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The Goetia of Dr. Rudd: The Angels and Demons of Liber Malorum Spirituum Seu Goetia Lemergeton Claviculu Salomonis (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic)

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The first question that comes to mind when one sees yet another "Goetia" on the market, is obviously, "Why should I consider this edition?"
In this case the answer is a little too complex to sum up in a single tag-line.

The first thing I want to make clear is, this isn't just the Goetia, as the title would suggest, but rather the entire Lemegeton! Further, it is based on the previously unpublished manuscript version compiled by Dr. Thomas Rudd. (Harley MS 6483)

While Joseph Peterson's Lemegeton is clearly the definitive version, Skinner and Rankine use this book as an operating table on which to discect how this material was used by actual working magicians of the 16th and 17th centuries. The process, according to the authors, is one of dualism, where the magician controls base entities by use of their matching divine counterparts. That is a concept that is alluded to, but never fleshed out in the Lemegeton itself. This volume goes into a great deal of detail on the use of the 72 Names of the Shemhamphorash to bind and control the 72 "demons" of the Goetia. This concept is not only spelled out, there are illustrated in these pages, the actual double-sided seals as employed by Dr. Rudd and presumably his contemporaries.

Other details that have not been previously published such as the proper use of the brass vessle and the breastplate, will be enough to get even armchair Goetic theorists off the fence, to make this purchase.

Enochian magicians may be interested in seeing Dr. Rudd's verion of Dee's Tabula Sancta cum Tabulis Enochi.

This massive 448 page work is heavily footnoted, and the student of Solomonic Magick will enjoy the ample back matter.

The contents are broken down as follows:

Front matter - 14 pages, including the introduction.

History and origins - 43 pages of it.

Evocation Methods - 24 pages exploring bindings, names, adversarial angels, invocations, equipment, and ceremony.

The Manuscripts - 241 page treatment of Dr. Rudd's full Lemegeton, which he himself called the Goetia for reasons that escape me. It should be understood that in actuality the Goetia is just one of the books of the full Lemegeton.

Appendices are broken up as follows:

Appendix 1 - Theugia-Goetia in Sloane 3824

Appendix 2 - Tables of demons from the Lemegeton (24 pages of tables!)This is a dream work of comparitive study on the Goetic entities, and their rank. Also included are Hebrew spellings of the names, alternate spellings, what if any stead ridden, other qualities, ruling angel, number of legions, planet (based on the metal associated with the spirit's rank) evoked appearance, and attributed powers.

Appendix 3 - Thomas Rudd's synthesis of Goetia and Enochia

Appendix 4 - Rudd describes 61 demons.

Appendix 5 - Sources for the material in the Lemegeton.

Appendix 6 - Seals from Sibley's Goetia.

Appendix 7 - Shem ha-Mephorash Angels

Appendix 8 - Ecclesiastical Planetary Hours

Appendix 9 - This is an odd piece but it really speaks to the 16th century mindset of Goetia and self justification. It is an explanation of names used in the Goetia, with some other random Kabalah thrown in. But if you ever need say, the consecrating prayer of Venus, well, there you go.

Appendix 10 - A study of some of the words used in evocation. This section is a Greek and Hebrew list of derivations of words used in Goetic evocations.

Appendix 11 - Narrative of Dr. Rudd, Sir John Heydon and a spirit "How a man may have the continual Society of a Guardian Genius"

Appendix 12 - Variant forms of Heptameron style circles.

Appendix 13 - Observations of metals and times of bindings.

Appendix 14 - Equipment diagrams. I was hoping for more here, but it serves its purpose.

Appendix 15 - Scot's form of commanding spirits


If you want to have a complete curriculum of Solomonic study, I suggest that you purchase this volume along with Joseph Peterson's Lemegeton. The Peterson edition is a scholerly comparitive work, while the present work is a snapshot of Solomonic Magick being put to practical work. These two volumes not only complement each other, but they are both equally vital to building an accurate picture of the scope and impact of this cycle of magick.

Mr. Skinner and I have discussed the theory of Goetic workings in the past. It should be noted that the authors not only report the dualistic model of Goetic workings, they champion the theory behind it. I myself have a different view, seeing the Lemegeton as a "Book of the Dead" for the living, moving High Shamanism into 16th century Europe (not to mention 21st Century Americas). Consider how many of these beings start out as a spirit-animal, only putting on a comely human form after a battle of wills with the exorcist of the Art. Never the less, I could hardly put this volume down. There are many pearls in these pages for any student of Solomon.

On a final note, the author pulls back the veil a bit on why there are no Goetic spirits associated with Mars, and raises the question as to there being a single demon attributed to Saturn. I had made a similar comment in my review of Runyon's reworking of the Goetia some time ago.

In publishing "The Goetia of Dr. Rudd" Skinner and Rankine have provided to the community of operative magicians an entrance way into traditional Medieval and Renaissance magical practices that until now had only been partially opened. While many books have been written about goetia, it is here, in this book, that we get insight into the actual workings of a magician who was a direct connection to Dee circle, and part of the continued transmission of those ideas in OPERATIVE form into the post-Renaissance period. The first section of the book is a general introduction into the world of magic, and an important foundation for understanding the significant differences between modern and traditional practices. There is also a discussion of 'why another book on goetia' and the significant details that sets this one apart from others - its being part of an operative diary of the work, as well as the inclusion of materials not previously seen with goetia, such as the Heptameron, suggesting a direct link between the two. While of interest to the armchair magician and academic occultist, it is practical magicians that will benefit the most from this work, as well as the previous two vols in the series - Practical Angel Magic of Dr. Dee's Enochian Tables, and Keys to the Gateway of Magic: Summoning the Solomonic Archangels and Demon Princes, also a rare Rudd manuscript. I cannot speak highly enough of these works and am indebted to the editors for making them available and look forward to future additions to the series.

The Goetia of Dr. Rudd
By Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

This book is a "must have" for anyone who is seriously interested in Solomonic ceremonial magick, from either a scholarly or a practical point of view. It is on a par with Joseph Peterson's Lemegeton --- which it complements and amplifies with a wealth of previously unpublished authentic 17th century materials from the noted magician Thomas Rudd (see A Treatise on Angel Magic, McLean 1982). Rudd was no slavish follower of ancient texts. He had even attempted a synthesis of Dr. John Dee's 16th century Enochian system and the Goetia. In the interest of purity Joseph Peterson had declined any major use of Rudd's particular personal version of the Goetia (and the remaining books of the Lemegeton: B.L. Harley MS. 6483) because of Rudd's creative additions and modifications -- with the exception of the very important sample of the Shemehamphorash invocations and sigils Rudd had used to safety and control his Goetic spirits (see Peterson 2001, pp. 263-4).
As Skinner and Rankine point out, Rudd also included material from the earlier Heptameron, attributed to Peter Abano, in his version of the Goetia. It also appears that Rudd may not have used a triangle in his Goetic operations even though he was conscientious enough not to delete any of the numerous instructions for its use in the texts he was employing. In this case the author-editors find significance in the absence of a graphic representation of the triangle in Rudd's version of the Goetia. (It is possible that Rudd simply had his own version of the triangle that he did not wish to make a record of, or that a folio of the MS. is missing.) The author-editors also suggest that Rudd used the Brass Vessel as a primary conjuration device. They prudently refrain from conjecturing how it might have been employed (see page 185, not 181) but quote Rudd's notes following the standard conjurations: "You may command these spirits into the brazen vessel as you do into the Triangle. Saying that you do forthwith appear before this Circle, in this Vessel of Brass in a fair and comely shape & etc. as is showed (sic) before in the conjurations."
We are left to our own ingenium as to exactly how this would be done but, based on past experience I would suggest that a buffer and a good grade of brass polish might be essential....
As a side note, Skinner and Rankine point out that Peter Smart's 17th century drawing of what I supposed to be the back of a mirror stand was in fact a drawing of The Brass Vessel. I think they are correct about that, but I was in good company with David McLean in this instance, so I don't feel too chagrined at the mistake. However, I'm not about to roll over and put my paws in the air on the issue of the positioning of the Triangle. In the first place the traditional placing of the Triangle is outside the circle in the quadrant of the working, not only in most versions of the Goetia but also in the Sepher Maphteah Shelomo. With that established let's consider the further instructions: the Triangle is to be mounted "two feet off and three feet over." However Skinner and Rankine state that: "In this context `over' means `across', not above, just as the word `coast' in that period meant `edge' or the circle." This sounds scholarly but unfortunately it is, in my very humble opinion, an attempt to justify a mistake made earlier by Mathers & Crowley in the 1904 edition of the Goetia. If we consult a good glossary of Elizabethan English usage, and David & Ben Crystal's Shakespeare's Words (2002) is so regarded, we discover that the meaning of `over' is over, and the meaning of `across' is across.
With this minor quibble put by, I would like to mention some other very important contributions in this volume. The author-editors have done the best work yet in unraveling the snarling complexity of Goetic planetary and astrological attributions that have bedeviled serious scholars and magicians for centuries. Obviously we have Martian spirits (Earls and Counts) even though we have no iron-or-steel lamens for them. (Although not clearly stated in this book, we must assume that iron is not used because it traditionally repels and controls demons--especially in the Arabian tradition of the Ring of Solomon, which the authors do mention).
Rudd apparently does not use the traditional Goetic Secret Seal of Solomon to stopper his Brass Vessel. This device is familiar to all students of the art and is depicted on Peter Smart's drawing mentioned above. It shows the Brass Vessel in cross section stoppered with a layer of iron (Mars) and sealed with a layer of lead (Saturn). Iron controls spirits and Saturn is the outer planetary/sepherotic limit of the qabalistic universe the Goetic spirits inhabited before The Fall (down to Yesod, if you take our interpretation--down to the Klippoth if you follow Steve Savedow).
Rudd prefers to use another design which we find in Trithemius and Agrippa.
The author-editors provide a wealth of extrapolated tables, appendices and copious footnotes. This is a very valuable work and, with my minor cavils noted, I am compelled to admire and appreciate their scholarship. As I stated at the beginning of this review. This book is a "must have" if you are serious about studying and/or practicing in the Solomonic school of magick.

Carroll "Poke" Runyon
Editor: The Seventh Ray

This is a must have for the adept who wishes to learn from experience and expertise. This book is comes from an adept with practical experience in summoning and the effects such events can have. This book will lead the adept through another's map of the work and their experiences. Taking this book in hand one can drastically improve one's own ritual and knowledge of Theurgic workings.

This version of the work is a fine editorial and a complete work. You need nothing else. If your goal is to be a magician then everything you will ever need is right here. This book makes the Mathers/Crowley Geotia seem like water. It makes Lon DuQuet's version laughable. This is complete.It has 4 of the 5 books and the tables in the appendix that makes up for the missing book. The quality of the book is of the best. The introduction is an education that is worth the price of the book. You can't do Goetia unless you have this book. And if you have this book you have a complete system of magick that will open the doors to anything you want including the K&C w/ the HGA. I suggest this book.

I love this book and I hold it in the highest regard of all the translations of the Goetia out there (well the entire Lemegeton in fact since it is all in there). A big reason for this is because it is Dr Rudds version. A magician we actually know practiced this kind of magic that has written it.

It shows a well thought out system on how to use the Shemhameporesh as a counter meassure to the demons. Not that I am entirerly sure they are supposed to be used with the Goetia it is still a very interesting concept. The discussions written by Stephen and David on how to use the tools like the Sword is also very good. They explain the connection to the material iron and that it should be consecrated (something I have claimed as well for a long time but it is nice to see these icons in the occult world agree with me).

This book has managed to erase many questionmarks for me and I hope they will make many more books in this series of books.

The book is understandable, added more insight, worth having in my collection. It shows a study on the subject too help broaden my knowage. If you can not afford, check it out in your library.

Mr. Skinner and Mr. Rankine have done a fantastic job in compiling and clarifying Dr. Rudd's system for Goetic evocation. The analysis of the various Goetia lineages in the introduction is by far the best done in any work about this system. Dr. Rudd's workings are quite different from the Goetic evocation system as utilized by the Golden Dawn and it's progeny. I don't mean that statement as an insult to the Goetic workings derived from the Golden Dawn Archives. However, as one Hermetic law states "As above so below, as below so above" so with Dr. Rudd's system a person is learning and working with both the "Spirits of the Goetia" and the "Angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash". A wise man once said, "It's good to have friends in high and low places!"

This book is superior to all others in terms of Goetic magic. It is clear, concise and obviously written by someone who practices these arts. It blows away Waite's book on "Ceremonial Magic" Crowley's version and DeLaurence's versions. Forget all other versions this is the one you want. Superb work!

Hello there,

Let me first state that I failed completely in attempting to post a review on the forthcoming work of genius Veritable Key of Solomon.
So much so that I felt it was unsure if it would be published by amazon.com in the near future. I then visited their websites and noticed much to my delight that it is at present in the process of being published.
I was fortunate enough to acquire one copy of the Goetia of Dr. Rudd and was very impressed with what I got. I think this is going to be an impressive series. Who knows , maybe the books will be made into movies in the near or remote future.

warm regards, with wishes of good luck to the authors