A rare piece of Occultist ephemera, printed in an edition of 777 copies to commemorate Magic for the coming year of 1896. Each double page spread mimics the Christian Calendar in some respect (name days, iconography). The document is at once a spoof and an attempt to chart the year of Magic. Its surviving interest resides in the extravagant and compelling illustrations, especially the full-page right hand plates.
Plate 1 - Book Cover
Plate 2 - Chart or various good end evil Spirits; chart of Planetary influences upon hours of the days of the week; lions; owl; snake; bird food / chart of the good and bad Spirits/influences that can be Magically used on the different days of the week
Plate 3a - Naked hag with book open in lap, sitting on stool, within circle set with candles; gold flames; pentagram, star of David
Plate 3b - Owl carrying keys; bat carrying seal
Plate 4a - January: Diagram of Solar System; listing of dates for days of the week; chant / naked women at Sabbat; Satan as winged anthropomorphous goat
Plate 4b - February: Sun with cloud interior indicating cardinal directions; charts; spells / bearded man holding up open book; Death gazing down; naked woman in foreground
Plate 5a - March: Chart of days of week; Pentagram with broken circle; le maudit blaspheme / dark angel, naked; moon and skyline
Plate 5b - April: Star of David; medieval frieze: procession of priests and nobility; tarot card The World / skeleton of king in coffin; single candle; crowns, sword, staffs, orb
Plate 6a - May: Tree; chalises; frog; bird; love potion / exhibitionist bat-winged woman; necromancer gazing, gesturing into glowing cauldron, with familiar strutting on his head
Plate 6b - June: Poem; frog / naked woman in arms of dark man; feminine Demons coming from smoke of extinguished candle; creatures of the night
Plate 7a - July: Laboratory instruments; poem / Alchimist lying on floor of his laboratory, black cat at his feet
Plate 7b - August: Chalice on table with legs, ears / woman lying prone on table with chalice on back; men in dark robes around her; Satan as goat
Plate 8a - September: Charts; poem / Demon rolling past moon; procession of dark-robed people into cemetary; Abracadabra
Plate 8b - October: Charts, bound Demon / entranced naked woman crouched down looking upon embers of crosses burning within a circle, a Demon is just visible in the smoke
Plate 9a - November: Calendar chart; spell / naked old man sitting, creating voodoo doll; bird-like Demon silhouetted by Moon; hand gripping sword; row of dolls; heart pierced by nails, knife
Plate 9b - December: Poem ‘le Héraut’; calendar chart; Star diagram with Suns at points, labeled: l’être est, réalité, justice, raison, vérité / man in ecclesiastical garb, bearing flag with crosses, holds forth an opened message with broken seal; figures tied to stakes and village rooftops in background
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