Imperial Arts Of John R. King Iv. Volume One (goetia) / верховное искусство джона р. кинга Iv. первый том

^ Mlf.V. I, the sole legitimate heir to the ancient magical traditions of King Solomon the Wise, propose to demonstrate his powerful art in its true and proper form so that it will not pass from history unknown. I do not hope hereby to convince the skeptic or to explain the meaning of these rituals to the mystic, but rather to merely offer insight into their procedures and the relevance thereof, so that those who have such an interest may distinguish them from the impostures of the ignorant and the slothful. Understand that King Solomon possessed wisdom such as no man to come after him would ever have, allowing him to transmute the vengeance and enmity of the world earned by his father into friendship, wealth, and power. Through this art, passed to his son and thence, the wise man may yet attain the grace bestowed upon Solomon through the service of the spirits sworn to his covenant under the names of his infinite God. Imperial Arts Of J o h n R. K i n g IV A Record of Experiments in Demonology Volume One Contents The Method of Science Introduction to the Subject Review of Practical Elements The Evocations The Results Afterthoughts Acknowledgements The Method Science of My interest in demonology began at age eleven, in conversation with a "religious brother" of one of the Catholic orders. At the time, he was making a point about the miracles of saints, namely that these events were special endowments from God and were signs of spiritual grace. Having had some fascination with the supernatural from a young age, I asked of this man how it would be possible for Oriental mystics, the magicians of Pharaoh, and other non-saintly individuals to perform similar miracles. His response was that the Devil can grant power to his followers through the intervention of demons masquerading as deities. This was a fascinating concept to me, and one that I certainly did not take seriously or at face value. On the contrary I began to feel dissatisfied with the Catholic appraisal of miracles (saintly and otherwise) and with their presumption that all the various deities of the world were mere fictions given the semblance of identity and power by demons in league with Satan. If nothing else, this doctrine appeared to make miracles easily accessible to anyone willing to serve the Devil. I further inquired of this man, whose name was Larry, about whether or not such diabolists exist, and whether or not they have these supposed powers. I was delighted to hear his many tales of witches, exorcisms, and assorted heretics of the past four hundred years, and of their contemporary equivalents. Though he linked this latter group with severe criminal activities, he never mentioned much in the way of satanic miracles, and my curiosity was left unsatisfied. I began to study the history and composition of witchcraft. One common element among all the studies on this subject is the fact that they are either written by outsiders with only very distant connections to the subject matter, or that they were "insiders" describing something entirely different from anything I could consider witchcraft. In short, there was no reliable first-hand source describing demonic powers in action. The literature of practical magic is vast and disjointed, with no standard doctrine or universal practic