During the European Witch Trials, many of the Catholic Church’s practices came under fire. Some priests stated magic that includes God’s blessing was allowed. Others said that using any kind of magic was a sin and that defending the practice alone was grounds for witchcraft. Despite the controversies, many grimoires were still produced. One of these grimoires was The Key of Solomon.

The Key of Solomon was a medieval grimoire that was said to be based on King Solomon himself. According to legend, Solomon commanded his son, Rehoboam, to hide the book in his tomb. The book was later discovered by Babylonian scholars, who asked an angel to decipher the text. One of the scholars, Grevis, promised the angel that he would hide the grimoire from anyone wicked. Grevis then decided to curse the book, rendering it useless to anyone who was deemed unworthy. While an interesting story, contemporary researchers believed the grimoire was written during the Renaissance and was inspired by works from alchemy and the Kabbalah. There are many translations available in English, Latin, French, and Greek.

The Key contained numerous angelic and demonic names, incantations, astrologies, and symbols that were used to summon supernatural creatures, including angels and demons. It was separated into two books. The first book details the various spells used to summon spirits, including angels and demons, and constrain them to the magician’s will. It also has a variety of love spells and invisibility spells the magician can use. In other words, the spells were used to impress and to make living a little easier. The second book, however, described how to perform an exorcism. It tells you what clothes you should wear, how to purify yourself, and what sacrifices to make should you need the protection of other spirits. All of the book’s spells are complicated. Some of these spells need the user to determine what type of day they should cast the spell on, and what time of day you have to cast the spell on. It isn’t that different from modern-day witchcraft.

The Key of Solomon has been studied by many academic and religious scholars. But it wasn’t until the publishing of The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown that the grimoire gained some mainstream appeal. Other authors, such as Howard F. Clarke, have taken a more literary approach to the grimoire, and have written stories involving it. It’s been translated through Weiser Books and Llewellyn Publications and continues to be an important inspiration for both artists and academics.

While its history is often debated, with the most obvious being that the grimoire might not have been written by Solomon himself, it is still a historical document that reflects the political and social atmosphere at the time. It provides valuable insight into how much controversy surrounded the use of magic, as well as how prevalent Christian beliefs were throughout Europe. Nowadays, it’s a document that provides a window to the past, whether that be for religious scholars, or writers and artists, or even just curious readers.