The Lesser Key of Solomon

Documented history: The Lesser Key of Solomon, often titled Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis or simply the Lemegeton, is an anonymously compiled grimoire on sorcery, mysticism, and magic. According to the supplied sources, it was compiled in the mid‑17th century from materials several centuries older. The compilation is associated with the Solomonic tradition of magical texts and functions as a handbook of named spirits and instructions for interacting with them; extant descriptions in archives identify enumerated spirits (for example, Belial is listed as the sixty‑eighth spirit) with assigned ranks, legions under their command, and described powers. Contents and claims: The provided material indicates the Lemegeton contains entries for individual spirits giving names (with variant renderings), rank or title (e.g., King, President), numbers of legions under command, claimed abilities or domains (for example, Belial is said to distribute senatorships and give excellent familiars), and ritual or transactional requirements (see below). The supplied extracts do not provide a complete table of contents or a full description of the internal structure, though the work is typically understood as a compilation of several books/sections in the Solomonic corpus (examples in modern scholarship call portions the Goetia, among others); the supplied sources do not enumerate those sections or give manuscript witness details. Legends and later claims: The supplied sources do not record folkloric curses or automatic supernatural harms attached to mere possession of the book. Archival entries for particular spirits (for instance Belial) include procedural warnings — e.g., that Belial "must be presented with offerings, sacrifices and gifts, or else he will not give true answers to demands" — which appear as ritual requirements in individual spirit entries rather than as a general curse on readers or owners in the provided material. Broader reception, popular adaptations, or literary influence are not detailed in the supplied sources and thus lie outside the documented scope here.