On the Shelf – The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, Part 1

Apparently I can’t leave the keyboard unattended for two minutes around here – but no matter!  I’ve assembled some notes on the new Petersen edition of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses.  Before I dive in, though, I think it’s important to discuss the book and its history first.

Many Biblical patriarchs have had books of magic attributed to them, and Moses is no exception.  The magical papyri found in Egypt – best known to Papers readers from its vampire-summoning love spell – reference both the Eighth and Tenth Books of Moses, showing that the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness had developed quite a reputation outside of conventional religious interpretation.  Nonetheless, there’s a large gap in the record until the eighteenth century in which no books primarily attributed to Moses can be located.

 

In the eighteenth century – exactly when, we’ll be examining later – another book attributed to Moses appeared for the first time in Germany.  In 1849, it gained notoriety when published by Johann Scheible, the Stuttgart publisher known for his works of Faustian literature called Das Kloster.  Scheible’s edition was actually an assembly of a number of different texts under the name that were circulating at the time, plus some other short treatises on magic.  The Sixth and Seventh Books themselves, of which Scheible gives a few different versions, largely consist of amulets accompanied by conjurations intended to summon spirits.  On top of this Scheible inserted an (uncredited) chapter on “The Magic of the Israelites” taken from Joseph Ennemoser’s Geschichte der Magie, a traditional spirit conjuration of seven demons called the Magical Spirit-Commando, a collection of magical phrases called the Semiphoras and Shemhamphorash, and a translated Hebrew treatise on reciting the psalms for different purposes.  It is in this form that the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses came down to us.

 

Scheible’s book came to the United States, where it was translated into English and printed and reprinted in increasingly corrupt editions.  Circulating first among the German immigrants of eastern Pennsylvania, it later moved outward to become a staple of folk magic in many different regions and an integral part of the African-American conjure tradition.  From there, especially through the influence of the Chicago publisher L. W. de Laurence, it gained international acclaim, with reports of its influence coming in from Ghana, India, and Jamaica.  With it came a tradition of folklore that connected it with powerful individuals who used its power for good or evil.  According to some, even reading the book or looking at a page could cause a person to become bewitched.

 

So, what does Peterson’s book bring to the table?  Will we find out, or will I fall victim to an awful fate?  We’ll see.

 

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