Customer Reviews

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The volume presented here under the title of `The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses', is in fact a collection of texts of German "folk" magic dating from the mid- eighteenth century. They were collected together under this title by Johann Scheible in the mid- nineteenth century; and it is the 8th edition of his German work, published in 1865, as well as an English version of Scheible's text published in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century, which form the basis for Peterson's English edition.
In this volume, Joseph H. Peterson presents the English speaking public with a scholarly and conscientiously produced edition, as we have come to expect from this dependable author. He has not only compared the two editions mentioned above, but has endeavoured to correct both by referring to older Hebrew and European authorities.
The backbone of the book is a group of 7 texts, which all claim to be presenting arcana from the lost books of Moses, usually in the form of incantations and amulets in Hebrew. Peterson supplements these 7 texts with 9 appendices of related texts, again mostly taken from Scheible. He also reproduces an introduction on `The Magic of the Israelites' by Joseph Ennemoser (1844), plus several useful indices.
The volume has been produced by the Ibis Press of Lake Worth, FL; the same people who did such a commendable job on Dehn's Abramelin. This book is up to that same high standard. The numerous magical diagrams and illustrations are well laid out and nicely produced, one section even being printed in red and black.
In the interests of writing a more balanced review, I tried hard to discover some negative points to make about the present edition, but failed to find any.

This book is, hands down, the best on this subject I have ever seen. There have been other, incomplete and inferior versions of the Sixth and Seventh Books, with their unreadable seals and poorly done research, but when I saw that this book was from Joseph Peterson, I was certain that it would be the product of complete and scholarly research.


When I finally got the book, I was not disappointed. It was everything I expected and more.

I highly recommend this book for anyone studying the origins of certain folk magic practices as well as those who are interested in the subject of magic itself. Peterson has done us all a great service publishing this book.

This is, by far, the most superior version of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses I have seen!
This edition has very clear sigils and letters drawn, along with outstanding insights to this system of magick!
Other publishers and editions I have seen are terrible, as many of the sigils and letters are so unreadable that it is impossible to attempt to put this form of magick into actual practice!
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in grimoires!

Are you a practitioner of Ceremonial Magic or RootWork-Conjure Sorcery? If so, then this will be a great addition to your library! For the paltry sum of $35, you can get a copy of this terrific book to use in your Spiritual & Sorcerous practices.

I covet few books out there on Magic because most of them just flat out suck. They're written by parrots parroting other parrots and typically they do little more than take an already complex field and make it even MORE complex! You don't need to involve yourself in such silly complexity when you work with a system as presented here.

This book is based on the old Jewish system of Talismans & Amulets. In times past the amulets & talismans were made according to specific metals (usually silver) & sometimes made during Planetary calculations of the heavenly bodies.

For instance, the first seal is known as the Seal of Treasures & on page 50, Joe gives a wonderful depiction of the talisman using the correct Hebrew letters & Astrological characters. Plus you get the correct incantation to summon the Spirits governing this seal. This is the seal of Treasure Hunters & was used during a time when most people would bury their money for safe keeping. Later when they died, often a family may hire a professional Treasure Hunter to find the patriarch's monetary hidey-hole. I made one of these for a friend of mine who is a professional deep sea treasure hunter & he ended up finding a few gold dubloons off the coast of Florida.

On page 114, there's a beautiful representation of the Heilig (re: Holy) Pentagram which can be used to ward off evil & invoke Holy forces.

Then starting on page 127, we find the first seal of the art of the Spirit Commando which is Aziel. This seal is done in two colors, Red & Black, and is used to summon forth the Spirit Aziel for the practitioner to interact with. Many are the Conjure Sorcerers who summon these Seven Spirits to learn their arts from. Much knowledge & wisdom is there for one to learn.

Overall the book is a much needed redoing of the 6/7_BoM. The edition that Ms. Whippler put out some years ago is one of the worst simply because it was little more than a photocopy attempt of the Dorene Publishing edition which itself is not that great. The Dorene edition is the one many Hoodooists use as it's cheap. Problem with these editions is that they're not only cheaply printed (on newsprint no less) the amulet markings are horrid & illegible. Thus you have to guess what the real markings are.

Peterson found some German copies of the book floating around with far better legible printing of the Hebrew letters AND Astrological symbols. Do not think he sat down & worked them out piece by piece since the legible copies are available & easy to obtain.

In summary, if you want a valid Magical grimoire to use & learn from and have no problem working within the Jewish & Christian Magical systems, then this is the book for you. If you dislike the Judeo-Christian methodology or dislike all of the 'I-am-the-lord-thy-god' nonsense of Hebrew Qabala, then this is not a book you'd want to work with. It's factually accurate & workable for those inclined & willing. Due to its completeness, I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

All I can say is, WOW! So many versions of this book are horrible -- but this one is nothing like the translations and publishers before. If you have ever read an older version of this book the seals are so small that you can't make them out so they can be easily reproduced. However, this book leaves other versions in the dust because the seals are large enough so you can make out every detail! Very impressive. The other thing I like about this version is it is prtined on nice quality paper and is a quality hardback -- so you will be able to keep this book for many years and will most likely outlive its owner.

This book has somewhat of a sinister reputation where I live. Here in South-Central PA, many of the old timers are afraid of this book and consider it a source of black magic -- however, it is interesting to see a few years back driving through some areas of Lancaster county they sell small paper reproductions of some of these seals listed in this book -- many Powwow practioners, including myself, use these seals in our personal workings.

Much Love & Many Blessings,
Thorn Nightwind

I feel personally unqualified to review this great book. I am happy that I have at last acquired the real stuff, and have now discarded the imitation versions that I possessed previously. The book is good value for money.

I rate it 5 stars.

A look at the history of magic and those who have practiced it in the Kabbalistic tradition - that is what "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" offers to its readers. Exploring the Kabbalah and Talmud as magical texts as well as quoting other noted sources such as Albertus Magnus, Trithemus, and more, "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is a complete and comprehensive guide to anyone who wants a better understanding of the esoteric history of the world. In this new edition, author Joseph Peterson seeks to clear up previously confused elements to a more clear form, much easier to understand. "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is a top pick for metaphysical studies shelves and for any follower of the art.

Joseph Petersen is a fantastic scholar. Weiser books puts out top-notch professional occult books. You're definitely getting what you've paid for: accuracy, professionalism and an occult scholarly work.

Excellent scholarly work by Joseph Peterson .This book is really powerfull.The index the notes its all perfect.I hope Mr.Peterson can edit the Key of Solomon by Macgregor Mathers.

The *Sixth* and *Seventh* Books of Moses? Now, they can't *possibly* be genuine, can they?

And, of course, they are not. "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is a collection of magical spells and amulets, first published in Germany in 1849. The work is based on earlier manuscripts and pamphlets, and the core of the material is derived from a Latin work, "Liber Razielis", known from the 16th century and perhaps compiled earlier. That work, in turn, is very loosely based on a Jewish Kabbalistic text from the Middle Ages, "Sefer Raziel HaMalach". In other words, the 1849 edition is something of an end product of several centuries of European folk magic. For some reason, "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" became very popular in the United States, among African-American practitioners of Hoodoo, amongst others.

To be perfectly honest, the book is completely uninteresting, unless you have a strong obsession with folk magic, or perhaps love to practice the craft yourself. I've seen other magical texts that can be read for their entertainment value even by the casual reader ("Ancient Christian Magic. Coptic Texts of Ritual Power" comes to mind), but this work is only for hard-liners.

"The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" claims to be a secret revelation given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and then passed on to Aaron, Joshua, David, Salomon (who found it engraved on golden plates, Book of Mormon style!) and Zadok, who for some reason hid the ancient documents (Moroni style?). They were supposedly found in AD 330 by Constantine the Great, translated by Pope Julius II during the Renaissance, and finally ended up in the hands of the Habsburg Emperor Charles V, who threatened anyone who printed the magical diagrams with excommunication, but otherwise highly recommended the work.

Yeah, right. Somehow, I'm disappointed that whoever wrote this stuff couldn't come up with a better legend than *that*!

The rest of the book contains the usual magickal arcana: spells supposedly used by Moses when he confronted the Pharaoh, magical seals containing mysterious Hebrew characters, long lists of angels and demons, spells based on the Psalter that can do anything from help you win a court case to destroy your wicked enemies, incantations to strike people with the plague, etc, etc.

The 1849 edition also contained a curious foreword, apparently excerpted from a book by Joseph Ennemoser, a writer on matters occult. It's unclear whether Ennemoser had been notified of this, or whether the publisher simply pilfered his text without asking. Be that as it may, Ennemoser's introduction is also included in this modern edition of the "black Bible". It's a very confusing piece of work, in which Ennemoser tries to have it both ways. On the one hand, he claims that the Biblical miracles had nothing to do with sorcery or witchcraft (they were divine, mind you!), but on the other hand, he mentions various Biblical episodes that sound...well, magical.

I'm not saying this edition of "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is bad. On the contrary, I'm sure it's interesting for members of Dragon Rouge, Golden Dawn, OTO or whatever else is out there, but personally I'm going to place it on my bookshelf, and boldly go after other pursuits.

;-)