Grimoire

A Grimoire (SAMPA: [grI'mwAr]), is a book of magicalal knowledge written between the late-Medieval period and the 18th Century. Such books contain astrological correspondences, lists of angels and/or demons, directions on casting charms and spells, on mixing medicines, summoning unearthly entities, and/or making talismans. The word, "grimoire," is from the Old French "gramaire", and is from the same root as "grammar." This is partly because, in the mid-late Middle Ages, Latin "grammars" (books on Latin syntax and diction) were foundational to school and university education, as controlled by the Church -- while to the illiterate majority, all non-Ecclesiastically-sanctioned books were suspect as magic. But "grammar" also denoted, to literate and illiterate alike, a book of basic instruction. Notable authentic grimoires include:\n*The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage\n*Liber Juratis, or, The Sworne Booke of Honorius\n*The Black Pullet\n*The Greater Key of Solomon\n*The Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon\n \nIn the late 19th Century, several of these texts (including the Abra-melin text and the Keys of Solomon) were reclaimed by neo-Masonic magical organizations such as the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis. Aleister Crowley, a prime mover of both groups, then served as a vector for a number of modern movements, including Wicca, Satanism, and Chaos Magic. A cottage industry has existed since the 19th Century in selling false or carelessly-translated grimoires (many original texts are in French or Latin, and are quite rare), although faithful editions are available for most of the above titles. A modern grimoire is the Necronomicon, named after a fictional book of magic in the stories of author H.P. Lovecraft, and inspired by Sumerian mythology and the Ars Goetia, a section in the Lesser Key of Solomon which concerns the summoning of demons. The Voynich manuscript may also be a grimoire, although its text has never been deciphered, and it may be a centuries-old hoax.

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In Source Mage GNU/Linux, the grimoire is the collection of spells that can be cast on the computer.

External links:

• A collection of grimoires