In this episode, I offer a complete guide to the grimoire tradition: what grimoires are, where the term comes from, how these books of magic developed, and why they became so central to the history of Western esotericism.
We will explore major texts such as the Key of Solomon, the Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton, the Ars Goetia, the Sworn Book of Honorius, the Picatrix, the Arbatel, the Book of Abramelin, the Heptameron, the Grand Grimoire, the Grimoire of Pope Honorius, and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Rather than treating grimoires as mysterious books that simply appeared from nowhere, I look at them as living technologies of magical authority, shaped by clerical manuscript culture, print capitalism, occult revival movements, and contemporary magical practice.
We will also look at how grimoires moved from medieval monastic and clerical settings into cheap printed chapbooks, Victorian ceremonial magic, Wicca, chaos magic, and modern occult practice. Along the way, I explain why many grimoires were attributed to figures such as Solomon, Moses, Honorius, Albertus Magnus and Peter of Abano, and what those false attributions tell us about authority, antiquity and magical legitimacy.
Finally, I discuss how modern practitioners can approach these texts today: not as timeless manuals dropped from heaven, but as historical artefacts, ritual technologies and sources of magical imagination that have been copied, edited, adapted and reinvented for centuries.
This is an academic, historically grounded introduction for anyone interested in grimoires, ceremonial magic, Solomonic magic, the Goetia, occult books, Western esotericism and the history of magical practice.
CONNECT & SUPPORT
MY COURSES https://drangelapuca.com/courses
WEBSITE https://www.drangelapuca.com/
BOOK A TUTORING OR A LECTURE https://drangelapuca.com/services
SUBSTACK ️ https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
BECOME MY PATRON! https://www.patreon.com/angelapuca
SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI ️https://ko-fi.com/drangelapuca
ONE-OFF DONATIONS https://paypal.me/angelasymposium
JOIN MEMBERSHIPS https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPSbip_LX2AxbGeAQfLp-Ig/join
MY PODCAST https://open.spotify.com/show/2TKoWTGe6OKRokHN2zUIxM?si=dd9f50a734b14f86
MY MERCH https://drangelapuca.creator-spring.com/
FOLLOW ME
– YouTube (@drangelapuca)
– SUBSTACK https://substack.com/@drangelapuca
– Instagram (@drangelapuca)
– TikTok (@drangelapuca)
– Twitter (@angelapuca11)
– Facebook (Dr Angela Puca)
RECOMMENDED READINGS
REFERENCES
(Check the related slide on screen)
MY SET-UP ️
– Canon 90D camera https://amzn.to/3yQclh0
– Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 https://amzn.to/3JjU1BS
– Teleprompter ️ https://amzn.to/3linWCB
– Shure SM7B Microphone ️ https://amzn.to/3Jm5IYK
– Microphone stand https://amzn.to/3FueJOn
– Lights https://amzn.to/3Zdk8k1
– DJI Wireless microphones https://amzn.to/3NWAVVQ
00:03:45 A Book That Will Not Sit Still
00:04:44 A Technology of Magical Authority
00:07:07 The Word Itself: Grammar, Glamour, Grimoire
00:11:37 The Necromancy of the Medieval Clerical Underworld
00:15:10 Two Genres, a Monastery Library, and a Burned Book That Would Not Die
00:18:06 Magic as a Branch of Natural Science
00:21:55 The Corpus: What the Great Grimoires Actually Are
00:24:51 The Influence of the Solomonic Toolkit
00:30:23 The Picatrix and the Islamicate Influence
00:35:13 The Book of Abramelin and The German Tradition
00:36:40 Print: The Grimoire Becomes a Commodity
00:39:20 The Grimoire of Pope Honorius
00:42:03 The Nineteenth Century: System Supersedes Recipe
00:43:28 The Contribution of Eliphas Lévi & his Dogme et rituel de la haute magie
00:46:03 Mathers and The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
00:47:14 The Contemporary Field: One Canon, Many Functions
00:50:17 Hanegraaff and the Academic Field of Western Esotericism
00:53:16 The Sworn Book of Honorius & Theurgic Ascent
00:58:33 Practical Counsel: Reading the Tradition Well
01:02:17 Join The Ever Expanding Discord Community
️ Copyright of Dr Angela Puca, in all of its parts ️
Music by Erose MusicBand. Check them out!
Published on August 16, 2026
