The Black Raven is a grimoire composed in German-speaking lands sometime in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Appearing at first glance to be a typically eclectic assortment of conjurations and ritual directions, upon closer analysis this humble volume is revealed to comprise a cohesive toolkit for the treasure-hunting nigromancer: presenting conjurational means for both petitioning devilish lords of earthly riches and laying the ghosts who haunted their troves, as well as planetary spiritwork for best timing such endeavours. Indeed, if the books they left behind are any indication, the recovery of hidden treasure was among the most ubiquitous pursuits of medieval and early modern magicians. Given the widespread assumption that such immured valuables were likely to be guarded by malevolent spirits, it stood to reason that the methods of ritual exorcism, with their protective invocations and banishing execrations, would be ideally suited to clearing the practitioners'
