THE following process appears in several manuscript copies of the Key of Solomon, but has been omitted by the English editor of that work, as others are also omitted, presumably as a Goëtic interpolation. But we have seen that a Goëtic process in a book like the Key of Solomon is not necessarily an interpolation, while as regards this particular instance it is very nearly evident that it is an integral portion of that dubious collection. In the second chapter of the first book we are told that the days and hours of Mars are suitable for overthrowing enemies, while the hours of Saturn and Mars, and also the days on which the Moon is in conjunction with those planets, are excellent for experiments of hatred, enmity, quarrel and discord. In the first chapter of the second book it is said:--As for operations of destruction and desolation, we should put them into execution on the day of Saturn at the first hour, or rather at the eighth or fifteenth of the day, and from the first until the eighth hour of the night. . . . From these statements it seems fair to infer that there must have been a section containing directions as to the performance of such works. In this case, the Key of Solomon is neither better nor worse than any other Grimoire of Black Magic--as indeed we have reason to know by its admitted Give then whatsoever you please to the person designated, but let it be in the hour of Saturn or that of Mars, observing all things needful for such experiments.
299:1 This means that the experiment is for the occult consolation of a rival. It will be seen, however, that there is a certain confusion, as the adjuration which follows will exhibit.Miscellaneous and Minor Processes
§ 1. Concerning Works of Hatred and Destruction
Footnotes