Uncle Thor's Magazine Online

Two of the little pleasures of magickal study are old grimoires and old spell books. They are interesting things on so many levels. One of the more intriguing aspects of them is that they speak eloquently of the religious concepts, folk beliefs and everyday needs of the people who wrote them. Though very little of their material has a practical application outside their own respective traditions, old spellbooks and grimoires teach us the ways different cultures handle magick.

I recently acquired The Black Books of Elverum. These are translations of a pair of Norwegian “svartboks” found in Rustad, Norge. They were probably penned down between 1790 and 1820. One of the books has origins traceable to 1600. That book is called the “Ciprianus.”

I have examined more than a few grimoires over the years. In fact, I have a small collection of them. Likewise I have translations of German spellbooks such as the Albertus Magnus and the German-American Pow Wows books. There is also a copy of the Galdrabok in my library.

The Elverum Books are a curious blend of superstition, folk belief and home remedies. Though some of the spells are claimed to hiedfrom Heathen times, they are heavily Christianized. Here the Elverum Books are a departure from the Albertus Magnus / Pow Wows tradition. The latter have spoken spells which have been Christianized, but otherwise hardly altered from their Heathen forebears. The Elverum Books spells are not so pristine. Many seem to derive from outside sources.

The Albertus Magnus, Pow Wows and Galdrabok each have a few spells of Latin or Greek origin. They use a mangled variant of what had probably been Lain or Green “magick words”. Some even use an odd combination of letters and numbers. These are abundant in the Elverum books. Personally, I think many such spells are bits and pieces cobbled together from classic grimoires and religious texts.

It is common in classic grimoires and spellbooks to attribute the work to a famous person. This was done to give it validity. Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Pope Honorious and Cyprianus were Christian churchmen and scholars who were thought to have special powers. Many books were attributed to them, even if it would have been impossible for them to have been the authors. A comical example is the Albertus Magnus, which includes spells to protect against musketry. Hand-held guns had not been invented until well after his lifetime.

Another common trick was to attribute the magic to Gypsies, or “Egyptians”. Gypsies were thought to have powers, and so mentioning them would make a better selling point for a book. Gypsy magick would be less likely to get someone hung than indigenous spellcraft. The Albertus Magnus Egyptian Secrets makes such a claim, although most of its content is of German and Nordic origin.

One of The Black Books of Elverum calls itself Ciprianius. It may indeed originate in a Danish “Ciprianius” book that was popular in Northern Europe. The Danish version can itself be attributed to an earlier German version. The book mentions its being compiled by a John Sell, a noted religious scholar of the late 1600s. Sell was actually John Fell, an English bishop at Oxford in 1667. These attributions were done to validate the text.

Another peculiar thing is that the Black Book has workings that require invoking the Devil, Lucifer and various demons. The names are similar to those in the better-known grimoires, although some in the Black Books have been altered. The demonic spells are of two types. Some appear to be derived from passages from the classical grimoires. Others are small folk spells that invoke a devil. There are a couple of spells in the Galdrabok that invoke the name of the devil or a demon (Beelzebub). Spells invoking evil spirits are not included in the Albertus Magnus or Pow Wows books.

There is little doubt that most of the spells are Medieval European in origin. They follow the pattern of folk spells which emerged in the Christian era.

Black books are like recipe books. They are collections of spells. Just as recipe books assume that the reader already knows how to cook, so black books are tools written for people who already have learned magick.

Those skilled in Heathen Nordic and German magick can use half of the spells in the Galdrabok. They already have the necessary training in Norse / German magickal technology that is a prerequisite for understanding those spells. Half of the spells would be unusable, as they are Christian-based and use an unfamiliar magickal technology. Belief plays a big part. The Heathen magician’s belief allows him to use Nordic deities and myths as connecting points to magickal powers. By the same token, a person schooled in the Christian spellcraft of the Elverum books would be able to use the Christian spells of the Galdrabok.

Belief is pretty simple when it comes to the Albertus Magnus and Pow Wows. On the surface, they are Christian. A Christian with the appropriate magickal training could use most of them. By replacing the Christian names with the original Heathen ones, a Heathen could easily use many of the spoken spells. The names provide the connecting point, while the spells themselves apply a magickal psychology that gets the power working.

The Elverum books are nowhere near as useful to the average Heathen or Christian magician. The problem is that many of the spells use a technology which we do not know. In fact, many sound like superstitious nonsense. The missing factor is the magician. We do not know the mindset or the training of those who used these books. Many elements of the spells which sound trite to us had significance to those who used these books. For instance, the “stone of a swallow” is just a cute name for a bird bone to us. It would have had a more purposeful meaning to the spellcaster.

The origin of the Elverum spells is varied. Several are influenced by a grimoire known as the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Though it is a typical grimoire of JudeoChristian angel/demon magick, it got into the hands of folk magicians in Germany. They applied their own type of magickal technology to the sigils and prayers. Some of this made it into the black books. Use of the Books of Moses is still done among some of the Pennsylvania Dutch Hexmeisters. In the case of the Elverum books, the original spells were greatly altered.

Crossover grimoire spells are also found in Pow Wows and the Galdrabok. These are notable for use of corrupted Greek and Latin words and odd written sigils that combine letters and numbers in an unusual way. The letter / number things are likely mis-transcribed pieces from source books such as grimoires. It is easy to misconstrue a letter or number if copying from texts that were scribed in unfamiliar forms of writing.

The operation of magick is a combination of belief and the ability to contact, control and direct magickal energy. The Black Books of Elverum depend on the beliefs of the people of their day. That is crucial to making them work. Unlike the Galdrabok, the Pow Wows and the Albertus Magnus Egyptian Secrets, there are few actual vestiges of Heathen lore and spell technology in the Elverum books. Belief must be mates with a way to work. The Elverum books only list spells. These are recipe books, not teaching guides. There is no instruction for developing magickal proficiency. That would have to come from somewhere else. As with many other spellbooks and the grimoires, the Black Books presuppose the appropriate magickal education. Without the proper learning, the books may as well be indecipherable.

The Black Books of Elverum serve as a curiosity and a look at magick as it was performed by Christians in Norway a couple of centuries ago. Its significance is cultural. There is very little for the modern Heathen or Pagan magician. The Elverum books are like a heap of dry bones. Odd, unusual, but of no practical application to the Heathen magician.

Fresh Insight Every Day!

If you love our Magazine, you will love Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor. A daily message for Heathens and Pagans. A wonderful thought for the day, every day!

Click here to Uncle Thor's Lessons, Anecdotes and Humor

Support your fellow Heathens and Pagans this Year

If you buy gifts, make Heathen products a priority. Heathen- and Pagan-owned businesses rely on the support of the community. Keep it Heathen by buying Heathen.

We publish Heathen and Pagan books

If you would like to give a book, please check out our catalogue at http://www.thortrains.com/UncleThors/ordering.htm

Look for special sales on our Specials page at http://www.thortrains.com/bifrost/specials07.htm

Thank you!

There is More!