The Lesser Key of Solomon, Goetia: the Book of Evil Spirits Contains Two Hundred Diagrams and Seals for Invocation ... Translated From Ancient ... London ... Only Authorized Edition Extant

by L.W. de Laurence (contributor)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Occult, Magic, Religion

96 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1942

About the author

Lauron William de Laurence was an author and publisher on occult and spiritual topics. While his publishing company was a pioneer in the business of supplying magical and occult goods by mail order, his distribution of public domain books and accusations of plagiarizing A.E. Waite and S.L. MacGregor Mathers tarnished his reputation.

Reviews

[teacupsandunicorns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read.

However it has been shown that the key of Solomon wasn’t really written by him and not originally written in Hebrew so who knows who originally wrote it. Some monk I guess.

Interesting that so much belief in magic(k) is based on this and it turns out it’s fake. Or at least it’s source was under a fake name/pretense.

Even Aliester Crowley based a lot of his stuff on this. However this is falsely attributed to Solomon, and I have read some articles that this conclude this is appropriation and antisemitism because someone not Jewish created this based on what they believe Jewish mysticism/magic is. So a non-Jew made a text on Jewish beliefs, pretending to be a Jewish source. So that’s not cool.

But I also cannot ignore the profound effect this has had on mystical beliefs in the West. I also wonder if there is some sort of truth to it, or something that resonates with people, since it is still read and used as a basis for mystical occult beliefs.

[Crangy Zerum]

I like to control a evil spirit do do my beding

[Ian Fitzpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fucking mad altogether but you wouldn't pick this up without knowing what it's about, so not bad

[JM · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are at all interested in the occult and magick ceremonial or demonology then this is a must have. An anonymous grimoire that most likely had been influenced Johan Weyer and his work this gives the reader a description of the medieval description of demons and what they can provide the conjurer. The language is easy to understand although is full of decriptions of Qabbalistic terms which can become obtuse if you are not used to reading about Jewish magic. Included along with the summoning invocations are the sigils required for summoning and which represent the demons.
It comes with a list of items and the descriptions of how to use them along with how to make incense and which metals represent the offices of the demons. Like a lot of grimoires it can be difficult for modern readers as the language is incredibly old and because it was written as an instructional text in a time where faith was a very real thing it can come off as silly and repetitive but if paired with a more modern telling of demonology and magick like Alan Moore's Promethea it can be a very good starting point.

[Nduko Elvis Nyanaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, it has come to my attention that spirits can be invoked to serve man's purpose. The book is about magic, separating it from "black art" or witchcraft, which often are doings of the devil. There is talk about inclusion of the five human senses and mind for magic to function... and that magic can be used to draw information from consciousness. However, the book dates back to the 16th century and I tend to question the complete facts in the information laid there-in. My belief in magic can be invoked by one or two absolutely convincing magical acts. It is still a great book to read even though the title may be a little scary.

[MaskedMinty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who could have believed that the Hellovaboss fandom would send me down the rabbit hole that makes me end up here, but I guess here we are. This is about demons in hell and an introduction to their basic information, as well as some talismans, etc. The English is pretty archaic, and the text is very heavy to read and can be very hard to follow. People with a Christian background may be more likely to connect with it. Nonetheless, an interesting read

[corvus . nox · Rating 3 out of 5]

jak to czytałem to prawie się zaraziłem psychoza religijna

[Ross Blocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recent podcast investigation made me curious to learn more about The Lesser Key of Solomon, and thankfully my friend Charles had a copy to lend me. Turns out, the full work is composed of five books, and this edition of Goetia: The Book of Evil Spirits is just the first of them, focused on identifying the 72 demons that Solomon supposedly exerted control over, and teaching their various attributes, sigils (images/seals to give one power over them), and how to invoke them in ceremonies and dismiss them later. The next three books address, respectively, mingled spirits of good and evil nature, good spirits of the 360 degrees of the zodiac, good spirits set over the quaternary of the altitudes, and a book of prayers and orations.

The esoteric terminology is already piling up. Let me take a step back to offer some context (which is sadly lacking from the book itself). Students of the Bible may be scratching their heads, wondering when Solomon had interactions with demons. This is a much later tradition, the first version having been compiled in the 1600s as Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis: a grimoire by an anonymous author, with source texts at best a century or two older. Let's just be clear that Solomon had nothing to do with this; it's a later fabrication borrowing his name. Even more embarrassingly, the names of the demons are extracted from the Hebrew letters of a short passage in Exodus 14 (19-21) thought to contain SHEMHAMPHORASH, the 72-fold name of God. Shooting back to this edition, in the 20th century there were efforts to publish this in English with commentary. The introduction suggests named and unnamed contributors, with the implication that some of them met horrible ends for dabbling in such dangerous arcane knowledge. A. E. Waite is one of the named contributors, he of the famous Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. The effort was taken over by perpetual troublemaker Aleister Crowley, who adds his own flavor and throws shade at others. This edition is published under L. W. de Laurence's name; he was a Chicago-based editor and distributor of occult materials. And by occult, I mean the medieval syncretist tradition incorporating magical elements of Egyptian, Greek, ancient Israelite, Indian and various other cultures into one dumbfounding synthesis.

Now that we've got that out of the way, Crowley is in his element here, and you feel the joy of an English schoolboy who is finally getting to employ the bits of Latin and Bible he learned in classes to write his own scriptures for goddamn once. His commentary includes soaring passages, filled with recondite allusions and obscurantist abbreviations:

I invoke Thee, the Terrible and Invisible God:
Who dwellest in the Void Place of the Spirit:-
Arogogorobraō: Sothou:
Modoriō: Phalarthaō: Döö: Apé, The Bornless One:
Hear Me, and make all spirits subject unto Me: so that ever Spirit of the Firmament and of the Ether; upon the Earth and under the Earth: on dry Land and in the Water: of Whirling Air, and of rushing Fire: and every Spell and Scourge of God may be obedient unto Me.

Pages of this, accompanied by geometric symbols, Hebrew writing, and squiggly diagrams with curlicues and arrows all might strike terror into the heart of my Christian school teachers (and I'm sure that's why Crowley delighted in it so), but it's quite yawn-inducing when you understand it as grown men getting their jollies off on spooky-sounding language. After pages and pages of drivel, they're just wasting their time and mine. There are various bold claims about how these incantations can exert mastery over matter, over the senses, obtain information, destroy enemies, obtain treasure, heal disease (didn't seem to help Crowley), and conjure physical beings, but also a suggestion that these names are vibrations that enhance various degrees of control over one's brain. *yawn*

Once you've sifted through the various incantations and keys and diagrams, etc., there is a list of the 72 chief spirits of the Goetia (which I've heard pronounced many ways, but internet consensus seems to be "go-EH-tee-uh") according to their rank. This includes a few you might have heard of, such as Bael, Asmoday, Belial, and Astaroth, but also many who don't get a lot of press: Sabnock, Shax, Phenex, Zagan, and Focalor. My favorites are Furfur, a name I called my sister when I was too young to pronounce "Jennifer", and the 58th demon, who's name is Amy. That's right, Amy.

I'm not sure why you'd want to read this, but if you're curious enough about magickal arcana, it might be up your alley. Just don't expect expect any actual demons to actually show up and actually do anything. If they do, give me a call.

Iao: Sabao:
Such are the words!

[Christopher Nilsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very amazing book of hidden knowledge passed down from the ancients. Very interesting. Five stars!!!!

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

good