This classic work is a treasury of esoteric writing concerning the prayers and rituals to ancient deities from the dawn of Western civilization. In this work first published in 1896, King presents the cuneiform text of a group of sixty clay tablets inscribed with prayers and religious compositions of a devotional and magical character. These tablets were created by the scribes of Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria, between 669–625 B.C., and are currently part of the Kuyunjik collection in the British Museum. King’s illustrations feature a transliteration of each tablet with an English translation of well-preserved passages. King includes a Babylonian-English glossary, a list of proper names and numerals with their corresponding cuneiform inscriptions, and a list of words and word portions of uncertain translation. “The texts and translations are accurately presented and definitive. King’s notes are concise, to the point, and easy to follow. But this is a highly technical book, designed for the professional, whether that professional be Assyriologist, paleographer, or magician. What, then, is its value to the non-professional reader? The answer is clear. Babylonian Magic and Sorcery offers us the means to gain an insight into the magico-religious concepts of the Semitic nations. And it is these concepts, and the magic based upon them, that underlie the worldview of the Western esoteric tradition, for that tradition is essentially Judaeo-Christian—it does not, save indirectly, derive from ancient Egypt.” —from the Foreword by R. A. Gilbert

Insights into the most ancient known magical practice (excluding shamanism) presented in the form of translations of cuneiform tablet texts.

Volume One: 120 ancient Mesopotamian texts from the Metropolitan Museum's extensive collection of cuneiform tablets are published here in a projected multi-volume edition. -- Metropolitan Museum of Art website.

A practical guide to Dr. John Dee’s angelic magic • Contains instructions for performing Enochian magic meditations • Examines John Dee’s original diaries from the British Library Enochian magic is a powerful, ancient system for opening portals to heavenly realms and enabling the ascent to God. The basis for many of the modern systems of magic, including the Golden Dawn, Enochian magic is named after the biblical prophet Enoch, who received the same knowledge and wisdom that was later conveyed to the astrologer to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, Dr. John Dee, by angels in the 16th century. In The Lost Art of Enochian Magic John DeSalvo traces the history of magic--from the earliest civilizations of the Akadians and Egyptians through the Greco-Roman period and up to the present time--to reveal how magic has penetrated and influenced our religious beliefs and practices today. Through his unprecedented investigation into the angelic magic of Dr. John Dee, during which time he deciphered Dee’s original phonetic notations in the margins of Dee’s 16th-century diaries, DeSalvo learned to properly reproduce the “Enochian calls,” which act like mantras in opening higher realms and invoking angels, key to this type of magical practice. DeSalvo shows how to use Enochian magic for personal spiritual development and also as protection from negative energies.

Has appendices.