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124-519: The MLO released Liber Azerate , a modern grimoire written by the founder Vlad Nemesis Khoshnood, whose title was Magister Templi and nicknamed Frater Nemidial, in 2002. It was released on the internet in Swedish and Norwegian. Azerate is the hidden name of the "eleven anti-cosmic gods" described in the book. A related musical work is the 2006 Dissection album Reinkaos , the lyrics of which were co-written by Vlad, and which Jon Nödtveidt explained

248-532: A Book of Simon the Magician , based upon the New Testament figure of Simon Magus . Similarly, it was commonly believed by medieval people that other ancient figures, such as the poet Virgil , astronomer Ptolemy , and philosopher Aristotle , had been involved in magic, and grimoires claiming to have been written by them were circulated. However, there were those who did not believe this; for instance,

372-456: A book of spells , magic book , or a spellbook ) 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. The only contents found in

496-767: A ritual circle , with the mystical purpose of having visions of God, Hell , and Purgatory and gaining much wisdom and knowledge as a result. Another was the Hebrew Sefer Raziel Ha-Malakh , translated in Europe as the Liber Razielis Archangeli . A later book also claiming to have been written by Solomon was originally written in Greek during the 15th century, where it was known as the Magical Treatise of Solomon or

620-523: A 'k' to distinguish ceremonial or ritual magic from stage magic. In modern occultism and neopagan religions, many self-described magicians and witches regularly practice ritual magic. This view has been incorporated into chaos magic and the new religious movements of Thelema and Wicca . The English words magic , mage and magician come from the Latin term magus , through the Greek μάγος, which

744-490: A Jew called Eleazar used it to cure cases of possession . The book may have been the Testament of Solomon but was more probably a different work. The pseudepigraphic Testament of Solomon is one of the oldest magical texts. It is a Greek manuscript attributed to Solomon and was likely written in either Babylonia or Egypt sometime in the first five centuries AD; over 1,000 years after Solomon's death. The work tells of

868-484: A Jew. Two manuscripts likely dating to the 4th century, both of which purport to be the legendary eighth Book of Moses (the first five being the initial books in the Biblical Old Testament ), present him as a polytheist who explained how to conjure gods and subdue demons. Meanwhile, there is definite evidence of grimoires being used by certain—particularly Gnostic —sects of early Christianity . In

992-490: A category did not exist in ancient Mesopotamia, and a person legitimately using magic to defend themselves against illegitimate magic would use exactly the same techniques. The only major difference was that curses were enacted in secret; whereas a defense against sorcery was conducted in the open, in front of an audience if possible. One ritual to punish a sorcerer was known as Maqlû , or "The Burning". The person viewed as being afflicted by witchcraft would create an effigy of

1116-514: A cure was not to be regarded superstitiously and there has been the widespread practice of medicinal amulets, and folk remedies ( segullot ) in Jewish societies across time and geography. Although magic was forbidden by Levitical law in the Hebrew Bible , it was widely practised in the late Second Temple period , and particularly well documented in the period following the destruction of

1240-528: A form of early protective magic called incantation bowl or magic bowls. The bowls were produced in the Middle East, particularly in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria , what is now Iraq and Iran , and fairly popular during the sixth to eighth centuries. The bowls were buried face down and were meant to capture demons . They were commonly placed under the threshold, courtyards, in the corner of

1364-535: 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. While the term grimoire is originally European—and many Europeans throughout history, particularly ceremonial magicians and cunning folk , have used grimoires—the historian Owen Davies has noted that similar books can be found all around

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1488-619: A line of practice between religious devotion and magic." The use of such books on magic continued. In Christianised Europe, the Church divided books of magic into two kinds: those that dealt with " natural magic " and those that dealt in "demonic magic". The former was acceptable because it was viewed as merely taking note of the powers in nature that were created by God; for instance, the Anglo-Saxon leechbooks, which contained simple spells for medicinal purposes, were tolerated. Demonic magic

1612-563: A list of possible victims was made. It included the former follower who had defected, band members from Dissection, and even Nödtveidt's girlfriend. These plans led to the defection of some members of the MLO, who did not want to take part in any assassination, or who feared for their own lives. As a result, when the arrests were made, the number of active members was down to three: Nödtveidt, Vlad, and Vlad's girlfriend. Grimoire A grimoire ( / ɡ r ɪ m ˈ w ɑːr / ) (also known as

1736-422: A man with his patron deity or to reconcile a wife with a husband who had been neglecting her. The ancient Mesopotamians made no distinction between rational science and magic. When a person became ill, doctors would prescribe both magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments. Most magical rituals were intended to be performed by an āšipu , an expert in the magical arts. The profession

1860-409: A minor tradition in Jewish history. Its teachings include the use of Divine and angelic names for amulets and incantations . These magical practices of Judaic folk religion which became part of practical Kabbalah date from Talmudic times. The Talmud mentions the use of charms for healing, and a wide range of magical cures were sanctioned by rabbis. It was ruled that any practice actually producing

1984-460: A non-modern phenomenon. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Western intellectuals perceived the practice of magic to be a sign of a primitive mentality and also commonly attributed it to marginalised groups of people. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), a British occultist , defined " magick " as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", adding

2108-401: A particular society, such as foreigners, women, or the lower classes. In contrast to these negative associations, many practitioners of activities that have been labelled magical have emphasised that their actions are benevolent and beneficial. This conflicted with the common Christian view that all activities categorised as being forms of magic were intrinsically bad regardless of the intent of

2232-520: A person's soul could only survive in the afterlife for as long as his or her physical body survived here on earth. The last ceremony before a person's body was sealed away inside the tomb was known as the Opening of the Mouth . In this ritual, the priests would touch various magical instruments to various parts of the deceased's body, thereby giving the deceased the ability to see, hear, taste, and smell in

2356-625: A relatively high literacy rate—proved an exception to this, with a third of the 134 witch trials held involving people who had owned grimoires. By the end of the Early Modern period, and the beginning of the Enlightenment , many European governments brought in laws prohibiting many superstitious beliefs in an attempt to bring an end to the Witch Hunts; this would invariably affect the release of grimoires. Meanwhile, Hermeticism and

2480-533: A soothsayer ( מְעוֹנֵ֥ן ) or a sorcerer ( וּמְכַשֵּֽׁף ) or one who conjures spells ( וְחֹבֵ֖ר חָ֑בֶר ) or one who calls up the dead ( וְדֹרֵ֖שׁ אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים ) are specifically forbidden as abominations to the Lord. Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids divination and other forms of soothsaying, and the Talmud lists many persistent yet condemned divining practices. Practical Kabbalah in historical Judaism

2604-463: A spell book or tome of magical knowledge in fantasy fiction and role-playing games . The most famous fictional grimoire is the Necronomicon , a creation of H. P. Lovecraft . Magic (supernatural) Magic , sometimes spelled magick , is the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed in the belief that they can manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces. It

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2728-536: A substantial corpus of texts which are products of the Egyptian tradition. While the category magic has been contentious for modern Egyptology, there is clear support for its applicability from ancient terminology. The Coptic term hik is the descendant of the pharaonic term heka , which, unlike its Coptic counterpart, had no connotation of impiety or illegality, and is attested from the Old Kingdom through to

2852-531: Is a branch of the Jewish mystical tradition that concerns the use of magic. It was considered permitted white magic by its practitioners, reserved for the elite, who could separate its spiritual source from qlippothic realms of evil if performed under circumstances that were holy ( Q-D-Š ) and pure ( Biblical Hebrew : טומאה וטהרה , romanized:  tvmh vthrh ). The concern of overstepping Judaism's strong prohibitions of impure magic ensured it remained

2976-508: Is a category into which have been placed various beliefs and practices sometimes considered separate from both religion and science. Connotations have varied from positive to negative at times throughout history. Within Western culture , magic has been linked to ideas of the Other , foreignness, and primitivism; indicating that it is "a powerful marker of cultural difference" and likewise,

3100-540: Is a major component and supporting contribution to the belief and practice of spiritual, and in many cases, physical healing throughout the Middle Ages. Emanating from many modern interpretations lies a trail of misconceptions about magic, one of the largest revolving around wickedness or the existence of nefarious beings who practice it. These misinterpretations stem from numerous acts or rituals that have been performed throughout antiquity, and due to their exoticism from

3224-802: Is from the Old Persian maguš . (𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁|𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁, magician). The Old Persian magu- is derived from the Proto-Indo-European megʰ- *magh (be able). The Persian term may have led to the Old Sinitic *M ag (mage or shaman ). The Old Persian form seems to have permeated ancient Semitic languages as the Talmudic Hebrew magosh , the Aramaic amgusha (magician), and the Chaldean maghdim (wisdom and philosophy); from

3348-569: Is more complex, involving lengthy and detailed rituals as well as sophisticated, sometimes expensive, paraphernalia. Low magic and natural magic are associated with peasants and folklore with simpler rituals such as brief, spoken spells. Low magic is also closely associated with sorcery and witchcraft . Anthropologist Susan Greenwood writes that "Since the Renaissance, high magic has been concerned with drawing down forces and energies from heaven" and achieving unity with divinity. High magic

3472-424: Is no consensus as to what constitutes white, gray or black magic, as Phil Hine says, "like many other aspects of occultism, what is termed to be 'black magic' depends very much on who is doing the defining." Gray magic , also called "neutral magic", is magic that is not performed for specifically benevolent reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices. The historian Ronald Hutton notes

3596-413: Is therefore a special gift from God , while the latter is achieved through help of Jinn and devils . Ibn al-Nadim held that exorcists gain their power by their obedience to God, while sorcerers please the devils by acts of disobedience and sacrifices and they in return do him a favor. According to Ibn Arabi , Al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yusuf al-Shubarbuli was able to walk on water due to his piety. According to

3720-400: Is usually performed indoors while witchcraft is often performed outdoors. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century. White magic is understood as the use of magic for selfless or helpful purposes, while black magic was used for selfish, harmful or evil purposes. Black magic is the malicious counterpart of the benevolent white magic. There

3844-635: The Black Pullet and the Grimoirium Verum . The Black Pullet , probably authored in late-18th-century Rome or France, differs from the typical grimoires in that it does not claim to be a manuscript from antiquity, but told by a man who was a member of Napoleon 's armed expeditionary forces in Egypt. The widespread availability of printed grimoires in France—despite the opposition of both

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3968-840: The Book of Enoch found within the Dead Sea Scrolls , for instance, there is information on astrology and the angels . In possible connection with the Book of Enoch , the idea of Enoch and his great-grandson Noah having some involvement with books of magic given to them by angels continued through to the medieval period. "Many of those [in Ephesus ] who believed [in Christianity] now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated

4092-669: The Petit Albert (1782), the Grimoire du Pape Honorius , and the Enchiridion Leonis Papae . The Petit Albert contained a wide variety of magic; for instance, dealing in simple charms for ailments, along with more complex things, such as the instructions for making a Hand of Glory . In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, following the French Revolution of 1789, a hugely influential grimoire

4216-631: The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , which listed 69 demons. To counter this, the Roman Catholic Church authorised the production of many works of exorcism, the rituals of which were often very similar to those of demonic conjuration. Alongside these demonological works, grimoires on natural magic continued to be produced, including Magia Naturalis , written by Giambattista Della Porta (1535–1615). Iceland held magical traditions in regional work as well, most remarkably

4340-544: The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses ; two influential magical texts that claimed to have been written by the ancient Jewish figure Moses. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses were among the works which later spread to the countries of Scandinavia , where—in Danish and Swedish —grimoires were known as black books and were commonly found among members of the army. In Britain, new grimoires continued to be produced throughout

4464-609: The British and French empires. Throughout this period, the Inquisition , a Roman Catholic organisation, had organised the mass suppression of peoples and beliefs that they considered heretical . In many cases, grimoires were found in the heretics' possessions and destroyed. In 1599, the church published the Indexes of Prohibited Books , in which many grimoires were listed as forbidden, including several mediaeval ones, such as

4588-603: The Franciscan friar Roger Bacon (c. 1214–94) stated that books falsely claiming to be by ancient authors "ought to be prohibited by law." As the early modern period commenced in the late 15th century, many changes began to shock Europe that would have an effect on the production of grimoires. Historian Owen Davies classed the most important of these as the Protestant Reformation , and subsequent Catholic Counter-Reformation ; The Witch-hunts , and

4712-513: The Galdrabók , where numerous symbols of mystic origin are dedicated to the practitioner. These pieces give a perfect fusion of Germanic pagan and Christian influence, seeking splendid help from the Norse gods and referring to the titles of demons. The advent of printing in Europe meant that books could be mass-produced for the first time and could reach an ever-growing literate audience. Among

4836-630: The Jewish mysticism known as the Kabbalah , which was spread across the continent by Pico della Mirandola and Johannes Reuchlin . The most important magician of the Renaissance was Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), who widely studied occult topics and earlier grimoires and eventually published his own, the Three Books of Occult Philosophy , in 1533. A similar figure was the Swiss magician known as Paracelsus (1493–1541), who published Of

4960-661: The Key of Solomon ) were reclaimed by para- Masonic magical organisations, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis . The Secret Grimoire of Turiel claims to have been written in the 16th century, but no copy older than 1927 has been produced. A modern grimoire, the Simon Necronomicon , takes its name from a fictional book of magic in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft which

5084-489: The Key of Solomon , which were still popular. In Christendom, there also began to develop a widespread fear of witchcraft , which was believed to be Satanic in nature. The subsequent hysteria, known as The Witch-hunts , caused the death of around 40,000 people, most of whom were women. Sometimes, those found with grimoires—particularly demonological ones—were prosecuted and dealt with as witches but, in most cases, those accused had no access to such books. Iceland—which had

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5208-822: The Little Key of the Whole Art of Hygromancy, Found by Several Craftsmen and by the Holy Prophet Solomon . In the 16th century, this work had been translated into Latin and Italian, being renamed the Clavicula Salomonis , or the Key of Solomon . In Christendom during the medieval age, grimoires were written that were attributed to other ancient figures, thereby supposedly giving them a sense of authenticity because of their antiquity. The German abbot and occultist Trithemius (1462–1516) supposedly had

5332-603: The Middle Kingdom , commoners began inscribing similar writings on the sides of their own coffins, hoping that doing so would ensure their own survival in the afterlife. These writings are known as the Coffin Texts . After a person died, his or her corpse would be mummified and wrapped in linen bandages to ensure that the deceased's body would survive for as long as possible because the Egyptians believed that

5456-597: The Thaumielitan . These three powers can also be viewed as wrathful reflections of Ain, Ain Soaf, and Ain Soaf Aur. In the summer of 1997, Josef Ben Meddour was murdered by members Vlad and his accomplice Jon Nödtveidt. This act was described by the police to be a homophobic hate crime. When Nödtveidt and Vlad were arrested for the crime respectively on the 15th and 18 December 1997, the police discovered satanic altars in

5580-535: The advent of printing . The Renaissance saw the continuation of interest in magic that had been found in the Medieval period, and in this period, there was an increased interest in Hermeticism among occultists and ceremonial magicians in Europe, largely fueled by the 1471 translation of the ancient Corpus hermeticum into Latin by Marsilio Ficino (1433–99). Alongside this, there was a rise in interest in

5704-676: The jinn —comparable entities in Islamic mythology —were perceived as more ambivalent figures by Muslims. The model of the magician in Christian thought was provided by Simon Magus , (Simon the Magician), a figure who opposed Saint Peter in both the Acts of the Apostles and the apocryphal yet influential Acts of Peter . The historian Michael D. Bailey stated that in medieval Europe, magic

5828-562: The 10th-century Ghâyat al-Hakîm , was later translated into Latin and circulated in Europe during the 13th century under the name of the Picatrix . However, not all such grimoires of this era were based upon Arabic sources. The 13th-century Sworn Book of Honorius , for instance, was (like the ancient Testament of Solomon before it) largely based on the supposed teachings of the Biblical king Solomon and included ideas such as prayers and

5952-716: The 18th century, such as Ebenezer Sibly 's A New and Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology . In the last decades of that century, London experienced a revival of interest in the occult which was further propagated by Francis Barrett 's publication of The Magus in 1801. The Magus contained many things taken from older grimoires—particularly those of Cornelius Agrippa—and, while not achieving initial popularity upon release, it gradually became an influential text. One of Barrett's pupils, John Parkin, created his own handwritten grimoire The Grand Oracle of Heaven, or, The Art of Divine Magic , although it

6076-593: The 19th century, and became relatively popular—particularly in Spain—was the Libro de San Cipriano , or The Book of St. Ciprian , which falsely claimed to date from c. 1000. As with most grimoires of this period, it dealt with (among other things) how to discover treasure. In Germany, with the increased interest in folklore during the 19th century, many historians took an interest in magic and in grimoires. Several published extracts of such grimoires in their own books on

6200-633: The British following the publication of Francis Barrett 's The Magus (1801), the term entered English in reference to books of magic. The earliest known written magical incantations come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq ), where they have been found inscribed on cuneiform clay tablets that archaeologists excavated from the city of Uruk and dated to between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The ancient Egyptians also employed magical incantations, which have been found inscribed on amulets and other items. The Egyptian magical system, known as heka ,

6324-630: The Hellenistic period, when Hellenistic authors categorised a diverse range of practices—such as enchantment, witchcraft , incantations , divination , necromancy , and astrology —under the label "magic". The Latin language adopted this meaning of the term in the first century BCE. Via Latin, the concept became incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. Early Christians associated magic with demons , and thus regarded it as against Christian religion. In early modern Europe , Protestants often claimed that Roman Catholicism

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6448-587: The Jewish and Biblical creation theory of Adam and Eve and the existence of the abrahamic God, or Yehowa, that according to them created the universe, but unlike followers of the abrahamic faiths, they instead reject Yehowa and want to see this creation not to have taken place, and wish to destroy it or cause its non-existence through magic and rituals. They believe that chaos is an infinidimensional and pandimensional plane of possibilities, in contrast to cosmos which only has three spatial dimensions and one linear time dimension. They also believe that, in comparison with

6572-648: The Kabbalah would influence the creation of a mystical philosophy known as Rosicrucianism , which first appeared in the early 17th century, when two pamphlets detailing the existence of the mysterious Rosicrucian group were published in Germany. These claimed that Rosicrucianism had originated with a Medieval figure known as Christian Rosenkreuz , who had founded the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross; however, there

6696-442: The Middle Ages more powerful than the singular commoner, the Christian Church, rejected magic as a whole because it was viewed as a means of tampering with the natural world in a supernatural manner associated with the biblical verses of Deuteronomy 18:9–12. Despite the many negative connotations which surround the term magic, there exist many elements that are seen in a divine or holy light. The divine right of kings in England

6820-413: The New Testament as well. Some commentators say that in the first century CE, early Christian authors absorbed the Greco-Roman concept of magic and incorporated it into their developing Christian theology , and that these Christians retained the already implied Greco-Roman negative stereotypes of the term and extended them by incorporating conceptual patterns borrowed from Jewish thought, in particular

6944-442: The Persian Empire. In this context, the term makes appearances in such surviving text as Sophocles ' Oedipus Rex , Hippocrates ' De morbo sacro , and Gorgias ' Encomium of Helen . In Sophocles' play, for example, the character Oedipus derogatorily refers to the seer Tiresius as a magos —in this context meaning something akin to quack or charlatan—reflecting how this epithet was no longer reserved only for Persians. In

7068-453: The Quran 2:102, magic was also taught to humans by devils and the angels Harut and Marut . The influence of Arab Islamic magic in medieval and Renaissance Europe was very notable. Some magic books such as Picatrix and Al Kindi 's De Radiis were the basis for much of medieval magic in Europe and for subsequent developments in the Renaissance. Another Arab Muslim author fundamental to the developments of medieval and Renaissance European magic

7192-408: The Roman era. heka was considered morally neutral and was applied to the practices and beliefs of both foreigners and Egyptians alike. The Instructions for Merikare informs us that heka was a beneficence gifted by the creator to humanity "in order to be weapons to ward off the blow of events". Magic was practiced by both the literate priestly hierarchy and by illiterate farmers and herdsmen, and

7316-550: The Supreme Mysteries of Nature , in which he emphasised the distinction between good and bad magic. A third such individual was Johann Georg Faust , upon whom several pieces of later literature were written, such as Christopher Marlowe 's Doctor Faustus , that portrayed him as consulting with demons. The idea of demonology had remained strong in the Renaissance, and several demonological grimoires were published, including The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy , which falsely claimed to having been authored by Cornelius Agrippa, and

7440-416: The afterlife. The use of amulets ( meket ) was widespread among both living and dead ancient Egyptians. They were used for protection and as a means of "reaffirming the fundamental fairness of the universe". The oldest amulets found are from the predynastic Badarian Period, and they persisted through to Roman times. In the Mosaic Law, practices such as witchcraft ( Biblical Hebrew : קְסָמִ֔ים ), being

7564-425: The ancient Greeks—and subsequently for the ancient Romans—"magic was not distinct from religion but rather an unwelcome, improper expression of it—the religion of the other". The historian Richard Gordon suggested that for the ancient Greeks, being accused of practicing magic was "a form of insult". This change in meaning was influenced by the military conflicts that the Greek city-states were then engaged in against

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7688-410: The broader category of superstitio ( superstition ), another term borrowed from pre-Christian Roman culture. This Christian emphasis on the inherent immorality and wrongness of magic as something conflicting with good religion was far starker than the approach in the other large monotheistic religions of the period, Judaism and Islam. For instance, while Christians regarded demons as inherently evil,

7812-513: The building of The Temple and relates that construction was hampered by demons until the archangel Michael gave the King a magical ring. The ring, engraved with the Seal of Solomon , had the power to bind demons from doing harm. Solomon used it to lock demons in jars and commanded others to do his bidding, although eventually, according to the Testament , he was tempted into worshiping "false gods", such as Moloch , Baal , and Rapha . Subsequently, after losing favour with God, King Solomon wrote

7936-413: The choices which lay outside the range of cults did not just add additional options to the civic menu, but ... sometimes incorporated critiques of the civic cults and Panhellenic myths or were genuine alternatives to them. Katadesmoi ( Latin : defixiones ), curses inscribed on wax or lead tablets and buried underground, were frequently executed by all strata of Greek society, sometimes to protect

8060-435: The city of Ephesus ; this advice was adopted on a large scale after the Christian ascent to power. In the medieval period , the production of grimoires continued in Christendom , as well as amongst Jews and the followers of the newly founded Islamic faith. As the historian Owen Davies noted, "while the [Christian] Church was ultimately successful in defeating pagan worship it never managed to demarcate clearly and maintain

8184-434: The commoner's perspective, the rituals invoked uneasiness and an even stronger sense of dismissal. In the Medieval Jewish view, the separation of the mystical and magical elements of Kabbalah, dividing it into speculative theological Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Iyyunit ) with its meditative traditions, and theurgic practical Kabbalah ( Kabbalah Ma'asit ), had occurred by the beginning of the 14th century. One societal force in

8308-559: The earliest books to be printed were magical texts. The nóminas were one example, consisting of prayers to the saints used as talismans. It was particularly in Protestant countries, such as Switzerland and the German states, which were not under the domination of the Roman Catholic Church, where such grimoires were published. Despite the advent of print, however, handwritten grimoires remained highly valued, as they were believed to contain inherent magical powers, and they continued to be produced. With increasing availability, people lower down

8432-407: The entire polis . Communal curses carried out in public declined after the Greek classical period, but private curses remained common throughout antiquity. They were distinguished as magical by their individualistic, instrumental and sinister qualities. These qualities, and their perceived deviation from inherently mutable cultural constructs of normality, most clearly delineate ancient magic from

8556-528: The first century BCE onwards, Syrian magusai gained notoriety as magicians and soothsayers. During the late-sixth and early-fifth centuries BCE, the term goetia found its way into ancient Greek , where it was used with negative connotations to apply to rites that were regarded as fraudulent, unconventional, and dangerous; in particular they dedicate themselves to the evocation and invocation of daimons (lesser divinities or spirits) to control and acquire powers. This concept remained pervasive throughout

8680-445: The first century BCE, the Greek concept of the magos was adopted into Latin and used by a number of ancient Roman writers as magus and magia . The earliest known Latin use of the term was in Virgil 's Eclogue , written around 40 BCE, which makes reference to magicis ... sacris (magic rites). The Romans already had other terms for the negative use of supernatural powers, such as veneficus and saga . The Roman use of

8804-443: The flight of birds and astrology. He also mentioned enchantment and ligatures (the medical use of magical objects bound to the patient) as being magical. Medieval Europe also saw magic come to be associated with the Old Testament figure of Solomon ; various grimoires , or books outlining magical practices, were written that claimed to have been written by Solomon, most notably the Key of Solomon . In early medieval Europe, magia

8928-418: The following centuries. Since the nineteenth century, academics in various disciplines have employed the term magic but have defined it in different ways and used it in reference to different things. One approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor (1832–1917) and James G. Frazer (1854–1941), uses the term to describe beliefs in hidden sympathies between objects that allow one to influence

9052-553: The gods, snnw ntr (images of the god), the same power to use words creatively that the gods have is shared by humans. The interior walls of the pyramid of Unas, the final pharaoh of the Egyptian Fifth Dynasty, are covered in hundreds of magical spells and inscriptions, running from floor to ceiling in vertical columns. These inscriptions are known as the Pyramid Texts and they contain spells needed by

9176-524: The guilt for all their misdeeds onto various objects such as a strip of dates, an onion, and a tuft of wool. The person would then burn the objects and thereby purify themself of all sins that they might have unknowingly committed. A whole genre of love spells existed. Such spells were believed to cause a person to fall in love with another person, restore love which had faded, or cause a male sexual partner to be able to sustain an erection when he had previously been unable. Other spells were used to reconcile

9300-478: The history of magic, thereby helping to further propagate them. Perhaps the most notable of these was the Protestant pastor Georg Conrad Horst (1779–1832) who, from 1821 to 1826, published a six-volume collection of magical texts in which he studied grimoires as a peculiarity of the Medieval mindset. Another scholar of the time interested in grimoires, the antiquarian bookseller Johann Scheible first published

9424-405: The homes of the recently deceased and in cemeteries . A subcategory of incantation bowls are those used in Jewish magical practice. Aramaic incantation bowls are an important source of knowledge about Jewish magical practices. In ancient Egypt ( Kemet in the Egyptian language), Magic (personified as the god heka ) was an integral part of religion and culture which is known to us through

9548-420: The homes of the two suspects. A human skull was also found at Vlad's home, for which he was charged with possession of human parts. According to the police, the cult never had more than a handful of followers. During their investigations, the police interrogated the early former member of the MLO, and Vlad's girlfriend (who had reported him for aggravated domestic abuse) who described the organisation and narrated

9672-511: The label drew arbitrary lines between similar beliefs and practices that were alternatively considered religious, and that it constituted ethnocentric to apply the connotations of magic—rooted in Western and Christian history—to other cultures. Historians and anthropologists have distinguished between practitioners who engage in high magic, and those who engage in low magic . High magic, also known as theurgy and ceremonial or ritual magic,

9796-477: The last decade of the century, however, recognising the ubiquity and respectability of acts such as katadesmoi ( binding spells ), described as magic by modern and ancient observers alike, scholars have been compelled to abandon this viewpoint. The Greek word mageuo (practice magic) itself derives from the word Magos , originally simply the Greek name for a Persian tribe known for practicing religion. Non-civic mystery cults have been similarly re-evaluated:

9920-609: The legendary figure of Hermes Trismegistus developed as a conflation of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek Hermes ; this figure was associated with writing and magic and, therefore, of books on magic. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that books on magic were invented by the Persians . The 1st-century AD writer Pliny the Elder stated that magic had been first discovered by the ancient philosopher Zoroaster around

10044-409: The linear time of cosmos, chaos can be described as timeless in the way that it is not contained nor limited by one-dimensional time, and formless, because of its ever-changing and infinite number of space dimensions. Militant neo-gnosticism and misanthropy is taught within the group, and they say that the true Satanist must not be a part of the modern society, as it is founded upon lies. They say

10168-556: The magician Osthanes , who accompanied the military campaigns of the Persian King Xerxes . Ancient Greek scholarship of the 20th century, almost certainly influenced by Christianising preconceptions of the meanings of magic and religion , and the wish to establish Greek culture as the foundation of Western rationality, developed a theory of ancient Greek magic as primitive and insignificant, and thereby essentially separate from Homeric , communal ( polis ) religion. Since

10292-550: The magician, because all magical actions relied on the aid of demons. There could be conflicting attitudes regarding the practices of a magician; in European history, authorities often believed that cunning folk and traditional healers were harmful because their practices were regarded as magical and thus stemming from contact with demons, whereas a local community might value and respect these individuals because their skills and services were deemed beneficial. In Western societies,

10416-499: The modern Pagan religion of Wicca ; or as a symbol of women resisting male authority and asserting an independent female authority. Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view . Those regarded as being magicians have often faced suspicion from other members of their society. This is particularly the case if these perceived magicians have been associated with social groups already considered morally suspect in

10540-423: The occult ceremonies they had attended. Rituals included meditation, invocations of demons, and animal sacrifices– namely cats, which Vlad bought through classified ads. During the weeks that preceded the murder of Josef ben Meddour, Vlad had been more and more extremist in his speech, and the idea of performing human sacrifices, followed by a mass suicide, was discussed at length. During a meeting at Nödtveidt's home,

10664-564: The opposition of magic and miracle . Some early Christian authors followed the Greek-Roman thinking by ascribing the origin of magic to the human realm, mainly to Zoroaster and Osthanes . The Christian view was that magic was a product of the Babylonians, Persians, or Egyptians. The Christians shared with earlier classical culture the idea that magic was something distinct from proper religion, although drew their distinction between

10788-448: The other. Defined in this way, magic is portrayed as the opposite to science. An alternative approach, associated with the sociologist Marcel Mauss (1872–1950) and his uncle Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), employs the term to describe private rites and ceremonies and contrasts it with religion, which it defines as a communal and organised activity. By the 1990s many scholars were rejecting the term's utility for scholarship. They argued that

10912-514: The people a magician ... should be apprehended in my retinue, or in that of the Caesar, he shall not escape punishment and torture by the protection of his rank. Magic practices such as divination, interpretation of omens, sorcery, and use of charms had been specifically forbidden in Mosaic Law and condemned in Biblical histories of the kings. Many of these practices were spoken against in

11036-477: The pharaoh in order to survive in the afterlife . The Pyramid Texts were strictly for royalty only; the spells were kept secret from commoners and were written only inside royal tombs. During the chaos and unrest of the First Intermediate Period , however, tomb robbers broke into the pyramids and saw the magical inscriptions. Commoners began learning the spells and, by the beginning of

11160-579: The police viewed them as social pests who took money from the gullible, often in a search for treasure. In doing so, they confiscated many grimoires. Beginning in the 17th century, a new, ephemeral form of printed literature developed in France; the Bibliothèque bleue . Many grimoires published through this circulated among a growing percentage of the populace; in particular, the Grand Albert ,

11284-450: The practice of magic, especially when harmful, was usually associated with women. For instance, during the witch trials of the early modern period, around three quarters of those executed as witches were female, to only a quarter who were men. That women were more likely to be accused and convicted of witchcraft in this period might have been because their position was more legally vulnerable, with women having little or no legal standing that

11408-536: The presence of four distinct meanings of the term witchcraft in the English language. Historically, the term primarily referred to the practice of causing harm to others through supernatural or magical means. This remains, according to Hutton, "the most widespread and frequent" understanding of the term. Moreover, Hutton also notes three other definitions in current usage; to refer to anyone who conducts magical acts, for benevolent or malevolent intent; for practitioners of

11532-413: The principle of heka underlay all ritual activity, both in the temples and in private settings. The main principle of heka is centered on the power of words to bring things into being. Karenga explains the pivotal power of words and their vital ontological role as the primary tool used by the creator to bring the manifest world into being. Because humans were understood to share a divine nature with

11656-490: The rationalists and the church—soon spread to neighbouring countries, such as Spain and Germany. In Switzerland, Geneva was commonly associated with the occult at the time, particularly by Catholics, because it had been a stronghold of Protestantism. Many of those interested in the esoteric traveled from Roman Catholic nations to Switzerland to purchase grimoires or to study with occultists. Soon, grimoires appeared that involved Catholic saints ; one example that appeared during

11780-468: The religious rituals of which they form a part. A large number of magical papyri , in Greek , Coptic , and Demotic , have been recovered and translated. They contain early instances of: The practice of magic was banned in the late Roman world, and the Codex Theodosianus (438 AD) states: If any wizard therefore or person imbued with magical contamination who is called by custom of

11904-520: The social scale and women began to have access to books on magic; this was often incorporated into the popular folk magic of the average people and, in particular, that of the cunning folk , who were professionally involved in folk magic. These works left Europe and were imported to the parts of Latin America controlled by the Spanish and Portuguese empires and the parts of North America controlled by

12028-412: The sorcerer and put it on trial at night. Then, once the nature of the sorcerer's crimes had been determined, the person would burn the effigy and thereby break the sorcerer's power over them. The ancient Mesopotamians also performed magical rituals to purify themselves of sins committed unknowingly. One such ritual was known as the Šurpu , or "Burning", in which the caster of the spell would transfer

12152-460: The spirits of those they had wronged, they would leave offerings known as kispu in the person's tomb in hope of appeasing them. If that failed, they also sometimes took a figurine of the deceased and buried it in the ground, demanding for the gods to eradicate the spirit, or force it to leave the person alone. The ancient Mesopotamians also used magic intending to protect themselves from evil sorcerers who might place curses on them. Black magic as

12276-492: The temple into the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries CE. During the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE, the Persian maguš was Graecicized and introduced into the ancient Greek language as μάγος and μαγεία . In doing so it transformed meaning, gaining negative connotations, with the magos being regarded as a charlatan whose ritual practices were fraudulent, strange, unconventional, and dangerous. As noted by Davies, for

12400-663: The term maleficium applied to forms of magic that were conducted with the intention of causing harm. The later Middle Ages saw words for these practitioners of harmful magical acts appear in various European languages: sorcière in French, Hexe in German, strega in Italian, and bruja in Spanish. The English term for malevolent practitioners of magic, witch, derived from the earlier Old English term wicce . Ars Magica or magic

12524-472: The term had gained its now common usage in France and had begun to be used to refer purely to books of magic. Owen Davies presumed this was because "many of them continued to circulate in Latin manuscripts". However, the term grimoire later developed into a figure of speech among the French indicating something that was hard to understand. In the 19th century, with the increasing interest in occultism among

12648-648: The term was similar to that of the Greeks, but placed greater emphasis on the judicial application of it. Within the Roman Empire , laws would be introduced criminalising things regarded as magic. In ancient Roman society, magic was associated with societies to the east of the empire; the first century CE writer Pliny the Elder for instance claimed that magic had been created by the Iranian philosopher Zoroaster , and that it had then been brought west into Greece by

12772-433: The two in different ways. For early Christian writers like Augustine of Hippo , magic did not merely constitute fraudulent and unsanctioned ritual practices, but was the very opposite of religion because it relied upon cooperation from demons , the henchmen of Satan . In this, Christian ideas of magic were closely linked to the Christian category of paganism , and both magic and paganism were regarded as belonging under

12896-457: The value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power." Acts 19, c.  1st century Israelite King Solomon was a Biblical figure associated with magic and sorcery in the ancient world. The 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Josephus mentioned a book circulating under the name of Solomon that contained incantations for summoning demons and described how

13020-453: The very fabric of this reality is a lie that hinders chaos from realizing itself. These are the three dark veils before Satan , in their belief system seen as the three forces that were expelled from Ain Sof in order to make way for the manifestation of the "Black Light" in the "outer darkness" that soon became Sitra Ahra : These three powers can be seen as the burning trident held high above

13144-420: The work as a warning and a guide to the reader. When Christianity became the dominant faith of the Roman Empire , the early Church frowned upon the propagation of books on magic, connecting it with paganism , and burned books of magic. The New Testament records that after the unsuccessful exorcism by the seven sons of Sceva became known, many converts decided to burn their own magic and pagan books in

13268-471: The world, ranging from Jamaica to Sumatra . He also noted that in this sense, the world's first grimoires were created in Europe and the ancient Near East . The etymology of grimoire is unclear. It is most commonly believed that the term grimoire originated from the Old French word grammaire 'grammar', which had initially been used to refer to all books written in Latin . By the 18th century,

13392-400: The year 647 BC but that it was only written down in the 5th century BC by the magician Osthanes . His claims are not, however, supported by modern historians. The ancient Jewish people were often viewed as being knowledgeable in magic, which, according to legend, they had learned from Moses , who had learned it in Egypt. Among many ancient writers, Moses was seen as an Egyptian rather than

13516-466: Was "based on the book Liber Azerate and the teachings of MLO". The MLO propagate " Chaos - Gnostic Satanism " or "Current 218". In 2010, a second book named Liber Falxifer was published. It is also a grimoire with spells, and commentary about Latin American death cults. It was published by Ixaxaar Publications, in limited editions. The MLO believes in what they titled "Chaosophy", they believe in

13640-435: Was a "relatively broad and encompassing category". Christian theologians believed that there were multiple different forms of magic, the majority of which were types of divination , for instance, Isidore of Seville produced a catalogue of things he regarded as magic in which he listed divination by the four elements i.e. geomancy , hydromancy , aeromancy , and pyromancy , as well as by observation of natural phenomena e.g.

13764-601: Was a term of condemnation. In medieval Europe, Christians often suspected Muslims and Jews of engaging in magical practices; in certain cases, these perceived magical rites—including the alleged Jewish sacrifice of Christian children —resulted in Christians massacring these religious minorities. Christian groups often also accused other, rival Christian groups such as the Hussites —which they regarded as heretical —of engaging in magical activities. Medieval Europe also saw

13888-678: Was devised, taught, and worked by demons would have seemed reasonable to anyone who read the Greek magical papyri or the Sefer-ha-Razim and found that healing magic appeared alongside rituals for killing people, gaining wealth, or personal advantage, and coercing women into sexual submission. Archaeology is contributing to a fuller understanding of ritual practices performed in the home, on the body and in monastic and church settings. The Islamic reaction towards magic did not condemn magic in general and distinguished between magic which can heal sickness and possession , and sorcery. The former

14012-463: Was generally passed down from generation to generation and was held in extremely high regard and often served as advisors to kings and great leaders. An āšipu probably served not only as a magician, but also as a physician, a priest, a scribe, and a scholar. The Sumerian god Enki , who was later syncretized with the East Semitic god Ea, was closely associated with magic and incantations; he

14136-699: Was greatly altered and expanded after the Macedonians , led by Alexander the Great , invaded Egypt in 332 BC. Under the next three centuries of Hellenistic Egypt , the Coptic writing system evolved, and the Library of Alexandria was opened. This likely had an influence upon books of magic, with the trend on known incantations switching from simple health and protection charms to more specific things, such as financial success and sexual fulfillment. Around this time

14260-436: Was independent of their male relatives. The conceptual link between women and magic in Western culture may be because many of the activities regarded as magical—from rites to encourage fertility to potions to induce abortions —were associated with the female sphere. It might also be connected to the fact that many cultures portrayed women as being inferior to men on an intellectual, moral, spiritual, and physical level. Magic

14384-583: Was inspired by Babylonian mythology and the Ars Goetia —one of the five books that make up The Lesser Key of Solomon —concerning the summoning of demons. The Azoëtia of Andrew D. Chumbley has been described by Gavin Semple as a modern grimoire. The neopagan religion of Wicca publicly appeared in the 1940s, and Gerald Gardner introduced the Book of Shadows as a Wiccan grimoire. The term grimoire commonly serves as an alternative name for

14508-535: Was invoked in many kinds of rituals and medical formulae, and to counteract evil omens. Defensive or legitimate magic in Mesopotamia ( asiputu or masmassutu in the Akkadian language) were incantations and ritual practices intended to alter specific realities. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that magic was the only viable defense against demons , ghosts , and evil sorcerers. To defend themselves against

14632-408: Was magic rather than religion, and as Christian Europeans began colonizing other parts of the world in the sixteenth century, they labelled the non-Christian beliefs they encountered as magical. In that same period, Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to express the idea of natural magic . Both negative and positive understandings of the term recurred in Western culture over

14756-517: Was never published, largely because Britain was at war with France , and grimoires were commonly associated with the French. The only writer to publish British grimoires widely in the early 19th century was Robert Cross Smith , who released The Philosophical Merlin (1822) and The Astrologer of the Nineteenth Century (1825), but neither sold well. In the late 19th century, several of these texts (including The Book of Abramelin and

14880-432: Was no evidence for the existence of Rosenkreuz or the Brotherhood. The 18th century saw the rise of the Enlightenment , a movement devoted to science and rationalism , predominantly amongst the ruling classes. However, amongst much of Europe, belief in magic and witchcraft persisted, as did the witch trials in certain areas. Governments tried to crack down on magicians and fortune tellers , particularly in France, where

15004-535: Was not acceptable, because it was believed that such magic did not come from God, but from the Devil and his demons. These grimoires dealt in such topics as necromancy , divination and demonology . Despite this, "there is ample evidence that the mediaeval clergy were the main practitioners of magic and therefore the owners, transcribers, and circulators of grimoires," while several grimoires were attributed to Popes . One such Arabic grimoire devoted to astral magic,

15128-543: Was published under the title of the Grand Grimoire , which was considered particularly powerful, because it involved conjuring and making a pact with the devil's chief minister, Lucifugé Rofocale , to gain wealth from him. A new version of this grimoire was later published under the title of the Dragon rouge and was available for sale in many Parisian bookstores. Similar books published in France at this time included

15252-402: Was the patron god of the bārȗ and the ašipū and was widely regarded as the ultimate source of all arcane knowledge. The ancient Mesopotamians also believed in omens , which could come when solicited or unsolicited. Regardless of how they came, omens were always taken with the utmost seriousness. A common set of shared assumptions about the causes of evil and how to avert it are found in

15376-421: Was thought to be able to give them " sacred magic" power to heal thousands of their subjects from sicknesses. Diversified instruments or rituals used in medieval magic include, but are not limited to: various amulets, talismans, potions, as well as specific chants, dances, and prayers . Along with these rituals are the adversely imbued notions of demonic participation which influence of them. The idea that magic

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