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A grimoire is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, deities, and demons. In many cases, the books themselves are believed to be imbued with magical powers, although in many cultures, other sacred texts that are not grimoires have been believed to have supernatural properties intrinsically. The only contents found in a grimoire would be information on spells, rituals, the preparation of magical tools, and lists of ingredients and their magical correspondences. In this manner, while all books on magic could be thought of as grimoires, not all magical books should be thought of as grimoires.
Ceremonial magic encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
The Grand Grimoire, also known as Le Dragon Rouge or The Red Dragon, is a black magic goetic grimoire. Different editions date the book to 1521, 1522 or 1421. Owen Davies suggests 1702 is when the first edition may have been created and a Bibliothèque bleue version of the text may have been published in 1750. The 19th-century French occultist Éliphas Lévi considered the contemporary edition of Le Dragon Rouge to be a counterfeit of a true, older Grand Grimoire.
Black magic has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes.
Bael is a demon described in demonological grimoires such as The Lesser Key of Solomon and the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and also in the Dictionnaire Infernal. He is described as a hoarsely-voiced king with the power to make men invisible and ruling over sixty-six legions of demons. The Lesser Key of Solomon describes him as appearing in the form of a cat, toad, man, some combination thereof, or other "diverse shapes", while the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and the Dictionnaire Infernal state that he appears with the heads of a cat, toad, and human simultaneously.
Agares is a demon described in demonological grimoires.
Bathin is a demon described in demonological grimoires.
The Key of Solomon, also known as The Greater Key of Solomon, is a pseudepigraphical grimoire attributed to King Solomon. It probably dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance. It presents a typical example of Renaissance magic.
There have been various attempts at the classification of demons within the contexts of classical mythology, demonology, occultism, and Renaissance magic. These classifications may be for purposes of traditional medicine, exorcisms, ceremonial magic, witch-hunts, lessons in morality, folklore, religious ritual, or combinations thereof. Classifications might be according to astrological connections, elemental forms, noble titles, or parallels to the angelic hierarchy; or by association with particular sins, diseases, and other calamities; or by what angel or saint opposes them.
The Book of Abramelin tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a Jew in Worms, Germany, presumed to have lived from c. 1362 to c. 1458. The system of magic from this book regained popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries partly due to Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers' translation, The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage.
A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be marked physically, drawn in a material like salt, flour, or chalk, or merely visualised.
Satanachia is described in the Grand Grimoire as a commander-in-chief of Satan's army, who controls either forty-five or fifty-four legions of demons, including Pruflas, Aamon, Barbatos, and Astaroth. According to the Grand Grimoire, he has the power to subjugate all women and girls, and to do with them whatever he wishes.
Olympian spirits refers to seven spirits mentioned in several Renaissance and post-Renaissance books of ritual magic/ceremonial magic, such as the Arbatel de magia veterum, The Secret Grimoire of Turiel and The Complete Book of Magic Science. The Arbatel of Magick says of the Olympian spirits: "They are called Olympick spirits, which do inhabit in the firmament, and in the stars of the firmament: and the office of these spirits is to declare Destinies, and to administer fatal Charms, so far forth as God pleaseth to permit them."
The Arbatel De Magia Veterum is a Latin grimoire of Renaissance ceremonial magic published in 1575 in Switzerland.
The Grimoire of Pope Leo or Enchiridion of Pope Leo is a French grimoire that is pseudepigraphically attributed to Pope Leo III. The book claims to have been published in 1523, but the earliest known version of the text is from 1633. It was listed in police records in association with the Affair of the Poisons, and a copy was owned by Marc Antoine René de Voyer.
The Grimorium Verum is an 18th-century grimoire attributed to one "Alibeck the Egyptian" of Memphis, who purportedly wrote in 1517. Like many grimoires, it claims a tradition originating with King Solomon.
The Grimoire of Pope Honorius, or Le Grimoire du Pape Honorius, is a 17th to 18th century grimoire, which claims to have been written by Pope Honorius III (1150–1227). It is unique among grimoires in that it was specifically designed to be used by a priest, and some of the instructions include saying a Mass. While its name might be derived from the 13th century grimoire The Sworn Book of Honorius, its content is closer to later grimories like the Key of Solomon and Grimorium Verum.
The Codex coemeterium is a 16th-century grimoire manuscript. The text, composed in Latin, is largely concerned with demonology and necromancy. The book falls into A.E. Waite's category of 'Unprinted literature of ceremonial magic' though extracted elements have been reproduced in later treatises. It is heavily based on the Key of Solomon, which was listed in the Catholic Church's index of prohibited books.
Stephen Skinner is an Australian author, editor, publisher and lecturer. He is known for authoring books on magic, feng shui, sacred geometry and alchemy. He has published more than 46 books in more than 20 languages.
The Grand Albert is a grimoire that has often been attributed to Albertus Magnus. Begun perhaps around 1245, it received its definitive form in Latin around 1493, a French translation in 1500, and its most expansive and well-known French edition in 1703. Its original Latin title, Liber Secretorum Alberti Magni virtutibus herbarum, lapidum and animalium quorumdam, translates to English as "the book of secrets of Albert the Great on the virtues of herbs, stones and certain animals". It is also known under the names of The Secrets of Albert, Secreta Alberti, and Experimenta Alberti.
References
- ↑ Davies, Owen (2010). Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. Oxford University Press. p. 182. ISBN 9780199590049.
