|
S. L. MacGregor Mathers
Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order of which offshoots still exist. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie observed in retrospect that "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers." Early life Mathers was born on 8 or 11 January 1854 in Hackney, London, England. His father, William M. Mathers, died while he was still a boy. His mother, whose maiden name was Collins, died in 1885. He attended Bedford School and subsequently worked in Bournemouth as a clerk, before moving to London following the death of his mother. His wife was Moina Mathers (née Mina Bergson), sister of the philosopher Henri Bergson. Lifestyle Mathers added the "MacGregor" surname as a claim to Highland Scottish heritage. He w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isis
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris, and produces and protects his heir, Horus. She was believed to help the dead enter the afterlife as she had helped Osiris, and she was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh, who was likened to Horus. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. Originally, she played a limited role in royal rituals and temple rites, although she was more prominent in funerary practices and magical texts. She was usually portrayed in art as a human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head. During the New Kingdom (), as she took on traits that originally belonged to Hathor, the preeminent goddess of earlier times, Isis was portrayed wearing Hathor's headdress: a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alchemy
Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.. Greek-speaking alchemists often referred to their craft as "the Art" (τέχνη) or "Knowledge" (ἐπιστήμη), and it was often characterised as mystic (μυστική), sacred (ἱɛρά), or divine (θɛíα). Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of " base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical ''magnum opus'' ("Great Work"). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Aeon of Horus, Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life. Born to a wealthy family in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Crowley rejected his parents' fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith to pursue an interest in Western esotericism. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he focused his attention upon mountaineering and poetry, resulting in several publications. Some biographers allege that here he was recruited into a British intelligence agency, further suggesting that he remained a spy throughout his life. In 1898, he joined the esoteric Hermetic Order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Kelley
Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to see spirits or angels in a "shew-stone" or mirror, which John Dee so valued, Kelley also said that he possessed the secret of transmuting base metals into gold, a goal of alchemy, as well as the philosopher's stone itself. Legends began to surround Kelley shortly after his death. His flamboyant biography, his relationships with Queen Elizabeth I's royal magus Sir John Dee and Emperor Rudolf II, and his repute of having great alchemical skill and the ability to communicate with angels have all led to his relative notoriety among historians. Biography Birth and early career Much of Kelley's early life is obscure. He said he was descended from the family of Ui Maine in Ireland. He was born at Worcester on 1 August 1555, at 4 P.M. according ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Dee
John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, teacher, astrologer, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. As an antiquarian, he had one of the largest libraries in England at the time. As a political advisor, he advocated the foundation of English colonies in the New World to form a "British Empire", a term he is credited with coining. Dee eventually left Elizabeth's service and went on a quest for additional knowledge in the deeper realms of the occult and supernatural. He aligned himself with several individuals who may have been charlatans, travelled through Europe, and was accused of spying for the English Crown. Upon his return to England, he found his home and library vandalised. He eventually returned to the Queen's service, but was turned away when she was succeeded by James I. He died in poverty in London ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enochian Magic
Enochian magic is a system of Renaissance magic developed by John Dee and Edward Kelley and adopted by more ceremonial magic, modern practitioners. The origins of this esoteric tradition are rooted in documented collaborations between Dee and Kelley, encompassing the revelation of the Enochian, Enochian language and script, which Dee wrote were delivered to them directly by various angels during their mystical interactions. Central to the practice is the invocation and command of various spiritual beings. Dee's journals detail the two men's interactions with these entities, accompanied by the intricate Enochian script and Table of magical correspondences, tables of correspondences. They believed that these revelations granted them access to insights concealed within ''Liber Logaeth'', often referred to as the ''Book of Enoch''. Enochian magic, as practiced by Dee and Kelley, involved a range of rituals and ceremonies designed to evoke angelic and other spiritual entities. These ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grimoire Of Armadel
The ''Grimoire of Armadel'' (original title: ''Liber Armadel seu totius cabalae perfectissima brevissima et infallabilis scientia tam speculativa quam practiqua'') is a minor 17th-century French Christian grimoire kept in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris. It was translated into English by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and first published in 1980 after his death. It should not be confused with British Library manuscript ''Lans. 1202'' as " ''The Key of King Solomon'' by Armadel; Book 4: The Spirits which govern under the Orders of the sovereign Creator" (''Clavicules du Roi Salomon, Par Armadel. Livre Quatrieme. Des Esprits qui gouvernent sous les Ordres du Souverain Createur''). See also * S.L. MacGregor Mathers * Grimoire References External linksTranslation into English* Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lesser Key Of Solomon
''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', also known by its Latin title ''Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis'' or simply the ''Lemegeton'', is an anonymously authored grimoire on Goetia, sorcery, mysticism and Magic (supernatural), magic. It was compiled in the mid-17th century from materials several centuries older... It is divided into five books: the ''Ars Goetia'', ''Ars Theurgia-Goetia'', ''Ars Paulina'', ''Ars Almadel'', and ''Ars Notoria''. It is based on the Testament of Solomon and the ring mentioned within it that he used to seal demon. Terminology The text is more properly called '', or, The little Key of Solomon''. The title most commonly used, ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', does not in fact occur in the manuscripts. A. E. Waite, in his 1898 ''Book of Black Magic and of Pacts'' does use the terms "so-called Greater Key" and "Lesser Key" to distinguish between the Clavicula Salomonis and Lemegeton, so he may have been the one to coin it. The Latin term refers to the evocati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Key Of Solomon
The ''Key of Solomon'' (; ), also known as the ''Greater Key of Solomon'', is a pseudepigraphical grimoire attributed to Solomon, King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic. It is possible that the ''Key of Solomon'' inspired later works, particularly the 17th-century grimoire also known as ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'' or ''Lemegeton'', although there are many differences between the books. Manuscripts and textual history Many such grimoires attributed to King Solomon were written during the Renaissance, ultimately being influenced by earlier works of Kabbalah, Jewish theosophical kabbala and Muslim magicians. These, in turn, incorporated aspects of the magic in the Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman magic of late antiquity. Several versions of the ''Key of Solomon'' exist, in various translations, with minor to significant differences. The original type of text was probably a Latin or I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Knorr Von Rosenroth
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (15/16 July 1636 – 4 May 1689) was a German Christian Hebraist and Christian Cabalist born at Alt-Raudten (today Stara Rudna) in Silesia. After having completed his studies in the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, he traveled through the Netherlands, France, and England. At Amsterdam, he became acquainted with an Armenian prince, with the chief Rabbi, Meier Stern, Dr. John Lightfoot and Henry More. Influenced by them, and others, he studied Oriental languages, chemistry, and the cabalistic sciences. On his return, he settled at Sulzbach where he became the privy counsellor of Christian Augustus, Count Palatine of Sulzbach. He devoted himself to the study of Hebrew. Later he became a student of the Kabbalah, in which he believed to find proofs of the doctrines of Christianity. At the request of Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont he helped translate, edit and publish in Latin Jan van Helmont's writings on chemistry. He also dedicated time to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Book Of Abramelin
''The Book of Abramelin'' tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a Jew from Worms, Germany, presumed to have lived from to . The system of magic from this book regained popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries partly due to Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers' translation, ''The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage''. The book presents an autobiography written in the form of an epistolary novel. The character of Abraham of Worms narrates his travel to the Egyptian desert and to a town bordering the Nile. An elderly Egyptian mage offers him two manuscripts containing knowledge of Kabbalistic magic, but extracts an oath that bounds Abraham in the service of God and the divine law. The work was translated into English by Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers and more recently by Georg Dehn and Steven Guth. Dehn attributed authorship of ''The Book of Abramelin'' to Rabbi Yaakov Moelin (Maharil) (He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coptic Language
Coptic () is a dormant language, dormant Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language. It is a group of closely related Egyptian dialects, representing the most recent developments of the Ancient Egyptian language, Egyptian language, and historically spoken by the Copts, starting from the third century AD in Roman Egypt. Coptic was supplanted by Arabic as the primary Vernacular, spoken language of Egypt following the Arab conquest of Egypt and was slowly replaced over the centuries. Coptic has no native speakers today apart from a number of priests, although it remains in daily use as the Sacred language, liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church and of the Coptic Catholic Church. It is written with the Coptic alphabet, a modified form of the Greek alphabet with seven additional letters borrowed from the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic Egyptian script. The major Coptic dialects are Sahidic, Bohairic, Akhmimic, Fayyumic, Lycopolitan (Asyutic), and Oxyrhynchite. Sahidic Coptic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
