User:T L Miles/Sixth and seventh books

For draft work on the article: Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

to file

"However, this microhistorical reading of the public, partial, and hidden transcripts of New York Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthew's beliefs and ritual practices demonstrates that Black Israelites did not simply imitate Jews, but rather they were bricoleurs who constructed a polycultural religion that creatively reworked threads from religious faiths, secret societies, and magical grimoires."

"Matthew based what he called his “cabalistic science” on the most popular of de Laurence’s books, The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses"

Black Hebrew Israelites

Nova Religio August 2007, Vol. 11, No. 1, Pages 61–83 , DOI 10.1525/nr.2007.11.1.61 Posted online on July 3, 2007. (doi:10.1525/nr.2007.11.1.61)

"I Saw You Disappear with My Own Eyes": Hidden Transcripts of New York Black Israelite Bricolage

Jacob S. Dorman‌

on Cabalistic science", see Yvonne Patricia Chireau, p203

   * Toward a Systematic Typology of Black Folk Healers
   * Hans A. Baer
   * Phylon (1960-), Vol. 43, No. 4 (4th Qtr., 1982), pp. 327-343
     (article consists of 17 pages)
   * Published by: Clark Atlanta University
   * Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/274755

Conjure, rootwork, hoodoo, As "ethnomedicine" which contains several stable elements: certain related African traditional belief systems, charismatic Christianity, sympathetic magic, elements of modern science, and European folk beliefs

Grey Gundaker. Signs of diaspora/diaspora of signs: literacies, creolization, and vernacular practice in African America. Oxford University Press US, 1998 ISBN 0195107691

p.51-52 Standard part of the Hoodoo and Obeah repertoire  : it and seals derived from it still sold at religious supply stores

Divine Spiritual Church or Christ in New Orleans

linking the "old" herbal folk wisdoms with the bible

p.120 1926 reports it in New Orleans "printed on very cheap paper with paper bindings, are retailed to the Negroes at a dollar each... The sale is enormous and their use by literate Negroes very widespread..."

p.143: as above literacy is important in this: both the literacy, a power, turned to use this power, but also demonstrated through the use of written seals and power letters"

feeds into the veve power signs

Tales of the Blue Mountians of Pennsylvania wise women and tsasbom

W. W. Newell. Tales of the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 11, No. 40 (Jan. - Mar., 1898), pp. 76-78

1. Items of German-Canadian Folk-Lore
2. W. J. Wintemberg
3. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 12, No. 44 (Jan. - Mar., 1899), pp. 45-50

About twenty years ago there was an old woman living not far from here who was popularly regarded as a witch. She is said to have possessed the sixth and seventh books of Moses, and it was believed that she could transform herself into any animal she chose. She sometimes transformed herself into a cat, and prowled around her neighbors' premises.

Harmony Society Economy (now Ambridge, Pennsylvania)

http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/Versluis.html

Studies in American Esotericism

Western Esotericism and The Harmony Society

Arthur Versluis

Michigan State University

Harmonists were a nexus point for other major European esoteric currents as well, including magic. In the Economy library, and in private homes as well, was Das sechste and Siebente Buch Mosis, das ist: Mosis magische Geisterkunst, das Geheimnis aller Geheimnisse, (NY: Wm. Radde & Son, n.d., stamped, John House, Canton, Mo. 14th edition[!]. The Economy library also has a second edition, with advertisement for a 1737 book in back, entitled Die Magie bei den Israeliten, n.p., n.d. The book is a well-soiled copy, missing title pages, but consisting in the two books of Moses, an ink inscription "Oeconomy" on the inside of the cover. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses are, of course, the well-known manuals of folk magic that are so pervasive in Pennsylvania German folklore, and it is more than likely that folk magic also had its part in the Harmonist tradition.

Wole Soyinka's Isara mid 20th century Yourba Christian characters speculate on the magical properties of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

p. 139 JDY Peel Wole Soyinka's Isara in

Christianity and the African imagination: essays in honour of Adrian Hastings By Adrian Hastings, David Maxwell, Ingrid Lawrie Contributor Adrian Hastings Edition: illustrated Published by BRILL, 2002 ISBN 9004116680

p. 320, 331 a prominent 20th century shrine builder Chukwu Emeka Ifeabunike Dr. Candido (Dido) of India — is an Igbo healer and Mami Wata priest who employs African, European, American, Hindu, Christian, occult, eclectic spirits from many traditions

p331 used the book, one of two he ordered directly from de Laurence

• HENRY JOHN DREWAL. MAMI WATA SHRINES: Exotica and the Construction of Self. pp. 308-333 in African material culture

By Mary Jo Arnoldi, Christraud M. Geary, Kris L. Hardin Published by Indiana University Press, 1996 ISBN 0253210372

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/apr/03/thedayoftheeclipsehowthe World fails to end - again]. Cameron Duodu. guardian.co.uk, Monday 3 April 2006

youth in 1947 At Asiakwa, in rural Ghana, where I was in junior school, there wasn't a single person who could properly explain to us the scientific basis of "the darkness" that was going to come. But I noticed that, as the date got nearer, the bigger boys in our school became rather secretive and detached from the rest of us. They moved about in small clusters, and were observed to be indulging in fasting and much washing of their hands and faces. Occasionally, they were caught murmuring incantations. I learnt later that these came from a mysterious, illustrated book on occultism called The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, imported from a remote place called India.

One of my older cousins told me this book contained diagrams and charts, which could be used to invoke spirits into the world from "out there". There were also "talismans" in it, which could be ordered and used to attract girls, or to play better at football. He warned me that because of these magical powers, the book was "dangerous" and that was why its contents had been taken out of the Bible. In fact, many of those who ordered the book did not receive it because the post office had put it on a prohibited list and used to seize it. It could only arrive if it was cleverly disguised as a comic book or something. This was because the authorities believed that if one tried to use it and made mistakes, one could go mad. Also, if one glanced at certain charts in it without saying the correct incantation at the right time, one would go blind.

The Hidden Power of the Whites. The Secret Religion Withheld from the Primal Peoples / Le Pouvoir caché des Blancs. La religion secrète dissimulée aux peuples primitifs. Harold W. Turner.lien Archives des sciences sociales des religions lien Year 1978 lien Volume 46 lien Issue 46-1 lien pp. 41-55

Liberian evangelic pastor and former military commander Joshua Milton Blahyi, famous during the civil war as General Butt Naked

http://www.endtimee.bravehost.com/all_about_ettem.html End-Time Train Evangelistic Ministries

This was the last day of the meeting in Tabou, Cote D’Ivoire and many people brought their charms; a young man brought a book he was dealing with called “The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses” and it was burned. We at first tried to use fire to burn it and we could not but prayer did burned the trash. Rev. Dr Freeman the head pastor of the Baptist church made his confession and forgave a brother who offended him during the war in Liberia, though they were both in Cote d’Ivoire as refugees but he was awaiting an opportunity to pay back. Thank God for making it possible for such meeting. May God also bless the ones that were willing to support us in every way.

Henri Gamache. Mystery of the Long Lost 8th, 9th and 10th Books of Moses 1948. RePublished by Kessinger Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1417981075

1. William Lauron DeLaurence and Jamaican Folk Religion
2. W. F. Elkins
3. Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 2 (1986), pp. 215-218

The1970s Igbo Hour of Freedom Pentacostalists evangelical group came out of self described former "visoners", who cited the 6thn7th as their tools of the trade in that former profession, at one time with the Ufuma, and before that the Cheribuim and Saraphem group

pp.90-91 African Pentecostalism: an introduction By Ogbu Kalu Edition: illustrated Published by Oxford University Press US, 2008 ISBN 0195340000

Comeback in Ghana and Nigeria: new age, mysticalist groups appealing to western educated males who are "disillusioned churchgoers" The eclectic mix includes the old six and seventh books: a mysticism that has the twin advantages of being nominally christian and foreign: not "old fashioned" like traditional religions. One Nigerian article called it "an advanced form of Christianity"

6th and seventh is lumped in with kabblah as being more "socially acceptable than the Alaudra  or traditional churches"  especially among middle class urban people coming from the African separatist churches, the mainline Protestant denominations that broke from colonial churches primarily over race, not theology

pp. 227-228 New Age Trends in Nigeria: Ancestral and/ or Alien Religion? Rosalind J Hackett, pp. 215-231 in Perspectives on the New Age By James R. Lewis, J. Gordon Melton (eds) Published by SUNY Press, 1992 ISBN 079141213X

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/magicbook.html legends from Germany selected and translated by

D. L. Ashliman © 2003-2008

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Chemnitz, Germany

There is no longer any magic or witchcraft. That is because the sixth and the seventh books of Moses can no longer be used. Witchcraft, magic, and incantations were all exactly described and recorded there. These two books are now secured at Wittenberg. They can still be seen as curiosities, but can no longer be used.

   * Source: A. Kuhn and W. Schwartz, "Das sechste und siebente Much Mosis," Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Meklenburg [Mecklenburg], Pommern, der Mark, Sachsen, Thüringen, Braunschweig, Hannover, Oldenburg und Westfalen (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1848), no. 100, p. 90.

   * Kuhn's and Schwartz's source: "Oral from Chemnitz."

   * Return to the table of contents.

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Rügen, Germany

Many years ago there lived in Trent an old master tailor whose wife had inherited an unusual book from her mother. They say she had the sixth and the seventh books of Moses. Whenever the woman read in the book, deer, wolves, hares, and other animals would come to her, lie down at her feet, and play with her children. All these animals would disappear as soon as the book was closed.

One day while the woman was reading the book, she was surprised by her husband. He grabbed the book and threw it into the stove. But behold! The fire went out, and the book remained undamaged. The tailor did not want to have this book in his house any longer, so, acting on the advice of some old people, he had a boy who was born on a Sunday during the sermon throw the book into the stove. That worked, for the book was immediately consumed by the flames.

   * Source: A. Haas, "Das sechste und siebente Buch Mose," Rügensche Sagen und Märchen (Stettin: Johs. Burmeister's Buchhandlung, 1903), no. 101, p. 90. 

Amish

One of the first examples of this is John George Hohman's Pow-wows: or, Long Lost Friend, a collection of magical spells originally published in 1820 for Pennsylvania-Dutch hexmeisters.

http://www.archive.org/details/journalofamefolk12ameruoft THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE. VOLUME XII — january-march, 1899.— no. xliv.

"About twenty years ago there was an old woman living not far from here who was popularly regarded as a witch. She is said to have possessed the sixth and seventh books of Moses, and it was believed that she could transform herself into any animal she chose. She sometimes transformed herself into a cat, and prowled around her neighbors' premises."

Appalachia

Stories of A certain Paul Heym, living near Fort Lebanon, about 1755, was supposed to possess incredible magical abilities, confered by his possession of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

David C. Henning. Presentation of Tales of the Blue Mountains. Publications of the Historical Society of Schuylkill County, vol. III. Historical Society of Schuylkill County. (1911) pp. 15, 49, 146

W. F. Elkins: quotes Richard Dorson saying there are constant references ascribing diobolic powers to its users from Illinois in the 1930s and pennslyvannia in the 1940s

Hoodoo

Zora Neale Hurston, in the introduction to Moses: Man of the Mountain (1939), says that "there are millions of copies of a certain book, The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, being read and consulted in secret beacuse the readers believe in Moses." p.xxii Cited in Britt, p. 33.

Moses-as-conjuror

Paralleling God-as-conjuror, hoodoo practitioners often understand the biblical figure Moses in similar terms. Hurston developed this idea in her novel Moses: Man of the Mountain, in which she calls Moses, "the finest hoodoo man in the world." Obvious parallels between Moses and magic occur in the biblical accounts of his confrontation with Pharaoh in which he performed "miracles" such as turning his staff into a snake. However, his greatest feat of conjure was using his powers to help free the Hebrews from slavery. This emphasis on Moses-as-conjuror led to the introduction of the pseudonymous work the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses into the corpus of hoodoo magical reference literature.

Bible-as-talisman

In hoodoo, "All hold that the Bible is the great conjure book in the world." It has many functions for the practitioner, not the least of which is a source of spells. This is particularly evident given the importance of the book Secrets of the Psalms in hoodoo culture. This book provides instruction for using psalms for things such as safe travel, headache, and marital relations. The Bible, however, is not just a source of spells but is itself a conjuring talisman. It can be taken "to the crossroads", carried for protection, or even left open at specific pages while facing specific directions. This informant provides an example of both uses:

"Whenevah ah'm afraid of someone doin' me harm ah read the 37 Psalms an' co'se ah leaves the Bible open with the head of it turned to the east as many as three days."

Europe

Europe's greatest identifiable influence on hoodoo is, arguably, the presence and use of European or European-American grimoires. One of the first examples of this is John George Hohman's Pow-wows: or, Long Lost Friend, a collection of magical spells originally published in 1820 for Pennsylvania-Dutch hexmeisters. It was introduced to hoodoo through catalogs on magic geared toward the African-American community in the early 1900s. The spells in this book are woven throughout with Christian symbolism and prayer, which made it a natural addition to the similar symbolism of hoodoo. Mirroring the hoodoo concept of the Bible-as-talisman, the book itself proposes to be a protective amulet:

Whoever carries this book with him is safe from all his enemies, visible or invisible; and whoever has this book with him cannot die without the holy corpse of Jesus Christ, nor drown in any water, nor burn up in any fire, nor can any unjust sentence be passed upon him. So help me.

The 6th and 7th Books of Moses is a European grimoire that is purportedly based on Jewish Kabbalah, though it actually covers little, if any, relation to Kabbalistic thought. It contains numerous signs, seals, and passages in Hebrew that are supposed to be related to Moses' ability to work wonders. Though its authorship is attributed to Moses, the oldest manuscript dates to the mid-1800s. Its importance in hoodoo practice is summarized as follows:

"I read de "Seven Books of Moses" seven or eight yeah a'ready . . . de foundation of hoodooism came from way back yondah de time dat Moses written de book "De Seven Book of Moses."

Generally, hoodoo practitioners do not use the instructions for rituals in this text, rather, the images and symbols have a greater importance.

in contemporary canada

• Helen A. Berger. Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006

ISBN 0812219716

p.113 "resulted in the center of worship focussing on the use of Africanized seals and cryptic ciphers that express values of African and Creole hagiographies " p113 Integrated into Obeah Shango and Orisha Baptist groups in Canada (from Jamacia and Trinidad) thriving in Canada where in the US, Latin beliefs are stronger in this mix

Obeah

Illegal in Jamaica: Manley removed all but five of the books from the political banned list, but left tsasbom and the like

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=757&dat=19741105&id=mGwJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MUcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5748,444607 The Virgin Islands Daily News - Nov 5, 1974 Police Charge Preacher With Practicing Obeah Kingston "The Complete Edition of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses Magical Spirits Art"

W. F. Elkins (p.215) tells a similar publicized arrest in November 1915.

Stephen D. Glazier. Encyclopedia of African and African-American religions. Taylor & Francis, 2001 ISBN 0415922453 Obeah "bush magic" vs. "Science" Grimore, mas produced talismans, chams, and potions p.217

p. 86-87 especially important in contemporary Bahamian and Antigua Obeah

• Deborah E. Mistron. Understanding Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents. Greenwood Publishing Group, (1999)ISBN 0313302545

• • W. F. Elkins. William Lauron DeLaurence and Jamaican Folk Religion. Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 2 (1986), pp. 215-218

"super-guru""World's most powerful magician"

Also Trinidad: "Most prized book" for the "Science" Obeah practice

pp.41-42 Ivor Morrish. Obeah, Christ, and Rastaman: Jamaica and Its Religion. James Clarke & Co., 1982 ISBN 0227678311

Arvilla Payne-Jackson, Mervyn C. Alleyne. Jamaican Folk Medicine: A Source of Healing. University of the West Indies Press, 2004 ISBN 9766401233

pp. 70-71 banned by govt in 1943 under the Banned Publications Act

p.117 the "Highest Mysteries" delivered on Mount Sinai, kept out of bible

p.118 Lack of care when "He had drawn one of the seals from the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses and used the formula to invoke the spirit." summoned the Devil in the form of a black dog

p.186 Older (pre-science) 1970s Marroon Obeah men useing herbs and oils: new younger using Sasbom and a crystal, along with herbs

Printings

"The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses: The Mystery of All Mysteries: The Citation On All Spirits, etc. " The de Laurence Company (1916)

http://www.archive.org/details/5552584

The Silver's Just Set a Light Songster [microform] ([1900-1910])

Author: Wehman Bros; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Photographic Services; Wehman, Henry J Subject: Songs Publisher: Urbana-Champaign : University of Illinois Photographic Services Possible copyright status: NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT Language: English Call number: 5552584 Digitizing sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Book contributor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Collection: microfilm Description

A turn of the century Songster including The Silver's Just Set a Light

• • W. F. Elkins. William Lauron DeLaurence and

images of premade seals http://www.infomercantile.com/images/thumb/9/96/Model-catalog-021.jpg/377px-Model-catalog-021.jpg http://www.infomercantile.com/images/thumb/f/f9/Model-catalog-020.jpg/377px-Model-catalog-020.jpg

http://www.infomercantile.com/blog/labels/magic.html 1930s US ads

http://www.rarebook.com/featuredbooks_files/thumb84097.jpg paper wrapper mass market copy from Laurence Jamaican Folk Religion. Folklore, Vol. 97, No. 2 (1986), pp. 215-218 "super-guru""World's most powerful magician"

Baltic and Russia

Finot, Jean. Modern Saints and Seers . trans Evan Marrett London William Rider & Son 1920

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2878859/Modern-Saints-and-Seers-by-Finot-Jean-18581922

"The peasants of the Baltic Provinces, although better educated thanthose of Southern Russia, became victims of religious mania just asfrequently. It was in the Pernov district that the cult of the godTonn was brought to light. The chief function of this god was topreserve cattle and other livestock from disease, and to gain hisfavour the peasants brought him offerings twice a year. His statue wasplaced in a stable, and there his worshippers were wont to gather,praying on bended knee for the health of their cows and horses. Intime, however, the statue was seized by the police, to the great griefof the peasants of the district.In another part there dwelt a magician who was said to cure all bodilyills by the aid of the sixth and seventh books of Moses."

Oklahoma

http://www.archive.org/stream/billjonesofparad00call/billjonesofparad00call_djvu.txt JOHN J. CALLISON. Bill Jones OF Paradise Valley Oklahoma . Copyright 1914 by J. J. Callison. Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Printed by M. A. Donohue & Co. CHICAGO AUG 31 1914

p.112 While I was working for Lee and Rejiiolds one sum- mer, we had a young fellow in the outfit we called Big Jim. He was not lazy, but he just had a way of letting the other boys do the work. We decided at a council of war that we would break Jim of the habit of laying down under the chuck wagon every time it was in camp. One hot day he took off his boots and sox and rolled up his pants and drawers, so his feet would cool off while the cook was getting dinner. Then we all got busy. I was considered the best all-around trouble man in the bunch. When I was a young fellow on the farm, I had read the life of Jesus Christ, John A. Murrell, Fanny White, Hoyle, Dr. Chase's Recipe Book, Ten Thousand Things Worth Knowing, Gleeson on the Horse, The Silent Friend, sixth and seventh books of Moses, Dr. Gunn, and several others that I have forgotten. I was considered an authority on any question that might come up between the boys.

Missouri

http://www.archive.org/stream/victorythroughch011911mbp/victorythroughch011911mbp_djvu.txt

"Victory Through Christ Radio Messages Broadcast In The Tenth Lutheran Hour" 

Copyright 1943 CONCORDIA PUBLISHING HOUSE St. Louis, Mo. "the fraudulent sixth and seventh books of Moses"

Rastafari

Tafari said to have Mastered this as a child

Rastafarian "High Science" p251

• Barry Chevannes. Rastafari and Other African-Caribbean Worldviews. Institute of Social Studies (Netherlands), Rutgers University Press, 1998 ISBN 0813524121

Alaurda

Aladura also produced its own such tracts inspired by sasbom p.78

• Ogbu Kalu. African Pentecostalism: an introduction. Oxford University Press US, 2008 ISBN 0195340000

• Peter Probst. The Letter and the Spirit: Literacy and Religious Authority in the History of the Aladura Movement in Western Nigeria. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 59, No. 4 (1989), pp. 478-495

Aladura Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim

Peter Probst. "The Letter and the Spirit: Literacy and Religious Example" pp.198-220 in Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy, ed. Brian V. Street. Cambridge University Press, 1993 ISBN 0521409640 pp.209, 214-216 Westerners report it prevalently used in 1950s Ghana and Nigeria. It's important influence on Oshitelu' Aladura: It's literate founders skepticism of unwritten tradition, even Christian Gnostic traditions. They used magic texts as a way of integrating literacy and Christianity with traditional forms of religion and powers

Caroline H. Bledsoe, Caroline H. and Kenneth M. Robey " Arabic Literacy and Secrecy among the Mende of Sierra Leone" pp.110-134 in Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy, ed. Brian V. Street. Cambridge University Press, 1993 ISBN 0521409640

pp.127-28 "Many people believe that certain Biblical passages, like those in the Qur'an - especially the Old Testament's alleged sixth and seventh books of Moses - are God's actual words" which when used might command God's angels or even God himself. and there for have special powers. The thought was always that for newly literate societies, writing these power words, once memorized and spoken by powerful individuals, would lessen their power: the opposite happens: it creates totems, imbueing them with power. Even if physically available, they still remain too powerful for most to access, and thus are dangerous, and attractive

Done?

Das sechste und siebente Buch Mosis, das ist:

 Mosis magische Geisterkunst, das Geheimniss aller 
 Geheimnisse. Sammt den verdeutschten Offenbarungen 
 und Vorschriften wunderbarster Art der alten weisen 
 Hebräer, aus den Mosaischen Büchern, der Kabbala und 
 den Talmud zum leiblichen Wohl der Menschen. Wort- 
 und bildgetreu nach alten Handschriften mit 42 Tafeln. 

Alternate Title: Coleô Cabala. Selections. German. Edition: 8., sehr verm. Aufl. Imprint: New York, Wm. Radde, 1865.

THE FOURTH SEAL, OF THE MINISTERING Cherubim and Seraphim, with their Character.19 19. S: Das vierte Siegel der dienstbaren Cherubim und Seraphim mit ihrem Charakteur. EE: "... Characteristics." CONJURATION. I, N. N., a servant of God, call upon thee, desire and conjure thee, O Spirit Anoch, by the wisdom of Solomon, by the obedience of Isaac, by the blessing of Abraham, by the piety of Jacob and Noah, who did not sin before God, by the serpents of Moses, and by the twelve tribes, and by the most terrible words: Dallia, Dollia, Dollion, Corfuselas, Jazy, Agzy, Anub,20 Tilli, Stago, Adoth, Suna, Doluth,21 Alos, Jaoth, Dilu, and by all the words through which thou canst be compelled to appear before me in a beautiful, human form, and give what I desire. (This the conjuror most name.)

20. EE: Ahub

21. EE: Eoluth Figure 5. The Seal. Chapter I.?THE SPIRIT APPEARS IN A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT. Figure 60.

Figure 81. BREASTPLATE OF MOSES. Figure 104. DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE SYMBOLS EMPLOYED BY THE ISRAELITES IN THEIR LAWS OF MAGIC.

An English translation first appeared in New York in 1880, and has been reprinted more than a few times without ? as far as I can tell ? ever being re-edited. The editors of the many English editions seem to have lacked Scheible?s industriousness, but have instead been content with propogating any and all errors intact. All the English editions thus far have consequently been deficient in many ways, with poorly executed drawings and Hebrew lettering, drawings printed upside down, mistakes in transcription and translation, passages censured and other substantial omissions. All in all, English speaking readers have had an especially difficult challenge trying to make sense of this book.

In making this corrected edition I have drawn on the original sources, starting with Scheible?s own revised and expanded eighth edition. Additionally I have consulted the original sources drawn on by Scheible and his sources, namely the Hebrew Bible, Agrippa? De Occulta Philosophia (1533), Sepher Raziel, de Abano's Heptameron, Arbatel Of Magick (1575), the Babylonian Talmud, and other cited authors.

This book has become quite influential in American folk-magic, and has been extensively used by the Pennsylvania Dutch hexmeisters, Hoodoo practitioners, and African-American root workers. I hope that this corrected edition will be of interest to those who have suffered with the problems of prior editions, and I welcome all suggestions.

The introduction is titled 'The magic of the Israelites'. It was added by Scheible for the second edition. While not credited in the English edition, it was written by Joseph Ennemoser, and taken from a chapter of his book Geschichte der Magie (Leipzig, 1844). Besides hiding the origin of this section, the editor of the English edition inexplicably moved it to the middle of the book.

• The conjurations seem to be based on Verus Jesuitarum Libellus

• Agrippa's Third Book of Occult Philosophy

Agrippa, Heinrich De occulta philosophia (1533) S Scheible, Das sechste und siebente Buch Mosis (New York, 1865)

• This is followed by a translation of the Hebrew mystical text Sepher Schimmush Tehillim, or the magical uses of the Psalms. This was translated by Gottfried Selig (1722-1795), publisher of the German (Leipzig) periodical Jude, about Jewish customs and practices. This popular text is a medieval compilation, and was frequently printed in pamphlet form.