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Title: Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History) by Richard Kieckhefer ISBN: 0-271-01751-1 Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.84 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An excellent analysis of a necromancer's manual in context
Comment: Analyzing a 15th-century necromancer's book of experiments doesn't sound like gripping reading. Actually, it's quite fascinating reading, though this is definitely a geekbuy for the scholar of magic, mysticism, and religious trends.
Simply, this book takes a largely complete necromantic manual and analyzes it in context of the time, history, and what the owner may be like. The manual in question thus becomes a touchstone for understanding a period in time, traditions, and ideas - and how they came to be.
It does so quite well. There's a myriad of marvelous insights, informative information, and catalogues information, all tied together in comprehendible ways.
If there is a flaw, its that the manual is included in the book - but with no translation! It's clearly aimed at scholars in that regard, but I have to wonder if a translation would have made it more useful in general.
Despite this flaw, even if a near half of the book is in latin, it's really quite an interesting buy for a scholar of such things. If one has read the other books in the series, then this one is definitely worth it for its well-done contuinuing scholarship.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Authority on Medieval Magic
Comment: Professor Kieckheffer is one of the greatest authorities on medieval magic. It is especially ceremonial magic that he has placed firmly on the map of medieval intellectual history. The necromancer's manual is a fascinating text accompanied by Kieckheffer's high quality scholarship regarding social and intellectual contexts. I highly recoomend for anybody interested in the history of medieval and Renaissance magic.
Rating: 5
Summary: Intriguing bit of Latin esoterica
Comment: People who are interested in works in the Latin language ought to take a special note of this book. It is one of the more curious and obscure things in print, and we're thankful for it.
This reproduces in its entirely a fifteenth century manual containing someone's collection of magic spells. Unlike the fabled Necronomicon, this one's real. The spells themselves, as Prof. Kieckhefer's commentary points out, fall into a number of predictable patterns.
Their basic premise seems to be that by using a mish-mash of sacred names in Hebrew and Greek, or invoking an even more unrecognisable congeries of infernal spirits, we can invoke the power of God to summon demons and make them do our bidding. Putting this unlikely theology into practise, though, seems frequently to require the sacrifice of a hoopoe, making the spells somewhat difficult to use for the North American reader. Good luck.
What makes this book stand out is that, unlike similar collections of magical material, this one reproduces the entire original text in fairly easy mediæval Latin. I would have some nits to pick with the editing (it seems unlikely the fellow really meant to write "eciam" so often), but having this fascinating and obscure material to peruse in the original more than compensates for any such minor flaws. Original pages are often reproduced, showing the all-important sigils and arcane symbols.
Serious diabolists may find this a must-read. Folks like myself, just interested in late Latin literature, will find it a hoot. Hope you're not a lip-reader, though.
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Title: Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic by Claire Fanger ISBN: 0750913827 Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd Pub. Date: 01 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $20.01 |
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Title: The Black Pullet: Science of Magical Talismans ISBN: 1578632021 Publisher: Weiser Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Magic in the Middle Ages (Canto Book) by Richard Kieckhefer ISBN: 0521785766 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: Necronomicon Spellbook by Simon ISBN: 0380731126 Publisher: Avon Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Necromantic Ritual Book by Leilah Wendell ISBN: 0944087035 Publisher: Westgate Press (La) Pub. Date: 01 January, 1991 List Price(USD): $8.50 |
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