by Marti Toonen

Greeks and Romans believed Persians invented magic, specifically “Magi” tribes taught by their master Zoroaster
Actual magical writing goes back as far as clay and papyrus, before formally bound grimoires were formed

Early Egyptian magical writing usually had to do with health and protection— when conquered by the Greeks, this turned to ambition on the part of the magician

The line between “magic” and “divinity” is blurred in a religious sense because it’s all technically magic, but one is sanctioned and the other is pretty widely forbidden Religious tradition posits magic as separate from Divinity, and generally condemn magic performed by mortals— magic performed by or with the blessing of God is fine

• –  For instance, “The Book of Enoch”, a non canon book of the Bible that details various magic that doesn’t make its way into the Bible (though Enoch is mentioned several times)
• –  Moses also has several magical battles with the priests of Egypt, wherein his magic and that of his brother Aaron prove superior to the Egyptian priests because it comes from a Divine source rather than from a mortal

Characteristics of a Grimoire

– “Textbook” of magic, it not only contains spells but instructions for making physical objects, summoning, and divination

• –  All grimoires are magic books, but not all magic books are grimoires. Some magic books are like religious texts, which are assumed to be imbued with some sort of magic but provide no actual instructions or guides on how to perform it. Grimoires are said to be imbued with magic, but are instructional in nature.
• –  Grimoires are traditionally associated with ceremonies and healers, though there can be grimoires which contain more gruesome instructions, such as how to make a “Hand of Glory” candlestickModern Grimoires

• –  Widespread use of grimoires in modern Wicca culture and other New Age religions
• –  These religions have no set rules on how to make grimoire besides making it a guide forthe magic yourself personally finds most useful. The only instructions are more or lessguidelines, and suggest including solstice cycles and the Wiccan Rede
• –  The Wiccan grimoire is based off of the grimoire created by their founder Gerald Gardnercalled The Book of Shadows. Originally intended to be a secret book accessible only by the High Priests and Priestesses of the religion, several members have published the original book and it’s available as a PDF online.

– Other modern grimoires include the Necronomicon, a sensationalist book widely regarded as a huge, edgey hoax. It has all the darkness you could possibly handle, including warnings at the beginning of the book trying to get you to stop reading, the narrative of a man who literally died because he was determined to publish it (the author was anonymous), and dark rituals to summon ancient goddesses (for only eleven human lives you can summon the Babylonian goddess Tiamat).