The Long-Lost Friend: A 19th Century American Grimoire

303 Pages·2012·6.618 MB·English

by  Daniel Harms

A19TH CENTURY AMERICAN GRIMOIRE
J o h n Edited by
G e o r g e D a n ie l
H o h m a n H a r m s
About the Editor
Daniel Harms (Upstate New York) holds two master's degrees, one in
anthropology and one in library and information science. His major area of
research is magic from antiquity to the present, and he has been published
in the Journal for the Academic Study of Magic and the Journal of Scholarly
Publishing. Harms is also the author of two books on horror fiction and
folklore. Visit him online at DanHarms.wordpress.com.
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The Long-Lost Friend: A 19th Century American Grimoire © 2012 by Daniel Harms.
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First Edition
First Printing, 2012
Cover owl art © Michael Halbert
Cover design by Kevin R. Brown
Editing by Connie Hill
Interior border art by Llewellyn Art Department
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hohman, Johann George.
[Lange verborgene Freund. English]
The long-lost friend : a 19th century American grimoire / John George Hohman
; foreword by Joseph Peterson. — The complete annotated ed. / edited by Daniel
Harms.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7387-3254-1 (alk. paper)
1. Medicine, Magic, mystic, and spagiric—United States—History—19th century.
2. Alternative medicine—United States—History—19th century. I. Harms, Daniel.
II. Title.
R133.H5813 2012
615.5—dc23 2012003884
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Llewellyn Publications
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www.llewellyn.com
Printed in the United States of America
Other Books by Daniel Harms
The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia
The Necronomicon Files
with John Wisdom Gonce
Disclaimer
Please note that the remedies within this book might be ineffec­
tive, toxic, or harmful. Although notes on their general efficacy are
included for the purposes of scholarship, these should not be seen
as comprehensive. The author(s) and publisher are not liable for any
usage of these recipes. Please consult your physician before using any
of these remedies, and bear in mind individuals may respond differ­
ently to the same treatment due to medical history, drugs being taken,
and other factors.
Acknowledgements
The material from Charms A24-A58 is reproduced here with the
permission of the New York Historical Society. The material from
Charms S1-S69 is reproduced with the permission of the Edward G.
Miner Library at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The
quotations from the 1846 edition are from the collections of the
American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA.
Thanks to Chris R. Bilardi, Bobby Derie, Jennifer Jones, Bret
Kramer, Lorraine Melita, Jutta Roth, Franklin Townsend, Krystal Wil­
liams, the Berks County Genealogical Society, the Franklin and Mar­
shall Special Collections, the Bucks County Historical Society, the
Dauphin County Historical Society, the Historical Society of Berks
County, the Millersville University Special Collections, the Society
for the Academic Study of Magic listserv, and the Interlibrary Loan
department at SUNY Cortland.
Special thanks to Meghan Curry for all her support and frustra­
tion, Lise Weaver and Raine Ford for their assistance with herbs, Joe
Peterson for his keen eye on the text, Ralf Oderwald for his comments
on the German, and Giovanni Engel for proofing the German text.
Contents
Foreword by Joseph Peterson ... xiii
Introduction ... 1
Preface to the First Edition of This Useful Book... 39
Arts and Remedies ... 47
Appendix A: Charms from Later Editions of The
Long-Lost Friend... 99
Appendix S: Additional Charms in Der lange
verborgene Schatz und Haus-Freund... 117
Endnotes... 235
Index... 283
FOREWORD
Joseph Peterson
IMs .'. ell-researched new edition of The Long Lost Friend by esoteric
id : ar Dan Harms is most welcome.
Of the “five best books on magic” (in an earlier America) Hoh-
zcn s book was ranked at the top.1 It’s easy to see why. Well known as
i r rimary text of Hoodoo practitioners, and deeply rooted in centu-
nes-old northern European traditions, its importance and influence
7-.i.d worldwide.
Although often characterized as a collection of magic spells, it
:: _ld properly be considered a wide-ranging self-sufficiency guide,
ddi ugh with many religious and magical elements. Long Lost Friend
zidudes tips for dealing with common problems, providing charming
__i:rations of daily life in earlier days. Prominent among these con-
2 ms are medical and veterinary problems, theft, and protection from
¿nous dangers, including weapons.
There are a number of reasons for its viral popularity: it is inex­
pensive, the tips are simple to try, and most if its magical elements
ire innocuous religious invocations, free of sinister elements. It is also
Id in its claims—simply carrying a copy is said to protect the owner
fr: m various dangers, without “practicing” or even reading the text.
Having a copy in your house (often hidden in a wall), is said to pro-
:r “ it from fires or other disasters.
No doubt its popularity also profited from the fair amount of
mvstique attached to Catholic “practical” prayers. Although it may
seem innocuous today, this kind of “black book” literature was for­
bidden and often severely punished in the Protestant world.2 This
phenomenon occurred over a wide geography and timeline—in fact
it engendered much of the “grimoire” literature.
In spite of its importance and many editions, this text has gotten
very little critical analysis or scholarly treatment. Until now, the most
significant publication dealing with it at length was Carleton Brown’s
1904 article in The Journal of American Folklore, which is quite dated.
Since Brown’s study, significant findings have been made, such as
the identity of the mysterious “Gypsy” work alluded to in Hohman’s
preface. Brown also relied heavily on Charles Leland’s Gypsy Sorcery,
which is now widely regarded as unreliable.
Dan Harms has critically analyzed the various editions and varia­
tions, starting with the earliest German texts. His extensive intro­
duction and frequent footnotes shed light on the many obscurities
in Long Lost Friend. Dan has collected extensive information on the
mysterious author, along with the text’s provenance, history, legend,
and influence. All and all, this is the most comprehensive and reliable
edition yet to appear.
Despite efforts by centuries of rationalists, skeptics, and authori­
ties whose livelihoods were threatened by popular self-help publica­
tions like this, practices that are essentially magical show little sign
of disappearing. Self-reliance is powerful. When people maintain a
sense of control in their lives, they are freed from absolute reliance on
various religious, medical, and government leaders for personal pro­
tection and well being. Whether from tradition, social convention, or
because “you never know” we continue drinking to someone’s health,
blessing someone who sneezes, and practice countless other everyday
rituals.
In fact, instead of being remnants of an outdated way of think­
ing, magical practices continue to adapt with the times, evolving and
expressing themselves in new ways. A recent illustration of this magi­
cal thinking was recently seen using Facebook as a magical vehicle: