Alright, I found time to get some sequels in. This, and I may be able to do one or two more.
Kabbalah, before Madonna discovered it, was a fringe occult movement based on Talmudic interpretation. The Fons Vitæ is a philosophical text by Solomon ben Judah, and anything else I know comes about it comes from wikipedia. The Book of Abramelin is another real occult text – again, what I know is in wikipedia. Dee’s Necronomicon was created by H.P. Lovecraft. The Vritric Sutra is something I just made up.

Interesting. I especially liked the occult references. Not that many people mention John Dee’s Necronomicon translation.

And, of course, the “descending node” is specifically a reference to The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward. :-)

Thank you for your little footnote about the occult references. I found that helpful.
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I also liked that Simon knows where Simone is because of their blood connection.