A Review of the Grimorium Verum Foundation by Dr. Alexander Cummins
Recommended for Participants of this Guide
Recently I was privileged to have the opportunity to take part in Dr Alexander Cummins’ foundational deep dive into the Grimorium Verum, a four part course which the good doctor has spent several years putting together, and several decades practising. The course itself is a meticulous and systematic exploration of the history of this wonderful little French grimoire which, on a surface level at least often appears to be a little crude, sometimes shallow and thoroughly diabolic. As many of you may know, I run the Grimorium Verum Study Group, which devotes itself to the study and practice of this grimoire, and so whenever a large contribution to the field emerges, such as Al’s class, I feel it needs a good examination. Presented here then are my thoughts on the course after its completion.
Separated into four lessons and spanning a total of 10 hours, Al’s Foundation course takes us on a journey from Conjuro to Officiorum, then Praxis to Katabasis. Beginning with a fantastically detailed overview of the source materials available in the modern day, including both modern recensions and translations which have become available in recent years, as well as both precursor and satellite manuscripts which can elucidate the Verum further. We are given a truly wide angled overview of the background, history and practice of the Grimorium Verum in which we begin to grapple with many of the seemingly dark and dangerous aspects of the text, contextualising its contents for a modern audience as well as most importantly, opening the door for those of us who wish to develop a personal practice. This is accomplished by positioning the content of the text within its historical frame and bringing the student to an understanding of the mechanisms and methodologies which underlie the procedures and expanding this viewpoint to encompass the modern practitioner. Al readily accomplished this by quoting from the documents themselves, highlighting examples where detailed alternatives are given, such as the use of parchment as opposed to goat skin, or the use of bloodstone instead of emerald or ruby, all the while focusing on why these abridged or seemingly simpler alternatives are just as important for a comprehensive understanding of the material. What’s more, Al adds layers of his own wisdom and experience onto these examples and describes something of the richness of medieval thought which produced them. Such an understanding leads the student to what Al enjoys most, a multivalence of practical application. A great deal of praise is also necessary for the way in which Al cuts through both the necessity of only using the punitive conjurations often found in such texts, as well as a dependence on the more overly spirit-friendly or even devotional aspects of more modern practitioners, carving a clear, decisive and above all, historically informed third way which incorporates aspects of both while avoiding their pitfalls.
The second lesson was perhaps my favourite of all, as Al has a certain way of describing the offices of the spirits which belies his decades of practice and experience working with them. A common example of this is the description of Elelogap’s office which simply reads, “has power over water,” but with some context and practice reveals a spirit of incalculable importance. While the above example was first made by Jake Stratton-Kent, in his pamphlet, ‘Elelogap, the Spirit of the Waters,’ Al Cummins takes this same attitude to the rounding out and personalisation of the entire catalogue of the Verum. Not only does he add new dimensions of understanding to these spirits and the manner in which we can approach, interact and pact with them, Al also offers his own unique take on how to engage with the spirits as members of guilds which share functions and goals as well as his experiences with the various layers of the Verum hierarchy. Al also elaborates on his understanding of humoral theory, something almost entirely missing from most modern texts on magical practice, going on to describe radically alternative methodologies of approach which remain perfectly in keeping with their offices as found within the source material. The discussion on the nature of possessing a key or the ‘opening of a lock’ were particularly fascinating. This section of the course alone is worth the value of admission and I can not stress how much broader a scope of magical operations become available to the sorcerer once the concepts which underscore the offices of the spirits are understood, especially for the concept that magic can be done for the sake of getting batter at magic, a positive feedback loop Al enjoys describing in his work. However, it must be stressed that, as with most things Al does, the goal here is never on getting bogged down in theory, but instead on applying our knowledge to the Work.
Part three of the course was equally important, but most especially I think for new practitioners who may not immediately understand the nature of the virtues and occult sympathies found in the dirt, stones, bones and waters of the World. Much as with the offices of the spirits, Al deep dives into the nature of the tools and not only how they are made but how they are consecrated and then utilised during work with the spirits which constellate about them. The necessity for their use and the reasoning behind them are present, but as stated above, the focus remains on the practicalities of their use.
Finally we explore two of the most important parts of the practice of the Grimorium Verum, the First Character, which Al goes into great detail over, providing multiple historically attested alternatives alongside several modes in which it may be employed, as well as the Prayer for Success and how it may be employed within our work. We cast an eye towards Verum’s intermediary, Scirlin, learning how we may best engage and learn from this powerful guide to our work, and learn something of the nature of the magical experiments detailed within the various texts, again with a great amount of highly informed historical and practical knowledge. The course ends with informed speculation about the nature of the Spirit of the East and explores ways in which the four kings may intersect this practice granting access to parallel grimoires, something I have personally spent a lot of time exploring and developing.
Overall I simply cannot recommend this course highly enough, for both new and old hands. It was a joy to be involved, to engage with Al and everyone taking part during its recording. Having a collective of wisdom and a variety of experience levels to draw from and be inspired by was a really wonderful experience. Fresh eyes are windows to new perspectives and understandings.
If you are interested in learning more about the practice of the Grimorium Verum or in grimoires and folk magic in general then I strongly encourage you to pick up this course. It will expand your understanding and above all give you access to context and experience which many of us lacked when we first dove into the work. Given the sheer weight and unparalleled quality of the content within these 10 hours of lecture it is hard to believe the price is so low.
Thank you Al, for giving me the opportunity to take part in your course and learn with such a great collective of curious and engaged practitioners.
You can find Dr. Alexander Cummins’ course in the link below
I concur. Dr. Al’s course is a milestone in organizing and clarifying the Verum’s content for our community, and an excellent guide for it’s practice.
I took Dr Al’s Geomancy Foundation course and used that method to determine if I should take the Verum course. The answer was yes take the course. Very glad I listened! Mat is correct after this course the Verum opens up and you are able to see the vast potential in the system. The Spirits involved are much deeper than one might expect.