The Pact of the Grand Grimoire: A Historical Account

The Grand Grimoire, also published as Le Dragon rouge ("The Red Dragon"), is the most notorious of the French popular grimoires. Its centrepiece is a rite for summoning Lucifuge Rofocale, "prime minister" of hell, and making a pact with him in exchange for hidden treasure. Sold cheaply by pedlars across France in the nineteenth century, it shaped popular ideas of the devil's pact and became a byword for black magic. The Spellbook describes it as history only: it was designed to summon a demon and to bargain with it, and it gives nothing a reader should attempt.

How it was done§

The book opens with a florid preface claiming to reveal the secrets of King Solomon, followed by a hierarchy of hell: Lucifer as emperor, Beelzebuth as prince and Astaroth as grand duke, with six "superior spirits" below them, the first of whom is Lucifuge Rofocale, given authority over the riches and treasures of the world.

The preparation took several days. The operator was told to abstain and to choose one or two companions. He then had to make a "blasting rod" (verge foudroyante) from a branch of wild hazel that had never borne fruit, cut at sunrise with a new knife and fitted with metal at its ends, together with a "bloodstone" called ematille with which a triangle was traced on the ground. The rite took place in a lonely spot, such as a ruined house, within a circle with candles, the divine names and a cross.

The text supplies a series of conjurations of rising severity, in which the operator threatened the spirit with the power of the rod and the names of God. When Lucifuge appeared, the dialogue printed in the book shows him refusing to serve except on condition that the operator give himself to him after twenty years. The operator was to refuse and to compel him instead; the spirit then offered to lead him to a nearby treasure. The magician followed, took what he could carry and returned to the circle to give the spirit leave to depart, before thanking God. The book thus presented the pact as something the clever magician might avoid, a trickster element that distinguished it from older tales.

Later editions added further material, including the "Secret of the Black Hen", for summoning a spirit to obtain gold, and necromantic rites, together with collections of folk remedies and charms.

Origins and history§

The Grand Grimoire claims to have been printed in 1421 or 1522 and to derive from Solomon by way of an editor named "Antonio Venitiana del Rabina". Historians regard these claims as fictions. The earliest known editions are usually dated to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century; a version titled Le Dragon rouge bore the date 1522 but is generally thought to have been printed around 1822. Its sources include the Key of Solomon tradition, the Grimorium Verum, with which it shares its infernal hierarchy, and centuries of stories about pacts with the devil.

The pact itself has a long history. The legend of Theophilus, a sixth-century cleric who sold his soul and was saved by the Virgin Mary, was widely read in medieval Europe; the German Faust chapbook of 1587 gave the story its most famous form; and witch-trial demonologists made the written pact a central accusation. The Grand Grimoire turned this nightmare into a practical text for treasure-seekers.

Owen Davies's Grimoires (2009) describes how such books were printed cheaply at Troyes and elsewhere in the format of the Bibliothèque bleue and sold by travelling pedlars to rural customers; the authorities periodically seized them. A. E. Waite translated the rite in The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts (1898), surrounding it with disapproving commentary, and it entered English-speaking occultism through his work. Its Lucifuge Rofocale reappears in later demonologies, popular fiction and games.

Why this is presented as history§

The Grand Grimoire describes summoning a demon and bargaining with it, and its preparations and conjurations are designed for that purpose. The Spellbook does not give instructions for summoning spirits or making pacts. It is described here because it is an important document in the history of magic, of popular print and of ideas about the devil.

Safety and good sense§

Treasure stories led people to dig at night in ruins, sometimes with tragic consequences, and to be defrauded by those offering magical help. Anyone troubled by fears of curses, pacts or demonic influence should seek support from a doctor, counsellor or trusted religious adviser.

Sources and further reading§

• The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts — A. E. Waite, 1898
• The Book of Ceremonial Magic — A. E. Waite, 1911
• Grimoires: A History of Magic Books — Owen Davies, 2009
• Grimorium Verum: A Handbook of Black Magic — Joseph H. Peterson, 2007
• Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World — Jeffrey Burton Russell, 1986