Ive come across this book several times, its a book on Demonology written by Dr John Dee the Elizabethan mystic. heres the link to it: (edited it seems by Crowley...) http://www.rahoorkhuit.net/library/ceremonial/classics/pdf/lemegeton/goetia.pdf Its interesting that books try to attribute the source as being King Solomon, who was renowned for his wisdom. I heard that when he died he had a trove of arcane scrolls under his thrown, cant remember where. What do you guys make of this book and demonology in general, im out of my depth here
It's pretty common in religious and occult writing for authors to attribute their work to older and more reputable writers. It's a way to try and establish some authority for the writing (although not very honest, mind you!) Many grimoires and spellbooks provide methods for dealing with nonphysical entities whether they are considered to be ghosts, angels, demons, or deities. In some cases the entities named in the grimoires are described as being demons but if you know anything about world mythology a lot of those demon names sound like deity names from non-Christian sources. For instance, in the Goetia the demon Bael sounds to me like it could be a variant spelling of Baal, who was a god worshipped among the Babylonians, Phoenicians, Sumerians, and others in that region. Amon is another that brings to mind the Egyptian god Amon (By the way, the word "amen" used in Christianity comes directly from Hebrew and is used the same way as a response at the end of a prayer or as a religious exclamation. Knowing that the Jews lived in Egypt for a period, it makes me wonder if they adopted "amen" from the Egyptian god Amon who's name is also spelled and pronounced as Amen. I'm not the first one to notice this either -- there's a brief mention of this at http://www.nazarite.net/king-james.html) I don't think all the entities named in the Goetia are necessarily just Pagan deities in disguise. There are a few clear examples though so it makes you wonder which other ones might also be. There is a lot of debate too about what the entities in the grimoires actually are. Some people believe they are real entities with external existence (perhaps living on some other plane of existence) while others believe that they are facets of our own psyches. There is also a lot of variation in how these sorts of entities are summoned. Some magickians summon to appearance "on the astral" (i.e. visible only to those who have some form of psychic sight rather than visible in material ways) while others say they do bring forth actual physical manifestations. I'm not sure personally whether it is possible to produce physical manifestations -- what appear to be physical manifestations could be hallucinations unless we have some ways to confirm such as by photographs or other outside observers. One thing that is vitally important though regardless what methods or theories you believe work with these entities -- you should NEVER attempt any sort of manifestation or contact with them until you are proficient in basic skills like banishing and protection. You don't want to invite something to be present if you aren't absolutely sure you can send it away again!
If one looks at the intro by Crowley, they will find that he more or less says that the demons are aspects of ones own mind, and the conjurations and bindings of the demons are a means of bringing those aspects of the psyche under the magicians control. Of all the grimoires this is one of the most popular. Though, many fail to understand the part about the demons being aspects of ones own psyche and just see them as demonic entities.
its a medieval text based on qabalistic theurgy....wasn't written by solomon as it was authored MUCH later. the modern takes on it introduced trance states,channeling etc. since you can't evoke a demon to physical presence otherwise
Neither is borrowed from the other; rather, both come from the root a-m-n "truth" in the Afro-Asiatic language family which includes Semitic, such as Hebrew/Arabic/Aramaic/Babylonian/Pheonician, and Egyptian, and Cu****ic (languages in Ethiopia and Somalia), and Berber (North African, now mostly overwhelmed by Arabic) as branches. EDIT: the naughty-word exciser won't let me spell the -itic group from "Cush", LOL!
Demonology scares me. I have realized that I know enough of magic just to be dangerous to myself and those in contact with me. I have looked into evocations but I have decided to keep away from this path at least for now. Maybe later when I know a lot more I might venture back but invoking entities is not for a faith heart and uninitiated. You can be initiated and your own source of power might be such that you might never want to dabble into demonology. Then again, you just might.....ask yourself why, first....
Exactly the point. Most Demonology I've read is nothing more than bastardised Christian myth, and while interesting for its mythical connections and roots, is otherwise quite vacant.
...as far as I understand it and I offer no offense to Crowley, Demons are the creations of our collective consciousness and as such they are very real. In addition, certain planetary spirits are real and can be contacted and summoned by the magician.
Maybe this is one reason why you should try to practice some form of Magick, because fear is strong emotion and you can use it to your advance.
I have been practicing ritual magick for many years, the Goetia was a Key (pun intended) to unlocking my psyche. I came across the book in the early 1970's, I found it underneath the front porch of the house we just moved into. It is accepted among most occultists that demons are ancient archetypal images that are buried deep within our unconsciousness, they are then brought to the surface by way of symbolism and trance induction (ritual).
