Cyprianus, Key to Hell, Society
of Esoteric Endeavour, Numbered limited edition of 60 copies. 40pp, (9ins x
6ins) including two foldouts, not including blanks. Facsimile with
English translation. There is a long tradition of grimoires being black books,
or dark. This manuscript is not part of that tradition. Thee original
manuscript was bound in scarlet velvet This facsimile reprint is likewise bound
in red velvet. Please note, the vast majority of “velvet” nowadays are made
from cotton or synthetic modern fibres. This is bound in real velvet made from
real silk. The difference is in the feel and in the shimmer that the upstanding
fibes give when viewed from different angles. It is probably the shimmering
effect that the original binder sought, as on the pastedowns he used a green
silk. The crossing fibres creating an “interference” pattern. This has been
reproduced in this edition but with two layers, to maximise the shimmering
effect. The pages of the grimoire are a
riot of colour and the glimmer of real gold.
A description of the
pages of the grimoire follows:-
It has two sections:-
Section I
A facsimile of the
original manuscript. Wherever the original was illuminated with gold leaf, this
is reproduced using genuine gold. The irregular cutting of the page edges of
the original is reprodued, as are enigmatic slits in two of the leaves. This
section has the following pages:-
Foldout showing four
diagrams around a crowned ouroboros serpent which encirlces a magic circle in
which are placed words of power written out in the “Passing of the River”
script given by Agrippa in Three Books of Occult Philosophy and reproduced in
Barrett and elsewhere. Within this is Latin script and at the centre of the
circle a decorative cross. The cross, words of power and crown of the serpent
were, in the original manuscript, portayed using gold leaf. In this reprint
they are likewise defined with genuine gold (not the gold coloured metallic
foils often used, but real 22 carat gold),
Page featuring
astrological signs and planteary sigils. The original had two slits towards the
botton of the page, reproduced here. Tis may have been so that a piece of
folded paper can be inmserted to carry a name so that the grimoire can be
personalised when being used.
Page featuring umerous
sigils and words of power written in Malachim (a related magical sript given in
Agrippa and elsewhere). These surround an image of the figure described in the
Book of Revelations I 17 – 19 ie. Sword emerging from mouth, gold stars, gold
candlestick, golden halo and feet etc. The significance was that Christian
powers now held the keys to Hell and are here invoked to command infernal
beings to attend to the magician’s desires.
The title page which
carries (in a curious form) the date 1717.
Dates of Grimoires are usually deliberately misleading mind.
The talisman page. Aside from black borders the page comprises
a slab of gold upon which are magical sigils, Hebrew words of power, some Latin
letters and with a triangular design within a circle, these in two shades of
red.
Two pages illustrate the
infernal kings of the four directions. Each is accompanied by a symbol which
relates to the foldout frontispiece They are portayed as blackmen wearing rich,
gold embellished robes, jewels and wands.
For one the original scribe gives the images the folds of gold cloth by
means of “scraffito”, whereby the gold foil was scratched away at some points.
This has been reproduced. Each king is accompanied by a beast:- a gold crowned
Ouroboric winged serpent; a bear (brute animal nature?); a hoopoe (a bird
thouight to live in dung); a “pard”,
the imagined black parent of the leopard, the other parent being “leo” the lion.
They were considered aggressive, and this one is portayed with claws and, to
emphasise ites demonic nature, horns. Curious to find an image of an anomalous
black cat in a centuries old manuscript – nowadays we hear about sightings of
them in the news! Two pages, the reverse of the above, give the titles of the
illustrations overleaf.
Coloured illustration
with text, gold embellished, of cross with serpent entwined atop an upright
trianle with symbols of death (accia and skull) plus sword and above a white,
gold crowned, winged serpent is swallowing a black lizard/serpent. The white
serpent has wings an, in the original, these were embnellished with “shell
gold” which was gold dust held in gum arabic to which water was added and then
it was applied to a surface. Genuine shell gold is used in the facsimile.
Nine pages of latin text
with numerous symbols etc. Sigils on one page become quite idiosyncratic, with
simple faces delineated
A page with a pentagram
design and astrological figure.
Section II
Is likewise a facsimile
of the same manuscript. However the gold is not reproduced so that the
appearance of the original can be appreciated. For instance in the talismanic
page the gold leaf has either worn or never took in places, unrelated text
peeks through! However, the Latin and occasional Greek of the original is
translated into English and, in this section, the English translation is
written, by a very skilled calligrapher, in a hand that accords with the
original and yet is also highly legible. The original sigils, symbols and
Hebrew words of power are retained.
We find that some parts
of the original text were written backwards. This was probably done so that the
scribe, when writing the manuscript, does not by that act perform the ritual,
conjouring the beings concerned into his presence. Where Latin words were spelt backwards, so the English script does
in the second section.
As in the original all
the pages are irregularly cut and the pages are bound into the book using a
thick gold coloured thread.
The intent has been to
present the illustrations and text, with an English translation, in a manner
which preserves, recaptures and extends the point of view of the original
scribe. Anything that distracts from this viewpoint is kept to an absolute
minumum. Hence, there is no introduction or commentary and publication details
are kept to a minumum. The original manuscript is, in places quite marked,
these marks are deliberately reproduced. There is a golden opportunity for
reasearching the words of power, scripts, sigils and symbolism, both in terms
of sources and significance. A small handmade paper label in the second section
gives the necessary copyright and publication details, together with the
limitation and the number of the copy in hand.
This project will be the
subject of a lecture to the U.K. Society of Bookbinders in May 2010, to be
given by myself as publisher, the binder and the calligrapher
Images of the book can be
found here:-
The talismanic page and page facing
Page with English translation inserted
Cyprianus, Key to Hell, Ltd. Ed. Of 60 copies is available at 150 UK Pounds plus postage by special delivery at cost
