The Lemegeton is the name given to a collection of five books, which are also collectively known as Clavicula Salomonis Regis, and The Lesser Key of Solomon. These grimoires are grouped into three categories:

1. Goetia (the first book which deals with 72 evil spirits),
2. Theurgia-Goetia (the second book which deals with spirits of mixed nature relating to the points of the compass),
3. Theurgia (the third, fourth and fifth books which deal with good spirits and angels).

The five grimoires are:

There has been a lot of confusion between the Lemegeton and the Key of Solomon, which are entirely different works. The Key of Solomon is not a single manuscript, but rather a group of many manuscripts covering the practice of evocation which fall into several families. This is discussed in the article Greater and Lesser Keys where I elaborated on the differences between the texts. From the widespread scale of the Key of Solomon it seems likely that it was the manual of practice which would be viewed as standard and hence its contents known by anyone practising from a grimoire such as the Lemegeton, hence the absence of detail for many of the techniques used.

Considering the different books in turn, the Goetia is the best known of the component grimoires. This gives details of 72 major spirits, many of whom are described as fallen angels, and gives their seals. Of the six or so extant manuscripts, only Dr Rudd’s (Harley MS 6483) also includes the seals and details of the 72 Shemhamphorash angels used to balance and control these spirits, in the manner seen in the earlier Hygromantia documents, and many centuries earlier in The Testament of Solomon. All of these seals are reproduced in The Goetia of Dr Rudd, which includes the first four of the five grimoires, with other relevant extracts which further elucidate the corpus of Goetic material.

As discussed in The Goetia of Dr Rudd, the Theurgia-Goetia is concerned with spirits of a mixed nature which relate to the points of the compass: “It is effectively a ritual version of the first book of the Steganographia, which was written or compiled by Trithemius in 1500. One of the most striking things about this grimoire is its insistence upon direction. The Theurgia-Goetia on the other hand gives precise compass points for each main spirit (and their servitors). For example, Camuel “Ruleth and governeth as King in the South East part of the World” or the South-East, but Padiel “Ruleth in the East and by South” which literally means that he rules the compass point just a bit South of East, not SE. Some manuscripts of the Theurgia-Goetia supply a full blown spirit Compass Rose showing the 32 possible directions from which a King, Prince or Duke can be expected to arrive.”

The Pauline Art is divided into two sections, the first of which is concerned with skrying the seven classic planetary archangels to communicate with them, using a crystal or mirror on a table of practice. The second section details 360 good spirits associated with the degrees of the Zodiac, providing one for every degree, i.e. thirty per sign of the Zodiac. The fourth book is the Art Almadel, which gives instructions on the creation of wax tablets to be used for the conjuration of angels.

The final book, not always included in Lemegeton manuscripts, is the Notory Art or Ars Notoria. We chose to leave this out of our edition of The Goetia of Dr Rudd, as it is missing its vital images, as are many of the manuscripts regarding it, which makes it useless. We explained the age and purpose of this book, which has been largely ignored in recent centuries, in our work:

“This book was written before 1236 as it was mentioned by Michael Scot on that date. The earliest manuscript we are aware of is a parchment in the Mellon Collection, Yale University Library, MS. 1 which is dated circa 1225.The Ars Notoria is not, as many people think, ‘the notorious art’ but is named after the magical diagrams, or notae which are a key part of its method. The aim of the Ars Notoria was to use such notae to both prompt memory, and to provide a scheme that would induce a rapid understanding in the operator of any particular art or science.”

 

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Essential Reading

The Goetia of Dr Rudd, Skinner & Rankine, 2007

The Lesser Key of Solomon: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis, Peterson, 2001

The Book of Solomon’s Magick, Runyon, 2003