The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses

The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is an 18th or 19th century magical text allegedly written by Moses, and passed down as hidden (or lost) books of the Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch. A grimoire, a text of magical incantations and seals, it purports to instruct the reader in the spells used to create the miracles portrayed in the Christian Bible. The work was printed with annexes or reputed Talmudic magic names, words and incantation, many taken from Christian biblical passages. It shows diagrams of "Seals": magical drawings accompanied by incantations intended to perform tasks from controlling weather or people, to contacting the dead or Christian religious figures. Copies have been traced to 18th century German pamphlets, but an 1849 printing, aided by the appearance of the popular press in the 19th century, spread copies through Germany and Northern Europe, to German immigrants in the United States, to the African American South and Caribbean, and Anglophone West Africa. It influenced European Occult Spiritualism, as well as popular religious movements in the American South (Hoodoo), the Caribbean (Rastafarian), and West Africa.