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List of demons in the Ars Goetia
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Johann Weyer[1][2]The Key of Solomon, also known as the Greater Key of Solomon, is a pseudepigraphical grimoire attributed to King Solomon ¹. Here are some key points about this book ¹ ²:
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- The Key of Solomon dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance
- It is divided into two books. It describes the necessary drawings to prepare each "experiment" or, in more modern language, magical operations
- Unlike later grimoires, the Key of Solomon does not mention the signature of the 72 spirits constrained by King Solomon in a bronze vessel
- All magical operations are ostensibly performed through the power of God, to whom all the invocations are addressed
- Before any of these operations (termed "experiments"), the operator must confess his sins and purge himself of evil, invoking the protection of God
- Elaborate preparations are necessary, and each of the numerous items used in the operator's "experiments" must be constructed of the appropriate materials obtained in the prescribed manner, at the appropriate astrological time, marked with a specific set of magical symbols, and blessed with its own specific words
- A Hebrew text survives in two versions, one kept at the British Library, on a parchment manuscript, separated in BL Oriental MSS 6360 and 14759
- The book is mentioned in Goethe’s Faust I, in the scene where the poodle transforms himself into the devil Mephistopheles
- The Key of Solomon is mentioned in H.P. Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature", where Lovecraft says it "illustrates the power of the weird over the Eastern mind".
Writtesuliman Khan
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The 72 angels of the Shem HaMephorash are considered the opposite and balancing force against these Spirits.