Required Text (Free, Public Domain):
Mathers, S.L. MacGregor & Crowley, Aleister. The Lesser Key of Solomon (Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis). 1904.
Read it free here: Internet Sacred Text Archive — The Lesser Key of Solomon https://sacred-texts.com/grim/lks/index.htm (with clickable sigil illustrations)
Project Gutenberg — The Lesser Key of Solomon https://www.gutenberg.org/files/72679/72679-h/72679-h.htm
Critical Edition: Esoteric Archives — Joseph H. Peterson’s Lemegeton https://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/lemegeton.htm
Course Description: This course examines The Lesser Key of Solomon (Lemegeton) as a comprehensive five-part initiatory system that progressively moves the practitioner from theurgic preparation through celestial and aerial spirit work.
Through a scholar-practitioner lens, we will explore the text’s 17th-century compilation, its five books (Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel, and Ars Notoria), its ritual architecture of containment and protection, and its function as a preparatory gateway to advanced related works including the Grimorium Verum, and Dr. Rudd’s complete system of angelic balance.
Assessment & Grading
Component Weight
Lesson Assignments (5 @ 12% each) 60%
Discussion Participation 20%
Final Threshold Ritual & Reflective Essay 20%
Course Philosophy: This course operates from a scholar-practitioner model that honors both the academic study of esoteric history and the embodied, experiential knowledge that emerges from ritual practice. We approach The Lesser Key of Solomon not as a mere demonological curiosity, but as a complete initiatory curriculum that moves the practitioner through progressively refined levels of spirit contact—from the bound infernal, through the wandering aerial, to the planetary and zodiacal celestial, and finally to the divine orations of the Ars Notoria. All practical work should be undertaken with appropriate psychological grounding, ethical consideration, and respect for the text’s cultural and religious contexts.
“Clavicula Salomonis Regis, which containeth all the Names, Offices, and Orders of all the Spirits that ever he had converse with, with the Seals and Characters to each Spirit and the manner of calling them forth to visible appearance.” — Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis