Overview
The Key of Solomon occupies a central place in the history of European ritual magic, yet the familiar singular title is misleading. Manuscripts called Clavicula Salomonis differ considerably in language, structure, chapter order, diagrams and even in the kinds of operations they contain. They form an open or “wild” textual family: copyists translated, shortened, expanded and rearranged material rather than preserving one fixed archetype. Many Western versions use a two-book structure. The first generally sets out the aims and framework of magical operations, including invocations, circles, p…