Monday 12 August 2019

Seals of Alcabitius: 1

Thanks to our friend Andy Foster I was made aware of an extraordinary set of seals in a manuscript largely preoccupied with alchemy.  Seeminly related to the Key of Solomon or the Novem Candaries, these ten figures are completely unknown to me from other sources, and the treatise they accompany as well. 

Kassel University Library Manuscript  4° Ms. chem. 61 contains, among tracts attributed to Raymond Lull, a very short and interesting portion, fols. 57r-65r, titled Ars Alkabicii.


Abu al-Saqr Abd al-Aziz Ibn Uthman Ibn Ali al-Qabisi l-Mawsili al-Hashimi, or for short, Al-Qabisi, latinised as Alchabitius, Alcabitius, AlchabizAbdelazys or Abdilaziz, was a famous Iraqi astrologer and polymath from the tenth century. And much like other Arabic sages, works on magic are also credited to him, such as this one.  Obviuosly a spurious atribution, as it quotes the Gospel of John(58r), employs orations in the name of Jesus Christ (59r), conjures Beelzebub, ”prince of all demons” (59v)  and mentions Hermogenes, a magician in the Golden Legend. 

The descriptions of the pentacles don t make much sense, and I haven t had the time to clean them up properly.


(Figure 1)
Isti sunt duo principes
These are the two princes




(Figure 2)
Pars Sigilli Salomonis
Part of the Seal of Solomon



(Figure 3)
Tota pars de Annulo Sa
lomonis et 3ia pars de 
lapide. Isti sunt duos reges.
Also part of the Ring of Solomon 
and the third part of the stone.
These are the two kings.



(Figure 4)
Tres partes de
Annulo Salomo
nis
Third part of the Ring of Solomon



(Figure 5)
Isti sunt duos Servitores
hoc est Lapis Salomonis, 
et secunda pars de lapide.
These are the two Servants
that is, The Stone of Solomon,
and the second part of the stone.




(Figure 6)
Tertia pars Sigilli Sa
lomonis contra pericula
The third part of the Seal
of Solomon against dangers*



(Figure 7)
In isto sigillo sunt XII Vi,
ncula Salomonis, per quod si,
gillum potest ligare spirites et
constringere omnes Demones
principes et Reges.
In this seal there are the 12 Bonds 
of Solomon, by which this seal can bind
and coerce all Demons
princes and Kings. 



(Figure 8)
Too complex, will edit later. 


(Figure 9)
hoc signum    valet ad 
vulnera et contra 
inimicos
This sign is for wounds 
and against one s enemies. 


(Figure 10)
Haec est figura cum signis 
et characteribus 
Hermoginis septem planetarum.
This is the figure 
with the planetary signs 
and characters of Hermoginus.  



*thank you to J. Peterson

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