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by S. L. MacGregor Mathers (Author)
The story of King Solomon has fascinated spiritual and religious writers for millennia - this book advances a theory that Solomon was infact a Magi who created many of the rituals, spells and symbols important to occultists. This edition includes the original, crucial illustrations.
Although the idea that Solomon carried some sort of mystical powers is not new, this book purports to be written in the ancient king of the Jews' own hand. The magical symbols and diagrams which are situated alongside the various rituals and incantations are intricate, containing pentacles and other shapes. Towards the end of the book a large table is appended, detailing a selection of mystical alphabets and their English. Furthermore, a table lists the esoteric designations of hours and days, and their corresponding angels.
For his investigation, Mathers delved deep into the archives of the British Museum, unearthing an old French manuscript of the text which he duly translated into English. He also replicated the diagrams and symbols; these efforts resulted in this modern English version of the old Solomon manuscripts, and an increase in public interest toward writings hitherto very obscure.
Modern scholars generally agree that the Key of Solomon is a pseudepigraphical grimoire, likely composed around the 14th century AD by a Renaissance writer. Much of the text is quintessentially resemblant of other books of Renaissance era magic, which were inspired by earlier texts written by Arabic authors and Jewish kabbalists. However, occultists consider the text to carry more than a mere grain of truth regarding Solomon's true personality and abilities.
