The Book of Oberon: A Sourcebook of Elizabethan Magic

We live in remarkable times; until relatively recently, works like this were restricted to those able to access them in manuscript form. That meant only those wealthy enough to bid at auction, or holders of university reading passes with the knowledge to decipher the text. Scholars like Harms, Clark and Peterson are leading a democratisation of this material which every aspiring magician should be grateful for. How to demonstrate your gratitude? Buy a copy; that builds demand for more of these outstanding products. In this case, you’ll be accessing a priceless inheritance of English Magic and I can’t recommend it to you highly enough.

I got the 3rd printing if the 1st edition. The paper is not high quality as it is said. Feels like newprint paper. And the cost is high for that type of paper... The text is good.

Amazing.

Beautiful edition, in perfect pristine condition, fast shipping, very pleased

This is truly an incredible find by the Folger Shakespeare Library.The Book of Oberon starts with a wonderful introduction by Daniel Harms and Joseph Peterson spanning 32 pages concerning such things as manuscript origins, significance of the manuscript, the spirits contained in the book, authorship, and an interesting section on Micob,Titam,and the Seven Fairies. There are two parts to the book, the first being called Theurgia which takes up at least 3/4 of the book and the second part is called the Key of Solomon. The Book of Oberon being from the 16th century (1577) was compiled around a fantastic period in English occult history... this is not only the time of Queen Elizabeth but also of Dr John Dee no less and smack bang in the middle of the Renaissance. It is believed that the magician/s who created this grimoire were part of a larger network of magicians who would pass around their magical books, gleaning from them certain information and adding this to their own books, one of which is the newly titled `Book of Oberon` a name given by its current editors as the original MS had no name. The BoO is primarily a book of ritual magic and the summoning of spirits. One striking thing I found is the integration of a large and divers number of beings, most particularly fairies which is where the title originates. There are two operations intended to summon the fairy King Oberion, Oberion being a variant of Oberon King of the fairies from Shakespeare`s Midsummer Nights Dream. Also contained therein is a rite to summon King of the Pygmies which spans the best part of four pages. Some of the other spirits to summon are Lucifer, Satan, Baron, Birto (the BoO contains the earliest known ritual for summoning the spirit Birto), Ascariell, Bilgall, Annabath, and Ascariell. James R. Clark does an excellent job of the drawings having vast experience of ceremonial magic, alchemy and sacred geometry. The talismans, circles and spirit drawings etc are excellent giving us plenty of things to peruse. One drawing that fascinated me was that of Mosacus, a most bizarre looking spirit if there ever was one.This book has so many things in it I have never seen before and for it to be a fully working text gives me great excitement... it also contains the earliest known manuscript of the Enchirideon of Pope Leo. Other texts used in the BoO were `Sefer Raziel`, `Arbatel`,Abano`s `Heptameron` and at the back end of the book we have a very rare 16th century copy in English of the `Key of Solomon`, how good is that!.This is the book I always wished for but never thought I would see, and here it is! Its rare to have such a book as this published, its not your average text by any means, and the wealth of new information it provides us with is astounding. This is a book I will always treasure as its an esoteric gem that I`m sure many of you will love!