The Book of Ceremonial Magic

...connection with the collection original: "congeries" of arts and processes which are understood as Practical Magic. As a mystic, I am certain that there was—as there still is—a true science belonging to the ancient sanctuaries. I am also certain that this science resulted in that experience which imparts wisdom. However, it did not correspond to any of the arts and processes to which I refer here, nor to anything that the mind can receive by attempting to elevate them.

The consideration of such a possibility—which I have already dismissed—is therefore excluded from the inquiry I have attempted in this work. As will be seen, I have also excluded the distinctions that have existed between the "good" and "evil" sides of these arts. This is not because such a distinction does not exist on the surface, but because the two aspects dissolve into one another; they belong together in a root common to both.

The actual question before us is in what way, if any, magical procedure draws from the secret traditions of the past, and thus how it fits into the general subject of such traditions, whether in Christian or earlier times. If it does draw from them, it could only be from the worthless side of tradition. It will not elevate a subject which the records of centuries have shown to be incapable of being raised; it will, however, let us know where we stand. Looking at the question directly, a tradition consisting of all kinds of rubbish is very likely to have been handed down from antiquity. In respect to occultism, the final scraps and fragments original: "drift and scattermeal" have passed into the Grimoires Textbooks of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, and how to summon entities., Keys of Solomon, and other innumerable rituals by which "Art Magic" has been preserved in written records.

As this book represents a work originally issued in 1898—now under a new title and with many additions—I have taken the opportunity to indicate its position in relation to my far more important works which explain my interpretation of the Secret Tradition in Christian Times. I have achieved this goal (which is quite clear and simple) not by making a regrettable comparison between my other writings and this one, but by showing in a brief introduction the proper sense in which phenomenal occultism Magic focused on producing observable physical or psychic effects. and all its various arts connect to the tradition of the mystics. They are the path of illusion. It is through this path that the psychic nature of man enters that other path which descends into the abyss.

In its current revision, this book necessarily remains a presentation of old texts in the form of a digest. I have added some new sections so that it may be more representative of the field. If the reader will pardon a touch of fantasy at the beginning—which is not entirely lacking in seriousness—the work itself is now an appendix to my introductory thesis. It provides the textual, historical, and other evidence by which that thesis is supported.

In the year 1889, a commentator on the more dry original: "arid" and unprofitable side of Kabbalistic doctrine A form of Jewish mysticism. edited an English version of a text on Ceremonial Magic entitled Clavicula Salomonis, or, the Key of Solomon the King. In an introduction added to the work, he stated that he saw no reason to doubt—and therefore presumably accepted—the tradition of its authorship. 1 Regarding his critical judgment, this statement summarizes his qualifications to be a "teacher of fools" original: mentor stultorum. It should be added, as further evidence, that he undertook his translation specifically for the use of "occult students"—that is, for those people who believe in the effectiveness of magical rites and may, as an expression of their faith, desire to put them into practice. With this...