c. 100 BCE - 400 CE
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NOTE |
The Greek Magical Papyri are a set of magic spells and recipes created in Greco-Roman Egypt from around 100 BCE to the fifth century CE. The title given to them is a conventional attribution for a type of document rather than a name for a particular cache or archive; the papyri are united by an interest in magic and a unique combination of Egyptian magic, Greek adaptations, and Judeo-Christian coloring. Although many of the texts had been known since the nineteenth century and published in a collection in the early twentieth, they were not translated into English until Hanz Dieter Betz did so in 1986. As this collection remains under copyright, I present here a few sample papyri that had previously been translated and now reside in the public domain. Accompanying these translations are notes on the papyri from the original editors and translators.
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CEREMONY OF THE RING OF HERMES AND THE SCARAB
PGRM V. 213-303
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There are a few papyri, still imperfectly deciphered, that describe magical ceremonies or contain preventive incantations against evil spirits. Here we present a very interesting transcription of the Ceremony of the Ring of Hermes and the Scarab, taken from a Greek papyrus in the British Museum. Texts of this kind were numerous in Egypt, if we are to believe the reputation magic had acquired in that country; the memory of this science remained so vivid that all witchcraft of the Middle Ages claimed to be Egyptian. And it is not without interest, in the presence of so many fantasies adorned with this prestigious term, to know, through an authentic text, what this Egyptian magic, to which so many false wonders have been attributed, truly consisted.
Grillot de Givry |
Take a carved scarab as described below, place it on a sheet of papyrus, and under this sheet a pure linen cloth. Place some olive branches underneath, and place a small censer in the middle of the papyrus. Offer myrrh and kuphi, and also have a small chrysolite bowl in which you will put lily, or myrrh, or cinnamon ointment. Take the ring and place it in the ointment after first purifying it of all impurity, and burn the kuphi and myrrh in the censer. Leave it for three days and take it and place it in a clean place.
For the ceremony, have at hand some unleavened bread and seasonal fruits, and after making another sacrifice on vine sticks, during the sacrifice remove the ring from the ointment and anoint yourself with it. Anoint yourself early in the morning, and, turning towards the East, pronounce the formula cited further on:
How to carve the scarab:
Carve the scarab on a precious emerald; pierce it and thread a gold wire through it, and, beneath it, engrave the sacred image of Isis, and, having consecrated it as described above, carry it with you.
Suitable days for the operation: the 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 25th of the month, at sunrise.
On other days, abstain. The formula is recited while facing the Sun:
“I am Thoth, inventor and creator of medicines and letters. Come to me, spirit who is under the earth; arise for me, great spirit, the Phnounochthonios [“the subterranean god”]. I am the famous Heron, the egg of the ibis, the egg of the sparrowhawk, the young of the phoenix that crosses the air, having under my tongue the sign of the Telma of Em: I am clothed in the skin of the Keph. If I do not succeed in reading what is in the soul of all the Egyptians, Greeks, Syrians, Ethiopians, of every race and nation, if I do not succeed in knowing their professions, their habits, their works, their lives and their names and those of their fathers, mothers, sisters and friends and of their deceased, I will pour the blood of the black one with dog ears into a new and sealed vessel; I will place it on a new kettle and burn the bones of Hesies [i.e. Osiris] under it; and I will proclaim in the port of Busiris the name of the one who remained in the river three days and three nights, Hesies, the one who was carried by the current of the river into the sea, who was buried in the waves of the sea and was vanished into the clouds of the air.
“Your belly will be devoured by fish; and I will not prevent the fish from crushing your body with their mouths; no, the fish will not close their mouths. I will take away from his mother the one who has no father, the heavens will be brought down and the two mountains will be joined into one. I will send anoixin against you, and she will be left to her devices. I will not allow a god or a goddess to give an oracle, until I read what is in the souls of all men, Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks, Ethiopians, of every race and nation, of those who question me, of those who come before me, whether they speak or keep silent, so that I may reveal to them what has happened to them in the past and what will happen to them; and that I may know their professions, their lives, their habits, their works, and their names and the names of their dead and of all men and that I may read a sealed letter and that I may make known to them the future without error.”
For the ceremony, have at hand some unleavened bread and seasonal fruits, and after making another sacrifice on vine sticks, during the sacrifice remove the ring from the ointment and anoint yourself with it. Anoint yourself early in the morning, and, turning towards the East, pronounce the formula cited further on:
How to carve the scarab:
Carve the scarab on a precious emerald; pierce it and thread a gold wire through it, and, beneath it, engrave the sacred image of Isis, and, having consecrated it as described above, carry it with you.
Suitable days for the operation: the 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 25th of the month, at sunrise.
On other days, abstain. The formula is recited while facing the Sun:
“I am Thoth, inventor and creator of medicines and letters. Come to me, spirit who is under the earth; arise for me, great spirit, the Phnounochthonios [“the subterranean god”]. I am the famous Heron, the egg of the ibis, the egg of the sparrowhawk, the young of the phoenix that crosses the air, having under my tongue the sign of the Telma of Em: I am clothed in the skin of the Keph. If I do not succeed in reading what is in the soul of all the Egyptians, Greeks, Syrians, Ethiopians, of every race and nation, if I do not succeed in knowing their professions, their habits, their works, their lives and their names and those of their fathers, mothers, sisters and friends and of their deceased, I will pour the blood of the black one with dog ears into a new and sealed vessel; I will place it on a new kettle and burn the bones of Hesies [i.e. Osiris] under it; and I will proclaim in the port of Busiris the name of the one who remained in the river three days and three nights, Hesies, the one who was carried by the current of the river into the sea, who was buried in the waves of the sea and was vanished into the clouds of the air.
“Your belly will be devoured by fish; and I will not prevent the fish from crushing your body with their mouths; no, the fish will not close their mouths. I will take away from his mother the one who has no father, the heavens will be brought down and the two mountains will be joined into one. I will send anoixin against you, and she will be left to her devices. I will not allow a god or a goddess to give an oracle, until I read what is in the souls of all men, Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks, Ethiopians, of every race and nation, of those who question me, of those who come before me, whether they speak or keep silent, so that I may reveal to them what has happened to them in the past and what will happen to them; and that I may know their professions, their lives, their habits, their works, and their names and the names of their dead and of all men and that I may read a sealed letter and that I may make known to them the future without error.”
translated by Jason Colavito from the French of Grillot de Givry
Source: Grillot de Givry, Anthologie de l'occultisme (Paris: Éditions de la Sirène, 1922), 57-58.
Source: Grillot de Givry, Anthologie de l'occultisme (Paris: Éditions de la Sirène, 1922), 57-58.
A HEBREW LOGOS
Papyrus Paris 3009
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Among the various portions that make up the papyrus Paris, No. 3,009, there is one which is called specially the "Hebrew Logos." A. Dieterich has reprinted it in his "Abraxas" (Leipzig, 1891, pp. 138-141), correcting and amending the first edition by Wessely, and adding critical footnotes and references to the passages in the Bible upon which that Logos seems to rest. He uses this publication for the purpose of showing that an Orphic-Jewish community, to which he ascribes that Logos, had taken part in enriching the spiritual property of the Gnostic associations which were beginning then to be established. From his notes, and from the whole tenour of his book, it is evident that he believes this and similar compositions to be the result of direct borrowing from the Bible and of an artificial piecing together of scattered verses, in order to make up this 'conjuration.' Before proceeding further, I prefer to now give a translation of my own of this text, corrected and amended according to my views, as shown in the notes appended to the translation.
The Greek text of the papyri is, as a rule, full of barbarisms; it abounds in mistakes, due either to the copyists or to the compilers. In the case of our text some mistakes may be due to wrong translation, if, as I have reason to believe, the original were Hebrew. Some are also due to the difficulties which confront the decipherer of these relics of ancient times. Want of interpunction and of marks of division make the reader run one text into the following. The meaning of some sentences is thus obscured, and what is directed against the demon to be exorcised reads in the present text as if it were addressed to God, in whose name the conjurer is to speak and whose assistance he is to invoke. I have therefore read the text in the light of similar conjurations, and in spite of apparent contradiction to the Greek text. Moses Gaster |
An approved recipe of Pibekeus against those possessed of a demon. Take unripe olives and mastyx-plant and lotos and boil it together with wild (orig. 'colourless') marjoram, . . . . saying ‘Go out of N. N.’ Take then a tin-plate and write upon it this formula of protection. Iaobraothioth, etc., and tie (wind) it upon (round) the person that is affrighted and stands in awe of any (all the) demons. Place thyself before the possessed and conjure. ‘I conjure (thee in the name) of the God of the Hebrews, IAOO, Iabaie, etc., who appeared in the flame, who expands in the midst of the fields and snow and mist. May his terrifying angel descend and drive this spirit away which is fluttering around this creature, whom God has created in His holy Paradise, for I pray to thee Holy God upon AMMON IPSENTANHO. I conjure thee with the power (or ‘energy’) of . . . . I conjure thee with him who has shown himself to Israel in a column of fire and smoke daily and has delivered the people from the work of Pharaoh, and has inflicted upon Pharaoh the plagues for his disobedience. I conjure thee, whatever spirit or demon thou mayest be, speak, for I conjure thee with the seal which Solomon placed upon the mouth of Jeremia, and he spake. In like manner speak thou (30), whoever thou mayest be, in heaven or from the air, upon the earth or from under the earth or inside the earth, (demon) of the Jebusites, Gergesites, and Feresites. Speak, whoever thou mayest be. For I conjure thee with the light-giving, all-powerful God, who knows what is in the heart of every living, who has formed the human race out of dust, who brings forth from the dark (his hosts) (v. Ies. xl, 25), and thickens the clouds, and waters the earth and blesses her fruit; whom all heavenly powers praise and the Archangels of the Angels. I conjure thee with the great God Sabaoth, before whom the river Jordan withdrew and turned backwards, and the Red Sea let Israel pass-standing still-where there was no road. I conjure thee with Him who has taught 140 languages and has spread them through his command. I conjure thee with Him who has struck the proud giants with His lightning, whom the heaven of heavens and the winged (lit. ‘the wings of’) cherubs praise. I conjure thee with Him who has made the sand to be as a wall of mountains around the sea, and has bound it not to pass beyond it and the sea obeyed. So obey also thou all manner of a demon, for I conjure thee with Him who moves the four winds from the four corners, who is seen in the heavens, in the sea, and in the clouds, who is light-giving, all-powerful. I conjure thee with the holy name . . . . of the One who dwells in the pure Jerusalem, where the inextinguishable fire is ever burning, before whom the fiery Gehenna trembles, and the flames roar, and the iron (melts), and (before whom) each mountain is terrified in its foundation. I conjure thee all manner of a demon with Him who rules over the earth and shakes its foundations (60) and has created everything out of nought. I conjure thee!’
The man who utters this conjuration must not eat swine’s flesh, and every demon and spirit will obey him. The conjurer must blow from the lower extremities upwards until he reaches the face, and the demon will be driven out.
Keep clean and pure, for this conjuration (logos) is Hebrew (ebraikos), and is preserved by pure men.
The man who utters this conjuration must not eat swine’s flesh, and every demon and spirit will obey him. The conjurer must blow from the lower extremities upwards until he reaches the face, and the demon will be driven out.
Keep clean and pure, for this conjuration (logos) is Hebrew (ebraikos), and is preserved by pure men.
translated by Moses Gaster
Source: Moses Gaster, Studies and Texts in Folklore, Magic, etc., vol. 1 (London: Maggs Bros., 1928), 111-113.
Source: Moses Gaster, Studies and Texts in Folklore, Magic, etc., vol. 1 (London: Maggs Bros., 1928), 111-113.
A PAPYRUS OF EROTIC MAGIC
Papyri Osloenses No. 1
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The present papyrus is one that I bought in the Fayum. It was said to have come originally from Batn-Harît. We may raise the question whether there was here, or in some neighbouring town, a 'factory' for producing such magical papyri. If so, it may have existed for a lengthy period and have employed several different hands as time went on.
Our magical papyrus is, as usual, a roll, not a book. It was folded up, not rolled up, when found, as we still may see from its present condition. The folding has in some places considerably injured the text. The illusively flowing and clear hand places the papyrus in the 4th cent. A. D., say in the first half of that century. [...] The papyrus deals not least with erotic magic the ἀγωγαί. In fact we get recipes for 7 new ἀγωγαί, besides one φυσικλείδιον and one ἀσύλληπτον. Further we have one κάτοχος, three or rather four θυμοκάτοχα (χαριτήσια, νικητικά), and two λυσιφάρμακα. Finally the 'opening of the door' (1. 312), being inserted between the ἀγωγαί, may also have some connection with erotic magic, and may have been recommended to a lover who wished to break into the house of the maiden. That the scribe has copied the recipes of this roll from various sources, seems clear from the deplorable state in which, e. g., col. VIII and XII are preserved, as compared with the very good text in most of the other columns. That fine paper such as we find in our papyrus could be used in such extravagant and pretentious way sufficiently shows how popular this special form of magic had grown amongst well-to-do people. It certainly throws a sidelight on the interesting chapter of the history of morals in those days. S. Eitrem |
(1) 'Holder' (a magic recipe that 'holds fast'), working for everything. You take a plate of lead, worked up cold, you write with a bronze style the figure drawn below, and the names, and you place it hard by right opposite: 'Come, Typhon, thou who sittest at the upper gate, Iõerbëth, who didst slay thine own brother, Iöpakerbëth, Jobolchoseth, Iōapomps, Iōsesenro, Iōbimat, Iakumbiai, Aberramenthō, Ulerthexanax, Ethrelyoōthme, Marebatuseth, Bolkolaonkon, shudder at thine own son. (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions).
(35) A magic formula that restrains wrath, that secures benevolence, that brings victory, works even with kings; there is none better. You take a plate of silver, you engrave with a style of bronze the figure drawn below and the names, and you carry it in the fold at your bosom, and you will secure yourself the victory. The names to be put down are the following: "Iaō, Sabaōth, Adonai, Elōai, Abrasax, Ablanathanalba, Akrammachamari, Pephthaphōza, Phnebennuni, Lords Angels, give to me, N. N. born of N. N., victory, favour, fame, success with all men and with all women, but most of all with (the man) N. N. born of N. N. for ever and for all time. Effect this." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions).
(69) Agogë (a procedure or formula to bring the beloved one to the lover), the best burnt-offering; there is none better. It brings men to women and women to men, and it makes virgins to run out from their homes. You take a clean sheet of paper and you write with blood from a donkey the names given below and (you draw) the figure. You fold up in it something from the woman whom you want, you anoint it with sharp gum that you moisten, and you fix it to the Laconicum of the bath, and you will wonder. But take care that you are not hurt. That which you write, is the following: Come, Typhon, thou who art sitting at the upper gate, lõerbēth, Iopakerbeth, Iōbolchoseth, Iōapomps, lösesenro, Iōbimat, Iakumbiai, Aberramenthō, Ulerthexanax, Ethrelyoōthme, Mareba-tuseth. As you are burnt and enflamed, so be also the soul, the heart of the woman N. N., born of N. N., until she comes to me loving me, N. N., and unites (prop. glue) her female member with my masculine member, now now, quick quick." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions, see Pl. III). (162) Another burnt-offering. You take pure paper and you write with myrrh-ink the names given below and the figure and you pronounce the formula thrice. The names that you have to write and the figure are these: "Hear me, thou who buildest up and layest waste, who didst become a strong god, born of a white pig, Althaka, Eiathallatha, Salaioth, thou who didst appear in Pelusium, and who holdest the iron-stick in Pelusium with which thou didst block up the sea and walk through it, (with which) thou didst dry up all plants bring to me, N. N., the woman N. N., burning, enflamed, flying through the air, hungry, thirsty, unable to get sleep, loving me, N. N., born of N. N., until she comes and unites her female member with my male member, now now, quick quick." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions).
(134) A wonderful agōgē; there is none better. You take myrrh and male libanos, put it into a drinking-cup, moreover an arche of vinegar, and in the third hour of the night you throw it upon the pivot of your door and pronounce this formula seven times. The formula that you pronounce is this: Awaken, you demons in the dark and jump upon the bricks and beat your breasts, having smeared your faces with mud. For the lawless eggs are sacrificed by the woman N. N., born of N. N., Pyr Pyr. Lawfulness has become lawlessness. For Isis cried a great cry, and the world was thrown into confusion, it turns itself to the holy ... and its fetters, as well as the fetters of the demoniac, are broken because of the hostile and impious woman, N. N., born of N. N. But thou, Isis, and Osiris, and Chthonos, Ablamgunchōthō, Abrasax, and ye demons below the earth, awaken, ye that are in the depth, and make the woman N. N., born of N. N., to be sleepless, to fly through the air, to love me, N. N., born of N. N., with a most vehement love, hungry, thirsty and without sleep, until she comes and joins her female member with my male member. If she wants to lie down, strew beneath her prickly branches, and thorns upon her temples, that she may give her consent with the love of an hetaera, because I conjure you who rule over the fire, Maskelli Maskellō Phnukentabaōth Oreobazagra Rhexichthon Hippichthon Pyripēganax. The woman, N. N., is bound with the fibres of the holy palm that she may thoroughly love N. N., and by no manner of means shall you be untied, not by a barking dog, not by a braying ass, not by a cock, not by a purifier, not by the sound of a cymbal, not by the booming of a flute, but You put round yourself an amulet. (Addition:) but let her be in the power of a spirit.
(161) Remedy to prevent the wrath of person; there is none better; consisting of formulas to be recited. Holding your thumbs (enclosed) pronounce this formula thrice: “Ermallōth Archimallōth, muzzle the mouths which speak against me because I glorify your holy and glorious names which are in the heaven". To increase the effect of these imprecatory words you write thus: "I am Chphyris, I ought to be succesful. Michaël, Raphaël Rubel, Nariel, Kattiēl, Rumbuthiēl, Azariēl, Ioël, Iuēl, Ezriel, Suriēl, Nariel, Metmariēl, Azaēl, Aziël, Saumiēl, Rubuthiel, Rabiēēl, Rabiēēl, Rabchlu, Enaezraēl, ye angels, guard me against every thing that may happen to me”.
(178) Remedy to break spells. You take (a piece of) lead, and you engrave upon it the figure Mononthun (?), holding in his right hand a torch, in his left a dagger, and on his head three hawks, and under his feet a scarab, under the scarab a serpent biting its tail. That which is written round the figure, is this. (Here follow magical letters and signs).
(189) Agōgë-remedy. You take (a piece of) an unbaked potsherd and (write this) with a style of bronze: “Hekate, Hekate, three-formed, the seal of everything, I adjure you by Him with the names Ablanathan(alb)a, and by the Might of Akram(macha)mari, because I conjure Thee, the Fire (?) that holdest and those in it, to burn, drive unto me, N. N., the woman N. N., because I hold in my right hand the two serpents and the Victory of Iaō, Sabaōth, and the mighty name Bilkatrimophri, the that thou mayest drive her to me (?) being burnt, being enflamed . . ., being tortured". You also have to write the following characters, thus: "Give unto me the favour of all, Adonai". (Here follow the seven vowels, seven times repeated, and a magic figure to the right,).
(211) Prayer to the sun; it restrains wrath, brings victory, and procures favour for you; there is none better. Pronounce this seven times to the sun and anointing your hand wipe it off upon your head and your face. It is thus: "Hail to thee, who art appointed to rule over the East and the world, to whom all gods are the body-guard, in thy good hour, in thy good day, the Agathodemon of the world, the crown of the inhabited lands, thou who risest from the abyss, thou who every day art born anew as a child and settest like an old man, Arpenknuphi, Brintatēnōphri, Brisskylmas, Arurzorboro, Mesintriphi, Niptumi, Chmummaöphi. I pray to thee, Lord, that I may not fail, nor be the object of plots, nor take any noxious potion, nor fall into embarassments or trouble of subsistence, but receive and obtain from thee life, health, fame, riches, power, strength, good luck, loveliness, favour with all men and all women, victory over all men and all women. Yea, Master (despot) Ablanathanalba, Akrammachamari, Pephnaphōza, Phnebennuni, Naachthipunorba; do my will through thy strength".
(231). You take a plate of lead and engrave on it the following names and the figure. You anoint the plate with the blood of a bat and roll it up; you open a frog, i. e. a toad, and put it (the plate) into its stomach, sew up the frog with a bronze needle and suspend it on a reed taken from the spot with hairs from the tail of a black ox with its hind-legs (tied to the reed) in the easten part of the place near to the rising sun.
Usiri sesengenbarpharanges. Erikisēpheararacharaphthisikēra (these two word-complexes are written in "the form of a heart", cutting off the letters successively from the end). ‘Base': Lords angels, as this frog vanishes away and dries up, so may also the body of (the man) N. Ν., born of N. N., because I swear you who are placed to command the fire, Maskelli, Maskello, etc. (Magic figure, see Pl. X).
(256) You take a potsherd of a triangular form, from a cross-road, lifting it up with your left hand, and you write with myrrh-ink and then throw it away: “Astraēlos Chraēlos, annihilate every spell against me, N. N., because I adjure thee by the mighty and frightful names at which the winds shudder and the rocks, when hearing them, split asunder”. (Here follow magic letters, see Pl. XI.)
(265) You take the blood of a night-raven and myrrh-ink, you mix both together, and you write with a new reed-pen the figure, as it is given here (the figure is left out by the copyist), on a clean bit of paper, looking to the east and at the same time to a clean wall —. You fix it in a sudarium of fine linen with thorns from a male palmtree, you fold the figure up, and when you have folded it up, retiring from it six cubits, you measure 59, thrice stepping backwards, standing at the sign of six cubits.
(275) A good remedy to gain the favour of all present as well as of popular assemblies. It is also good for those smitten by a demon you put libanos on the signs (?) written on a plate of silver (?). You bind it round you. It will work (?) freely. (Here follow magic letters and signs, see Pl. XII.)
(283) A remedy to open the genitals of a woman. You take an egg of a crow and the juice of the herb crowfoot and the gall of a rivertorpedo, you pound these together with honey, and you pronounce this formula while you are pounding, and when you are anointing your pudenda. The formula to be spoken is this: ‘Oh thou womb of N. N., open thyself and receive the semen of N. N. and ... toakrates of Iarphe arphe, write (?), let N. N. love me for all her life-time, as Isis loved Osiris, and let her remain chaste, as Penelope to Odysseus. But thou, Oh womb, remember me for all my life-time, because I am Akarnachthas". This you shall pronounce while pounding and when anointing your pudenda, and thereupon you may lie with whomsoever you like, and she shall love none but yourself and she shall not be copulated with by any one but yourself.
(295) Agōgē, burnt-offering, by means of fireless sulphur, thus: You take seven lumps of fireless sulphur, and you make a pyre of vine-wood. Pronounce this formula for each lump, and throw (the lumps) into the fire. The formula is this: “The heavens of heavens opened themselves, and the angels of God went down and destroyed Pentapolis (the district of the five cities), Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama, Sebuim and Segor. The wife hearing the voice became a pillar of salt. Thou art the sulphur that God poured down in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adama, Sebuim and Segor, thou art the sulphur that was a servant to God so be a servant also to myself in regard to (the woman) N. N., myself being N. N., and let her not lie on her bed, nor get sleep, until she comes and accomplishes the mystery of Aphrodite". When you throw (the sulphur) into the fire, say: "Throwing thee into the fire, I adjure thee by the great Paptaphe, Iaō, Sabaōth, Arbathiaō, Zagurē, Paturë, and by the great Michael, Suriel, Gabriel, Sesengenbarpharangës, Istraël, Abraam drive this woman, N. N., to me, N. N.”
(312) Opening of a door. You take the navel-string of a first-born ram that has not touched the ground, you incense it with myrrh, and when you want to open you bring it near to the bar of the door, pronouncing this formula, and you will open it at once: “Auōn nēi auōn nei tkelli, i. e., open thyself, open thyself, thou bar, because I am the great Horus Archephrenepsu phirinch, the son of Osiris and of Isis, I want to escape from the godless Typhon now, now, quick, quick."
(321) A remedy to prevent conception, the only one that exists in the world. You take as many vetches as you want, saying what use you want to make of them (?), that you may remain sterile. You wet them in the menses of the woman when she has her menstruation. You wet them in her vulva. And you take a living frog and throw the vetches into its mouth that it may swallow them down, and you let the frog loose and let it go back where you took it from. And you take the seed of hyoscyamus, you wet it in horse's milk, and you take the umor of a frog and its excrements and throw them into the skin of a stag and you tie it together outside with the skin of a hinny and you bind it round you as an amulet when the moon is waning, is in a female sign of the zodiac, on the day of Saturn or Mercury. Mix also with the barley-corn the ear-wax of a female mule.
(333) Agōgē of the Myrrh. Pronounce this formula to the burning wood (?) of a bath. The formula is this: “Myrrh, Myrrh, thou who art a servant of the gods, thou who didst stir up the … mountains, who didst enflame the marsh of Achalda, who didst burn the godless Typhon, the fellow-combatant of Horus, the protector of Anubis, the guide of Isis—when I throw thee upon the whirling flame (?) of the bath, (I say to thee :) as thou art burnt, so thou shalt burn the woman N. N., because I, N. N., adjure thee by the strong and inexorable Necessity, Maskelli, Maskellō, Phnukentabaōth, Ereobazagra, Rhexichthon, Hippochthon, Pyrichthōn Pyripeganyx, Lepetan, Lepetan, Mantunoboë, and by the Necessity of this, Laki, Lakiō, Lakiōyd, Lakiōyda. Drive to me, burn the woman Ν. Ν. (common form just as you want), because I adjure thee by the mighty and great names Theilōchnu, Ithipeskuthi, Tetochnuphi, Speusuti, Iaō, Sabaōth, Adōnai, Pagurë, Zagurē, Abrasax, Abrathiaō, Terëaphaël, Muisrō, Leilamsemesilam, Thoou, lie, Eō, Osir-Athom, Chamneus, Phephaōn, Phepheōphai, Phepheōphtha. Wake up, Oh Myrrh, and go to every place and seek out the woman N. N., and open her right side and go into her like thunder, like lighting, like a burning flame, and make her thin, pallid, weak, languid, feeble … on her whole body (?) … until she leaps out from her home and comes to me N. N. common formula as much as you like now, now, quick, quick."
(361) An irresistible agōgē which works on the same day. You take skin of a donkey and you write what follows below with the blood of the vulva of a silurus, having mixed with it the juice of the Sarapis-herb. What you write, is this: “Sisisōth, bring to me the woman N. N. this very day, in this selfsame hour, because I adjure thee by the name Chychachamer, Meruth, Chmëminuth, Thiōnthuth, Phiophaō, Belechas, aaa eeeēēēls's's'n'n'. Bring the woman N. N. to Ν. Ν.”—common formula. And having put into it some substance from the beloved one with katananke (some vetch-plant) you place it in the mouth of a dead dog, and it will bring (the beloved one to you) in that very hour.
(35) A magic formula that restrains wrath, that secures benevolence, that brings victory, works even with kings; there is none better. You take a plate of silver, you engrave with a style of bronze the figure drawn below and the names, and you carry it in the fold at your bosom, and you will secure yourself the victory. The names to be put down are the following: "Iaō, Sabaōth, Adonai, Elōai, Abrasax, Ablanathanalba, Akrammachamari, Pephthaphōza, Phnebennuni, Lords Angels, give to me, N. N. born of N. N., victory, favour, fame, success with all men and with all women, but most of all with (the man) N. N. born of N. N. for ever and for all time. Effect this." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions).
(69) Agogë (a procedure or formula to bring the beloved one to the lover), the best burnt-offering; there is none better. It brings men to women and women to men, and it makes virgins to run out from their homes. You take a clean sheet of paper and you write with blood from a donkey the names given below and (you draw) the figure. You fold up in it something from the woman whom you want, you anoint it with sharp gum that you moisten, and you fix it to the Laconicum of the bath, and you will wonder. But take care that you are not hurt. That which you write, is the following: Come, Typhon, thou who art sitting at the upper gate, lõerbēth, Iopakerbeth, Iōbolchoseth, Iōapomps, lösesenro, Iōbimat, Iakumbiai, Aberramenthō, Ulerthexanax, Ethrelyoōthme, Mareba-tuseth. As you are burnt and enflamed, so be also the soul, the heart of the woman N. N., born of N. N., until she comes to me loving me, N. N., and unites (prop. glue) her female member with my masculine member, now now, quick quick." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions, see Pl. III). (162) Another burnt-offering. You take pure paper and you write with myrrh-ink the names given below and the figure and you pronounce the formula thrice. The names that you have to write and the figure are these: "Hear me, thou who buildest up and layest waste, who didst become a strong god, born of a white pig, Althaka, Eiathallatha, Salaioth, thou who didst appear in Pelusium, and who holdest the iron-stick in Pelusium with which thou didst block up the sea and walk through it, (with which) thou didst dry up all plants bring to me, N. N., the woman N. N., burning, enflamed, flying through the air, hungry, thirsty, unable to get sleep, loving me, N. N., born of N. N., until she comes and unites her female member with my male member, now now, quick quick." (Here follows a magic figure with inscriptions).
(134) A wonderful agōgē; there is none better. You take myrrh and male libanos, put it into a drinking-cup, moreover an arche of vinegar, and in the third hour of the night you throw it upon the pivot of your door and pronounce this formula seven times. The formula that you pronounce is this: Awaken, you demons in the dark and jump upon the bricks and beat your breasts, having smeared your faces with mud. For the lawless eggs are sacrificed by the woman N. N., born of N. N., Pyr Pyr. Lawfulness has become lawlessness. For Isis cried a great cry, and the world was thrown into confusion, it turns itself to the holy ... and its fetters, as well as the fetters of the demoniac, are broken because of the hostile and impious woman, N. N., born of N. N. But thou, Isis, and Osiris, and Chthonos, Ablamgunchōthō, Abrasax, and ye demons below the earth, awaken, ye that are in the depth, and make the woman N. N., born of N. N., to be sleepless, to fly through the air, to love me, N. N., born of N. N., with a most vehement love, hungry, thirsty and without sleep, until she comes and joins her female member with my male member. If she wants to lie down, strew beneath her prickly branches, and thorns upon her temples, that she may give her consent with the love of an hetaera, because I conjure you who rule over the fire, Maskelli Maskellō Phnukentabaōth Oreobazagra Rhexichthon Hippichthon Pyripēganax. The woman, N. N., is bound with the fibres of the holy palm that she may thoroughly love N. N., and by no manner of means shall you be untied, not by a barking dog, not by a braying ass, not by a cock, not by a purifier, not by the sound of a cymbal, not by the booming of a flute, but You put round yourself an amulet. (Addition:) but let her be in the power of a spirit.
(161) Remedy to prevent the wrath of person; there is none better; consisting of formulas to be recited. Holding your thumbs (enclosed) pronounce this formula thrice: “Ermallōth Archimallōth, muzzle the mouths which speak against me because I glorify your holy and glorious names which are in the heaven". To increase the effect of these imprecatory words you write thus: "I am Chphyris, I ought to be succesful. Michaël, Raphaël Rubel, Nariel, Kattiēl, Rumbuthiēl, Azariēl, Ioël, Iuēl, Ezriel, Suriēl, Nariel, Metmariēl, Azaēl, Aziël, Saumiēl, Rubuthiel, Rabiēēl, Rabiēēl, Rabchlu, Enaezraēl, ye angels, guard me against every thing that may happen to me”.
(178) Remedy to break spells. You take (a piece of) lead, and you engrave upon it the figure Mononthun (?), holding in his right hand a torch, in his left a dagger, and on his head three hawks, and under his feet a scarab, under the scarab a serpent biting its tail. That which is written round the figure, is this. (Here follow magical letters and signs).
(189) Agōgë-remedy. You take (a piece of) an unbaked potsherd and (write this) with a style of bronze: “Hekate, Hekate, three-formed, the seal of everything, I adjure you by Him with the names Ablanathan(alb)a, and by the Might of Akram(macha)mari, because I conjure Thee, the Fire (?) that holdest and those in it, to burn, drive unto me, N. N., the woman N. N., because I hold in my right hand the two serpents and the Victory of Iaō, Sabaōth, and the mighty name Bilkatrimophri, the that thou mayest drive her to me (?) being burnt, being enflamed . . ., being tortured". You also have to write the following characters, thus: "Give unto me the favour of all, Adonai". (Here follow the seven vowels, seven times repeated, and a magic figure to the right,).
(211) Prayer to the sun; it restrains wrath, brings victory, and procures favour for you; there is none better. Pronounce this seven times to the sun and anointing your hand wipe it off upon your head and your face. It is thus: "Hail to thee, who art appointed to rule over the East and the world, to whom all gods are the body-guard, in thy good hour, in thy good day, the Agathodemon of the world, the crown of the inhabited lands, thou who risest from the abyss, thou who every day art born anew as a child and settest like an old man, Arpenknuphi, Brintatēnōphri, Brisskylmas, Arurzorboro, Mesintriphi, Niptumi, Chmummaöphi. I pray to thee, Lord, that I may not fail, nor be the object of plots, nor take any noxious potion, nor fall into embarassments or trouble of subsistence, but receive and obtain from thee life, health, fame, riches, power, strength, good luck, loveliness, favour with all men and all women, victory over all men and all women. Yea, Master (despot) Ablanathanalba, Akrammachamari, Pephnaphōza, Phnebennuni, Naachthipunorba; do my will through thy strength".
(231). You take a plate of lead and engrave on it the following names and the figure. You anoint the plate with the blood of a bat and roll it up; you open a frog, i. e. a toad, and put it (the plate) into its stomach, sew up the frog with a bronze needle and suspend it on a reed taken from the spot with hairs from the tail of a black ox with its hind-legs (tied to the reed) in the easten part of the place near to the rising sun.
Usiri sesengenbarpharanges. Erikisēpheararacharaphthisikēra (these two word-complexes are written in "the form of a heart", cutting off the letters successively from the end). ‘Base': Lords angels, as this frog vanishes away and dries up, so may also the body of (the man) N. Ν., born of N. N., because I swear you who are placed to command the fire, Maskelli, Maskello, etc. (Magic figure, see Pl. X).
(256) You take a potsherd of a triangular form, from a cross-road, lifting it up with your left hand, and you write with myrrh-ink and then throw it away: “Astraēlos Chraēlos, annihilate every spell against me, N. N., because I adjure thee by the mighty and frightful names at which the winds shudder and the rocks, when hearing them, split asunder”. (Here follow magic letters, see Pl. XI.)
(265) You take the blood of a night-raven and myrrh-ink, you mix both together, and you write with a new reed-pen the figure, as it is given here (the figure is left out by the copyist), on a clean bit of paper, looking to the east and at the same time to a clean wall —. You fix it in a sudarium of fine linen with thorns from a male palmtree, you fold the figure up, and when you have folded it up, retiring from it six cubits, you measure 59, thrice stepping backwards, standing at the sign of six cubits.
(275) A good remedy to gain the favour of all present as well as of popular assemblies. It is also good for those smitten by a demon you put libanos on the signs (?) written on a plate of silver (?). You bind it round you. It will work (?) freely. (Here follow magic letters and signs, see Pl. XII.)
(283) A remedy to open the genitals of a woman. You take an egg of a crow and the juice of the herb crowfoot and the gall of a rivertorpedo, you pound these together with honey, and you pronounce this formula while you are pounding, and when you are anointing your pudenda. The formula to be spoken is this: ‘Oh thou womb of N. N., open thyself and receive the semen of N. N. and ... toakrates of Iarphe arphe, write (?), let N. N. love me for all her life-time, as Isis loved Osiris, and let her remain chaste, as Penelope to Odysseus. But thou, Oh womb, remember me for all my life-time, because I am Akarnachthas". This you shall pronounce while pounding and when anointing your pudenda, and thereupon you may lie with whomsoever you like, and she shall love none but yourself and she shall not be copulated with by any one but yourself.
(295) Agōgē, burnt-offering, by means of fireless sulphur, thus: You take seven lumps of fireless sulphur, and you make a pyre of vine-wood. Pronounce this formula for each lump, and throw (the lumps) into the fire. The formula is this: “The heavens of heavens opened themselves, and the angels of God went down and destroyed Pentapolis (the district of the five cities), Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama, Sebuim and Segor. The wife hearing the voice became a pillar of salt. Thou art the sulphur that God poured down in the midst of Sodom and Gomorrah, Adama, Sebuim and Segor, thou art the sulphur that was a servant to God so be a servant also to myself in regard to (the woman) N. N., myself being N. N., and let her not lie on her bed, nor get sleep, until she comes and accomplishes the mystery of Aphrodite". When you throw (the sulphur) into the fire, say: "Throwing thee into the fire, I adjure thee by the great Paptaphe, Iaō, Sabaōth, Arbathiaō, Zagurē, Paturë, and by the great Michael, Suriel, Gabriel, Sesengenbarpharangës, Istraël, Abraam drive this woman, N. N., to me, N. N.”
(312) Opening of a door. You take the navel-string of a first-born ram that has not touched the ground, you incense it with myrrh, and when you want to open you bring it near to the bar of the door, pronouncing this formula, and you will open it at once: “Auōn nēi auōn nei tkelli, i. e., open thyself, open thyself, thou bar, because I am the great Horus Archephrenepsu phirinch, the son of Osiris and of Isis, I want to escape from the godless Typhon now, now, quick, quick."
(321) A remedy to prevent conception, the only one that exists in the world. You take as many vetches as you want, saying what use you want to make of them (?), that you may remain sterile. You wet them in the menses of the woman when she has her menstruation. You wet them in her vulva. And you take a living frog and throw the vetches into its mouth that it may swallow them down, and you let the frog loose and let it go back where you took it from. And you take the seed of hyoscyamus, you wet it in horse's milk, and you take the umor of a frog and its excrements and throw them into the skin of a stag and you tie it together outside with the skin of a hinny and you bind it round you as an amulet when the moon is waning, is in a female sign of the zodiac, on the day of Saturn or Mercury. Mix also with the barley-corn the ear-wax of a female mule.
(333) Agōgē of the Myrrh. Pronounce this formula to the burning wood (?) of a bath. The formula is this: “Myrrh, Myrrh, thou who art a servant of the gods, thou who didst stir up the … mountains, who didst enflame the marsh of Achalda, who didst burn the godless Typhon, the fellow-combatant of Horus, the protector of Anubis, the guide of Isis—when I throw thee upon the whirling flame (?) of the bath, (I say to thee :) as thou art burnt, so thou shalt burn the woman N. N., because I, N. N., adjure thee by the strong and inexorable Necessity, Maskelli, Maskellō, Phnukentabaōth, Ereobazagra, Rhexichthon, Hippochthon, Pyrichthōn Pyripeganyx, Lepetan, Lepetan, Mantunoboë, and by the Necessity of this, Laki, Lakiō, Lakiōyd, Lakiōyda. Drive to me, burn the woman Ν. Ν. (common form just as you want), because I adjure thee by the mighty and great names Theilōchnu, Ithipeskuthi, Tetochnuphi, Speusuti, Iaō, Sabaōth, Adōnai, Pagurë, Zagurē, Abrasax, Abrathiaō, Terëaphaël, Muisrō, Leilamsemesilam, Thoou, lie, Eō, Osir-Athom, Chamneus, Phephaōn, Phepheōphai, Phepheōphtha. Wake up, Oh Myrrh, and go to every place and seek out the woman N. N., and open her right side and go into her like thunder, like lighting, like a burning flame, and make her thin, pallid, weak, languid, feeble … on her whole body (?) … until she leaps out from her home and comes to me N. N. common formula as much as you like now, now, quick, quick."
(361) An irresistible agōgē which works on the same day. You take skin of a donkey and you write what follows below with the blood of the vulva of a silurus, having mixed with it the juice of the Sarapis-herb. What you write, is this: “Sisisōth, bring to me the woman N. N. this very day, in this selfsame hour, because I adjure thee by the name Chychachamer, Meruth, Chmëminuth, Thiōnthuth, Phiophaō, Belechas, aaa eeeēēēls's's'n'n'. Bring the woman N. N. to Ν. Ν.”—common formula. And having put into it some substance from the beloved one with katananke (some vetch-plant) you place it in the mouth of a dead dog, and it will bring (the beloved one to you) in that very hour.
translated by Samson Eitrem
Source: S. Eitrem, Papyri Osloenses, Fasc. 1.: Magical Papyri (Oslo, 1925), 25-30.
Source: S. Eitrem, Papyri Osloenses, Fasc. 1.: Magical Papyri (Oslo, 1925), 25-30.
