Goetia of Dr Rudd: The Angels & Demons of Liber Malorum Spirituum seu Goetia (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic)

The Goetia of Dr. RuddBy Stephen Skinner & David RankineThis book is a "must have" for anyone who is seriously interested in Solomonic ceremonial magick, from either a scholarly or a practical point of view. It is on a par with Joseph Peterson's Lemegeton --- which it complements and amplifies with a wealth of previously unpublished authentic 17th century materials from the noted magician Thomas Rudd (see A Treatise on Angel Magic, McLean 1982). Rudd was no slavish follower of ancient texts. He had even attempted a synthesis of Dr. John Dee's 16th century Enochian system and the Goetia. In the interest of purity Joseph Peterson had declined any major use of Rudd's particular personal version of the Goetia (and the remaining books of the Lemegeton: B.L. Harley MS. 6483) because of Rudd's creative additions and modifications -- with the exception of the very important sample of the Shemehamphorash invocations and sigils Rudd had used to safety and control his Goetic spirits (see Peterson 2001, pp. 263-4). As Skinner and Rankine point out, Rudd also included material from the earlier Heptameron, attributed to Peter Abano, in his version of the Goetia. It also appears that Rudd may not have used a triangle in his Goetic operations even though he was conscientious enough not to delete any of the numerous instructions for its use in the texts he was employing. In this case the author-editors find significance in the absence of a graphic representation of the triangle in Rudd's version of the Goetia. (It is possible that Rudd simply had his own version of the triangle that he did not wish to make a record of, or that a folio of the MS. is missing.) The author-editors also suggest that Rudd used the Brass Vessel as a primary conjuration device. They prudently refrain from conjecturing how it might have been employed (see page 185, not 181) but quote Rudd's notes following the standard conjurations: "You may command these spirits into the brazen vessel as you do into the Triangle. Saying that you do forthwith appear before this Circle, in this Vessel of Brass in a fair and comely shape & etc. as is showed (sic) before in the conjurations." We are left to our own ingenium as to exactly how this would be done but, based on past experience I would suggest that a buffer and a good grade of brass polish might be essential.... As a side note, Skinner and Rankine point out that Peter Smart's 17th century drawing of what I supposed to be the back of a mirror stand was in fact a drawing of The Brass Vessel. I think they are correct about that, but I was in good company with David McLean in this instance, so I don't feel too chagrined at the mistake. However, I'm not about to roll over and put my paws in the air on the issue of the positioning of the Triangle. In the first place the traditional placing of the Triangle is outside the circle in the quadrant of the working, not only in most versions of the Goetia but also in the Sepher Maphteah Shelomo. With that established let's consider the further instructions: the Triangle is to be mounted "two feet off and three feet over." However Skinner and Rankine state that: "In this context `over' means `across', not above, just as the word `coast' in that period meant `edge' or the circle." This sounds scholarly but unfortunately it is, in my very humble opinion, an attempt to justify a mistake made earlier by Mathers & Crowley in the 1904 edition of the Goetia. If we consult a good glossary of Elizabethan English usage, and David & Ben Crystal's Shakespeare's Words (2002) is so regarded, we discover that the meaning of `over' is over, and the meaning of `across' is across. With this minor quibble put by, I would like to mention some other very important contributions in this volume. The author-editors have done the best work yet in unraveling the snarling complexity of Goetic planetary and astrological attributions that have bedeviled serious scholars and magicians for centuries. Obviously we have Martian spirits (Earls and Counts) even though we have no iron-or-steel lamens for them. (Although not clearly stated in this book, we must assume that iron is not used because it traditionally repels and controls demons--especially in the Arabian tradition of the Ring of Solomon, which the authors do mention). Rudd apparently does not use the traditional Goetic Secret Seal of Solomon to stopper his Brass Vessel. This device is familiar to all students of the art and is depicted on Peter Smart's drawing mentioned above. It shows the Brass Vessel in cross section stoppered with a layer of iron (Mars) and sealed with a layer of lead (Saturn). Iron controls spirits and Saturn is the outer planetary/sepherotic limit of the qabalistic universe the Goetic spirits inhabited before The Fall (down to Yesod, if you take our interpretation--down to the Klippoth if you follow Steve Savedow). Rudd prefers to use another design which we find in Trithemius and Agrippa. The author-editors provide a wealth of extrapolated tables, appendices and copious footnotes. This is a very valuable work and, with my minor cavils noted, I am compelled to admire and appreciate their scholarship. As I stated at the beginning of this review. This book is a "must have" if you are serious about studying and/or practicing in the Solomonic school of magick.Carroll "Poke" RunyonEditor: The Seventh Ray

The best version of the Goetia available. It has so much more information than the Crowley/Mathers edition and has been written in a way that makes it easy to understand.

In publishing "The Goetia of Dr. Rudd" Skinner and Rankine have provided to the community of operative magicians an entrance way into traditional Medieval and Renaissance magical practices that until now had only been partially opened. While many books have been written about goetia, it is here, in this book, that we get insight into the actual workings of a magician who was a direct connection to Dee circle, and part of the continued transmission of those ideas in OPERATIVE form into the post-Renaissance period. The first section of the book is a general introduction into the world of magic, and an important foundation for understanding the significant differences between modern and traditional practices. There is also a discussion of 'why another book on goetia' and the significant details that sets this one apart from others - its being part of an operative diary of the work, as well as the inclusion of materials not previously seen with goetia, such as the Heptameron, suggesting a direct link between the two. While of interest to the armchair magician and academic occultist, it is practical magicians that will benefit the most from this work, as well as the previous two vols in the series - Practical Angel Magic of Dr. Dee's Enochian Tables, and Keys to the Gateway of Magic: Summoning the Solomonic Archangels and Demon Princes, also a rare Rudd manuscript. I cannot speak highly enough of these works and am indebted to the editors for making them available and look forward to future additions to the series.

It by Stephen Skinner, what else can one say. Buy it.

comprehensive rehash? you certainly don't need this hard cover to go goetia etc. a good work tho (besides some editorial lapses) with the appendix, brief commentaries and comparison of sources. much space is taken up by the seals alone. this is more like a(nother) volume in their serious look at, or survey of ceremonial magick. by any standards, it's an awesome book for your esoteric library, or coffee table perhaps. Hi Marge, what's this?