Old Magic Books

Book Of Shadows is the witches place to record their spells and knowledge on their path to mastering the craft. It should contain the rituals, conjurations, philosophy and personal outlook of it's owner. A real book of shadows must be consecrated and is a powerful carrier of magic energy. T.V. shows such as Charmed have somewhat trivialized this sacred tome and many kids that watch the show uses it as a diary. Traditionally one had to hand copy their initiators book of shadows as part of the learning process but today they are more personal. Gerald Gardner is believed to have coined the phrase somewhere between 1946 - 1949 but despite it's somewhat ominous name there was controversy as to where he came up with the name for his Witches' grimoire. The original book of shadows found after his death was based upon the rituals of the Order of Templars of the Orient which had been devised by the occultist Aleister Crowley. Other pagan branches at the time seem not to have used the book for this very reason.

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Necronomicon is a fabled book and was in fact invented by the famous horror writer H.P. Lovecraft to be used in his stories. Through this and other works of fiction the book seemed to take on a life of its own and become real. Many books have been titled "Necronomican" for pure profit because of the desire by people to read it. Lovecraft claims the name came to him in a dream as some sort of revelation. Translated form Greek to English it means "concerning the dead". Despite the terror and respect that this book invoked Lovecraft always claimed it to be a work of fiction. But before anything can become a physical reality it must first be dreamed by it's inventor. So maybe it does exist after all.
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Opus Magus is a 300 year old famous occult book which has just recently been translated into the English language. The book which contains magick and occult texts was written by the German alchemist Georg Von Welling and has long been worshiped by witches and practitioners of the arts worldwide. Since its publication in the early 1700s, the book, Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum, has been available only in its original German. Joseph McVeigh, professor of German studies and chair of the German department, has completed the first complete translation into English of the famous book. The Opus Magus, as it is sometimes called, which has the lengthy subtitle "In Which the Origin, Nature, Characteristics, and Use of Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury are Described in Three Parts," has long been considered among history's most important alchemical works. The book contains aspects of alchemy, astrology, magic, esoteric Freemasonry, and the Golden Dawn, with reproductions of famous illustrations from von Welling's original tome.

"This book is historically important for a number of reasons," says McVeigh. "It is not only a valuable compendium of esoteric thought from the preceding centuries, but also anticipates in many ways the coming Romantic Movement in Germany in the early 19th century. First published in 1719, this popular book was still being published in a third edition at the same time that many of the masterworks of Enlightenment philosophy by Immanuel Kant were appearing. I could not believe that the Opus Magus could have lain untranslated in its entirety for so long."

Among the Opus Magus' most famous references is a scene in the famous play Faust, by 18th-century writer Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe. Faust, the immortal protagonist, who seeks knowledge unattainable by conventional education and experience, discovers a book of magic and is transfixed by its contents, resolving at that moment to become a magician. The model for Faust's book of magic was most likely von Welling's Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum, which Goethe had read in its entirety as a young man before beginning Faust.

"For the modern student of the Western Mystery Traditions, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of Von Welling's work," writes Lon Milo DuQuette, an occult scholar and Freemason, in the book's introduction. "Its influence can be traced through the doctrines and teachings of a host of European esoteric institutions including those of the Freemasons."

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