Magister Officiorum Review

Every now and then you hear someone bring up the fact that The Ars Goetia and other grimoires all receive some “off-book” treatment in Africa and the Carribbean. Maybe someone loosely mentions something about Obeah, or Makaya, or Espiritismo and these books, then uses the fact that these practitioners don’t follow the texts to the letter as justification for whatever spin that they have on the work. Most often the approach that they are trying to justify is nothing but laziness masked as innovation. What you almost never see is anyone spelling out exactly what some of the Obeah or Trinidad Khabbalah approaches to the grimoires actually are. This text clearly shows that there is nothing lazy or “light” about the approach to the spirits taken by these Caribbean Mages.

Julio has spent years cultivating not only an understanding of the Solomonic texts and how to perform them step by step, but has also cultivated connections to practitioners of traditions in Brazil, Haiti, and elsewhere that work these spirits beyond the books. Then he put his frequent flyer miles where his mouth is and went and visited people and got trained in person.  In Magister Officiorum. Julio gives us not just a few tantalizing hints, but several rituals laid out for anyone willing to put forth the effort and time.

Books do not have to be long to be valuable, and this book comes in at only 80 pages. Those 80 pages present the pith of the work, and you will gain more from understanding and practicing these 80 pages than most books thrice its size. How he manages to pack in not only crystal clear instructions on how to perform the rites, but moving descriptions of the spirits and their personalities is itself a magical feat.

Go grab a copy if you have not already.