Description

There are three main branches of occult knowledge and practice; Astrology, which aims to guide human fortune by means of foreknowledge; Alchemy, which tries to secure power through the agency of the philosopher's stone; and Ritual Magic, which seeks to control the spirit world. Elizabeth Butler's classic study of the traditions and practices of ritual magic uses a wide range of texts and sources - from the pre-Christian rites of the Akkadians and Chaldeans to the Solomonic Clavicles of medieval Europe - to create a lively, detailed and absorbing history of human attempts to achieve mastery over the spirit world. Throughout, there is extensive quotation from the documents themselves, providing the reader with an authentic sense of the richness and power of these texts.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Alchemy and Hermeticism, Astrology, Occultism and esotericism, and Ritual magic and grimoires.

Occultism and esotericism
Retained metadata contains “occult” in the description.
- “occult”· in description
Ritual magic and grimoires
Controlled discovery queries from harvard, libris, and wellcome matched “ritual magic”. Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the title, “Ritual magic” in the title, “Magic” in the description, and 4 additional metadata match(es).
- “ritual magic”· via Harvard LibraryCloud
- “ritual magic”· via Libris, National Library of Sweden
- “ritual magic”· via Wellcome Collection
- “Magic”· in title
- “Ritual magic”· in title
- “Magic”· in description
Alchemy and Hermeticism
Retained metadata contains “Alchemy” in the description.
- “Alchemy”· in description
Astrology
Retained metadata contains “Astrology” in the description.
- “Astrology”· in description

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

Read & download

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Buy or borrow

Links to ISBN 0271018461; other editions may be cheaper. WorldCat shows libraries near you that hold a copy.

Editions

4 editions cataloged here.

Edition	Date	Publisher	Language	ISBN	Access	Links
Harvard LibraryCloud bibliographic record viii, 328 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.	1998	Pennsylvania State University Press	English	0271018461	Catalog record	Harvard LibraryCloud (opens in a new tab)
[New ed.]	1979	—	English	9780521225632 9780521295536 0521225639 052129553X	Catalog record	Libris, National Library of Sweden (opens in a new tab)
Libris bibliographic record	1949	—	English	—	Catalog record	Libris, National Library of Sweden (opens in a new tab)