Naming the Heavens: Orations from the Summa Sacre Magice

by Brian Johnson

Naming the Heavens: Orations from the Summa Sacre Magice presents a series of prayers and ritual inscriptions addressed to the spirits of the heavenly bodies and facilitated via the invocation of those names by which the hours, days, months, and signs are called in each season of the year, intended to secure for oneself general protection and good fortune in any undertaking, be it sorcerous or mundane, translated from from Tractate 2, Book 2 of the Summa in 4° Ms. astron. 3 of the Universitätsbibliothek Kassel. Brian Johnson, author of The Testament of Solomon: Recension C and Necromancy in the Medici Library, introduces the Summa Sacre Magice and its assembler Berengario Ganell, situating it firmly in the corpus of Christian ritual magic in the fourteenth century.

32 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

My word where to begin? I've had time on my hands over recent years, following early retirement, that I believe has been put to good use. My wife and I enjoy holidays, theatre and dining out, together I hasten to add; which I guess would keep most people content. Primarily though, I think I have been lucky to spend more time with my grandchildren than would otherwise have been possible.
I've been able to do some not very good watercolour pantings and some cooking which has turned out to be surprisingly edible.
As far as my writing is concerned; it was originally no more than a case of give it a try and see how it goes. The first chapter of my debut Captain Shoelace story was so well received by friends and family that I was encouraged to see it through to the end.
It seems that the book is appreciated by a wider audience than I anticipated. So much so in fact, another Shoelace story is in the pipeline. Whoever would have believed it!