Grimoire

An "original" refers to a book containing knowledge about magic. They are considered to be powerful tools with esoteric knowledge and powerful magic spells written in them.
It is harmful to all who dare read its contents, although, currently, only Index is immune to the debilitating effects of the grimoires, and with her perfect memory, allows her to serve as the vessel of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. However, suspicions rise that she would rebel and become a Magic God. This suspicion marks the catalyst for the events that would lead to the beginning of Toaru Majutsu no Index.
==Principles==
Devastation caused by grimoires.png|Destruction left behind by grimoires.
Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index_II_E01_13m_49s.jpg|Yamisaka Ouma experiencing the painful effects of grimoires first hand.
As stated, original grimoires are harmful as reading its contents would drive a human into insanity, Chapter 2 Part 2 and are even harmful to those that are trained to handle them.
According to Index, what is written inside of a grimoire is of a different world, and contradicts common sense, a knowledge that is far too alien to be safely comprehensible to any normal human. The knowledge that a grimoire possesses is "poisonous" in the sense that it is too "pure" for the human mind to handle and must be "watered down" - i.e. written in such a way that many of its meanings are obscured—in order for people to be able to read it without their minds being destroyed. Chapter 3 Part 12 Once a human is stained with the poison that is the contents of a grimoire, even inquisitors cannot remove the poison from the mind even after five years of baptism.
===Types of grimoires===
A grimoire doesn't have to be in the shape of a book, for example: Aztec grimoires being written on animal skins and in stone tablets. Chapter 3 Part 10
Oriana Thompson has also written up a form of disposable grimoires comprising flashcards, which allows her to use many different kinds of magic. Its drawbacks include its inability to cast the same spell twice with the same flashcard, so she has to keep writing grimoires in order to move forward; and its instability makes it destroy itself after a few weeks at best, as such it is not exactly a true grimoire. Chapter 4 Part 2
===Abilities and Behavior===
A grimoire is practically "eternal" in the sense that it cannot be destroyed with current human methods (such as burning) and can only be sealed away. Original grimoires can apparently convert the words that are written inside their pages into magical code, which can be described as an semi-permanent magic circle or spell. The grimoires use the small amounts of energy released by nature or life force as well as the weak magical energy released by humans, because of this attribute of acting like an semi-permanent magic circle, a grimoire can never be truly destroyed. Chapter 2 Part 1 For example, a grimoire such as the Aztec Calendar Stone has an automatic Interception Spell that could defend against any type of attack.
Index states however, that since she is unable to use her life force to create mana (due to the restrictions on her made by the Necessarius), a grimoire manuscript that she writes down will not create such phenomenon, as such they can be destroyed, when normally a magician and even a normal human who releases magic energy through their life force when writing a magic will have this problem.
The structure of a grimoire is compared to that of a Magic Circle, with Stiyl Magnus demonstrating how a magic circle written with words can end up having 2 or 3 additional lines surrounding the original circle, like sentences on a page. Chapter 2 Part 9
====Sentience====
Grimoires are seemingly sentient enough to disclose its contents to people who desire information from it. Grimoires can apparently identify whether someone was a "reader" or "not a reader", and have the tendency to cooperate with those who would propagate the information with their contents.
As such, a magician could trick the decision-making capabilities of the grimoire under the belief that they could act as an evangelist for its knowledge. Regardless of this, the contents of the grimoire is still dangerous to anyone who reads it and those who attempt to take control of the grimoire. It is currently unknown if a grimoire is aware that they are dangerous to people.
If the grimoire judges its current owner to be unsuitable, it will kill him/her and seek out the next one, as shown in Volume 15, when Etzali needed to protect Xochitl from her own grimoire and in Volume 19, when a grimoire actually killed its wielder as he was inadvertently trying to prevent it's knowledge from being handed down. Chapter 3 Part 10
===Countermeasures===
One theoretical way to destroy a grimoire, according to Orsola Aquinas, is to write data that will force it to destroy itself into it. However, it is unknown if someone has successfully managed this, as the writer still needs to see the pages of the grimoire to actually write down the code, and even a mere glimpse of a grimoire is already dangerous.Etzali under the guise of Unabara Mitsuki catches a glimpse of a grimoire that has replaced Xochitl's skin. Kamijou Touma also suggested the possibility that his Imagine Breaker would be able to fully destroy grimoires, although he has yet to make any attempt.
Aureolus Izzard's job before he met Index was to write up vaccines that can destroy grimoires for the Roman Catholic Church. Chapter 3 Part 4 It is unknown if the writer of an original grimoire can destroy their own creations.
It should be noted that when a magician has been enough skill, they can read the contents of a Grimoire and not suffer from its contamination, one of this cases was Aureolus. Chapter 4 Part 2
Grimoires can be prevented from autonomously activating through the use of grimoire-shaped decoys arranged in a certain formation next to them to confuse their ability to recognize themselves. Grimoires try to indiscriminately spread their information, and blurring the line between what it views as itself and something else prevents the Grimoire from determining how far it should send its information into a subject, leaving it effectively spinning its wheels without accomplishing anything.Toaru Majutsu no Index SS: Necessarius Special Admission Test Chapter 2
===Politics===
Not unlike Saints, grimoires carry a somewhat heavy political pull, with it containing powerful spells as well as being indestructible, because of these, grimoires are sealed in their respective holding places such as libraries and cannot normally be stolen.
Grimoires are also used by the organizations keeping them to promote themselves, as with the case with the Roman Catholic Church displaying the Book of the Law to the public. The Book of the Law being displayed for the public was of course fake, to give the Roman Catholic Church an excuse to hunt down Orsola Aquinas who can decode the Book of the Law, and pin her death on the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church. Furthermore, a lost grimoire could spell turmoil between the magic organizations, as what had occurred with Amakusa Christians being accused for stealing the Book of the Law, causing the Anglican Church, Roman Catholic Church as well as the Knights of England to take action.
As such, magic societies will not simply leak the contents of the grimoires they keep for no reason, one of those rare reasons were to allow Index of Necessarius to memorize the grimoires for the purpose of reverse-engineering and neutralizing them, and with the 103,000 grimoires inside Index, there is a possibility that all magic in the world can be neutralized. Because of her status as a magic library, Index is reviled by magic societies for knowing the knowledge of the grimoires, knowledge that can be used against those who originally owned the knowledge before Index came along. As such, Index is being hunted by Magic Cabals, and is feared by her own church.
==Background==
==Chronology==
===Toaru Majutsu no Index===
====Index Arc====
====Three Stories Arc====
====Daihasei Festival Arc====
During the events of the Daihaseisai, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Stiyl Magnus explained to Kamijou Touma about grimoires and magic circles, in the middle of a discussion concerning their adversary Oriana Thomson, who was making use of Shorthand disposable grimoires.
====Battle Royale Arc====
====DRAGON Arc====
The Return of the Winged One's mass-production and weaponization of original grimoires came up with the battle between Etzali and the organisation's new leader Tecpatl, using the Aztec Calendar Stone-based Moon Rabbit. The two fought using their respective grimoires, with Tecpatl having taken measures to prevent contamination from his grimoire's knowledge. However not being willing to read or spread the grimoire's contents became his undoing, as when he was about to finish off Etzali, the latter transcribed some of the grimoire's text, leading the grimoire to recognize him as a more suitable wielder and turning its attack back on Tecpatl.
====World War III Arc====
===Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index===
====Aleister Crowley Arc====
====Coronzon Arc====
===Souyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index===
====Christmas Day Arc====
During her battle with Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki on Christmas Day, Anna Sprengel created several makeshift original grimoires to send after the latter, using charcoal from her Pneuma-less Shell and writing on nearby objects to animate them, and then disposed of them. Chapter 2 Part 4 Chapter 2 Part 7 Several notable Rosicrucian grimoires were also referred to during an explanation of the circumstances connected to the Rosicrucian Order. Between the Lines 0
====Operation Handcuffs Arc====
====Los Angeles Arc====
During the events in Los Angeles on December 26th, Stiyl Magnus theorized that the Citrinitas spell (which was not mentioned on any of the websites used by R&C Occultics) had been learned by decoding an original grimoire before being modified to incorporate the use of the Logistic Hornets. Since the grimoire in that case would likely have been written in German, his subsequent discovery through handwriting and residual information that Melzabeth Grocery was not familiar with German proved to him that she was innocent and not involved with Citrinitas as he had previously suspected. Chapter 3 Part 9 In the aftermath of the events in Los Angeles, during a conversation between Anna Sprengel and Aradia, it was noted that the latter's name was that of a figure featured prominently in a famous witchcraft grimoire. Epilogue
====New Year's Eve Arc====
During the events instigated by Aradia in Shibuya on December 31st, two grimoires relating to her and Wicca were mentioned and involved. Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches was mentioned by Index while she and Othinus were talking with Touma about Aradia. People in Shibuya converted into Aradia's new witch coven were granted a looseleaf papers for the personal grimoires Wiccan witches carry and develop over their life, the Book of Shadows, the knowledge of which would allow a reader to use Wiccan magic derived from Aradia.
====New Year's Arc====
==List of Grimoires==
As Index is a major character who holds 103,000 grimoires, it is only natural that these grimoires appear as a substantial part to the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe. These are a list of grimoires that have appeared so far in alphabetical order.
Name 	Description 	First mention 	Confirmed to be inside Index
 	A late-19th century grimoire documenting witchcraft and witches, which tells of the goddess Aradia, supposedly the daughter of Diana and Lucifer, who descended to the human world to teach the poor witchcraft to resist oppression from the wealthy and the church. 	 	
 	The calendar stone was an Aztec calendar arranged in a circle. However, the Aztecs used two different forms of calendars at once and believed in the death and rebirth of the sun, so it was an incredibly complex thing to make. What was described on the inside of Xochitl’s skin took only the times that dealt with from that calendar and then expanded on it with a religious dissertation. Chapter 3 Part 12 It contains the Times related to and the Moon Rabbit records. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 15 	No
 	It is a grimoire from China with a way to become an immortal written inside it. Within the book is the way to learn Rentanjutsu, it's said a person can create a miracle drug to cure any illness or curse using that technique. Chapter 4 Part 15 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	Authored by Aleister Crowley. 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18	Yes
 	It is the title of the earliest existing book on Jewish esotericism, although some early commentators treated it as a treatise on mathematical and linguistic theory as opposed to Kabbalah. "Yetzirah" is more literally translated as "Formation"; the word "Briah" is used for "Creation". 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	As with the Necronomicon, it is a fictional grimoire created by , a close correspondant of H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the Necronomicon and of the Cthulhu Mythos. This and the Necronomicon are the most famous fictional grimoires in popular culture. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	are Egyptian-Greek wisdom texts from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, mostly presented as dialogues in which a teacher, generally identified with or "thrice-greatest Hermes", enlightens a disciple. The texts discuss the nature of the divine, mind, nature and the cosmos: some touch upon alchemy, astrology and related concepts. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	The mystical book that is referenced in the , where Christian Rosencreutz receives the Book M from sages in the East, which supposedly contained the secrets of the universe, and which he subsequently translated into Latin.Contending for Faith ~ The Received Text ~: Once Delivered to the Saints Chapter 20 "Christian Rosenkreutz" (Retrieved:2012/6/3) 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	A personal grimoire compiled by Wiccan witches. They are given a stack of blank paper when they start down their path and write down the knowledge they obtain in it until their death, creating their own personal looseleaf grimoire (though it would be highly unusual for one to reach the level of an original). By following the instructions in the Book of Shadows written by each witch, one can use their Aradia-derived magic. Chapter 3 Part 3 Chapter 3 Part 5 	 	Unknown
 	
The modern name of an ancient Egyptian funerary text, containing spells to assist a person's journey through the underworld to the afterlife, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC.
In the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index, it has different versions, as a specific copy is written for a specific person when they die. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	The currently undecipherable grimoire written by Aleister Crowley, said to be dictated to him by Aiwass, and said to end the age of Christianity if opened. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 06 	Yes
 	One of several grimoires translated by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. Between the Lines 1 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21	
 	 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	One of the three grimoires which initiates into the Rosicrucian Order are said to be most likely to be given a chance to read a copy of. 	 	
 	One of the three grimoires which initiates into the Rosicrucian Order are said to be most likely to be given a chance to read a copy of. 	 	
 	A famous grimoire said by Stiyl Magnus to be written as a teaching guide for the Church by . 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 	No
 	
It is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist (1854–1941). It was first published in two volumes in 1890; and the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes.
According to Index in Toaru Gakuen no Index, the grimoire was an experiment that tried to classify magic into two categories, though apparently led to failure as there were exceptions in categorizing magic into two categories.
Westcott apparently described the Golden Bough as tasteless, like Italian Pizza and simple as a hot dog smothered in mustard. He mentioned how the simple flavor drew in the masses and the toxin of the letterpress copies gathered charisma around him without anyone noticing, speculating that Frazer wanted public acceptance. Mathers' comments suggest that the Golden Bough incorporates Hermetic principles. Chapter 3 Part 4 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	One of the three grimoires which initiates into the Rosicrucian Order are said to be most likely to be given a chance to read a copy of. 	 	
 	A grimoire fragment derived from special runes from Alaska. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index: Stiyl SS 	No
Golden Dawn recreations (collectively unnamed)	
A series of Tarot-based grimoires created by Coronzon which reproduce the deceased members of the Golden Dawn as an anti-Crowley measure. Chapter 2 Part 7 Chapter 3 Part 1 Chapter 4 Part 7
The grimoires were comprised of Tarot cards produced through selected materials. A special charcoal made from red wine and iron oxide and kneaded erasers made from breadcrumbs were used to make the rough sketches on the paper base, chosen to apply symbols of flesh and blood to the card. These sketches were colored with pigments chosen based on the personal traits of the individual to be recreated, found in things like , and the cards were reinforced with a thin layer of the wax used for cursed dolls. Chapter 3 Part 3 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21	No
 	One of several grimoires translated by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. Between the Lines 1 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21	
 	A famous grimoire said by Stiyl Magnus to be written as a teaching guide for the Church by . 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 02 	No
 	One of several grimoires translated by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers. His work in translating it into a form anyone could read led to a Kabbalah-centric magic culture spreading across Europe. Between the Lines 1 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 21	
 	According to Tsuchimikado Motoharu, it is a legendary book on Onmyoudou that was passed from China. It has no connection to the similarly named Aztec record Moon Rabbit. Chapter 2 Part 5 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 04 	Yes
 	It is an anonymous 17th-century grimoire, and one of the most popular books of demonology. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	Authored by Aleister Crowley. 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18	Yes
 	It is a popular hero from Japanese folklore. His name literally means Peach Tarō; as Tarō is a common Japanese boy's name, it is often translated as Peach Boy. Momotarō is also the title of various books, films, and other works that portray the tale of this hero. According to Index, it is a realy magic grimoire, camouflaged to look like a harmless fairy tale. She states there's actually no such person as 'Momotarou who was born from a peach. The correct interpretation of the story is that the peach that flowed down the River (as rivers were traditionally used as a metaphor as a boundary between ) is a forbidden fruit that lets people surpasses . In Eastern culture, there is mention of a fruit of Immortality. Of course, it's the peach that the Queen Mother is protecting. The original Momotarou wasn't 'born out of the peach', but 'the grandpa and granny ate the fruit and became young. One can tell from this that this story is about the creation of an elixir of Immortality.	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	It is a novel written by the British occultist Aleister Crowley in 1917. Its plot involves a magical war between a group of white magicians, led by the protagonist Simon Iff, and a group of black magicians over an unborn child. In Toaru Majutsu no Index, it is a grimoire referenced by Stiyl Magnus, when trying to start the ritual that will erase Index's memory. The book contains a way to summon a spirit using an angel's binding technique. Chapter 4 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	No
 	Translated as the Nameless Book in the Baka-Tsuki translation, its kanji can be translated as the Anonymous Ritual Manual. The characters are the direct translation for the or Nameless Cults, a fictional grimoire like the Necronomicon created by , of fame, for the Cthulhu Mythos. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	In reality is a fictional grimoire created by horror writer for his stories. In the world of Toaru Majutsu no Index, the grimoire was based off the fictional Necronomicon found in the Cthulhu Mythos by a magician or magicians for reasons unknown and became a genuine grimoire. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 01 	Yes
 	
An original grimoire derived from the Thoth Tarot, created by Aiwass through the hand of the Reading Thoth 78's reproduction of Mina Mathers to act as a vessel to support her existence outside of the Windowless Building. A thick book with leaf pages bound by metal rings. Prologue
Mina Mathers later forced Index, when she was under John's Pen Mode, to read the grimoire, purposefully poisoning Index's mind in order to destroy the control Coronzon had over her. This marks the first time Index is shown adding a new grimoire in her collection, the 103,001st one, and the first time Index is affected briefly by a grimoire's contamination. Chapter 4 Part 7 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 19	Yes
 	The Secret Doctrine is a book originally published as two volumes in 1888, Theosophy founder 's magnum opus. The first volume is named Cosmogenesis, the second Anthropogenesis. It was an influential example of the revival of interest in esoteric and occult ideas in the modern age, in particular because of its claim to reconcile ancient eastern wisdom with modern science. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	A copy of the book was being read by Sasha Kreutzev in the Phenomenon Control, Suppression and Reproduction Institute looking for answers to about the affects of Angel Fall were after Gabriel took here form and left a large amount of highly concentrated Telesma residing in her body. 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 12 	No
 	(Τετράβιβλος) 'four books', also known in Greek as Apotelesmatiká (Αποτελεσματικά) 'effects', and in Latin as Quadripartitum 'four parts', is a text on the philosophy and practice of astrology, written in the second century AD by the Alexandrian scholar (c.AD 90–c.AD 168). 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 05 	Yes
 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2 Chapter 7 	Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume SS2 	No
 	A grimoire with a core comprised of the 78 cards making up the Tarot deck of the same name created by Aleister Crowley and integrated into the Windowless Building as Reading Thoth 78. Chapter 4 Part 7 	Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 18	No
==Gallery==
Tsuki no Usagi.jpg|The Aztec Grimoire, the calendar Stone "Moon Rabbit".
Baopuzi.png|Baopuzi, as seen in the Toaru Majutsu no Index II anime adaptation.
==External Links==
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==Notes==
==References==
Category:Magic
Category:Terminology
 
Category:Magic s and Artifacts