8 Mysterious Books of the Middle Ages That Become More Terrifying the More You Explore Them

From the basics of Satanic cipher to guides on how to make pacts with demons, these books are clearly not for the faint-hearted.

The author of the Codex Gigas (The Devil’s Bible) is said to have sold his soul to the devil

This colossal Latin manuscript was written by a Benedictine monk in the 13th century in the Czech Republic. The book measures 92 cm in height, 50 cm in width, 22 cm in thickness, and weighs 74.8 kg, comprising 310 pages that include everything from a complete copy of the Bible to instructions on performing exorcisms.

In fact, it is rumored to contain all of humanity’s knowledge. Even more interestingly, the entire book seems to have been written by a single scribe, who would have taken about 30 years to complete it. Sometimes Codex Gigas is referred to as “The Devil’s Bible,” as it contains an illustration of a giant demon.

Legend has it that once, a monk was awaiting execution for the sins he had committed. He pleaded with his superiors that if he could create a masterpiece overnight, they should spare his life. The monk sold his soul to Satan for help and produced Codex Gigas before dawn, sealing the pact with a large illustration of the devil within the book.

The book Picatrix contains recipes mixing blood, semen, urine, and opium

This 11th-century Arabic book of magic has long been regarded as obscene due to the images it contains. Besides being an academic work full of philosophy, astrology, and medieval science, Picatrix includes recipes that blend human and animal blood, brains, urine, bodily fluids with opium and other hazardous substances to achieve various magical results.

For instance, one spell can “make you appear in the form of any animal you desire.” To do this, you need to take the semen of a healthy man, place it in an eggshell along with the semen of the animal you wish to transform into, and then bury the egg in warm dung for three days.

The Grand Grimoire teaches how to summon and control demons

Are you looking to make a pact with the demonic? The Grand Grimoire (also known as the Red Dragon) offers what you need. This guide instructs readers on how to summon a demon and make a pact with it, compelling it to obey your commands. Allegedly based on the biblical texts of King Solomon, The Grand Grimoire is still used by some practitioners of Voodoo in Haiti.

The actual book is stored in the secret archives of the Vatican, with rumors that it cannot be destroyed, even by fire.

The Satanic Bible contains rituals for sex, compassion, and destruction

Regarded as the foundational text for contemporary Satanism, The Satanic Bible contains essays and rituals from the infamous “Black Pope”: Anton LaVey.

Anton LaVey had many professions before delving deep into Satanism: “He was once a lion tamer for Clyde Beatty Circus, then a professional organizer, an oboe player, a crime photographer, an artist, a hypnotist, and a paranormal investigator.”

The Satanic Bible is divided into four parts: Satan, Lucifer, Belial, and Leviathan. The Belial section contains magical rituals for “sex, compassion, and destruction”. The Leviathan section also includes invocations for these three aspects, including the invocation of the demon Satan.

The Voynich Manuscript is filled with surreal, unexplainable illustrations

With illustrations of naked women, bizarre symbols, and indecipherable text, no one truly understands what the Voynich manuscript is about. This colorful and detailed manuscript remains rather obscure and mysterious, encompassing everything from herbal remedies to zodiac symbols.

Overall, we still have not uncovered its purpose. The book is believed to have originated in Central Europe at the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century. Scholars are even unclear about what language it was written in, who wrote it, exactly when, where, or why.

The mysterious Soyga book vanished for hundreds of years

Advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, John Dee was a mathematician and astronomer. Dee was also fascinated by the occult and attempted to decode the strange Latin book of magic called Soyga, also known as Aldaraia or “the book of death.”

The book vanished after Dee’s death in the early 17th century, only to resurface in 1994 along with two copies—one in the British Library and one in the Bodleian Library.

Scholars continue to attempt to decipher its mysteries, but to date, they only know that it is a book about demons, magical spells, and astrology. The Soyga book also contains names and genealogies of angels. Its final pages include a series of indecipherable letters.

John Dee spent most of his life trying to communicate with angels. Dee claimed that he asked the angel Uriel to help him understand Soyga, but was advised that only the archangel Michael could explain it.

The Oera Linda book was popular among Nazi occultists

The book Oera Linda is viewed by many as a forgery, not an authentic ancient text. However, it was a favorite of Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, who regarded it as the Nordic Bible.

He believed that the Indo-Iranian people were descendants of Atlantis. Furthermore, he claimed that the Nordic people pioneered all Western civilizations, contributing to the development in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and beyond. Even today, some Neo-Nazi followers and fringe thinkers assert that the book is real and accurate.

The Munich Manuscript is entirely about dark magic

Also known as The Necromancer’s Manual, this 15th-century Latin book of magic focuses solely on demonology and dark necromancy.

Munich is divided into three sections. The first deals with illusion magic used to deceive people into seeing non-existent things. The second covers psychological magic, using emotions to gain superhuman power. Finally, the third section focuses on divination, allowing a person to “see” into the past or future.

One of the most notorious and frightening parts of the book includes instructions on how to create a “Lilith’s dark mirror” for divination purposes.

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