Papal Magic: Occult Practices Within the Catholic Church [Mass Market Paperback]

Simon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2007

From the editor of the "Necronomicon" comes a shocking and revealing investigation of the historic ties between the occult and the Catholic Church, including the first English translation available of the "Grimoire of Pope Honorious".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A student of magic, occultism and religion since the mid-1960s and the editor of the Necronomicon, Simon was a frequent lecturer for the famed Warlock Shop in Brooklyn and the Magickal Childe Bookstore in Manhattan for more than 10 years before his sudden disappearance in 1984, speaking on topics as diverse as religion and politics, occultism and fascism, ceremonial magic, demonolatry, the Tarot, the Qabala, and Asian occult systems. He also conducted private classes for the New York City OTO during this period, with a focus on Enochian magic, "wandering bishops", and Afro-Caribbean occult beliefs. An ordained priest of an Eastern Orthodox church, Simon has appeared on television and radio discussing such topics as exorcism, satanism, and Nazism. The media events he organized in the 1970s and 1980s -- with rock bands, ritual performances, and celebrity appearances -- helped to promote the "occult renaissance" in New York City.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harper (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061240834
• ISBN-13: 978-0061240836
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,300,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been so much better., August 15, 2008

By 

Maestro Nestor "Grimoire Magician" (Europe, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Papal Magic: Occult Practices Within the Catholic Church (Mass Market Paperback)

The reason I give this book 3 stars is because it has a decent translation of the Grimoire of Pope Honorius. That part is interesting and it also rather hard to get a copy of that text.

The Grimoire is only half of the book though and the first half is not that interesting. Mostly some well known facts mixed with "what if" scenarios. Any person with some knowledge of the occult already will know about all of the material in the first part.

Even the translation of the Grimoire of Pope Honorius could have been much better since it has no notations or anything in it. Still I find the price to be cheap enough to get a version of the Grimoire in print to be worth buying it.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars More BS from Simon, February 8, 2008

By 

Robert Whitaker Sirignano "Robert WS--" (Directly above the center of the earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Papal Magic: Occult Practices Within the Catholic Church (Mass Market Paperback)

SImon is known also as Peter Levenda, writes other paranoid tomes and has a clumsy website devoted to conspiracy. He tends to think everything is a conspiracy. He probably thinks the negative reviews he obtains are part of that vast conspiracy. Too.

For a telling of Simon in full, google Alan Cabal and the article "The Doom That Came to Chelsea" and you will discover the proper story of this man.

"Simon" is trying to make money from your ignorance.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Grimoire, Poor Presentation, May 6, 2007

By 

Dan Harms - See all my reviews

This review is from: Papal Magic: Occult Practices Within the Catholic Church (Mass Market Paperback)

It appears that this book was originally intended to be a fairly straight translation of the 1670 edition of the Grimoire of Honorius. This section seems to be fairly accurate, though someone better at French than I should look over it.

The remainder of the book appears to have been poorly researched and quickly dashed off. The basic point about the use of magic by Catholic clergy is well-established, but Simon seems not to be familiar with such fundamental works as Magic in the Middle Ages (Canto) or Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century (Magic in History). To fill out even the small number of pages allotted here, Simon must conflate legends about Catholic magicians, politically-motivated sorcery prosecutions, and cases where the practice of magic can actually be demonstrated. He very clearly wants to date the Grimoire to the same period as its supposed papal author, even though it contains material that obviously originates from centuries later.

If you want to see the Grimoire of Honorius, this will serve as a cheap translation. If you want to know about magic in the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, the first book mentioned above will be more to your tastes.