The Testament of Cyprian the Mage
Encyclopædia Goetica · Volume III
by Jake Stratton-Kent
The Testament of Cyprian the Mage is the third work in the Encyclopædia Goetica series by Jake Stratton-Kent, comprehending The Book of Saint Cyprian and his Magical Elements and an elucidation of The Testament of Solomon.
This is the final work in Jake Stratton-Kent’s acclaimed Encyclopædia Goetica series which began with The True Grimoire, a working reconstruction of the Grimorium Verum, and was followed by the monumental two volume Geosophia: The Argo of Magic which explored the necromantic Greek origins of Goetia. The Testament of Cyprian the Mage is a fitting climax to this endeavour which has placed the author at the forefront of modern magic, with a body of work that is both scholarly and aimed at practical application. All volumes in the series are standalone texts, though they benefit from being read as aspects of a single thesis: the importance of Goetia as the oldest continuous tradition of Western magic. Stratton-Kent writes:
“Goetic Magic … if properly understood would regenerate Western magic and underline its immense cultural significance, on a level equal to any spiritual tradition in the world.”
This understanding is clearly given in two volumes of lucid and fascinating exegesis with clear extracts from all the necessary works.
The Testament of Cyprian the Mage is an ambitious and far-seeing work, addressing two ends of the magical spectrum: the Testament of Solomon and one version of the Iberian Book of Saint Cyprian. In doing so, key aspects of magical practice are revealed. This work draws upon these texts to create a clear understanding of the practice of grimoire magic, not as a discrete or degenerate subset of ceremonial magic, but one which is integrated with folk magic and witchcraft. In particular we discover a shared dramatis personæ, the infernal pact and a common terrain of Wild Hunt and Sabbat.
Within the text we encounter the Chiefs, Kings and Queens of the grimoire tradition; the magical role of the Decans and their stones and plants; lunar magic and magical animals; the gods of Time; the Sibyl and the Hygromanteia; Asmodeus and Oriens; Angelology, Theurgy, Conjunction and the Pact, the Angelic Vice-regent and thwarting Angels; Asclepius, Iamblichus and Neo-Platonism; Paracelsus and the Elemental Spirits; Necromancy, and the principles of spell work. As Stratton-Kent notes:
“A primary purpose of this book is to explore the implicit mythology of grimoire spirits and the contexts from which it derives.”
It does far more. This is a fundamental revisioning of magic with profound implications for the magical revival which we are all engaged in.
BHB Note
The Testament of Cyprian the Mage, as Volume III of the Encyclopædia Goetica series, is itself comprised of two volumes. Volume I contains Books I-III, and Volume II contains Books IV-VI. Both volumes are included in this purchase.
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Table of Contents
Exhortatio
Grimoire Timeline
References and Abbreviations
Defining and Redefining Magic
PART I · ST CYPRIAN
Blue Grimoires
Saint Cyprian of the Grimoires
The Great Book of Saint Cyprian: Introduction
The Life and Legend of Saint Cyprian
Iamblichus
The Confession of Saint Cyprian
Conjunction
Theoretical Implications: A Theurgic Interlude
PART II · THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON
In Search of the Four Kings
The Testament of Solomon
The Spirits of the Testament of Solomon
The Spirits of the Testament of Solomon: Decans
The End of the Testament
The Sybil and Hygromanteia
The Sybil of Thyatira
Asmodeus
A Word on Angelology
PART III · THE DECANS
Gods of Time
Egyptian and Hermetic Decans
Solar Theology
The Definitions of Asclepius
The Asclepius
Concerning Angels: The Vice-Regent
Oriens
Introducing the Sacred Book
The Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius
The Decans and Magical Characters
The Correspondences
Stones of the Decans
Plants of the Decans
Magical Animals
PART IV · THE BOOK OF ST CYPRIAN: 1
The Book of Saint Cyprian: 1
Working with the Four Kings
Manuscript Sources
The Solomon Clavicle
The Gorgon, the Dragon and the Goat
The Mirror of Azrael
The Gnomes
Practical Implications: Liturgical Transplants and Magic
PART V · THE BOOK OF ST CYPRIAN: 2
The Book of Saint Cyprian: 2
The Superiors and Spell Work
Sanctum Regnum
Magic as Practical Eschatology
Restitutionism
Spiritist Eschatology
The Role of the Dead in a Living Tradition
Paracelsus
PART VI · HEPTAMERON
Heptameron, or Magical Elements
The Kings and the Wild Hunt
Cyprian’s Elemental Kings and Queens
Rusalka and the Queens of the Grimoires
Conclusion
APPENDIX: The Testament of Solomon
Bibliography
Index
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Original pen & ink illustrations by Oliver Liebeskind
Paperback Edition
Comprising two volumes; Vol I, 320 pages & Vol II, 280 pages. Sewn paperbacks printed on 90 gsm paper, red covers with black print to fronts and black & white print to spines.
ISBN (Vol I): 978-0-9574492-5-1
ISBN (Vol II): 978-0-9574492-6-8
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“Jake Stratton-Kent’s (JSK) Encyclopedia Goetica comes to a phenomenal end with this double volume…In a not at all metaphorical sense JSK’s final double volume is an expedition into the ancestral blood-ties of this famous sorcerer-saint. To embark on it is to encounter Cyprian the Mage. Not only as the hero of an ancient polemic against the last surviving pagans, but more importantly as an ever present inner contact, a powerful spirit in its own right...
Following his book with head and heart is an act of magic in itself, of conjure magic, of raising the dead from the shadows. Reading this book, remembering our own Goetic past, thus turns into a necromantic act in itself...
...The Testament of Cyprian the Mage is what people call an instant classic. Yet for the practicing magician it is so much more than that: it is an invitation into a land most of us had believed long lost.”
Frater Acher for Paralibrum — read the full review here
“Jake Stratton-Kent’s Encyclopædia Goetica is a monumental achievement, but more than that it is of vital importance for practicing occultists, pagans, and all those who fall into both categories. A work spanning three official volumes stretched across five actual books, it is an invaluable addition to occult history, theory, and practice.”
Sul Books, reviewing the entire Encyclopædia Goetica series — read the full review here
Interview with Jake Stratton-Kent on the Rune Soup channel — watch on YouTube here
Eulogy for a Necromancer by Scarlet Imprint; a beautiful and heartfelt essay discussing the importance of Jake Stratton-Kent’s contributions to the modern occult revival — read it here
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About the Author
The late Jake Stratton-Kent (1956–2023) has been called the most notorious necromancer in England, and described himself as a ‘very late Late Pagan.’ He died on 17th January 2023, having made a significant contribution to the current magical revival. He championed a spirit centred approach and the importance of the grimoires for the western magical tradition. He will always be associated with the Grimorium Verum, the book which was central to his practice for over forty years.
He wrote numerous articles, pamphlets and books since the mid 1970s. With Scarlet Imprint he published the Encyclopædia Goetica, a three volume work comprising: The True Grimoire, a reconstructed and extensively commented edition of the Grimorium Verum; Geosophia, an extensive two volume survey of the Greek origins and mythic background of goetia; and The Testament of Cyprian the Mage, an analysis in two volumes of the roots of the grimoires and their spirit hierarchies in Late Antiquity.
His background in the youth radicalisation and free festival movements of the 1970s never entirely left him.