[extract from my forthcoming work Claves Spirituum]
The early grimoires contain a hugely important component which was quickly lost, and whose significance seems to have been overlooked. This is the winds, and their role in transporting spirits to the conjuror. In the Sworn Book of Honoriusthe second day is devoted to ‘the raising up of the winds’ (chapter CXXVIII). The final of the nine raisings of the wind says, ‘may he send with your winds the subordinates and daemons of the same’.[1] So the implication is that the winds carry or transport the spirits to the conjuror! This is stated more explicitly in Summa Sacra Magice (chapter XII, Of the Forty Winds), where the conjuration declares:
‘I conjure you the winds of every part of the world, I call to action and command you: [list of names], - by these holy and powerful names I bind and enjoin upon you, that they may come and fulfil my will, that is, that you cause such a spirit (N) to come to me with truth and meekness, obedient and acting fearlessly, without deception and without harm.’[2]
So the conjuror is literally calling the winds to bring the spirit from whatever part of the world it is in to their presence. There are forty different names of winds, and the implication is that the relevant winds bring the spirit from wherever in the world it may be (hence all the winds not just the direction the spirit resides in). This is done at the command of a sequence of ninety-five divine names,[3] reminiscent of the strings of nomina magica in the Sword of Moses.
It is significant that both these grimoires date to the first half of the fourteenth century, 1346 being the date of Summa Sacra Magice (SSM), which also contains the earliest currently known copy of the Sworn Book of Honorius (SBH). The Sworn Book of Honorius is undoubtedly earlier, as Berengar Ganellus was synthesising existing material in the SSM.
An earlier mention of the winds in Astromagia Book III: Liber Luna (VRL 1283a; c.1276-1279) shows reference to the winds being used with spirits, though in this case it is for a lunar talisman: ‘And inscribe on the image the name of the Angel and of the wind and his helpers that serve the Moon and her sign Cancer … These are the names of the winds that serve Cancer, Hebetel, Halmitab; and their assistants are Bylol, Milalu, Abuzoba.’ Though talismanic, it does show the winds as part of the tradition prior to the SSM.
Probably in the late fourteenth century (definitely post SBH), the Elucidation of Necromancy was written. This work still contains the winds, but in far less detail and without the conjuration, a theme repeated in the Heptameron (its later version). Whilst the use of the wind to bring the spirit is not specified, it is interesting to note that in the Heptameron the phrasing states ‘the wind which the angels of the air listed above are under’,[4] as if retaining memory of this association.
Also in the Elucidation of Necromancy we see this description with the first Semiphoras[1] of Adam: ‘Say these names when you wish to command the winds, and any kind of demons and spirits.’[2] The reference to commanding the winds reinforces the idea of the conjuror using the winds for transporting spirits, and also by its position next to ‘any kind of demons and spirits’, implies that the winds may be used to bring any type of spirit, not just angels.
In the fifteenth century there is reference to the winds in The Book of Wisdom of Apollonius of Tyana (earliest known manuscript is 1440), a work which may well be centuries older in origin. In this work only the names of the winds of the four main directions are given, though it is interesting to note that the names of the sun, moon and earth in the four seasons are also present, as in the Elucidation of Necromancy and Heptameron. Subsequent mentions of the winds in later grimoires are usually reproductions of material from the Heptameron.
Looking at other sources, considering the Arabic influence onto the grimoires, we see that the Quran (written 610-632 CE) mentions the winds in a relevant manner, saying: ‘And to Solomon We subjected the raging winds, blowing by his command to the land.’[3] Further reference also significantly directly indicates the speed with which the winds move, ‘And to Solomon We subjected the wind: its morning stride was a month’s journey and so was its evening stride …. We subjected some of the Jinn to work under him by his Lord’s Will’.[4] The fact that both references connect the winds to Solomon demonstrate the presence of this connection prior to the grimoires and its veracity as part of the Solomonic tradition of practice.
The conjuration of the Agathos Daimon in PGM XV.1-21 also has the interesting line ‘I conjure you daimons by your spiteful fates that hold you and by those carried by the wind’.[5] This also shows the concept of winds carrying spirits earlier in the works which fed into the grimoire tradition.
So why are the winds so important? Well if originally they were called to bring the spirit to the conjuror, we can assume that this would be faster than the spirit travelling by itself, as the wind would carry the airy body of the spirit much more rapidly. This then leads to the big question. If the winds (i.e. transport) of the spirits dropped out of the grimoires before the sixteenth century, is this why spirits usually take a long time to arrive,[6] because they are moving so much more slowly (like walking in comparison to driving)? If this is the case, the return of the winds to the conjuration process could have a huge impact in making the arrival of the spirit a much quicker process, and should be reinstated forthwith. I discussed this revelation with a few friends like Stephen Skinner and Alexander Eth, who all agreed my insight had merit and should be pursued.
To test this, I took the conjuration of the winds from Summa Sacra Magice and added it into my conjuration sequence (with a minor addition given to me by the Intelligence Johphiel after he was conjured with the wind conjuration). I also enlisted the help of several friends who I know to be competent and discerning magicians, who were willing to also try adding the wind conjuration into their practice and see if it made a difference. So far the results are very promising (four out of four different types of spirit all arrived by the end of their first conjuration), and I will be publishing full details of the conjuration, the results and its use in my forthcoming work Claves Spirituum (Hadean Press, 2025).
[3] Nearly all of the divine names are nomina magica, but the divine name Eloy is present in the sequence, reinforcing the assertion they are divine names.
[5] Semiphoras are strings of divine names found in some early grimoires attributed to Moses (seven), Adam (four), Joshua (one), David (one) and Moses and Abraham (one), spoken after the invocation of the angels to each of the cardinal directions.
[6] Peterson, 2021:131.
[7] Quran 21:81. I am indebted to Alexander Eth for informing me of these references.
[8] Quran 34:12.
[9] Betz 1986:251.
[10] It is interesting to note that the use of the winds does not occur in any of the grimoires which focus on the infernals (demons), and in some of these grimoires it specifically refers to the long time it takes for them to arrive.
