Spirit Conjuration & Necromancy

This intricate engraving from Richard Boulton's 1715 work illustrates two famous supernatural accounts of the era. The upper panel depicts the Witches of Warboys performing a ritual within a magic circle surrounded by demonic familiars, while the lower panel shows a spectral figure foretelling the assassination of the Duke of Buckingham. Together, they reflect the deep-seated cultural fascination with both malevolent magic and prophetic omens in early modern England.

This illustration depicts the 16th-century occultist Edward Kelley and his associate performing a necromantic ritual in a graveyard at night. Standing within a protective magic circle inscribed with names and symbols, they invoke the spirit of a deceased person, who appears as a shrouded figure. The scene captures the dramatic and atmospheric nature of early modern magical practices as popularized in 19th and early 20th-century occult literature.

A striking woodcut portrait of the renowned polymath and occultist Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535). Depicted in profile wearing scholarly attire, this image serves as a definitive representation of the author whose works profoundly influenced Western esoteric traditions.

This iconic illustration, known as the Sabbatic Goat or Baphomet, was originally designed by the French occultist Eliphas Levi. It represents the synthesis of the universe, balancing opposing forces such as light and dark, male and female, and spiritual and material realms through its dense symbolic language, including the caduceus and the alchemical terms 'Solve' and 'Coagula'.

This iconic illustration depicts Baphomet, the 'Sabbatic Goat,' as conceptualized by the French occultist Eliphas Levi. The figure embodies the principle of the reconciliation of opposites, featuring both male and female attributes, light and dark moons, and the alchemical maxims 'Solve' and 'Coagula' inscribed on its arms. It remains one of the most influential and recognizable symbols in modern Western esotericism.

This dramatic illustration depicts three figures engulfed in flames within a rocky cavern, likely representing souls in a state of purgation or alchemical transformation. Above them, the Tetragrammaton—the sacred four-letter Hebrew name of God—emanates light from within a triangle, symbolizing divine presence and the hope of redemption. Such imagery is characteristic of the 'Compendium Rarissimum', which blends religious, alchemical, and magical symbolism.

This striking engraving illustrates the divine act of creation, centered on the word 'FIAT' (Let there be) emanating from a celestial cloud. A beam of light descends into the primordial darkness, while the Holy Spirit, depicted as a dove in a radiant halo, hovers over the emerging cosmos. This image captures the early modern fascination with the intersection of biblical narrative and natural philosophy, likely from Robert Fludd's 'Utriusque Cosmi Historia'.

This striking illustration from the 'Kitab al-Bulhan' (Book of Wonders) personifies the experience of a nightmare. A formidable, dark-skinned jinn with horns and wings is shown pressing down upon a sleeping figure, a literal interpretation of the 'night-mare' or sleep paralysis. The surrounding talismanic symbols and grotesque heads reflect the medieval Islamic world's complex understanding of the unseen realm and its influence on human life.

This woodcut depicts a demonic entity, traditionally identified as Lucifuge Rofocale, a high-ranking demon in the hierarchy of the Grand Grimoire. The figure is shown with classic diabolical attributes such as horns, a tail, and cloven hooves, accompanied by the submissive phrase 'Je suis à toi' (I am yours), illustrating the pact-making central to this 18th-century manual of black magic.