The Book of Abramelin

Documented history: The Book of Abramelin is presented within its own narrative frame as the teachings of an Egyptian mage named Abramelin given to Abraham of Worms (the supplied sources date the narrative recipient to c. 1362–c. 1458). The work is treated in modern occult studies and reference works as a grimoire or treatise of sacred magic. The text survives through manuscript witnesses and later printings and was substantially responsible for renewed interest during the 19th and 20th centuries after Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers produced an influential translation; later occult figures such as Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie engaged with or used the text via that translation in subsequent compilatory works and commentary. Early printed appropriations incorporating material attributed to Abramelin appear in compilations (for example, an 18th‑century printing, 1725 Cologne, includes parts of "Die heilige Magie des Abramelin"). Institutional manuscript holdings are indicated in secondary sources, though the supplied excerpts do not fully identify the specific library shelf details. Legend and later reception (separated): The narrative frame itself is pseudonymous/legendary: the text presents its material as an account by Abraham of Worms but modern commentary treats the characters Abramelin and Abraham as legendary within the work's framing rather than verifiable historical authors. In later occult tradition the work is especially associated with a months‑long operation to attain the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel and with a ritual anointing oil (Abramelin oil) adapted from the medieval material; these elements are emphasized in modern occult interpretations and practice. The supplied sources summarize these emphases and trace the oil recipe's adaptation into modern ceremonial magickal practice. Limits and uncertainties: The supplied research notes do not specify the text's original language, full manuscript catalogue data, nor do they provide the complete ritual texts. Explicit traditional warnings, curses, or specific supernatural penalties for owning or reading the book are not documented in the provided excerpts. Where later practitioners or commentators describe the central operation as arduous or intense, those evaluative claims lie in later interpretation rather than in the excerpted source material and are therefore noted as reception history rather than as independently verified effects.