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Witchcraft Before Wicca: Three Important Magickal Books

Witchcraft Before Wicca: Three Important Magickal Books

Last updated on: January 24, 2020 at 4:08 pm by Jason Mankey

Witchcraft Before Wicca: Three Important Magickal Books 2020-01-24T16:08:30-07:00 Jason Mankey

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THE KEY OF SOLOMON THE KING (THE CLAVICULA SALOMONIS)

One of the most important grimoires of the Renaissance was The Key of Solomon or the Clavicula Saomonis (clavicula translating as “little key”). Its influence has lasted all the way into the present day, as many of the spells, consecrations, and conjurations contained within it are similar to the rites of Modern Witchcraft. It even calls for the use of a black handled knife, centuries before the word athame came into vogue.

Allegedly written by the Old Testament King Solomon (he of the wisdom and Temple building), the Clavicula was probably composed in the Fifteenth Century and originally written in Greek. In its earliest form it was entitled Little Key of the Whole Art of Hygromancy, Found by Several Craftsman and by the Holy Prophet Solomon. (It’s no wonder that the abbreviation The Key of Solomon became more popular). By the Sixteenth Century “Solomon’s” treatise had been translated into Latin and Italian, and in the late Nineteenth Century teh entire work was finally translated into English.

Solomon has been credited with composing various grimoires over the centuries, and the Clavicula is often confused with a similarly entitled work generally known as The Lesser Key of Solomon. None of those other works by Solomon is as notorious though as the Clavicula, probably because the rest of them don’t contain as much detailed information on summoning demons (usually referred to as “spirits” in the text). It also contains rituals and spell work advocating the use of animal sacrifice. With contents like that it’s easy to understand why a lot of Christian crusaders really disliked The Key of Solomon.

“King Solomon & The Iron Worker” by Christian Schussele, from WikiMedia.

Despite the blood sacrifice (and it’s really rare in the text) most of The Key is rather benign. Much of the book consists of prayers to the various names of the Christian God, and invocations to various angels. The first few chapters of the book are generally concerned with the proper days and hours for spell work. According to the author of the Clavicula every day is ruled by a particular planet (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon), with each hour of the day also ruled by a specific planet.

The Key’s author assures us that the “Days and Hours of Venus are good for forming friendships; for kindness and love; for joyous and pleasant undertakings, and for travelling.” Using the tables in The Key the aspiring magician would be advised to perform a spell for love on a Friday (ruled by Venus) at the hours 1:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 3:00 PM, or 10:00 PM as they are also all ruled by Venus. Many present day Witches continue to follow such advice, though I don’t know very many who break it down to the exact hour.

In addition to the prayers and correspondences, much of The Key is dedicated to forty-four different “pentacles” or talismans with various attributes. Each of these sigils is consecrated to a different planet (and yes I know that the moon and sun are not really planets, something “Solomon” in all of his wisdom was unaware of). The pentacles themselves are generally made up of various astrological symbols and letters of the Hebrew alphabet. These “seals of Solomon” remain so popular that even today one can still find them as necklace medallions with relative ease. (I’ve seen almost all of them at Renaissance Fairs and Steampunk conventions.)

My favorite Solomonic talisman is The First Pentacle of the Sun (above), which contains the head of the angel Metatron. I’m probably partial to Metatron because he’s portrayed with horns and looks more like the god Pan than a heavenly angel. He’s also described in the text as “The Countenance of Shaddaï the Almighty, at Whose aspect all creatures obey, and the Angelic Spirits do reverence on bended knees.” With the references to the natural world it all sounds very close to the Horned God of Witchcraft.

Ritual Formulas Used in Witchcraft From the Key of Solomon

Perhaps most important to the Modern Witch are the ritual formulas which can be found at the end of The Key. Much of it is so similar to Modern Witchcraft that Gerald Gardner used The Key of Solomon as the magical system in his fictional book about the Craft, High Magic’s Aid, published in 1949. It’s highly probable that a lot of Witch-rites are adapted directly from The Clavicula. Though sometimes frowned upon, the translation I’m using here is from Samuel MacGregor Mathers, whose translation Gardner used. It’s the most common English translation and was the first complete English translation of the work.

Most of my coven rituals start with blessing water and salt. Many of the words used in that blessing sound similar to the instructions found in The Key. Here they are compared to one another:

The Exorcism of Water (The Key of Solomon):

“I exorcise thee, O Creature of Water, by Him Who hath created thee and gathered thee into one place so that the dry land appeared, and thou uncover all the deceits of the Enemy, and that thou cast out from thee all the impurities and uncleanliness of the Spirits of the World of Phantasm, so they may harm me not, through the virtue of God Almighty Who liveth and reigneth unto the Ages of Ages. Amen.”

The Blessing and Consecration of Water (Witch Coven):

“I exorcise thee o Creature of Water and cast out from thee all impurities and uncleanliness. In the names of the Lord and Lady, so mote it be.”

The Benediction of the Salt (The Key of Solomon):

“The Blessing of the Father Almighty be upon this Creature of Salt, and let all malignity and hindrance be cast forth hencefrom, and let all good herein, for without Thee man cannot live, wherefore I bless thee and invoke thee, that thou mayest aid me.”

The Blessing and Consecration of Salt (Witch Coven):

“Blessings be upon thee O Creature of Salt; let all malignity and hindrance be cast from thee, and let all good enter within. Wherefore do I bless thee and consecrate thee in the names of Lord and Lady. So mote it be.”

The Consecration of the Book (Adapted from Book II Chapter 21 of The Key of Solomon)

The Clavicula functions mostly as a Book of Shadows in its own right, and includes a ceremony for consecrating a ritual book. The Key’s author advises would be magicians to: “Make a small Book containing Prayers for all the Operations, the Names of the Angels in the form of Litanies, (and) their Seals and Characters.” Instructions are then given on how to consecrate such a book.

For this article I’ve written an adaptation of that rite, saving much of the original but removing lot of the Judeo-Christian content and replacing it with something more appropriate for Witches. I’ve kept most of the archaic sounding language because it’s fun!

Thou shall set in the destined place a small table covered with a white cloth, whereon thou shall lay the Book opened at the Great Pentacle which should be drawn on the first leaf of the said Book; and having kindled a lamp which should be suspended above the centre (sic) of the table, that shalt surround the said table with a white curtain; clothe thyself in the proper vestments, and holding the Book open, repeat upon thy knees the following prayer with great humility-

“Great Lady, O Triple Goddess, Horned One, Lord of the Sun have mercy upon me and cast thy eyes upon me who am your servant and Witch. May the Elements and Spirits come and take up their abode in this place to help me in my great work. Gracious Goddess, Mighty Lord, be present at this Operation, I most humbly entreat ye. Blessed Be.”

After the prayer thou shalt incense it with the incense proper to the Planet and the day, and thou shalt replace the Book on the aforesaid Table, taking heed that the fire of the lamp burn continuously during the operation, and keeping the curtain closed. Repeat the same ceremony for seven days, beginning with Saturday, and perfuming the Book each day with the incense proper to the Planet ruling the day and hour. After the seven days thou shalt shut up the Book in a small drawer under the table, made expressly for it until thou hast occasion to use it.

(For those interested in reading Mather’s translation of the The Key, it’s easily available online in a variety of places. For those who enjoy physical books, Samuel Weiser recently released a new edition of the text that I think is a big improvement from their earlier version. It also includes a well done introduction highlighting just how influential The Key, and Mather’s translation of it, have been over the centuries. For me The Key is a “must have in my paper library sort of book.”)

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