Podcast episode
October 5, 2022
Episode 151: The Testament of Solomon and the Solomonic Tradition, Part II
[Thanks to the Qatar Digital Library for the use of the glorious image above]
Having prepared the ground in the previous episode, we dive into the fascinating text the Testament of Solomon, exploring it cosmology, demonology, angelology, and echoes across numerous, intersecting strands of tradition. We meet a lot of demons, and even a ghost (the ghost of a dead giant!). The Queen of Sheba is now a sorceress. Solomon sacrifices locusts to heathen gods. The seven planets and thirty-six decans make appearances. We learn how demons are able to foretell the future.
And much, much more! Fun for the whole family.
Works Cited in this Episode:
Primary
- Testament of Solomon: Basic tripartite cosmology: 18.3. But multiple heavens: 14.8; 20.11-17. Beelzeboul is the prince of all the demons: 6:2; 3:6. Abezethibou is his lieutenant: 6.3; 25.
- Corpus Hermeticum 13 on the twelve astral vices (‘tormentors’) driven out by the ten noetic powers: CH XIII 11 and ff. See episode 106.
- Demons know the future by eavesdropping on the angels: Talmud Hagiga 16a; Qur’ān e.g. 37:6-9.
- Protective East Roman bronze depicting Solomon: James Russell. The Archaeological Context of Magic in the Early Byzantine Period. In Henry Maguire, editor, Byzantine Magic, pages 35–50. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC, 1995, p. 41, fig. 6.
Secondary
- Dennis C. Duling. The Testament of Solomon. In James H. Charlesworth, editor, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume One: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, pages 935–87. Hendrickson, Peabody, MA, 2021; we quote p. 952.
- Chester Charlton McCown. The Testament of Solomon. J. C. Hinrichs, Leipzig, 1922. We quote p. 43 and cite p. 48 on the voces magicæ.
Recommended Reading:
See previous episode. On the Decans, Gundel remains a monument of scholarship: Hans G. Gundel. Dekane und Dekansternbilder. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Sternbilder der Kulturvölker. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Glückstadt, 1936.
Themes
Angelology, Astrology, Decans, Demonology, Enochic Tradition, Esoteric Christianity, Exorcism, Faust, Magic, Medicine, Solomon, Solomonic Tradition, Temple of Solomon, Testament of Solomon, Witches
Alexander Nader
October 6, 2022
Great lecture, thank you!
Just a comment: Gundel’s book about decans and astrology can also be found free and online:
https://archive.org/details/DekaneUndDekansternbilderEinBeitragZurGeschichteDerSternbilderDerKulturvlker
Earl Fontainelle
October 6, 2022
Thanks!
Steve Dempsey
January 9, 2023
The way Solomon gets the demons to build the temple seems to me to be the same kind of logic that backs up Ancient Astronaut, I hesitate to call it theory, nonsense.
There’s no way those olden times folks could have built all this amazing stuff, so they must have had extra-Middle Earth help. And then there are different kinds of outer beings, some helpful some not, Greys, Nordics, etc.
Earl Fontainelle
January 9, 2023
Or with places like Great Zimbabwe, which could have obviously not been built by African savages, they invented ‘Ancient Aryans’ vel sim. I see where you are going; maybe it is the same logic. Though I wonder: did people in the early centuries CE really think Solomon’s temple would have been particularly tough to build? There were plenty of much more imposing structures around by that time; a Roman bridge was more technically impressive than a big stone rectangle. Maybe it’s more a prestige thing than a ‘how can we explain this’ thing. Or a bit of both.