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CHAPTER ONE

What is the Abramelin operation?

The book as I knew it

The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage is a fifteenth century grimoire, or book of magic, that includes instructions as to how an individual can make contact with their Holy Guardian Angel. It was translated into English by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1893 and his edition was published at the beginning of the twentieth century and has been reproduced in several editions since. I had a beautiful 1950s reprint of the original Watkins edition and—to be used as a working copy—a de Laurence 1929 edition that was ex libris Order of the Cubic Stone.

In the introduction Mathers explains that the manuscript was in French as part of the private collection of the Marquis of Paulny housed in the Biblioteque de l'Arsenal in Paris. It had been translated into French from the original Hebrew of “Abraham the Jew”. Mathers had not found any other copy or replica of the book—not even in the British Museum's extensive occult collection. Ted Bryant (an ex-disciple of Aleister Crowley who helped me prepare for the Abramelin operation) said that was surprising. In his experience it was more usual for several copies of any grimoire manuscript, with variations, to be found in various collections across Europe, so the existence of just one unique copy was suspicious. George Dehn's later research (see below) confirmed Ted's doubts.

This version of the text is presented in three books. The first book is written as an epistle from Abraham the Jew to his son, outlining his story, his magical quest, how he discovered the true magic, and advising him on the one true path. The second book was the most important for my purposes, because it describes the main part of the operation: how to build an oratory, prepare the necessary materials, and conduct oneself for the six months of retirement. It concludes with a detailed description of what to do in the weeks after meeting one's Holy Guardian Angel. The third book is full of magical squares to be used to work wonders.

What the second book describes is a six-month preparatory retirement, beginning at Easter, and running through three phases of two months each. After that preparation, one should experience the knowledge and conversation of one's Holy Guardian Angel and, under its tutelage, one would subsequently be introduced to orders of spirits and would learn how to deal with them and be issued instructions on how to deploy the magical squares from the third book.

My main interest was in that initial six-month preparation. The concept was that no-one should attempt to work with these spirits unless they had first proven themselves by undergoing ritual purification and preparation—in this case for six months. This made sense to me, so I was more interested in this grimoire than others that put greater emphasis on conjuration and less on rigorous preparation (just as one might choose a university that actually required one to study for a degree, rather than simply pay for the certificate!).

I had read Israel Regardie's Tree of Life, and he too felt that the really powerful part of the operation was in the spiritual preparation it demanded, and the effect this could have on the candidate. One of the outstanding features of Abramelin is that it is a conjuration that does not require a protective “magic circle”. Instead, the long preparation is expected to strengthen and seal the candidate and the oratory against evil.

It was not that I had no interest at all in conjuration, but I did have reservations. Firstly, I would not want to attempt it unless I had already proven my worth and ability to handle such stuff. Secondly, while I could accept the reality of a spiritual initiation over six months, I found it much harder to believe in magic squares that could, for example, make an army appear or enable one to fly through the air looking like an eagle.

So my attitude was that the retirement was something that I needed to do for my own progress; should I then find myself somehow transformed into a great sage or mighty spiritual warrior, I would be in a better position to judge the value of later magical operations and decide accordingly.

You could argue that, at this stage, my approach was more psychological than magical: more Regardie than Crowley.

The book as it is now understood

In 2006 a totally new English language edition, called The Book of Abramelin, was published. It was translated from a German edition compiled by Georg Dehn. This new version was based on research into further copies of the manuscript that had since been discovered in Germany. These revealed that the French version used by Mathers was very incomplete, and the new edition could therefore be accepted as more accurate, and a better guide.

While recognisably similar to the Mathers version, it was different in several important respects. Most important from my point of view was the fact that the German version required eighteen instead of six months of retirement—divided into three phases of six months each, rather than three of two months each. The requirements for each phase were pretty much as in the Mathers version, except three times as long. Eighteen months would make a huge difference, but I was not altogether surprised, because I had felt at the end of my six months that the retirement was still far from complete—see Chapter Three.

Another difference that would have been extremely significant if I had attempted the ensuing spells, was that the magic squares provided in the Mathers version were found to be seriously incomplete. I may have intuited as much at the time, for I had my own doubts about attempting to use those squares.

A further big difference is that the German version has an additional book—making four parts in all. Between the biography and the instructional part was another book of folk-magic spells. This seems a bit odd, because the first book advises one against dabbling in magic, and suggests that nothing should be attempted without a thorough grounding in the true, holy magic as described in book three. Certainly I would not have been interested in this part, so its omission was relatively unimportant for me.

I will not go into any greater detail here, because I am not an historian or archivist. I have nothing to add to the account in The Book of Abramelin by Georg Dehn—so I recommend that edition to anyone needing to know more about the background. And I certainly recommend that version for anyone planning to perform the operation, because it is less ambiguous and more clearly written than the Mathers version.

On the other hand, I do value some of the comments added by Mathers in the footnotes. In a few respects—such as the outline of the morning oration—the Mathers version actually provides more detailed instruction than the German one. It may be that the person who copied it was adding their own refinements, as if they had personal experience of doing the operation. In that case the variations from the German original may have their own added value. I suggest that there is more to be gained by studying both versions, rather than simply dismissing the MacGregor version.¹

A brief outline of the operation

In this section I outline the main instructions about preparing for the operation, creating the necessary conditions, and how to conduct oneself for the required six or eighteen months.

This is not a detailed or complete description—for that, anyone planning to perform this operation must refer to the original books. Nor do I say much about the final stages after the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The purpose of this section is simply to outline my daily routine, in order that the following diary pages will make more sense to the reader.

The place. It is necessary to prepare an oratory for the operation. Two versions are described: an open one for deep countryside, and a room for use in town. Basically the space lines up with the cardinal points, has a door to the west, windows to the east and south, an altar in the middle, a lamp on high and, outside the door, a level space covered with river sand where the spirits will be invoked. My oratory was a self-constructed six by three foot pine shed lined up and fitted as described.

The time. The operation starts on the first morning after Easter or Passover, and ends at the Feast of Tabernacles, either six (or eighteen) “moons” later. In my diary I was never quite sure if a “moon” meant a lunar return or a full lunation.

The clothes. For most of the time I was simply instructed to dress in a “clean and moderate” manner “according to custom”. I used a secondhand but apparently unused judo suit that conveniently turned up that month in a jumble sale—a good garment for sitting and extended kneeling. I also wore Helly Hansen thermal clothing when it got very cold. During the last two months I needed a white linen robe with short sleeves reaching to the knee and “mourning” clothes for the last days of the retirement and, for the following days, when commanding spirits, a red silk robe of similar proportions with a matching headband.

I made the white and red robes myself during the operation—quite a challenge for an inexperienced needleman when the operation demanded that no blood must be shed. I grew used to the specified “shorty” robe, finding it very comfortable and practical. In later years, when another magical order required me to make my own black cotton robe, I decided to stick with the Abramelin pattern. I became known for what they called my “baby doll” outfit, where everyone else looked like hooded monks.

Other equipment. A simple wand of almond wood—I decided to at least do this in style and I cut the branch with a single stroke at the equinox sunrise; a brazier and censor for incense; a lamp to hang above the altar; and an altar that was like a cupboard to hold all the other necessary kit. I made, or rather bodged, all these items.

The first two months required me to enter the oratory a quarter of an hour before sunrise, kneel before the altar and pray earnestly. This is repeated again after sunset each day. The outline requires one to praise God, confess one's unworthiness and implore him to grant success in this work. There are also recommendations about how to conduct oneself, not eating meat or sleeping during the day and suggestions for reading, etc.

One of the attractions of the Abramelin operation is that it does not insist on a parrot-like repetition of given prayers and incantations; instead, it invites you to speak from the heart and use your own preferred way of praying. This is appealing, but can present problems as you will see in the next chapter.

The second two months simply pile on the pressure—pray and study more earnestly and so on. By this time the candidate has a better idea of what they can endure.

The third two months require one to pray at noon as well as sunrise and sunset, with the addition of incense and wearing that white linen robe. It is necessary to fast once a week on “Sabbath eve”. Again, a further intensification of effort.

The finale. The final phase is quite detailed but, as my experience was curtailed, I will not spell it out in full. Read the books for more about this. On the day after completing the six-month preparation there is an initial process of anointing the various implements and items of clothing, praying according to a given outline formula before praying in the normal manner. On the following day you do not wash as normally required before entering the oratory. Instead you dress in shabby mourning clothes and humiliate yourself before fervent prayer.

At this point the services of a young child are specified. In the next chapter I discuss this challenge and how I tried to get around it. With the help of the child's seership, one is then supposed to experience the presence of the angel and the later instructions begin.

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¹As this book goes to the press I have been in correspondence with Georg Dehn. He tells me that my 2006 edition of his book is out of date and that his latest edition has many more footnotes, incorporating Mathers’ more useful notes, and other useful material that should make the Mathers edition redundant.