The Sworn Book of Honorius

The Sworn Book of Honorius, or Liber Juratus (also Liber Sacer/Sacratus/Consecratus or Grimoire of Honorius) is a medieval grimoire purportedly written by Honorius of Thebes. The book is one of the oldest existing medieval grimoires as well as one of the most influential.

Historical references

Its date of composition is uncertain, but it is mentioned as Liber Sacer in the 13th century, apparently asserting a high medieval date. Johannes Hartlieb (1456) mentions it as one of the books used in necromancy. The oldest preserved manuscript dates to the 14th century, Sloane MS 3854 (fol 117-144). Sloane MS 313, dating to the late 14th or early 15th century, was once in the possession of John Dee.

Content

It is supposedly the product of a conference of magicians who decided to condense all their knowledge into one volume. In 93 chapters, it covers a large variety of topics, from how to save your soul from purgatory to the catching of thieves or finding of treasures. It has many instructions on how to conjure and command demons, to work other magical operations, and knowledge of what lies in Heaven among other highly sought information. Like many grimoires, it has lengthy dissertations for proper operation and seals to be used.

The book can be classified as a "Solomonic Grimoire" due to its heavy use of angelic powers and seals like those found in The Greater Key of Solomon.

In this text called the Grimoire of Honorius, he discusses the value of occult knowledge in the Church, and how by summoning or raising demonic entities, one could learn to control them. He uses his faith in God and mixes with it the teachings of King Solomon; it contains invocations of demonic entities for every day of the week. He talked about the priest needing to fast for a certain amount of time and the sacrifice of animals in order to help with the binding of evil spirits.^[1]

Editions

Daniel Driscoll, The Sworn Book of Honourius the Magician, Heptangle Books, 1977.
Gösta Hedegård, Liber Iuratus Honorii: A Critical Edition of the Latin Version of the Sworn Book of Honorius, Studia Latina Stockholmiensia 48, Almqvist & Wiksell (2002), ISBN 978-91-22-01970-1.

References

↑ Boyd, Katie (2009). Devils and Demonology in the 21st Century. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-7643-3195-4.

External links

Online edition by Joseph H. Peterson (1998, 1999).

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