The Magus, Book II: The Perfection and Key of the Cabala, or Ceremonial Magic: Of The Invocation Of Evil Spirits, And The Binding, Of, And Constraining Of Them To Appear

Of the Invocation of EVIL SPIRITS, and the binding, of, and constraining of them to appear.

NOW, if thou art desirous of binding any spirit to a ready obedience to thee, we will shew you how a certain book may be made by which they may be invoked; and this book is to be consecrated a book of Evil Spirits, ceremoniously to be composed in their name and order, whereunto they bind

1 And having attained thy desired effect license them to depart.

And now we proceed to speak of the Invocation of good as well as bad Spirits.

The good spirits may be invocated of us, or by us, divers ways, and they in sundry shapes and manners offer themselves to us, for they openly speak to those that watch, and do offer themselves to our sight, or do inform us by dreams and by oracle of those things which we have a great desire to know. Whoever therefore would call any good spirit to speak or appear in sight, he must particularly observe two things; one whereof is about the disposition of the invocant, the other concerning those things which are outwardly to be adhibited to the invocation for the conformity of the spirit to be called.

It is necessary therefore that the invocant religiously dispose himself for the space of many days to such a mystery, and to conserve himself during the time chaste, abstinent, and to abstract himself as much as he can from all manner of foreign and secular business; likewise he should observe fasting, as much as shall seem convenient to him, and let him daily, between sun-rising and setting, being clothed in pure white linen, seven times call upon God, and make a deprecation to the angels to be called and invocated, according to the rule which we have before taught. Now the number of days of fasting and preparation is commonly one month, i. e. the time of a whole lunation. Now, in the Cabala, we generally prepare ourselves forty days before.

Now concerning the place, it must be chosen clean, pure, close, quiet, free from all manner of noise, and not subject to any stranger's sight. This place must first of all be exorcised and consecrated; and let there be a table or altar placed therein, covered with a clean white linen cloth, and set towards the east: and on each side thereof place two consecrated wax-lights burning, the

Footnotes

92:1 I have given an example of the book of spirits, by which you may see the method in which the characters, &c. are placed as above described. See the Plate.