The Power of Libraries Compels You!

Hello everyone, and welcome to LukeLore. A quick deep dive into a folklore topic, where I share

some of the stories from around the world that have piqued my interest.

Time for part two of the three part themed series: The last one was Cursed Stones. Today, we move on to Cursed Scrolls. At time of writing, I'm still waiting for any guesses as to what this theme will be. Since a special episode needs to come out to tie in with a movie release next, you should all get a good run to ponder what silliness I am about and challenge me online with your theories.

For right now, however, let us focus upon Cursed Scrolls, and assorted angry grimoires across the ages.

SECTION BREAK – Wrath of the Librarians

I have a low level confession to make, in that I am terrible for late return fees at libraries. We're talking should have just bought the book levels of misadventure, from when the love of books collides with a poor grasp of how time and space works. Remember to log online and renew? What am I? A fully functional adult? I think you'll find I have outstanding late fees at Liverpool Central Library right now, and I'm a little afraid to go check in with Ormskirk library from growing up. Although at the very least, Ormskirk library is due a donation of some kind from me, between the impact they had upon me growing up and what I put them through across that process.

This, however, is just some loose change valiantly attempting to course correct the frayed neurons of my naturally chaotic brain. Before technology stepped in to track possessions, back when books had to be handwritten and were incredibly more expensive, librarians had to channel powerful primordial forces to make sure loans got returned and nothing was stolen.

We're talking about the magic known as a Book Curse.

Casual Pratchett fans are nodding along at home already, understanding full well that libraries are literally magical places and that librarians should not be messed with. This is thankfully more about malice than absent mindedness, so I may yet be spared. The earliest Book Curse that has survived in written records is some 2600 to 2700 years old. The King of Assyria Ashurbanipal curated the library at Ninevah, which is one of the earliest examples of a collected library – rather than incidentally being the book room everything got stuffed out of the way in that then got labelled the “archive”, new books were actively sought after to increase and expand the collection at Ninevah. Most, if not all, tablets included this Book Curse:

“I have transcribed upon tablets the noble products of the work of the scribe which none of the kings who have gone before me had learned, together with the wisdom of Nabu insofar as it existeth in writing. I have arranged them in classes, I gave revised them and I have placed them in my palace, that I, even I, the ruler who knoweth the light of Ashur, the king of the gods, may read them. Whosoever shall carry off this tablet, or shall inscribe his name on it, side by side with mine own, may Ashur and Belit overthrow him in wrath and anger, and may they destroy his name and posterity in the land.”

Ancient gods speedrun! Nabu was the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom, while a little shrouded in mystery when it comes to full details Ashur was the national god of the Assyrians, and Bel tends to mean “lord” with Belit usually being a feminine form. Given how specifically vulnerable the Ashur tablets were, in that they were etched clay slabs and particularly vulnerable to the words being erased by accident – let alone deliberate vandalism – they also came with special Erasing Curses later printed works did not need.

Now, I'll happy dunk on Christianity for wrecking the place in the Dark Ages, but there was still a monastic scholarly tradition that did a lot of knowledge preservation (when some ignorant dingbat didn't get into the archives looking for bonfire materials, anyway). As such, Book Curses took a turn for the biblical across the ages, while the Ashur Tablets may invoke old gods these Christian ones were more prayers to invoke Abrahamic divine wrath. A typical example given in 'Anathema!: Medieval Scribes and the History of Book Curses' is:

“If anyone take away this book, let him die the death; let him be fried in a pan; let the falling sickness and fever seize him; let him be broken on the wheel, and hanged. Amen.”

Books remain incredibly valuable during this time, and the monks weren't playing around. I say “typical”, but the medieval tradition of the Book Curse was pretty freestyle and personalised. It was kind of a free space for the transcribing monks, and a chance to express themselves around the task of studiously copying a text. There are more than just the one whole book of collected Book Curses from this time than just the Marc Drogin one I referenced here. This tradition of invoking divine retribution upon those who would dare steal knowledge continued a while into the dawn of the printing press, as special book plates got created to make sure chosen mass produced books also got a mass produced Book Curse.

Book Curses and Erasing Curses did eventually meet in the middle with a third variant: The Document Curse. These were magic invoked to protect the content of the text, and it didn't matter much if Christians feel awkward about the idea of magic, as books are special, and got to use them anyway. A really easy famous example of this is a Document Curse added to the end of the book of Revelation.

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Many a religious demagogue will come forth to their false pulpit and insist “What we think God meant to say was this instead...”, but woe betide the grifter who breaks out the eraser on the word of the book itself.

The long and short of this is, don't mess with librarians, nor their books. It won't end well. Libraries are magic, and sometimes magic is a slumbering monster waiting to take a bite out of the ignorant.

Note to self: go pay that late fee.

SECTION BREAK – The Big Book of the Devil

The Christian Bible is said to be the best selling publication of all time. I qualify that as “said to be” as there's the issue of how you count all the variations as one thing or another, plus exceptional anomalies such as a church or sect commissioning a large number to then hand out for free. Even allowing for these factors, it's certainly the most published book in the world, estimated as coming in at over five billion copies. Some people appear to quite like it, too, so it's definitely been shifting in some numbers over the years.

But not all bibles are created equal. That's not a backhanded nitpick at the sales figures (again), but I instead mean some copies of the bible are truly singular and outstanding, which takes us to The Codex Gigas. “The Codex Gigas” sounds impressive, but it literally translates to The Big Book. It certainly lives up to its on the nose name, it's 3 foot high and weighs 165 pounds, qualifying it as something to under no circumstances drop on your foot if you like intact bones. This is a dense tome in more than just the sense it is heavy, it's written entirely in Latin. It covers the expected greatest hits of the Old and New Testament, but with a collection of Jewish and regional history texts from where it was written. This bonus encyclopedia covers the fundaments of geometry, then contemporary legal precedents, commentary on entertainment of that time, medical treaties, a calendar, the complete hierarchy of angels and saints, a vast list of obituaries, multiple exorcism instructions, and the occasional magic spell to keep everything interesting. Plus it has a rather interesting picture we shall come back to shortly...

It's quite likely the worlds largest surviving medieval manuscript, even having been claimed as a spoil of war in the 17th century (not a status which screams “handled with care”), leading to it being housed to this date in Sweden's National Library after a very final game of Finders Keepers with the Kingdom of Bohemia that went on to become the modern day Czech Republic. Its cursed history may suggest why it is so resilient, however, and this comes down to the Codex Gigas's other name.

The Devil's Bible.

It does seem to be agreed that this colossal book was written by a single person, something that alone is quite impressive given the size of it and how it all needed doing by hand, but the story goes it was quite impossibly done over the course of a single night. Hermannus Heremitus, or Herman the Recluse as he went on to be known, was the monk responsible, and he achieved this by being an exceptionally crap monk. For starters, he had broken his vows so spectacularly he got sentenced to be walled up alive in the monastery to be left to starve to death in the dark. Now, as infamously cranky as Dark Age Christians could be, this wasn't for a simple petty misstep like sneaking a bacon sandwich on a Friday, Herman seemed determined to go out in a blaze of dark glory: confessing to sins of lust, gluttony, pride, and bestiality for the Abbot to decide it was better for everyone involved if he just got bricked up and left for dead.

As the final stone is about to be placed, Herman the Recluse is overcome by the terror of his fate and screams for mercy. The Abbot, who was overseeing the sentence he gave, makes Herman an impossible deal since he was quite the scribe in addition to his worrying laundry list of sins. The condemned monk may live, if he can transcribe all the world's knowledge in a single night, into a single book. Even if he was just stalling for one night more before withering away in the dark, Herman the Recluse accepts and begins to write for his life. By midnight it becomes more than obvious he was doomed. He probably wasn't even out of the Old Testament at that point, and the full collected books of Christianity was just the prelude to everything he needed to cram into what would go on to be the impressively comprehensive Codex Gigas.

So Herman prayed. First, he prayed for a miracle, but even the desperate monk would probably have to concede that his assorted misdeeds would at the very least put him to the back of the queue, if not stricken off the miracle candidacy list entirely. So with “Up” out of the question, the desperate scholar prayed “Down” instead... and the Devil answered. I can't quite say what the Devil was up to here, beyond mischief at the Abbot's expense, since Herman most certainly had a ticket punched to hell that he would be forced to cash in in a matter of days should he be walled up. But the imposing Gigas Codex was waiting for the surprised Abbot come daybreak, and as per the brokered deal Herman was allowed to go free. Well, as free as you can be, when you've sold the Devil your soul.

Throughout the over 600 pages of donkey and calfskin are multiple pictures breaking up the text. On the 190th page is the signature of the co-writer. The Devil himself sits waiting for those who read through the collected knowledge of that place and time, a detailed drawing sat poised to leap off of the page.

The Codex Gigas doesn't appear to have killed anyone as yet, although it would be more than capable of such a feat if dropped on someone. It has allegedly done that to someone at least once over the years who managed to survive, though! On the 7th of May in 1697 a fire broke out in the library, and The Codex Gigas was one of the books saved by being thrown out of the window, witnesses attest it landed on a poor bystander causing serious injury. The fall didn't hurt the monstrous thing, whether that was infernal intervention or just the soft landing, but in the aftermath of the flames it appears some 20 pages were removed never to be recovered. It is speculated the missing content includes The Devil's Prayer and instructions to summon the great adversary, so likely it was for the best, although I can't help but be suspicious of the chain of events here. In the immediate aftermath of writing this book Herman got to live out a life of torment and miserable, cursed existence before finally going on the inevitable trip downstairs. But it does have an infamous story of institutionalising a poor Swedish guard, without even having to fall on him first.

I've seen some accounts say “librarian” instead of “guard”, but either way some poor soul was accidentally locked in the archive The Codex Gigas is usually safely contained in one night in 1858. This would normally lead to boredom with a side of thirst, maybe an embarrassing mess that needs mopping up the next morning. But The Devil's Bible is no simple curiosity, and this man was in for a rough night. When he was found the next morning, he was hiding under a table with his mind completely gone. He was rushed to doctors, but no one could help, so he was committed to what was not so kindly termed a “madhouse” where nursing staff would help tend to him until he returned to his senses. Once he could speak again, he had quite the tale.

The night got off to a worrying enough start as random books would fire across the room, flung by unseen forces. There was, however, a pattern to this, and a second stage: the projectile volumes began to float, then weave about the sealed room in a strange design, for The Codex Gigas to eventually join them in their dance. Eventually The Devil's Bible took to the centre of the room, all the other tomes orbiting around it, and at this point the trapped man's mind snapped. There may have been more to this display, but his sanity had given up in self defence, and no one with access to the sealed archive seems too eager to provoke the books into an encore.

The Codex Gigas remains on display at the National Library of Sweden to this day, should you be curious enough to travel and see it. Maybe don't try to lift it over your head though, even if you were allowed to do such a silly thing you're definitely tempting fate.

SECTION BREAK – A Risky Read

A book so arcane and powerful it isn't safe to read is a solid trope in fiction. It's especially a common one to be found across myriad tales of Cosmic Horror, but it may not be unprecedented in real life.

The personal grimoire of a witch can be an unassuming thing. Handwritten recorded personal knowledge, family history, diary entries; all of which can either be inherited or in some cases burned upon their death to take family secrets to the grave. There is a pair of notebooks from the early 1900s which have had quite the journey, however.

At a glance, they are humble enough. Spiral bound notebooks, originally with nothing on the cover, a little worn and at places torn from decades of frequent handling. This is actually pretty common, should you encounter any witches grimoires in the wild, especially when their origin is the United States from some century plus ago. It was very easy to become a victim of An Intolerance that then wouldn't even face community punishment. “Suffer not a witch to live”, so goes the deranged mistranslation of the King James Bible of a passage warning the holy not to attempt to speak to the dead, and many a pagan has been fair game ever since. So an actual witch grimoire looks like a homely family cookbook at a glance, until you pay closer attention to what the recipes inside are actually cooking up.

These two innocuous notepads are now referred to as either The Untitled Spellbook, or The Untitled Grimoires, or sometimes for clarity Persephone's Grimoires. They were written by Wiccan High Priestess Persephone Adrastea Eirene. I'm a little unsure of this status as a Wiccan High Priestess given these books seem to originate from the turn of the 20th century. Persephone was reported to be a third generation witch of English and Swedish lineage, presiding over her own coven and being a Queen-Mother to other covens beyond hers. They are in part a personal copy of her mother's spellbooks, a complex family history incorporating the generational handed down knowledge, and her own works across the years. She was certainly a significant witch in the wider pagan community, even if Wicca as it is understood today was something codified in the 1960s.

The first book is the larger of the two, being roughly 250 pages that include fundamentals surrounding properties of gems, the roles of the planets, and the witchcraft rites her family practiced. The bulk of it, however, was The Good Stuff. Pagan exorcisms, potion recipes, spells, enchantments, incantations, and curses. The second was smaller, between 150 and 200 pages, with a focus on herbcraft and alchemy. Cures, balms, tonics, perfumes, and even hairspray – something that sounds redundant in the mass manufacturing age but is a bit more impressive around the year 1900. The first book is considered to be the book of power here, being magic based. The second is still respected, but is more of a chemistry book than a curse risk. Although either in the wrong hands threatens to blow up in the handler's face in its own way.

They were definitely important for the neo pagan Wiccan revival, even if the timeline looks shaky for Persephone herself being a direct part of the modern form of it. Come the 1920s these books came into the possession of Alice Monseratt, wife of Israel Regardie, and close collaborator with Aleister Crowley. They did their early occultist dabbling with these family histories, before going on to get up to assorted notoriety that fed into the modern idea of Wicca as a distinct practicing religion rooted in a pagan revival. It was Alice who added the warning to the blank front covers of Persephone's Grimoires, in multiple languages:

“To those not of the craft- the reading of this book is forbidden! Proceed no further or justice will exact a swift and terrible retribution – and you will surely suffer at the hand of the craft.”

The Untitled Grimoires last made the news in 2013 when they sold to an unknown buyer for just shy of $14,000. There are assorted copied scans knocking about online for the curious, and direct copies can be bought from Katz Fine Manuscripts in Canada. Although looking at descriptions, it appears to only be the first of the two books available, unless it happens to be a combination of both. All copies are prefaced with the warning that you risk a brain-to-soup incident if not suitably prepared to take on the arcane knowledge within, although I kind of want them for my collection now...

Both of them, if any witch-y listeners may have solid leads to share on the second of Persephone's books to make the set.

SECTION BREAK – A Scroll of Curses

Well, I promised “Cursed Scrolls” as the premise for part two of my three part theme. But what does a cursed scroll actually look like?

In 2005 the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group begin an investigative dig at a site in East Farleigh of Kent, England. While only able to work a couple of days a week at the grounds of a farmhouse, it was a fruitful endeavour that was expanded in 2007 and continued across the years until an extra special discovery was made in 2012.

A tightly rolled up, extremely thin sheet of lead was found. A metal scroll that unfolds into a Roman Curse Tablet. While well preserved, it was still in a state of fragile disrepair. Estimated by one expert to date back to the year 3CE, making it a rare but not unheard of artifact that's over 2,000 years old. These lead scrolls have been seen before, across all of Europe where the Romans had made their mark. Kent itself had another discovered in the 1970 at the site of a Roman villa in Eccles.

These Curse Tablet scrolls had a common function, although they could expand in scope and severity as needed. A common use would be to name suspects of theft, and address the scroll to a god to take action. Judgement upon the actual perpetrator, in a way seen fit either for the times or else attuned to the god's temperament. At least one German scroll was explicitly a list of enemies the curse was designed to hinder or else strike low, a component of the spell was to mix up the names backwards or upside down, an invocation of sympathetic magic designed to throw their lives into similar disarray. Once a Curse Scroll is completed it needs finalising by being hidden in a place linked to the underworld. Graves, natural springs, and wells were all good choices; while not explicitly listed in the research I dug up I'm feeling natural caves and crevasses will be good shouts, so cave divers keep your eyes peeled for weird rolled up metal down in the dark – you may stumble across a cool ancient curse down there.

While developed to chastise, if not directly strike down petty criminals with assorted ailments and bad luck, these lead scroll Curse Tablets now hold a different value. Especially in England, as the Romans introduced reading and writing to the country which previously had only dabbled in some symbology with a main focus on oral traditions. These listed miscreants, with their strange mix of Latinised names showing Celtic roots in some cases, have gone from a magical hit list to a precious record of their lives passed on across the ages. A little mischief has taken them a long way, although the curse itself may have been a bad time as it happened – if only from non-magical social ostracisation. The East Farleigh Scroll had 14 names on it, only 5 were clearly legible at the time – although technology constantly improves on this front and its been over a decade since the initial reports. We can see that Sacratus, Constitutus, Memorianus, Atrectus, and Atidenus got up to no good 2 millennia ago; something we still have the curse scroll as a record berating them even into the 21st century. Giving us an insight into their life and times, a snapshot preserved across the ages even if to leave a time capsule expressly was not the original intent.

It's interesting that lead has always been acknowledged as a safe seal for dangerous contents. We now understand radioactive half lives, can check radiation levels with Geiger counters, and have a chemical understanding of lead along with its properties. But how did people intuit this in a pre-science world? The level of trial and error that led to finding which berries and mushrooms were safe the hard way? It feels a bit much to be a lucky guess, what mad misadventures across the ages led to lead metal bindings becoming such a mainstay?

I'll keep an eye out for hints on my adventures across the stories of all humankind, stick around and maybe we'll find hints for this.

SECTION BREAK

Okay, I needed Cursed Scrolls for the mid point of the theme, but this was an unexpectedly difficult topic to work through! An excess of modern fiction has quite swallowed the topic up... It has intrigued me about doing a deeper dive here now though. I may have to hit the books near literally, and really find us some good tomes of folklore. I'm pretty happy with what I did manage to uncover for the topic this episode, though.

The three part theme did get its first successful guess within hours of the Magic Stones episode going up, although it was a friend of some years who caught me out. The extra insight on the twists my mind takes may have helped, although it was still an impressive quick catch on to my shenanigans. So far, at time of writing, only this one person has managed it.

The first of the theme was Magic Stones.

This, the second, is Cursed Scrolls.

The third and final episode will answer what the trilogy of episodes is, giving the theme itself an entry.

It will not be the next episode, though. There's a horror movie I'm excited for mid August, and some mythological context will help with the plot of it. Alien: Romulus will have a Family Murder of Legend episode to explain how Romulus and Remus are being used as the names of twin space stations in the movie, plus there are then plenty of other tales of Familicidal mythology to expand upon the topic.

LukeLore is a Ghost Story Guys production.

If you do want to contact me there’s the show’s dedicated email lukeloregsg@gmail.com, and the general show email ghoststoryguys@gmail.com. Both myself and the main show are really easy to find on Facebook and other socials if you want to make day to day contact, as well as a very active Instagram account a lot of the community gets involved with.

If you want to support the show directly check out our Patreon at Patreon.com/ghoststoryguys. We do have LukeLore merchandise available at the Ghost Story Guys online store, feel very free to show off any you get online! We have an ongoing push to promote LukeLore more, and the dedicated Facebook group for the show is a pretty active success if you want to come join us over there.

As ever though, the absolute best thing anyone can do to support the show is to give it a listen. Share this around if you think you may know someone who may be interested, leave a review if you get the chance to help signal boost me, and most of all I simply hope you enjoy what I’m doing here.

Goodbye for now.