The Demonology of King James I: Includes the Original Text of Daemonologie and News from Scotland

By Donald Tyson

Written by King James I and published in 1597, the original edition of Demonology is widely regarded as one of the most interesting and controversial religious writings in history, yet because it is written in the language of its day, it has been notoriously difficult to understand.

Now occult scholar Donald Tyson has modernized and annotated the original text, making this historically important work accessible to contemporary readers. Also deciphered here, for the first time, is the anonymous tract News from Scotland, an account of the North Berwick witch trials over which King James presided.

Tyson examines King James' obsession with witches and their alleged attempts on his life, and offers a knowledgeable and sympathetic look at the details of magick and witchcraft in the Jacobean period. Demonology features historical woodcut illustrations and includes the original old English texts in their entirety. This reference work is the key to an essential source text on seventeenth-century witchcraft and the Scottish witch trials

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Mar 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9780738729947

Donald Tyson

Donald Tyson is an occult scholar and the author of the popular, critically acclaimed Necronomicon series. He has written more than a dozen books on Western esoteric traditions, including Tarot Magic, and edited and annotated Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Donald lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

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Reviews for The Demonology of King James I

[Alexander Ramirez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Profound. In depth and wonderfully translated. Thank you for taking the time to retranslate this.

[asukamaxwell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Demonology was first published in 1597. It is neither a manual or instructions on how to hunt witches. It’s a public statement of James' own, and the common, belief of the period in the format of a philosophical argument (albeit an ill-structured one) between the characters Philomathes and Epistemon. In the preface, King James I calls out Reginald Scot by name. Scot’s “The Discoverie of Witchcraft” was published in 1584 and was controversial at the time with its argument that witchcraft did not exist. While this wasn't written specifically as a reaction Scot, it shows that James is very aware of other wicthcraft-related works.

In the first coupe of chapters, James notes various instances of “witchcraft” in the Old Testament, James I mentions King Saul consulting the Witch of Endor to raise up the spirit of Samuel. James makse his own claim that Saul was so distracted by his own inner turmoil that what he saw wasn’t the ghost of Samuel, but the Devil in disguise. However, reading the KJV text itself, there is no deceit. This spirit merely proclaims what Saul already knows. It does not lie, and Saul himself recognizes the spirit, not the Witch. James also conveniently leaves out the Witch’s generosity in feeding Saul in his distress before he departs.

James goes on to make the distinction between Magi/ Necromancy and Sorcery/Witchcraft. The former are “[the Devil’s] masters and commanders” usually motivated by curiosity. His observation that Magi often claim to know the future, contradicts his belief that “the Devil hath no knowledge of things to come,” so how could the Magi obtain that power? But for James the “Devil’s School” includes astrology, chiromancy, geomancy, hydromancy, arithmancy, and physiognomy. This latter I thought was interesting because I had only known it in the 19th c. context. Turns out, Henry VIII had outlawed it in 1530 and what’s more, physiognomy can be found in KJV in Isaiah 3:9. The Devil can appear to these individuals as a “Cat, a Dog, an Ape, or some such beast”. I have yet to read of a witch trial that mentions an Ape, so James must've been referencing a specific instance. James also mentions that demons and the Devil deceive followers by “imprinting in them the opinion that there are so many Princes, Dukes and Kings…commanding Legions…”, saying there is no such thing in Hell. However, according to KJV Jesus himself casts out a “legion” from a man in Mark 5:1-42.

It isn’t until the Second Book in Demonology that Witches are discussed. They “are servants only,” motivated by revenge or greed. James does not claim that all witches are women, only that women are more susceptible to the practice. However, “no man ought to presume impunity” and God may “use any kind of extraordinary punishment when it pleases him.” Thus God can allow mortals to be attacked by witches or tempted by the Devil. James argues that melancholy cannot be blamed for the confession of witchcraft (nevermind under torture), as “some of them are rich and worldly-wise” or “merry”. This is the weakest argument thus far due to the fact that the vast majority of witches were elderly, poor, uneducated, or outcasts. In Ch. 4 it is written that the Devil may allow Witches to leave their bodies to be “transported from one Country to another." I think he mentioned this specifically because it was thought that witches were the cause of the storm that prevented his fiancé from traveling to England from Denmark.

In the final chapter, James unexpectedly examines various supernatural creatures. Those who claim to be "man-wolves" he concedes may be suffering from extreme melancholy. There's a mention of nuns being burnt for laying with incubi but no source is provided. This portion seems disjointed from the rest of the text but it is the most interesting as we get a glimpse of English traditional / folk beliefs.

[wishanem · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The English is significantly cruder and more old-fashioned than that of the KJV Bible (which seems a fair point of comparison). The text itself is quite short, though James still manages to repeat himself quite a bit. The choice to write in rhetorical dialogue, where the author imagines two characters conversing, might have been hip in 1597, but today it is stale, tedious, and unnecessary.

Honestly, the Malleus Maleficarum exists in more modern English, contains more extreme views, and was far more influential on the witch-hunting movement anyway. Read that instead.