Enochian is an occult constructed language — said by its originators to have been received from angels — recorded in the private journals of John Dee and his colleague Edward Kelley in late 16th-century England. Kelley was a scryer who worked with Dee in his magical investigations. The language is integral to the practice of Enochian magic.
Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot, was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to see spirits or angels in a "shew-stone" or mirror, which John Dee so valued, Kelley also said that he possessed the secret of transmuting base metals into gold, the goal of alchemy, as well as the philosopher's stone itself.
The Lesser Key of Solomon, also known as Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis or simply Lemegeton, is an anonymously authored grimoire on sorcery. It was compiled in the mid-17th century, mostly from materials several centuries older. It is divided into five books: the Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria. It is based on the Testament of Solomon and the ring mentioned within it that he used to seal demons.
Paimon is a spirit named in early grimoires. These include The Lesser Key of Solomon, Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, the Livre des Esperitz, the Liber Officiorum Spirituum, The Book of Abramelin, and certain French editions of The Grimoire of Pope Honorius ; as well as British Library, Sloane MS 3824.
The Key of Solomon, also known as The Greater Key of Solomon, is a pseudepigraphical grimoire attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic.
Enochian magic is a system of Renaissance magic developed by John Dee and Edward Kelley. The origins of this esoteric tradition are rooted in documented collaborations between Dee and Kelley, encompassing the revelation of the Enochian language and script, which Dee wrote were delivered to them directly by various angels during their mystical interactions.
Thomas James was an English librarian and Anglican clergyman, the first librarian of the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Three Books of Occult Philosophy is Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's study of occult philosophy, acknowledged as a significant contribution to the Renaissance philosophical discussion concerning the powers of magic, and its relationship with religion. The first book was printed in 1531 in Paris, Cologne, and Antwerp, while the full three volumes first appeared in Cologne in 1533.
The Sworn Book of Honorius is a medieval grimoire purportedly written by Honorius of Thebes. The Latin word juratus, which is typically translated "sworn", is intended to mean "oathbound". It was allegedly the grimoire of Pope Honorius I, hence its name.
The Arbatel De Magia Veterum is a Latin grimoire of Renaissance ceremonial magic published in 1575 in Switzerland.
John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. As an antiquarian, he had one of the largest libraries in England at the time. As a political advisor, he advocated the foundation of English colonies in the New World to form a "British Empire", a term he is credited with coining.
Renaissance magic was a resurgence in Hermeticism and Neo-Platonic varieties of the magical arts which arose along with Renaissance humanism in the 15th and 16th centuries CE. During the Renaissance period, magic and occult practices underwent significant changes that reflected shifts in cultural, intellectual, and religious perspectives. C. S. Lewis, in his work on English literature, highlighted the transformation in how magic was perceived and portrayed. In medieval stories, magic had a fantastical and fairy-like quality, while in the Renaissance, it became more complex and tied to the idea of hidden knowledge that could be explored through books and rituals. This change is evident in the works of authors like Spenser, Marlowe, Chapman, and Shakespeare, who treated magic as a serious and potentially dangerous pursuit.
Semiphoras and Schemhamphorash is the title of an occult or magic text of Jewish provenance, published in German by Andreas Luppius in 1686. It was based on the earlier Latin text, Liber Semiphoras attributed to Solomon, which Luppius augmented heavily with passages from Agrippa De occulta philosophia and other sources.
The Sigillum Dei is a magical diagram, composed of two circles, a pentagram, two heptagons, and one heptagram, and is labeled with the names of God and its angels. It is an angelic magic seal with the magical function that, according to one of the oldest sources, allowed a destined intended magician to have the power to possess the Spirit of God and when activated can become the 'Living' God; or The Lord God itself; amongst humanity and all creation itself, communicate with spirits as well as angels and archangels, control all elements, control every creature's holy spirit on the planet including the Spirit of God itself; all except for the Archangels, and to control light itself. The intended user also possesses the true benefic vision of God.
Deborah Harkness is an American scholar and novelist, best known as a historian and as the author of the All Souls Trilogy, which consists of The New York Times best-selling novel A Discovery of Witches and its sequels Shadow of Night and The Book of Life. Her latest book is Time's Convert: A Novel, both an origin story of the trilogy's Marcus Whitmore character, set in the American War of Independence and the French Revolution, and a sequel to the All Souls Trilogy.
Liber Officiorum Spirituum was a goetic grimoire and a major source for Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Ars Goetia. The original work has not been located, but some derived texts bearing the title have been found, some in the Sloane manuscripts, some in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Each version bears many similarities to each other and to the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Ars Goetia, though they are far from identical.
Stephen Skinner is an Australian author, editor, publisher and lecturer. He is known for authoring books on magic, feng shui, sacred geometry and alchemy. He has published more than 46 books in more than 20 languages.
Jane Dee (1555–1604/5) was an English gentlewoman and lady-in-waiting, whose married life is documented in the journals of her husband, the philosopher, occultist, and mathematician John Dee.
The Ars Notoria is a 13th-century Latin textbook of magic from Northern Italy, which claims to grant its solitary practitioner an enhancement of his or her mental faculties, spiritual faculties for communicating with angels, and the acquisition of earthly and heavenly knowledge through ritual magic.
Georgius Zothorus Zaparus Fendulus was an author/compiler active during the second half of the 12th century, known for his Liber astrologiae. His exact identity is not known – the name itself is probably a pseudonym (cognomen) – but it has been proposed that he was a cleric associated with the court of the kings of Sicily.
