The Story

Because all ancient tomes of unspeakable mystery – and particularly those linked in any way to the works of H.P. Lovecraft – must have a story.  Classically one that ends badly.

But first, this book doesn’t have any interior markings you would see in a regular publication.  No publication date, no author listed, no ISBN, etc.  Nothing that might distract someone picking it up from wondering if this is, in fact, an ancient tome of unspeakable mystery, or something published very recently.  That means it also doesn’t have credits inside, so I wanted to thank some people right away.

• The Awesome Mutsumi Hackworth – Japanese translations, calligraphy, and art work.
• The Amazing Eleanor McDonald – German translations, calligraphy, and art work.
• The Honorable Mrs.Vijay Sadh – Hindi translations and calligraphy.
• Alwynne Metze – Supercool and creepy watercolor Lovecraft related horror illustrations
• Bill Bricker – Supercool and creepy sketch Lovecraft related horror illustrations
• Anthony Gonzalez – Supercool and creepy detailed Lovecraft related horror illustrations
• Todd Cole – The Liturgy of Shub-Niggurath
• Michelle Cory, Todd Cole, Matt Webb, Peyton Mo, Riley Seaman, & Angella Seaman – Wise and insightful book review and suggestion team…
• and Eric Metze – Video editor extraordinaire.

And now more about the Book itself

This is a 300-page book of magic spells and mystic lore originally handwritten and then scanned and reprinted on handmade paper in a book hand-bound in goat hide leather.  It is heavily influenced by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, with one of eight chapters completely devoted to Lovecraft’s works.

The history of this spell book is that the original Book Owner knew one spell called “To Call Scribes” and, after concealing it across the first three pages, cast the spell on a large book of blank pages.

From that point on, every morning when the Book Owner would wake up, a mystical Scribe had somehow added arcane lore or spells to the book throughout the night before.

As the pages continued to fill up with magic text, the Book Owner set out to chronicle the experience, and to learn more about the Scribes themselves.  Naturally, the secrets revealed by the Book Owner result in a horrifying ending to the story woven between the chapters.

While these are called “Books” below and in the Grimoire, these are each actually chapters within the tome itself.

The Book of Necromancy

The first Scribe took directly from the 15th Century Munich Manual of Demonic Magic, originally in Latin.

 The Book of The Dead

The second Scribe inserted a large portion of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, including the Negative Confession, the list of Ten Gates, and several spells for protection and generally getting around in the Afterlife.

The Book of Magic Symbols

The Third Scribe interpreted spells and magic symbols of Icelandic Magic from historic sources such as Galdrabók, the Huld Manuscript, and the Kreddur Manuscript, all written in Elder Futhark Runes.

The Book of Secrets

The Fourth Scribe writes based on the lore created by H.P. Lovecraft.  It is written entirely in R’lyehian, which I was able to do after expanding Lovecraft’s original vocabulary from 200 words to nearly 2000.  This section includes illustrations and commentary on magic items, spells, and symbols from Lovecraft’s stories such as

• The Cthulhu Sign, The Yellow Sign, The Sign of Koth, and The Elder Sign (including how to make the sign as a gesture with your hand)
• The Silver Key
• The Shining Trapezohedron from “The Haunter of the Dark”
• The jade amulet from “The Hound”
• Tulu metal from “The Mound”
• Deep One jewelry
• and several spells not already covered in my previous Kickstarter spell book.

In addition, this section contains a handful of pages with spells taken from the novel Wraith, also available as part of this Kickstarter.

 

The Book of Talismans

The Fifth Scribe writes in English, interpreting the Black Pullet, an 18th Century book on magical talismans and rings.

The Book of Magic Words

The Sixth Scribe could arguably be considered the most benign of the Scribes, and transcribes a collection of spells written in elegant Japanese Kanji.  This section is not based on any historic book of magic.

The Book of Children’s Magic

The Seventh Scribe writes in German about magic observed to be inherent in children.  The alphabet is based on the Sütterlin Script, although because of what is happening with the story in the background of the book, a few of the letters are English variants.

The Book of Spirits

The Eighth Scribe writes in Hindi about the top 40 Infernal Spirits, including their symbols, what they rule over, and how to summon and control them.

The Translator

The Ninth Scribe does not have a chapter in the book, but rather is there from the beginning, translating all the other languages of the other scribes into Early Modern English in the margins and backs of the pages composed by the other Scribes.

Standard v. Deluxe Spell Book

Both versions have identical interior content and number of pages.  The differences are entirely in the cover and binding.

The StandardSpell Book is bound in Goat Hide with the Cthulhu Sign in metal on the cover.

The Deluxe Spell Book adds metal corners (front and back), metal hinges, a metal clasp, and a functioning iron lock and key so you can actually lock the book closed.

 

The Egyptian, Latin, Hindi, English, and Nordic all come from my interpretations of actual ancient historical occult texts. The German, Lovecraftian, and Japanese sections are entirely original.

Gold Ink Symbol

For the limited Backer Level that includes a “GOLD INK SYMBOL”, I will take the books after they are complete, and hand write one of these four symbols (your choice) on the inside in gold ink.  Why gold ink?  Because you can’t really print or scan gold ink to look right, so it will obviously be added by hand afterwards.

These symbols are all based on the R’lyehian language and alphabet.

Other Available Books

There are two additional books available at the start of this Kickstarter

• Wraith, a modern day novel of Necromancy
• Raphael’s Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic

Wraith is a novel that will be available to Kickstarter backers first.  The elevator pitch goes “A woman out of time enlists an Iraqi war veteran to battle a group of modern day necromancers.”  Three of the spells from this novel are included in The Book of Secrets chapter of this Spell Books.

Raphael’s Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic is a reprint of the original hand-written 1916 text on hand-made paper bound in goat leather.  The first page reads, “The Art of Talismanic Magic Being Selections from the Works of Rabbi Solomon, Agrippa, F. Barrett, etc., by Raphael”

It’s a very cool little book to carry around I think.

Stretch Goal Add Ons

Once the initial goal is met, stretch goals will release additional reprints of historical occult tomes.

• Demonality, originally published in 17th Century in Latin.  English translations added 1879.
• Agrippa’s Books 1, 2, and 3 of the Occult.  Variations originally published in the 16th and 17th Century
• The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin version with woodcuts added.  Originally published in 1487)
• The 1818 Dictionnaire Infernal