I, Rabbi Jehuda Loew ben Bezalel, state these facts baldly and without dissimulation. For the creation of a faithful servant, mute and of great power, resistant to the demons of fire and air, the following words provide full instruction.

This is how the watch-eye is created. Go, alone, to that secret place beside the Vltava, where the river-clay lies blue and smooth below the bank. Remove clay equal to the weight of a hen or woodcock, but touch this not with your bare hands – it must remain unsullied. Form this mass into a watch-eye using the Cabalistic formulae I listed in my earlier book of recipes (1602). Allow this to bake in an oven over three nights and three days until the clay is hard; but beware – the slightest crack renders the eye blind. Remove the charcoal residue with a horsehair brush and set aside.

This is how the body is created. Return, with human servants, to the secret place beside the Vltava. Cut from it clay equal to the weight of three full-grown men. Take it your workroom and cover with a white cloth. Dismiss your servants, neglecting not to cloud their memories with a Charm or Glaze (as listed also in my earlier book). Assemble spatulas and iron clamps and, by candlelight, fashion the clay into the semblance of a giant man. Do not waste time with prettifying sculpture: the work must be done in a single night. The hands, feet and mouth are of the first importance. Fashion fingers for grasping and toes for balance. Legs must be of equal length, or else he limps. The mouth must be deep, with a concealed pocket within. As dawn breaks, scoop a hole in the creature’s forehead and (wearing gloves) embed the watch-eye herein. Cover with the cloth and set aside.

This is how the animating parchment is created. Go, by night, to a graveyard, and dig up a square of blackest earth. Place in a mortar and, sprinkling silver shavings upon it, use a pestle to reduce the substance to a fine powder. Mingle this with blood from your opened vein to form an ink. Inscribe, upon an unblemished calfskin parchment, my Spell of Creation, taking care to make no error of spelling or design, lest the Spell disintegrate. ( ||| Most important: this work may be done by the magician himself, or else by his proxy, for with each stroke of the pen, the life force of the writer runs out onto the page. Note that twelve moons are required to restore the writer’s health after the creation of one golem. Note too that the magician must sign his name in his own blood to seal the spell – only then he shall attain full control over his creature.)

The formula to the Spell of Creation is concealed, syllable by syllable, among my papers – let only those who cherish my memory and honour Prague locate and use it.

With all complete, assemble a crystal or scrying glass with the usual incantations. Next, remove the cloth from the body, insert the animating parchment into the creature’s mouth and step smartly aside. The watch-eye will become active; the body will rise and await commands. Direct your thoughts through the crystal into the eye. The creature will obey as if it is your own flesh.

Once active, the golem cannot be stopped against the magician’s will – unless it so be that the master is killed, or the parchment is taken from its mouth. If the parchment is removed, the creature’s energy will diminish, but – faithful to the last – it will use its remaining strength to return to its master’s side.

These are true words – I attest to them and set my seal upon the paper.

Loew ben Bezalel,

In the 32nd year of Rudolf, the Emperor.