Pic: Roujo |
We are extremely privileged to have famed Occult author, David Rankine prepare this amazing post for us explaining many of the similarities between Fairies, Demons, Angels and Elementals and how the ceremonial magican treats them. Over to David: |
It is a little known fact that the magicians of the Renaissance who are best known for conjuring angels or demons were equally at home conjuring fairies and elementals. From the material in the grimoires it seems clear that spiritual creatures were not divided into such hard and fast categories as are often seen today. One thing that united the different types of spiritual creatures in the eyes of magicians was treasure!
The British monarchy was well known for its interest in treasure, as seen by the licensing of explorers and buccaneers, but the royal interest in magic was discrete and largely unknown. When magic and treasure met, the crown became extremely interested. For centuries the reigning monarchs granted licences to nobles and well-to-do figures to search for treasure trove, in return for a percentage of the findings. In the period from 1237-1621 authorizations were given for treasure seeking in a number of counties, particularly those in the southern parts of England like Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
For example, in 1521, King Henry VIII granted a licence to Sir Edward Belknap, John Hertford and John Jonys (a goldsmith) to dig in Cornwall and Devon for treasure. [1] As well as magicians and cunning-folk, priests were frequently called upon by treasure-seekers to raise spirits, being the types of people considered capable of dealing with the spiritual creatures that guarded the treasures. It was believed that such treasures were rarely unguarded. It is amusing to note that records show that the fairy king Oberion refused to talk to priests who conjured him, though he was more loquacious with magicians! [2]
In a time before the stability of the banking system, people often buried their money, and had done for centuries since before the Romans. As a result of this the quest for treasure was a common one, and this made the ruins of fine buildings, such as castles, monasteries and stately homes particularly obvious targets. Likewise old burial mounds and sites were considered prime candidates for buried treasure. The digging up of such sites for treasure was a common occurrence, to the extent that the term ‘hill-digger’ was used for a person on the make.
Another instance from the reign of King Henry VIII was recorded by the monk William Stapleton in 1528, where in the pursuit of treasure “one Denys of Hofton did bring me a book called Thesaurus Spirituum [1] and, after that, another called Secreta Secretorum, [2] a little ring, a plate, a circle, and also a sword for the art of digging.” [3]
The reference to plates is interesting, as these were often used in such conjurations as part of the equipment. William Stapleton mentioned a plate made for the calling of Oberion, and it is also significant that Stapleton explained how after obtaining a license to seek treasure, he spoke again to Denys, who informed him he would bring him two cunning-men.
One of the most important politicians of the late seventeenth century was Goodwin Wharton (1653-1704) who may be seen as the Indiana Jones of his time, and who rose to become Lord Admiral of the British Fleet. Wharton was aided for many years by the ex-leveller John Wildman and a spirit (of an executed criminal) called George, and went on various treasure quests including one for the legendary Urim and Thummim, the twin jewels from the High Priest’s Breastplate described in the Bible. Keith Thomas described Wharton as spending the last twenty-five years of the seventeenth century being “almost continuously engaged in a treasure quest for which he enlisted spirits, fairies and the latest resources of contemporary technology”. [1]
He even invented diving gear, allegedly with the aid of angels, in order to try and raise sunken treasure from a Spanish galleon off the north coast of Scotland. One of Wharton’s exploits was said to be the discovery of a fairy gate, to the fairy realms. Unfortunately when the document describing this resurfaced in the twentieth century the location had been built over. The building which now sits in the location of the fairy gate – Terminal 4 of Heathrow Airport! (So now you know where the missing luggage goes!)
(drawn from material in The Book of Treasure Spirits, David Rankine, 2009, Avalonia – see www.avaloniabooks.co.uk for more details of this and other works on related topics)
| 1 |
On Treasure Trove and Invocation of Spirits, Turner, 1846. |
| 2 |
Ibid. |
| 3 |
Another name for the De Nigromancia of Roger Bacon. |
| 4 |
A book of theurgic magic dealing almost exclusively with angels. |
| 5 |
On Treasure Trove and Invocation of Spirits, Turner, 1846. |
The Book of Treasure Spirits
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Conjurations of Goetic spirits, old gods, demons and fairies are all part of a rich heritage of the magical search for treasure trove. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance the British Monarchy gave out licenses to people seeking treasure in an effort to control such practices, and this is one reason why so many grimoires are full of conjurations and charms to help the magician find treasure. |
Published here for the first time, from a long-ignored mid-seventeenth century manuscript in the British Library (Sloane MS 3824), is the conjuration said to have been performed at the request of King Edward IV, with other rites to reveal treasure, to have treasure brought from the sea, and to cause thieves to bring back stolen goods. Conjurations to call any type of spirit are also included, recorded by the noted alchemist and collector Elias Ashmole, as is an extract on conjuration practices from the Heptameron, transcribed into English for practical use by a working group of magicians, before its first English publication by Robert Turner in 1655.
These conjurations demonstrate the influence of earlier classic grimoires and sources, with components drawn from the Goetia, the Heptameron, and Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft. The material includes spirit contracts for the fallen angels Agares and Vassago, and the demon Padiel, as well as techniques like lead plates for binding, and summoning into a glass of water, which hark back to the defixiones of Hellenistic Greece and the demonic magic of the Biblical world.
This material forms part of a corpus of conjurations all written in the same hand and style of evocation, linking Goetic spirits and treasure spirits with the archangels and planetary intelligences (Sloane MS 3825), and demon kings and Enochian hierarchies (Sloane MS 3821), making it a unique bridge of style and content between what are often falsely seen as diverse threads of Renaissance magic.
You can get David’s fascinating book from Avalonia Books.