Arabic magic and Solomonic magic: a hatred spell

 

Image of Iblis, Kitab al-Bulhan

Ok, it s no secret that Solomon is a big part of Arabic lore, and of course its name, is linked to the jinn. By Solomonic magic I mean our Western, pre- and post-Rennaissance version of ritual magic loosely related and centered around the authority that Solomon held in the spirit realm.

A long time ago I brought to public attention the fact that the Heptameron Kings are identical to the Jinn Kings. My images still go uncredited on the Jinn Fandom Wiki page.

I have another little example of Arabic spells directly imported in one of the most important grimoires: The Key of Solomon. 

In all examples of the Clavicle, the Experiment section contains a spell meant to bring discord and hatered, but is absent from the Mathers Edition on account of its.. nature.

Still, taking and adding as he pleased from the Clavicle, Mathers did not offer us a reliable edition of the Clavicle, but one of the most flawed and artificial one out there. 

A big thank you to Joseph Peterson for allowing me to quote his edition of the Key as transcribed in Add36674:

How experiments for hatred are prepared, that any may be made deadly enemies. Chap. 11.

Experiments of hatred are done divers ways. If thou wilt work by any image or any such like thing, make your image, and perfume it with such perfumes as are prescribed. And if so be any thing must be written upon the image, write it with a needle, as shall be hereafter appointed in the chapter concerning a needle, afterwards say as followeth upon the image:

Arator, lapidator, temptator, sommator, subuersor, agnator, siccator, sudator, Combustor, Pungitor, Ductor, Comestor, Deuorator, Seductor, I do beseech you ministers of hatred, and destroyers of friendship, I beseech you I say that this present image may be so consecrated that it may engender hatred betwixt whosoever I would.

I will not cover the entire spell, the most important part are the names of the so called Ministers of Hatred. 

They always seemed to be a random list of demonic euphemisms, starting with an obvious mistake: Arator. In Latin, it means The Plougher, The Ploughman, He-who-ploughs to be more precise.  Since when did the devil do agriculture? 

While scrolling with a pen-in-hand though the Arabic Magic and Theurgy Group posts, I came upon a small post by Reda Ruhani about Iblis, the Arabic equivalent of Lucifer, head of the rebellious Jinn, with the above image from the Kitab al-Bulhan. His mention of another title of Iblis being Al-Harith (الحارث). I had known that Harith or Al-Harith was one of the names of Iblis, or even his true name by some accounts (doubtful), but have never seen it s translation, which Reda provided: The Ploughman.

Arator is not a nonsensical epithet of a devil. It is the literal translation into Latin of the nickname Al-Harith, namely Iblis himself. 

In Arabic magic jinn are frequently denoted by their chosen name (such as Iblis is here), by their father s name (Ibn X), by their spawn s name (Abu Y) or, more importantly, by their nickname.  The nickname is either related to an aspect of that being, or an association, or a function. Is Al-Ahmar, The Red, really Red? Is Iblis really a ploughman? We do not know. But they are associated with such designations.  And most such epithets are used when the being itself is not to be directly named. 

In this case I do not believe we are dealing with a litany of many epithets of the same being, but rather multipole beings designated by their nicknames. 

In Ms. Kings 288 edited by Stephen Skinner (The Veritable Key of Solomon, p.317), we find a portion of the text that is identical to the Arabic conjurations, the spirits beings asked rhaetorically of their tardyness:

Where are you, Consumator, Usor, Lapidator, Diversator, Tentator, Seminator, Discordiae? Where are you others, who cause hatred (etc)

being of course conjured by the power of God. 

The list below will serve as comparison:

	Add.36674	Duveen	Kings 288
1	Arator	Arator
2	Lapidator	Lapidator	(Di)lapidator
3	Temptator	Temptator	Tentator
4	Sommator	Sommator	Samniator Seminator Discordiae
5	Subuersor	Subversor
6	Agnator
7	Siccator	Sicator
8	Sudator	Sudator
9	Combustor	Combustor
10	Pugnitor	Punitor
11	Ductor	Auctor
12	Comestor	Commentor	Consummator
13	Deuorator	Devorator	Devorator
14	Seductor	Eductor	Seductor
15		Asservator
16			Corrosor
17			Usor
18			Diversator

I haven t done an exhaustive research on Clavicula manuscripts containing this speciffic portion, but I do lean towards the first part, that keeps the Arator as it s first name, and away from Kings 288, which seems to take some liberties. Of course, I might be wrong.

Attempted reconstruction:

1. Arator. The Ploughman. Arabic Al-Harith (Iblis)

2. Dilapidator. Although Lapidator (The stone-thrower) is logical,  Kings288 also keep the form Dilapidator, which would be more cohenerent. Dilapidator would be Destroyer, in the acception that the act of dilapidation is the tearing of a building stone by stone. The Dismantler, The-Rubble-Maker, the Ruin-Bringer would be more adequate synonyms.

3. Temptator. The Tempter.

4. Seminator. The Sower, the Seeder. Although a possible candidate would be Somniator, Bringer-of-sleep, Ensleepner, Kings288 calls for the Seminator Discordiae, that is, Sower or Seeder of Dischord. 

5. Subversor. The Overthrower.

6. Ignitor. The Igniter. Agnator might be a deformation of Ignator, which has the same meaning, a starter of quarrels or wars.

7. Desiccator. The Drainer. As with Lapidator-Dilapidator, only the core is used from popular Latin. The act of Seccare or Desiccare means the drying up or the draing of something, ideally of water, sap, blood or life.   

8. Sudator. The Welder. Perhaps incorrect, and further study might bring new information, like asudator,  sweat-inducer.

9. Combustor. The Burning. 

10. Pugnitor. The Fighter. Although Pugnitor is a wellknown word for fighter or puncher (literally, hitter-with-fists), the alternative spelling of Punitor (The Punisher) is also a contender ;)

11. Ductor. The Leader. This word is not meant as the derivate of the word to lead as in head or rule, but rather to lead into temptation, lead astray, lead to sin, etc.  

12. Comestor. The Consumer. The version in Kings 288 is similar both in form and in meaning, Consumator. 

13. Devorator. The Devourer. 

14. Seductor. The Seducer. 

15. Asservator. The Subduer. This one is tricky: He-who-makes-others-your-servants, He-who-compells-people-into-servitude-towards-others.

16. Corrosor. The Corroder. 

17. The User. Might also be The Money-Lender. The gact that he is the head of the list in Kings 288 just implies the use of others for selfish reasons. 

18. Diversator. The Distracter. Might also be Deversator, spiller, deversor, dissipating force.  

Any questions pertaining to this material might get answered in video form.

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