The Secret of Magickal Grimoires
For those not in the know, about 10 days ago I finally freed myself of 15 months and 2 weeks of pothead infestation. There were breaks, of course, I think for good behavior (on my part)... but now the ordeal is finally over. I won't make any apologies for appearing the total chump in allowing my two toxic and infernal friends (or should I see 'fiends'?) to stay in my cramped one-bedroom apartment for such an intolerably long time - I will just simply say that up until the beginning of September I was returning a favor. The debt is now cleared.
What does all this have to do with Magickal Grimoires?
Only this: don't dabble in the Goetia, children. Leave it to the professionals and don't try this at home.
Last night I began reading Aaron Leitch's massively overproduced tome on medieval grimoires. I remember lurking on some CM list that he owned and moderated as the book was coming out. He seemed, at least online, a decent, level-headed guy - which made the first few chapters of his text utterly disappointing. Granted, I will admit, on certain level, to hope, each time I crack open one of these books, to find the kind of mind-melting foreboding knowledge that Lovecraft claimed was in his Necronomicon. That I even harbor that hope with a book published by Llewellyn speaks to my overreaching optimism.
I'm not going to attempt to evaluate Mr. Leitch as a magician - I haven't personally seen him practice and I haven't read far enough into the book to be able to tell how much of what he talks about is based on practical experience and how much is deduced. I picked up the book some time back (when I was flush with cash and stupidly intent on spending it) and it sat on my shelf until last night when, while mulling over my recent and rather strange conjuration of Hagith, I wondered if he might have had a useful word or two to say about the Arbatel of Magic and working with the Olympic Governors described therein, of which Hagith is one. (He doesn't seem to have much more to add than what I was able to decipher from reading the Arbatel itself, if you were curious).
What was irritating, was Leitch's history. He gives this broad stroke history of the social and political and religious currents that gave rise to the late medieval and renaissance grimoire. Granted, he's writing a book for a 20-something lazy occult nerd, and it is published by Llewellyn, and while the book is certainly large and the print is extremely small, there isn't really enough space to give a just treatment of such a wide-ranging subject... however... He offers a tantalizing blend of historical accuracy only then to leave in the unsaid just enough to lead one to imagine a horribly distorted and idealized vision of history. Ugh. Maybe I'm nitpicking here. But this worse than bad history... its poorly written and uncritical history. Can I be specific? Here an example, he talks about the syncretism in the eastern Mediterranean, and mentions the contribution of early Christian mysticism to the development of the occult tradition (which is certainly true) but then writes the line so as to suggest that all early Christians were Gnostics (which, naturally, was false). I am picking nits here, aren't I?
Anyway... I had been expecting to be disappointed from the start. The introduction seems to be telling me that I should set aside the effort and eye-fatigue and simply let the book sit on my shelf and I'll pretend to have read it and carry on with my magickal career.
What does all this have to do with Magickal Grimoires?
Only this: don't dabble in the Goetia, children. Leave it to the professionals and don't try this at home.
Last night I began reading Aaron Leitch's massively overproduced tome on medieval grimoires. I remember lurking on some CM list that he owned and moderated as the book was coming out. He seemed, at least online, a decent, level-headed guy - which made the first few chapters of his text utterly disappointing. Granted, I will admit, on certain level, to hope, each time I crack open one of these books, to find the kind of mind-melting foreboding knowledge that Lovecraft claimed was in his Necronomicon. That I even harbor that hope with a book published by Llewellyn speaks to my overreaching optimism.
I'm not going to attempt to evaluate Mr. Leitch as a magician - I haven't personally seen him practice and I haven't read far enough into the book to be able to tell how much of what he talks about is based on practical experience and how much is deduced. I picked up the book some time back (when I was flush with cash and stupidly intent on spending it) and it sat on my shelf until last night when, while mulling over my recent and rather strange conjuration of Hagith, I wondered if he might have had a useful word or two to say about the Arbatel of Magic and working with the Olympic Governors described therein, of which Hagith is one. (He doesn't seem to have much more to add than what I was able to decipher from reading the Arbatel itself, if you were curious).
What was irritating, was Leitch's history. He gives this broad stroke history of the social and political and religious currents that gave rise to the late medieval and renaissance grimoire. Granted, he's writing a book for a 20-something lazy occult nerd, and it is published by Llewellyn, and while the book is certainly large and the print is extremely small, there isn't really enough space to give a just treatment of such a wide-ranging subject... however... He offers a tantalizing blend of historical accuracy only then to leave in the unsaid just enough to lead one to imagine a horribly distorted and idealized vision of history. Ugh. Maybe I'm nitpicking here. But this worse than bad history... its poorly written and uncritical history. Can I be specific? Here an example, he talks about the syncretism in the eastern Mediterranean, and mentions the contribution of early Christian mysticism to the development of the occult tradition (which is certainly true) but then writes the line so as to suggest that all early Christians were Gnostics (which, naturally, was false). I am picking nits here, aren't I?
Anyway... I had been expecting to be disappointed from the start. The introduction seems to be telling me that I should set aside the effort and eye-fatigue and simply let the book sit on my shelf and I'll pretend to have read it and carry on with my magickal career.