Occultwiki at 17:34, 19 November 2024

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	==Content==		==Content==
	The book is split into seven sections, not including a preface which details the book's reception and transmission. Each of the first six sections corresponds to one heaven and contains a listing of [[angel]]s and instructions to perform one or more magical rites. There is an uneasy tension between the orthodox cosmogony of the book and the unorthodox praxeis embodied in these magical rites.		The book is split into seven sections, not including a preface which details the book's reception and transmission. Each of the first six sections corresponds to one [[heaven]] and contains a listing of [[angel]]s and instructions to perform one or more magical rites. There is an uneasy tension between the orthodox cosmogony of the book and the unorthodox praxeis embodied in these magical rites.

	Some of the rituals are designed to:		Some of the rituals are designed to:

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'''''Sefer HaRazim''''' (Hebrew: ספר הרזים; "Book of Secrets") is a [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[grimoire|magical text]] supposedly given to Noah by [[Archangel Raziel]], and passed down throughout [[bible|Biblical]] history until it ended up in the possession of [[King Solomon]], for whom it was a great source of his wisdom and purported magical powers.

This is not the same work as the ''[[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]]'', which was given to Adam by the same [[angel]], although both works stem from the same tradition, and large parts of ''Sefer HaRazim'' were incorporated into the ''Sefer Raziel'' under its original title.

It is thought to be a sourcebook for Jewish magic, calling upon [[angel]]s rather than [[Yahweh|God]] to perform supernatural feats.

==Date of authorship==
The original text was written in the early fourth or late third century CE and is universally accepted to predate other [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] texts, including the ''[[Zohar]]'' (thirteenth century) and possibly the proto-Kabbalistic ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]'' (fourth century).

==Content==
The book is split into seven sections, not including a preface which details the book's reception and transmission. Each of the first six sections corresponds to one heaven and contains a listing of [[angel]]s and instructions to perform one or more magical rites. There is an uneasy tension between the orthodox cosmogony of the book and the unorthodox praxeis embodied in these magical rites.

Some of the rituals are designed to:
* facilitate healing
* bring about [[prophet|prophecy]]
* attack upon one's enemy
* gain good fortune

The number seven, the importance of [[Shem HaMephorash|divine names]], and the prevalence of sympathetic [[ritual magic|magic]] all have significance in the literature of Middle Eastern magic. The text demonstrates strong syncretism of [[Judaism|Jewish]] and Greek traditions.

==Modern discovery==
The text was rediscovered in the 20th century by Mordecai Margalioth, a Jewish scholar visiting Oxford in 1963, using fragments found in the Cairo Geniza. He hypothesised that several fragments of Jewish magical literature shared a common source and was certain that he could reconstruct this common source. He achieved this in 1966 when he published ''Sefer HaRazim''.

==Publication==
The first English translation of the book was undertaken by Michael A. Morgan in 1983; the book is now in print, as of summer 2007. A new scholarly edition of the main extant manuscript including Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic Geniza fragments and a 13th-century Latin translation was prepared by Bill Rebiger and Peter Schäfer in 2009, along with a translation and commentary in German in a separate volume.

[[Category:Kabbalah]]
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Grimoires]]

Sefer HaRazim - Revision history

Occultwiki at 17:34, 19 November 2024

Occultwiki: Created page with "'''''Sefer HaRazim''''' (Hebrew: ספר הרזים; "Book of Secrets") is a Jewish magical text supposedly given to Noah by Archangel Raziel, and..."