The Golden Hoard Press

Publishers of Classics of Feng Shui and Magic
-

“The 'Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic' series is one of the most important series on ceremonial and grimoire magic in print today, rivalled only by the 'Magic in History' series, published by Pennsylvania State University Press, and the 'Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic' series, published by Palgrave Macmillan.” ~ Boris Balkan.

Latest Books

To order any of Stephen Skinner's books from Amazon use: www.amazon.com

CLOTH EDITION

Book US ISBN : 978-0738781-23-5

Book UK ISBN : 978-1912212-48-4

Pages: 270

Detailed Tables: 25
Illustrations: 42, of which 5 are in colour

Price : US$ 86.00 / GBP 68.00
Postage: GBP 10.00 for P&P

Publication: 30th November 2024
Shipment delayed until
30th January 2025

Available through
Amazon.com
Llewellyn

LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Book UK ISBN : 978-1912212-49-1

Hand bound Half-Leather Collector’s Edition

Strictly Limited to 200 copies
Pages: 270 pages
Detailed Tables: 25
Illustrations: 42, of which 5 are in colour

Price : US$ 186.00 / GBP 140.00
Postage: GBP 10.00 for P&P

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Summa Sacre Magice: The Compendium of Sacred Magic

by Berengarius Ganelli
Translated and edited by Dr Stephen Skinner & Daniel Clark

This grimoire dating from 1346 is the root of many other grimoires, and contains much practical magic that has been lost from later grimoires. This is the first publication in English in the last 700 years. It was owned and treasured by Trithemius and Dr John Dee, and was the root of Shemhamphorash, Solomonic and Enochian magic.

The Summa Sacre Magice by Berengarius Ganelli, written in 1346 AD, is a foundational grimoire. Unlike most early grimoires, which often lack the author's name and date, this manuscript proudly includes both. Its ancient origins and its wealth of lost knowledge make it an invaluable resource. Later grimoires failed to capture much of the detailed richness found in this text, confirming its status as the most significant Latin text on magic that has survived. The Summa Sacre Magice is a complex and extensive work, containing over 200,000 words, divided into five books and encompassing 85 chapters. This present volume contains all of Books 1 and 2, while the next volume will cover Books 3, 4, and 5. Remarkably, it has never before been published in either English or Latin. This work stands as the most comprehensive overview of Latin medieval magic that has endured for almost 700 years. Among its many secrets are some of the earliest details of angelic invocations from the Almadel, tables from the Shemhamphorash, the 10 candariis talismans, and the hierarchy of Tartarus. It also includes parts of other significant early grimoires, such as the Liber Juratus (The Sworn Book of Honorius), with explanations of these early texts. These are intricately woven into the tapestry of the practical and sacred magical tradition. One of the most exciting aspects is the detailed instructions for making four of Solomon’s magical rings and his pentagram. The transmission of this sacred knowledge passed through four main teachers: from the 12th century Solomon (not the famous Biblical king) to Toz the Greek, then to Honorius , the author of Liber Juratus (13th century), and finally to Berengarius Ganelli (14th century).

SWCM - Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Vol. XV Series

CLOTH EDITION

Book US ISBN : 978-0738781-22-8

Book UK ISBN : 978-1912212-46-0

Pages: 118

Price : Price: US$ 45.00 / GBP 35.00
Postage: GBP 10.00 for P&P

Publication: 31 October 2024
Shipment delayed until
30th January 2025

Available through
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Llewellyn

LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Book UK ISBN : 978-1912212477

Strictly Limited hand bound leather edition

Strictly Limited to 150 copies

Price : Price: GBP 127
Postage: GBP 10.00 for P&P

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Antipalus Maleficiorum

by Johannes Trithemius
Translated and Edited by Dr Stephen Skinner & Daniel Clark

This book is very significant because Trithemius was the instructor in magic of both Henry Cornelius Agrippa and Paracelsus, and was hence one of the main well-springs of Western magic. These books are what Agrippa primarily used to write his very influential Three Books of Occult Philosophy.

The Antipalus Maleficiarum of the Abbot Johannes Trithemius which was written in 1508, has never had a full English translation. It contains a detailed list of 103 of Trithemius’ grimoires, in manuscript form. Trithemius characterised the first 43 of these as necromancy (by which he really meant nigromancy, or the black art, rather than the conjuration of the dead). This list is worth examining because it shows the richness and detailed nature of the early literature of nigromancy, specifically the methods used for the evocation of spirits and demons. Most of these 43 titles are Solomonic in nature, and therefore very relevant to this SWCM series. The remaining titles form part of the Astral and Talismanic Image tradition of magic.

This is almost a complete list of grimoires extant at the end of the 15th century. In a later section we have added almost all of the significant grimoires published since then. With this book and David Rankine’s Grimoire Encyclopaedia you have in your hand the source of most of the grimoire tradition.

SWCM Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic - Volume 14

CLOTH EDITION

Book US ISBN : 978-0738779522

Book UK ISBN : 978-1912212378

Pages: 352 pages, 25.6 x 18.6 cm

Illustrations: 20 three in full colour

Price : US$ 80.00 / GBP 64.00

Published: 15th June 2024

Available through
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Amazon.co.uk
Llewellyn

LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Hand Bound Leather Collectors' Edition in half leather

Book ISBN : 978-1912212385

Strictly Limited to 150 copies
Pages: 352 pages, 25.6 x 18.6 cm

Illustrations: 20, with 8 in full colour

Price : ￡126 / US$170 (including shipping)

Published: July 2024

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The Steganographia, Books I-IV

by Johannes Trithemius, Abbot of Spanheim
Translated, Edited and Introduced by Dr Stephen Skinner & Daniel Clark

Trithemius was the Master and Teacher of Henry Cornelius Agrippa, and so in many ways the godfather of post 1500 Solomonic magic.

The Steganographia by the Abbot Trithemius was written in 1500, and has never had a full English translation of all its 4 component Books, until now. This book is about the evocation of spirits and the cryptography associated with them. Trithemius was the magical instructor of Henry Cornelius Agrippa and probably Paracelsus, and was hence one of the main well-springs of grimoire magic in Europe. This fascinating book also explains how to use spirits to convey messages to others, over any distance, at any hour of the day or night, with that message being clearly whispered in the ear of the recipient.

Previously only Books I & III have been published in English in 1982, but without any explanation of the magic or spirit hierarchy. This edition has rectified that deficiency, and has added a full translation of Book II (containing a further 25 spirits in addition to the 31 spirits of Book I). Also included in the large Book IV are details of the creation of the Magical Bell and how the Steganographia relates to Paracelsus. This book has never before been published in any language. Book IV also examines the angelic evocation of the Almadel and the three Shemhammaphorash of Solomon, Adam and Moses respectively. At last, after more than 500 years the whole Steganographia is available in English, with clear and detailed explanations. Trithemius also wrote the most complete list of pre-1500 magical manuscript grimoires in his Antipalus Maleficiorum, which is due to be published by Golden Hoard later this year. Also included is a list of manuscripts on Talismanic magic, but in private Trithemius was very clear that magic only happens with the assistance of spirits or daemons, and this is his main book about the evocation of such spirits and the cryptography associated with them. This book lays out an extensive spirit hierarchy in 76 tables. It also contains a biography of Trithemius with details of his early promotion to Abbot at the tender age of 22. So at last the whole Steganographia is available in English.

Volume 13 in the SWCM series.

Publisher: Golden Hoard

ISBN : 978-1912212-31-6

Book Price : US$16.40

Ebook Price : US$9.99

Pages: 404 pages

Published: 1977, 1986, 2021

Available through
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Amazon.co.uk
Kindle Version

The Oracle of Geomancy

Stephen Skinner

This popular book on Western geomancy has look up tables for the answers to many typical questions. This is resolutely a practical book, with hundreds of answers to a range of practical questions.

It provides you with the resolution of every possible combination of the last three Figures, two Witnesses and one Judge, and how they should be interpreted.

A large section on the practice of Astro-geomancy links geomancy with astrology.

CLOTH EDITION

Pages: 433 pages, 8" x 10"
161 illustrations, most in full colour

Published: 8th May 2021

US$80.00 (￡ 60.00)

ISBN: 978-1-912212-28-6

Available through
Llewellyn
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
and
the usual distributors and bookshops.

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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

There is no plan at present
to publish a
LIMITED LEATHER EDITION
owing to production restrictions
imposed by Covid.

Ars Notoria: the Method – Version B
This is the sequel to Ars Notoria: the Grimoire of Rapid Learning and it includes all of the practical material
from the most complete manuscript available - MS Bibliothèque Nationale Lat. 9336

Edited and Introduced by Dr Stephen Skinner

"In its influence, dissemination, length, and complexity the Ars Notoria is
the most important surviving treatise of ritual magic." - Sophie Page.

The Ars Notoria is a mediaeval grimoire which was widely distributed and very popular in the 13th-16th century, but virtually unknown until recently. Version B (MS Bibliothèque Nationale Lat. 9336.) is a commentary on the Method which has never been published in English before. The present text is a reorganisation of that commentary into subject order without the loss of any practical detail. All the notae and the full invocations/orations are included, but most of the Latin prayers have been omitted as they do not contribute to the method’s effectiveness.

The Ars Notoria is still very relevant in the 21st century because it contains detailed techniques to enable the practitioner to absorb whole subjects very rapidly, and to understand very complex subjects on first reading, as well as remembering whatever has been read.

Like many magic manuscripts this work was attributed to famous individuals including Solomon (who reputedly received the book directly from God via the angel Pamphilius), which was translated into Greek by the magician Apollonius of Tyana, along with input from Euclid of Thebes, the father of Honorius of Thebes the author of The Sworn Book of Honorius (Liber Juratus) and Mani, the prophet.

Solomonic grimoires are concerned with the evocation of spirits or demons, but the Ars Notoria stands alone as angel magic concerned only with memory and the ability to understand and absorb whole subjects rapidly, making it a veritable student's grimoire, a key to obtaining knowledge rapidly.

Despite its popularity and enduring history the Ars Notoria has never been printed in its complete form. After its early Latin appearance there was only one incomplete English translation by Robert Turner in 1657, and that omitted the most vital component for its operation, the notae, a set of complex pictorial illustrations, without which the system just does not work. It also abbreviated most of the orations/invocations. The present edition contains all the notae matched with all the complete invocations/orations, and instructions for their use.

Volume 12 in the SWCM series

CLOTH EDITION

Pages: 433 pages, 8" x 10"
161 illustrations, most in full colour

Published: 31st August 2019

US$96.00 (approx £ 64.00)

plus US$25.00 P&P airmailed

ISBN: 978-1-912212-03-3

Click to Order

You have to order this book by itself. You cannot order this book together with other titles, because unfortunately, Paypal cannot handle mixed currencies.

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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Strictly Limited to 150 copies
Pages: 433 pages, 8" x 10"
161 illustrations, most in full colour
Hand Bound Leather Collectors' Edition in half leather

Published: 30th September 2019

Price: US$144.00

plus US$25.00 P&P airmailed

ISBN: 978-1-912212-04-0

Only available direct from Golden Hoard Press.

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Ars Notoria: The Grimoire of Rapid Learning by Magic
with the Golden Flowers of Apollonius of Tyana

Translated by Robert Turner
Edited and Introduced by Dr Stephen Skinner & Daniel Clark

“In its influence, dissemination, length, and complexity the Ars Notoria is
the most important surviving treatise of ritual magic.” - Sophie Page.

The Ars Notoria is a mediaeval grimoire, or magician's manual, which was widely distributed and very popular in the 13th-16th century, but virtually unknown today. It is however still very relevant in the 21st century because it contains detailed techniques to enable the practitioner to absorb whole subjects very rapidly, and to understand very complex subjects on first reading, as well as remembering whatever has been read.

Of all the grimoires attributed to the Solomonic tradition of magic, one of the oldest and most enigmatic is the Ars Notoria. Like the many magic manuscripts this work was pseudepigraphically attributed to several famous individuals ranging from Solomon (who reputedly received the book directly from God via the hand of the angel Pamphilius), through its supposed translation by the magician Apollonius of Tyana who called it Flores aurei, or the Golden flowers, to Euclid of Thebes.

The Ars Notoria stands alone in its own category of angel grimoires, for while most other Solomonic grimoires are concerned with the evocation of spirits or demons, the Ars Notoria instead was concerned only with memory and the ability to understand and absorb whole subjects rapidly. It offered to grant almost instant proficiency in any of the seven Liberal Arts, making it a veritable student’s grimoire, a key to obtaining knowledge rapidly.

Yet despite its popularity and enduring history the Ars Notoria has never been printed in its complete form. From its early published Latin appearance in Agrippa's Opera Omnia to the first and only English translation by Robert Turner in 1657, all published versions of this work have omitted the most vital component of its operation, the notae, a set of complex pictorial illustrations that are the heart of its system. That is however until now. The present edition contains all the notae which have always been left out of other printed editions, without which the system just does not work.

For the first time ever the Ars Notoria is presented in its complete form. In this edition we present not just one but five complete sets of notae taken from various manuscripts, alongside a corrected edition of Turner’s English translation. We also present a complete facsimile of Yale University's Beinecke MS Mellon 1 in full colour, the earliest known manuscript of this work, with a complete copy of the 1620s printed Latin text. Detailed commentary is provided on its origins, content, possible authors, owners, methods of use, and practical considerations as well as comprehensive tables of the almost 100 notae variants. The progress of the Ars Notoria is traced from its Greek origins, via its flourishing 13th century monastic life to its supposed inclusion in the Lemegeton.

Volume 11 in the SWCM series

CLOTH EDITION

Size: 8" x 10"
Pages : 844 H/B with d/w
Illustrations: 26 B/W plus 6 in full colour
Published: September 2019

Price: ￡76.00 / $125.00
plus P&P of ￡10.00 airmailed

UK ISBN: 978-1-912212-13-2
US ISBN: 978-0-738765-30-3

Also available through
Amazon and Llewellyn

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LEATHER EDITION

Handbound in real leather,
tooled with gold leaf
Strictly Limited to 150 copies
Size: 8" x 10"
Pages: 844
26 B/W plus 6 in full colour

Price: ￡126.00 / $156.00
plus P&P of ￡10.00 airmailed

Published: November 2019

ISBN: 978-1-912212-15-6

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Dr John Dee's Spiritual Diaries (1583-1608)

Being a reset and corrected 2^nd edition
True & Faithful Relation of what Passed for many Yeers between Dr John Dee...and Some Spirits...
With a complete translations of all Latin passages

Preface by Meric Casaubon
Edited by Stephen Skinner

This is a completely revamped and reader-friendly edition of A True & Faithful Relation of what passed for many Years between Dr. John Dee... and some Spirits, which has the great advantage of having all Latin passages translated, so you no longer have to look elsewhere for the meaning.

Translation and editing by Stephen Skinner, with a detailed introduction, appendices, extensive footnotes, supplementary texts, additional illustrations, and a Dee timeline.

This book contains John Dee's Spiritual Diaries for 25 years (1583-1608), now made available in an organized and readable form.

For any scholar or practitioner of magic, easy access to Dee's skrying and conversation with angels (the Enochian system) is one of the most important parts of the Western Esoteric tradition. This book also covers Dee's invocation of the angels, his experiments in alchemy, and experiences in the courts of the crowned heads of Europe.

This book incorporates almost 5000 corrections from the original notes of Meric Casaubon, Elias Ashmole and William Shippen, checked against the original manuscripts written by Dee (not against blurry microfilms with missing marginal gaps). Sections which were originally missing from Casaubon's edition have been added. Angels, spirits, people, places, dates and times have been fully footnoted, and Casaubon's errors corrected. The reader will find this a much more accessible entrance to the world of Dr Dee's conferences with angels and spirits, and a welcome improvement on every edition so far published.

Stephen Skinner was responsible for initially stimulating the renewed interest in John Dee and Enochian magic by first re-publishing Meric Casaubon's True and Faithful Relation... in 1973. He has now published the definitive edition, 46 years later.

CLOTH EDITION

Pages: 524 pages, 8" x 10"
Hundreds of illustrations
Full colour printed on art paper

Published: 8th January 2019

Price: US$96.00 (approx £ 74.00)

plus US$50.00 P&P airmailed
(its a very heavy book)

ISBN: 978-1-91221208-8

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Use the PayPal button.

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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Limited to 150 copies
Hand Bound Leather Collectors' Edition
in half leather with Sibley’s armorial crest

Price: US$164.00)

plus US$50.00 P&P airmailed
(its a very heavy book)

ISBN: 978-1-91221215-6

Only available direct from Golden Hoard Press.

Click to Order

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Clavis or Key to the Mysteries of Magic
by Rabbi Solomon translated by Ebenezer Sibley

Introduction by Dr Stephen Skinner & Daniel Clark
[ with additional material by Frederick Hockley, etc ]

This manuscript grimoire contains magical formulae and procedures dating back to 1520, which were brought together in 1789 by Dr. Ebenezer Sibley. After his death in 1799 copyists like Frederick Hockley continued to add chapters and even whole ‘books’ to the manuscript. Finally in the 19th century this particular copy was made by a master calligrapher. Although there are a number of other manuscript copies of the Clavis or Key to Unlock the Mysteries of Magic located in libraries spread around the world (14 at last count), this one is totally unique. It is 45% longer and more complete than any other copy, and illustrated with a large number of pentacles from the Key of Solomon, featuring 8-12 for every one of the 7 planets.

There are a range of detailed methods for evoking spirits and binding them, with an explanatory commentary by the editors which is not directed towards just theory and history, but to practical usage. Specific spirits, such as Birto, Agares, Vassago and Bealpharos and the methods for invoking them are explained, with illustrations of the form the spirits usually appear in. As you might expect, there is a whole section on skrying in the crystal, and the use of the magic bell, which explains the differences between evoking the spirit outside the circle in a triangle and seeing its image in a crystal.

Methods involving the use of the Demon Kings to compel the lesser spirits, which have never appeared in any other published grimoires, are explained in detail. As well as the pentacles there are many talismans for very practical purposes, such as compelling a thief to return your stolen goods, causing destruction to your enemies, creating love between two people, or just for casual ‘amorous intrigues,’ curing some diseases, and for defending your home against both burglars and malicious spirits. This extraordinary grimoire marks the high point in Victorian illustrated grimoires.

CLOTH EDITION

176 pages
176 x 250mm, 28 illustrations, 24 tables

Price: £40.00

(Approx US$56.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00

ISBN: 978-1-91221210-1

Published: 6th July 2018. Now Available.

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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

100 half leather hand bound
numbered & signed copies

Price: ￡72.00
Post Free

ISBN: 978-1-91221211-8
Limited Leather edition available 26th July 2018

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Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series - Volume IX

A Cunning Man's Grimoire

Dr Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

This manuscript is a grimoire, a manual of practical magic, a sorcerer’s handbook.

It is a composite grimoire drawn from a number of different sources. It is not the sort of grimoire which has a complete method of calling up a set register of spirits, like the Goetia, nor does it have a wide range of pentacles or talismans like the Key of Solomon.

It is however quite special as it was also was a practising Cunning man's grimoire, a very interesting blend of learned and local village magic. It also contains a lot of critical astrological information (including its own set of astrological tables) which are an important part of magic, but which don’t feature to a large extent in other grimoires. It goes way beyond Planetary days and hours, to detailed aspects of timing and also contains magical operations connected with the 28 Mansions of the Moon and image magic, which were usually absent from Solomonic grimoires.

The 28 Mansions of the Moon belong to a different magical tradition which owes its origins to Arabic and Indian roots, rather than the Greek roots of Solomonic magic. This manuscript literally stands at the crossroads of several different magical streams.

REGULAR EDITION

378 pages, 30 Tables
68 Illustrations (many in colour)

Hardback with dust wrapper

Price: £46.00

(Approx US$72.00)

plus P&P of £10.00 airmailed

Published : May 2015
ISBN: 978-981-094310-3

LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Limited to 200 copies

Hand Bound LEATHER EDITION - COLLECTORS' EDITION

Usual Price: £132.00
FLASH SALE PRICE ￡93.00
(Approx US$125.00)

Free P&P airmailed

Published : 2015
ISBN: 978-981-094311-0

Techniques of Solomonic Magic

by Dr. Stephen Skinner

Solomonic magic is a major part of the grimoire tradition. This volume is about the methods of Solomonic magic used in Alexandria and how they have been passed via Byzantium (the Hygromanteia), to the manuscripts of the Latin Clavicula Salomonis and its English incarnation as the Key of Solomon. Jewish techniques like the use of pentacles, oil and water skrying were added along the way, but Solomonic magic (despite its name) remained basically a classical Greek form of magic. Amazingly, this transmission has involved very few changes and the ‘technology’ of magic has remained firmly intact. The emphasis in this book is upon specific magical techniques such as the invocation of the gods, the binding of demons, the use of the four demon Kings, and the construction of the circle and lamen. The requirements of purity, sexual abstinence, and fasting have changed little in the last 2000 years, and the real reasons for that are explained. The use of amulets, talismans and phylacteries or lamens is outlined along with their methods of construction. The structure of a Solomonic evocation puts into perspective the reasons for each step, the use of thwarting angels, achieving invisibility, sacrifice, love magic, treasure finding, and the binding, imprisoning and licensing of spirits.

The facing directions and timing of evocations have always been crucial, and these too have remained consistent. Practical considerations such as choice of incense, the timing of the cutting of the wand, utilisation of rings and statues, use of the Table of Evocation, or the acquisition of a familiar spirit are also explained. Techniques of Solomonic Magic is thus a follow on book from Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic. This volume is based on the magicians’ own handbooks rather than the opinions of theologians, historians, anthropologists, sociologists or legislators. The emphasis is on what magicians actually did and why. Tools used by magicians in 7th century Alexandria, 15th century Constantinople and 19th century London are very much the same. More than 70 illustrations (many in colour) of magical equipment like the wand, the sword, wax images and magical gems, drawn from a wide range of manuscripts are reproduced and examined. This is the most detailed analysis of Solomonic magic, from the inside, ever penned.

Partial List of Contents

The Relationship between Magic and Religion
Sources of the Solomonic Magical Tradition
The Input of Jewish Magic to the Clavicula Salomonis
Byzantine Solomonic Magical Texts
Manuscripts of the Hygromanteia
Stephanos of Alexandria
Analysis of the Contents of the Hygromanteia
The Transmission of Byzantine Greek texts to the Latin West
The Clavicula Salomonis
Transmission of Techniques from the Hygromanteia to the Clavicula Salomonis
Similarity of Method in the Hygromanteia and the Clavicula Salomonis
The Hierarchy of Spiritual Creatures
The Hierarchies of Spirits, Angels and Daimones
The Gods
Preliminary Procedures and Preparations
Locations for the Operation
Orientation and the Four Demon Kings
Timing
Purity and Sexual Abstinence
Fasting and Food Prohibitions
Protection for the Magician
The Circle
Triangle of Art and Brass Vessel
Phylactery, Lamen or Breastplate
Amulets
Talismans and Pentacles
Conjuration of Angels
Evocation of Demons and Spirits
Nomina Magica

Historiola and Commemoration
License to Depart
Transmission of Equipment from Hygromanteia to Clavicula Salomonis
Table of Evocation
Wand
Sword
Black-handled Knife
Virgin Papyrus or Parchment
Pen, Quill, or Reed
Ink
Garments
The Symbola of the Gods
Magical Statues or Stoicheia
Magical Rings and Gemstones
Wax and Clay Images
Incenses and Herbs
Major Magical Techniques
Love Spells
Invisibility
Sacrifice
Necromancy
Treasure Finding
Imprisonment of Spirits in a Bottle
The ‘manteiai’ or Evocationary Skrying Methods
Lekanomanteia – Evocationary Bowl Skrying
Hygromanteia – Evocationary Water Skrying
A Short Outline of Astral Magic
Manuscripts of the Hygromanteia
Manuscripts of the Clavicula Salomonis
Text-Groups of the Clavicula Salomonis
The Classic Solomonic Method

NEW EXPANDED 5th EDITION

496 pages, 16 illustrations

Hardback with dust wrapper

Price: £40.00

(Approx US$62.00)

FREE P&P airmailed

Published : May 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9547639-7-8

Order from
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or
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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

Limited to 100 copies

Hand Bound LEATHER EDITION

FLASH SALE PRICE £96.00
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Usual Price: £110.00

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Published : June 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9568285-9-0

The Complete Magician's Tables

** 5th Expanded Edition – 64 pages more than the 1st edition **
Stephen Skinner

These more than 840 magical tables are the most complete set of tabular correspondences covering magic, astrology, divination, Tarot, I Ching, Kabbalah, gematria, angels, demons, Graeco-Egyptian magic, pagan pantheons, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Taoist and mystical correspondences ever printed. It is more than five times larger and more wide ranging than Crowley’s Liber 777.

New columns include the spirits from Faust’s Höllenzwang and Trithemius’ Steganographia. Types of magic and their Greek identification headwords; the meanings of a wide range of nomina magica; planetary incenses; and the secret names for ingredients, all from the Greek magical papyri. Also the names of the gods of the hours and the months which must be used for successful evocation.

The source of the data in these tables ranges over 2000 years, from the Graeco-Egyptian papyri, Byzantine Solomonike, unpublished manuscript mediaeval grimoires and Kabbalistic works, Peter de Abano, Abbott Trithemius, Albertus Magnus, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Dr John Dee, Dr Thomas Rudd, Tycho Brahe, MacGregor Mathers (and the editors of Mathers’ work, Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie), to the mage of classical geometric shapes, modern theories of prime numbers and atomic weights. The sources include many key grimoires such the Sworn Book, Liber Juratus, the Lemegeton (Goetia, Theurgia-Goetia, Almadel, Pauline Art), Abramelin, and in the 20th century the grimoire of Franz Bardon.

All this material has been grouped and presented in a consistent and logical way covering the whole Western Mystery tradition and some relevant parts of the Eastern tradition. This is the final update of this volume.

Partial List of Contents

Alchemy and Alchemists
Angels: Biblical and Gnostic
Astrology: Zodiac, Planets, Decans, Mansions
Fixed Stars and Constellations
Buddhist Meditation
Christianity
Colour Scales
Demons
Dr John Dee’s Angels
Emblems
Feng Shui and Taoist Magic
Gematria
Geomancy
Gnostic Magicians
Gods of the Hours and Months
Graeco-Egyptian Magic
Grimoires
Herbs
Islam
Isopsephy

Kabbalah
Letters, many Alphabets & Numbers
Magic and Sorcery
Natural Magic: Plants, Stones
Nomina Magica
Orders, Grades and Officers
Pagan Pantheons
Perfumes & Incenses
Planetary & Olympic Spirits
Questing and Chivalry
Sacred Geometry
Secret names of magical ingredients
Tarot
Timelines for: Magicians, Kabbalists, Alchemists, Astrologers, Knights Templar, Gnostics
Vedic and Hindu Meditation
Wheel of the Year: Hours, Months, Seasons, Festivals
Yi Jing / I Ching

CLOTH EDITION

Pages : 388, HB with d/w
42 Illustrations
61 Tables
Published: September 2014

Price: ￡39.95

(Approx US$65.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00

ISBN: 978-0-9568285-6-9

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LEATHER EDITION

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Price: ￡72.00

(Approx US$120.00)

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Published: September 2014

ISBN: 978-0-9568285-6-9

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Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic

by Stephen Skinner

This book uses academic tools to uncover the techniques which were actually used by Graeco-Egyptian magicians. This book will really strengthen your understanding of magic and its roots. After reading it magic will no longer be something to theorise about, but a real practice, a real interaction with divinities, daimones, spirits and even the dead, using evocation, invocation, skrying, dream techniques, talismans, amulets, defixiones, sacrifice and spirit offerings, ensouling magical statues and consecrating rings. It also explains the necessary protection for the magician, the circle and phylacteries.

Magical objectives include love (by attraction, compulsion, insomnia and ‘love’s leash’), health, invisibility, foreknowledge and memory. There are detailed sections on bowl and lamp skrying, the sending of dreams, encountering a god, and the Mystery rites for fellowship with the gods. First steps include the invocation of the paredros, the daimon assistant and the correct purity and fasting procedures. Encounter Thesallos of Tralles who persuaded an Egyptian priest to manifest a god for him, and the techniques that his Egyptian priest used to do this.

Egypt was at the heart of magic, and the Graeco-Egyptian papyri are the clearest and most extensive documentation of some of its earliest methods. These papyri were the handbooks of practicing magicians who lived during the first five centuries of this era. But attempting to read the Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri in Hans Dieter Betz's English translation The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation is a daunting task, as they seem to be in no particular order (except for papyrus number). Furthermore the papyri are a mixture of many different techniques, with minor snippets mixed in with serious and long invocations, many without the basic instructions needed to perform these rites.

Stephen Skinner discovered that in the original Greek, then they have a perfectly logical structure, as the scribes have in most cases used a headword to indicate what kind of rite was involved. This headword has however mostly been lost in translation. What Stephen Skinner has done here is to separate and tabulate each of the 40+ techniques used by Graeco-Egyptian magicians, throwing an enormous amount of light on these very practical texts. In many cases the translator has taken the easy way out and just used words like 'spell' or 'charm' to translate dozens of different technical words which are necessary for understanding exactly what is going on. Skinner has rectified this by extracting each of these specialist Greek terms for different magical procedures and, showing what they really mean, and has divided up the papyri into its constituent methods, so that the reader is directed to the specific passages relevant to his interest. The result is more than a guide to the papyri, it is a complete survey and explanation of the functioning of the types of Graeco-Egyptian magic, often noting where such techniques appear again in the later grimoires. If you want to understand Graeco-Egyptian magic, this is where you should start.

Chapters include:

* Amulets
* Calendrical Considerations
* Composite Rites
* Daimonic Possession and Exorcism
* Defixiones
* Ensouling Magical Statues
* Evocationary Bowl Skrying
* Evocationary Lamp Skrying
* Face-to-Face Encounters with a god
* Foreknowledge and Memory rites
* Health
* Homeric magic and divination
* Hymns, pagan
* Incenses, Herbs and Plants used in magic
* Invisibility
* Invocation of the gods and the god’s arrival
* Love
* Magical Rings and Gemstones
* Mysteries and Initiation Rites
* Necromancy
* Paredros or Assistant Daimon, securing a
* Phylacteries
* Procedures for Visions and Dream Revelation
* Talismans

CLOTH EDITION

Pages : 376, HB with d/w
57 Illustrations, many in colour
23 Tables
Published: 28th September 2011
SWCM : Vol. 8

Price: £46.00

(Approx US$75.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00

ISBN: 978-0-9568285-0-7

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LEATHER EDITION

Limited to 150 copies
Price: £72.00

(Approx US$96.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00
Published: October 2011

ISBN: 978-0-9568285-1-4

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The Magical Treatise of Solomon or Hygromanteia

Translated and edited by Ioannis Marathakis
Foreword by Stephen Skinner

This is the true ancestor of the Key of Solomon. Containing the full translation of the Hygromanteia. This book is sometimes called the Hygromanteia, and this book has hidden behind the mistaken idea that all of it is a work on water divination, a scholarly mistake that has hidden the true value of this book for centuries. Throughout history thousands of people have been fascinated by the grimoire the Key of Solomon. This is the original Greek book of magic that was the source of the Key of Solomon, and in turn the ancestor of most of the grimoire-based ceremonial magic practiced in Europe and the US today.

This is a ground-breaking work. For the first time (outside of a handful of pages in academic works) the full Greek original of the Key of Solomon appears in English.

Contrary to popular opinion the Key of Solomon was not translated from a Hebrew original. During the gradual decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire, this precious text, along with many others, was taken to Italy. This may even have happened when Constantinople was sacked in 1453. It is quite likely that it was taken to Venice, where parts of it were translated into Latin and Italian.

Abridged Latin copies entitled the Clavicula Salomonis circulated in Europe, going through many changes, languages and versions to become the Key of Solomon as we know it (some of those manuscripts are published as Volume IV of the present series). Now for the first time you can read the whole text (large portions of which were left out of the Latin translations).

CLOTH EDITION

Pages : 200, HB with d/w
Illustrations: 13
Published: 28th September 2011
SWCM : Vol. 7.

Price: £39.95

(Approx US$65.00)

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ISBN: 978-0-9568285-2-1

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LEATHER EDITION

Limited to 150 copies
Price: £72.00

(Approx US$96.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00
Published: October 2011

ISBN: 978-0-9557387-3-8

Liber Lunae - Book of the Moon

& Sepher ha-Levanah

Edited by Don Karr
Translation by Calanit Nachshon

Liber Lunae is a composite text containing three major sections:

The Mansions of the Moon, describing the operations of the 28 constellations of the lunar zodiac, their magical virtues and their names.
The Hours of the Day and Night, describing the operations of the 12 hours of the day and the 12 hours of the night, their names, virtues, talismanic images, and angels to invoke.
The Figures of the Planets, describing each planet's magic square, virtue, suffumigation, magical directions, and inscription.

Liber Lunae is fully transcribed from a sixteenth-century English manuscript, annotated, edited, and supplemented by modernized English versions of 'The Hours of the Day and Night', 'The Figures of the Planets', and 'The Mansions of the Moon', combining both Liber Lunae and Sepher ha-Levanah.

Transcriptions of related material on talismanic images and on the virtues of different hours and their names from other sections of Sloane MS 3826 are also included. The full introduction places the material contained in Liber Lunae into the general scheme of magical literature.

This volume also features a facsimile of A. W. Greenup's 1912 edition of Sepher ha-Levanah, a Hebrew version of Liber Lunae material. A full English translation of Sepher ha-Levanah prepared by Calanit Nachshon is included.

NEW PAPERBACK EDITION

329 pages

52 Illustrations

17 Plates + 34 tables

Price: USD 46.00

ISBN: 978-1912212-27-9
Publisher: Golden Hoard Press
Published: 2020

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Geomancy in Theory & Practice

Stephen Skinner

Geomancy - divination by earth - ranks alongside the tarot, astrology and the I Ching as a major form of divination. Since the Renaissance it has largely fallen out of favour for want of generally available information on its practice. This is the first and most comprehensive book in English to cover the full historical background and practice of divinatory geomancy, and will therefore be invaluable to all those interested in divination, magic and astrology. It is the only complete history in any language, covering geomancy's various manifestations in different cultures, as well as being a practical manual showing how to cast and interpret geomantic figures.

Drawing on material from Latin, French, German and Arabic manuscript and book sources, Stephen Skinner explores the roots of geomancy in the Islamic raml divination of northern Africa, which lead to Fa, Ifa and voodoo divinatory practices on the West Coast and sikidy in Madagascar. He examines the impact Islamic geomancy had on medieval Europe, where it rose to prominence and became, after astrology, the prime method of divination. It even resulted in the creation of an amazingly complex brass 12th century geomancy calculator. The part it played in Renaissance thinking and in the great astrological revival of the nineteenth century is followed by an examination of its use in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its declining influence in the twentieth century only to be revived again in the last decade. This western geomancy is not, and has nothing to do with, feng shui.

CLOTH EDITION

264 pages
5 illustrations, 2 tables

Price: £39.95

(Approx US$65.00)

Plus airmail P&P of £10.00

ISBN: 978-0-9557387-3-9

Published: 2010

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LIMITED LEATHER EDITION

250 half leather hand bound
numbered & signed copies

Price: ￡72.00
Post Free

ISBN: 978-0-9557387-5-3
Published: 2010

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Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series - Volume VI

Sepher Raziel - a 1564 grimoire

Don Karr & Stephen Skinner

Sepher Raziel - also called Liber Salomonis - is a full grimoire in the Solomonic tradition from a rare sixteenth century English manuscript. It is completely different from the Sepher Raziel ha-Melakh published by Steve Savedow, and is the oldest grimoire so far published in the Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic series, and shows clear signs of it Hebrew and Greek roots, quoting both Solomon and Hermes.

It contains seven treatises:

Clavis, concerned with astrology and its use in magic, with precise interactions between planets, Signs, and Houses;
Ala, outlining the magical virtues of stones, herbs, and animals;
Tractatus Thymiamatus, which deals with incense, and perfumes used in the Art;
Treatise of Times detailing the correct hours of the day for each operation;
Treatise on Preparations on ritual purity, and abstinence;
Samaim, on the different heavens and their angels; and finally,
Semiforas or a Book of Names and their virtues and properties, being seven semiforas attributed to Adam and seven semiforas attributed to Moses.

The Sepher Raziel text is given in two forms: a literal transcription with no changes in spelling or wording, and a full modern annotated English version.

This volume also includes a foreword which offers an overview of Raziel manuscripts, which represent a number of independent traditions, an essay on the literature of Solomonic magic in English, an introduction to the Sepher Raziel manuscript itself, an appendix on incense names, botanical names and identification, a list of printed notices and manuscript sources of Sepher Raziel, and a full bibliography of printed works on Solomonic magic and items of related interest.

CLOTH EDITION

96 pages

11 full colour illustrations

1 table

Price: £39.95

(Approx US$65.00)

plus P&P of £10.00 airmailed

ISBN: 978-0-9557387-1-5
Published: 2009

The Grimoire of St. Cyprian - Clavis Inferni

Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

The Grimoire of St. Cyprian - There have been many grimoires attributed to St. Cyprian of Antioch due to his reputation as a consummate magician before his conversion to Christianity, but perhaps none so intriguing as the present manuscript.

This unique manuscript (unlike the more rustic examples attributed to St Cyprian called the Black Books of Wittenburg, as found in Scandinavia, or the texts disseminated under his name in Spain and Portugal) is directly in line with the Solomonic tradition, and therefore relevant to our present series of Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic.

It is unique in that instead of being weighed down with many prayers and conjurations it addresses the summoning and use of both the four Archangels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel as well as their opposite numbers, the four Demon Kings, Paymon, Maimon, Egyn and Oriens. The later are shown in their animal and human forms along with their sigils, a resource unique amongst grimoires.

The text is in a mixture of three magical scripts, Greek, Hebrew, cipher, Latin, (and reversed Latin) with many contractions and short forms, but expanded and made plain by the editors. The title of the manuscript, Clavis Inferni sive magia alba et nigra approbata Metratona, literally means‘The Key of Hell with white and black magic as proven by Metatron'..

100 pages

Price: £39.95

(Approx US$65.00)

plus P&P of £10.00 airmailed

ISBN: 978-0-9557387-2-2
Published: 2010

Michael Psellus on the Operation of Dæmons

Translated by Marcus Collisson. Introduced by Stephen Skinner

It was the fall of Constantinople in 1453 that released a tide of Greek reading scholars into Western Europe, particularly Venice. With them came much of the magical and Hermetic knowledge which the Greeks in their turn had inherited from the Egyptians. The Key of Solomon was one such text. It is therefore essential to the understanding of such magical texts that one understands exactly how the Byzantines understood the nature of daemons. Psellus forms the bridge between the ancient world, Byzantine Greek, and the grimoire conception of the nature of daemons.

Michael Constantine Psellus (1018 – 1178 C.E) was one of the most notable writers and philosophers of the Byzantine era. The Byzantine domain was effectively the eastern Greek speaking part of the Roman Empire centred on Byzantium (Constantinople, modern Istanbul) which split off from the Latin West in 364 C.E. Its intellectual legacies helped lay the foundations for the Italian Renaissance.

Hailing from Constantinople, Psellus’ career was an illustrious and practical one, serving as a political advisor to a succession of emperors, playing a decisive role in the transition of power between various monarchs. He became the leading professor at the newly founded University of Constantinople, bearing the honourary title, ‘Consul of the Philosophers’. He was the driving force behind the university curriculum reform designed to emphasize the Greek classics, especially Homeric literature. Psellus is credited with the shift from Aristotelian thought to the Platonist tradition, and was adept in politics, astronomy, medicine, music, theology, jurisprudence, physics, grammar and history, and well qualified to explain daemons.

Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series - Volume IV

448 pages
160 B/W illustrations
talismans and tables
ISBN: 978-0-9557387-6-0

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The Veritable Key of Solomon

Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

The Key of Solomon is the most important and influential of all European grimoires. This is the most beautiful and detailed version of this grimoire ever published. With a comprehensive introduction by Stephen Skinner and David Rankine. This is a book that every practicing magician or scholar of the occult must have. The source is two French manuscripts scribed for a French aristocrat in 1796. This is not the earliest, but it is the most detailed version of the Key of Solomon. The book contains three separate versions of the Keys, in order to cover as much of the material as possible. It is much more complete than the Mathers’ edition. It includes a full commentary on all the 144 extant manuscripts of this grimoire, including illustrations from the earlier Greek manuscript precursor of the Key of Solomon, which is also published by Golden Hoard (see The Magical Treatise or the Hygromanteia elsewhere on this site).

The Goetia of Dr Rudd

Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

The Goetia is the most famous grimoire after the Key of Solomon. This volume contains a transcription of a hitherto unpublished manuscript of the Lemegeton which includes four whole complete grimoires:

Liber Malorum Spituum seu Goetia

Theurgia-Goetia

Ars Paulina (Books 1 & 2)

Ars Almadel

This manuscript was owned by Dr Thomas Rudd, a practicing scholar-magician of the early seventeenth century. There are many editions of the Goetia, of which the most definitive is that of Joseph Peterson, but here we are interested in how the Goetia was actually used by practising magicians in the 16th and 17th century, before the knowledge of practical magic faded into obscurity.

Many practical techniques used in the past have since been forgotten. The authors restore these using Dr. Rudd's manuscript. For example, to evoke the 72 demons listed here without the ability to bind them would be foolhardy indeed. It was well known in times past that invocatio and ligatio, or binding, was a key part of evocation, but in the modern editions of the Goetia this key technique is expressed in just one word ‘Shemhamphorash’, and its use is not explained.

This volume explains how the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorash are used to bind the spirits, and the correct procedure for safely invoking them using dual seals incorporating the necessary controlling Shem angel, whose name is also engraved on the breastplate and Brass Vessel.

Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series - Volume II

255 pages

hardback with dust wrapper

20 illustrations

Price: £35.00

(Approx US$56.00)

plus P&P of £10.00 airmailed

ISBN: 978-0-9547639-1-6

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LEATHER EDITION

Hand-bound limited leather bound edition
(special sale - only 28 copies remaining)
256 pages
20 illustrations

￡160.00
Approx US$220.00)
plus P&P of ￡10.00 airmailed

The Keys to the Gateway of Magic:
Summoning the Solomonic Archangels and Demon Princes
Stephen Skinner & David Rankine

This work includes the complete unabridged version with variants of The Nine Great Keys, a vital early 17th century manuscript detailing the evocation of the Archangels and the Nine Orders of Angels. The practical techniques of summoning the Archangels, details of the hierarchies of spiritual beings, and how the Enochian system fits in with the Angelic and Demonic hierarchies are all covered, as well as the theology and philosophy associated with Angelic magic, giving the context that the pioneers of Angel magic were working within.

Additionally the evocation of the four Demon Princes and their role within the system of magic which can now be seen to cover all spiritual creatures from Archangels to Demons to Olympic Spirits and Elementals is also presented in detail with rare manuscript material being made available for the first time. Amongst the rare material is a previously unknown text dealing excusively with the Demon Princes.

Now Published.

　

Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series - Volume I

292 pages

hardback with dust wrapper

5 illustrations

Price: £35.00
(Approx US$56.00)

plus P&P of £10.00 airmailed

ISBN: 978-0-9547639-0-9

The Practical Angel Magic of John Dee's Enochian Tables
Tabula Bonorum Angelorum Invocationes
Stephen Skinner & David Rankine
　

From two previously unpublished 17th century manuscripts on Angel Magic, with instructions for their use as used by Wynn Westcott, Alan Bennett, Rev. Ayton, F L Gardiner and other early members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

The authors have discovered what happened to John Dee's most important manuscript, his book of personal angelic invocations which he kept in Latin, and how it was preserved and developed by 17th century magicians into a full working magical system. How only a small part of this material reached the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the 1880's. Even this was then suppressed by the chiefs of the Order, and it did not appear in Israel Regardie's monumental work on the Order rituals.

They have also traced how the classical techniques of invocation and evocation drawn from late mediaeval grimoires, were passed through John Dee's magic, via Elias Ashmole, to the aristocratic angel magicians of the 17th century, including some of the most powerful and influential figures in England.

In the 20th century many fanciful constructions were added to GD Enochian by writers such as Aleister Crowley, who were however all unaware of the completely developed system that already existed, and which is here published in full for the first time.

Full transcription of 4 key magical manuscript in the British Library, and in the Bodleian Library. The 17th century summation of John Dee's works.

　Last updated 01 December 2013