Book Review #1 The Book of Seals & Amulets by Jacobus Swart
One aim of my blog that I have yet to devote any posts is to review pertinent books in this field of study that I think the readership will find worthwhile and interesting. Moreover, not all publications regarding Kabbalah and Jewish magic are, at least from the Jewish tradition, accurate which is another reason I felt it would be important to review selected books on the topic.
For this first post, I am pleased to review The Book of Seals and Amulets by Jacobus Swart! First, let me introduce our author: Mr. Swart of South Africa has an extensive background on Kabbalah and esoteric studies in general, and had studied with the English ceremonial magician William Gray. In addition to publishing many of the writing of his teacher William Gray, Jacob Swart is a prolific author in his own right and I hope to review some of his other books in the future. Over the last few years, Jacob Swart and I have been in communication and I can attest to his true friendly demeanor and desire to really get things accurate.
Now, let's get to this book. The Book of Seals & Amulets is a large 472 pages neatly organized into seven chapters. The 1st chapter deals with many of the sacred names used in the amulets. In my opinion this is an excellent way to begin this book because without at least a basic understanding of the significance and origin of the Names the power of the amulet would be severely stunted (if it would even work at all). Names covered in this chapter are: Adonai, Ehyeh, YHVH, Shadai, Agla, Taftafyah, Matzpatz, Tzamarcad amongst others.
The 2nd chapter deals with magic squares consisting of word and number squares. In addition to how magic squares are formed, the author gives many examples of such squares and their uses. Material from Cornelius Agrippa is likewise included and discussed as well as a discussion of the magic word squares from the Book of Abramelin which I think really rounds out the study.
3rd chapter is devoted to the magical usage of Psalms. After that, the 4th chapter discuses the magical angelic alphabets of which I am so very fond of. Many examples are taken from Rabbi Moshe Zacuto's Sefer Shorashei HaShemot. Also, a summary or paraphrase of sorts of a medieval commentary on the shapes of Metatron's alphabet is translated into English. (This medieval commentary is printed in full in the original Hebrew in Temirin vol. 2, 1981. You can download this hard to find book here).
The 5th chapter discusses angels and their inclusion in amulets as well as demons and amulets for protection against them. Amulets for healing, health, wealth and success are discussed in the 6th chapter. The final chapter describes amulets that were written in particular patterns, such as a menorah or Star of David design. The book concludes with the method of disposing of amulets after use.
I very much enjoyed this fantastic book and recommend it. As someone who is familiar with the original source material I recognize the accuracy and authenticity throughout. Also, I really like that text material is usually presented in the following manner: 1) Original Hebrew 2) transliteration into English and 3) in English translation. I think this really makes the texts suitable for a larger audience and allows those who can't read Hebrew to pronounce it Hebrew if they chose to. Footnotes throughout the book reference back to source material. Not a big deal, but personally I would have liked the references to include not just the books used but the page number(s) as well to make it easier to look up. Lots of nicely rendered illustrations of various amulets, magic squares, sigils etc. are to to be found throughout the book.
I found some small typos which I had previously pointed out to the author who told me he plans on fixing in future printings. I'll point them out here so readers can amend their copies:
On pp. 54-55 The author speculates what the term יער נער "forest youth" is referring to. In truth, this term refers specifically to the angel Sandalfon and should be corrected as such.
On p. 99 שמרו והצילו וחלצו את ברכה בנת שרה is translated as “guard and save and deliver the sanctity of the daughter of Sarah” etc. In truth, בנת is the Aramaic singular and not plural and that ברכה בנת שרה is actually the personal name of this particular amulet and should be translated thus: as “guard and save and deliver Bracha the daughter of Sarah”. It should be noted that the recipients own name is to be substituted.
