Texts & Sources
Book of Jubilees
A retelling of Genesis and early Exodus arranged through jubilees, with angelic revelation, calendar teaching, and expanded narratives.
Results for “Witch trials and Devil worship accusations”
History
Edward Kelley
The scryer associated with John Dee’s recorded spirit conversations and later alchemical pursuits.
History
Michael Aquino
A founder and major author of the Temple of Set, associated with the modern Setian interpretation of Xeper.
Demonology & Spirits
Ereshkigal
A Mesopotamian queen of the underworld, known through myths of descent and traditions concerning Nergal.
Demonology & Spirits
Nergal
A Mesopotamian deity associated with death, war, disease, and the underworld.
Devotional Practice
Magical circle
A marked ritual space whose names, divisions, and purpose differ among magical texts and modern traditions.
Devotional Practice
Talismans
Objects prepared or used for a particular effect through inscriptions, images, materials, and ritual meaning.
Devotional Practice
Scrying
A divinatory or visionary practice involving a reflective surface, crystal, or other focus for reported images and messages.
Demonology & Spirits
Samael
Samael appears in Jewish interpretive literature in roles that vary between texts. His relationship with Satan, the serpent, and other figures should be described source by source.
Demonology & Spirits
Asmodeus
Asmodeus appears in the narrative of Tobit and in later magical and demonological literature. His different roles reflect the purposes of those texts.
Demonology & Spirits
Astaroth
Astaroth appears in early modern spirit catalogues and later illustrated demonology. Source editions matter when comparing the figure’s rank, appearance, and supposed knowledge.
Demonology & Spirits
Paimon
Paimon is a royal spirit described in the Ars Goetia and related literature. Musical procession and the teaching of knowledge are important elements of his received image.
Demonology & Spirits
Buer
Buer is a spirit associated in magical catalogues with learning and healing. The well-known radial illustration belongs to later printed demonology.
History
Solomon in magical literature
Solomon’s name supplies authority to several magical and religious works. Attribution to the king must be distinguished from the date and authorship of the surviving text.
Texts & Sources
Testament of Solomon
The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphal religious narrative in which Solomon questions and commands spirits. It differs from later procedural Solomonic grimoires.
Texts & Sources
Dictionnaire infernal
Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire infernal gathered supernatural traditions in a dictionary format. Its 1863 entries and illustrations remain influential in modern depictions of spirits.
Texts & Sources
Picatrix
Picatrix is the Latin title associated with an influential Arabic work of astral magic. Its cosmological and ritual framework differs from a catalogue of Goetic spirits.
Texts & Sources
Corpus Hermeticum
The Corpus Hermeticum is a collection of philosophical religious dialogues concerning mind, the divine, the cosmos, and human knowledge. It should be distinguished from later works marketed as Hermetic teaching.
History
Astrology in Western esotericism
Astrology has supplied language and organizing systems to Western esoteric texts. Its historical role should be distinguished from demonstrated predictive effectiveness.
Devotional Practice
Divination
Divination consists of practices that interpret signs as answers, indications, or guidance. Methods differ in their religious assumptions and in the kinds of claims they make.