Books and texts

Grimoires, magical papyri, Kabbalistic and Hermetic works and the manuals of cunning folk.

A book with a clasp: grimoires, papyri and manuals of rites, and the learned side of magic.

Magical texts are the books, scrolls and papyri that record spells, rites and lore: the Greek Magical Papyri, the Hebrew Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar, the Picatrix, the Key of Solomon, the Grimorium Verum, the Hindu Atharvaveda, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Chinese Taoist ritual manuals and the grimoires of the European cunning folk. This page asks what these texts are, who wrote and read them, and why their authority is complicated.

What the texts are

Some are scripture, such as the Atharvaveda, which contains charms and healing hymns beside its worship. Some are handbooks, like the Greek Magical Papyri from Roman Egypt, which mix Greek, Egyptian and Jewish elements. Some are medieval compendia, such as the Arabic Picatrix. Many European grimoires were printed cheaply and passed hand to hand, and names such as Solomon were attached to give them credit. Some are tiny, such as a few lines on a papyrus strip folded into a case, and some run to hundreds of pages, but all were handled by a small number of people.

Readers and gatekeepers

Literacy mattered. A text of magic could only be used by someone who could read, copy and, often, read Latin, Hebrew or Arabic. That made the learned magician a figure of the elite and left village healers with oral knowledge. In Ethiopia, the debtera, a church-trained scribe, writes protective scrolls. In Java and Malaysia, Quranic and Sanskrit-derived texts are kept by family teachers. Where a text was in a sacred language, the ritual use sometimes outran the meaning, and people recited words they could not translate because the sound itself was held to matter.

Censorship and burning

Texts have been burned. The Church placed books of magic on its Index, Chinese dynasties restricted books of divination, and Qing and later authorities attacked books they saw as superstition. The Nazi regime closed occult lodges and seized their libraries. What we now know of some practices survives because inquisitors, in transcribing confiscated books, kept copies. Preservation depends on accident as well as intention: papyri survived in the dry sands of Egypt, while many paper books of village healers were lost when families moved or owners died.

Authenticity and the market

Many famous grimoires are not as old as they claim. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is a nineteenth-century compilation. Scholars study such works to see how people imagined power, not to test it. Modern editions and online copies are popular, and some publishers present them as ready-to-use manuals, which the guide treats as a matter of belief and not of instruction. Collectors, museums and antiquarian dealers now trade in old manuscripts, and some forgeries sell as originals, which is another reason scholars check provenance.

Text on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth Asia Southeast Asia East Asia Central Asia and the Caucasus Middle East North Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Europe North America Latin America and the Caribbean Oceania

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇬🇧 United KingdomMother Shipton An English prophetess and herbalist from folklore, known for predictions printed long after her death.Figure · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreRenaissance magic A 15th and 16th century revival of magical arts blending philosophy, astrology, and hidden knowledge.Tradition · Power and authority · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreGrimoire A textbook containing instructions for spells, rituals, and the creation of magical objects.Text · Protection · Healing Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAleister Crowley English occultist and founder of the religion of ThelemaText · Power and authority · Change and initiation Living

🇫🇷 France and 2 moreÉliphas Lévi A French writer who shaped modern occult thought and ceremonial magic.Text · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomWiccan Rede A moral guideline for Wiccans stating that actions should cause no harm.Text · Cursing and harm Living

🇫🇷 FranceThree Books of Occult PhilosophyDe occulta philosophia libri III A Renaissance treatise on elemental, celestial and divine magicText · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇩🇪 GermanyChymical Wedding of Christian RosenkreutzChymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459 An allegorical romance and Rosicrucian manifesto detailing a seven-day alchemical initiation.Text · Change and initiation · Power and authority Historical 🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreSixth and Seventh Books of Moses A grimoire claiming to reveal the hidden spells of Moses for controlling spirits and natureText · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical

🇪🇸 SpainDirectorium Inquisitorum A 14th-century manual for inquisitors on heresy, magic, and trial procedureText · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyMalleus Maleficarum A 15th-century manual on witchcraft written by Heinrich KramerText · Cursing and harm · Binding and oaths Historical

🇬🇧 United KingdomWilliam Lilly A seventeenth-century English astrologer and author who shaped Western tradition.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreNicholas Culpeper An English herbalist and astrologer who translated medical texts into English for the poor.Text · Healing · Power and authority Historical

🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 moreEmanuel Swedenborg An 18th-century Swedish scientist who became a mystic and claimed to visit the afterlife.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living

🇮🇹 ItalyMarsilio Ficino A Renaissance priest and philosopher who revived Plato and blended astrology with Christian theology.Text · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Healing Historical

🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreMichael SendivogiusMichał Sędziwój A Polish alchemist who discovered oxygen and wrote on the 'food of life'Text · Power and authority · Change and initiation Historical

🇩🇪 GermanyBasil ValentineBasilius Valentinus A pseudonymous alchemist whose chemical writings shaped early modern chemistry and hermetic tradition.Text · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 morePietro d'Abano A medieval physician and astrologer accused of heresy and magic.Text · Healing · Wonder and entertainment Historical 🇫🇷 FrancePlanchette A wooden device for automatic writing used in Victorian spiritualist séancesCharm · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Seeing and foretelling Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreThe Fool A tarot card of unique status, depicting a wanderer or madman outside the numbered sequence.Text · Wonder and entertainment Historical

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreOgham᚛ᚑᚌᚐᚋ᚜ An early medieval script of notched lines used to carve Irish names on stone monuments.Text Historical 🇫🇷 FranceEtteilla The first professional tarot occultist who created a system for card divination.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreSerbian folkloreСрпски фолклор The folk traditions and epic poetry of the Serbs, blending pre-Christian customs with Orthodox faith.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living

🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreRunesᚱᚢᚾᛟ An ancient Germanic script used for writing and magical signs.Text · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇫🇷 France and 1 moreNostradamus A French astrologer and physician known for a book of poetic propheciesText · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical

🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreKey of SolomonClavicula Salomonis A Renaissance grimoire attributed to King Solomon, detailing ritual preparations and invocations.Text · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Historical

🇮🇹 ItalyThe MagicianLe Bateleur A tarot trump symbolizing power and the link between spirit and matterText · Power and authority · Wonder and entertainment Living

🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreSator Square A five-word Latin palindrome found in Roman ruins and medieval churchesCharm · Protection · Healing Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomGrimoire (sample) A handbook of rites and names.Text · Power and authority · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomRune casting (sample) Carved signs drawn from a bag.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling Revived

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Grimoire: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
Aleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, Public domain, source
Éliphas Lévi: Eliphas Lévi [1810-1875], Public domain, source
Three Books of Occult Philosophy: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Public domain, source
Corpus Hermeticum: Marsilio Ficino, Public domain, source
Directorium Inquisitorum: Nicolás Eymerich, Public domain, source
Malleus Maleficarum: Johann Jakob Wick, Public domain, source
William Lilly: Simon Harriyott, CC BY 2.0, source
Nicholas Culpeper: Richard Gaywood, Public domain, source
Emanuel Swedenborg: Carl Frederik von Breda, Public domain, source
Michael Sendivogius: Łuszczkiewicz, Public domain, source
Basil Valentine: TomKidd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Pietro d'Abano: Marco Chemello (Wikimedia Italia), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
The Fool: Johann Georg Rauch, Public domain, source
Ogham: Runologe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Serbian folklore: Uroš Predić, Public domain, source
Runes: Bengt Olof ÅRADSSON, CC BY 1.0, source
Nostradamus: After César de Notre-Dame, Public domain, source
Key of Solomon: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
The Magician: Pamela Colman Smith, Public domain, source
Sator Square: M Disdero, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Renaissance magic: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Mother Shipton: Unknown author, Public domain, source