Secret Societies

Book Review From a Historian’s Perspective – The Testament of Solomon

ATLANTA – Written by M.L. Childs, Paranormal Romance Author, Screenwriter, Copywriter and Dramatic Historian

Everyone is familiar with the Song of Songs in the Bible; however, The Testament of Solomon is a little more obscure. It is considered a non-canonized version of Solomon’s life and it covers the topic of Solomon’s magic more extensively than the scriptures do.

Is this person an authority on the subject?

The version of the book I read was translated by F.C. Conybeare but it is ascribed to King Solomon, son of David. Since it was supposedly written by King Solomon himself, the author is definitely an authority on the subject.

What do peers think of this body of work?

This book is not a part of the Old Testament but is associated with with that period. It was not included in the canon but it does give insight into Solomon’s life outside of what’s included in the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. The Testament of Solomon was not canonized as a religious text so I believe it is left to assume that this body of work is not really taken seriously, at least from a religious standpoint.

Does the writer remain objective?

The entire book is subjective.

Are the writer’s sources reliable?

There are no resources since this book is attributed to King Solomon – allegedly his own words.

Overall Impression of the Book

This book is a simple tale that is probably not as interesting as Biblical or Koranic interpretations of the life of King Solomon. However, it does seem to be the only source of insight into how the Temple was built – allegedly by the demons Solomon controlled using his ring known as the seal, or Pentalpha. The book even includes a confession by King Solomon about his fall from grace from the Lord of Israel due to his involvement with women who practiced idol worship.

The Testament of Solomon was a quick and easy read but I get the impression that the book has no authority whatsoever. I’ll admit that this would have been a good book to read when I wrote my first book, The Vital Sacrifice, because it delves deeper into the mystical and magical aspects of Solomon’s life that are rarely seen in religious texts. But, outside of exploring magic, this piece of work is not something that I would recommend as a serious work to study.

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Part II: The Making of The Vital Sacrifice – Creating a Mythical Secret Society

ATLANTA – Written by M.L. Childs, Paranormal Romance Author, Screenwriter, Copywriter and Dramatic Historian

As you may recall from my previous blog topic, Part I: The Making of The Vital Sacrifice – The Invisible Race of Djinn, I developed my main character, Ali, as a Djinn. After developing his character and my female character who becomes his lover, I had a big question mark looming over my story: “Why should audiences care about these two people’s relationship?” Over the years of learning writing and screenwriting, I discovered that if there is no conflict, there is no story. I knew that I had my two main characters, but now was the time to add conflict to their lives — and lots of it.

I formed the overarching conflict in my novel developing Ali’s character. As you know by reading or from my previous post, Ali is a paranormal creature but I had to develop a world around him that would make him off limits to my female character, Teresa. I did this by creating a Order of Djinns that he belongs to who play by specific rules that they themselves created in order to avoid conflict with humans. One major no-no is for them is not to have too much involvement with humans and settling down into relationships with women is strictly forbidden, not just because of the rules of the Order but also because these men never age. Thus, too much involvement with anyone over a period of time will cause people to wonder why they never age. This is why they must live their lives in secrecy.

I also created the Order because I wanted to explore the topic of secret societies. My research in this area over the years intrigued me and therefore, I wanted my characters to formulate their own secret society. I studied about secret societies but much of the information that I discovered seemed originate with King Solomon. His magical powers seem to be the cornerstone of all secret societies. I delved into the Biblical and Koranic interpretations of King Solomon and other books about Solomon’s magic in order to build my secret mythical society of genie men.

Follow this blog to learn more about how I developed the paranormal novel, The Vital Sacrifice.

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M. L. Childs

Metro Atlanta Writer and Author