The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) · 63 of 175 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Page 21 (part 1)
CHAPTER IV The Rituals Of Black Magic § 1.
The Grimorium Verum THE four specific and undisguised handbooks of Black Magic, all in the French language, but in three cases, like so much of the Ceremonial literature, possessing Italian connections, real or imputed, are:-- I.
GRIMORIUM VERUM, or the Most Approved Keys of Solomon the Hebrew Rabbin, wherein the Most Hidden Secrets, both Natural and Supernatural, are immediately exhibited; but it is necessary that the Demons should be contented on their part.
Translated from the Hebrew by Plaingière, a Dominican Jesuit, with a Collection of Curious Secrets.
Published by Alibeck the Egyptian.
1517.
II.
TRUE BLACK MAGIC, or the Secret of Secrets, an MS.
found at Jerusalem in the Sepulchre of Solomon, containing: 1.
Forty-five Talismans with their representation, as also the manner of using them, together with their Marvellous Properties.
2.
All Magical Characters known unto this day.
Translated from the Hebrew of the Magus Iroë-Grego.
Rome.
In the year of grace, 1750.
III.
THE GRAND GRIMOIRE, with the Powerful Clavicle of Solomon and of Black Magic; or the Infernal Devices of the Great Agrippa for the Discovery of all Hidden Treasures and the Subjugation of every Denomination of Spirits, together with an Abridgment of all the Magical Arts.
(In its earliest edition, without place or date.) IV.
THE CONSTITUTION OF POPE HONORIUS THE GREAT, wherein may be found the Arcane Conjurations which must be used against the Spirits of Darkness.
With a Collection of the Most Rare Secrets.
Rome, 1670.
They are all tiny volumes, nominally in duodecimo, but much smaller according to modern measurements.
The date specified in the title of the Grimorium Verum is undeniably fraudulent; the work belongs to the middle of the eighteenth century, and Memphis is Rome.
The Grand Grimoire is not of higher antiquity.
That of Honorius is said to have appeared originally in 1629, but it has been sometimes referred erroneously to the same period of the previous century.
As indicated by the authorship which is attributed to it, the Grimorium Verum is based to some extent upon the Key of Solomon , the main points of resemblance being in the description of the magical instruments and in some of the forms of prayer.
It distinguishes plainly the powers which it is proposed to invoke by the name of Devils.
At the same time it refers them nominally to the four elements, which would connect them with the Sylphs, Salamanders and so forth; but the classification in question, somewhat incidentally made, does not really obtain.
There is an account of the Hierarchy of Spirits, with Lucifer, Beelzebuth and Astaroth as potentates in chief.
A portion of this account is drawn from the Lemegeton , perhaps through the Pseudo-monarchia of Wierus.
The work purports to be divided into three sections, containing:--( a .) The Characters and Seals of the Demons, with the forms for their Evocation and Dismissal.
( b .) A description of the Natural and Supernatural Secrets which can be operated by the power of the Demons, and that without any deception.
( c .) The Key of the work, and the proper application thereof.
Passing over typographical errors, the MS.
Transgressive knowing acquired against divine prohibition — the Watchers' teaching of metallurgy, sorcery, and cosmetics in 1 Enoch, the Gnostic Eve narratives, the Promethean mytheme; explicitly contrasted with gnosis_direct_knowledge, which is salvific.
The passage catalogs 'Black Magic' handbooks containing 'Secrets' and 'Infernal Devices,' framing this knowledge as transgressive or occult.
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 explicitly describes handbooks containing 'forms for their Evocation and Dismissal' of demons and spirits, which is the core definition of spirit conjuration.
The consecration of an inscribed physical object — seal, pentacle, amulet, character, or figure — so that it holds and channels magical power independent of any ongoing spoken formula, protecting, attracting, or acting on its bearer's behalf. Distinct from sacred_names (the power resides in the name itself, spoken or written, not in a dedicated physical vessel) and from spirit_conjuration (the object is not commanding or binding a spirit but is itself the locus of power).
The passage lists 'Forty-five Talismans with their representation' as a key component of the True Black Magic manuscript.
The doctrine and practice that spoken or sung word carries causal-magical force — that uttering names, formulas, songs, or incantations alters reality directly rather than merely communicating about it. Vainamoinen's runo-songs that move mountains and command iron, Norse galdr, Vedic mantra, Shinto kotodama, the magician's barbarous names in the Greek Magical Papyri, Iamblichean arcane signatures and inexplicable symbols, biblical creation-by-word. Distinct from sacred_names (the ontological power of names themselves) and prayer (address to the divine); word_power_incantation is the magical-causal efficacy of the spoken word as such.
References to 'Arcane Conjurations' imply the use of spoken formulas with magical efficacy.