Observations placeholder
Waterhouse, John William - The favourites of Emperor Honorius
Identifier
008106
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The title includes the word Emperor for a reason. And the Emperor is not the Roman Emperor of the same name.
Honorius of Thebes is said to be the author of The Sworn Book of Honorius, he is also said to be the creator of the Theban alphabet, in Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's De Occulta Philosophia (1531) and Johannes Trithemius's Polygraphia (1518).
The Sworn Book of Honorius, or Liber Juratus is “supposedly the product of a conference of magicians who decided to condense all their knowledge into one volume. In 93 chapters, it covers a large variety of topics, from how to save your soul from purgatory to the catching of thieves or finding of treasures. It has many instructions on how to conjure and command demons, to work other magical operations, and knowledge of what lies in Heaven among other highly sought information. Like many grimoires, it has lengthy dissertations for proper operation and seals to be used. The book can be classified as a "Solomonic Grimoire" due to its heavy use of angelic powers and seals like those found in The Greater Key of Solomon”
So it is in part a book of spells and in part a book of spiritual wisdom.
“The oldest preserved manuscript dates to the 14th century, Sloane MS 3854 (fol 117-144). Sloane MS 313, dating to the late 14th or early 15th century, was once in the possession of John Dee. The book is one of the oldest existing medieval grimoires as well as one of the most influential.”