05/07/2010
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
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The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses NOTE: An expanded printed edition of this text is now available:
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses... Joseph Peterson Best Price $30.00 or Buy New $34.65
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Thanks for your support. This digital edition copyright © 2005-2006 by Joseph H. Peterson. "He who refuses a copy of this book, or who suppresses it or steals it, will be seized with eternal trembling, like Cain, and the angels of God will depart from him." If you are interested in discussing this text, I have set up a forum on Yahoo Groups. Subscribe to sixth_and_seventh_books_of_moses enter email address
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Besides the biblical five books of Moses (Pentateuch), there are other writings ascribed to Moses (pseudepigraphically no doubt). The so-called Sixth and Seventh books of Moses in particular consists of a collection of texts which purport to explain the magic whereby Moses won the biblical magic contest with the Egyptian priest-magicians, parted the Red Sea, and other miraculous feats. Many manuscripts and printed pamphlet versions had circulated in Germany, when Johann Scheible, undertook to collect the major variants. Scheible, an antiquarian from Stuttgart, published the first edition in German in 1849 as volume 6 of his Bibliothek der Zauber-Geheimniss- und Offenbarungs-Bücher, etc. Subsequent revised and expanded editions were supplemented with excerpts from writings on Jewish folklore and esoterica. An English translation first appeared in New York in 1880, and has been reprinted more than a few times without — as far as I can tell — ever being re-edited. The editors of the many English editions seem to have lacked Scheible’s industriousness, but have instead been content with propogating any and all errors intact. All the English editions thus far have consequently been deficient in many ways, with poorly executed drawings and Hebrew lettering, drawings printed upside down, mistakes in transcription and translation, passages censured and other substantial omissions. All in all, English speaking readers have had an especially difficult challenge trying to make sense of this book. In making this corrected edition I have drawn on the original sources, starting with Scheible’s own revised and expanded eighth edition. Additionally I have consulted the original sources drawn on by Scheible and his sources, namely the Hebrew Bible, Agrippa’ De Occulta Philosophia (1533), Sepher Raziel, de Abano's Heptameron, Arbatel Of Magick (1575), the Babylonian Talmud, and other cited authors. This book has become quite influential in American folk-magic, and has been extensively used by the Pennsylvania Dutch hexmeisters, Hoodoo practitioners, and African-American root workers. I hope that esotericarchives.com/…/67moses.htm
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