Magic Books

There are two basic types of magic books, modern books designed to teach people how to perform sleight of hand and other tricks, and grimoires which were the hidden journals of deceased, even ancient, magicians. Magicians were considered evil to organized religions so were adamantly persecuted. This led them to hide their knowledge in journals that were kept from the public and passed from magician to magician.

These magic books were often lost, and when they were found they were often destroyed. Witchcraft and spell casting was greatly feared, some magicians were believed to cause floods, famine and fires. These books often contain astrological signs and predictions, lists of demons and angels, and how to make potions, talismans and charms.

One of the earliest magic books is the Greek Magical Papyri, which is a collection of papyrus that dates from roughly 300 B.C. to 200 A.D. It contains a large number of different tricks ranging from simple parlor tricks to love spells and even summoning demons. They are often written with “Voces Mysticae”, the language of demons which has been recorded in many different occurrences but is unrelated to any language of the time.