Diabolical signature

In demonology, a diabolical signature (from diablo, the latin for devil) is a signature signed by a devil, demon or similar spirit, usually in order to sign your soul away. The most famous of these is Dr Faustus.

Demon's signature's are designed so you can't recognise their actual names, they are a mass of squiggles and so on. They are usually signed in blood. If there is a mass of signatures, they are usually signed in a circle, a doctrine of signatures[?]. We use this phrase to mean a common agreement, getting rid of of evil connations.

There are a number of so-called demon signatures in existance, perhaps faked by Alexander Crowley[?] for instance.

Some books on demonology, like Arbatel de Magia Verum and The Lesser Key of Solomon (or Lemegeton) assert that all demons has his/her own signature collectively called seal of the demons, and that sign the acts of diabolical pacts with them.

These "seals" (not seals indeed, they are handwritten) are imaginative lineal drawings, often complicated. It is notable that many of these "signatures" include the sign of the cross, which according to Christian tradition is opposed to demons and scare them. These signs appeared mostly during the Renaissance, in a time in which demonology was a subject of study for many theologians, priests, alchemists, cabalists[?] and other scientists and pseudo-scientists-One of the acts the Inquisition used to sentence Urbain Grandier to death had several of these signatures.