Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Though claiming to be lost books containing the secret wisdom God revealed to Moses, this was actually an invention of the 18th century. From its genesis in Germanic Europe, it spread to America and, through the entrepreneurial salesmanship of the occult book publisher William Lauron Delaurence, its influence spread to West Africa and the Caribbean, where it became a founding text of Rastafarianism.
There are some grand claims for your next book, The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses by Joseph Peterson.
Like a lot of the grimoire tradition they claim Biblical origins. The Old Testament is made up of the first five books of Moses as received from God. Even 2,000 years ago there were rumours and manuscripts circulating in the Middle East which were reported to be other texts of messages that Moses had received, but which weren’t included in the Torah or the Old Testament.
Were these claims actually true?
Oh no, they are all bogus. The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses originated in the 18th century. But, even though it’s bogus there is still that central message of secret materials transmitted by God which is at the heart of Christianity and Judaism. So there’s the idea that the religious authorities over the centuries have withheld secret knowledge and this is hugely potent.
This is real Dan Brown territory.
Very much so and it explains his success. This is something authors like him are feeding off. And when this kind of thing spreads it always chimes in with popular culture. For example, in somewhere like Africa there’s this idea of the religious authorities, originally controlled by white men, withholding knowledge. And the cheap print format means that finally they had access to the knowledge which they think has held them down. Through the entrepreneurial salesmanship of the American occult book publisher William Lauron Delaurence, its influence spread to West Africa and the Caribbean, where it became a founding text of Rastafarianism
Read full interview
Owen Davies is professor of social history at the University of Hertfordshire. He has written widely on the history of witchcraft, magic, ghosts and folk medicine. He argues that despite persecution, magic has been with us since the first recorded written word and it’s still very much part of popular culture today.
