Considering the broad scope and size of a manuscript that contains parts of Heptameron, Enchiridion, Sepher Raziel, The Offices of Spirits, and the Key of Solomon, and it is detailed and meticulous. The three scholars collaborate to provide context, translations, and interpretations of the manuscript’s contents, including its instructions for summoning spirits and performing magical operations.
The work contains representations of the earliest illustrations, sigils, and diagrams alongside modern interpretations and explanations.
The text suggests associations between Renaissance magic, folklore, and religious practices of the period.
The authors reveal networks of magical knowledge that circulated among practitioners in Elizabethan England.
“The Book of Oberon” is a recent transcription and annotation of the Folger Shakespeare Library manuscript V.b.26 [Book of magic, with instructions for invoking spirits, etc. (ca. 1577-1583)].
Scribed in the late 16th century, a decade or more before Shakespeare,
Folger MS V.b.26 is a manual for the practical application of ritual magic.
A collection of what some might call “results oriented” experiments collected from a myriad of historic sources.
Among its contents includes:
Rituals for the conjuration of several different spirits, including
Oberon (one of the main characters of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
Satan,
Mosacus,
Birto, and others;
A ceremony to call Baron, a spirit associated with the infamous Gilles de Rais.”
Also enclosed are a series of illustrations of spirits and other entities and one of the first lists of the Hierarchy of Spirits as found in the later goetic works.
A translation from the Latin has been done, offered side-by-side with the original, and all of the images have been re-drawn.
It’s very hard to find people who have an understanding of the deities or spirits listed. It details faery work with Oberon, among other .
However, Oberon occasionally seems more associated with demons historically than with fairies.
In one manuscript, Oberion is listed with Lucipher and Satan on one page, while Mycob and fairy beings are kept to a separate page.
Oberon is the key turning point where demons entwine with fairies.
Oberon is dealt with fully in the Folger Shakespeare Library manuscript V.b.26, from which we may gather some idea of how he was perceived before Shakespeare.
He is portrayed:
“Oberyon Rex– he appeareth like a kinge with a crowne on his heade; he is under the governmente of the sun & moon; he teacheth a man knowledge in physicke & he sheweth the nature of stones, herbes & trees & of all mettalls; he is a great & mighty kinge & he is kinge of the fayries; he causeth a man to be Invisible, he sheweth where hiding treseuer is & how to obtain the saime; he telleth of thinges present paste & to comm; and, if he be bounde to a man, he will carey or bringe treasuer out of the sea- his burden is £1000000. He howeldes [commands] the wateres & lowe partes of the earth.”
Folger MS V.b.26, f.80
Does does anyone have any experiences with the deities inside the grimoire work itself? Or has anyone worked with the rituals and deities of the Book of Oberon and if so what were your experiences ?