The Book of Forbidden Knowledge
By Johnson Smith & Company

A Curious Blend of Old Magic, Popular Superstition, and Occult Tricks from the Early 1900s

First published in 1910, The Book of Forbidden Knowledge is a strange and fascinating artifact of American occult culture. Compiled by the legendary Johnson Smith & Company—known for their mail-order books on hypnosis, riddles, and novelties—this volume is a compact collection of folk magic, dream divination, talismans, pseudo-scientific marvels, and stage trickery.

Far from a formal grimoire, this book is more like an occult scrapbook: packed with short spells, ritual snippets, and age-old superstitions from earlier centuries, some even tracing back to 18th-century sources like The Norwood Gypsy’s Fortune Teller. It covers:

• Divination and fortune-telling techniques using names, dreams, lucky days, and physiognomy

• Old-world folk charms: love spells, protection rituals, ways to recover stolen items, and more

• Instructions for crafting talismans, lifted from earlier magical texts like Petit Albert

• Early séance practices and parlor magic tricks à la the Davenport Brothers

• Mesmerism and “magnetic healing”—a mix of spiritualism and proto-psychology

• Classic superstitions: the evil eye, black cats, lucky pins, and knocking on wood

Don’t expect a structured magical system—expect a wild, unpredictable ride through the fringe beliefs and forgotten practices of a bygone age. If you enjoy texts like Pow-Wows, The Petit Albert, or Secrets of the Psalms, this volume belongs in your collection.

Weird, charming, and occasionally profound—it’s a relic of occult Americana worth exploring.

The Book of Forbidden Knowledge
By Johnson Smith & Company

A Curious Blend of Old Magic, Popular Superstition, and Occult Tricks from the Early 1900s

First published in 1910, The Book of Forbidden Knowledge is a strange and fascinating artifact of American occult culture. Compiled by the legendary Johnson Smith & Company—known for their mail-order books on hypnosis, riddles, and novelties—this volume is a compact collection of folk magic, dream divination, talismans, pseudo-scientific marvels, and stage trickery.

Far from a formal grimoire, this book is more like an occult scrapbook: packed with short spells, ritual snippets, and age-old superstitions from earlier centuries, some even tracing back to 18th-century sources like The Norwood Gypsy’s Fortune Teller. It covers:

• Divination and fortune-telling techniques using names, dreams, lucky days, and physiognomy

• Old-world folk charms: love spells, protection rituals, ways to recover stolen items, and more

• Instructions for crafting talismans, lifted from earlier magical texts like Petit Albert

• Early séance practices and parlor magic tricks à la the Davenport Brothers

• Mesmerism and “magnetic healing”—a mix of spiritualism and proto-psychology

• Classic superstitions: the evil eye, black cats, lucky pins, and knocking on wood

Don’t expect a structured magical system—expect a wild, unpredictable ride through the fringe beliefs and forgotten practices of a bygone age. If you enjoy texts like Pow-Wows, The Petit Albert, or Secrets of the Psalms, this volume belongs in your collection.

Weird, charming, and occasionally profound—it’s a relic of occult Americana worth exploring.