SPYSCAPE travels back to a time of amulets and rituals when spells were used to ward off demons.
We explore seven of the world’s authentic magic manuscripts - some of which may already be familiar to Harry Potter fans and students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. Ethiopian prayer book መጽሐፍ መድኃኒት Mäṣhafä Mädḥanit
The British Library’s Ethiopian manuscript dates back to 1750 and contains prayers, pictures, and prescriptions for undoing charms or warding off devils and diseases. By the 15th century, this type of magic had been outlawed by Ethiopia’s Christian King, so the manuscript’s owner was likely a ‘doctora’ - the equivalent of an alchemist - who would have kept the book a secret.
Eyob Derillo, the curator of the British Library’s Ethiopian collection, deciphered a prayer for transformation written in the ancient language of Geʽez. He describes it as a Harry Potter-esque incantation enabling the person reading it to transform into a lion. To be successful, candidates must read a prayer, write it down on a silk cloth, and tie the cloth around their head.
2. The Key of Knowledge
The Book of King Solomon, known as The Key of Knowledge was written in the 16th century and purportedly offers the secret to becoming invisible. Readers are invited to recite: “Stabbon, Asen, Gabellum, Saneney, Noty, Enobal, Labonerem, Balametem, Balnon, Tygumel, Millegaly, Juneneis, Hearma, Hamorache, Yesa, Seya, Senoy, Henen, Barucatha, Acararas, Taracub, Bucarat, Caramy, by the mercy whitch you beare towardes mann kynde, make me to be invysible.”
The author, Gabriel Harvey, largely disappeared toward the end of his life, so proceed with caution!
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SPYSCAPE travels back to a time of amulets and rituals when spells were used to ward off demons.
We explore seven of the world’s authentic magic manuscripts - some of which may already be familiar to Harry Potter fans and students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. Ethiopian prayer book መጽሐፍ መድኃኒት Mäṣhafä Mädḥanit
The British Library’s Ethiopian manuscript dates back to 1750 and contains prayers, pictures, and prescriptions for undoing charms or warding off devils and diseases. By the 15th century, this type of magic had been outlawed by Ethiopia’s Christian King, so the manuscript’s owner was likely a ‘doctora’ - the equivalent of an alchemist - who would have kept the book a secret.
Eyob Derillo, the curator of the British Library’s Ethiopian collection, deciphered a prayer for transformation written in the ancient language of Geʽez. He describes it as a Harry Potter-esque incantation enabling the person reading it to transform into a lion. To be successful, candidates must read a prayer, write it down on a silk cloth, and tie the cloth around their head.
2. The Key of Knowledge
The Book of King Solomon, known as The Key of Knowledge was written in the 16th century and purportedly offers the secret to becoming invisible. Readers are invited to recite: “Stabbon, Asen, Gabellum, Saneney, Noty, Enobal, Labonerem, Balametem, Balnon, Tygumel, Millegaly, Juneneis, Hearma, Hamorache, Yesa, Seya, Senoy, Henen, Barucatha, Acararas, Taracub, Bucarat, Caramy, by the mercy whitch you beare towardes mann kynde, make me to be invysible.”
The author, Gabriel Harvey, largely disappeared toward the end of his life, so proceed with caution!
3. Liber Medicinalis
Scholars of ancient magic often mention the 13th-century Liber Medicinalis (Book of Medicine), which contains the first documented use of the word ‘Abracadabra’.
Practitioners should write Abracadabra on papyrus.
With each repetition, the last letter should be dropped until the single letter ‘A’ remains.
A cone-shaped amulet can then be crafted and placed around the neck to drive out the fever.
4. The Grolier Codex
The Maya Empire reached the peak of its power around the sixth century A.D. in Central America and its sophisticated hieroglyphic-based writing system and Mayan books have survived, including the mysterious Grolier Codex.
The manuscript - dating from around 1230 A.D. - was found in the 1960s and analysis confirms it is genuine.
Eleven pages of the Grolier Codex are lost, however, and not all of what remains is understood. So what do we know?
According to Fine Books the codices have calendrical and astronomical elements that track the passage of time via heavenly bodies. The codex also assists priests with divination - one of the murkier forms of magic - and informs ritualistic practices.
5. Old Egyptian Fortune-Teller’s Last Legacy (1775)
TheLast Legacy is believed to be a collection of Egyptian divination techniques and omens compiled by an anonymous British writer. The pamphlet also offers advice for warriors: If you dream that you fight and destroy serpents, you will achieve victory over enemies. In addition to fortune-telling through palm reading, the book also explains how to divine the future by interpreting the moles on your body: “A mole on the buttock denotes honor to a man and riches to a woman.” Just so you know…
6. Book of Magical Charms (circa 1600)
Among the more intriguing texts at Chicago’s Newberry Library are manuscripts dealing with conjuring spirits. One such manuscript - dubbed The Book of Magical Charms by staff - was so intriguing the library crowdsourced translators, including self-described witches and warlocks. Inside they found prayers, seals to ward off demons, charms to learn if a husband or wife will die first, and medicinal spells.
Readers may want to think twice before following some of the suggested ‘cures’, however. The cure for a bloody nose includes putting a drop of the blood on a ‘fire shovel’, placing it over a fire, then blowing it up the nose. The suggested solution for getting rid of a persistent sorceress may work a charm, however: Toss poop into the witch’s backyard.
Ripley was a renowned alchemist with two goals: i) to create the mythical Philosopher's Stone that could turn base metal into gold, and; ii) to manufacture an elixir that would offer eternal life.
In 1471, Ripley is credited with writing The Compound of Alchemy, a long poem with verses full of mystical symbolism, although the precise meanings of the alchemical icons are still debated.
While the alchemical scrolls are rare - one copy sold for $800,000 at a 2017 auction - there are more than you might expect.
Four copies are housed in the US at Yale University; Princeton; and in California’s Huntington Library and Getty Center. Another 16 scrolls are scattered around the UK.
The Cancer of Superstition
Not all magic manuscripts are centuries old, of course. Illusionist Harry Houdini commissioned horror author HP Lovecraft in 1926 to write an investigation of superstition through the ages set against the backdrop of animism, fetishism, witchcraft, and black magic.
The 31-page typewritten book, The Cancer of Superstition, was still in draft form when Houdini died, halting the writing project. Lost for decades, Lovecraft’s manuscript was discovered by a private collector in an old magic shop.
Lovecraft had already begun investigating superstition in ancient and modern culture, exploring werewolves and other monsters. He concludes, somewhat frighteningly, that “most of us are heathens in the innermost recesses of our hearts”.
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