The Black Book (Sortebog)
A handwritten book of prayers, charms, and remedies kept by Danish cunning folk, the 'black book' or Cyprianus, named after the apocryphal magician-bishop Cyprianus of Antioch. The books mixed church prayers with healing formulas against disease, worms, and bewitchment, and with charms for finding lost or stolen goods. Hundreds survive in Danish archives as evidence of a living folk magic that continued well into the 19th century, alongside the law's efforts to stamp it out. Reading from the black book was said to be a dangerous art, best left to the wise.