The piece below was going to be the first in a series of Substack posts on the Book of Abramelin. This project was derailed, but I’d like to preserve the post here in case it’s of interest to anyone.

This post is about an early-modern German esoteric text which may conveniently be called the Book of Abramelin.

What is the Book of Abramelin?

The Book of Abramelin is a grimoire which contains a distinctive and unique magical system. The system is referred to in the text by terms including ‘the sacred magic’ and ‘the true magic’.

The Book describes a demanding 6- or 18-month esoteric operation which is aimed at securing the ‘sacred magic’ for the practitioner.

The Book claims to have been written by a late-medieval German Jew by the name of Abraham. Abraham says that he was taught the system by a sage called Abramelin.

In reality, the Book was probably written by a Christian at the turn of the seventeenth century. In any event, its general outlook is characteristically Abrahamic. It is committed to a worldview dominated by polarities: good and evil, God and the Devil. It recommends conventional Abrahamic piety and virtue.

The Book has become a well-known artefact in modern esoteric circles.

What is the magical operation described in the Book?

The Abramelin operation involves meeting with one’s guardian angel after months of disciplined preparation, and then binding a host of demons to do one’s will.

The practice of compelling demons to do one’s will is a familiar one from the ritual magic tradition. The role of the guardian angel in the Abramelin system is more unusual.

The climax of the Abramelin operation is sometimes described as ‘the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel’. This phrase appears nowhere in the Book itself: it is taken from the Introduction to Samuel MacGregor Mathers’ 1897 translation, which refers to ‘the knowledge of and conversation with one’s Guardian Angel’. There is, however, similar phrasing in the Book. [In Part 1, Chapter 2, for example, there is a reference to the ‘Erkantnüss’ and ‘gespräch’ of the ‘heyl. Englen und guten geistern’.]

It should be noted that the phrase ‘holy guardian angel’ (heilige Schutzengel) is simply a term for the Christian concept of the guardian angel.

Abraham describes his experience with his angel in this way:

I was addressed lovingly and with friendship by my guardian angel. He explained the godly wisdom and Kabbalah and later completely explained the complete truth about this magic. He told me also about the effects of what I had received from Abramelin and showed the way I can form and do similar things. He also gave me clear advice, teachings, and knowledge about how, over the next three days, I could deal with the unredeemed spirits and make them listen to me.

Mention of the Kabbalah brings us to a significant point. The Abramelin system does not claim to be the Kabbalah. Abraham says that it is founded on the Kabbalah, and that Abramelin taught him the Kabbalah as well. Both systems come from God. Nevertheless, the sacred magic is both different from the Kabbalah and lesser than it.

It may briefly be noted that one of the four parts of the Book – Part 2 – contains magical material which is separate from the Abramelin system. This material is described as containing the ‘mixed Kabbalah’. It may in part by seen as comprising elements of the sacred magic (although Abraham is not consistent on this); but it comes at least in part from other sources.

When was the Book written?

Abraham claims that he began to practise the sacred magic in 1409. He says that he is writing the Book at the age of 79 (or, according to one version, 96).

Some versions of the text state a year at the start. The version translated by Samuel MacGregor Mathers claimed to date from 1458.

In fact, the Book post-dates the medieval period. The oldest manuscript of the text originates from 1608-09. An important element pertaining to the conjuration of the demons – a long series of ‘magic squares’ – draws on a multilingual dictionary which was published in 1595-96 (and includes errors from it). The dictionary was Sylvae Quinquelinguis, published in Frankfurt; it was a Lutheran work.

In addition, a German-speaking scholar of the Book, Rick-Arne Kollatsch, has noted that the vocabulary, style and syntax of the text place it no earlier than the post-Reformation period.

Who wrote the Book?

The Book claims to have been written by Abraham, the son of Simon. Abraham says that he is writing the book for one of his children – his younger son, Lamech (his elder son, Joseph, was taught the more valuable Kabbalah). Abraham has a wife named Melcha, but apparently no daughters.

Abraham writes that he travelled to a series of countries in Europe and the Middle East. He says that he met people of multiple nationalities, one of whom was Abramelin, who lived in Egypt and spoke Chaldaean. Abramelin instructed Abraham and gave him two manuscripts, which he copied. These appear to be the same as the Book, although this is not entirely clear.

After his travels, Abraham returned home to Worms, arriving back there on 12 Elul 1404 by the Jewish calendar.

Abraham claims at the start of the text that the contents of the Book are taken in part from his father and other wise men and in part from his own experience. It is clear, however, that Abramelin is to be credited as the key source. The magic system entrusted to him by Abramelin was reportedly much older: it was known to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Elias, Jesus and St John.

Abraham is plainly a fictional character – and so is Abramelin – so no-one knows who really wrote the Book. It may not have had a single author: it could be the product of more than one hand.

One thing is reasonably certain, however, and that is that the author(s) came from the Lutheran community. We can be sure of this primarily because the book repeatedly quotes Luther’s Bible.

There are other indications too that the Book comes from a Christian rather than a Jewish milieu. Incongruously for a Jewish text, it draws on deuterocanonical books of the Bible (the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach and Tobit). It also reflects the Christian allocation of the Ten Commandments to the two tablets of the Law.

Where did Abramelin and his name come from?

The character of Abramelin seems to have been created by the author(s) of the Book.

His name is not entirely secure. In the manuscripts one can find the forms Abramelin, Abramelim, Abrahamelin, Abrahamelim and even Abramelino. There is evidently some interference here from the name Abraham.

In any event, the name seems to have been invented by whoever wrote the text. It sounds vaguely Jewish. ‘Abra-’ is suggestive of ‘Abraham’; but ‘melin’ or ‘melim’ does not appear to have an obvious Hebrew meaning.

When did the Book become widely known?

The Book became widely known among esotericists after an English translation of it was published by the British occultist Samuel MacGregor Mathers in 1897. Mathers made his translation from an 18th century French text which he found in Paris; it omitted Part 2 and deviated from the main branch of the textual tradition in certain other ways.

A more robust edition of the text, drawing on the German sources, was published in German by Georg Dehn in 1995 (2nd ed. 2001). Dehn’s work was translated into English in 2006.

Who has performed the Abramelin operation?

According to the Book, anyone can access the sacred magic except for a Jew who has abandoned Judaism (or, in one variant, anyone who has abandoned their childhood religion). You need to be a person of good character and health – preferably a man, according to the text – who is between 25 and 50.

It is not known how many people currently alive have completed the Abramelin operation. The number may be less than 100.

We have no reliable instance of anyone completing the operation before the British occultists William Bloom and Ramsey Dukes did it in the 1970s. Aleister Crowley claimed to have carried it out in 1899-1906, but it remains unclear exactly what he did.

There is a small Abramelin literature. In particular, several people have published books on their experiences in performing the operation:

• Georges Chevalier [William Bloom], The Sacred Magician (1976, rev. ed. 1992)
• Ramsey Dukes [Lionel Snell], The Abramelin Diaries (2018)
• Marcus Katz, After the Angel (2011)
• Alex Sumner, Conjuring Demons for Pleasure and Profit (2022)

There are also discussions of the operation to be found on Youtube.

The most famous person in mainstream culture to have (possibly) done the operation was the British comedian Michael Bentine of The Goon Show.

Where can I find the Book online?

There is an online copy of Georg Dehn’s translation here.

Samuel McGregor Mathers’ translation may be found here.

There is also an old German version of the text here.

Special mention must again be made of Part 2 of the Book. The longest and most complete translation of this section is found in Stewart Clelland and Paul Ferguson, “Book II of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage: An English Translation Based on a Newly Discovered Manuscript”, Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 18 (2023), 401-453.

What about variants of the Abramelin system?

As we have noted, the Abramelin text is written strictly from the perspective of Abrahamic monotheism. Yet there are people who have sought to create polytheistic versions of the Abramelin operation. Such a variant may be found in Nick Farrell, Helios Unbound (2020).