The Western Gate

King Solomon: The Magus
Claude Lecoteux
Inner Traditions

I don’t know too much about Inner Traditions Publishing and less about the author, and the book, well, a blind buy based purely on the title.
King Sol’ lends his name, credible or not, to many grimoires and secret traditions, obscure rites and well known traditions in Western Occultism.
Likewise, he is fundamental in Freemasonry, as the commissioner behind the building of the Temple to house the sacred Ark of the Covenant, perhaps itself a euphemism for building the perfect form, or person. At the outset, there is little information on Solomon’s standing with regards to Freemasonry in this book, if any, and none on the chief builder/architect of the temple, Hiram Abiff. It is odd that this is dismissed, a quick scan through the index, and nothing on Freemasonry, Hiram Abiff.
The temple itself is discussed, with the inclusion of the help of the demon Asmodeus, whose supernatural powers help create the temple, without the sound of hammer !
My first impressions when reading the book were that it was akin to reading a school text book, little snippets and notes, nothing too demanding or thorough, and I began to get bored, I laboured on and in the end, ok, the little snippets and bitesize paragraphs all melded together to form one mass, one form.
Solomon, like most old testament characters had issues, pride and jealousy and certainly as his thousand wives will testify, lust.
His ego stretched to proving he could achieve whatsoever he desired by setting himself the task to bed his mother , Bethsheba, simply because she said he could not. This scandal from the person we have come to believe is synonymous with wisdom. We hear the tales and ‘fables’ of Solomon in pursuit of far off princesses and knowledge, obtaining them by deception and riddles, tricks to entrap the poor souls in his predatory mind. Which begs the question was he wise at all? Undoubtedly the narcissist must be intelligent enough to create a playing field on which to conduct their cunning plans.
Solomon eventually went so far as to bow down to pagan Gods, only that to do so granted him access to the object of his affections and not because he held those Gods in any reverence at all. However, by those same Gods and servients he was able to acquire access to the paths of the occult, these actions of course were not recorded in ‘the Bible’, but only as it is supposed by mystical writings, fables and folklore.
Many of the folk tales come from Islamic sources, where, of course, Solomon becomes of the Muslim faith, quoting lines that the ‘last prophet’ said, such is the way Solomon’s legacy evolved, or in actual fact how history is rewritten to encapsulate a contemporary narrative.
Solomon becomes a legend, or perhaps a fable, a myth, the actual written historical evidence being sparse. The “House of David” is mentioned in historical texts other than the whole canonical Jewish texts of which the Bible is but a hand-me-down. But of Solomon, historically, apart from those Jewish canonical texts, little is said or known.
The only text outside of the Bible et al available that directly references Solomon in terms of a historical outline is the Ethiopian  Kebra Nagast which concerns itself with Makeda and her visit to Solomon, she better known as The Queen of Sheba, and it is this very Queen which surely would warrant more study and respect amongst the occultists, herself tricked by Solomon, though undoubtedly with her powers of the occult and demonolatry played as much or even greater part in the foundation of all grimoires than Solomon. (If we are to believe of course that the grimoires were rooted in the works of Solomon.)
There are in Lecouteux’s book, references, of course, to grimoire magic and in particular the catalogue/lapidaries of the virtues of crystals, these must be taken speculatively. There is no mention in the Bible of Solomon waving wands and entrapping Djinn/Demons in brass vessels, these come instead from apocryphal sources ;-
Testament of Solomon (1st–3rd century CE) – A pseudepigraphical text where Solomon traps demons using a magical ring to build the Temple.
Talmud (Gittin 68a-b) – Stories of Solomon enslaving Ashmedai (Asmodeus) for construction of the holy temple.
Qur’an (Surah 34:12-14, 38:36-37) – Mentions jinn (spirits) serving Solomon, but this is Islamic tradition, not biblical.

These are dealt with throughout and then much material added from folklore, many of which which read like any Fairy Story from one of Andrew Lang’s Colour Fairy books. These are a joyous read.

It’s more a case of what is not included in this book that warrants criticism, especially the Masonic connection, and the absence of historical affirmation, in terms that it should be declared and reference all ambiguous claims to the existence of Solomon, the Ethiopian Annals aside of course.

We are left, as a mind burnt image, of a lothario King, who by any ways possible seeks to bed every mistress he so fancies. Who, yes, has the wisdom to enter into any argument and concern, but is this by objective sight, when the crown is placed upon his head and the throne ensconces him to the will of the divine~ wisdom unbound by speculative nature. Can Solomon flit between being a vile horny little beast and a priest King wielding the scales of justice?

I believe this book would be better served as a compendium of various stories, tales and legends, the potted history of Solomon. No need to try and outline the ‘where’s’ and ‘where for out thou’s’, just a collection of all the tales and shenanigans the randy miscreant got up to.
It’s not history, they are whispered annals, ever-tales, chronicles of glamour. Forgotten dreams of things we wish to be, or to have been.

I wouldn’t say it’s essential to anyone with an esoteric library but there is certainly enough snippets that will warrant revisits, a flick back to reference, a quick check.

Header Illustration ;- Francisco Gutiérrez Cabello (1616-1670), The Judgment of Solomon (1650)