Abramelin the Mage

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Abramelin, or Abra-Melin the Mage, is the name (or pseudonym) of an Egyptian mage (or, perhaps, a fictional character) who teaches a powerful form of Kabbalistic magic to the narrator Abraham of Worms, a Jew (also perhaps a fictional character) in a famous grimoire, The Book of Abramelin.

Very little is known about Abramelin other that what is presented in the book. It is presumed that the name is a pseudonym, because although the book itself claims to date to the fifteenth century, provenance of the extant manuscripts have not been definitively identified.

The text is framed with a story in which Abraham passes his magical and Kabbalistic secrets on to his son and tells how he acquired his knowledge. As recounted by Abraham, he found Abramelin living in the desert outside of an Egyptian town, Arachi or Araki, which borders the Nile. Abramelin's home sat atop a small hill surrounded by trees. He is described as being a "venerable aged man", and very courteous and kind. He discussed nothing but "the Fear of God", leading a well-regulated life, and the evils of the "acquisition of riches and goods."

Abramelin extracted a promise from Abraham that he would give up his "false dogmas" and live "in the Way and Law of the Lord." He then gave Abraham two manuscript books to copy for himself, asking for ten gold florins, which he took with the intention of distributing to seventy-two poor persons in Arachi. Upon his return fifteen days later, after having disposed of the payment money, Abramelin extracted an oath from Abraham to "serve and fear" the Lord, and to "live and die in His most Holy Law." After this, Abramelin gave Abraham the "Divine Science" and "True Magic" embedded within the two manuscripts, which he was to follow and give to only those whom he knew well.

Abramelin's grimoire describes an elaborate ritual whose purpose is to obtain the "knowledge and conversation" of the magician's "Holy Guardian Angel." After the preparatory phase has been successfully completed, the magician's guardian angel will appear to teach the magician magical secrets. The chief goals of these secrets are to compel the magician's personal demon, presumably the inverse counterpart of the guardian angel, to serve the magician. The magical goals for which the demon can be employed are typical of the grimoire literature: the practitioner is promised the ability to find buried treasure, cast love spells, the ability of magical flight, and the secret of invisibility.

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The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers (1897; reprinted by Dover Publications, 1975) ISBN 0-85030-255-2
Die heilige Magie des Abramelin von Abraham, edited by Johann Richard Beecken (Schikowski,1957) ISBN 3-87702-017-8
Das Buch der wahren Praktik in der goettlichen Magie edited by Jeorg von Inns (Diederichs Gelbe Reihe, 1988)
Abramelin & Co. by Peter-R. Koenig (Hiram-Edition, 1995) ISBN 3-927890-24-3
Buch Abramelin das ist Die egyptischen großen Offenbarungen. Oder des Abraham von Worms Buch der wahren Praktik in der uralten göttlichen Magie (Editions Araki, 2001) ISBN 3-936149-00-3
Book of Abramelin: A New Translation by Abraham von Worms, edited by Georg Dehn (Nicholas Hays, September 2006) ISBN 0-89254-127-X