A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

The history of grimoires is as long and tumultuous as human interest in magic has been. From early Mesopotamia straight through the witch hunts of Europe during the Early modern period to the gift day, the occult has both fascinated and repelled. Grimoires are keen because they reflect that interest as well as docuMent the ebb and flow of trends and belief in the occult.

A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

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A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

The word grimoire comes from the Old French word "grimmAire," meaning a book that was written in Latin. Over time the meaning has evolved into what we think of today: a book about magic, much like a textbook, that contains facts about charms, spells, how to summon magical entities such as angels or demons, as well as how to make magical objects. Many of these books were concept to have magical properties themselves.

Interestingly enough, even though the word is European, the first known grimoire was written in the city of Uruk in Mesopotamia, sometime during the 5th century B.C.E. The ancient Egyptians of the same period also had a rich theory of incantations, called heka, that focused on charms that provided protection and good health. This gradually changed as time passed, and by the time the Library of Alexandria opened, grimoires contained charms focusing on finances and sexual fulfillMent.

Many other ancient peoples had occult traditions as well. The Jewish citizen were viewed as knowledgeable in the magical arts; many Biblical figures also had ties to the occult. Moses was purportedly able to subdue demons, while the Book of Enoch had a section devoted to astrology. King Solomon was also seen as a magical figure. However, these beliefs began to be suppressed after the Roman Empire became fully Christian.

This trend of suppression continued into the Medieval period. By this time, the Church had separated magic into "good" or "natural" magic, and "demonic" magic, which was deemed unacceptable. However, interest continued and grimoires reflecting current influences continued to be written. during this time, Moorish influences increased in the form of astral magic. Renowned works include Arabic books such as the Picatrix and Sefer Raziel Ha-Malakh, as well as grimoires based on Biblical figures such as the Sworn Book of Honorius, based on King Solomon.

Early modern Europe was not a cordial place for magicians. Though the advent of the printing press meant books of magic were more widespread, and there was renewed interest in Hermeticism and the Jewish mystical teachings of the Kabbalah, there were many events that would make Europe a risky place to be. The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and the Inquisition, and the witch hunts that followed, were devastating. Many grimoires were settled on the "Indexes of Prohibited Books" and some were destroyed outright. Despite this, magicians continued to write. Paracelsus, a Swiss magician, focused on the differences in the middle of good and evil magic in his work "Of the supreme Mysteries of Nature," while others produced demonological grimoires such as "The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy."

European anti-magic zeal died down as the world entered the age of EnlightenMent. Rationalists and scientists still strongly opposed magic and witchcraft, yet grimoires were widely available. Many of the works of this period, such as the "Libra de San Cipriano" focused on discovering treasure; others focused on astrology.

During the last century, there have been only a few books of magic produced. The Book of Shadows, the Wiccan Grimoire, was written by Gerald Gardner in the 1940s; an additional one well known work is the "Simon Necronomicon," which is based on a fictional grimoire found in H.P. Lovecraft's books. Enough citizen are curious in the Lovecraft's Necronomicon that it is a beloved request at libraries - unfortunately, the actual book doesn't exist. These days, most grimoires exist only as references in video games, fantasy books, or television shows.

Although these books of magic may not be written much anymore, interest in the occult will never die. If nothing else, the long history of grimoires should tell us that much.

A History of Grimoires straight through the Ages

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Benefits of Craft Kits

Craft kits make a great activity for kids of all ages. But did you know how useful they can positively be? Not only do they keep kids occupied and allow you to spend house time, but the benefits over craft kits can out weigh basic crafts by quite a bit. Before you jump into your next craft, be sure to read the following.

Benefits of Craft Kits

Benefits of Craft Kits

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Benefits of Craft Kits

Benefits of Craft Kits

1. Save Money

A craft kit comes with just enough Supplies for the craft you are making. No wasted leftovers, and no buying large amounts of items you may or may not use again.

2. Save Time

Instead of searching everywhere for Supplies, you save time just buying one kit with all things you need. Some kits even consist of basic items like the glue, crayons, etc.

3. Great closed Product

As great as our imagination can be, sometimes having already made pieces can make a Great product. This makes it much easier to make crafts for gifts for others that they will love.

Craft kits can be found in lots of dissimilar places, but be sure to see our website for our top picks. Craft kits aren't as costly as you may think, and a few Dollars can make a lot of crafts! For example, our popular place to buy craft kits offers packs of kits that make more than one of the same craft. Which is great for gifts, activities at birthday parties, or rainy day fun with friends. This single site also has fabulous prices on their crafts, making it easy to buy several dissimilar kits at a time.

Have fun!

Benefits of Craft Kits

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Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

"The Unbelievers: The Evolution of modern Atheism" by S. J. Joshi (Prometheus Books, Amherst, Ny, 2011), contains chapters on fourteen contributors to the evolution of atheism. The fourteen characters profiled are Thomas Henry Huxley, Leslie Stephen, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Clarence Darrow, H.L. Mencken, H.P. Lovecraft, Bertrand Russell, Madalyn Murray O'Hare, Gore Vidal, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

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Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

On what basis did Joshi make these selections, omitting so many? No coherent explanation is offered. In fact, the author acknowledges an absence of objective criteria in his choices that span 150 years of dissent from orthodoxy. However, the introduction does contain this surprising stateMent: "I will confess that in some instances I have chosen some thinkers and rejected others chiefly because I do or do not share an intellectual pity with them."

That lame remark is Joshi's excuse for the stunning omission of Robert Green Ingersoll. This seems odd, given that he acknowledges that Ingersoll was "probably the most noted American freethinker of the 19th century." I conjecture few free-thought scholars would list a few of those Joshi does include, particularly H.P. Lovecraft, Leslie Stephen and Thomas Henry Huxley. Itsybitsy in the chapters about their lives and contributions to atheism give the impression that these three warrant inclusion on such a short list, nor does it seem accepted to mix four living writers with those who lived in earlier times. The modern authors might better have been described in a singular chapter. A potential explanation for along with Lovecraft can be sensed from the author's Wikipedia page: "S. T. Joshi is an award-winning Indian American literary critic, novelist and a foremost frame in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors of weird and phenoMenal fiction." That must be it-he favored Lovecraft because he knew so much about him and maybe slighted others, particularly Ingersoll, owing to an inadequate appreciation of his phenoMenal career.

Joshi does admit that he "does not share an intellectual pity with him" (Ingersoll). Maybe he should have put that aside. Imagine a historian on American history omitting Lincoln due to not sharing something about Lincoln's intellectual contributions. This omission undermines the book's value. It's quite appalling, actually, and colors all else. The fact of the matter, in my view and I think most others well-known with Ingersoll's life and work would agree, is that the combined impact of the 14 described skeptics might very well be less consequential to America's enlarge against the harm of religion than that of many orator of the 19th century. (At the time of this writing, four of the 14 still live, though two-Gore and Hitchens, are barely hanging on.)

A few of the episode profiles contain new and animated information. And the slim introduction describing the history of atheism offers useful perspectives. A few of note contain the following:

* It is rare to find any thinker of note since the 17th century "who does not harbor some doubts about many phases of religious orthodoxy."

* Repelled by centuries of religious warfare, dozens of philosophers in the 17th and 18th centuries made "fervent pleas for religious toleration-pleas that ultimately prevailed in the West."

* By the 19th century, tools brought to bear by a diverse array of thinkers to challenge religion included not merely "logical analysis, scientific discovery and rigorous scrutiny of religious texts but also...weapons of saTire, mockery and ridicule."

* In the West, with the exception of America, "the battle is over-atheism has won" (i.e., over religion). The conjecture America remains firmly connubial and controlled by a religious mindset is the poor state of group study that "has created an unfortunate cleavage between the tiny band of intellectual elites and the vast mass of the ignorant and ill educated."

Readers unfamiliar with the 14 worthy figures might benefit from and enjoy this book.

However, anyone who knows anyone about the impact of Colonel Ingersoll, orator extraordinAire and noted lawyer, political king-maker, champion of liberty and intellectual giant who left behind a prodigious library of profound eloquence, will be off-put in the extreme at his omission.

Evolution Without Darwin? America Without Lincoln? A tell of "The Unbelievers"

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