Essays · Notes from the Library
Long-form on the
Arabic Occult Tradition
Field notes, primers, and lineage maps — for readers approaching Shams al-Ma’arif, Picatrix, the Solomonic cycle, and the wider Islamicate occult corpus.
What is the Shams al-Ma'arif? A Reader's Guide to the Sun of Knowledge
Explore the Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra — its author al-Buni, its contents, manuscript history, and how English readers can enter the Arabic occult tradition today.
Read essay →Picatrix vs. Ghayat al-Hakim: The Lost Arabic Original
How the Arabic Ghayat al-Hakim became the Latin Picatrix — what changed, what was lost, and why English readers should know the difference.
Read essay →Solomonic Magic in the Islamic Tradition: The Asif ibn Barkhiya Stream
Who was Asif ibn Barkhiya? How does the Arabic Solomonic tradition relate to the Goetia, the Lemegeton, and the Western Lesser Key of Solomon?
Read essay →The 13th-Century Magic Book That Got Its Author Banned and Burned
Ahmad al-Buni's Shams al-Ma'arif is one of the most feared books in Arabic history — banned, burned, copied in secret. Here's why it couldn't be killed.
Read essay →How to Summon the Seven Kings of the Jinn — According to a 700-Year-Old Manuscript
A medieval Arabic grimoire preserves the operational instructions for conjuring the seven kings of the jinn. Here's what the manuscript actually contains.
Read essay →Solomon's Vizier Crossed Continents in the Blink of an Eye — The Quranic Account of Asif ibn Barkhiya
The Quran records Solomon's vizier transporting the Queen of Sheba's throne in less than a blink. Arabic occult tradition says the divine Name he used has been preserved.
Read essay →The Christian Monks Who Practiced Arabic Magic — In Secret
A medieval Arabic manuscript records the magical formulas of Christian monks living under Islamic rule — talismans inscribed with both Quranic verses and Christian prayers.
Read essay →The Indian Sage Whose Magic Book Survived 1000 Years — and Every Caliphate That Tried to Burn It
He has no biography, no birthdate, no verified grave. Yet Tumtum al-Hindi's name appears on one of the most copied magical manuscripts in Arabic history.
Read essay →What the Goetia Got Wrong: The Real Source of Solomonic Demonology Was Arabic
The Goetia became the bible of Western ceremonial magic. But it's a Latin-filtered version of an older Arabic tradition — and the Arabic source-texts name many of the same spirits.
Read essay →