Tag: heptameron

Following in a Cunning-Man’s Footsteps – Arthur Gauntlet Radio Interview & Article

by starsorceror, posted in Grimoire

In anticipation of my radio interview with Karagan Griffith on Witchtalk this sunday 11th March, I thought I would post an abbreviated version of a recent article in my blog to provide some background material on my work for the book The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet and its contents.

 

Over the last ten or eleven years I have looked at dozens of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance in my research into the grimoires.  The results of this have been published in numerous books making these source texts available to the wider public (e.g. The Book of Gold, The Book of Treasure Spirits, A Collection of Magical Secrets, The Veritable Key of Solomon and The Goetia of Dr Rudd).  Amongst all these manuscripts, one occasionally jumped out and grabbed my attention as being particularly significant.  A particularly noteworthy example of this is the manuscript of a 17th century London Cunning-man’s book of practice, which I have edited and discussed in my new book The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet.

This text exemplifies the cunning art, drawing together material from numerous earlier sources into an eclectic mix which includes conjurations of angels, demons, fairies and the dead, as well as a diverse range of charms.  The charms include earlier medical charms written by famous surgeons from the fourteenth and fifteenth century, herbal remedies, wax images, and charms using the Psalms, many of which are also seen in The Book of Gold.  There is a significant emphasis on the wand as the primary tool of the cunning-man in this work, including a wand consecration and several conjurations and charms.

The Book of the 7 Images of the Days, which forms part of The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, has an interesting use of the wand as part of a love charm, where the names of the man and woman are written in the heart of the image used, with the instruction to “hang the Image before the Stars And smite it with a twig or wand of Olive Tree And Conjure the Image”.[1]  The use of an olive twig or wand is interesting, as it is not a native British plant and would have required some effort to gain.  However Gauntlet includes material from numerous sources, including the Arbatel, the Heptameron, the Key of Solomon, the Book of Gold, Folger Vb.26, Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, and the writings of Cornelius Agrippa, William Bacon and John Dee, as well as much material which seems to be unique, so this is not surprising.

As we know, cunning-folk, both men and women, provided a wide range of magical services to anyone who paid them.  Such services included a wide range of possibilities including healing people and farm animals, recovering lost or stolen goods, protection from witches, curses and evil spirits; gaining love, luck when gambling, and locating hidden treasure.

The incredible spectrum of material in this work, drawing on whatever worked from incense recipes to magic circles, amulets to complex conjurations, demonstrates the pragmatic and eclectic work of the cunning-man and woman, who may perhaps be regarded as the true forefathers and mothers of the modern western esoteric revival.

 

[1] The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, Rankine, 2011:282.

Who was Arthur Gauntlet?

by starsorceror, posted in Grimoire

The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet is a fascinating example of a Cunning-man’s book of practice, but who was Arthur Gauntlet? The only known published literary reference to Arthur Gauntlet was by the famous astrologer William Lilly (1602-1681) in his autobiography, written around 1668.[1] The quote from Lilly provides some significant peripheral information which can help us create at least a sketchy picture of Arthur Gauntlet.

“I was very familiar with one Sarah Skelhorn, who had been Speculatrix unto one Arthur Gauntlet about Gray’s Inn Lane,[2] a very lewd fellow, professing physick. This Sarah had a perfect sight, and indeed the best eyes for that purpose I ever yet did see. Gauntlet’s books, after he was dead, were sold, after I had perused them, to my scholar Humphreys: there were rare notions in them. This Sarah lived a long time, even until her death, with one Mrs. Stockman in the Isle of Purbeck, and died about fifteen years since.”[3]

It seems curious that Lilly should describe Sarah Skelhorn (called Sarah Shelborne in the introduction) so positively as such a good seer, and yet be negative about Arthur Gauntlet.  Lilly’s single reference to him as a ‘lewd fellow’ stands out and labels Gauntlet without allowing any opportunity for defence of his character or further consideration. However it is clear from Lilly’s writings that he was quick to denigrate anybody who he felt was not a respectable practitioner of astrology or the magical arts by his standards. I suggest that the fact that Arthur Gauntlet should have such a good speculatrix or seer combined with the heavily angelic and moral nature of Gauntlet’s manuscript may mitigate Lilly’s unqualified negative remark about his character.

We can deduce something more about Arthur Gauntlet through another mention of his name, in MS Laud Misc 19.  This manuscript contains an early ownership inscription of Arthur Gauntlet, and was in William Laud’s possession in 1636.  This manuscript includes a “Treatise, based on and including extracts from Hilton‘s Scale, describing the way of meditation and the mystical experience”.[4]

Considering the nature of Walter Hilton’s Scale of Perfection offers some revealing insights.  Hilton (c.1343-1396) discusses such topics as the form of spiritual visions and how to induce contemplation through meditation, prayer and Scripture.  The Scale of Perfection was written as an instructional guide for women who had taken vows or committed to a religious life, and as such may have been of interest to, for example, a female skryer such as Sarah Skelhorn.

If we make the tentative assumption that MS Laud Misc 19 passed directly from Arthur Gauntlet’s hands, being sold on after his death, and that it went directly into William Laud’s possession from Gauntlet, then it suggests a date of death around 1636.  That a book containing spiritual material belonging to Arthur Gauntlet should end up in the hands of William Laud (1573-1645) is very interesting.  William Laud was the Bishop of London from 1628-33, and it may be possible that he and Arthur Gauntlet met or even knew each other.  This would provide a possible explanation for why Laud should end up with one of Gauntlet’s books, particularly considering the religious nature of its contents.

There are some clues in the text which suggest that Arthur Gauntlet was a very capable practitioner, who did not just rely on material from earlier sources, or had access to someone else who was.  The magic circles found in this work have some very interesting features which are not seen in other grimoires, and which would seem to be the result of experience being applied.  Thus we see the circles having a larger and more spacious diameter of fourteen foot, not the standard nine foot found in many grimoires drawing on the Heptameron.

It is also significant that in light of his conjurations being largely of angels; Gauntlet uses a second smaller circle for the crystal to be positioned in, and for angelic manifestation.  The shape of this is in contrast to the constraining triangle used with demons found in the Goetia, or the pentagram used with faeries found in Sloane MS 3824.  However a circle would make sense for angels as a perfect shape representing the divine and not seeking to dominate them as one would need to do for demons.

Another interesting feature of this manuscript is that the one magical tool emphasised is the wand.  There is a consecration of a wand given, as well as charms which require the use of a wand.  Considering the emphasis on the sword in many grimoires, this suggests a more practical and simplified approach with a more transportable and inconspicuous tool.

[1] “Wrote by himself in the 66th year of his Age”, The Life of William Lilly, Davies:1774:1.
[2] This street is now called Gray’s Inn Road.
[3] The Life of William Lilly, Davies, 1774:149.
[4] The Index of Middle English Prose Handlist XVI, Ogilvie-Thomson, 2000:1.

The book is available from Amazon, B&N, occult stores and directly from ourselves (with free p&p) http://avaloniabooks.co.uk/221/new/the-grimoire-of-arthur-gauntlet-by-david-rankine/

The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet: Now Available

by starsorceror, posted in Grimoire

I am delighted to announce that The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet is now available for pre-order from Avalonia. This London Cunning-man’s book of practice has been one of the most rewarding and revealing books I have worked on, and presents a new range of insights into 17th British century magic.

The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet is an outstanding example of a seventeenth century London Cunning-man’s book of practice. Cunning-folk were practitioners of magic and herbal medicine who dealt with problems in their local communities. Cunning-man Arthur Gauntlet was based in Gray’s Inn Lane in London, and his personal working book contains a fascinating diverse mixture of herbal remedies, prayers, magical and biblical charms, with previously unseen angelic conjurations and magic circles, in an eclectic blend of practical magic for health, wealth, love and protection.

This unique manuscript demonstrates both the diverse and spiritual nature of such Cunning-folk’s books of practice, as well as their magical emphasis on Biblical scripture, particularly the Psalms, and their opposition to witchcraft, found in charms and conjurations. Arthur Gauntlet worked with a female skryer called Sarah Skelhorn, and drew on numerous preceding sources for his craft, including the Arbatel, the Heptameron, Folger Vb.26, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, the Book of Gold, the writings of the German magus Cornelius Agrippa, the astrologer William Bacon and Queen Elizabeth I’s court astrologer Dr. John Dee, as well as other London Cunning-folk.

In his introduction, the author provides fresh insights into the hidden world of seventeenth century magical London, exploring the web of connections between astrologers, cunning-folk and magicians, playwrights, authors and church figures. These connections are also highlighted by the provenance of the manuscript, which is traced from Arthur Gauntlet through the hands of such notable angel magicians as Elias Ashmole (founder of the world’s first public museum, the Ashmolean in Oxford), Baron Somers (the Lord Chancellor), Sir Joseph Jekyll (Master of the Rolls) and Sir Hans Sloane (founder of the British Museum), as well as the astrologer John Humphreys and the cunning-woman Ann Savadge.

This is a unique work which draws attention to the often neglected place of women in seventeenth century magic, both as practitioners (such as skryers and Cunning-women), and customers. It also emphasises the vital and influential role played by Cunning-Men and Women in synthesising and transmitting the magical traditions of medieval Britain into the subsequent centuries, as well as their willingness to conjure a wide range of spiritual creatures to achieve results for their clients, including angels, demons, fairies, and the dead.