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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly the Best of the Series, June 5, 2000
This review is from: Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History) (Paperback)
I consistently maintain an up to date collection of the Magic in History series, which I consider to be top notch for the occultist wishing to peruse past traditions. The series is as important for one's bookshelf and reading as Agrippa's Occult Philosophy series, in my opinion, or the Key of Solomon. However, unlike the two mentioned, most books in the series are historical suveys of theory and less practical (aka: grimoires). This particular text, however, is the exception, and is therefore by far my favorite. The book begins with summaries, in english, of various key experiments and practices outlined in the ritual handbook, followed by a full text, in Latin, of the manuscript. At the very end of the book are copies of the pages of the text itself. The manuscript is a bit of an enigma, in that the first two sections of it are missing, its authorship and ownership is uncertain, and even its date of origin cannot be verified. However, given the overlap between Agrippa's masterwork, one can see variations on magickal theory of the 15th and 16th centuries. While Agrippa dealt mostly with high magick, this manual, mislabeled necromancy, tends to stray into what is truly black arts. What is truly fascinating is that the fundamental theory and, indeed, basic practice of both the "divine" and "infernal" arts remain relatively constant, despite supposedly different sources of influence. To the modern occultist, this is a given. However, in the context of the period at which this text was supposedly written, this insight is profound and surprising. It strongly supports my personal belief that the concept of "God" and "Devil" are literally two perceptions of the same entity, and are only divided in the fragile and limited human psyche.
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing bit of Latin esoterica, January 29, 2001
This review is from: Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History) (Paperback)
People who are interested in works in the Latin language ought to take a special note of this book. It is one of the more curious and obscure things in print, and we're thankful for it. This reproduces in its entirely a fifteenth century manual containing someone's collection of magic spells. Unlike the fabled Necronomicon, this one's real. The spells themselves, as Prof. Kieckhefer's commentary points out, fall into a number of predictable patterns. Their basic premise seems to be that by using a mish-mash of sacred names in Hebrew and Greek, or invoking an even more unrecognisable congeries of infernal spirits, we can invoke the power of God to summon demons and make them do our bidding. Putting this unlikely theology into practise, though, seems frequently to require the sacrifice of a hoopoe, making the spells somewhat difficult to use for the North American reader. Good luck. What makes this book stand out is that, unlike similar collections of magical material, this one reproduces the entire original text in fairly easy mediæval Latin. I would have some nits to pick with the editing (it seems unlikely the fellow really meant to write "eciam" so often), but having this fascinating and obscure material to peruse in the original more than compensates for any such minor flaws. Original pages are often reproduced, showing the all-important sigils and arcane symbols. Serious diabolists may find this a must-read. Folks like myself, just interested in late Latin literature, will find it a hoot. Hope you're not a lip-reader, though.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent analysis of a necromancer's manual in context, October 6, 2002
This review is from: Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History) (Paperback)
Analyzing a 15th-century necromancer's book of experiments doesn't sound like gripping reading. Actually, it's quite fascinating reading, though this is definitely a geekbuy for the scholar of magic, mysticism, and religious trends. Simply, this book takes a largely complete necromantic manual and analyzes it in context of the time, history, and what the owner may be like. The manual in question thus becomes a touchstone for understanding a period in time, traditions, and ideas - and how they came to be. It does so quite well. There's a myriad of marvelous insights, informative information, and catalogues information, all tied together in comprehendible ways. If there is a flaw, its that the manual is included in the book - but with no translation! It's clearly aimed at scholars in that regard, but I have to wonder if a translation would have made it more useful in general. Despite this flaw, even if a near half of the book is in latin, it's really quite an interesting buy for a scholar of such things. If one has read the other books in the series, then this one is definitely worth it for its well-done contuinuing scholarship.
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