Abramelin was an Egyptian mage who lived in the 1300s – to this day, the system of magic described in his writings remains popular and influential in occultist circles.
The teachings were dispensed by Abramelin to a man named Abraham, a Jewish traveler and enthusiast of Egypt who lived in town of Worms in Germany. Abraham in turn authored this work for his son, inserting pieces of autobiography, relating how he traversed vast distances across Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. His discovery of Abramelin, who lived in a secluded hilltop dwelling, is explained, with the mage’s life philosophy, rituals and spells then described. It emerges that Abramelin is a staunch ascetic, who decries the evils entailed in acquiring riches and material possessions.
Obscure for centuries, it was only when S. L. MacGregor Mathers rediscovered and translated this grimoire of magical lore to English that it returned to the public eye. It became a popularly consulted text, with groups such as the Hermetic Order and famous occultists such as Aleister Crowley making use of the abundance of wisdom herein. This edition includes the charts appended by Mathers, as well as his lengthy introduction and explanations of the ancient scripts.
