How to Become an Evil Wizard in the Middle Ages: The Secrets of Picatrix - Medievalists.net
Briefly

In the Middle Ages, Picatrix stood as a powerful Arabic treatise on magic, originally called Ghayat al-Hakim. This work, translated into Latin and Spanish, became popular across Europe, housed in prestigious libraries. It features spells for summoning spirits and crafting talismans, but also disturbing practices like mind control and destruction of environments, thus provoking a range of public opinions from curiosity to fear of its potential for evil. The text symbolizes the era's fascination and dread surrounding magic, aesthetics of power, and morality in the supernatural realm.
Picatrix offers a wide variety of magical spells and creations, including summoning spirits, building talismans, and concocting cures (or causes) for many ailments.
Some thought Picatrix was just silly superstition, while others believed it was a dangerous text, suggesting a divide in perception across ages.
To create a wasteland, one must use fluids from a pig's brain to draw curses on a lead sheet, showcasing the dark rituals described.
Despite being a medieval text, Picatrix includes creepy spells, such as mind control and environmental destruction, that remain unsettling even today.
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