FOREWORD OF THE PUBLISHER

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Dear Reader!

Herewith, we present by popular demand the long-awaited complete edition of the Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum, with the wish that it may be of great use and edification for you! We assure you that the deceased author of this book offers you much that is good and true, both regarding the natural world, as well as things spiritual and divine. Naturally, we do not expect you to think highly of this book without having first read it. Rather, we refer the reader to the words of Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Thessalonians 5, verse 21: “Put all things to the test and keep what is good in them.” And just as wheat grows from the earth together with its chaff, so too, the kernels of truth in this book will certainly be accompanied by some prickly passages. However, the knowledgeable reader will know how to deal with them, while making good use of the harvest. And so we present this book to the reader for his scrutiny and judgment, without presuming what his judgment might be.

With regard to the appendices, we have translated various Latin manuscripts which a good friend made known to us, and printed them with the main text of this book, in the hope that they can be helpful to some. We did not add them in order to fan the flames of gold-fever, which seems to rage everywhere. Not at all! Rather, we wish that all men would seek—and find—God instead of gold. Because we know all too well that every man pursues some desire that he holds dear, we consider it appropriate to humbly pursue this noble art which we know God communicates to those who are faithful to him and who follow his righteous path to this wisdom. But we do not pretend that the works presented here are greater than they really are. We merely present them for the scrutiny and judgment of the reader. And with this we commend the dear reader to God's mercy and grace.

Homburg, the 7th of January 1735