Solomonic Magic

Methodology, Texts, and Histories
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-04-54677-6
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 11, 345 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: Magical and Religious Literature of Late Antiquity

Solomonic magic has captivated imaginations for centuries, yet its definition remains elusive. Is it a specialized branch linked to King Solomon, or a broader classification of practices attributed to him? This book explores the mysterious world of demon subjugation, examining previously unknown texts in multiple languages (Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and more) to reveal the historical evolution of this magical tradition. Divided into three parts, the book presents analyses of key manuscripts and examines the historical influence of Hebrew texts on later traditions. Featuring many unpublished manuscripts, this book challenges previous scholarly assumptions and offers a new perspective on the textual network that shaped medieval and early modern magical works.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sofer, Gal

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Heilige & Traditionstexte: Torah, Talmud, Mischna, Halacha
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Okkultismus und andere religiöse Praktiken

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

List of Figures and Tables

A Note on Hebrew Transliteration

Part 1 Methodology

1 Philology 1 Genes and Scale Shifting 2 Textual Networks

2 Solomonic Magic: A Term in Flux or a Distinct Tradition? 1 Defining through Polemical Discourses 2 The Anatomical Anomaly of “Solomonic Magic”

3 From Micro(s) to Macro: Multi-Sources and Scribal Strategies 1 Practitioners’ Confessions 2 Genesis Narratives

Part 1: Summary

Part 2 Texts

Clusters and Nodes: A Brief Introduction

4 Liber Bileth (LB) 1 Liber Bileth: Fusing Two Texts into One 2 The Book of Spirits 3 The Marvelous Ring 4 Liber Bileth: Preliminary Intra-Clusteric Genetic Analysis

5 Clavicula Salomonis (CS) 1 Italian and Latin Claviculae: The Clavicula’s Ritual and Six Methods 2 An English Clavicula: The Return of Bileth Son of Aned 3 French Clavicula 4 Hebrew Claviculae 5 Clavicula Salomonis: Preliminary Intra-Clusteric Genetic Analysis

6 Sapientia Salomonis (SP) 1 A Consecrated Catalog of Demons 2 Liber consecrationum 3 ?okhmat Shlomo: The Hebrew SP?s 4 Sapientia Salomonis: Preliminary Intra-Clusteric Genetic Analysis 5 Liber centum regum 6 Intra- and Inter-Clusteric Analysis

Part 2: Summary

Part 3 Histories

Introduction: Beyond the Solomonic Veil

7 The Babylonian Background 1 ?over ?aver—The Reception of a Biblical Term 2 Babylonian Jews and Demons—Expelling or Gathering?

8 Sefer Haqqevitza 1 Gathering Demons in Fustat—Sefer Haqqevitza and the Four Elements 2 Sefer Haqqevitza—A Babylonian Component of the Solomonic Network 3 Solomonic Attribution 4 Where Are You, Arabic Sources? Some Short Notes on a Great Lacuna

9 Binding Demons in Medieval Ashkenaz and Provence 1 Ashkenazic ?asidim and Sefer Haqqevitza 2 The Chiefs of the Teli 3 The Demonology of the Kohen Brothers

10 Binding Demons in Medieval Spain—The Astral Turn 1 Moses of Burgos and Nachmanides 2 Liber Razielis 3 Berit Menu?a

11 Berengar Ganell and Liber Theysolius 1 The Magisterium and the Summa 2 Repositories of Names: The Case of Liber Theysolius

12 The Age of the Clavicula 1 Clavicula Salomonis: An Italian Reaction to Information Overload 2 SQR Genes in the Early Modern Period 3 Abraham Colorni and the Untold Story of the Hebrew Claviculae

13 Curating Wisdom—The Art of Knowledge Cataloging 1 Making Catalogs I: Demons 2 Making Catalogs II: Pentacles

14 The Greek Myth 1 Rethinking the Hygromanteia Hypothesis 2 Catoptromancy and the Solomonic Network

Part 3: Summary

Solomonic Magic: Final Thoughts

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Gal Sofer, MD, PhD, is a senior lecturer in the Department of the Arts at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He has studied medieval and early modern magic and Kabbalah, focusing on knowledge transmission and transformation across linguistic boundaries.