Scope
"Occult" means hidden. To the philosophers of the Renaissance the occult qualities of things were those properties, like the pull of a magnet, that could be observed in their effects but not explained by what the senses perceive, and occult philosophy was the study of them. The word "occultism" is a coinage of the nineteenth century.
We use "occult literature" for the practical arts and their handbooks: magic, astrology, alchemy, and divination, with the natural magic and folk practice that surround them. It is the largest of our collections and the one most often asked for.
| Class | What is shelved there |
|---|---|
| L 1 | Magic in antiquity: the Greek and Demotic magical papyri, curse tablets, amulets, Jewish and early Christian magical texts |
| L 2 | Grimoires and ceremonial magic: Solomonic handbooks, planetary magic, conversations with angels, and modern handbooks of ritual magic |
| L 3 | Astrology: Mesopotamian, Hellenistic, Arabic, medieval, Renaissance, Indian, and modern |
| L 4 | Alchemy: Greek, Arabic, and Latin texts; emblem books; Paracelsian medicine; spiritual and psychological readings |
| L 5 | Divination: tarot and cartomancy, geomancy, the I Ching, dream books, palmistry, lots, and oracles |
| L 6 | Natural magic and folk practice: books of secrets, herbals, lapidaries, charm books, and the cunning trades |
| L 7 | Witchcraft and demonology before 1900: the trial-era treatises, the skeptics who answered them, and modern histories |
Strengths
- The Farrow collection: about 1,200 volumes on alchemy and Hermetic philosophy, including facsimiles of the major emblem books and a long run of twentieth-century studies, annotated in pencil by a pharmacist who checked the chemistry.
- Several English versions of the Key of Solomon and its relatives shelved side by side, so that the differences between manuscripts and editors can be seen at a glance.
- About 340 tarot and oracle decks with their booklets, cataloged as printed matter.
- Astrological textbooks from the seventeenth century, in facsimile, to the present, and a wall of ephemerides.
A caution. Historical handbooks of magic, alchemy, and medicine contain recipes that are poisonous, illegal, or cruel. They are kept as records of what people once believed and did. They are not instructions, and nothing in them should be attempted.
Where to begin: the research guides
- Grimoires and Ceremonial Magic (classes L 1 and L 2)
- Astrology (class L 3)
- Alchemy (class L 4)
- Divination and Tarot (class L 5)
- Witchcraft and Modern Paganism (class L 7, with B 5 at the West Gate)
For the nature of the magical handbook as a kind of book, see the Journal essay What Is a Grimoire?