The Magical Psalter

The Magical Psalter is a reference compilation by Joseph Peterson that gathers the psalms most often prescribed in Western ritual magic and presents each one in the King James Version beside the Latin Vulgate. The Psalms have been used for protective, healing and ritual purposes by Jews and Christians for many centuries, and the grimoires inherited this practice from the liturgy: the Key of Solomon prescribes particular psalms for constructing the circle, consecrating pentacles, putting on vestments, bathing and blessing water and wax, while the Book of Abramelin recommends reciting the whole psalter regularly and gives special place to the seven Penitential Psalms, which John Dee also used in his angelic sessions. The Hebrew Sefer Shimmush Tehillim assigns a magical purpose and a hidden divine name to almost every psalm. Peterson selected his psalms chiefly by their use in the Key of Solomon, excluding verses inscribed on the pentacles, and annotated them with cross-references to the relevant chapters of the Key, to Mathers and to the Folger manuscripts. A practical feature is the concordance of numbering: the Vulgate, which follows the Greek Septuagint, numbers most psalms one lower than the Hebrew-based KJV, a frequent source of confusion when grimoires cite psalms by number. The compilation is incomplete, breaking off in Psalm 69, and Peterson marks rubrics that are not normally recited. It is a useful tool for reading Solomonic texts alongside their scriptural sources.

What it contains

• Psalms used in the Key of Solomon
• King James and Vulgate texts in parallel
• Concordance of Hebrew and Vulgate numbering
• Notes on ritual uses in the grimoires
• Remarks on the seven Penitential Psalms
• Cross-references to Abramelin, Dee and the Folger manuscripts