Hygromanteia: The Byzantine Magical Treatise of Solomon Behind the Key of Solomon
Explore the Hygromanteia, a Byzantine Greek Solomonic manuscript tradition: its rituals, diagrams, cultural setting, and relationship to the Key of Solomon.
Maqlû: Inside Babylon’s Night-Long Anti-Witchcraft Ritual of Fire, Purification, and Dawn
Explore Maqlû, Babylon’s night-long anti-witchcraft ritual: nine tablets, ritual experts, figurines, fire, purification, Shamash, and dawn.
The Greek Magical Papyri: How Greco-Egyptian Ritual Magic Actually Worked
A source-based guide to the Greek Magical Papyri: their discovery, languages, gods, ritual technologies, sacred names, materials, astrology, divination, healing, protection, and lasting influence on…
Minkisi and the Kongo Art of Power: Healing, Justice, Ancestors, and the True Meaning of Nkisi Nkondi
What were Kongo minkisi before museums and horror films turned them into “nail fetishes”? This evidence-based guide explores the Kingdom of Kongo, the nganga ritual…
ʿIlm al-Ḥurūf Explained: The Real History of Arabic Letter Mysticism, Abjad Numbers, Magic Squares, al-Būnī, and Shams al-Maʿārif
What is ʿilm al-ḥurūf, the Arabic “science of letters”? This evidence-based guide explores abjad numbers, divine names, magic squares, talismanic writing, Aḥmad al-Būnī, the complicated…
Onmyōdō Explained: The Real History of Japanese Yin-Yang Magic, Abe no Seimei, Shikigami, Calendars, and Directional Divination
What was Onmyōdō before anime, games, and modern occult mythology? This evidence-based guide traces Japan’s tradition of calendar science, astrology, omen interpretation, directional divination, ritual…
The Benandanti of Friuli: Night Battles, Harvest Magic, Spirit Journeys, and the Inquisition
Who were the Benandanti of Friuli? This evidence-based guide explores the “good walkers” of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century northeastern Italy: their caul-born identity, seasonal night battles…
Who Were the Cunning Folk? The Real History of England’s Practical Magicians, Healers, Diviners, and Charmers
Who were the cunning folk? This evidence-based guide explores the practical magicians of medieval and early modern England: the services they sold, the prayers, charms,…
Heka: How Ancient Egyptian Magic Actually Worked — Ritual Speech, Protective Objects, Healing Texts, and Ethic al Modern Practice
Magical stela, or cippus, of Horus, 332–280 BCE. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain. This object joined image, inscription, myth, water, and ritual action…
How to Buy Rare Books at Online Auctions Without Overpaying: Buyer’s Premium, Condition Reports, Provenance, Shipping, Taxes, and Fraud Prevention
A complete practical guide to buying rare books and manuscripts at online auctions without overpaying—covering estimates, reserves, buyer’s premium, condition reports, edition points, provenance, bidding…
How to Create a Digital Exhibition from Rare Books and Manuscripts: Storytelling, Copyright, Accessibility, Metadata, and Web Publishing
A complete guide to creating a digital exhibition from rare books, manuscripts, letters, diagrams, and historical images—covering audience, narrative design, object selection, digitization, copyright, metadata,…
How to Catalog a Private Rare-Book and Manuscript Collection: Accession Numbers, Metadata, Provenance, Locations, and Digital Inventory
A complete practical guide to cataloging a private rare-book and manuscript collection, including accession workflows, unique identifiers, bibliographic description, archival hierarchy, provenance, condition, locations, rights,…