A Haunted Mind

imagined.

SECTION ONE

THE FORBIDDEN LIBRARY

Part of the fascination—and horror—regarding Lovecraft’s fiction lies within the references to certain dark and forbidden occult books, the contents of which are enough to madden the most rational mind. The very titles of such blasphemous tomes such as the Neconomicon, the Book of Eibon, De Vermis Mysteriis, and Cultes des Goules evoke the horrors that infest their yellowed and mouldering pages. Some Lovecraft scholars have suggested that these volumes might be based on actual works, the existence of which is denied to most academics, although Lovecraft may have been aware of them. Could this be true? Are there books out there that could drive the mind of the reader to the very edge of insanity by the secrets that lie within them? Let’s take a look at some of the terrifying works that Lovecraft mentions and see if they at all parallel real history. First, though, a word about dark books in general.

Turning the Dark Pages

What are the most dangerous and evil books in the world? The answers are almost as many as there are books. Some might point to the texts of the political world such as Das Kapital, Mein Kampf, or The Little Red Book, which have sought to change the very nature of society. Others may cite the founding works of some of the world’s greatest religions, the manipulation and differing interpretations of which have led to violence, suffering, and exclusion.

However, the idea of the grimoire, a book of arcane knowledge, lore, and ritual, particularly in a supernatural context, has provoked fear and suspicion in some people and awe and reverence in others. A grimoire is a book used for conjuration and for the summoning of spirits; it is also a repository of ancient lore and a book of protection against evil and witchcraft, as it shows how to make charms and talismans that ward away evil. However, not all books of magic are grimoires; some magical texts are concerned with the use of natural herbs or alchemical explorations rather than the summoning of spirits or arcane beings. The derivation of the word grimoire is unknown, although it might come from the French word grammaire, which originally meant book in Latin and implied great age and sagacity. Some of these grimoires were not about magic and sorcery at all, but concerned themselves with religious and theological matters. It is only in the 19th century, with a rising interest in the occult among the more educated tiers of society, that the word took on dark and sinister connotations.

Such books came into existence because of a general desire to retain certain knowledge that had been passed down orally by recording it in a physical form. According to historian Matthew Dickie, such an imperative stretched back as far as the second millennium B.C., and they existed within the Babylonian Empire. From there, written (as opposed to oral) magic spread across the Middle East to Europe and across the Atlantic to America. A number of volumes also contained mathematical grids and unfamiliar designs, which only added to their air of secrecy and mystery. Also, the size and venerable appearance of the tome might give it an air of ancient authority. In fact, some of the books were thought to be magical, and were dipped in water to produce a medicine to cure ailments. For example, the seventh-century Book of Durrow, an illuminated manuscript of certain gospels, was repeatedly dunked in a well by farmers during the 17th century in order to provide a cure for sick animals.

Many of the early secret books originated in the Far and Middle East, but were brought into the Mediterranean and Western worlds along caravan routes from Persia, Egypt, and further east. Many of these were books of magic, some were parts of the Bible, and others were chemical and mathematical expositions. A few even contained references to ancient religions and rituals for summoning old gods. Although we refer to them as books, some were no more than passages written on pieces of paper, others were scrolls, and some were large, bound volumes. Many were hand-written and possibly copied from other tomes.

Because these books were cross-fertilizations of Middle Eastern intellectual thought and Westernised Christian perceptions, many of them were concerned with religious thinking from Islamic, Judaistic, and Christian perspectives, scientific and mathematical matters, and astronomy. Also, the language in which they were written was important—any tome written in Greek or Persian had to be magical in nature.

On the same note, early Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions had been influenced by Babylonian myths, and these suggested that some of these texts had been handed down from a time before the Flood. Although some of them were ascribed to Adam or to Cain, many medieval scholars suggested that the true author of the works was Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It was he, they said, who had actually invented writing and books. Other sources state that the angel Raziel gave a book directly to Noah, which Noah kept in a golden chest that he brought onto the Ark and subsequently bequeathed to his son Shem. This was later transcribed into a work entitled The Treatise of Shem, which circulated in Europe around the end of the first century A.D.

However, both of Noah’s sons, Shem and Ham, were associated with the books of magic. By interacting with demons and renegade angels, Ham learned their secrets, writing them down on tablets of stone and burying them just before the Flood. They were later found and secretly retained by some of the early Hebrews. Herbert de Losinga, first Bishop of Norwich, believed that these secret tablets were retained within the Ark of the Covenant. The 12th-century scholar Michael Scot declared that Zoroaster was Shem, and Ham had invented the arts of divination and other magical arts with the help of demons. Ham then passed on the knowledge to his son Canaan, who wrote it down in 30 separate volumes, which were burned shortly after he was killed in battle. However, several copies of the books were reputedly made. According to Judaic tradition, Ham was the father of all Egyptians, therefore, the copies were passed into the hands of Egyptian sorcerers.

Later, a clear distinction was made in Jewish circles between portents and miracles and base magic, the latter having its origins in Egypt. Here, magic had been learned from demons and corrupt angels who had shown men the arts of astrology, necromancy, and other dubious sciences. In the medieval period, Moses was considered more as an Egyptian than an Israelite and heir to the magical traditions of that land. Indeed, his name became associated with all types of magic that supposedly emanated from Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian magic also centered on a mysterious figure known as Hermes Trismegistus, the inventor of mathematics and a powerful magician. In fact, it is not certain that he was one single individual. In Islamic lore, he is three separate men—the first being Enoch, who carved his magical treatise on the wall of a temple that survived the Flood; the second was an Egyptian or Chaldean magician who lived after the Flood and who taught Pythagoras; and the third was a great Egyptian physician who lived many centuries later and wrote several books on healing and on various poisons. In fact, the name Trismegistus can mean thrice great, but it might also mean the sum of three parts. However, there seems to be little doubt that he/they wrote a vast number of books on magic and healing. The third-century B.C. Egyptian historian Manetho stated that he/they had written at least 36,525 volumes, many of which became lost. However, after his death, it was discovered that he ascribed the authorship of such texts as The Book of Sothis (a dubious chronicle of the Egyptian kings) to Trismegistus, whom he claimed had written it before the Flood. However, it dealt with Egyptian royalty, which existed only after the Flood, so it casts doubt on both it and a number of other similarly ascribed works. Some medieval scholars stated that many of these texts had not been written by Trismegistus at all, but by another ancient mage named Toc (or Toz) the Greek. (Some said that Toz was one of the incarnations of Trismegistus.) Nevertheless, Toz’s unnamed volume surfaced again in a Latin version during the 17th century under the title A Commentary by Toz Graecus, a Philosopher of Great Name. This claimed to be a distillation of Solomon’s wisdom, which the monarch had written down in a series of scrolls for his son Rehoboam. This was discovered by Toz, who was unable to understand the ancient language until an angel revealed it to him. However, the original text supposedly disappeared and Mankind was left with Toz’s transcription only.

This brings into focus King Solomon, who was also closely associated with many of the early magical texts. According to historians, Solomon had a special relationship with the Israelite god Yahweh, who, according to legend, asked for great wisdom far beyond that of mortal men. Part of this knowledge was the control of demons and spirits, which he instructed to build the temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus alleged that the monarch may have written up to 3,000 books, most of which were magical treatises. Many of them concerned exorcism and the curing of illness (in the medieval mind, illness and demon-possession were linked), as well as the understanding of the language of birds and animals. The first actual magical book directly attributed to him appears to be the Testament of Solomon, which was written in Greek somewhere in Babylonia or Egypt during the first five centuries A.D. This book consisted of a number of papyri containing magical symbols and alleged spells, and may not have been attributed to the king originally.

The Testament is a story about the construction of the Jerusalem Temple and how demons impeded some of Solomon’s favorite masons in their work. Thanks to his great knowledge, the monarch was able to summon the Archangel Michael and between them they constructed a magical ring inscribed with arcane and very powerful symbols. Through the power of this ring, 36 of the troublesome demons were compelled to appear before Solomon and to identify themselves. He also forced them to tell him the full extent of their powers and how these could be controlled. Using his infinite knowledge and skills, Solomon was able to drive some of the demons into clay jars and kept them in a place where they could do no harm; others he put to work on the building of the Temple and various other tasks. Solomon would later lose all his supernatural wisdom and powers through lying with a foreign woman (the Queen of Sheba). Sometime during the medieval period, the Testament was copied from papyri into a book with various annotations by the scribe regarding the explanation of and various forms of the exorcisms within the text.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, in major European cities such as Cologne and Paris, almost a dozen books bearing his name were in circulation. Several would remain in existence until the early 1500s, the most notable being the Almandal, a series of invocations to summon angels and instructions for them to do one’s bidding.

Because he was considered to be a good and wise king, many of the books attributed to Solomon dealt mostly with benevolent magic. Even so, the circulation of such books was ferociously condemned by the Church. However, the most notorious of all the works attributed to Solomon was the Clavicula Salomonis, or the Key of Solomon. The earliest versions of this work were written in Greek around the 15th century and bore the title The Magical Treatise of Solomon, also known as The Little Key of the Whole Art of Hygromancy Found by Several Craftsmen and the Holy Prophet Solomon. There seem to be a number of versions of this book, all of them dating from around the later medieval period, all varying slightly. They do, however, contain a number of similar spells for drawing down an Angel of Darkness and for advancing one’s personal rather than spiritual circumstances. It might truly be considered a grimoire or book of dark magic.

The last quasi-biblical figures come from the time of the New Testament: Jesus and Simon Magus. Among the early Christians, Simon became the embodiment of all evil, and is usually portrayed as a magician of the darkest kind. He is said, for instance, to have used semen, parts of infants, and menstrual blood in his charms and incantations. This image was compounded by the rise of a formidable cult in Asia Minor, generally known as the Simonian Gnostics, which flourished throughout the third century A.D. The cult was largely Hellenistic in tone, although it took its principles from early Mosaic literature, which portrayed God as a devouring fire. It may be that the theology and ritual, which was supposedly associated with cult members seeking to obtain the divine gnosis of their deity, outraged more orthodox churchman who declared them and their writings as heretic. This sect was allegedly founded by Simon Magus. Whereas Jesus used his powers to relieve suffering, heal sickness, and guide the righteous, Simon Magus was the consummate evil magician that used his powers for material gain, greed, and base desires. He is also credited with bringing evil magic into the world and teaching some of the most malignant sorcerers their arts.

The Later Grimoires

Whereas the early magical books had owed their authorship to biblical and quasi-biblical figures, the later books did not. They also did not concern themselves solely on calling down Divine or angelic intervention on disciplines such as the arts or sciences, or with the pursuit of pure knowledge and enlightenment. And although many were transcribed and maybe even written by monks, scholars, and popes, most concerned themselves with material things, such as the discovery of treasure, the acquisition of wealth, the gaining of love, and the satisfaction of love or lust.

The connections between the books and their authors also became more tenuous. Without any form of religious or biblical framework, such books were attributed to individuals at random. An example of this is The Sworn Book of Honorius, which appeared in the first half of the 13th century. It was initially attributed to the fourth-century emperor Honorius. However, the authorship later shifted to a Greek mathematician who lived in Alexandria at the time. The book was a hotchpotch of prayers and symbols held together by gibberish and convoluted instructions, which were written in both Hebrew and Babylonian. By following these, the adherent could discover treasure, see visions of other worlds, and gain great fame and status. According to popular legend, it originated from a gathering of the world’s Masters of Magic in A.D. 811. The mages instructed Honorius to write down their proceedings into one text, of which three copies were made. Whether such a convocation took place is extremely doubtful, but the book was enough to inflame the passions of the Church, who may have seen its very existence as a radical challenge to its authority. Nevertheless, the book circulated secretly and further copies were made.

It resurfaced around 1600, but by now the authorship of the work had changed. Books were circulating in Paris bearing the title Grimoire du Pape Honorius, transferring authorship from a Greek mathematician to an Italian Pope named Honorius III. Although a good and kindly man, his name became associated with dark things. The book was widely used in the emerging occult circles of the Renaissance and, although there were many versions of it, it still bore the name of Horonius.

However, Honorius was not the only pontiff to have his name associated with a work of dark magic. Pope Leo III supposedly penned such a tome, as did Pope Formosus. For the latter, a book detailing the construction of a speculum vitae (a magical mirror) into which a demon could be lured and trapped, was still circulating in the late 1600s and into the 1700s. An overtly political pontiff, his body was later exhumed by one of his successors, Stephen VI, and placed on trial in the hideous Cadaver Synod where it was accused of a number of crimes and