PREFACE.

...attributed to SOLOMON, and which have in some cases been specifically confused with the present work; but they have nothing really to do with it. They are full of evil magic, and I cannot caution the practical student too strongly against them.

There is also another work called the “Lemegeton, or the Lesser Key of Solomon the King,” which is full of seals of various spirits; it is not the same as the present book, though it is extremely valuable in its own area of study.

In editing this volume, I have omitted one or two experiments that heavily involve black magic and which were evidently derived from the two Goetic original: "Goetic" — referring to Goetia, a type of magic involving the invocation of spirits or demons, often perceived as lower or darker than theurgical magic. works mentioned above. I must also caution the practical worker against the use of blood; the prayer, the pentacle, and the perfumes—or TEMPLE INCENSE—are sufficient when used correctly, whereas the former practice verges dangerously toward the path of evil. Let anyone who, despite the warnings in this volume, decides to perform evil acts be assured that evil will recoil upon them, and they will be struck by the resulting backlash.

This work is edited from several ancient manuscripts original: "MSS." — abbreviation for manuscripts. in the British Museum. These all differ from one another in various ways, with some including what others omit. Unfortunately, they all agree on one thing: the terrible distortion of the Hebrew words due to the ignorance of the transcribers. The Hebrew is even worse in the pentacles Pentacles: Talismans or magical diagrams, often circular, used in ritual magic to focus power or provide protection., where the letters are so poorly scribbled that they are actually undecipherable in some cases. It has been part of my work for several years to correct and restore the proper Hebrew and magical characters in these pentacles. The student may therefore safely rely on these being as nearly correct in this current reproduction as possible. Consequently, wherever I could, I have corrected the Hebrew of the magical names in the conjurations and pentacles. In the few instances where this was not possible, I have presented them in their most common form, carefully comparing one manuscript with another throughout. The chapters are organized slightly differently in the various manuscripts; in some cases, the material within them has been rearranged. I have added notes wherever necessary.

The manuscripts from which this work is edited are: Additional MS 10,862; Sloane MSS 1307 and 3091; Harleian MS 3981; King’s MS 288; and Lansdowne MSS 1202 and 1203—seven codices Codices: Ancient manuscript texts in book form rather than on scrolls. in all.

Of all these, Additional MS 10,862 is the oldest, dating to about the end of the sixteenth century. Harleian MS 3981 is probably from the middle of the seventeenth century, and the others are of a somewhat later date.

Additional MS 10,862 is written in abbreviated Latin original: "contracted Latin" and is difficult to read, but it contains chapters omitted in the others as well as an important introduction. Its wording is more concise. Its title is short: simply THE KEY OF SOLOMON, translated from the Hebrew language into Latin original: "translated from the Hebrew language into the Latin.". An exact copy of the writer's signature from this manuscript is shown in Figure 93.

Harleian MS 3981, King’s MS 288, and Sloane MS 3091 are...