i'm reading the 2006 translation by georg dehn and steven guth.
some notes on the forward:
- the holy guardian angel (hga) requires significant preparation to meet (may differ from other texts in that it has a larger role than being something to offer a brief prayer to). students are pushed "toward a single-pointed passion for the Angel."
- notes it is similar to the bhakti yogi---read about this later.
- after union with the angel is achieved, the student conjures every "unredeemed spirit of the infernal regions." these spirits swear obedience to the student, thus granting them the ability to safely use certain magic squares.
- notes that mathers' translation came from an incomplete, questionable french text.
- on magic squares---apparently, people who did not bother with invoking their hga experienced misfortune when trying to use these. crowley "treated them with particular respect" and "warned students to be especially careful to not leave them laying about, cautioning that they have a tendency to escape the magician's control and do their mischief on the world."
- tldr: abremelin's grimoire, and mathers' subsequent translation, was important to the era of the golden dawn.
from the translator's note:
- herr - usually translated as lord. however, its connotations are not related to what abraham intended; the translators believed adonai was best suited.
- bose Geister - meant "unredeemed spirits" (trapped, lost), and not literal evil, destructive entities.
from the introduction:
- the book of abramelin was written between the 1300s-1400s. historical context: the great plague (1349).
- abraham's parents would've survived both the plague and the pogrom against jews which followed it.
- "abraham of worms" appears in one official record from the time period---a kaiser sigismund mentions a jewish abraham.
- rabbi jacob ben moses ha levi mollin, aka maharil, is a jewish intellectual from the same time period.
- the appendices elaborate on the historicity of abramelin.
- book 1 - autobiographical.
- book 2 - mixed kabbalah; folk traditions. maharil wrote another collection of folk traditions under his proper name.
- book 3 - self-development and initiation; written sometime after 1409.
- book 4 - word squares.
book 1
- abraham received this knowledge via oral tradition. he wrote it for his youngest son, lamech, so he could understand "the wonders of god."
- "the most shameful and disgusting title is 'ignorant.'"
- learned from a rabbi who had learned magic from many nations, thus halting his progress; this rabbi had not learned true holy magic. he later meets abramelin, who shows him "the right way."
- "he who does not journey does not return. he who does not have foreign experiences does not know how to organize his time and energies at home. the stay-at-home is like an archer painted on the wall: shooting continuously but never hitting anything."
- he meets abramelin! told to fast for three days, "and to satisfy (himself) with one meal a day, which should contain no blood or anything dead." was also to repeat the seven psalms each day (footnote: the psalms of repentence: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143).
- fifteen days later, abramelin returns, and informs abraham he must make a sincere, general confession to adonai concerning his entire life. he must also promise---sincerely---that he will serve and fear adonai, and to be obedient to his holy law.
- abramelin allows him to copy two manuscripts, and warns him thoroughly about how to pass them on to others.
- "so know, my son, i studied this art because of my love for the wisdom of adonai and to serve my neighbor, not out of curiosity or amusement."
- remember: the work requires half a year of daily study before beginning. (in book three, the full process is revealed to take 1.5yr---is this where the six month timeline of that other translation came from?)
book 3
- "one has his knowledge from the moon, the other from the sun, another from the stars, the fourth from an angryghost, the fifth from a loose woman, the sixth from a stupid animal, the seventh from a steer, the eighth from a pig, the ninth from a piece of wood, the tenth from a stone, the eleventh from herbs, the twelfth from words---and from so many other incredible things that heaven itself wonders about what is happening. (...) the wisdom of god is abused and diminished even to the point of being found in dirt and shit---all this has been believed to be wisdom and magic." (pg77)
- my note: how shall i interpret god? in my loose sense, i think i can translate adonai to a direct, underlying divinity to the universe. attuning to the underlying nature of the universe and the divinity which underlies all things. if divinity is within everything, than how can "the wisdom of god" be abused and diminished by being found in everything?---to argue the book's point, i'd say the problem is with people who take the expressions to be divinity itself, and not as an expression of divinity. his examples of where people find their wisdom show people playing with divination without acknowledging the underlying nature of it. divination is a powerful tool, but it is one aspect of divinity.
- for myself, i'd say the aether---as a coexisting layer to reality, 'where' divinity lies---has a nature which is occasionally expressed in my visible reality, BUT not reliably.
- "god's secret and god's wisdom---the kabbalah and magic." (...) the sister called "god's wisdom" is made of the fear of god and righteousness, which are of utmost importance.
- subserviance to god appears to be paramount.
- side note: i have always struggled with the idea of an individual holy guardian angel. i remember being taught we all have one, and i remember thinking it didn't make sense---there's too many people in the world for everybody to have their own personal angel! i'm reaching for something now---an aether counterpart? i cannot convince myself to act as if there is an independent, intelligent counterpart attached to me. however---something about tapping into divinity and it being filtered through the hga. it is not a being, but a function which taps into this greater sphere / realm / knowledge / experience and relates it to our puny human brains without breaking them.
- back to the text...emphasizing a respect for the knowledge and for god. "your guardian angel will remind you that you should not undertake this work for the following reasons: for entertainment; to show off; esteem; curiosity; and even less so for excitement; for immoral reasons; or to cause damage to others." you're doing this to praise god, of course!
- "fear god, then the right answers will present themselves."
- qualities necessary to undertake the work---living a religious life, being good mannered, loving solitude, not being stingy or prone to usury (charging interest on lones...ehh???). should be between the ages of 25-50 and free of diseases. do it before marriage or in the first year of marriage.
- "in regard to women, virgins are the fittest...generally, my advice---for many reasons---is that women should stay away from the work." WHY.
- chap4 continues to warn about how the devil leads others astray. it mixes lies and truth together to trick people.
- "noting the days is condemned and forbidden except for special days mentioned by god. so ignore the calendar and all indications of heaven except for those in which the kabalah is clearly involved---this is because evil and cheating lies hidden within."
- chap6 continues to warn about how stupid planetary hours and astrology are.
- chap7---the first six months. starting the morning after passover is recommended but not required. before sunrise, "go into your prayer room, open the window that faces east, and fall to your knees in front of the altar." continue to pray to adonai, thank him, confess, ask for grace, ask he'll send you his holy angel for protection. do this for six months. he does not give a specific prayer because it's moot point---one must pray from the heart and pay attention to what they're saying, not mindlessly repeat something. do this again after sunset.
- the prayer room must be clean.
- for daily life, "live quietly and simply in the fear of god."
- also, set aside time in the morning and afternoon---an hour each---to read the scripture, talmud, and related books.
- be wary of extended sickness---while it may be a test, six months of it is a warning from god that you are currently unsuited to this work.
- for the second six months, pray with greater intensity, and "lengthen the time for study and prayer as much as possible."
- for the third six months, you are praying three times a day. also: stick to water and veggies, fast the night before the sabbath. more restrictions about clothing and bathing.
- oh, and you also need to be offering incense on every sabbath in the first six months.
- there's a bit more ritual involved, but at long last, you will meet your hga. then there's three days of demon summoning! sorry, unredeemed spirit summoning. they will be sworn to appear to you when you call, or send a substitute. also, you're still here to serve god and humanity.