kaos

could imply that other occult manuscripts, purely occult manuscripts—such as those
that ended up as the Lemegeton—are potentially similarly enciphered but it is not
generally realised.
JOEL
Mmm… I’m not a specialist, but I’m not sure it is possible that Trithemius could be
commenting on the books of the Lemegeton, doesn’t Trithemius predate it?
Joseph Peterson, in his online edition (http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/
lemegeton.htm), writes that the Lemegeton is a 17 th century book (although based on
earlier texts). And the introduction mentions “the fraternity of Rosicrucians” making
this text posterior to 1600, at least.
When I read Peterson’s introduction, I was under the impression that, in fact, both
Trithemius and Johann Wier were two important sources for the Lemegeton (Trithemius
inspiring Theurgia Goetia and Ars Paulina, Wier being a source for the Goetia).
REM
I don’t think Peterson necessarily implies Trithemius inspired Theurgia Goetia and Ars
Paulina, he simply points out similarities. Johann Wier’s (aka Wierus) Pseudomonarchia
dæmonum, part of his 1563 De Præstigiis Dæmonum, corresponds closely to Goetia, the
first part of the Lemegeton. Wier doesn’t have any demonic seals, and the demons are
evoked by a simple conjuration, not the elaborate ritual found in the Lemegeton. Wier
could have based his work on a manuscript Goetia, rather than vice versa.
Reginald Scot in his Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, mentions Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel,
and Ars Notoria, the third, fourth, and fifth parts of the Lemegeton, respectively. Trithemius
himself mentioned the Ars Almadel.
Theurgia Goetia, the second part of the Lemegeton, has similar spirits and sigils to
Steganographia Book I. The question is which came first. Trithemius’s conjurations are
actually his examples of hidden writing (ie, steganography), and do not correspond
with the conjurations found in Theurgia Goetia, and although only a few of the demonic
seals appear in Steganographia, these correspond exactly. This would seem to suggest
that Steganographia Book I was based on Theurgia Goetia, not the other way around.
Steganographia was written in 1500, but was not published until 1606. It was, however,
widely circulated in manuscript form. John Dee (1527–1608), for instance, had the
Steganographia and mentioned commissioning another manuscript copy of it in a letter
dated February 16, 1563. Dee described it as: “a boke for which many a lerned man
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