Book of Oberon
The Book of Oberon is the modern name for a sixteenth-century grimoire containing a compilation of spells, secrets, and invocations for performing ritual magic.
Content
The Book of Oberon contains a common collection of rituals and spells found in other grimoires of the period, such as the Key of Solomon.
- Formulas used in natural magic
- Methods for creating amulets
- Lists of spirits
- Instructions for working with Goetic demons
- One of the oldest known copies of the magical manual The Enchiridion
"Booke of pictures"
The book itself is the primary magical tool described in its rituals. The manuscript is described as a booke of pictures which could actually reference a deck of tarot cards.
Title
The original title page of the book has been lost, but it was likely given a generic title reflecting its magical content.
One of the spirits found in the book, Oberion, is similar in name to the Shakespeare character Oberon from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Seeking to capitalize on the similarity of the name and hoping to attract interest in the book from fans of Shakespeare, the authors conflated these spirits into one entity.
Original manuscript
The original handwritten vellum manuscript is listed as Manuscript V.b.26 in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. The latest possible date for creation is 1583.
Its earliest known owner is Richard Cosway (1740 - 1821), an English occultist.
At some point before 1822, it had been split into two parts, each bound in calfskin. Several leaves, compromising pages 1-14 and 33,34 have all been lost.
Publication
Authors Daniel Harms, James R. Clark, and Joseph H. Peterson worked together to transcribe and organize the original manuscript into a viable book for a modern audience.
The book was published in 2015 by Llewellyn Publications in a 585 page premium hardcover edition retaining the manuscript's red lettering of important words and holy names. Its full title was The Book of Oberon: A Sourcebook of Elizabethan Magic.