#grimtrad

[witchcraftingboop]

Hi! May I ask which are some good super starter or basic grimoires? I tried Agrippa and just...it didn't go in...i have the Picatrix but I honestly think I'll just get the same result, it's way above my head. Is there anything simple i might "get" or should I honestly just accept it's not for me and move on? Thank you!

Hey, so I have this post right here that goes over why no grimoire that's worth learning from with the intent to practice it through is going to be classified as beginner/starter/etc. So I'm not going to rehash that part.

As for "getting" Agrippa, I think it's important to remember that it's an encyclopedia. As such, when you're beginning to explore grimoires, it's best to use it as a reference book. Can you use Agrippa as the foundation of your own practice? Yes, but unless you're already familiar with occult concepts and topics, it might require far more than one or two surface readings to fully digest what it's talking about.

So since it sounds like you're newer to grimtrad circles, I have a few books that I think might help build that foundation without all the dense walls of text and jargon to read through (though please bear in mind that I struggle to remember what is/not common knowledge even in mundane matters, so if some of these are a bit trickier to navigate, feel free to blame it on my incompetence):

A Deed Without A Name by Lee Morgan (staple)

Conjuring Spirits by Miller (Miller's work is v good)

The Black Arts by Richard Cavendish (read critically, don't accept everything blindly)

The Hermetic & Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus - Waite & Paracelsus (denser)

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in Greek and Roman Worlds

Elucidation of Necromancy

Celestial Intelligences by Kaminsky (denser)

Wortkunning

Some books that I worked with or through that seem easy enough to bring to real life application, with the right dedication and mindset:

The 6th & 7th Books of Moses

The Sworn Book of Honorius

The Book of Oberon

Seven Spheres & Gateways: Through Stone and Circle (1 book) & Through Light and Shadow (different book) - best combo, anyone can practice these really

Keys of Solomon & Grimorium Verum & Secrets of Solomon - solid combo

The Goetia of Dr. Rudd (a particular fave)

The Complete Mystical Records of Dr. John Dee (learn a bit of Latin first or have a solid translator on deck)

Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) & Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies & Techniques of Greco-Egyptian Magic - best combo, imo

Orphic Hymns Grimoire & The Hekatæon & Tartaros - another good combo

The 32 Keys

Azoëtia & The Black Dragon series

Book of St. Cyprian

I think it's worth mentioning that reading more is a great way to broaden your awareness of occult concepts and topics. If you look at how things are considered across different dedicated areas of study, then you're more likely to understand the foundations of said thing. One perspective is very limiting. It's better to seek out multiple. By reading from the first list, which should give a pretty solid introductory to broad concepts, and then sifting through the grimoires mentioned, you should be able - through applying yourself properly to the task - gain an understanding of how these things may function/interact in a living tradition, and then through applying them yourself gain the practical knowledge of how they actually are.

And as a closing note: I would personally recommend leaving behind the idea that you're supposed to "get" occult books. You study from them, you learn what you can from them, and through implementing what they speak of and experimenting with what interests you, you acquire that knowledge plus your own discovered knowledge and heightened awareness. In this way, you'll come to realize why I refer to my engagement with the occult as a study and practice.

Of course, if none of this was helpful, you can feel free to disregard my input here as the ramblings of a twenty-something nobody. Have a good one!

[quietjustice]

minor gripe but I wish people would stop filling the traditional witchcraft tag with things that are Not That

[profetizamos]

Incense/suffumigation for driving away visions, dreams, and nightmares:

"A suffumigation made of these herbs as follows expels and drives away all visions, and fantasies in sleep or otherwise.

Take peonies, pennyroyal, mints and the herb called palmacrist*, and make a confection thereof at your going to bed, or at any other time when as need requires, and it shall be done that [which] you require."

—From the grimoire Liber Juratus Honorii, trans. Joseph Peterson. Original text likely written prior to the 14th c.

*Palmacrist refers to the castor bean plant, which is known to be extremely toxic.

[charnel-divining]

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT ELSE TO ADD TO THIS AND PASS IT ON.

(some folders have folders within, mind you, so feel free of course to use the search function if you are trying to find something specific but are overwhelmed by the organization)

[witchcraftingboop]

A new bb appears! I ended up with a 2nd Edition, because I can't read, and I love it. It's absolutely, 100% guaranteed to ruin my reading list, but I accept this fully. If I end up wanting to work the grimoire, I may buy another edition when it comes out, but for now this is perfect.

[witchcraftingboop]

I've just started this book, but I am already enamored.

[profetizamos]

“If a menstruous [menstruating] woman shall walk naked, before sun-rise, in a field of standing corn, all hurtful things perish.”

From the grimoire The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer, Book 2, chapter X, “Of Sorceries.” Published 1801.

[witchcraftingboop]

- Techniques of Solomonic Magic: The origins and methods of the Solomonic grimoires by Dr. Stephen Skinner (p 5)

[witchcraftingboop]

You mentioned reading very old grimoires in a recent reply, have any advice on where to find such a grimoire?

This is gonna sound rude as shit, and I truly do apologize in advance if I come off that way, but it's the honest solution here if you dunno where to find them: Google it. There are archives of pdfs of old grimoires (actually, I saw a post not too long ago, I think, of a couple of sites that have a bunch of occult pdfs available for download), available online, and those can be a tremendous resource.

If you already have grimoires (or recently translated old grimoires) based off of older texts, you can check out their references for further reading material. But a good way to find 'em is really to just go looking.

I recently got locked out of one of my emails that had most of my pdf grimoires saved to it, and this has actually reminded me that I too should go out on the hunt to re-acquire those, so thanks nonny!