infinitude of various divisions of classification, some of these being good, some evil, and a great proportion neither the one nor the other. Evidently, also, many of the results proposed to be attained in the third book, would imply the use of the elemental spirits rather than that of the demons. No advanced adept, such as Abraham evidently was, could possibly be ignorant of their existence, power, and value; and we are therefore forced to conclude either that he was unwilling to reveal this knowledge to Lamech; or, which is infinitely more probable, that he feared to confuse him by the large amount of additional instruction which would be necessary to make him thoroughly understand their classification, nature, and offices. This latter line of action would be the less imperative, as the correctness of the symbols of the third book would minimise chances of error; and what Abraham is undertaking to teach Lamech, is how to arrive at practical magical results; rather than the secret wisdom of the Qabalah.

It is entirely beyond the scope of this introduction for me to give here any lengthy dissertation on the natures, good or evil, of spiritual beings. I will, therefore, only state briefly and concisely the principal differences between angels, elementals, and devils.

We may then conclude that angels, though themselves divided into numerous orders and classes, possess generally the following characteristics: That they are entirely good in nature and operation, the conscient administrators of the divine will upon the plane of the material universe; that they are responsible, not irresponsible agents, and therefore capable of fall; and that they are independent of the currents of the infinite secret forces of Nature, and can therefore act beyond them, though their classification and qualities will cause them to be more sympathetic with certain among these forces than with the rest, and this in varying degree. Also that they are superior in power to men, spirits, elementals, and devils.

The elementals on the other hand, though consisting of an infinitude of classes, are the forces of the elements of nature, the administrators of the currents thereof; and can therefore never act beyond and independently of their own particular currents. In a sense, therefore, they are irresponsible for the action of a current as a whole, though responsible for the part thereof in which they immediately act. Therefore also they are at the same time subject to the general current of the force, wherein they live, move, and have their being; though superior to the immediate and particular part of it which they direct. Such races, superior to man in intuition, and magical powers; inferior to him in other ways; superior to him in their power in a particular current of an element; inferior to him in only partaking of the nature of that one element; are of necessity to be found constantly recurring in all the mythologies of antiquity. The dwarfs and elves of the Scandinavians; the nymphs, hamadryads, and nature spirits of the Greeks; the fairies good and bad of the legends dear to our childish days; the host of mermaids, satyrs, fauns, sylphs, and fays; the forces intended to be attracted and propitiated by the fetishes of the Negro race; are for the most part no other thing than the ill-understood manifestations of this great class, the elementals. Among these, some, as I have before observed, are good; such are the salamanders, undines, sylphs, and gnomes, of the Rosicrucian philosophy; many are frightfully malignant, delighting in every kind of evil, and might easily be mistaken for devils by the uninitiated, save that their power is less; a great proportion are neither good nor evil, irrationally working either; just as a monkey or a parrot might act; in fact such closely resemble animals in their nature, and especially combinations of animals, in which forms distorted and mingled, would lie their symbolic manifestation. Another very large class, would not act irrationally in this manner; but with intent, only always following the predominant force either good or evil in their then entourage; a spirit of this kind, for example, attracted into an assembly of good persons would endeavour to excite their ideas towards good; attracted among evil-minded persons would incite them mentally to crime. Among how many criminals is not their only excuse that "they thought they kept hearing something telling them to commit the crime"! Yet these suggestions would not always arise from elementals alone, but frequently from the depraved astral remnants of deceased evil persons.

Devils, on the other hand, are far more powerful than elementals, but their action for evil is parallel to that of the good angels for good; and their malignancy is far more terrible than that of the evil elementals, for not being, like them, subjected to the limits of a certain current, their sphere of operation extends over a far greater area; while the evil they commit is never irrational or mechanical, but worked with full consciousness and intent.

I do not agree entirely with the manner of behaviour, advised by Abraham towards the spirits; on the contrary, the true initiates have always maintained that the very greatest courtesy should be manifested by the exorciser, and that it is only when they are obstinate and recalcitrant that severer measures should be resorted to; and that even with the devils we should not reproach them for their condition; seeing that a contrary line of action is certain to lead the magician into error. But, perhaps, Abraham has rather intended to warn Lamech against the danger of yielding to them in an exorcism even in the slightest degree.

The word "demon" is evidently employed in this work almost as a synonym of devil; but, as most educated people are aware, it is derived from the Greek "daimon," which anciently simply meant any spirit, good or bad.

A work filled with suggestive magical references is the well-known Arabian Nights, and it is interesting to notice the number of directions in the third book of this work for producing similar effects to those there celebrated.

For example, the ninth chapter of the third book gives the symbols to be employed for changing human beings into animals, one of the commonest incidents in the Arabian Nights, as in the story of the "first old man and the ind," that of the "three calendars and the five ladies of Bagdad," that of "Beder and Giauhare," etc., etc.; as distinct from the voluntary transformation of the magician into another form, as exemplified in the "story of the second calendar," the symbols for which are given in the twenty-first chapter of our third book.

Again these chapters will recall to many of my readers the extraordinary magical effects which Faust is said to have produced; who, by the way, as I have before remarked, was in all probability contemporary with Abraham the Jew.

But the mode of their production as given in this work is not the black magic of pact and devil worship, against which our author so constantly inveighs, but instead a system of Qabalistic magic, similar to that of the Key of Solomon the King and the Clavicles of Rabbi Solomon, though differing in the circumstance of the prior invocation of the guardian angel once for all, while in the works I have just mentioned the angels are invoked in each evocation by means of the magical circle. Such works as these, then, and their like, it could not be the intention of Abraham to decry, seeing that like his system they are founded on the secret knowledge of the Qabalah; as this in its turn was derived from that mighty scheme of ancient wisdom, the initiated magic of Egypt. For to any deep student at the same time of the Qabalah and of modern Egyptology, the root and origin of the former is evidently to be sought in that country of mysteries, the home of the gods whose symbols and classification formed so conspicuous a part of the sacred rites; and from which even to the present day, so many recipes of magic have descended. For we must make a very careful distinction between the really ancient Egyptian magic, and the Arabian ideas and traditions prevailing in Egypt in recent times. I think it is the learned Lenormant who points out in his work on Chaldean magic, that the great difference between this and the Egyptian was that the magician of the former school indeed invoked the spirits, but that the latter allied himself with and took upon himself the characters and names of the gods to command the spirits by, in his exorcism; which latter mode of working would not only imply on his part a critical knowledge of the nature and power of the gods; but also the affirmation of his reliance upon them, and his appeal to them for aid to control the forces evoked; in other words, the most profound system of white magic which it is possible to conceive.

The next point worthy of notice is what Abraham urges regarding the preferability of employing one's mother tongue both in prayer and evocation; his chief reason being the absolute necessity of comprehending utterly and thoroughly with the whole soul and heart, that which the lips are formulating. While fully admitting the necessity of this, I yet wish to state some reasons in favour of the employment of a language other than one's own. Chief, and first, that it aids the mind to conceive the higher aspect of the operation; when a different language and one looked upon as sacred is employed, and the phrases in which do not therefore suggest matters of ordinary life. Next, that Hebrew, Chaldee, Egyptian, Greek, Latin, etc., if properly pronounced are more sonorous in vibration than most modern languages, and from that circumstance can suggest greater solemnity. Also that the farther a magical operation is removed from the commonplace, the better. But I perfectly agree with Abraham, that it is before all things imperative that the operator should thoroughly comprehend the import of his prayer or conjuration. Furthermore the words in these ancient languages imply "formulas of correspondences" with more ease than those of the modern ones.

Pentacles and symbols are valuable as an equilibrated and fitting basis for the reception of magical force; but unless the operator can really attract that force to them, they are nothing but so many dead, and to him worthless, diagrams. But used by the initiate who fully comprehends their meaning, they become to him a powerful protection and aid, seconding and focussing the workings of his will.

At the risk of repeating what I have elsewhere said, I must caution the occult student against forming a mistaken judgment from what Abraham the Jew says regarding the use of magic circles and of licensing the spirits to depart. It is true that in the convocation of the spirits as laid down by him, it is not necessary to form a magic circle for defence and protection; but why? -- Because the whole group of the bedchamber, oratory, and terrace are consecrated by the preparatory ceremonies of the previous six Moons; so that the whole place is protected, and the magician is, as it were, residing constantly within a magic circle. Therefore also the licensing to depart may be to a great extent dispensed with because the spirits cannot break into the consecrated limit of the periphery of the walls of the house. But let the worker of ordinary evocations be assured that were this not so, and the convocation was performed in an unconsecrated place, without any magical circle having been traced for defence, the invocation to visible appearance of such fearful potencies as Amaymon, Egyn, and Beelzebub, would probably result in the death of the exorcist on the spot; such death presenting the symptoms of one arising from epilepsy, apoplexy, or strangulation, varying with the conditions obtaining at the time. Also the circle having been once formed, let the evocator guard carefully against either passing, or stooping, or leaning beyond, its limits during the progress of the exorcism, before the license to depart has been given. Because that, even apart from other causes, the whole object and effect of the circle working, is to create abnormal atmospheric conditions, by exciting a different status of force within the circle to that which exists without it; so that even without any malignant occult action of the spirits, the sudden and unprepared change of atmosphere will seriously affect the exorciser in the intensely strained state of nervous tension he will then be in. Also the license to depart should not be omitted, because the evil forces will be only too glad to revenge themselves on the operator for having disturbed them, should he incautiously quit the circle without having previously sent them away, and if necessary even forced them to go by contrary conjurations.

I do not share Abraham's opinion as to the necessity of withholding the operation of this Sacred Magic from a prince or potentate. Every great system of occultism has its own occult guards, who will know how to avenge mistaken tampering therewith.

At the risk of repeating myself I will once more earnestly caution the student against the dangerous automatic nature of certain of the magical squares of the third book; for, if left carelessly about, they are very liable to obsess sensitive persons, children, or even animals.

Abraham's remarks concerning the errors of astrology in the common sense, and of the attribution of the planetary hours are worthy of careful note. Yet I have found the ordinary attribution of the planetary hours effective to an extent.

In all cases where there is anything difficult or obscure in the text, I have added copious explanatory notes; so many indeed as to form a species of commentary in parts. Especially have those on the names of the spirits cost me incredible labour, from the difficulty of identifying their root-forms. The same may be said of those on the symbols of the third book.

Wherever I have employed parentheses in the actual text, they shew certain words or phrases supplied to make the meaning clearer.

In conclusion I will only say that I have written this explanatory introduction purely and solely as a help to genuine occult students; and that for the opinion of the ordinary literary critic who neither understands nor believes in occultism, I care nothing.

87 Rue Mozart, Auteuil, Paris.

For the benefit of the occult student I here give two other systems of angelic evocation. The first is taken from that part of the book called Barrett's Magus (1801), which is entitled "the Key to Ceremonial Magic". The second is copied from my Key of Solomon the King.

From The Perfection and Key of . . . Ceremonial Magic; being the second part of the second book of The Magus or Celestial Intelligencer;⁶ by Francis Barrett, F. R. C.

"The good spirits may be invocated of us, or by us, divers ways, and they in sundry shapes and manners offer themselves to us, for they openly speak to those that watch, and do offer themselves to our sight, or do inform us by dreams and by oracle of those things which we have a great desire to know. Whoever therefore would call any good spirit to speak or appear in sight, he must particularly observe two things; one whereof is about the disposition of the invocant, the other concerning those things which are outwardly to be adhibited to the invocation for the conformity of the spirit to be called.

"It is necessary therefore that the invocant religiously dispose himself for the space of many days to such a mystery, and to conserve himself during the time chaste, abstinent, and to abstract himself as much as he can from all manner of foreign and secular business; likewise he should observe fasting, as much as shall seem convenient to him, and let him daily, between sun rising and setting, being clothed in pure white linen, seven times call upon God, and make a deprecation unto the angels to be called and invocated, according to the rule which we have before taught. Now the number of days of fasting and preparation is commonly one month, i.e., the time of a whole lunation. Now, in the Cabala, we generally prepare ourselves forty days before.

"Now concerning the place, it must be chosen clean, pure, close, quiet, free from all manner of noise, and not subject to any stranger's sight. This place must first of all be exorcised and consecrated; and let there be a table or altar placed therein, covered with a clean white linen cloth, and set towards the east: and on each side thereof place two consecrated wax-lights burning, the flame thereof ought not to go out all these days. In the middle of the altar let there be placed lamens, or the holy paper we have before described, covered with fine linen, which is not to be opened until the end of the days of consecration. You shall also have in readiness a precious perfume and a pure anointing oil. And let them both be kept consecrated. Then set a censer on the head of the altar, wherein you shall kindle the holy fire, and make a precious perfume every day that you pray.

"Now for your habit, you shall have a long garment of white linen, close before and behind, which may come down quite over the feet, and gird yourself about the loins with a girdle. You shall likewise have a veil made of pure white linen on which must be wrote in a gilt lamen, the name Tetragrammaton; all which things are to be consecrated and sanctified in order. But you must not go into this holy place till it be first washed and covered with a cloth new and clean, and then you may enter, but with your feet naked and bare; and when you enter therein you shall sprinkle with holy water, then make a perfume upon the altar; and then on your knees pray before the altar as we have directed.

"Now when the time is expired, on the last day, you shall fast more strictly; and fasting on the day following, at the rising of the Sun, enter the holy place, using the ceremonies before spoken of, first by sprinkling thyself, then, making a perfume, you shall sign the cross with holy oil on the forehead, and anoint your eyes, using prayer in all these consecrations. Then open the lamen and pray before the altar upon your knees; and then an invocation may be made as follows:--

AN INVOCATION OF THE GOOD SPIRITS.

"In the name of the blessed and holy Trinity, I do desire ye, strong and mighty angels (here name the spirit or spirits you would have appear), that if it be the divine will of him who is called Tetragrammaton, etc., the holy God, the Father, that ye take upon ye some shape as best becometh your celestial nature, and appear to us visibly here in this place, and answer our demands, in as far as we shall not transgress the bounds of the divine mercy and goodness, by requesting unlawful knowledge; but that thou wilt graciously shew us what things are most profitable for us to know and do, to the glory and honour of his divine majesty who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.

"Lord, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven –- make clean our hearts within us, and take not thy Holy Spirit from us. O Lord, by thy name we have called them, suffer them to administer unto us.

"And that all things may work together for thy honour and glory, to whom with thee, the Son and Blessed Spirit, be ascribed all might, majesty, and dominion, world without end. Amen.

"The invocation being made, the good angels will appear unto you which you desire, which you shall entertain with a chaste communication, and licence them to depart.

"Now the lamen which is used to invoke any good spirit must be made after the following manner: either in metal conformable or in new wax mixed with convenient spices and colours; or it may be made with pure white paper with convenient colours, and the outward form of it may be either square, circular, or triangular, or of the like sort, according to the rule of the numbers; in which there must be written the divine names, as well general as special. And in the centre of the lamen draw a hexagon⁷ or character of six corners; in the middle thereof write the name and character of the star, or of the spirit his governor, to whom the good spirit that is to be called is subject. And about this character let there be placed so many characters of five corners, or pentacles,⁸ as the spirits we would call together at once. But if we should call only one, nevertheless there must be made four pentagons, wherein the name of the spirit or spirits with their characters are to be written. Now this lamen ought to be composed when the Moon is in her increase, on those days and hours which agree to the spirit; and if we take a fortunate planet therewith, it will be the better for the producing the effect; which table or lamen being rightly made in the manner we have fully described, must be consecrated according to the rules above delivered.

"And this is the way of making the general table or lamen for the invocating of all spirits whatever; the form whereof you may see in plates of pentacles, seals, and lamens.

"We will yet declare unto you another rite more easy to perform this thing: Let the man who wishes to receive an oracle from a spirit, be chaste, pure, and sanctified; then a place being chosen pure, clean, and covered everywhere with clean and white linen, on the Lord's day in the new of the Moon, let him enter into that place clothed with white linen; let him exorcise the place, bless it, and make a circle therein with a consecrated coal; let there be written in the outer part of the circle the names of the angels; in the inner part thereof write the mighty names of God; and let be placed within the circle, at the four parts of the World,⁹ the vessels for the perfumes. Then being washed and fasting, let him enter the place, and pray towards the East this whole Psalm:– "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, etc.". Psalm cix.

Then make a fumigation, and deprecate the angels by the said divine names, that they will appear unto you, and reveal or discover that which you so earnestly desire; and do this continually for six days washed, and fasting. On the seventh day being washed and fasting, enter the circle, perfume it, and anoint thyself with holy oil upon the forehead, eyes, and in the palms of both hands, and upon the feet; then with bended knees, say the Psalm aforesaid, with divine and angelical names. Which being said, arise, and walk round the circle from east to west, until thou shalt be wearied with a giddiness of thy head and brain, then straightway fall down in the circle, where thou mayest rest, and thou wilt be wrapped up in an ecstasy; and a spirit will appear and inform thee of all things necessary to be known. We must observe also, that in the circle there ought to be four holy candles burning at the four parts of the World, which ought not to want light for the space of a week.

"And the manner of fasting is this: to abstain from all things having a life of sense, and from those which do proceed from them, let him drink only pure running water; neither is there any food or wine to be taken till the going down of the Sun.

"Let the perfume and the holy anointing oil be made as is set forth in Exodus, and other holy books of the Bible. It is also to be observed, that as often as he enters the circle he has upon his forehead a golden lamen, upon which must be written the name Tetragrammaton, in the manner we have before mentioned."

In The Key of Solomon the King¹⁰ (Book II –- Chapter XXI) will be found other directions for invoking spirits as follows:-

"Make a small book containing the prayers for all the operations, the names of the angels in the form of litanies, their seals and characters; the which being done thou shalt consecrate the same unto God and unto the pure spirits in the manner following:-

"Thou shalt set in the destined place a small table covered with a white cloth, whereon thou shalt lay the book opened at the Great Pentacle which should be drawn on the first leaf of the said book; and having kindled a lamp which should be suspended above the centre of the table, thou shalt surround the said table with a white curtain;¹¹ clothe thyself in the proper vestments, and holding the book open, repeat upon thy knees the following prayer with great humility:-

THE PRAYER.

"Adonai, Elohim, El, Eheieh Asher Eheieh, Prince of Princes, Existence of Existences, have mercy upon me, and cast thine eyes upon thy servant (N.) who invoketh thee most devoutly, and supplicateth thee by thy holy and tremendous name, Tetragrammaton, to be propitious and to order thine angels and spirits to come and take up their abode in this place; O ye angels and spirits of the stars, O all ye angels and elementary spirits, O all ye spirits present before the face of God, I the minister and faithful servant of the most high conjure ye, let God himself, the Existence of Existences, conjure ye to come and be present at this operation; I the servant of God, most humbly entreat ye. Amen.

"After which thou shalt incense it with the incense proper to the planet and the day, and thou shalt replace the book on the aforesaid table, taking heed that the fire of the lamp be kept up continually during the operation, and keeping the curtains closed. Repeat the same ceremony for seven days, beginning with Saturday, and perfuming the book each day with the incense proper to the planet ruling the day and hour, and taking heed that the lamp shall burn both day and night; after the which thou shalt shut up the book in a small drawer under the table, made expressly for it, until thou shalt have occasion to use it; and every time that thou wishest to use it, clothe thyself with thy vestments, kindle the lamp, and repeat upon thy knees the aforesaid prayer, 'Adonai, Elohim,' etc.

"It is necessary also in the consecration of the book, to summon all the angels whose names are written therein in the form of litanies, the which thou shalt do with devotion; and even if the angels and spirits appear not in the consecration of the book, be not thou astonished thereat, seeing that they are of a pure nature, and consequently have much difficulty in familiarising themselves with men who are inconstant and impure, but the ceremonies and characters being correctly carried out, devoutly, and with perseverance, they will be constrained to come, and it will at length happen that at thy first invocation thou wilt be able to see and communicate with them. But I advise thee to undertake nothing unclean or impure, for then thy importunity, far from attracting them will only serve to chase them from thee; and it will be thereafter exceedingly difficult for thee to attract them for use for pure ends."

Although this first book serveth rather for prologue than for the actual rules to acquire this divine and Sacred Magic; nevertheless, O! Lamech, my son, thou wilt therein find certain examples and other matters¹ which will be nonetheless useful and profitable unto thee than the precepts and dogmas which I shall give thee in the second and third books. Wherefore thou shalt not neglect the study of this first book, which shall serve thee for an introduction² unto the veritable and Sacred Magic, and unto the practice of that which I, Abraham, the son of Simon, have learned, in part from my father, and in part also from other wise and faithful men, and which I have found true and real, having submitted it unto proof and experiment. And having written this with mine own hand, I have placed it within this casket, and locked it up, as a most precious treasure; in order that when thou hast arrived at a proper age thou mayest be able to admire, to consider, and to enjoy the marvels of the Lord; as well as thine elder brother Joseph, who, as the first-born, hath received from me the holy tradition of the Qabalah.³

THE FIRST CHAPTER.

Lamech, if thou wishest to know the reason wherefore I give unto thee this book, it is that if thou considerest thy condition, which is that of being a last-born son, thou shalt know wherefore it appertaineth unto thee; and I should commit a great error should I deprive thee of that grace which God hath given unto me with so much profusion and liberality. I will then make every effort to avoid and to fly prolixity of words in this first book; having alone in view the ancientness of this venerable and indubitable science. And seeing that truth hath no need of enlightenment and of exposition, she being simple and right; be thou only obedient unto all that I shall say unto thee, contenting thyself with the simplicity thereof, be thou good and upright,¹ and thou shalt acquire more wealth than I could know how to promise unto thee. May the Only and Most Holy God grant unto all, the grace necessary to be able to comprehend and penetrate the high mysteries of the Qabalah and of the Law; but they should content themselves with that which the Lord accordeth unto them; seeing that if against his divine will they wish to fly yet higher, even as did Lucifer, this will but procure for them a most shameful and fatal fall. Wherefore it is necessary to be extremely prudent, and to consider the intention which I have had in describing this method of operation; because in consideration of thy great youth I attempt no other thing but to excite thee unto the research of this Sacred Magic. But the manner of acquiring the same will come later, in all its perfection, and in its proper time; for it will be taught thee by better masters than I, that is to say, by those same holy angels of God. No man is born into the world a master, and for that reason are we obliged to learn. He who applieth himself thereunto, and studieth, learneth; and a man can have no more shameful and evil title² than that of being an ignorant person.

THE SECOND CHAPTER.

Therfore do I confess, that I, even I also, am not born a master; neither have I invented this science of my own proper genius; but I have learned it from others in the manner which I will hereafter tell thee, and in truth.

My father, Simon, shortly before his death, gave me certain signs and instructions concerning the way in which it is necessary to acquire the holy Qabalah; but it is however true that he did not enter into the holy mystery by the true path, and I could not know how to understand the same sufficiently and perfectly as reason demanded. My father was always contented and satisfied with such a method of understanding the same, and he sought out no further the veritable science and magical art, which I undertake to teach thee and to expound unto thee.

After his death, finding myself twenty years of age, I had a very great passion to understand the true mysteries of the Lord; but of mine own strength I could not arrive at the end which I intended to attain.

I learned that at Mayence there was a Rabbi who was a notable sage, and the report went that he possessed in full the divine wisdom. The great desire which I had to study induced me to go to seek him in order to learn from him. But this man also had not received from the Lord the gift, and a perfect grace; because, although he forced himself to manifest unto me certain deep mysteries of the holy Qabalah, he by no means arrived at the goal; and in his magic he did not in any way make use of the wisdom of the Lord, but instead availed himself of certain arts and superstitions of infidel and idolatrous nations, in part derived from the Egyptians,¹ together with images of the Medes and of the Persians, with herbs of the Arabians, together with the power of the stars and constellations; and, finally, he had drawn from every people and nation, and even from the Christians, some diabolical art. And in everything the spirits blinded him to such an extent, even while obeying him in some ridiculous and inconsequent matter, that he actually believed that his blindness and error were the veritable magic, and he therefore pushed no further his research into the true and Sacred Magic. I also learned his extravagant experiments, and for ten years did I remain buried in so great an error, until that after the ten years I arrived in Egypt at the house of an ancient sage who was called Abramelim², who put me into the true path as I will declare it unto thee hereafter, and he gave me better instruction and doctrine than all the others; but this particular grace was granted me by the almighty Father of all mercy, that is to say, almighty God, who little by little illuminated mine understanding and opened mine eyes to see and admire, to contemplate, and search out his divine wisdom, in such a manner that it became possible unto me to further and further understand and comprehend the sacred mystery by which I entered into the knowledge of the holy angels, enjoying their sight and their sacred conversation, from whom³ at length I received afterwards the foundation of the Veritable Magic, and how to command and dominate the evil spirits. So that by way of conclusion unto this chapter I cannot say that I have otherwise received the true instruction save from Abramelim⁴ and the true and incorruptible magic save from the holy angels of God.

THE THIRD CHAPTER.

I have already said in the preceding chapter that shortly after the death of my father, I attached myself unto the research of the true wisdom, and of the mystery of the Lord. Now in this chapter I will briefly mention the places and countries by which I have passed in order to endeavour to learn those things which are good. And I do this in order that it may serve thee for a rule and example not to waste thy youth in petty and useless pursuits, like little girls sitting round the fireplace. For there is nothing more deplorable and more unworthy in a man than to find himself ignorant in all circumstances. He who worketh and travelleth learneth much; and he who knoweth not how to conduct and govern himself when far from his native land, will know still less in his own house how to do so. I dwelt then, after the death of my father, for four years with my brothers and sisters, and I studied with care how to put to a profitable use what my father had left me after his death; and seeing that my means were insufficient to counterbalance the expenses which I was compelled to be at, after having set in order all my affairs and business as well as my strength permitted; I set out, and I went into Vormatia¹ to Mayence, in order to find there a very aged Rabbi named Moses, in the hope that I had found in him that which I sought. As I have said in the preceding chapter, his science had no foundation such as that of the true divine wisdom. I remained with him for four years, miserably wasting all that time there, and persuading myself that I had learned all that I wished to know,² and I was only thinking of returning to my paternal home, when I casually met a young man of our sect, named Samuel, a native of Bohemia, whose manners and mode of life showed me that he wished to live, walk, and die in the way of the Lord and in his holy Law; and I contracted so strong a bond of friendship with him that I showed him all my feelings and intentions. As he had resolved to make a journey to Constantinople, in order to there join a brother of his father, and thence to pass into the Holy Land wherein our forefathers had dwelt, and from the which for our very great errors and misdeeds we had been chased and cast forth by God. He³ having so willed it, the moment that he⁴ had made me acquainted with his design, I felt an extraordinary desire to accompany him in his journey, and I believe that almighty God wished by this means to awaken me, for I could take no rest until the moment that we mutually and reciprocally passed our word to each other and swore to make the voyage together.

On the 13th day of February, in the year 1397, we commenced our journey, passing through Germany, Bohemia, Austria, and thence by Hungary and Greece unto Constantinople, where we remained two years, and I should never have quitted it, had not death taken Samuel from me at length through a sudden illness. Finding myself alone, a fresh desire for travel seized me, and so much was my heart given thereto, that I kept wandering from one place to another, until at length I arrived in Egypt, where constantly travelling for the space of four years in one direction and another, the more I practised the experiments of the magic of Rabbin Moses, the less did it please me. I pursued my voyage towards our ancient country, where I fixed my residence for a year, and neither saw nor heard of any other thing but misery, calamity, and unhappiness. After this period of time, I there found a Christian who also was travelling in order to find that which I was seeking also myself. Having made an agreement together, we resolved to go into the desert parts of Arabia for the search for that which we ardently desired; feeling sure that, as we had been told, there were in those places many just and very learned men, who dwelt there in order to be able to study without any hindrance, and to devote themselves unto that art for which we ourselves were seeking; but as we there found nothing equivalent to the trouble we had taken, or which was worthy of our attention, there came into my head the extravagant idea to advance no farther, but to return to my own home. I communicated my intention to my companion, but he for his part wished to follow out his enterprise and seek his good fortune; so I prepared to return.

THE FOURTH CHAPTER

On my return journey I began to reflect on the time which I had lost in travelling, and on the great expense which I had been at without any return, and without having made any acquisition of that which I wished for and which had caused me to undertake the voyage. I had, however, taken the resolution of returning to my home on quitting Arabia Deserta by way of Palestine, and so into Egypt; and I was six months on the way. I at length arrived at a little town called Arachi, situated on the bank of the Nile, where I lodged with an old Jew named Aaron, where indeed I had already lodged before in my journey; and I communicated unto him my sentiments. He asked me how I had succeeded, and whether I had found that which I wished. I answered mournfully that I had done absolutely nothing, and I made him an exact recital of the labours and troubles which I had undergone, and my recital was accompanied by my tears which I could not help shedding in abundance, so that I attracted the compassion of the old man, and he began to try to comfort me by telling me that during my journey he had heard say that in a desert place not far from the aforesaid town of Arachi dwelt a very learned and pious man whose name was Abramelino,¹ and he² exhorted me that as I had already done so much, not to fail to visit him, that perhaps the most merciful God might regard me with pity, and grant me that which I righteously wished for. It seemed to me as though I was listening to a voice, not human but celestial, and I felt a joy in mine heart such as I could not express; and I had neither rest nor intermission until Aaron found me a man who conducted me to the nearest route, by which walking upon fine sand during the space of three days and a half without seeing any human habitation I at length arrived at the foot of a hill of no great height, and which was entirely surrounded by trees. My guide then said, "In this small wood dwelleth the man whom you seek;" and having showed me the direction to take he wished to accompany me no further, and having taken his leave of me he returned home by the same route by which we had come, together with his mule which had served to carry our food. Finding myself in this situation I could think of no other thing to do than to submit myself to the help of the divine providence by invoking his very holy name, who then granted unto me his most holy grace, for in turning my eyes in the aforementioned direction, I beheld coming towards me a venerable aged man, who saluted me in the Chaldean language in a loving manner, inviting me to go with him into his habitation; the which courtesy I accepted with an extreme pleasure, realising in that moment how great is the providence of the Lord. The good old man was very courteous to me and treated me very kindly, and during an infinitude of days he never spake unto me of any other matter than of the fear of God, exhorting me to lead ever a well-regulated life, and from time to time warned me of certain errors which man commits through human frailty, and, further, he made me understand that he detested the acquisition of riches and goods which we were constantly employed in gaining in our towns through so severe usury exacted from, and harm wrought to, our neighbour. He required from me a very solemn and precise promise to change my manner of life, and to live not according to our false dogmas, but in the way and law of the Lord. The which promise I having ever after inviolably observed, and being later on again among my relatives and other Jews, I passed among them for a wicked and foolish man; but I said in myself, "Let the will of God be done, and let not respect of persons turn us aside from the right path, seeing that man is a deceiver".

The aforesaid Abramelin, knowing the ardent desire which I had to learn, he gave me two manuscript books, very similar in form unto these which I now bequeath unto thee, O Lamech, my son; but very obscure: and he told me to copy them for myself with care, which I did, and carefully examined both the one and the other. And he asked me if I had any money, I answered unto him "Yes". He said unto me that he required ten golden florins,^* which he must himself, according to the order which the Lord had given unto him, distribute by way of alms among seventy-two poor persons, who were obliged to repeat certain Psalms;³ and having kept the feast of Saturday, which is the day of the Sabbath, he set out to go to Arachi, because it was requisite that he should himself distribute the money. And he ordered me to fast for three days, that is to say, the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday following; contenting myself with only a single repast in the day, wherein was to be neither blood nor dead things;⁴ also he commanded me to make this commencement with exactness, and not to fail in the least thing, for in order to operate well it is very necessary to begin well, and he instructed me to repeat all the seven⁵ Psalms of David one single time in these three days; and not to do or practise any servile operation. The day being come he set out, and took with him the money which I had given him. I faithfully obeyed him, executing from point to point that which he had ordered me to do. His return was fifteen days later, and being at last arrived he ordered me the day following (which was a Tuesday), before the rising of the Sun, to make with great humility and devotion a general confession of all my life unto the Lord, with a true and firm proposal and resolution to serve and fear him otherwise than I had done in the past, and to wish to live and die in his most holy law, and in obedience unto him. I performed my confession with all the attention and exactitude necessary. It lasted until the going down of the Sun; and the day following I presented myself unto Abramelin, who with a smiling countenance said unto me, "It is thus I would ever have you". He then conducted me into his own apartment where I took the two little manuscripts which I had copied; and he asked of me whether truly, and without fear, I wished for the divine science and for the True Magic. I answered unto him that it was the only end and unique motive which had induced me to undertake a so long and troublesome voyage, with the view of receiving this special grace from the Lord. "And I," said Abramelin, "trusting in the mercy of the Lord, I grant and accord unto thee this holy science, which thou must acquire in the manner which is prescribed unto thee in the two little manuscript books, without omitting the least imaginable thing of their contents; and not in any way to gloss or comment upon that which may be or may not be, seeing that the artist who hath made that work is the same God who from nothingness hath created all things. Thou shalt in no way use this sacred science to offend the great God, and to work ill unto thy neighbour; thou shalt communicate it unto no living person whom thou dost not thoroughly know by long practice and conversation, examining well whether such a person really intendeth to work for the good or for the evil. And if thou shalt wish to grant it unto him, thou shalt well observe and punctually, the same fashion and manner, which I have made use of with thee. And if thou doest otherwise, he who shall receive it shall draw no fruit therefrom. Keep thyself as thou wouldst from a serpent from selling this science, and from making merchandise of it; because the grace of the Lord is given unto us free and gratis, and we ought in no wise to sell the same. This veritable science shall remain in thee and thy generation for the space of seventy-two⁶ years, and will not remain longer in our Sect. Let not thy curiosity push thee on to understand the cause of this, but figure to thyself that we are so good⁷ that our sect hath become insupportable not only to the whole human race, but even to God himself!" I wished in receiving these two small manuscript books to throw myself on my knees before him, but he rebuked me, saying that we ought only to bend the knee before God.

I avow that these two books⁸ were so exactly written, that thou, O Lamech my son, mayest see them after my death, and thou shalt thus recognise how much respect I have for thee.⁹ It is true that before my departure I well read and studied them, and when I found anything difficult or obscure I had recourse unto Abramelin, who with charity and patience explained it unto me. Being thoroughly instructed, I took leave of him, and having received his paternal blessing; a symbol which is not only in use among the Christians, but which was also the custom with our forefathers; I also departed, and I took the route to Constantinople, whither having arrived I fell sick, and my malady lasted for the space of two months; but the Lord in his mercy delivered me therefrom, so that I soon regained my strength, and finding a vessel ready to depart for Venice I embarked thereon, and I arrived there, and having rested some days I set out to go unto Trieste, where having landed, I took the road through the country of Dalmatia, and arrived at length at my paternal home, where I lived among my relatives and my brothers.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER.

It is not sufficient to travel and journey abroad and see many lands, if one does not draw some useful experience therefrom. Wherefore, in order to show unto thee a good example, I will in this chapter speak of the mysteries¹ of this art which I discovered in one way and another while travelling in the world, and also of the measure and understanding of their various sciences; while, in the sixth chapter following, I will recount the things which I have learned and seen with some among them, and whether in actual practice I found them true or false. I have already before told you that my first master had been the Rabbin Moses at Mayence, who was indeed a good man, but entirely ignorant of the true mystery and of the veritable magic. He only devoted himself to certain superstitious secrets which he had collected from various infidels, and which were full of the nonsense and foolishness of pagans and idolaters; to such an extent that the good angels and holy spirits judged him unworthy of their visits and conversation; and the evil spirits mocked him to a ridiculous extent. At times, indeed, they spake to him voluntarily and by caprice, and obeyed him in matters vile, profane, and of no account, in order the better to entrap, deceive and hinder him from searching further for the true and certain foundation of this great science.

At Argentine I found a Christian called James, who was reputed as a learned and very skilful man; but his art was the art of the juggler, or cup-and-balls player; and not that of the magician.

In the town of Prague I found a wicked man named Antony, aged twenty-five years, who in truth showed me wonderful and supernatural things, but may God preserve us from falling into so great an error, for the infamous wretch avowed to me that he had made a pact with the demon, and had given himself over to him in body and in soul, and that he had renounced God and all the saints; while, on the other hand, the deceitful Leviathan had promised him forty years of life to do his pleasure. He made every effort, as he was obliged to by the pact, to persuade me and drag me to the precipice of the same error and misery; but at first I kept myself apart from him, and at last I took flight. Unto this day do they sing in the streets of the terrible end which befel him, may the Lord God of his mercy preserve us from such a misfortune. This should serve us as a mirror of warning to keep far from us all evil undertakings and pernicious curiosity.

In Austria I found an infinitude, but all were either ignorant, or like unto the Bohemians.

In the Kingdom of Hungary I found but persons knowing neither God nor Devil, and who were worse than the beasts.

In Greece I found many wise and prudent men, but, however, all of them were infidels, among whom there were three who principally dwelt in desert places, who showed unto me great things, such as how to raise tempests in a moment, how to make the Sun appear in the night, how to stop the course of rivers, and how to make night appear at midday, the whole by the power of their enchantments, and by applying superstitious ceremonies.

Near Constantinople, in a place called Ephiha, there was a certain man, who, instead of enchantments, made use of certain numbers which he wrote upon the earth; and by means of these he caused certain extravagant and terrifying visions to appear; but in all these arts there was no practical use, but only the loss of soul and of body, because all these only worked by particular pacts, which had no true foundation; also all these arts demanded a very long space of time, and they were very false, and when these men were unsuccessful they had always ready a thousand lies and excuses.

In the same city of Constantinople I found two men of our Law, namely, Simon and the Rabbin Abrahame, whom we may class with Rabbin Moses Of Mayence.

In Egypt the first time I found five persons who were esteemed and reputed as wise men, among whom were four, namely, Horay, Abimech, Alcaon, and Orilach, who performed their operations by the means of the course of the stars and of the constellations, adding many diabolical conjurations and impious and profane prayers, and performing the whole with great difficulty. The fifth, named Abimelu, operated by the means and aid of demons, to whom he prepared statues, and sacrificed, and thus they served him with their abominable arts.

In Arabia they made use of plants, of herbs, and of stones as well precious as common. The divine mercy inspired me to return thence, and led me to Abramelin, who was he who declared unto me the secret, and opened unto me the fountain and true source of the sacred mystery, and of the veritable and ancient magic which God had given unto our forefathers.

Also at Paris I found a wise man called Joseph, who, having denied the Christian faith, had made himself a Jew. This man truly practised magic in the same manner as Abramelin, but he was very far from arriving at perfection therein; because God, who is just, never granteth the perfect, veritable and fundamental treasure unto those who deny him; notwithstanding that in the rest of their life they might be the most holy and perfect men in the world. I am astonished when I consider the blindness of many persons who let themselves be led by evil masters, who take pleasure in falsehood, and, we may rather say, in the demon himself; giving themselves over unto sorceries and idolatries, one in one manner, another in another manner, with the result of losing their souls. But the truth is so great, the Devil is so deceitful and malicious, and the World so frail and so infamous that I must admit that things cannot be otherwise. Let us then open our eyes, and follow that which I shall lay down in the following chapters; and let us not walk in another path, whether of the Devil, or of men, or of books which boast of their magic; for in truth I declare unto thee that I had so great a quantity of such matters written out with so much art, that had I not had these of Abramelin, I could herein have given thee those. However, it is true that just as there is only one God, that not one of these books is worth an obolus.² Yet with all this there are men so blind that they buy them at exorbitant prices, and they lose their money, their time, and their pains, and which is worse, very often their souls as well.

THE SIXTH CHAPTER.

The fear of the Lord is the true wisdom, and he who hath it not can in no way penetrate the true secrets of magic, and he but buildeth upon a foundation of sand, and his building can in no way last. The Rabbin Moses persuaded me to be wise, while he himself, with words which neither he himself nor any other person understood, and with extravagant symbols made bells to sound, and while with execrable conjurations he made appear in glasses him who had committed a theft, and while he made a water causing an old man to appear young (and that only for the space of two hours and no longer). All the which things he indeed taught me, but the whole was but vanity, low curiosity, and a pure deception of the demon, leading to no useful end imaginable, and tending to the loss of the soul. And when I had the veritable knowledge of the Sacred Magic, I both forgot them, and banished them from mine heart.

That impious Bohemian,¹ with the aid and assistance of his associate, performed astounding feats. He rendered himself invisible, he used to fly in the air, he used to enter through the keyholes into locked-up rooms, he knew our greatest secrets, and once he told me things which God alone could know. But his art cost him too dear, for the Devil had made him swear in the pact that he would use all his secrets to the dishonour of God, and to the prejudice of his neighbour. Ultimately his body was found dragged through the streets, and his head without any tongue therein, lying in a drain. And this was all the profit he drew from his diabolical science and magic.

In Austria I found an infinitude of magicians who only occupied themselves in killing and maiming men, in putting discord among married people, in causing divorces, in tying witch-knots in osier or willow branches to stop the flow of milk in the breasts of nursing women, and similar infamies. But these miserable wretches had made a pact with the Devil, and had become his slaves, having sworn unto him that they would work without cessation to destroy all living creatures. Some of these had two years (for their pact) to run, some three, and after that time they underwent the same fate as the Bohemian.

At Lintz I worked with a young woman, who one evening invited me to go with her, assuring me that without any risk she would conduct me to a place where I greatly desired to find myself. I allowed myself to be persuaded by her promises. She then gave unto me an unguent, with which I rubbed the principal pulses of my feet and hands; the which she did also; and at first it appeared to me that I was flying in the air in the place which I wished, and which I had in no way mentioned to her.

I pass over in silence and out of respect, that which I saw, which was admirable, and appearing to myself to have remained there a long while, I felt as if I were just awakening from a profound sleep, and I had great pain in my head and deep melancholy. I turned round and saw that she was seated at my side. She began to recount to me what she had seen, but that which I had seen was entirely different. I was, however, much astonished, because it appeared to me as if I had been really and corporeally in the place, and there in reality to have seen that which had happened. However, I asked her one day to go alone to that same place, and to bring me back news of a friend whom I knew for certain was distant 200 leagues. She promised to do so in the space of an hour. She rubbed herself with the same unguent, and I was very expectant to see her fly away; but she fell to the ground and remained there about three hours as if she were dead, so that I began to think that she really was dead. At last she began to stir like a person who is waking, then she rose to an upright position, and with much pleasure began to give me the account of her expedition, saying that she had been in the place where my friend was, and all that he was doing; the which was entirely contrary to his profession. Whence I concluded that what she had just told me was a simple dream, and that this unguent was a causer of a phantastic sleep; whereon she confessed to me that this unguent had been given to her by the Devil.

All the arts of the Greeks are enchantments and fascinations, and the demons hold them enchained in these accursed arts so that the foundation of the true magic may be unknown to them which would render them more powerful than they; and I was the more confirmed in this opinion because their operations were of no practical use whatever, and caused injury unto him who put them into practice, as in fact many of them avowed plainly to me, when I had the true and Sacred Magic. There are also many operations which they say are handed down from the ancient Sibyls. There is an art called White and Black;² another angelical, Teatim; in which I avow that I have seen orations so learned and beautiful, that had I not known the venom therein hidden, I would have given them herein. I say all this because it is very easy to him who is not constantly upon his guard to err.

One old scribbler of symbols³ gave me many enchantments which only tended to work evil. He performed other operations by means of numbers, which were all odd, and of a triple proportion, in no way similar to the other, and for proof of this, he caused by such means in my presence a very fine tree which was near my house to fall to the ground, and all the leaves and fruits were consumed in a very short time. And he told me that in numbers there was hidden a very great mystery, because that by the means of numbers one can perform all the operations for friendships, riches, honours, and all sorts of things, good and evil; and he assured me that he had tried them, but that yet some that he knew to be very true had not yet succeeded with him. With regard to this particular, I found out the reason through the wise Abramelin, who told me that this came and depended from a divine ministry, that is to say, from the Qabalah, and that without that, one could not succeed. All these things have I beheld, and many others, and those who possessed these secrets gave them to me out of friendship. I burned these recipes afterwards in the house of Abramelin, they being absolutely things very far removed from the will of God, and contrary to the charity which we owe unto our neighbour. Every learned and prudent man may fall if he be not defended and guided by the angel of the Lord, who aided me, and prevented me from falling into such a state of wretchedness, and who led me undeserving from the mire of darkness unto the light of the truth. I have known and felt the effects of the goodness of the wise Abraha Melin,⁴ who of his own free will, and before I had asked him so to do, accepted me for his disciple. And before that I had declared my wish unto him he would accomplish and fulfil my desire; and all that I wished to obtain from him he knew before I could open my mouth. Also he recounted to me all that I had seen, done, and suffered from the time of my father's death down to this moment; and this in words obscure and as it were prophetic, which I did not then comprehend, but which I understood later. He told me many things touching my good fortune, but, which was the principal thing, he discovered to me the source of the veritable Qabalah, the which according to our custom, I have in turn communicated unto thine elder brother Joseph, after that he had fulfilled the requisite conditions without the accomplishment of which the Qabalah and this Sacred Magic cannot be exercised, and which I will recount in the two following books. Afterwards he did manifest unto me the regimen of the mystery of that Sacred Magic which was exercised and put into practice by our forefathers and progenitors, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and Solomon, among whom the last misused it, and he received the punishment thereof during his life.

In the second book I will describe the whole faithfully and clearly, in order that if the Lord God should wish to dispose of me before that thou shalt have attained a competent age, thou shalt find these three small manuscript books as forming at the same time both an inestimable treasure and a faithful master and teacher; because there are very many secrets in the symbols of the third book which I have seen made experiment of with mine own eyes by Abramelim,⁵ and to be perfectly true, and which afterwards I myself have performed. And after him I found no one who worked these things truly; and although Joseph at Paris walked in the same path, nevertheless God, as a just judge, did not in any way wish to grant unto him the Sacred Magic in its entirety, because he had despised the Christian law. For it is an indubitable and evident thing that he who is born Christian, Jew, Pagan, Turk, infidel, or whatever religion it may be, can arrive at the perfection of this work or art and become a master, but he who hath abandoned his natural law, and embraced another religion opposed to his own, can never arrive at the summit of this sacred science.⁶

THE SEVENTH CHAPTER.

God, the father of mercy, having granted unto me the grace to return safe and sound into my country; I paid unto him according to my small power, some little portion of that which I owed him; thanking him for so many benefits which I had received from him, and in particular for the acquisition of the Qabalah which I had made at the house of Abramelim.¹ It now only remained for me to reduce to practice this Sacred Magic, but many things of importance and hindrances presented themselves; among the which my marriage was one of the greatest. I therefore judged it fitting to defer putting it in practice, and a principal obstacle was the inconvenience of the place in which I dwelt. I resolved to absent myself su