Books of magical knowledge written between the late-medieval period and the eighteenth century, Grimoires contain astrological correspondences, lists of angels, instructions on casting charms and spells, as well as information on how to mix medicines and make talismans, but they are perhaps best known as texts that set out the names of demons as well as instructions on how to summon them.
The word Grimoire is from the Old French gramaire or "grammar" and indicated to both educated and illiterate alike.
Noted historical grimoires include:
- The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra - Melin the Mage.
- Liber Juratis, or, The Sworn Book of Honorius.
- The Black Pullet.
- The Greater Key of Solomon.
- The Lemegeton, or, The Lesser Key of Solomon.
Many of the above texts were reclaimed in the late nineteenth century by neo-Masonic organizations such as The Golden Dawn. Typically the texts of grimories were in French, German or Latin and were quite rare. Although accurate editions were available, a cottage industry developed selling false or poorly translated grimories.
A modern grimoire is the Necronomicon, named after a fictional book of magic in the stories of author H. P. Lovecraft, and inspired by Sumerian mythology and the Ars Goetia, a section in The Lesser Key of Solomon, which concerns the summoning of demons.
