("square circle" from the British Library manuscript Liber Salomonis)

Rx: the blood of a cock lapwing. And keep it privity in a close vial.

And when you will work, go into a cupice wood or desert place where nobody roams, and have nobody with thee, but thyself alone. And when thou entrest the wood, write these names following in virgin parchment with the foresaid blood:

Suspensia, Impergida, Bathalay, Sponsus, Mechicar, Paunlen, Agripus, fous floristes vel floristas decede Baldecheo Saperis Ara Aras.

Then rise on thy feet and make this square circle on the ground with the point of a clean sword. This done, kneel down in the midst of the circle and read the names aforesaid, vis. Suspensia, etc. And before thou hath read them, or by and by after, one will appear to thee. Turn thy face from him till he be gone. Then will another come, and deride and mock thee, but read the names still and regard him not. And then will come one riding on a goodly horse with a crown on his head. And he will ask thee what thou wilt have. Then tell him and he will answer thee gently, and show what you desire, and will give what thou doest ask. Then depart that night. And the next day in the morning before sunrise, come again, and thou shalt find left for thee that thou didst asketh.

Thou must make this after the sunset. So many days as the Moon is old, so many times you must call upon the names. Do it on [the hour of] Jupiter, Luna crescent.

This brief evocation is attached to the very end of the British Library manuscript that bears the general title Liber Salomonis, or in English, the Book of Solomon. The manuscript contains several texts on magic. It is in English, but is somewhat disordered and difficult to read, which perhaps explains why, so far as I am aware, it has not yet been published.

A friend of mine who is a talented musician and artist, but who also has a passion for the Kabbalah, made a clear and exact transcription of the manuscript text and sent me a copy. I used this transcript to produce a corrected version in which I arranged the contents in a more systematic order, by dividing it into sections, paragraphing it, and so on, and I also modernized the language just enough to remove difficulties in comprehension.

What you see above is a page from my corrected and modernized edition of Liber Salomonis. It stands alone in the manuscript, with no explicit connection to the other contents.

A cock lapwing is simply a male lapwing, a type of European plover often mentioned in works of natural magic. A desert place is a deserted or wilderness location, not necessarily a desert - indeed, a wooded place is indicated by the author of the evocation. Virgin parchment is new parchment or paper, a sheet of writing media that has never been used. Recycled paper would not meet the requirement, but almost any kind of new paper would serve.

The author does not specify, but since the blood of the bird would need to be very fresh to be used as an ink, the bird would have to be killed just before the ritual. Most probably it was nearly decapitated by the sharp blade of a consecrated knife, of the type described in the Key of Solomon. The type of pen used at the time this text was recorded was probably a goose feather quill pen. A steel-nibbed dip pen would also serve. It would make better sense, as a practical matter, to kill the bird and drain its blood in a sacrificial preamble to the ritual. Blood releases potent occult energies that would be useful in giving the ritual efficacy.

I do not sacrifice animals in my own magical work, and strongly counsel against animal sacrifice. However, many grimoires teach the letting of animal blood as a means of triggering rituals so that they produce results. Understanding these rituals can reveal useful techniques of practical magic to those of us who do not shed animal blood. I have described this ritual in detail for its teaching value -- but this didactic description is not intended to encourage anyone to kill small birds, or living creatures of any other kind.

The evocation is made during the night in the phase of the waxing crescent Moon, assuming it to be performed for good works, not for works of evil. The words of the evocation are read from the paper as many times as the days of the crescent Moon - that is to say, if the ritual is done on the third night of the waxing Moon, the evocation text would be recited three times; if on the fifth night, five times. Since three appearances of spirits are indicated, I would suspect that the evocation is to be done no earlier than the third night of the waxing cycle; and since a crescent Moon is required, it would be best not to perform the ritual any later than the seventh night of the waxing phase. This leaves five nights upon which the ritual may be done with the greatest degree of adherence to the instructions of its author.

The hour of Jupiter is the third hour of the night on Thursday, which happens to be the day of Jupiter; it is the fourth hour of the night on Saturday, the day of Saturn; it is the fifth hour of the night on Monday, the day of the Moon; it is the sixth hour of the night on Wednesday, the day of Mercury; it is the seventh hour of the night on Friday, the day of Venus. These would be the most potent hours on which to conduct the ritual, though any of the night hours of Jupiter would serve. On Sunday, Jupiter is the first and eighth hour of the night; on Monday the fifth and twelfth hour; on Tuesday the second and ninth hour; on Wednesday the sixth hour alone; on Thursday the third and tenth hour; on Friday the seventh hour alone; on Saturday the fourth and eleventh hour. The text suggests that the ritual is to be performed in the early or middle hours of the night, not in its final hours near dawn.

The magical hours of the night are usually calculated by determining the period between sunset and sunrise on the night in question, converting that period to minutes, and dividing by twelve. Magical hours are not sixty minutes long, except on the two days a year of the equinox, when night and day are of exactly equal length, and magical hours become the same number of minutes as clock hours. In the Northern Hemisphere, magical hours of the night will be more than sixty minutes during the winter months, and less than sixty minutes during the summer months. Naturally, the magical hours of daytime will not be the same duration as the magical hours of nighttime on a given day, since the periods of daytime and nighttime for that day are not equal, except on the equinox.

A certain amount of work with pencil and paper is required to find the actual clock hour of, say, the fourth magical hour of a certain night. If the magical hours of the night at that time of year happen to be seventy minutes long (determined by finding out the number of minutes between sunset and sunrise, and dividing by twelve), then the beginning of the fourth magical hour is two hundred and ten minutes, or three and one-half clock hours, after sunset.

Ideally, the day of the week selected for the ritual would depend on its purpose. The day of Jupiter (Thursday) would be best for matters dealing with increase; the day of Saturn (Saturday) best for secret or hidden matters; the day of the Moon (Monday) for matters of health; the day of Mercury (Wednesday) for matters of communication; the day of Venus (Friday) for matters of love. In practice, it sometimes is not possible to pick the most auspicious of astrological times, and a date and hour that are merely acceptable must be used. Notice that no specific works are set forth in the text, indicating that the evocation may be made to serve a variety of purposes depending on its astrological circumstances.

It is remotely possible that by do it on Jupiter the anonymous author of the ritual means on Thursday night, as Thursday is the day of Jupiter; however, I believe it is more likely that the magical hour of Jupiter is intended.

The pentacle or square circle is composed of two squares, one slightly larger than the other, which the magician draws around himself or herself on the ground using the point of a clean sword, that is, a sword that has been ritually purified. There is no specific instruction on how to draw the figure, but I can offer my advice as to how I believe it should be drawn.

The outer square should be drawn sunwise with an unbroken line beginning in the northeastern corner, so that the sides of the square are aligned to the four directions. The inner square is drawn in exactly the same manner some eight inches inside the outer square. In this way the magician makes two complete circumambulations around the sacred space that has been defined by the outer square. Standing in the east facing east, he or she should inscribe the cross between the squares in the northeaster corner, then write the name Panthor between the lines in the east; the same should be done successively for the southern, western, and northern sides - first the diagonal cross on the left, then the name between the lines. This completes the third circumambulaton. Once again standing in the east, facing east, the magician inscribes the symbols inside the inner square on its eastern side from left to right - first the diagonal cross in the northeastern corner, then the pentagram, then the upright cross, then another pentagram, and another upright cross. The magician turns to the south and performs the same actions, and the same in the west, and the same in the north. In this way four complete circumambulations are made.

Four is a very significant number in this ritual, because it is the number of manifestation, and this is a ritual designed to manifest the desired object of the magician. Each square has four sides. There are four diagonal crosses at the corners between the lines, and four diagonal crosses at the corners inside the lines. The name Panthor is four times repeated. Inside the figure are eight pentagrams and eight upright crosses, grouped in pairs. If we divide these symbols into two groups, each group of four pairs contains four pentagrams and four crosses. Each side of the pentacle bears two pentagrams and two crosses from these groups, for a total of four symbols per side. There are forty points on the pentagrams. All the crosses taken together have a total of sixty-four points, a number significant in this context because it is four cubed (4 X 4 X 4 = 64).

In the magic of spirit evocation, it is permissible for the blade of the ritual sword to penetrate the boundary of the magic circle (in this case a square circle), but under no circumstances should the flesh of the magician do so. The sword is used as an instrument of authority, to compel the obedience of unruly spirits. It is common in evocation for the magician's courage and will to be tested by lesser spirits before the spirit who is actually evoked makes his appearance. The sword can be employed to drive away these malicious beings, or at least to hold them at bay beyond the limits of the magic circle.

The title of this ritual, An Experiment For A Fairy, indicates the nature of the evoked beings. Fairies are not the cute little humanoid creatures with insect wings that Victorian artists represented in book illustrations, but a class of earth-bound spirits who share this plane with human beings. They exist slightly out of phase with our reality, so that only on rare occasions can they or their dwellings be seen. They are similar in this respect to gnomes, but fairies are beings of the woodlands and farmlands, whereas gnomes dwell beneath the earth in mines and caves. Both classes of beings are appropriate to summon for works of a material nature, such as the finding of treasures, or lost objects, or things hidden. Gnomes are best for finding things buried in the earth, fairies for locating things on the surface of the earth.

The entire ritual procedure, in brief, is as follows. Go at night, during the first half of the waxing phase of the Moon, to a deserted, wooded place where your actions will not be observed. It should be a locale conducive to the presence of fairies. Groves of large trees, or natural springs and pools of water, are such places. The location chosen should possess an otherworldly, magical atmosphere. Take with you a vial of fresh lapwing blood, a sheet of new paper, a dip pen, a consecrated ritual knife, and a purified and consecrated sword.

At the beginning of the hour of Jupiter, which you must calculate beforehand, kneel facing the east. Dip the nib of the pen in the fresh blood of the bird and write the words of power specified above on the sheet of paper. No way of writing the words is mentioned, but if they are written around the edge of the paper sunwise in a squared, inward spiral, this will be powerful symbolically.

Stand up with the paper in your left hand and the sword in your right, and inscribe around you on the ground the square circle in the manner already described, so that you are sealed within the double walls of the figure. With the sword still in your right hand and the paper in your left, kneel facing the east and read from the bloody words on the paper. They will appear black under the light of the waxing crescent Moon. Concentrate on reading the words slowly and accurately, without allowing your mind or gaze to be distracted by any activity outside the square circle. Malicious spirits may attempt to intimidate or discourage you. Hold the sword up in front of you as a protection.

When you have completed the appropriate number of recitations of the formula of evocation, a more refined spirit will make its presence known in some way. You should not expect a particular form of manifestation, despite the words of the text. However, you will be able to discern the good intentions of the spirit by its attitude toward you, which should be gentle and respectful, and by the general atmosphere of the place of working, which should be wholesome and free from threat. This spirit may speak outwardly to your ears, or inwardly to your mind. Every spirit apparition is unique. The descriptions in the grimoires are merely guidelines.

The name of the noble spirit is not given in the text, but it seems reasonable to assume that its name is Panthor, the name inscribed on the four sides of the square. It would be difficult to deal with this spirit without knowing its name, as spirits should always be addressed by name. A name defines and fixes the identity of a spirit, and can also serve as an instrument of control.

Ask the noble spirit any question you may have, or request any information you desire, and the spirit will respond to the best of its ability. If you wish a certain object or material obtained for you, specify it.

After bidding the noble being to depart, and banishing the four directions with a general banishing formula to insure that no malicious spirits linger outside the circle, use the sword to cut the two lines of the square circle in the east and leave it, taking with you your pen, sword, and vial of blood. The inscribed paper is, in my opinion, best left on the ground within the opened circle. The presumption is that this ritual will be done in the early hours of the night. Go to your bed and sleep, but be sure to awaken shortly before morning so that you can return to the place of working. If you have requested any material thing from the spirit, the author of the ritual implies that you will find it within the broken square circle, or near it. You must retrieve it before sunrise or it will vanish.

It would be best to bury the paper within the broken circle, and then obliterate its lines from the ground. Leave the place, bearing with you whatever object or material the spirit has fetched.

Needless to say, unless you are skilled in ritual magic, with hundreds of hours of practical experience, you are unlikely to see or hear anything at all, should you attempt this ritual. Its author intended it for skilled magicians, not lay persons. Such a simple set of physical and mental actions can only result in spirit communication for someone who either has a strong natural talent, or who has conditioned his or her mind to this sort of communication. All others will be disappointed.

I recommend against attempting this ritual because it employs animal blood, but also for more pragmatic reasons. It is extremely simple in outline, requiring a substantial background knowledge of the general techniques of Western magic. Its two main features, direct communication with an evoked spirit and the physical appearance of a desired object, are very difficult operations that only a highly skilled magus may be expected to attempt with any measure of success. However, the ritual is instructive when expanded and commented upon, making it worth presentation on this site.