The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 58 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 18 (part 5)
Their particular forms are an armed king riding on a wolf; an armed man; a woman holding a buckler on her thigh; a she-goat; a horse; a stag; a red garment; wool; a cheestip.
Wool of a choleric disposition is perhaps a Goëtic form of gun-cotton.
The Spirits of the Sun are usually large of body and limb, sanguine, gross, and of a gold colour tinctured with blood--which recalls Mrs.
Browning's pomegranate.
Their motion is that of lightning; their sign is to produce sweat in the operator, which might, however, be the normal property of all these stellar nondescripts of the world infernal.
Their particular forms are a sceptred king riding on a lion; a crowned king; a queen with a sceptre; a bird-not otherwise described, but anything probably except that of paradise; a lion; a cock; a golden garment; a sceptre; and lastly, something which Robert Turner wisely left untranslated-- caudatus , i.e.
, tailed.
The Spirits of Venus have a body of medium height and a pleasant visage, of which the upper part is golden and the lower white or green.
Their motion is like that of a brilliant star.
Their sign is the semblance of maids sporting about the circle and luring the Magician to join them.
Their particular forms are a sceptred king riding on a camel; a naked maid; a she-goat; a camel--possibly the atrocious demon of Cazotte; a dove; a white or green garment; the herb savine.
The Spirits of Mercury appear commonly with a body of middle stature, cold, liquid, moist, which sounds redundant, but the reference is to the properties of quicksilver--that is to say, the Mercury of the philosophers was supposed not to wet the hand, but the Mercurial spirits of the sorcerer apparently did.
They are withal fair, affable in speech, of human shape and like unto armed knights.
They are comparable to silver-coloured clouds in their motion.
Their sign is that they cause horror and fear in the operator.
Their special shapes are a king riding on a bear; a comely youth; a woman holding a distaff-it is difficult to understand how such an apparition can be like an armed knight, an observation which, if it were worthwhile, might apply to the remaining modes of manifestation; a dog; a she-bear; a magpie; a garment of many changing colours; a rod; and a little staff.
Finally, the Spirits of the Moon have a large, soft, phlegmatic body, even as a dark cloud in colour.
Their countenance is swollen, their head bald, their eyes are red and rheumy, their teeth like those of a wild boar.
Their motion is like that of a great tempest sweeping the sea.
Their sign is a heavy shower of rain about the circle.
Their particular shapes area king like an archer riding on a doe; a little boy; a huntress with bow and arrows; a cow; a small doe; a goose; a green or silver-coloured garment; an arrow; a many-footed creature--perhaps a centipede.
The imbecility of this muddled tabulation places the forged Fourth Book in a more absurd light than it otherwise deserves.
It really reproduces the manner of Agrippa's treatise with a fidelity which is not unskilful and has quite as much claim to be taken seriously as any of the composite Rituals.
It is difficult to say whether it is more especially on the side of the devil or on that of folly, except in so far as these two are one.
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The spirits are described with human-like forms (kings, queens, maids, youths) and attributes (visage, teeth, limbs), attributing human characteristics to divine or preternatural beings.
Malevolent planetary rulers or demiurgic powers that govern the material world and obstruct the soul's ascent.
The text refers to these entities as 'stellar nondescripts of the world infernal' and mentions a 'demon', implying planetary rulers or powers governing the material realm.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage links specific spirits to planetary bodies (Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon) and associates them with corresponding colors, garments, animals, and elemental qualities (e.g., Mercury with quicksilver properties).
The grimoire-tradition practice of ceremonially commanding or binding a spirit through consecrated seals, circles, divine names, and prescribed instruments, compelling its appearance and obedience. Distinct from theurgy in the direction of the power relationship — theurgy is reverent engagement with the gods on the premise of the operator's own ascent, this is subordination of a lesser spirit to the operator's will — and from word_power_incantation and sacred_names, which name components (verbal force, name-power) this practice deploys rather than the ritual structure itself.
The passage details specific forms, signs, and attributes of planetary spirits used in ceremonial magic rituals, which is the core subject matter of spirit conjuration grimoires.