Khnum: The Abrahamic Inversion

In the Temple's reading the raven count Raum of the catalogues is Khnum. Leave the grimoire name to the record below: the Gods are not to be invoked by blasphemous names, which slandered Them, and Khnum is approached as Khnum.

Raum

Raym (as well as Raym and Raum) is first identified as such in Johann Weyer’s work Pseudomonarchia daemonum which was published in conjunction with the 5th edition of Weyer’s De praestigiis daemonum, circa 1577. Boudet references the Weyer daemon catalogue in the Renaissance period listings as "Rau vel Raym" (#42), indicating this listing specifically refers to Weyer #42. No comparable Raum entry can be located on the surviving version of Livre des esperitz. Similarly, the surviving 1494 catalogue for demons from Florence contains neither Raum nor Raym. Therefore, based on all available data, 1577 represents the earliest known reference by exact name. ^1,2

Weyer indicates his larger source book was entitled Liber officiorum spirituum, or Book of the Offices of Spirits, a title previously listed by Johannes Trithemius as early as 1508. This clearly establishes that the family of texts containing Raum is older than Weyer’s printed version. However, it does not provide any indication whether Raum or Raym were actually used in the lost sixteenth-century copy. It is essential to distinguish between an earlier source tradition and an early name..^1,2

Weyer calls him Raum vel Raym, a great count or earl. He is first seen as a corvus, properly a raven rather than the more general English “crow.” When he assumes a human face at the exorcist's command, he steals marvellously from a king's house or another house and transports what he has taken to whatever place is designated. He destroys cities, brings contempt upon dignities, knows present, past and future things, conciliates the favour of enemies and friends, was formerly of the Order of Thrones, and commands thirty legions.²

Raum vel Raym Comes est magnus: ut corvus visitur ... Civitates destruit: dignitatum despectum ingerit. Novit præsentia, præterita & futura ... Fuit ex ordine Thronorum. Præest legionibus triginta.

The use of the term "dignitatum despectum ingerit" is particularly significant. The term indicates that Raum brings contempt for dignity onto dignities, Weyer does not indicate that Raum gives dignities. Therefore, as an example of a destructive type of office, it operates similarly to others: royal properties are removed, cities are destroyed, and dignities, which can be social or political, are discredited.²

The "Book of Oberon", is a large Elizabethan collection of magic includes Zayme (as Raum) from Folger Shakespeare Library MS V.b.26, dated sometime before 1583. In an explicit comparison made by Joseph H. Peterson regarding the similarities between the Ars Goetia and Officium traditions, he states that the Raum reference found within the Ars Goetia parallels the Zayme reference.³

Scot and the Ars Goetia

Reginald Scot carried Weyer's entry into English in The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584 as “Raum, or Raim.” His translation preserves the raven or crow apparition, the change into human form, theft from the king's house, destruction of cities, hostility to dignities, knowledge of present, past and future, reconciliation of friends and foes, former membership in the Thrones, and the thirty legions.⁴

Raum, or Raim is a great earle, he is seene as a crowe ... he destroieth cities, and hath great despite unto dignities ... and reconcileth freends and foes.

The seventeenth-century Ars Goetia makes Raum its fortieth spirit. Its wording follows the English Scot tradition very closely: Raum first appears as a crow, afterward takes human shape, steals treasures from kings' houses and carries them where commanded, destroys cities and the dignities of men, tells past, present and future things, and causes love between friends and foes. It also preserves the thirty legions and the claim that he had belonged to the order of Thrones. The principal new element is the Goetic seal attached to the entry.⁵

Dr. Rudd's angelology

In the angelological counter-correspondence attributed to Dr. Thomas Rudd, Raum as the fortieth Goetic spirit is paired with the fortieth Shem-ha-Mephorash angel Ieiazel. Ieiazel belongs to the order of Powers in the Rudd correspondence and is attached to Psalm 88:14 in common English numbering..⁶

Lazare Lenain states that Ieiazel is given the attribute “Dieu qui réjouit” or "God Who Rejoices" and the holy name Goed (as spoken in Belgian). According to Lenain, Ieiazel is positioned on ray number 196 through 200 and the genius Aterchinis. His invocation period is between 1:00-1:20PM. Lenain assigns Ieiazel the powers of prisoner release, consolation and deliverance from enemies. Additionally, he describes Ieiazel as the Good Genius governing printing and bookselling, men of letters and Artists.7⁷

Collin de Plancy’s illustrated sixth edition of the Dictionnaire infernal in 1863 keeps Raum as a great count who manifests as a raven and destroys cities, is part of the Order of Thrones and commands thirty Legions. However, de Plancy also notes that Raum donne des dignités (“gives dignities”): exactly the opposite of Weyer’s description of him bringing dignity into contempt. De Plancy quotes Weyer for this entry in error.⁸

Papus later compresses the Lenain material into his cabalistic table: Ieiazel, Dieu qui réjouit, corresponds to Goed and degrees 196–200 and is keyed to the fifteenth verse of Psalm 87 in Vulgate numbering. Papus likewise repeats the uses for freeing prisoners, obtaining consolation and deliverance from enemies, and the connection with printing, bookselling, artists and literary people.⁹

In common Hebrew-based English numbering the corresponding verse is Psalm 88:14: “LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?” Papus and Lenain instead give the traditional Vulgate Psalm 87:15, Ut quid Domine repellis orationem meam, avertis faciem tuam a me, “Why, Lord, do you reject my prayer; why do you turn your face away from me? ¹⁰