The Master Key: A Victorian Grimoire

This deluxe hardcover grimoire features one of the most beautifully drawn sets of the seven planetary spirit, sigil, angel, and intelligence seals and their meanings.

These seals are carefully drawn from the planetary squares rendered both in Hebrew and numerically. Edited and annotated by Dr. Stephen Skinner and Daniel Clark, this impressive book reveals how the seals and characters fit exactly over the cells of the Planetary Table of Hebrew letters. W. H. Ibbett provides examples of specific spirits, such as Barzabel, and he shares more detailed astrological information within a magical context.

The Master Key presents drawings and interpretations of the fifteen Behensian fixed stars, including the talisman for the Head of Algol. Other talismans are also featured and explained, such as Characters of the Nine Chambers and a selection of talismans owned by famous men.

Although little is known about author W. H. Ibbett, the amount of usable magical information in his grimoire is truly astonishing. Written in 1854, this text is a complete course in magic, a master grimoire that stands head and shoulders above others.

W. H. Ibbett was a member of the Society of the Mercurii, an occult fraternity that operated in London in the early 19th century. Its membership list included such names as Edward Bulwer Lytton (author of Zanoni), Emma Hardinge Britten (well-known occult author), Richard James Morrison (author of Zadkiel), Robert Cross Smith (author of Raphael), and others. Ibbett wrote A Victorian Grimoire, his magnum opus, in 1854.

Stephen Skinner began his career as a Geography lecturer and magazine publisher, but his long term interests have always been Western magic and feng shui.

During the 1970s he was the driving force behind Askin Publishers, producing a number of classic magical works by Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, and others. During the 1970s he co-wrote many books with Francis King, including the still popular Techniques of High Magic. Also with Francis King he wrote Nostradamus. His interest in prophecy stimulated by this book, he went on to write the best selling Millennium Prophecies.

Stephen is credited with bringing the art of Feng Shui to the West, and in 1976 he wrote the Living Earth Manual of Feng Shui, which was the first English book on feng shui in the 20th century.

Stephen has written more than 35 books, which have been published worldwide in 28 different languages. These books have had introductions by such diverse people as Colin Wilson, HRH Charles Prince of Wales, and Jimmy Choo, shoe designer to the stars.

Stephen lives in Singapore. Stephen is the first Westerner to be awarded the title of Grand Master of Feng Shui by the International Feng Shui Association. Learn more at www.sskinner.com.

Daniel Clark was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He developed a serious interest in magic from a very early age with a particular focus on the grimoires. His interests range from Solomonic and Faustian traditions and demonology, to the more obscure esoteric areas of Japanese Onmyodo and Yokai mythology. Over the past few years Daniel has been striving to help important and often forgotten manuscripts of magic get digitized, and has tracked down and located many variant grimoires residing in universities and libraries around the world, many of which are still waiting to be re-discovered.