book – סלומה

The Rawlinson necromantic manuscript, 15th century

This collection of texts on magic and fortune-telling – popularly known as the Rawlinson necromantic manuscript
– is written in Latin and Middle English. It contains spells,
conjurations, invocations and ‘experimenta’ (true experiences) of
angels.

The two devices shown above are sigils, and pentagrams such as the
one on the left have long been accredited with esoteric powers. The
ancient Greeks saw in them a demonstration of mathematical perfection,
while medieval Christians saw in them an image of the five wounds of
Christ, while many now see it as an occult sign used by practitioners of
magic to invoke both heavenly and diabolic spirits.

Hans Bellmer, from L’anatomie de l’image (Anatomy of the Image).

Adventures come to the adventurous, and mysterious things fall in the way of those who, with wonder and imagination, are on the watch for them; but the majority of people go past the doors that are half ajar, thinking them closed, and fail to notice the faint stirrings of the great curtain that hangs ever in the form of appearances between them and the world of causes behind.

Algernon Blackwood