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CHAPTER III Composite Rituals § 1. The Key of Solomon the King. BY far the most important class of Magical Rituals is that which incorporates elements both of Black and White procedure-so called. For convenience of treatment these are here termed composite. At the head of all, and, within certain limits, the inspiration and the source of all, stands the Key of Solomon , with its complement, in many respects more important than itself, the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key , sometimes attributed to Solomon Rabbi; the Rabbi and the monarch are, however, one and the same-at least in respect of their office, which is the pseudonymous production of impostures. The other Rituals which will be treated in this class are the so-called Fourth Book of Cornelius Agrippa and the Magical Elements ascribed to Peter of Abano. The occult student--who is commonly led by fools, when not by impostors--has been taught to regard these works as dealing exclusively with White Magic, and it is part of the present design to indicate for the first time the mixed character of their proceedings, even on the surface thereof. The innumerable Rituals of Magic which remain in MS. and are never likely to be printed, belong also, with few exceptions, to the composite class, but, setting the Lemegeton aside, to which every prominence should be given, they have had little influence, and being, therefore, of no moment to the history of the occult sciences, will not demand further consideration than has already been accorded some of them in the slight sketch at the close of the first chapter. Mr. Mathers' presentation of the Key of Solomon , which is still in print, though the work of an uncritical hand, must be held to remove the necessity for entering into a detailed account of the Contents of that curious work. So far as it has been incorporated by the later makers of Grimoires, it will be found, with its Goëtic variations, in the Second Part. We have here only to consider the question of its antiquity and to establish its true character. The Key of Solomon proper is familiar to scholars in Latin, French, Italian and one or two German MSS. The oldest codex used by the English editor is in contracted Latin, and belongs to the sixteenth century. It is preserved in the British Museum. It is possible that older MSS. may exist in Continental libraries, but those of the Bibliothèque Nationale and of the Arsénal at Paris are of later date. The majority of known MSS. are in the French language. It is, however, claimed that the work was written originally in Hebrew. In this claim there is nothing essentially improbable, but it has the disadvantage of being championed by the last class of persons who hold titles for the expression of an opinion. Assuming that it is well founded, it is not unlikely that the original may still exist. The large Hebrew literature of the Middle Ages has been only imperfectly explored, especially in that part which connects with practical Magic. The knavish methods which have ruled in the manufacture of most magical books largely discount the probability with which I am dealing, and the mere affirmation in a manuscript cannot, under these circumstances, be regarded as evidence. No Hebrew scholar is acquainted at the present day with such an original, and three hundred years back the matter, according to P. Christian, was involved in precisely the same uncertainty, for at the end of the sixteenth century the learned Jesuit, Gretser, states that it was unknown, but that there was a Greek translation in the library of the Duke of Bavaria. The present whereabouts of this highly important MS. I have failed to trace, though I must not presume that I have taken especial pains concerning it. In a literature of this class, whether that is best which lies the nearest or not, it is serviceable enough for the practical purpose.