On the tools used to conjure the fairy Sibylia in the 1584 Discoverie of Witchcraft. Text from the book Fairy Magic in the Grimoires.
Comments:
Carrying out the previously described operation is a serious work of magic which leads the magician or witch into the cemetery and into the practice of necromancy, the conjuring of the dead. Further exploration of this is given in operation 9.
The previous spell is taken from the 1584 Discoverie of Witchcraft. The Discoverie was not originally published as a grimoire, but rather it was a skeptical book denouncing witchcraft as being mostly foolishness and the witch hunts and burnings of the time to be misguided. However, in the
process of stating his case that the old women accused of witchcraft were simply deluded, Reginald Scot, the author of the Discoverie, also published several examples of real witchcraft of the day.
It was certainly not his intention to provide a manual for witches to use, but that happened anyway. It is not known where Scot found the ritual, but he did not create it, and we can compare it to spells designed to conjure Sibylia from other texts such as the Book of Oberon and the Cambridge Book of Magic to see that Scots fairy spell was
not a lone example but rather part of a larger body of fairy magic in the 1500s. Now let’s look at the magic tools used to carry this work out.
Tools used:
1. The Magic circle
2. The Wand made of Hazel wood
3. The Crystal Stone or Ball
4. Frankincense
5. The Shield
6. White candles
7. The book of Conjurations
1. The Magic circle
Names used: Agla, El, Ya, Panthon, Messyas, Emanuel, Alpha et Omega, Tetragrammaton, Elfelbey, Jesus Nazarenus, Adonay. Dextera Domini fecit virtutem; dextera Domini exaltavit me.
16Dextera Domini fecit virtutem; dextera Domini exaltavit me: dextera Domini fecit virtutem. Psalmi 117:16 Biblia Sacra Vulgata
Translation in English:
The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exulted me: the right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength. -Psalms 117:16
The instructions mention that outside the main circle should be drawn another smaller circle, for the fairy to appear in.
In this case, the smaller circle outside the magic circle functions in a similar manner as the triangle to summon spirits in the Lesser Key of Solomon.
In the four corners appear the words AGLA, EL,
PANTHON, and YA. Around the square are written Alpha and Omega, Messyas, and Emanuel. Around the edges of the square are Tetragrammaton, Adonay, Jesus Nazarenus, and Elfelbey. Magister is written in the center.
Around the ring itself is the Bible verse Psalms 117:16.
16 Dextera Domini fecit virtutem; dextera Domini exaltavit me: dextera Domini fecit virtutem. Psalmi 117:16 Biblia Sacra Vulgata (The Vulgate)
The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exulted me: the right hand ofthe Lord hath wrought strength. -Psalms 117:16
