The Book of Abramelin
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The Book of Abramelin tells the story of an
The book has the form of an
The work was translated into English by
Structure
The
The story involves Abraham of Worms passing his
Abramelin extracted a promise from Abraham that he would give up his "false dogmas" and live "in the Way and Law of the Lord."[
Origin
The book exists in the form of twelve manuscripts and an early printed edition. The provenance of the text has not been definitively identified. The earliest manuscripts are two versions that date from about 1608, are written in German and are now found in Wolfenbüttel.[ms 1][ms 2] Another two manuscripts are in Dresden, and date from about 1700 and 1750 respectively.[ms 3][ms 4]
The first printed version, also in German, dates to 1725 and was printed in Cologne by Peter Hammer.[4] A partial copy in Hebrew is found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and dates from around 1740.[ms 5] An 18th century manuscript copy exists in French in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris, an institution founded in 1757.[ms 6] Another 17th-century manuscript in Italian exists in the 'Legato Martinengo' of the Queriniana Library in Brescia, Italy. It was part of the collection of the Count and Qabbalist Leopardo Martinengo of Barco and Torre Pallavicina. The manuscript, unknown for centuries to international researchers until 2009, has been found by academic researcher Maria Elena Loda in the esoteric section. At the moment, it is the only known manuscript translation in the Italian language of the Abramelin grimoire.[5][6]
All German copies of the text consist of four books: an autobiographical account of the travels of Abraham of Worms to Egypt, a book of assorted materials from the corpus of the
Of all the extant sources, the German manuscripts in Wolfenbüttel and Dresden are taken by scholars to be the authoritative texts. According to respected Kabbalah scholar
The German
Magic word squares
The practical magic of Abramelin (found in both Book III of the French text, and Book IV of the German original) centres around a set of
For example, a square entitled "To walk underwater for as long as you want" contains the word MAIAM (מים), the Hebrew word for "water". A square for recovering treasures of jewelry begins with the word TIPHARAH (תפארה, a variant of Tiferet), which can mean "golden ring" in Hebrew and is also the name of the sphere of "Beauty" (which has the planetary attribution of the Sun) on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.
Translations
19th century
In 1897, The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage was translated into English by the
- von Worms, Abraham (1975) [1897]. The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. Translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers (reprint ed.). Dover Publications. OCLC 868276719. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
21st century
A German translation, credited to Abraham of Worms and edited by Georg Dehn, was published in 2001 by Edition Araki. In the Dehn version, the fourth book is included, and it is primarily based on the German sources.[citation needed] All 251 of the word squares are completely filled in.[citation needed] An English translation of Dehn's edition was published in 2006 by the American publisher Nicholas Hays.
- von Worms, Abraham (2001). Buch Abramelin das ist Die egyptischen großen Offenbarungen. Oder des Abraham von Worms Buch der wahren Praktik in der uralten göttlichen Magie. Editions Araki. ISBN 3-936149-00-3.
- von Worms, Abraham (2006). Dehn, Georg (ed.). Book of Abramelin: A New Translation. Translated by Steven Guth. Nicholas Hays. ISBN 0-89254-127-X.
See also
- Aleister Crowley – English occultist (1875–1947)
- A Dark Song – 2016 film about the ritual
- Bornless Ritual – Ritual of Western ceremonial magic
- Ceremonial magic – Variety of rituals of magic
- Magic (supernatural) § Baroque period
- Renaissance magic – Magical science during the Renaissance
- Sorcery (goetia) – Magical practice involving evocation of demons
References
Citations
- ^ von Worms (1975).
- ^ Rons (2010).
- ^ a b c von Worms (1975), p. 11.
- ^ von Worms (1725).
- ^ Loda (2009).
- ^ Loda (2015).
- ^ von Worms (2006), p. xxv.
- ^ von Worms (2006), p. [page needed].
Works cited
- Loda, Maria Elena (2009). "La Magia Sacra di Abramelin". Misinta (31). (Critical article about the Italian manuscript of the Martinengo Collection).
- Loda, Maria Elena (2015). "Libri, Maghi, Misteri: il manoscritto di Abramelin nella Biblioteca Queriniana di Brescia". Medioevo (216). (Critical article with new details about the Italian manuscript of the Martinengo Collection).
- Rons, Ian (16 May 2010). "Review: The Book of Abramelin: A New Translation". The Magickal Review. Archived from the original on 2013-12-08.
- von Worms, Abraham (1725). Die egyptischen großen Offenbarungen, in sich begreifend die aufgefundenen Geheimnisbücher Mosis; oder des Juden Abraham von Worms Buch der wahren Praktik in der uralten göttlichen Magie und erstaunlichen Dingen, wie sie durch die heilige Kabbala und durch Elohym mitgetheilt worden. Sammt der Geister – und Wunder-Herrschaft, welche Moses in der Wüste aus dem feurigen Busch erlernet, alle Verborgenheiten der Kabbala umfassend. Köln.
Manuscripts
- ^ Abraham eines Juden von Worms untereinander versteckte zum Theil aus der Kabala and Magia gezogene, zum Theil durch vornehme Rabbiner als Arabern un anderen so wie auch von seinem Vater Simon erhaltene, nachgehend, aber meisten Theils selbst erfahrene un probirte, in diese nachfolgende Schrift verfaste und endlich an seinen jüngeren Sohn Lamech hinterllaßene Künste: so geschehen ud geschrieben circa Annum 1404. Wolfenbüttel Library, Codex Guelfibus 10.1.
- ^ Abraham ben Simon bar Juda ben Simon. Das Buch der wahren praktik von der alten Magia. Anno 1608. Wolfenbüttel Library, Codex Guelfibus 47.13.
- ^ Cabala Mystica Aegyptiorum et Patriarchum. Anonymous. Staxon State and University Library, Dresden. MS N 161.
- ^ Magia Abraham oder Underricht von der Heiligen Cabala. Signatur TS. Saxon State and University Library, Dresden. MS M 111.
- ^ Sefer Segullot Melachim. Anonymous. Oxford University, Bodleian Library. MS. OPP.594.
- ^ "La sacrée magie que Dieu donna à Moyse Aaron, David, Salomon, et à d'autres saints patriarches et prophètes, qui enseigne la vraye sapience divine, laissée par Abraham à Lamech son fils, traduite de l'hébreu. 1458". Paris: BNF, Arsenal Ms.2351. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
Further reading
- Beecken, Johann Richard, ed. (1957). Die heilige Magie des Abramelin von Abraham. Schikowski. ISBN 3-87702-017-8.
- Gilly, Carlos (1995). "Cimelia Rhodostaurotica - Die Rosenkreuzer im Spiegel der zwischen 1610 und 1660 entstandenen". In de Pelikan (ed.). Handschriften und Drucke. pp. S. 18-19. (The first critical discussion of the original manuscript of the pseudoepigraphical author Abraham of Worms, first written in German in 1608 and transmitted in codified form (Wolfenbüttel HAB, cod. guelf. 47.13 Aug. 4°, fols. 1r-31v), together with the corresponding decoding key (cod. guelf. 10.1.b Aug. 2°, S. 147). The manuscript is presented in its historical context and compared to the later, uncritical copies and editions.)
- von Inns, Jeorg, ed. (1988). Das Buch der wahren Praktik in der goettlichen Magie. Diederichs Gelbe Reihe.