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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

The Grimoire of Pope Honorius, or Le Grimoire du Pape Honorius, is a 17th century grimoire, claiming to be written by Pope Honorius III (1150 -1227). It is unique among grimoires in that it was specifically designed to be used by a priest, and some of the instructions include saying a Mass.

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JD Sauvage's avatar

AE White's translation is here: https://grimoire.org/grimoire/grimoire-of-pope-honorius/

A look at the ToC is enough to give one pause...

"Conjuration for Each Day of the Week.

For Monday, to Lucifer."

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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

😱

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JD Sauvage's avatar

Ah, that text appears to be a bit of protestant 'hocus-pocus'ry poking fun at the ritual institution of the Mass:

'According to A. E. Waite, "...[I]t is a malicious and somewhat clever imposture, which was undeniably calculated to deceive ignorant persons of its period who may have been magically inclined, more especially ignorant priests, since it pretends to convey the express sanction of the Apostolical Seat for the operations of Infernal Magic and Necromancy."'

But now I am interested in the book from which the title was stolen - Liber juratus Honorii, aka The Sworn Book of Honorius.

"Its date of composition is uncertain, but it is possibly mentioned as Liber Sacer in the 13th century, apparently asserting a date in the High Middle Ages. The first certain historical record is the 1347 trial record of Etienne Pepin from Mende, France.[1] 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.

The first printed manuscript of this work did not appear until 1629."

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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

I was riffing from memory about the grimiore stuff. The point I was meandering towards was the ritual function of the sword

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JD Sauvage's avatar

For comparison, a reconstruction of Liber Honorius from various Old English and Latin manuscripts found in museums is here:

http://esotericarchives.com/juratus/juratus.htm

It looks much more serious than the infantile scrawlings of the later work.

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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

1 - ceremonial (ritual) magic is a Roman Catholic development, the earliest extant text being attributed to Pope Honorus.

2 - the sword is both a metaphor of the cutting power of the Divine Presence (see the Apocalypse of Saint John the Divine), and an extension of the Divine Presence indwelling in the person weilding the physical sword (as understood in the traditions of Chinese Martial Arts)

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JD Sauvage's avatar

Interesting, I will need to follow up on Honorus (Honorius? I, II, III?), sounds like a thread that wants pulling.

Also, the sword is both that which cuts, schisms the absolute monad (the 1) from the world of multiplicity of form (the 2) and a type of the cross which reunites them.

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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

A.E. Waite is an interesting case. He quit the Golden Dawn because it was neopagan and theosophical rather than Christian. He founded the explicitly Christian Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. It's too bad Waite is so painful to read

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Kenneth Shaw's avatar

Your spelling is (of course) correct. Let me dig up some stuff for

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