Lucifer: Princeps

Fine edition

– sold out

Limited to 40 copies

Handbound in full emerald morocco, Dawn Breaker solar rays on front and back, with Morningstar on spine, all edges gilt, custom serpentine marbled endpapers by Daniela Prina; finished with a green ribbon and presented in a clamshell box emblazoned with an ancient serpent.

Standard hardback edition

– £55

Limited to 800 copies

Bound in verdant green silk, cropped dust jacket, emblazoned with a gold serpent, embossed black endpapers.

Paperback

– £22

Unlimited

Sewn paperback, printed on 120 gsm paper.

Contents

A History of Error
Formulation of the Curse
The Dawn Breakers
The Shining One
Holy Mountain
Scorched Heavens, Burned Earth
A King in Search of a Crown
The Invisible God
A Goat for Azazel
The Serpent in the Garden
Fall and Flood
The Key
A Mass of Blood and Feathers
Children of Enoch
The Cloven Hoof

Appendix
The Principate of Fallen Angels

Description

Lucifer: Princeps is a seminal study on the origins of the Lucifer mythos. The fall of Lucifer, and that of the rebel angels who descended upon the daughters of men, comprise the foundation myth of the Western occult tradition. Princeps is a study of origins, a portrait of the first ancestor of magic and witchcraft. In tracing the genealogy of our patron and prince, the principles that underlie the ritual forms that have come down to us, through the grimoires and folk practices, are elucidated.

The study draws on the extensive literature of history, religion and archaeology, engaging with the vital discoveries and advances of recent scholarship. A concomitant exegesis of the core texts conjures the terrain and koiné of the Ancient Near East, the cradle cultures and language of his nascence. Of critical importance are the effaced cultures and cults that lie behind the Old Testament polemics, viz. those of Assyria, Ugarit and Canaan, as well as Sumeria, Egypt and Greece; they provide the context that give meaning to what would otherwise be an isolated brooding figure, one who makes no sense without being encountered in the landscape.

Intended to be the definitive text on the origins of Lucifer for practitioners of magic, Princeps spans wingtip to wingtip from the original flood myth and legends of divine teachers to the Church Fathers, notably Augustine, Origen and Tertullian. The tales of the Garden of Eden, the Nephilim, of the fall of Helel ben Sahar and the Prince of Tyre, the nature of Azazel, and the creation of the Satan are drawn beneath the shadow of these wings into a narrative that binds Genesis and Revelation via the Enochian tradition.

Press, interviews, reviews

“A huge subject is opened with penetrating clarity […] Let there be no doubt, this book deserves to be considered far more widely than in grimoire and ‘Sabbatic’ niches alone. Yet I fear, when the legend of Lucifer and his fall is described as the foundation myth of Western Magic, incredulous eyebrows will probably be raised in some quarters. Grey’s overview of magic and its cultural role is visionary and ahead of the curve. Niche neo-paganisms and clunky scientific magical models have yet to respond to major reappraisals at the cutting edge. The central importance of mythic mechanisms in ritual magic is rarely discussed even by the savants. The very existence of a central myth in Western magic may very well seem alien to some.

This is what Grey’s greatest work to date addresses. Key themes are drawn out, their significance delineated. The fluidity of the text makes accessible a mythic narrative that is truly arcane; archaic yet timeless and potent. This is a dangerous book presenting a clear overview of what was formerly a difficult subject; clarifying its relevance to the very development of magic. The ‘spirit model’, of increasing importance to the community, clearly requires such a book. The head of the spirit hierarchy, whether in the grimoires, in folklore or culture shaping legend, is a figure we all need to understand extremely well. This the author achieves; a book both timely and ahead of its time.”

– Jake Stratton-Kent, review from 2015