Codex Gigas aka Devils Bible

Codex Gigas aka The Devils Bible

Giant Manuscript



The Devil's Bible is said to be written by a monk who broke his monastic vows. As a result he was to be persecuted by being holed up in a brick room of the monastery. This was considered inclusion. They say he pleaded for his life and promised to write a book to glorify the monastery forever, that it would contain all human knowledge and he would do it all in one day. They say... when he realized his time was coming near the end and he had not finished the book, he made a deal with the devil to help finish the book in exchange for his soul.

Monastic means solitary, somewhat isolated, plain, and disciplined. If you take monastic vows, you promise to live this way.
Here is a utube about the Codex Gigas for those of you who hadn't heard of it.



Origin and Etymology of Gigas - Latin, noun, giant, from Greek
Codex - a manuscript book especially of Scripture, classics, or ancient annals

Size = 92 cm (36 in) tall, 50 cm (20 in) wide and 22 cm (8.7 in) thick
Weight = 74.8 kg (165 lb)
Material = skins of 160 donkeys or perhaps calfskin

Originally the book contained 320 parchment leaves, 11 of which were cut off - there are 11
Missing pages ? A Mystery... What is on those 11 missing pages ?

"The Codex Gigas holds the entire Vulgate version of the bible along with Isidore of seville’s encyclopedia Etymologiae, Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Cosmas of Prague’s Chronicle of Bohemia, chapters of history, etymology and physiology, a calendar with necrologium, a list of brothers from the Podlažice monastery and details of magic formulae, spells, medicine and other local records."

Codex Gigas & 13th Century Sribes

I will give a brief description of everything that is listed to be in the Codex Gigas just so you can grasp an idea of the vast amount of information within.

1)Vulgate: Latin translation of the Bible
Vulgate
2)Isidore of seville’s encyclopedia Etymologiae: Etymologiae covers an encyclopedic range of topics. Etymology, the origins of words, is prominent, but the work covers among other things grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry, music, astronomy, medicine, law, the Roman Catholic Church and heretical sects, pagan philosophers, languages, cities, animals and birds, the physical world, geography, public buildings, roads, metals, rocks, agriculture, ships, clothes, food and tools.
Encyclopedia Etymologiae
3)Antiquities of the Jews: (Greek: Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, Ioudaikē archaiologia; Latin: Antiquitates Judaicae), also Judean Antiquities (see Ioudaios), is a 20-volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around AD 93 or 94.[1] Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people, written in Greek for Josephus' gentile patrons.
Antiquities of the Jews
4)The Chronicles of Bohemia or The Chronicle of the Czechs: by Cosmas of Prague (d. 1125) is a masterwork of medieval historical writing, deeply erudite, consciously researched, and narrated in high rhetorical style. Regarded as the foundational narrative of Czech history, it is the source of the oldest stories about the land, people, and rulers of Bohemia and Moravia
Chronicles of Bohemia
5)Chapters of History:
6)Physiology: the branch of biology dealing with the functions and activities of living organisms and their parts, including all physical and chemical processes.
7)Etymology: a chronological account of the birth and development of a particular word or element of a word, often delineating its spread from one language to another and its evolving changes in form and meaning.
8)A calendar with necrologium: a list of persons who have died within a certain time.
9)A list of brothers from the Podlažice:
10)Details of magic formulae, spells, medicine:
11)Other local records:

One of the main focuses of this book is that it is claimed to be the Devil's Bible due to the picture of the devilish creature found on page 290 of the codex as well as the deal made with the devil by the scribe who had been closed up inside the brick walls of the monastery.

"Folio 290 recto,[15] otherwise empty, includes a unique picture of the devil, about 50 cm tall. Directly opposite the devil is a full page depiction of the kingdom of heaven, thus juxtaposing contrasting images of Good and Evil."

When I first glanced at the picture I did not see a Devil, I saw a Toad. I began doing research on the symbolism of Toads during the 13th century.
Toads in witch craft were regarded as a bad omen, demonic and magical, but on the opposite, they were a symbol for good luck, transformation and rebirth. It is interesting to me that on the opposite side of the devil picture is an image of the kingdom of heaven.
Taking a closer look at the devil(toad) picture, we see that the devil(toad) is alone in the room. There are two correlations I want to point out:
1) The monk being submitted to inclusion, and then he is left to sribe what is in his head onto a cloth, in this case be it calfskin. The monk was holed into the brick walls of the monestary alone (inclusion), this is already the typical lifestyle overall of a monk who takes monastic vows.
2) I found some information where if a toad is put into a earth pot in order to pull out the toadstone. The toadstone is an amulet from a toad said to hold a magical power of being able to protect from poison.

"A Goode way to get the stone called Crapandina, out of the Tode. Put a great or ouergrowne Tode, (fyrst brused in dyvers places) into an earthern potte, and put the same in an Antes hyllocke, & couer the same with earth, which Tode at length ye Antes wyll eate: So that the bones of the Tode and stone, wyll be left in the potte."

"There be many late Writers, which doe affirme that Text, whose opinions (because they attribute much to the vertue of this stone) it is good to examine in this place, that so the Reader may be satisfied whether to hold it as a fable or as a true matter, exemplifying the powerfull working of Almightie God in nature, for there be many that weare these stones in Ringes, being verily perswaded that they keepe them from all manner of grypings and paines of the belly and the small guttes. But the Art (as they terme it) is in taking of it out, for they say it must be taken out of the head alive, before the Toad be dead, with a peece of cloth of the colour of red Skarlet, where-withall they [sc. the toads] are much delighted, so that they stretch out themselves as it were in sport upon that cloth, they cast out the stone of their head, but instantly they sup it up againe, unlesse it be taken from them through some secrete hole in the said cloth, whereby it falleth into a cestern or vessell of water, into which the Toade dareth not enter, by reason of the coldnes of the water."

Sweet the uses of adversity.
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head

Toadstone

The monk is supposedly pulling all of the human knowledge and writing it down before he dies. This is eerily similar to the story of obtaining the toadstone from a frog. When in reality...the toadstone never came from the toad in the first place. It will be a search in the wrong direction if one were to go searching for some magical toadstone that is going to solve all your worries and woes.
I believe the Toad/Devil picture represents a transformation process of pulling out the bad so that the good can prevail. The conjurations and spells found in the Gigas Codex look as if they are to do just that... are they to perform a type of exorcism as the video suggests ? My guess is that the story originates to describe how we must put to rest all the bad in our heads/lives before we die from our Earthly realm. We are to transform. Monks do this in their lifestyle by taking the monastic oath. They consciously go into the oath aspiring to put to rest all of their demons and to help others do the same. This is also another age old story about the philosophers stone and fools gold. The monk knew he would not be able to complete the task of scribing the book in good faith all in one day. Nothing good or of gold happens that quickly or overnight. It takes time and effort. The story about the monk selling his soul to the devil is just another way of saying he was aiming for fools gold when the transformation process really takes a-lot of time and a-lot of effort. So again another story teaching a lesson for those willing to pay attention and see. One more thing to point out: They say the Gigas Codex is highly illuminated, back in the 13th century that meant the illustrations were possibly decorated with silver and gold, lol, more fools gold. In the video we hear several stories of ill will falling amongst those who came into contact and possession of the Gigas Codex, it appears they became possessed with it and it became their fools gold. & now for the grand finale… go back to the original request by the monk whom asked the monastery to let him produce a book that would make the monastery be glorified forever. According to the story, the monastery agreed to allow the book to be written in one day. Was the monastery blinded by his promise for them to become glorified ? If it were true… it says a-lot, that even the monastery, they too chased after fools gold. :-)
I have included a brief summary below of the conjurations and spells that appear in the book for your reference.

3 conjurations and 2 spells found in the Gigas Codex.
Conjurations:
1) To ward off sudden illnesses, evil is addressed in the magic words puton, purpuron, diranx, celmagis, metton, ardon, lardon, asson and catulon, with accompanying signs of the Cross.
2) To ward off feverish state: The seven evil sisters of Satan. They are to be expelled from a ‘servant of God’ through the invocation of various events in the life of Christ, as well as angels, the Holy Virgin, John the Baptist, the Evangelists, the Apostles, the prophets and various saints.
3) To ward off a feverish state: The evil one, bloodthirsty Dino, who has 150 talons, is adjured and commanded not to harm his victim but to ‘sleep like a yearling lamb’.
Spells:
1) How to catch a thief with the aid of a medium – ‘a virgin unblemished youth’. His nails are to be anointed with thirteen drops of oil and he will then espy the thief in the glistening oil.
2) In order to see in a dream ‘the theft which has happened’, one must hold a letter in one’s left hand, invoke God by His holy name, as well as the archangels, and conjure the evil spirits to go home and sleep.
Conjurations

leolady

The only definition for Gigas that I can find is

from Greek gigas giant. Word Origin and History for giga- Expand. arbitrary word-forming element meaning "billion" in the metric system, 1947, from Greek gigas

It basically means big

a reply to: frostjon361

Could be Nephelim.

a reply to: leolady

In regards to toads, apparently they secrete hallucinogenic chemicals. Not surprising they would be revered at some point in time.

Good thread btw.

a reply to: leolady

So, I'm most interested in the toadstone part of your OP.

It's not a bezoar, as we both know.

What do you suppose that all those Englishmen were mining those toads for?

They were getting something out of it, or they wouldn't pass along the story.

originally posted by: frostjon361
The only definition for Gigas that I can find is

from Greek gigas giant. Word Origin and History for giga- Expand. arbitrary word-forming element meaning "billion" in the metric system, 1947, from Greek gigas

It basically means big

Yep, it just means 'Big Book.'

The reason it has been nicknamed "Devil's Bible" is because of the devil image that Leolady posted.

Gonna (re)watch the documentary now.

Very cool.

a reply to: leolady

I live at the foot of the devil's mountain. Ironically, it is right next to another mountain, Mt. Zion.

Life, it would seem, is not without irony.

a reply to: leolady

S&F



but it was a year he had not a day

Missing pages ? A Mystery... What is on those 11 missing pages ?

also parts at the end are in different handwriting
supposedly the devil himself finished some of the work
the poor monk couldn't

a reply to: leolady


I'm not seeing anything particularly toad-like, though, perhaps from the posture I can see what you mean. If it is a toad, it is a toad with bird-like feet and talons. I would definately consider it as a composite animal rather than focus on one attribute, look at how they combine.

The twin-tongues is an interesting feature, made me wonder if the illustrator was trying to depict a forked or serpents tongue without ever having seen such a thing for himself - Medieaval Bestiaries are fascinating in that respect, particularly with the more exotic animals - and they didn't call it a cloistered existence for nothing. Most entered as children and knew little to nothing of life outside the monastery walls.

Toads are often associated with poisonings that result in bloating, in folklore, but only in cultures where they are perceived negatively, for many cultures the reappearance of frogs is a harbinger of Spring, and a return to fertility. The odd-thing though, is that those cultures that are frog-phobic tend also to be mushroom-phobic. I suspect that it has something to do with dietary prohibitions, as well as a means of limiting psychotropic usages, but I don't really understand it.

a reply to: kibric

but it was a year he had not a day

Yes I read one day and one year in different sources while looking for information during my research. But look at what they said in the video...no way it could of been finished that fast. It would of taken 25 to 30 years to complete.

also parts at the end are in different handwriting

Experts also agree that it was completed by one scribe. Did you find information stating it was different handwriting at the end parts ? I'd be interested in reading about it.

leolady

Thanks for putting the thread together, I dont know I look at that image and it reminds me a lot of the tibetan style of illustration. To me without having delved deeply into the codex, it feels like an uninspired book. Like a sales pitch really, In that period there where plenty of scribes with the ability to produce it. So all we have is the legend of how it was all done in a day, legends and fabulas where the entertainment of the day. Any fantastic story was bound to be popluar, so why not use that medium? Certainly the church where happy with the spreading of fear and any method that achieved that was aproved. A highly superstitous time, when the full on belief of evil was paramount.
Just to add, the arabian and jewish had there fingers in plenty of magic also, this stuff was around one way or another. Nothing out of the ordinary only that this was all compressed in a large format. a reply to: leolady

a reply to: leolady

it appears they became possessed with it and it became their fools gold. & now for the grand finale… go back to the original request by the monk whom asked the monastery to let him produce a book that would make the monastery be glorified forever. According to the story, the monastery agreed to allow the book to be written in one day. Was the monastery blinded by his promise for them to become glorified ? If it were true… it says a-lot, that even the monastery, they too chased after fools gold. :-)

Great thread, I read the whole thing. I agree with your conclusion.
Kind of appropriate for what is going on right now with this "Fake News" or Fools Gold?🤔

yes a greedy and materialistic religeon needs proof of what they want to exist. That Iconagraphy was the flavour of the day. Of course our images today are much nicer.a reply to: Observationalist

Here's a hint as to what I think that was (and I am sure occasionally still is) being mined from the heads of toads:



Sorry, I'm kind of stuck on the toad thing as I have no real interest in the book.

originally posted by: Dan00
Sorry, I'm kind of stuck on the toad thing as I have no real interest in the book.

I don't think it is a particularly interesting book, unless you're a Czech, hence all the marketing blurb to 'big it up'.

Toadstones? People believed all sorts of strange things, not all of them true, not even remotely. Superstition, I think, may be the marketeers greatest gift, that and vanity. It's like how they used to believe that beavers, somehow knowing what the hunters were after, would bite off their own testicles to end the pursuit. Making something rarer, more unusual or dangerous to obtain, increases it's value. And, of course, there's one "born every minute".

a reply to: Anaana

I don't think it is a particularly interesting book, unless you're a Czech, hence all the marketing blurb to 'big it up'.

I know, right. Where else would we expect a 165lb "nefarious" grimoire to come from?

Why is that region of the world so prone to such hyperbole? Why? I don't know.

Anyhow, what I am referring to are the Toadsmen or Horse Whisperers. They were harvesting the pelvic girdle of the toad and also probably the hyoid bone. They were making an amulet that would allow them to speak to horses (at least).

originally posted by: Dan00
Anyhow, what I am referring to are the Toadsmen or Horse Whisperers. They were harvesting the pelvic girdle of the toad and also probably the hyoid bone. They were making an amulet that would allow them to speak to horses (at least).

Ahhhh, I see. Is that what they did in the olden days before Mr Rowntree invented Polo mints?

I don't know, I've never had much problem speaking to horses...getting them to talk back is another matter entirely, and besides, what do horses have to say that could be that interesting?

a reply to: Dan00

Your comments on the Toadsmen sent me searching for more information and here is what I found. It is interesting to me that they refer to the same process as using the ants and there is also talk of the devil. Weird.

Toadsmen

Prominent amongst these was the group known as toadmen, so-called because they were thought to rely on a bone taken from a dead toad for this purpose. Firstly though, in a grusome ritual, the toad itself had to be placed over an ant’s nest until its body had been reduced to a skeleton by the insects.

This was then carefully placed in a clear, fast-flowing stream. The first bone to be washed off by the current was retrieved and offered magical powers to a toadman. In some cases, it was apparently necessary to take the bone to a graveyard where the Devil would appear on the third night and try to steal the bone.

As recently as 1908, belief in toadmen still survived. At Bourne, in the English county of Cambridgeshire, one of the workers at the local blacksmith’s forge was accused by a farmer of stealing money. When the farmer visited the smithy in a pony and trap, the man was seen to draw a handkerchief across his face. The pony then refused all the farmer’s inducements to move, and stayed there all day.

The man finally released the pony by walking over and simply patting its neck. His fellow workers were amazed by this display but the toadman warned them not to follow his example. He explained that it was a dangerous craft which drew on the Devil’s powers.

Origins of Horse Whispering

leolady

a reply to: leolady

It is interesting to me that they refer to the same process as using the ants and there is also talk of the devil. Weird.

You're right, it is totally weird.

The process is the same, but we know that they weren't getting any sort of stone out of the toad. Yet there are all of the toadstone amulets (rings mostly) made from fossilized fish teeth. But the toad-burglars were after the bones, as we know. The story is on a perpetual spin-cycle.

There's a knot to be untied here in this story for sure.

I think that it was the European Witch Craze that sent a particular form of animal husbandry underground and in to hiding.

And, the Toadsmen were hiding proprietary trade-knowledge (animal husbandry related to horses).

There's a lot going on there.

Wasn't there a TV show somewhere that involved these types of folks (horse whisperers)?

I'm rambling but it's a rambly story.