Wellcome MS 110

Angels, planets and vision — an English book of magic

A selection from a late-16th-c. English book of magic, in three parts. First the conjurations — the 'Thesaurus Spirituum': coercive Christian invocations that compel the spirit to appear in the circle by the Trinity, the Passion of Christ and the Word of Creation (fiat lux…), on pain of the torments of hell. Then the great operation of the spirit Egippia / Asmoda (Asmodeus): a very long conjuration that compels the spirit by the Passion of Christ, the fall of the rebel angels (Lucifer/Beelzebub/Satan), the dragon and beasts of Revelation (Rev 12-13) and the licence to depart 'Ecce Crucem Domini' —with a curious insert: a 'philosophers' stone' recipe that turns out to be a scrying stone. Then the figures and circles of the art: conjuration circles with the directional angels and the divine names (Emmanuel, Sabaoth, Tetragrammaton, Agla), the master's triangle, the pentacle of the spirits of the air, the 'Sign of Solomon' and a wheel of characters with Lucifer. And finally the operations: the spirit-kings of each day and their fumigations, the operation of the day, the angels of the week, of the 7 planets and the 12 signs, the planetary sigils, and a scrying experiment in which a child gazes at his oil-anointed nail. Includes the 'office of Spirits' list (Birtyn = Bathin, Gorson = Corson). Our own transcription and translation.