Grimorium Verum
The Grimorium Verum (Latin for "True Grimoire") is an 18th-century grimoire attributed to "Alibeck the Egyptian" of Memphis, who purportedly wrote it in 1517. Like many grimoires created during the medieval and renaissance periods, it claims to possess technique of ritual magic originating from King Solomon.
Origins
The grimoire is not, in fact, a translation of an earlier work as the anonymous author claims. The first manuscript bearing the name appeared in Italian in the mid-18th century. This was subsequently translated into French and then into English.
Author and occultist A.E. Waite discussed the work in his own modern grimoire, The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts (1898), stating: "The date specified in the title of the Grimorium Verum is undeniably fraudulent; the work belongs to the middle of the eighteenth century, and Memphis is Rome."
One version of the grimoire was included as "The Clavicles of King Solomon: Book 3" in one of the French manuscripts S. L. MacGregor Mathers incorporated in his version of the Key of Solomon, but it was omitted from the Key with the following explanation: "At the end there are some short extracts from the Grimorium Verum with the Seals of evil spirits, which, as they do not belong to the Key of Solomon proper, I have not given. For the evident classification of the Key is in two books and no more."
Contents
The book contains a fairly standard selection of invocations, seals, and rituals involving renaissance magic. Sigils of demons are dealt with at length, in particular Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Astaroth. There are also chapters dedicated to astrology, but more specifically, astrology as it relates to ritual magic and the powers of various celestial spirits (including the planetary intelligences).
The fourth section deals with the Goetic demons and other spirits and was written with a special focus on Kabbalistic magic.
The book appears to be the point of origin for the Ritual to Attract a Lover, which utilizes planetary intelligences to force a woman to fall in love with a man.
Outline
- Book one: Concerning the character of demons
- Book two: Of planetary hours
- Book three: The preparation of the operator
- Book four: The Lesser Key of Solomon