Oil of Abramelin

(Revision as of 03:37, 23 Oct 2005)

This article is a stub. You can help Thelemapedia by expanding it (http://thelemapedia.org/index.php?title=Oil_of_Abramelin&action=edit).

Oil of Abramelin

The Oil of Abramelin is a Holy Oil used to consecrate the magician and any magical weapons he or she will be utilizing while in the Temple. It is also used in Thelema for the construction of the Eucharist, the Cake of Light.

History of the Oil of Abramelin

The manuscript that served as the basis for The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage was believed to have been written in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century e.v. It is generally accepted on faith as being a French translation of the original work written in 1458 e.v. The recipe for the Holy Oil given therein is derived from a much older recipe mentioned in the Jewish Holy Book of Exodus (vv. XXX:22-25).

These verses contain a recipe that is given to Moses directly from Jehovah and was to be used in annointing the Holy Tabernacle, Ark of the Covenant and all other ritual implements. The recipe given in the Old Testament is very similar to that of the Abramelin text with subtle differences in the herbs used.

Crowley, who believed in the supreme importance of the Abramelin Operation to the magician, changed the recipe further to include only essential oils. He also believed the oil to be the Holy Oil of the Aeon of Horus. The Oil of Abramelin is also the only oil to be mentioned in the Book of the Law.

Since the technology to distill essential oils from plants wasn't generally available until around 1500 in Europe it is questionable whether Abraham of Wurzburg, the supposed author of the original Abramelin text, had access to such knowledge in 1458. However, by that time the Arabs had already developed the art of distillation and it is not inconceivable that the mage, Abramelin, had access to this information and may have passed it to Abraham.

Recipes from Various Sources

Recipe for Oil of Abramelin from The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage - by S.L. Mathers

You shall prepare the Sacred Oil in this manner: Take of myrrh in tears, one part; of fine cinnamon, two parts; of galangal half a part; and the half of the total weight of these drugs of the best oil olive. The which aromatics you shall mix together according unto the Art of the Apothecary, and shall make thereof a Balsam, the which you shall keep in a glass vial which you shall put within the cupboard (formed by the interior) of the Altar.

- From the Eleventh Chapter: Concerning the Selection of the Place

Recipe from the Book of Exodus, vv. XXX:

Exd 30:22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Exd 30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so much, [even] two hundred and fifty [shekels], and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty [shekels],

Exd 30:24 And of cassia five hundred [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:

Exd 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

Recipe from Crowley's Liber ABA: Book 4 (1994), footnote number 233, page 715:

8 parts cinnamon oil

2 parts galangal

7 parts olive oil

4 parts myrrh

Retrieved from "http://thelemapedia.org/index.php/Oil_of_Abramelin"