What do you think?
Rate this book
Pandemonium: A Discordant Concordance of Diverse Spirit Catalogues
PANDEMONIUM by Jake Stratton-Kent is truly a first of its kind, and a necessity for the further development of traditional magic in a modern context. While not intended to be the last word, it opens up territory that demands further examination. It starts with the first English translation of a major spirit catalogue and ends with an appendix redefining ‘traditional’ grimoirists. Sandwiched between these is a comparative survey of several important spirit catalogues, which is much more than ‘a dictionary of demons’. Totally geared to emergent practice, leading us away from the prevalent focus on ‘tools and rules’, authors and manuscripts, towards a developing relationship with the dramatis personæ essential to the whole tradition.
In PANDEMONIUM Jake Stratton-Kent offers a comparative study of the spirits of Le Livre des Esperitz, the Grand Grimoire, the Book of Offices, the German Honorius, Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, the Goetia of Solomon, Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, and more. In doing so he explores the Trinitas, the spirits of the seven days, the spirit council, the four Kings, eighteen-ness, the Long Text Group, and ghosts in the machine.
This is a book about grimoire spirits, and the main view at all times is to clarify the important personalities, their roles and inter-relations, rather than simply focus on relevant historical texts with their dates, authors and impedimenta. To achieve these goals, various technical aspects will only be detailed as sub-topics. These digressions will be interrupted frequently by ‘spirit biographies’ to keep on track. It’s quite dense stuff; be prepared to make more than one pass.
While trying to steer away from the books, somehow or other though, their aesthetic remains useful in talking about the spirits concerned. Hence, many tables. The first table compresses into a contained visual form the various aspects of a large submerged territory to be explored in these chapters. It will be the first of many tables and precedes various discussions of convergent and divergent subjects. It is a table about books, to introduce many tables about spirits. The connecting element with these books and various others to be discussed is the dramatis personæ, which exist independently, at least in inter- and extra-textual form, and require a discussion unto themselves.
In PANDEMONIUM Jake Stratton-Kent offers a comparative study of the spirits of Le Livre des Esperitz, the Grand Grimoire, the Book of Offices, the German Honorius, Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, the Goetia of Solomon, Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, and more. In doing so he explores the Trinitas, the spirits of the seven days, the spirit council, the four Kings, eighteen-ness, the Long Text Group, and ghosts in the machine.
This is a book about grimoire spirits, and the main view at all times is to clarify the important personalities, their roles and inter-relations, rather than simply focus on relevant historical texts with their dates, authors and impedimenta. To achieve these goals, various technical aspects will only be detailed as sub-topics. These digressions will be interrupted frequently by ‘spirit biographies’ to keep on track. It’s quite dense stuff; be prepared to make more than one pass.
While trying to steer away from the books, somehow or other though, their aesthetic remains useful in talking about the spirits concerned. Hence, many tables. The first table compresses into a contained visual form the various aspects of a large submerged territory to be explored in these chapters. It will be the first of many tables and precedes various discussions of convergent and divergent subjects. It is a table about books, to introduce many tables about spirits. The connecting element with these books and various others to be discussed is the dramatis personæ, which exist independently, at least in inter- and extra-textual form, and require a discussion unto themselves.
258 pages, Hardcover
Published December 25, 2016
8 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Jake Stratton-Kent
39 books101 followersJake Stratton-Kent has been a goetic magician since 1972, making more than forty years of continuous goetic practice. His practical work integrates the magical papyri, italo-french grimoires in particular the Grimorium Verum and African traditional religions with a focus on Quimbanda and magia negra. His interest in magic spans the ancient, medieval, renaissance, and modern as well as stretching from the West to the Middle East and crucially, the New World. His scholarly approach is backed with a personal relationship with the spirits.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 8, 2020
A book which does exactly what it says on the cover, and does it well, gathering together and then comparing, contrasting and recompiling a catalogue of spirits from a broad collection of grimoires and documents.
The aim, of course, is to try to discover as much as possible about the original roots and mythic origins of these traditions, the relationships of the spirits to each other, and so forth.
As such, it's a strong piece of work. It's impossible to do a 'reconstruction', of course, without fudging it, and this book is most definitely not about fudging it, so there remain unanswered questions and irreconciled possibilities. But the important thing in such cases is that the questions have been asked, and the speculations have been made possible.
But more than this, the scope of the work makes it possible to peer back to the beginnings of magic, as with a telescope. Vision may be limited, we won't see everything, but what we DO see is authentic, and allows us to perhaps grasp that mythic sense which underpins it all.
Of particular value is the first Appendix, which it titled 'The Other Magicians and the Grimoires'. I'd like to quote a few lines which struck me as particularly important:
"While their otherness as mythological figures does not involve paganism as a quantifiable sociological identity, it is nevertheless wholly characteristic. The other magicians occupy the same outside space as the spirits: pagan, heretical and diabolical."
One for the serious students.
The aim, of course, is to try to discover as much as possible about the original roots and mythic origins of these traditions, the relationships of the spirits to each other, and so forth.
As such, it's a strong piece of work. It's impossible to do a 'reconstruction', of course, without fudging it, and this book is most definitely not about fudging it, so there remain unanswered questions and irreconciled possibilities. But the important thing in such cases is that the questions have been asked, and the speculations have been made possible.
But more than this, the scope of the work makes it possible to peer back to the beginnings of magic, as with a telescope. Vision may be limited, we won't see everything, but what we DO see is authentic, and allows us to perhaps grasp that mythic sense which underpins it all.
Of particular value is the first Appendix, which it titled 'The Other Magicians and the Grimoires'. I'd like to quote a few lines which struck me as particularly important:
"While their otherness as mythological figures does not involve paganism as a quantifiable sociological identity, it is nevertheless wholly characteristic. The other magicians occupy the same outside space as the spirits: pagan, heretical and diabolical."
One for the serious students.
April 30, 2018
In what is substantially more than a simple reference work, Stratton-Kent furnishes insightful commentary and analysis upon a comparative directory of the demonic personages who populate the grimoires and spirit catalogues which subsist approximately within the tradition of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum. In addition to establishing the likely inter-textual identities of many of these figures, as well as their interrelations and roles in a hypothetical ur- or meta-textual hierarchy, Stratton-Kent suggests a number of intriguing possibilities regarding the very structural assumptions underpinning this genre of texts, such as a functional differentiation underlying the apparent duplication of descriptive entries under multiple different names, which occurs so frequently in these compositions.
December 11, 2017
Such a fantastic comparison between a few of the more well known Goetic grimoires. I must say that I was verily impressed by the author's commitment to this title as it was very well sourced and put together. If you are interested in Goetic magic, I highly recommend purchasing this book.
March 20, 2022
A long overdue study of the spirits of medieval magical grimoires.
July 14, 2022
A very useful reference guide
December 21, 2024
This compelling exploration of esoteric traditions offers a comprehensive overview of grimoires and their associated spirits. The author masterfully elucidates the complexities of spirit invocation, celestial symbolism, and historical ritual practices, illuminating the directional significance in summoning entities such as Charon and Beelzebub, while appropriately cautioning against invoking others, like Lucifer. The text intriguingly details the astrological correlations between celestial bodies and spiritual entities, highlighting the sun-moon duality and proposing a provocative connection between planetary influences and the underworld, thereby challenging conventional perspectives. Furthermore, the book presents insightful analyses of planetary correspondences, including the unexpected influence of Mars on Saturn’s day, and the reciprocal influence between terrestrial events and the celestial sphere. Detailed instructions are provided on the binding of various spiritual ranks, emphasizing the crucial role of timing, location, and precise ritual adherence in safe interaction. While lacking in practical, contemporary applications, the book excels in its synthesis of diverse grimoire traditions and its historical contextualization, providing a robust foundation for understanding these esoteric practices. It is highly recommended for those interested in the mystical and the historical underpinnings of grimoires.
March 1, 2017
Rich resource for further integrating the grimoire hierarchies to relationships with duration.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews