June 2026

Welcome back to the Codex!

In Amsterdam we have been blessed with gorgeous sunny Spring days and our garden is blooming beyond belief. Sarah and I are as eager as ever to deliver to you another glimpse into the mystery of the Western esoteric corpus, and we sincerely value your continued attention.

This month’s edition of the Codex is slightly different in form: it features just two articles. Each of them is quite longer than our normal pieces though, and there is a reason for that.

It is a sincere delight and honor to feature the work of Dr José Leitão, a specialist of magical grimoires and manuscripts. Dr Leitão is the author of The Book of St. Cyprian: The Sorcerer's Treasure (2014), a translation of one of the most complete Portuguese grimoires attributed to St. Cyprian of Antioch (c. 4th century CE). Dr Leitão has been in Amsterdam for the last several months on a research fellowship and has spent many of his days in our old book room working with our magical manuscripts, part of the fruits of which has resulted in his piece for the Codex this month. He has contributed a lucidly composed 6,000-word article for us about the ‘Faust manuscript.’ Due to its length, we will be distributing just the first of three parts of this article in this month’s Codex, with the following two parts to follow in the July and August editions.

The loyal Codex readers among you will recognize that we have encountered this mysterious manuscript before, most recently by Zico Jackson in the April 2026 Codex. Approaching the manuscript from an additional angle, Dr Leitão enters into dialogue with Zico’s piece, and gives us an in-depth consideration of the Faust MS from the perspective of a PhD’d specialist of magical grimoires.

Secondly and lastly, you will find an article by me, Corey, concerning a new wonderful discovery I made in our basement book depot of an early 20th century spiritual and esoteric periodical compiled by Manly P. Hall. I sunk my teeth into this and wrote a bit more than I usually do, which I hope you enjoy as well.

-Corey

‍

Alone ‘mid the throng that surrounds him
A figure silent and meek,
While the battle of life surges round him,
Still he walks in the ways of the weak.

Soft, sweet look from tender eyes,
The clasp of a comrade’s hand,
A word of hope from a World of sighs,
A heart that can understand.

By this he is known in the world of men
As one of that mystic band
Who has turned back to trod again
Life’s ever-changing sand.

Where he walks the world seems brighter,
Better for his having trod,
While sorrowing souls grow a little lighter
For having felt their God.

With never a fear, he walks the way
That leads to the heights above
Where the light of Truth holds perfect sway
‘Mid the selfless hearts of love.

This is the way that the Masters go
To the light through a battle won,
Far up from the shade in the depths below
On the path of the Rising sun.

- Anonymous, The All-Seeing Eye, Issue No. 2, June 1923, p.2.

Each issue of the Codex contains a selection of articles written by our contributors, exploring the themes and traditions at the heart of the hermetic world.