Conjuring Spirits: Texts and Traditions of Medieval Ritual Magic

Magic in History

by Claire Fanger (editor), Frank Klaassen, Juris Lidaka

Conjuring Spirits contains both general surveys and analyses of magical texts and manuscripts by distinguished scholars in a variety of disciplines. Included are chapters by Richard Kieckhefer and Robert Mathiesen on the "Sworn Book of Honorius," Michael Camille on the Ars Notoria, John B. Friedman on the Secretum Philosophorum, Nicholas Watson on the McMaster text, and Elizabeth Wade on Lullian divination. The work also includes Juris Lidaka's edition of the Liber de Angelis, and an overview of late medieval English ritual manuscripts by Frank Klaassen. This book will be invaluable for scholars and other readers interested in ritual magic in the later middle ages.

Genres: History, Occult, Magick, Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Academic, Magic

308 pages, Paperback

First published July 9, 1998

Reviews

[Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conjuring Spirits is a collection of essays on various ritual texts. Unlike Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century and Ritual Magic, which are also a part of Penn State's Magic in History series (link below), this collection isn't nearly as engaging to the casual reader nor does it feel very fluid. Don't get me wrong, there are a few gems in here, but you'll need to skip around to what interests you. I'd recommend this text if you're looking for another academic source for your paper; otherwise, there are more well-written, entertaining, and academic books on the subject.

Penn State's Magic in History series: http://www.psupress.org/books/series/...

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collections are always a bit chancy. Some of these essays are excellent while others are a bit dull. Certainly the authors are erudite but some of the papers require quite a bit of knowledge about the field and don't give the reader much to go on. Nevertheless, it is a helpful volume for those who want to learn about grimoires, but it is not an introduction to them. More may be found here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read hundreds of books and been too lazy to post ratings and reviews for them. My guilt has gotten the better of me, and I've decided to post some reviews for the books I've returned to since I've added them to my library. Conjuring Spirits is one of the most intriguing books in my collection. It is an odd collection of essays. Some of the essays I've paid particular attention to are:
1. A Thirteenth-Century Ritual to Attain the Beatific Vision from the Sworn Book... by Robert Mathiesen (pgs. 143-162).
2. Visual Art in Two Manuscripts or the Ars Notoria by Michael Camille (pgs. 110-139).
3. Book of Angels, Rings, Characters and Images of the Planets: Attributed to Osbern Bokeham by Juris G. Lidaka (ppg. 32-44).
Conjuring Spirits will only interest those not put off by the minutia of medieval scholarship. The primary point of many of the essays, however, is to explore the history of magic and the fact that its existence and practice was not simply the rare heresy of "witches," but was also practiced by priests, nuns and other clerics as well. It's an odd collection, but worth a look-in if you're intrigued by the subject.