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The art of drawing spirits into crystals
The
Magic and Philosophy of
TRITHEMIUS OF SPANHEIM;
containing his book of
SECRET THINGS,
and
DOCTRINE OF SPIRITS
with
many curious and rare secrets (hitherto not generally
known;)
THE ART OF DRAWING SPIRITS INTO
CRYSTALS, &c.
Of the making of the Crystal and the Form of Preparation for a Vision
Table of the names of Spirits and Planets governing the Hours
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
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Of the making of the
Crystal and the Form of Preparation for a Vision.
Procure of a lapidary good clear pellucid crystal, of the bigness of a
small orange,
i.e.
about one inch and a
half in
diameter; let it be globular or round each way alike; then, when you have got this crystal, fair and clear, without any clouds or specks,
get a small plate of pure gold to encompass the crystal
round one half; let this be fitted on an ivory or ebony pedestal, as you may see more fully
described in the drawing, [figure 1]. Let there be engraved a circle (A) round the
crystal with these characters around inside the circle next the crystal

; afterwards the name
"Tetragrammaton".
On the other side of
the plate let there be engraven
"Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael;"
which are the four
principal angels ruling over the
Sun, Moon, Venus
and Mercury;
but on the table on
which the crystal stands the following names, characters, &c. must be drawn in order.
First, The names of
the seven planets and angels ruling them, with their seals or characters. The names of the four kings of the four
corners of the earth. Let them be all written within a double circle, with a triangle on a table; on which place the
crystal on its pedestal: this being done, thy table is
complete (as in the Fig. D,) and fit for the calling of the spirits; after which thou shalt proceed to experiment,
thus:
In what time thou
wouldest deal with the spirits by the
table and
crystal, thou must observe the planetary hour; and whatever planet
rules in that hour, the angel governing the planet thou shalt call in
the manner following; but first, say this
short prayer:
"Oh, God! who art the author of all good things,
strengthen, I
beseech thee, thy poor servant, that he may stand fast, without fear,
through this dealing and work; enlighten, I beseech thee, oh Lord! the
dark
understanding of thy creature, so that his spiritual eye may be opened to see and know thy angelic spirits
descending here in this crystal:
(then lay thy hand
on the crystal saying,)
and thou, oh inanimate creature of God, be sanctified and consecrated,
and blessed
to this purpose, that no evil phantasy may appear
in thee; or, if they do gain ingress into this creature, they may be constrained to
speak
intelligibly, and truly, and without the least ambiguity, for
Christ's sake. Amen. And forasmuch as thy servant here standing
before thee, oh, Lord! desires neither evil treasures, nor injury to his
neighbour, nor hurt to any living creature, grant him the power of
descrying those celestial spirits
or intelligences, that may appear in this crystal, and whatever good gifts (whether the
power of
healing infirmities, or of imbibing wisdom, or discovering any
evil likely to afflict any person or family, or any other good gift thou mayest be
pleased to
bestow on me, enable me, by thy wisdom and mercy,
to use whatever I may receive to the honour of thy holy name.
Grant this for thy son Christ's sake. Amen."
Then taking your ring and pentacle, put the ring on the
little finger of your right hand; hang the pentacle round thy neck ; (Note,
the
pentacle may be either wrote on clean virgin parchment, or engraven on a square plate of silver and suspended from thy neck to the breast), then
take your
black ebony wand, with the gilt characters on it and trace the circle, (Fig. 7. C D E F,) saying,
"In the name of the blessed Trinity, I consecrate this piece of ground for our
defence; so that no evil spirit may have power to break these bounds
prescribed here, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen.
Then place the vessel for the perfumes between thy circle and the holy
table on which the crystal stands, and, having fire therein, cast in thy perfumes, saying,
"I conjure thee, oh
thou creature of fire! by him who created all things both in heaven and
earth, and in
the sea, and in every other place whatever, that forthwith thou cast away every phantasm from thee, that no hurt whatsoever shall be done in any thing.
Bless, oh
Lord, this creature of fire, and sanctify it that it may be blessed, and that they may
fill up the
power and virtue of their odours; so neither the enemy,
nor any false imagination, may enter into them; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
Now, this being done in the order prescribed, take out thy
little book, which must be made about seven inches long, of pure white
virgin vellum or paper, likewise pen and ink must be ready to write down the name,
character, and office, likewise the seal or image of whatever spirit may appear
(for this I
must tell you that it does not happen that the same spirit you call will always appear, for
you must try
the spirit to know whether he be a pure or impure being,
and this thou shalt easily know by a firm and undoubted faith in God.)
Now the most pure
and simple way of calling the spirits or spirit is by a short oration to
the spirit himself, which is more effectual and easy to perform than composing a table
of letters;
for all celestial operations, the more pure and unmixed they are, the more they are agreable to the celestial spirits: therefore,
after the circle is drawn, the book, perfumes, rod,
&c. in
readiness, proceed as follows:
(After noticing the exact hour of the day, and what angel rules that hour,
thou shalt say,)
"In the name of the blessed and holy Trinity, I do desire
thee, thou
strong mighty angel, Michael, [Or any other angel or spirit] that if it be the divine will
of him who is
called Tetragrammaton &c. the Holy God, the Father, that thou take upon thee some shape as best becometh thy
celestial nature, and appear to us visibly
here in this crystal, and answer our demands in as far as we shall not transgress
the bounds of
the divine mercy and goodness, by requesting unlawful knowledge; but that thou wilt graciously shew us what things are most profitable
for us to
know and do, to the glory and honour of his divine Majesty, who liveth
and reigneth, world without end. Amen.
"Lord, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven;
-- make clean
our hearts within us, and take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
"O
Lord, by thy name, we have called him, suffer him to administer unto us.
And that all things may work together for
thy honour and glory, to whom with thee, the Son, and blessed
Spirit, be ascribed all might, majesty and dominion.
Amen"
Note, In
these dealings, two should always be present; for often a spirit is
manifest to one in the crystal when the other cannot perceive him;
therefore if any spirit appear, as there most likely
will, to one or both, say,
"Oh, Lord! we return thee our hearty and sincere thanks for the hearing of
our prayer, and we thank thee for having permitted thy spirit to appear
unto us which we, by thy mercy, will interrogate to our further
instruction, through Christ.
Amen."
Interrog. 1. In the name of the holy and undefiled Spirit, the Father, the begotten Son, and Holy Ghost,
proceeding
from both, what is thy true name?
If
the spirit answers, Michael,
then
proceed.
Quest. 2. What is thy office? 3. What is thy true sign or
character? 4. When are the times most agreeable to thy nature to hold
conference with us?
Wilt thou swear by the blood and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou art truly Michael?
(Here let him swear,
then write down his seal or character in thy book, and against it, his office and times to be called, through
God's name; also write down any thing he may teach thee,
or any responses he may make to thy questions or
interrogations, concerning life or death, arts or sciences, or any other thing;) and then shalt thou say,
"Thou great and mighty spirit, inasmuch as thou camest
in peace and
in the name of the ever blessed and righteous Trinity, so in this name thou mayest
depart, and
return to us when we call thee in his name to whom every knee doth bow down. Fare thee well, Michael; peace be
between us, through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen."
Then will the spirit
depart; then say,
"To God the Father, eternal Spirit, fountain of Light,
the Son, and
Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end.
Amen." |
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I shall here set down the Table of the names of Spirits and Planets
governing the Hours; so thou shalt easily know by inspection, what Spirit
and Planet governs every Hour of the Day and Night in the Week.
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Note, The
day is divided into twelve equal parts, called Planetary Hours, reckoning from
sunsire to sunset, and, again, from the setting to the rising; and to find
the planetary hour, you need but to divide the natural hours by twelve, and the
quotient gives the length of the planetary hours and odd minutes, which shews you how long a
spirit bears rule in that day; as Michael governs the
first and the
eighth hour on Sunday, as does the .
After you have the length of the first hour, you have only to look
in the Table,
as if it be the fourth hour, on Sunday, you see
in the Table that
the and Gabriel rules; and so for the rest it being so plain
and easy you
cannot err.
Iohannis Tritemij Opuscula quaedam huius argumenta.
Probably spurious. Appended to Henrici Cor. Agrippae ab Nettesheym,
de occulta philosophia libri III,
Parisiis. Ex offincina Iacobi Dupuys. 1567. English translation in Francis
Barrett's The Magus, p. 135bis. |
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