BOOK REVIEW – Claves Intelligentiarum by David Rankine

(Note for Transparency – I received a copy of Claves Intelligentiarum to review, what follows is my honest review.)

It’s no secret that my magic tends towards the unscripted, intuitive, grab-the-threads-of-wyrd-and-weave-the-world-anew style, and I heavily encourage direct contact over relying on book learning when it comes to meeting spirits. I’m a pagan, through and through, and my magical roots are in ecstatic, experiential, embodied Craft.

But I’ve done my share of exploring Grimoires, and continue to do so.

There’s a power in words passed down, in techniques that have been honed and worn into the fabric of the Universe through repetition and time.

And there are definitely spirits who fully expect “the proper protocol”, and most appreciate the care and attention involved.

Following a step-by-step process also means you’re not laying down the circuitry anew every time you do magic (which is why so many Pagan groups have their favourite ritual structures!)…

But so many of the classic Grimoires don’t actually explain what circuitry you’re meant to use! Or where they do there are gaps in the process which you’re expected to know stuff already, and when you match them with other texts you get different instructions.

David Rankine’s Claves Intelligentiarum is different.

Rankine takes the reader step-by-step through the process of Conjuration within his tried and tested methodology, and explains the reasoning as he goes.

He outlines where he’s made changes to the traditional process, and why, and where he hasn’t changed things a reader like myself might be tempted to alter. Like including a consecration script for contact lenses, and adding the modern practice of visualisation during circle casting, but keeping the Abrahamic Holy Names instead of swapping them out for a Pagan audience.

This book is a practical guide to conjuring Planetary Intelligences – a particular class of spirit connected to the planets, who he tells us arose first within the Christian lineage of Grimoires.

By placing these spirits in the context of their earliest named relationship with magicians and presenting a clear framework for meeting and working with them, Rankine takes the guesswork out of calling the right number and setting up your first date, as it were.

This is not a book of theory, this is a book to be used.

And it is a brilliant introduction to conjurations in general, though I’d suggest you’ll get more out of it if you have at least some basic magical experience first.

In Claves Intelligentiarum Rankine is thorough, clear, and comprehensive. If the only book you had was this one you would have everything you needed to conjure the Planetary Intelligences… and having done so, not only would you have a team of spirit connections to cover almost any practical magic, but you’d know how to construct a framework for Conjurations of other spirits within the Grimoire tradition, and fill in the gaps.

I love that Rankine acknowledges that many of us work with other spirits that we might not wish to banish from our home or working space before a ritual which calls for such an opening. He then gives a script I’ve not seen anywhere else, a “License to Remain”. Gems like this show he has not just done the extensive research which is a hallmark of his work, nor “merely” pieced together a framework from a patchwork of sources (a mammoth task in itself!) but that he has actively thought through the implications and impact of the process with care, tested it, and made sure to include everything we might need to know to perform a conjuration with success.

Read this book if you want to work with the Planetary Intelligences, if you want a look behind the curtain at the mechanics of a conjuration, or if you want to learn from an expert who genuinely, wholeheartedly, knows that magic is real because he lives it.

Speaking of which, David Rankine will be teaching Conjuration at a weekend retreat at The Visible College in South West England in April 2025.

It’ll be intensive, hands on, and comprehensive.

Conjuration is, ideally, a team sport so it’s a brilliant opportunity to take the instructions off the page and get deep into the practice.

I’ll be there. Come and See.

Buy Claves Intelligentiarum by David Rankine here.

Star Club – Making Magicians – Occult Training in the UK

Star Club is a syncretic training program and modern magical order co-founded by myself and Sef Salem of The Visible College, rooted in the hermetic tradition and incorporating multiple magical threads into an experiential, hands on, group magical experience. Come and See.

Our next cycle starts in February and there are just a couple of spaces left!