Greek words from the PGM III.1-164 IV.1390-1495, 2241-2358, 2441-2621, 2708-2784, 2785-2890, 2943-2966, LXX.4-25

ἂρκυια	Arkuia	Fileuse de toile, piégeuse
νεκυῖα	Nekuia	Déesse de la mort, Maîtresse de cadavres
τρικάρανε (ος)	Tri karanos	Trois cranes/têtes
νυχία	Nychia	Nocturne
κλειδοῦχε (ος)	Kleidouchos	Porteuse des clés
πυριδρακοντόζωνε (ος)	Pyri drakonto zônos	feu  dragon ceinture
ἐνόδια (ος)	En odia	De la croisée des chemins
κύων μέλαινα	Kyon melaina	Chien noir
χθονία (ος)	Chthonia	Chthonienne
ταρταροῦχε (ος)	Tartarouchos	De Tartare
φωτοπληξ	Phôto plêx	Qui frappe de sa lumière
στρατηλατις	Stratê Latis	Guide des armées
ακτινοχαιτις	Aktino chiatis	Avec des rayons pour cheveux
λυκω	Lyko	Loup
φῶς	Phos	Lumière
παιώνια (ος)	Paiônios	Relatif à Péan, guérisseuse
πολυκλείτη (ος)	Polyclète	Célèbre
προμηθική (ός)	Promêthikos	Prévoyante
νύσσα	Nyssa	Aiguillonne
ποδάρκη	Podarkê	Secourant du pied
ἂμβροτε (ος)	ambrotos	Immortelle
ἂλκίμη (ος)	Alkimos	Puissante
περσία	Persès	De Persès
νομαίη (ος)	Nomaios	Pastorale
χρυσοστεφής	Chryso stephês	D’or couronné
πρέσβειρα	Presbeira	Ancienne
σκοτείη (ος)	Skotios	Sombre
Βριμώ	Brimô	En colère, Terrifiante
φαεννώ	Phaennô	Brillante
δείχτειρα	Deichteira	Indicatrice
εἰδωλίη (ος)	Eidôlios	Fantôme, idole
ἰνδάλιμη (ος)	Indalimos	Épithète de Sélène, belle
αὐτοφυής	Autophy ês	Auto-génération
βαριδοῦχε (ος)	Baridouchos	Titulaire de la barque
αἰζήιη (ος)	Aizêiοs	Vigoureux
ὀξυβόη	Oksy boê	Cris strident
ἂρκυια	Arkuia	Fileuse de toile, piégeuse
χαροπή (ός)	Charopos	Féroce
πάγγαιη (ος)	Pan gaios	Partout dans le monde
σώτειρα	Sôteira	Salvatrice
κλωθαίη	Klôthaiê	Tisse le fil de la vie, du destin, voir Clotho
πανδώτειρα	Pan dôteira	Celle qui donne tout
ἀγλαή (ός)	Aglaos	Radiante
ἀρηγέ (ός)	Arêgos	Aidante
κύδιμη (ος)	Kydimos	Glorieuse
ἂγια	Agia	Sainte, sacrée
λιπαροπλόκαμε (ος)	Liparo plokamos	Brillamment tressé
ζαθείη	Za theiê	Divine
τερψίμβροτε (ος)	Terpsim brotos	Enchanteresse d’hommes, celle qui ravit les mortels
χρυσῶπι (ς)	Chrysôpis	D’or
λοχιάς	Lochias	Protectrice de naissance, Déesse de la grossesse
τλητή (ος)	tletê	Patiente
ἀτάσθαλη (ος)	Atasthalos	Prétentieuse
δαιδάλη (ος)	Daidalos	Rusée
ἰοχέαιρα	Io cheaira	Lanceuse de flèches
δράκαινα	Drakaina	Dragonne, serpentine
ίοχέαιρα	Io cheaira	Lanceuse de flèches
ἐλαφηβόλε (ος)	Elaphê bolos	Chasseuse de cerfs
νυκτοφάνεια	Nykto phaneia	Brillante la nuit
τρικάρανε (ος)	Tri karanos	Triple crâne/tête
τρίκτυπε (ος)	Tri ktypos	Trois coups, sons
τρίφθογγε (ος)	Tri phthoggos	Triplement exprimé
θρινακία	Thrinakia	Trois fois souligné, de trois extrêmes
τριαύχενε (ος)	Tri auchenos	Trois cous
τριοδῖτι (ς)	Tri oditis	Trois façons, sur les trois routes
τριπρόσωπε (ος)	Tri prosôpos	Triple face
μάκαιρα (ρος)	Makaira pos	Bénie
θηροκτόνε (ος)	Thêro ktomos	Tueuse de bêtes
νυχία (ος)	Nychia	Nocturne, Déesse de la Nuit
δασπλῆτις	Dasplêtis	Horreur, affreuse
πολυώδυνε (ος)	Poly ôdynos	Plusieurs douleurs, celui qui souffre beaucoup
νυκταιροδύτειρα	Nyktairo dyteira	Lever et coucher de la nuit
τριώνυμε (ος)	Tri ônymos	Trois fois nommée
άβρονόη	Abro noê	D’esprit gracieux
φοβερα (ός)	Phoberos	Terrible, inspirant la peur
κερατῶπι (ς)	Keratôpis	Face cornue
ταυρόμορφε (ος)	Tauro morphos	Forme du taureau (ayant)
φωσφόρε (ος)	Phôs phoros	Porteuse de lumière
ίπποπρόσωπε (ος)	Ippo prosOpos	Face de cheval
κυνολὐγματε (ος)	Kuno lygmatos	Qui hurle comme un chien
λὐκαινα	Lykaina	Louve
χθόνια (ος)	Chthonia	Chthonienne
ἂγια (ος)	Agia	Sacrée, Sainte
μελανείμων	Melane imôn	Habillée en noir
παγγεννήτειρα	Pag gennêteira	Mère de tous
ἐρωτοτόκεια	Erôto tokeia	Porteuse d’amour,  Aphrodite en tant que mère d’Éros
λαμπάδια (ος)	Lampadios	Porteuse de lampe
φαέθω	Phaethô	Radiante
ἀστροδία	Astrodia	Chemin des étoiles
δᾳδοῦχε (ος)	Dadouchos	Porteuse de flambeau
οὐράνια (ος)	Ourania	Céleste
πυρίπνου (ος)	Pyri pnoos	Reniflant du feu
τετραοδῖτις	Tetra oditis	De quatre façons, quatre routes, rond point
τετραπροσωπινή (ός)	Tetra prosôpinos	Quatre faces
τετραώνυμε (ος)	Tetra ônymos	Quatre fois nommée
λιμενῖτις	Limenitis	Déesse du port
ἐνόδια (ος)	En odia	De la croisée des chemins
νερτέρια (ος)	Nerterios	Infernale, souterraine
ὀρίπλανε (ος)	Ori planos	Planant sur la montagne
αἰώνα (ος)	AiOnos	Éternelle
βύθια (ος)	Buthios	Abyssale, fond de la mer
σκότια (ος)	Skotia	Sombre
βασίλεια	Basileia	Reine
δεινή (ος)	Deinos	Terrible
πανοπαῖα	Pan opaia	Voit tout
παρθένε (ος)	Parthenos	Vierge
ταυροδράκαινα	Tauro drakaina	mi-taureau/mi-serpent
ίπποκύων	Ippo kyôn	mi-cheval/mi-chien
κραταιή (ος)	Krataios	Puissante
γιγάεσσα	Gigaessa	Géante
μεδέουσα (ων)	Medeousa	Protectrice
ἂδμητη (ος)	Admêtos	Indomptable
χέαιρα	Io cheaira	Lanceuse de flèches
περσία	Persia	De Persès
φροῦνε (ος)	Phroune	Grenouille
εὐπατέρεια	Eu patereia	Bon père (ayant)
δαδοῦχε (ος)	Dadouchos	Porteuse de flambeau
ήγεμόυη	Hêgemoye	Hégémonie, reine
κατακαμψυψαύχενε (ος)	Kata kampsyps aychenos	Tordant le cou fier
ἐπίσκοπος	Episkopos	Tutrice
σκυλακάγεια	Skyla kageia	Guide des chiens
ἐνόδια (ος)	En odia	De la croisée des chemins
πανδαμάτειρα	Pan damateira	Toute puissante, Maîtresse
τρικάρανε (ος)	Tri karanos	Triple tête
φωσφόρε (ος)	Phôs phoros	Porteuse de lumière
έλλοφόνα (ος)	Ello phonos	Tueuse de faon
δολόεσσα (ις)	Doloessa	Astucieuse
πολύμορφε (ος)	Poly morphos	Polymorphe
πυρίπνον (ος)	Pyr ipnos	Reniflant du feu
τριοδῖτι (ς)	Tri oditis	De trois façons, sur les trois routes
παρθένε (ος)	Parthenos	Vierge
πολυώνυμε (ος)	Poly ônymos	Plusieurs noms (ayant)
φυλακa (ή)	Phylakê	Gardienne
βοῶπι (ς)	Boôpis	Œil de vache
πυρίφοιτε (ος)	Pyr iphoitos	Marche sur le feu
ῤηξιπυλη	Rêksi pylê	Briseuse de porte, barrière
πυρίβουλε (ος)	Pyriboulos	Conseilleuse de feu
ῤηξιχθων	Rêski chthon	Jaillissante de la terre
πασικράτεια	Pasi krateia	Tout-puissante, qui domine tout
παντρέφω	Pan trephô	Qui nourrit tous
πασιμεδέουσα	Pasi medeousa	Gardienne de tous
δέσποινα	Despoina	Demoiselle
τριπρόσωπε (ος)	Tri prosOpos	Triple face
φαεσίμβροτε (ος)	Phae simbrotos	Apportant lumière aux mortels
ἠριγένεια	Êri  geneia	Fille du matin
βασίλεια	Basileia	Reine
τρικάρανε (ος)	Tri karanos	Triple tête
πολύμορφε (ος)	Polymorphos	Polymorphe
νυκτίβοη (ος)	Nykti boos	Hurleuse de la nuit
ταυροκάρηνε (ος)	Tauro karênos	Tête de taureau
φιλήρεμε (ος)	Phil eremos	Aimant la solitude
ταυρωπος	Taurôpos	l’aspect du taureau(ayant)
ίοχέαιρα	Io cheaira	Lanceuse de flèches
τετραοδῖτις	Tetra oditis	De quatre façons, de quatre routes
τετραπρόσωπος	Tetra prosôpos	Quatre faces
τετραώνυμε (ος)	Tetra ônymos	Quatre fois nommée
τρικάρανε (ος)	Tri karanos	Trois têtes
τρίκτυπε (ος)	Tri ktypos	Trois sons
τρίφθογγε (ος)	Triphthoggos	Trois fois exprimé
θρινακία	Thrinakia	Trois fois souligné, trois extrêmes
τριαύχενε (ος)	Tri auchenos	Trois cous
τριοδῖτι (ς)	Tri oditis	De trois façons, trois routes
ἐλαφηβόλε (ος)	Elaphêbolos	Chasseresse cerf
νυκτοφάνεια	Nykto phaneia	Brillante la nuit
ἀθάνατος	Athanatos	Immortelle
καλλιγένεια	Kalli geneia	Bonne descendance(ayant)
πολυώνυμε (ος)	Poly ônymos	Plusieurs noms
κερόεις	Keroeis	Cornue
ταυρῶπις	Taurôpis	Face de taureau
γενέτειρα	Geneteira	Mère
φύσις	Physis	Nature
παμμήτωρ	Pam metOr	Mère de tous
ἀέναον (ος)	Aenaos	Éternelle
δαμνομένεια	Damnomeneia	Force dominatrice
δαμασάνδρα	Damas andra	Dominatrice des hommes
δαμνοδαμία	Damnodamia	Dominatrice
λιμενῖτις	Limenitis	Déesse du port maritime
ἐνόδια (ος)	En odia	De la croisée des chemins
νερτέρια (ος)	Nerteria	Infernale, souterraine
ὀρίπλανε (ος)	Ori planos	Plane au sommet de montagne
οὐράνια (ος)	Ourania	Céleste
ἀϊδωναία	Aidônaia	Déesse de Hadès
νύχια (ος)	Nychia	Nocturne
σκότια (ος)	Skotia	Sombre
δασπλῆτις	Dasplêtis	Horreur, affreuse
ὀλέτις	Oletis	Destructrice
ὀφεωπλόκαμε (ος)	Opheôplokamos	Spiralée de serpents
αίμοπότις	Aimo potis	Buveur de sang
ζωνοδράκοντις	Zôno drakontis	Encerclé de serpents
θανατηγός	Thanatêgos	Amène la mort
καρδιόδαιτε (ος)	Kardio daitos	Mangeuse de coeur
φθορηγενής	Phthorê genês	Amène la ruine
σαρκοφάγος	Sarko phagos	Mangeuse de viande
ἀωροβόρος	Aôroboros	Dévoreuse de mort prématuré
καπετόκτυπε (ος)	Kapeto ktypos	Lamentations, bruits sur les tombes
οἰστροπλάνεια	Oistro planeia	Répand la folie, mouche qui plane
τριοδῖτις	Trio ditis	De trois façons, trois routes
πανοπαῖα	Pan opaia	Voit tout
κὐων	Kyon	Chien
δράκαινα	Drakaina	Serpent, Dragon
ταρταροῦχος	Tartarouchos	De Tartare

Excellent spell for driving out demons:

Formula to be spoken over his head: 

Place the olive branches before him and stand behind him and say, 

“Greetings, master of Life; greetings, source of spirit; Amen lord, the source of life. Bring Yao stratós; may you power issue forth from N., until you drive away this unclean demon, who is in him. I adjure you, demon, whoever you are, by this god Sabarbarbathioth Sabarbarathiouth Sababarbathioneht Sabarbarbaphai. Come out, demon, whoever you are, and stay away from N., hurry, hurry, now, now! Come out, demon, since I bind you with unbreakable adamantine fetters, and I deliver you into the black chaos in perdition.

Procedure: Take seven olive branches. For six of them tie together the two ends of each one, but for the remaining one use it as a whip as you utter the adjuration. Keep it secret; it is proven.

After driving out the demon, hang around N. an amulet, which the patient puts on after the expulsion of the demon, with these things written on a tin metal leaf: BOR PHOR PHORBA PHOR PHORBA BES CHARIN BAUBA TE PHOR BORPHORBA PHORBABOR BAPHORBA PHABRAIE PHORBA PHARBA PHORPHOR PHORBA BOBORBORBA PAMPHORBA PHORPHOR PHORBA, protect N.

PGM IV. 154-285: Lecanomancy

Inquiry of bowl divination and necromancy. Whenever you want to inquire about matters, take a bronze vessel, either a bowl or a saucer, whatever kind you wish. Pour water: rainwater if you are calling upon heavenly gods, seawater if gods of the earth, river water if Osiris or Sarapis, spring water if the dead. Holding the vessel on your knees, pour out green olive oil, bend over the vessel and speak the prescribed spell. And address whatever god you want ask about whatever you wish, and he will reply to you and tell you about anything. And if he has spoken dismiss him with the spell of dismissal, and you have used this spell will be amazed.

– PGM IV. 223- 243

The term ‘Bowl Divination’ as the translation of the Greek λεκανομαντεία (lekanomanteia, ‘lecanomancy’) fails to capture the full intent, power and purpose of the practice. Indeed, the scribe here presents a rite in which a specific god or spirit of the dead is actively called forth as opposed to the passive act of divination. Our initial examination of this practice demonstrated that this is an evocationary scrying technique akin to those used by the later medieval and renaissance magicians.

At face value, this is one of the most accessible examples of a Graeco-Egyptian magical practice. The steps are very simple and straightforward. The materials are clearly identified, none of which are too difficult to obtain : a bowl of water and olive oil. However, the ability for a practitioner to succeed at summoning the spirit or deity is contingent upon the spiritual authority conferred by the ritual of initiation discussed extensively in prior posts.

After the empowerment from initiation, the second key element is water, which depending on its source dictates the realm targeted. Rain, sea and spring water together compose the nearly universal triadic division of the spiritual landscape into a celestial-realm, terrestrial-realm and nether-realm respectively. These correspondences are self evident as rain comes from the sky above, the sea is here upon the earth, and springs emerge from the chthonic world below.

River water is unique in that it is a source of fresh water that is replenished by both celestial and underground sources of water and flows into the sea. It is the symbolic vein and conduit that connects the three spiritual realms. As a source of both potable water and of nutrient-rich alluvial soil for agriculture, rivers nourish life.  Rivers were thus naturally connected to such deities as Osiris and Sarapis that represent the soul’s journey through the cycles of life, death, rebirth and initiation.

Water Source PGM IV Text Realm
Rain “heavenly gods” Sky (Celestial)
Sea “gods of the earth” Earth (Terrestrial)
River “Osiris or Sarapis” Rebirth & Initiation
Spring “the dead” Underworld (Nether)

The spell spoken over the vessel is: “AMOUN AUANTAU LAIMOUTAU RIPTOU MANTAUI IMANTOU LANTOU LAPTOUMI ANCHÔMACH ARAPTOUMI, hither to me, O NN god; appear to me this very hour and do not frighten my eyes. Hither to me, O NN god, be attentive to me because he wishes and commands this ACHCHÔR ACHCHÔR ACHACHACH PTOUMI CHACHCHÔ CHARACHÔCH CHAPTOUMÊ CHÔRACHARACHÔCH APTOUMI MÊCHÔCHAPTOU CHARACHPTOU CHACHCHÔ CHARACHÔ PTENACHÔCHEU” (a hundred letters).

But you are not unaware, mighty king and leader of magicians, that this is the chief name of Typhon, at whom the ground, the depths of the sea, Hades, heaven, the sun, the moon, the visible chorus of stars, the whole universe all tremble, the name which, when it is uttered, forcibly brings gods and daemons to it. This is the name that consists of 100 letters.

– PGM IV. 223- 243

As the scribe informs us, the formula of “a hundred letters” is the magical name of Typhon. Throughout this series on the magical system of PGM IV 154-285, we have extensively discussed the Graeco-Egyptian Typhon as raw magical energy in the form of primordial deity.  In the spiritual landscape of the magicians of the PGM, to invoke Typhon was to call upon an ancient power greater than the manifest universe and master over the cycles of the sun, moon and stars; a power that “forcibly brings gods and daemons to it.”

For students and practitioners of the Solomonic traditions, the above passage will undoubtedly bring to mind the invocation from the Heptameron and from the Lesser Key of Solomon. Compare “…name of Typhon, at whom the ground, the depths of the sea, Hades, heaven, the sun, the moon, the visible chorus of stars, the whole universe all tremble…” to “…this ineffable name Tetragrammaton Jehovah , which being heard, the elements are overthrown; the air is shaken, the sea runneth back, the fire is quenched, the earth trembles and all hosts of Celestials, Terrestrials & Infernals do tremble…”. As mentioned in previous posts, the Typhon of the PGM has much in common with the demiurgic deities of antiquity and the YHVH of the grimoires.

Throughout late antiquity Typhon was used as the Greek name for Set, thus the initial impression of the mythological context of this rite is simply a Hellenized re-interpretation of the Egyptian cult of Set in the Osirian narrative. However, as discussed in PGM IV 154-285: Invocation of Typhon, the Typhon of this rite is presented as a separate entity than the Egyptian Set. They share a similar energetic imprint, but here Typhon represents the primordial origin of the current whereas Set (in his role in the Osirian cult) is an anthropomorphic manifestation of it. Thus, the practitioner self-identifies with Set in order to become a suitable vessel to receive the power of Typhon; who, in this context is a truly syncretic deity. Here Typhon displays elements and traits associated with his namesake – the Olympic monster – as well as the Olympians Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the demiurge of the Gnostics, the cosmic serpents of the Orphic teachings, and the Canaanite, Hebrew and Babylonian martial and storm deities of Ba’al, YHVH and Hadad. The list of comparable deities continues and serves to underline the immense spiritual authority attributed to Typhon by the magicians of the PGM.

Interestingly, this may not have been an interpretation restricted to Hellenic Egypt. Typhon was possibly worshipped as Zeus-Typhon in necromantic contexts in the north-western Greek region of Thesprotia (either in syncretic form, jointly, or as a title of another chthonic deity). Ampelius in his Liber Memorialis suggests that the temple of Zeus-Typhon in Thesprotia was in fact the famed Necromanteion of Acheron described by Homer (8th C. BCE) and Herodotus (5th C. BCE). Ampelius’ reference though highly suggestive has not been corroborated by archaeological evidence. Nonetheless, the practice of prayer and invocation to a chthonic deity preceding necromantic operations is well documented by Homer, Virgil, Seneca and others. Such a deity was invoked, placated and petitioned to both empower the necromancer and to release the ghost of the dead from the underworld into the realm of the living. As would be expected, Hades, Persephone, and Hekate were the most common deities called upon for this purpose; however, the first century Latin poets Lucan and Statius also mention the primordial deities of Tartarus and Chaos in this role foreshadowing the Typhon of the PGM. Definitely by the first century Typhon was understood as a chthonic authority par excellence; in Plutarch’s Morellia, Typhon is an allegory of Tartarus and is identified as the primordial “evil World-Soul” of the Platonists. This authoritative power, capable of bringing back the dead has been known and invoked throughout history by many names. Thus, we can be certain that well before PGM IV 154-285 was written, the invocation of a Typhon-like deity to empower evocationary rites (necromantic or otherwise) was already a common magical technique employed by the goetes (‘sorcerers’) and psychagogoi (‘soul-evocators’) of the pre-Hellenic world.

The Acheron, river to the Greek underworld.

It is significant that in the initiation ritual Typhon is identified as αβεραμενθω (Aberamenthô), a divine name indicating ‘lord of the waters’ and given such epithets as λαιλαφετης (’Storm-Sender’) and κοχλαζοκὐμων (‘Water-Boiler’). The theme of water underlines much of the magical system presented in PGM IV 154-285. For the Egyptians, Babylonians and Greeks water and bodies of water were from the earliest times associated with conduits to the realm of the gods and of the dead. Thus, the water in the bowl not only provides a practical scrying surface but is the appropriate liquid medium in which a spirit can manifest.

Indeed, the use of water in oracular, necromantic and divinatory rites throughout antiquity speak to this symbolic relationship. No other element of the natural world was revered and worshipped with such consistency throughout the history of Greece as rivers, lakes, wells and other sources of water. The same religious devotion can be found in regards to the Nile river of the Egyptians, in which drowned animals and people were deified, and the Tigris and Euphrates worshipped by the early Mesopotamians. Naturally, such sacred waters were used for magical and oracular rites and the patterns and visions reflected upon the surface of the waters were understood to be direct messages from the gods and spirits of the dead. In this regard there exists a definite cross-over between hydromancy and lecanomancy; the distinguishing factor is that in lecanomancy the water is contained in a bowl, dish or pan.

The earliest written evidence of lecanomancy are from the Babylonian Ritual Tablets dating to the 7th Century BCE.  While these cuneiform tablets may be the earliest extant written evidence, the true origin of such practices are impossible to determine with any degree of certainity. Indeed, the pervasiveness of such rituals found independently across the world suggest an origin linked with the magical qualities bestowed on holy wells and springs that extends far back into prehistoric times. We know that from very early on similar practices were employed at the water-side necromanteions of Acheron and Avernus as well as many oracles and sacred wells throughout the ancient world.

The image of the Pythia at the Oracle of Delphi pictured at the beginning of this post is from a 5th Century BCE Attic cylix. She sits atop the sacred tripod of Apollo holding a laurel sprig and gazing into the bowl of water to deliver the prophecy.  However, aside from the initial preparations of the priestess fasting and drinking the sacred water of the Delphic spring there are no firsthand accounts of how the oracle was delivered. Apparently, such oracles were so common in classical antiquity that no sources bothered to describe the methods. Herodotus, in explaining the Oracle of Satrae in Thrace simply states that the prophetess functioned in the usual manner just like the Pythia at Delphi.

One does not have to assume that the Pythia used lecanomancy, though it is a possibility. That water itself held an important role in the oracular process is quite evident in the primary sources regarding several ancient oracles including Delphi. Nonetheless, our interest in the depiction of Pythia on the Attic cylix is twofold. First, it indicates that lecanomancy was a common enough practice by the 5th C. BCE that it could be used as an artistic element to symbolize the delivery of an oracle, regardless of how it was actually delivered. And, secondly it displays a key element of lecanomancy; the use of a plant that establishes a link to the deity (in this case the laurel of Apollo). The plant and other offerings linking the ritual scrying to a specific deity appear to be instrumental in many documented accounts of lecanomancy. At first, this element appears to be absent in PGM IV. 154-285.

Modern scholarship on lecanomancy suggest that when oil was used it was to form patterns in the water which the priest or priestess would interpret. This is easily digestible in academic circles as it speaks to both a skill of the specialist in being able to produce relevant readings and provides a psychological explanation for the visions. However, within the context of this magical practice, I do not believe the olive oil is for producing any sort of ‘illusionary’ effect, rather it is a formal offering to the spirit evoked. Such an offering is consistent with the traditional libations of olive oil. As noted by Aeschylus the soothing and propitiating nature of olive oil make it an ideal offering for the spirits of the dead and the gods. Our scribe specifies that this must be ελαιον ὀμφάκινον (‘unripe olive oil’, i.e. “green olive oil”) and as with the the “green ivy” of the initiation rite symbolizes an offering containing the essence of life itself. Thus, in the evocationary scrying of PGM IV. 154-285, the link to the deity or spirit is established first by the source of water and then the plant offering of olive oil is made into the water.

A precedent for pouring the offering directly over (or into) the area of evocation is found in the practices of Greek necromancy during the archaic and classical periods. The classical vase pictured to the left, depicts the ghost of Elpenor emerging from the waters of the Acheron as Odysseus pours the sheep blood offering into the river. In necromantic and evocationary practices not conducted near bodies of water, the standard procedure was to dig a pit and pour the libations into the earth from which the spirit was expected to emerge.

Regardless of when or where such Evocationary Bowl Scrying practices may have originated, they were nonetheless incorporated into the Greek necromantic and oracular tradition very early on, and certainly centuries before the Hellenization of Egypt. The same could be said of such practices in Egypt that were definitely in use prior to the Macedonian conquest and Ptolemaic dynasty. Thus, together with the invocation of a Typhon-like authority to summon spirits, lecanomancy was likely part of a repertoire of practical magical techniques shared by many cultures in antiquity.

Modernity tends to think of ancient societies developing and living in an isolated void. Yet, when we actually study the movement of people and trade of goods throughout antiquity it becomes very clear that ideas spread across borders much the same way they do today. Since the prehistoric Neolithic vast trade networks have extended from Asia Minor to the Iberian peninsula through which technologies, ideas and goods were exchanged. It is thus very difficult to isolate the development of a specific technology in such porous cultural environments. And, that is the one thing that we must keep in mind when discussing magical practices in antiquity.  Magic was – and still is – a spiritual technology! When a technology works, it spreads rapidly across language and country borders along with the exchange of goods and ideas and is quickly absorbed into the native traditions. The ubiquity of the practices discussed in this post are therefore a testament to their efficacy.

The PGM is first and foremost a collection of these practical magical techniques that were already prevalent throughout antiquity and were neither Greek nor Egyptian (nor Hebrew, nor Babylonian, etc.) but truly and wholly syncretic. As such, the PGM provides a snapshot of a universal living magical tradition. Yes, undoubtably there are discernible elements from one ‘culture’ or another, but more importantly, there is a cohesiveness to the magic of the PGM, a practicality that exists outside of any concept of country, religion or isolated group of people. PGM IV 154-285 is no exception.

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PGM IV. 2714 – 2784 Invocation of Hekate

“Come, giant Hekate, Dionne’s guard, / O Persia, Baubo Phronue, dart-shooter, unconquered Lydian, the one untamed, sired nobly, torch-bearing, guide, who bends down proud necks, Kore, hear, you who’ve parted / gates of steel unbreakable. o Artemis, who, too, were once protectress, mighty one, mistress, who burst forth from the earth, dog-leader, all-tamer, crossroad goddess, triple-headed, bringer of light, august / virgin, I call you fawn-slayer, crafty, o infernal one, and many formed. Come, Hekate, goddess of three ways, who with your fire-breathing phantoms have been allotted dreaded roads and harsh/ enchantments. Hekate I call you with those who have died without a wife and children, hissing wildly, yearning in their hearts “(but others say, “with forms of winds”). /

“Go stand above her (NN) head and take away from her sweet sleep. And never let eyelid come glued to eyelid, but let her be sore distressed with wakeful cares for me. / And if she lies with someone else in her embrace, let her thrust him away and take me in her heart. 

Let her abandon him at once and stand before my door subdued in soul at longing fro my bed of love./ But you, o Hekate, of many names, o Virgin, Kore, Goddess, come, I ask, O guard and shelter of the threshing floor, Persephone, O triple-headed goddess, who walk on fire, cow-eyed BOUORPHORBÊ PANPHORBA PHORBARA AKTIÔPHI ERESCHIGAL / NEBOUTOSOUALÊTH beside the doors, PYPYLÊDEDEZÔ and gate-breaker; Come Hekate of fiery counsel, I call you to my sacred chants. MASKELLI MASKELLÔ PHNOUKENTABAÔTH OREOBAZAGRA who burst forth from the earth, / earth mare, OREOPÊGANYX MORMORON TOKOUMBAI”, 

“In frenzy may she (NN) come fast to my doors, forgetting children, and her life with parents, and loathing all the race of men and women except me (NN), but may she hold me alone and come subdued in heart by love’s great force. THENÔB TITHELÊB ÊNÔR TENTHÊNÔR. / Many-named One, KYZALEOUSA PAZAOUS; wherefore, KOLLIDÊCHMA and SAB set her soul ablaze with unresting fire. 

Both ÔRIÔN and MICHAÊL who sits on high: you hold the seven waters / and the earth, keeping in check the one they call the great serpent, AKROKODÊRE MOUISRÔ CHARCHAR ADÔNAI ZEUS DÊ DAMNAMENEUS KYNOBIOU EZAGRA”. 

“IÔ, all-powerful goddess/ and IÔ all-guarding one; IÔ all-sustaining One, ZÊLACHNA: and SAAD SABIÔTHE NOUMILLION NATHOMEINA, always KEINÊTH, stalwart THÊSEUS ONYX, prudent DAMNAMENEUS, / avenging goddess, strong goddess, rite of ghosts, Persia SEBARA AKRA. Haste quickly. Let her now stand at my doors”.

¤ The Initial Invocation ¤

´δεῦρ᾽, Έκάτη, γιγάεσσα, Διώνης ή μεδέουσα, Περσια, Βαυβώ, Φρούνη, ἰοχέαιρα, ἀδμήτη, Λύδη, ἀδαμάστωρ, εὐπατόπρεια, δᾳδοῦχε, ήγεμόωη, κατα<καμ>ψυψαύχενε, Κούρη · κλῦθι, διαζεύξασα, πύλας ἀλύτου ἀδάμαντος, Ἅρτεμι, ῆ καἰ πρόσθεν ἐπίσκοπος ἦσ<θ>α, μεγίστη, πότνια, ῤηξίχθων, σκυλακάγεια, πανδαμάτειρα, εἰνοδία, τρικάρανε, φαεσφόρε, παρθένε σεμνή· σ ἐ καλῶ, ἐλλοφόνα, <δο>λόεσσα, Ἀυδναία, πολύμορφε·
δεῦρ᾽, Έκάτη, τριοδῖτι, πυρίπνοα φάσματ᾽ ἒχουσα χἀτ ἒλαχες δεινάσ μέν ὀδούς, χαλεπἀς δ᾽ ἐπιπομπάς· τἀν Έκάταν σε καλῶ σὐν ἀποφθιμένοισιν ἀώροις, κεἲ τινες ἦρὠων ἒθανον ἀγὐναιοἰ τε ἂπαιδες, ἂγρια συριζοντες, ἐπἰ φρεσι θυμὀν ἒδοντες ( οί δἐ · ἀνέμων εἲδωλον ἒχοντες)·

– PGM IV. 2714-2734

Come! Hekate, giantess, Dione’s guard, Persia, Baubo, Phroune (frog), arrow-shooter, unconquered, Lydian, indomitable, noble-born, torch-bearer, queen, bender of proud necks, Kore; hear me, you who parts the adamantine gates, Artemis you are also guardian, Great one, Mistress, bursting forth from the earth, leader of dogs, all powerful, Einodia (goddess of the crossroads), triple-headed, light-bringer, sacred virgin. I invoke you, fawn-slayer, astute-one, Aidonia (Underworld Goddess), you of many forms.

Come, Hekate, of the three ways, you who with your fire-breathing phantoms oversee the dreaded paths and harsh enchantments.

Come Hekate, I invoke you with those who have untimely perished and those heroes who have died wifeless and childless, whose souls hiss wildly with yearning hearts.

¤ The Second Invocation ¤

ἀλλἀ σύ, ὦ Έκἀτη, πολυώνυμε, παρθένε, Κούρα, <ἐ>λθέ, θεά, <κ>έλομαι, ἂλωος φυλακἀ καἰ ἰωγη, Περσεφόνα, τρικάρανε, πυρίφοιτε, βοῶπι, βουορφορβη, πανφόρβα, φορβαρα · Ἀκτιωφι, Ἐρεσχιγάλ Νεβουτοσουαληθ · παρά θυραις πυπυληδεδεζω ῤηξιπύλη τε. δεῦρ᾽ Έκάτη, πυριβουλε, καλῶ σε ἐπ᾽ ἐμαἶς ὲπαοιδαῖς · μασκελλι μασκελλω · φνου κενταβαωθ · ὀρεοβαζάγρα ῤηξιχθων ἲπποχθων · ὀρεοπηγανύξ · μορμορον τοκουμβαι (κοινόν) · μαινομένη ἠ δ(εῖνα)

– PGM IV. 2746 – 2755

But you, Oh Hekate, of many names, virgin, maiden; come Goddess, I invoke you, guardian of favor and shelter. Persephone, triple-faced, fire-walker, cow-eyed, BOUORPhORBÊ, PANPhORBA, PhORBARA • AKTIÓPhI ERESChIGAL NEBOUTOSOUALÊTh • One beside the gates PUPULÊDEDEZÓ and gate-breaker.

Come, Hekate, of flaming council, I invoke you with these incantations.

MASKELLI MASKELLÔ PhNOUNKENTABAÔTh OREOBAZAGRA RÊXIChThÔN HIPPOChThÔN PYRPÊGANYX MORMORON TOKOUMBAI

The second invocation introduces the first voces magicae of the spell. Missing from the Betz translation are the half-stop(•) punctuation marks that divide the first string into two sets; upon further examination these sets are thematically grouped.

Phorbas and its cognates(i.e. Phorba, Phorbe, Phorbantia, etc.) appear frequently in the PGM and in many spells directly related to Hekate. The root meaning of this word is tied to the bounty of the earth and particularly with pastures, fodder and grazing animals. Sophocles used the term φορβας γαια (“bountiful earth”) while describing the healing, fecund and nurturing properties of the land; and it has also been used as a metaphor for prostitution. Given the bovine nature of the word βου, BOUORPhORBÊ may mean something along the lines of “bountiful-cow” or “nurturing-cow”, while PANPhORBA could translate as “all-nurturer.” The dual meaning of phorbas as ‘nurturing’ and ‘prostitute’ along with the epithets of “virgin” and “maiden” speak to the paradoxical themes of maiden-mother and virgin-whore. These dichotomies are very interesting and resonate with the the near-eastern goddesses of Ishtar, Inanna and Astarte; while – of course – conjuring images of the Thelemic Babalon.

The second set of voces magicae is a triad of names Aktiophis-Ereschigal-Neboutosoualêth that appear frequently in magical literature. Aktiophis is one of the “many names” of Hekate and according to Hopfner it is also an epithet of Selene. The roots of the name are ακτις (“ray” or “beam”) and οφις (“serpent”). Ereschigal is the Babylonian underworld deity who is frequently identified with Hekate as in PGM LXX. 4-25 where Hekate-Ereschigal is invoked with the Ephesia grammata of the Idaen Dactyls – to which we will return shortly. Lastly, the name Neboutosoualêth has unclear origins but is likely related to the Babylonian god of wisdom and writing Nebo, whom the Greeks equated with Hermes. Together, Ereschigal-Nebo may have represented a pseudo-Babylonian interpretation of the frequent Hekate-Hermes pairing in the magical literature.

The reference to “the gates” also deserves mention. Here Hekate “stands besides” them and is also the “gate-breaker.” In the first invocation, Hekate is identified as she “who parts the adamantine gates.” These are none other than the πυλαι Αιδαο, the adamantine gates to the underworld described by Homer and others separating the world of the living from the realm of the dead. Hekate is the gatekeeper of this threshold – not only having the power to open this gate but also to break its boundaries and therefore bring forth the spirits of dead into the world of the living. She arrises from the liminal depths together with “those who have untimely perished and those heroes who have died wifeless and childless, whose souls hiss wildly with yearning hearts.” These are her “fire-breathing phantoms”, her legions of underworld spirits, ancestral heroes, and the restless dead…spirits that are intimately linked to the necromantic, goetic and magical practices of antiquity.

This invocation segment fittingly ends with the Maskelli Masellô formula. Betz attempted to translate portions of the formula so that ῤηξιχθων is rendered as “who burst forth from the earth” and ἲπποχθων as “earth mare.” Both epithets speak to the underlying theme of Hekate as an ancestral “giantess” and leader of chthonic spirits. As we discussed previously, the Maskelli Maskello formula is intimately linked to Hekate and to the goetic practices of the Idaean Dactyls.

¤ The Third Invocation ¤

θενωβ · τιθεληβ · ηνωρ · τενθηνωρ · τολυώνυμε, κυζαλεουσα παζαους. διὀ καλλιδηχμα και ψαβ᾽ φλέξον ἀκοιμήτῳ πυρί τἠν ψυχἠν τῆς δεῖνα. και Ὠρίων καἰ ό ἐπάνω καθήμενος Μιχαήλ · έπτἀ ύδάτων κρατεῖς καἰ γῆς, κατέχων, ὂν καλέουσι δράκοντα μέγαν ακροκοδηρε μουϊσρω Χαρχαρ Ἀδωναί, Ζεῦ δη Δαμναμενεῦ κυνοβι ου εζαγρα · κοινόν. Ἰὠ πασικράτεια καἰ Ἰὠ πασιμεδέουσα · Ἰὠ παντρεφέουσα Ζηλαχνα · και σααδ · σαβιωθη · νουμιλλον · ναθομεινα · ἀεἰ κεινηθ · ἂλκιμος Θησεὐς ονυξ, περίφρον Δαμναμενεύς, ἀμυναμένη, αλκυια θεά, νέκυια, Περσία σεβαρα, ακρα. σπεῦδε τάχιστα, ἢδη ἐπ᾽ ἐμαῖσι θύραισι παρέστω᾽ (Κοινον).

– PGM IV.2765 – 2784

THENÔB TITHELÊB ÊNÔR TENTHÊNÔR. Many-named One, KYZALEOUSA PAZAOUS. Wherefore, KALLIDÊCHMA and PSAB of unresting burning fire and Orion and Michael seated above. You who hold power over the seven waters and the earth, summoner of the great serpent

AKRODÊRE MOUISRÔ CHARCHAR ADÔNAI, ZEU DÊ DAMNAMENEU, KYNOBI ON EZAGRA .

IÔ all-dominator and IÔ all-protector.IÔ one all-nurturer. ZÊLACHNA and SAAD SABIÔTHE NOUMILLON NATHOMEINA always KEINÊTH, brave THÊSEUS ONYX, prudent DAMNAMENEUS, avenging web-spinning goddess, Mistress of the dead (Nekuia), Persia, SEBARA AKRA.

This third invocation is by far the most complex. It contains various unique and unprecedented voces magicae and seemingly out of nowhere we find elements of the Abrahamic tradition with the archangel Michael and later the Hebrew god-name Adonai. Needless to say, such inclusions in magical texts speak to the early polytheistic roots of the Semitic religion whose divine figures could exist and be employed side by side with Greek, Egyptian and Babylonian gods.

Orion is also called forth by name, but here we find a clear connection to Artemis who is conflated with Hekate throughout this spell and several others in the PGM. A common motif in Greek mythology was Orion, the ancestral giant and great hunter, becoming the lover of the goddess of the hunt who was responsible for both his death and his immortalization amongst the stars. The hero-cult of Orion was widespread throughout the Grecian mainland of Boeotia and the inclusion of his name in a Hekate invocation speaks to her role as that liminal gatekeeper and intermediary between the living and the ancestral mighty dead.

There is one entity that is called forth here and appears to be the primary focus of this segment of the spell. This is the “great serpent.” No other animal on earth is as universally endowed with the powerful and evocative symbolism of the serpent. Since our remote prehistoric past, snakes were associated with the mysteries of life and death; and were naturally adopted by many cultures as totems for the magical, oracular and healing arts. From the practices of household shrines to the local and regional temples of the ancient mediterranean, serpents were understood as the emissaries to the underworld and the preferred form taken by the ancestors and the oracular spirits of dead heroes. Atop this rich symbolism, the serpent of this spell is the given the epithet of μεγαν indicating not just a creature of large size, but more than likely a specific entity of great mythological importance.

The Betz edition translates the line έπτἀ ύδάτων κρατεῖς καἰ γῆς, κατέχων, ὂν καλέουσι δράκοντα μέγαν as “you hold the seven waters and the earth, keeping in check the one they call the great serpent.” He translates καλέουσι twice and uses it to modify the beginning and end of the line as both “hold” and “keeping in check.” Additionally, καλέουσι is frequently used in the magical papyri to denote a summoning or invocation. A more literal translation is thus “the seven waters and the earth, master over, summoner of the great serpent”…similar meaning, but read as such it identifies Hekate as the one with the power to invoke – not just restrain – this “great serpent.”

The voces magicae that follow invoke and shed light on the identity of this serpent. AKRODÊRE is a combined form of the formula AKROUROBORE KODÊRE that appear throughout the magical papyri. The meaning of AKROUROBORE is “eater of the tip of your tail”, a reference to the Ouroboros and giving us an immediate symbolic form for this “great serpent.”  MOUISRÔ is also a partial formula. The full formula is SERPOT MOUISRÔ as it appears in PDM xiv and in the Leyden Papyrus. Griffith and Thompson suggest that this is a phonetic spelling of Egyptian Srp.t m3y sr (“Lotus, Lion, Ram”) – a reference to the daily path of the sun from rise to noon to set as Re-Khepri-Atum. This daily motion of the sun speaks to the same principle of cyclic time and the perpetual rhythms of life and death embodied by the Ouroboros serpent. The word CHARCHAR resonates with numerous sounds from the 100-letter name of the Typhon and other voces magicaeused in spells calling upon him. As we have discussed in prior posts, the Typhon of the PGM is more aligned to the primordial serpents of the Orphic-Pythagorean traditions than to the demonized monster of olympic mythology. This Graeco-Egyptian Typhon is described as a demiurge as well as a martial and storm god and shares much in common with the Semitic ADÔNAI and the Greek ZEUS. DAMNAMENEUS is the name of one of the Dactyls and forms part of the inscribed Ephesia Grammata on the cult image of Artemis in Ephesus.  KYNOBIOUEZAGRA, is obscure. In Preisendanz it appears as three words KYNOBI OU EZAGRA. The only other instances of words with similar sounds in the PGM is Oreobazagra and its variants (i.e. Aôrio zagra, etc.) of the Maskelli Maskello formula.

The epithets “all-dominator”, “all-protector”, and “all-nurturer” resonate with the Phorba and cognates of the second invocation examined earlier. More importantly; however, the sequence Ἰὠ πασικράτεια καἰ Ἰὠ πασιμεδέουσα · Ἰὠ παντρεφέουσα appears almost verbatim on the bronze Pergamon triangular tablet that depicts Hekate with the epithets of Διὠνη´, ᾽Φοιβίη´, and ´Νυχίη´. This tablet was undoubtedly part of a magician’s toolkit and it is believed to have functioned as a manifestation base either for invoking spirits or animating objects.

It is very likely that this portion of the spell is rather incomplete and has undergone changes and additions over time. The truncated formulae suggest this as do the inclusions of other divine names with no precedent (i.e. THENÔB TITHELÊB ÊNÔR TENTHÊNÔR). Indeed, Betz notes that the lines 2764-2784 “retain some traces of hexameters, but only the last line comes close to being a complete line.” In this last segment Hekate is never invoked directly, there are only indirect references to her via the epithets Nekuiaand Persia. I suppose that one could even claim that this final passage is predominately an invocation to the “great serpent” – not Hekate – and is thus out of place in the greater context of this spell.

However, throughout the PGM Hekate is identified as a serpent (drakaina) and encircled by serpents (zônodrakontis, opheoôplokamos, etc.). She is paradoxically called forth as goddess of life (pantrephô, paggennêteira, etc.) and of death (i.e. nekuia, etc).[26] Her connection to the Ouroboros serpent is quite apparent both symbolically and literally – one of her epithets is in fact aôroboros (‘devourer of the prematurely dead’) linking the two linguistically as well. Intimately linked to this “great serpent” and many other aspects of serpent symbolism, Hekate asserts her role as the quintessential goddess of liminality and the mediator to that primordial and ancestral power that governs the rhythms of nature and the cycles of life and death.

There is also a common magical technique to consider here. Invocations such as the Stele of Jeu (PGM V. 96-172) and the Invocation of Typhon from PGM IV. 154-285 reach a magical crescendo when the ritualist self-identifies with the target of the invocation and speaks as that deity. This ritual apotheosis heralds the moment at which the practitioner wields the necessary authority to manifest their desire – whether to call forth a spirit to appear or to successfully cast a spell. I believe that the invocation of this serpent power via the AKRODÊRE string of voces magicae, with all its deep symbolism of earth-energy, time, life and death marks this moment. The practitioner identifies Hekate as the one with “power over the seven waters and the earth, summoner of the great serpent” and then proceeds to self-identify with the goddess by themselves becoming the “summoner of the great serpent” and reciting the AKRODÊRE invocation.

Vowel Sounds in the PGM

The pronunciation of the divine names, nomina barbara, or voce magicae of western ritual magic can be a hotly debated subject. Many will argue that proper pronunciation of these magical formulae is not critical and that it is the intent behind the word that empowers the rite. Indeed, the power of intent is indisputable; however, there is also the essential vibrational quality of sound that I believe is as important as the intent, if not more.

Frequencies of sound are literally waves of vibrating energy and thus can have a very tangible physical, mental, and magical effect. In rituals and ceremonies throughout the world, sound is used as a transformational force to alter consciousness and to raise ambient energy. This has been something studied extensively in shamanic ritual practices but for some reason has not received as much attention in western magical traditions.[1]

In Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic, Dr. Skinner shows that the magicians of the PGM placed a tremendous amount of importance on the sounds of magical words. As more research is done into the ‘untranslatable’ words of the PGM, the more apparent it becomes that the scribes were interested in preserving the phonetics of Egyptian and semitic ‘words of power’ over their translated meaning. [2] As such, it would seem that the Graeco-Egyptian magicians believed that proper pronunciation of the magical formulae was instrumental to the success of the magical rite.

Within the magical papyri there is one spell (PGM V. 1-54) that preserves an extremely rare attempt by the scribe to teach the reader how to pronounce certain vowels. Since many of the formulae in the PGM consist of long string of vowels and vowel permutations, this passage is a unique and valuable resource for the modern practitioner of Graeco-Egyptian magic.[3]

the “A” with an open mouth, undulating like a wave; [A, α]
the “O” succinctly, as a breathed threat. [O, ο]
the “IAÔ” to earth, to air, and to heaven. [ΙAΩ, ιαω]
the “Ê” like a baboon; [Η, η]
the “O” in the same way as above; [O, ο]
the “E” with enjoyment, aspirating it, [Ε, ε]
the “Y” like a shepherd, drawing out the pronunciation. [Υ, υ]

PGM V. 24 – 30

Both the sounds for Alpha (A/ A, α) and Omicron (O /O, o) are straight forward and correspond with the generally accepted Koine and the older Attic pronunciation.[4] We can identify these as a open-long vowel sound for Alpha (as in father) and a short vowel sound for Omicron (quicker than the o in or).

Skinner notes that since the second “O [is the] same way as above,” both Omicron and Omega (Ô/Ω,ω) should be pronounced the same.[5] The assumption here is that the scribe mistakingly included a second Omicron instead of an Omega. However, the scribe did not make a mistake. It is clear that these vowels reference the nine-lettered magical formula that ends the incantation on line 23 of the same papyri, which indeed contains two Omicrons and the exact sequence of vowels (AOIAÔ ÊOEY). In the context of the PGM, Omega and Omicron would have most likely represented two different vowel sounds; a fact indicated in various other spells that not only speak of seven vowels, but also of seven unique sounds.[6]

Thus, while this passage is a great reference for how some ancient Greek vowels of the PGM may have been pronounced it does not provide any insight into the vowel sounds of Omega nor Iota (I / I,ι). The scribe, does however, give us a spatial dimension in regards to these vowels in the context of the IAÔ formula, something we will return to shortly. Most scholars of ancient Greek indicate that Iota was pronounced very much like modern Greek (as ee in see) and Omega was a longer form of Omicron (as the aw in saw, in Koine Greek it was more rounded as in or). [7]

This brings us to Eta (H, η) which the scribe says should be pronounced like a baboon. This is a long guttural and shrill ‘eh’ sound (as if holding the a in day). If, like me, you don’t happen to live in a area with a healthy baboon population, I suggest you do a quick search to find a video on youtube on baboon vocalizations. Epsilon (E, ε) is an aspirated shorter sounding ‘eh’ (as in get), a sound that can be created by following the scribes instructions and quickly aspirating ‘eh’ while smiling.

Lastly, the scribe completely baffles us in stating that Upsilon (Υ, υ) should be pronounced “like a shepherd.” Perhaps, this is one of those sounds that may have been common in the pastoral lands of the hellenic world, but today has very little meaning. Among other sounds the scribe may be referencing the sound of a panpipe or a shepherd’s flute, or perhaps even the deep bark of Molussus shepherd dog.[8] In this context, perhaps it is best to assume that the scribe was giving more of an indication on how to draw out the sound of the vowel than the actual sound. Unlike modern Greek where Upsilon is pronounced exactly like Iota, it is believed that the sound in classical and hellenic times was more similar to the French ‘u‘ (as ou in you but tending towards the sound ‘ee-you’).[9]

Drawing from these base vowel sounds we can start to examine their vibration qualities . This is accomplished by ordering the seven vowels according to their average frequency and pitch.

Seven Vowels arranged in a scale of Average Frequency

Vowel	IPA [10]	Avg. Frequency [11]	PGM V. 1-54 Instructions
I , ι	[i]	1963 Hz	“to earth”
E , ε	[e]	1782 Hz	“with enjoyment, aspirating it”
H , η	[ε:]	1617 Hz	“like a baboon”
A , α	[a]	1566 Hz	“with an open mouth, undulating like a wave” | “to air”
Υ , υ	[y:]	1492 Hz	“like a shepherd, drawing out the pronunciation.”
O , ο	[ŏ]	1074 Hz	“succinctly, as a breathed threat”
Ω , ω	[o:]	1074 Hz	“to heaven”

Seven Vowels arranged in a scale of Average Frequency

Frequency is a measure of vibration, thus this also correlates with how we experience the sound physically. Higher frequency and therefore higher pitched sounds resonate in our heads while deep base tones resonate in our basal and sacral region.

There is an apparent inversion when comparing the resonant pitch of the vowels to how the scribe indicates that the IAÔ formula should be spoken. The ‘natural’ directionality based on where the vowels physically resonate, would be Iota – Above and Omega – Below. However, the practitioner is instructed to employ the complete opposite directionality by vibrating the high-frequency Iota vowel below, and the low-frequency Omega above.

This inversion, I believe is an intended magical technique. It is analogous to the use of countermovement in other rituals of the PGM as a means to draw and center power from the unification and balance of two antipodal poles.[12] Vibrating the IAÔ formula “to earth, to air, and to heaven” has the effect of reflecting the natural tonal frequency of sound. It is as if the magician is directing the power of the heavens downward while elevating earth energy up. The intersection and thus point of tension and balance of these two polarities is the body of the practitioner; and more precisely the harmonic breath of Alpha.

While it may be impossible to fully reconstruct the sounds of these ancient formulae, I believe that there is still much more practical knowledge we can learn by making our best attempts to pronounce the words a precisely as possible. Not only do we uncover additional levels of meaning when we examine the sounds, but we are also tapping into the specific spiritual-acoustic technology used by the Graeco-Egyptian magicians of the PGM.

Notes

1. Michael Harner. The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980). pp 64- 68.
2. Stephen Skinner. Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic. (Singapore: Golden Hoard Press, 2014). pp 91-95.
3. The mention and spelling of Sarapis (syncretism of Osiris-Apis), as opposed to the older variant Oserapis in this spell indicates that this papyrus dates to a later Hellenic period. Perhaps this passage indicates a necessity to preserve (or rediscover) the ancient sounds of the vowels at a time when the Greek language itself was changing.
4. Joscelyn Godwin.The Mystery of the Seven Vowels.(Phanes Press,1991). Also see: http://www.biblicalgreek.org/links/pronunciation.php and references.
5. Skinner. pp 102 (see note).
6. See PGM XII 270-350, PGM XIII. 734 -1077, and PGM XXI. 1-29.
7. See note 4.
8. A panpipe or flute produces a melodic sound that can be drawn out beautifully; however, the pitch can range from low to high and thus can represent a multitude of pronunciations. The now extinct breed of Molussus dog was a large mastiff-like dog used throughout hellenic antiquity for protecting and herding sheep. Its modern ancestors today include the various Mountain Dog breeds such as the modern Greek Shepherd . The bark of the modern decedents of the Molussus dog are a deep and drawn out wuuuuuuuuf sound maybe indicating the pronunciation of Upsilon as much deeper and closer to [u].
9. See note 4.
10. IPA symbols for vowels obtained from: http://www.webtopos.gr/eng/languages/greek/alphabet/chart1.htm and http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/greek.htm. Long(o:)or extra-short (ŏ) vowel lengths deduced from descriptions in PGM V. 1-54
11. Average Frequency calculated as an average of the primary F1, F2, and F3 formats of the vowel sounds. Frequency values for these formats from: http://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/103/Charts/VChart/ and http://www.sengpielaudio.com/VowelDiagram.htm.
12. See Countermovement in Hermetic Magic.

PGM IV 154-285: A complete Magical System

 “Nephotes to Psammetichos letter concerning bowl divination.”[1] The intent here is to introduce the passage and present it as a complete and workable system of magical practices. Future posts will delve deeper into the individual rituals of the passage and document my personal progress.

As the title suggests, the passage is in the form of a letter from a magician to a pharaoh of Egypt. Psammetichos (Psamtik in Egyptian) was the name of three pharaohs from the 26th dynasty (664-525 BC).[2] However, there is little doubt that this surviving papyrus is much later as most papyrologist agree that the manuscript likely dates to the early fourth century CE.[3]The attributed provenance to the pharaoh was more than likely an attempt by the Graeco-Egyptian scribe to stress the antiquity of this practice. Indeed, as we will see, there are practices and techniques in this rite that would have been undisputedly ancient by the time that PGM IV was written.

Regardless of the true origin of the letter, the scribe makes great promises as to what the magical practice recorded can achieve:

Nephotes to Psammetichos, immortal king of Egypt. Greetings. Since the great god has appointed you immortal king and nature has made you the best wise man, I too , with a desire to show you the industry in me, have sent you this magical procedure which, with complete ease, produces a holy power. And after you have tested it, you too will be amazed at the miraculous nature of this magical operation. You will observe through bowl divination on whatever day or night you want, in whatever place you want, beholding the god in the water and hearing a voice from the god which speaks in verses in answers to whatever you want. You will attain both the ruler of the universe and whatever you command, and he will speak on other matters which you ask about.

– PGM IV. 154-168

Despite these grandiose claims, this passage was identified by Betz as simply one of the many “bowl divinations” of the PGM, a categorization that has been accepted by most modern scholars and practitioners. However, two points need to be addressed regarding this view.

The first is that labeling these rites as divinatory is overly simplistic and incorrect.[4] This misnomer resulted from a literal and modern understanding of Lecanomancy from the Greek λεκάνη ( ‘dish’, ‘pan’, or ‘bowl’) and μαντεία (‘divination’). Today divination is generally understood to be a passive and receptive process, such as the methods used by Nostradamus of gazing into a bowl and allowing images of the future to appear in the darkness. The “bowl divinations” in the PGM are in fact very different in that they are proper evocations of deities, spirits, and the dead. The bowl contains the medium (usually water and/or oil) in which the summoned entity manifests. Such a scrying technique is analogous to the use of dark mirrors and crystal balls in the evocation practices of the later medieval and renaissance grimoires. To call this a divination would be like calling Trithemius’ The Art of Drawing Spirits into Crystals , or John Dee’s Enochian explorations, a practice of crystal ball divination. While yes, foretelling of future events could result from such communication with deity and spirit it is only one aspect of what can be achieved. Consequently, Skinner in Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic identifies these practices as “Evocationary Bowl Scrying”, a terminology that I am adopting since it better reflects the nature of these rites. [5]

Secondly, PGM IV 154-285 is a rather complex – and amazingly complete – set of rituals, only one of the rituals deals with with Evocationary Bowl Scrying. In fact, we can quantify this numerically since a mere 33 of the 131 lines are dedicated to the practice, accounting for only 25% of the text! When this is seen in context with the rest of the passage, it becomes apparent that recording an Evocationary Bowl Scrying practice was not the sole intent of the scribe.

As with all the rites of the PGM, examination of the headwords can lead to a better understanding of the intended magical practice.[6] In our letter to Psammetichos, the expected headword λεκανομαντια (lekanomenateia) is preceded by the unique phrase ισοθεον φυσεως κυριενσας , roughly translated as “make equal to the original gods in power.” [7] This is quite a claim and is unlike any of the other Evocationary Bowl Scrying rites of the PGM. Clearly, the intent of this rite is not only to evoke entities into the bowl, but more importantly to bestow upon the magician the spiritual authority necessary by which to summon the gods themselves. And to be blunt, without this authority – equated with the power of the primordial gods – the magician would be left staring hopelessly into nothing more than a bowl of liquid.

So how does one obtain this authority? The scribe informs us that this is done as follows:

You will succeed by inquiring in this way: First, attach yourself to Helios in this manner: At whatever sunrise you want (provided it is the third day of the month), go up to the highest part of the house and spread a pure linen garment on the floor. Do this with a mystagogue. But as for you, crown yourself with dark ivy while the sun is in mid-heaven, at the fifth hour, and while looking upward lie down naked on the linen and order your eyes to be completely covered with a black band. And wrap yourself like a corpse, close your eyes and, keeping your direction toward the sun begin these words.

– PGM IV. 169-179

The practitioner is instructed to use a linen garment as a burial shroud (“wrap yourself like a corpse”), is deprived of the sense of sight via a blindfold and is crowned with an ivy crow. While laurel and olive leaf crowns are quite common and used in the images and cults of various Hellenic deities, only Dionysus – whom the Greeks associated with Osiris [8]– is consistently depicted wearing an ivy crown; the evergreen vine being a symbol of this twice-born god and of the mysteries of life after death.[9] These three elements constitute the symbolic structure of the ritual : 1) the metaphorical death represented by the burial shroud, 2) the spiritual journey into the darkness of the blindfold,[10] and 3) the the ivy crown of the reborn living god. Together they echo the mythic narratives of the solar hero and the canonical literature of the living, dying, and resurrected god.[11]

In practice, this is the test that the practitioner must complete in order to be initiated into the world of spirit and gain the necessary spiritual authority to call upon the gods and the dead as this papyri promises. It is analogous to a shamanic soul journey into the spiritual and ancestral realm to make initial contact with a spirit guide.[12] Only with and through this initial knowledge and connection to spirit can one begin to wield the power necessary to perform true acts of magic, be it healing, divination, or evocation.

Indeed, after the practitioner assumes the role of the recently deceased they in effect, become a candidate for spiritual illumination and initiation. Playing on the double meaning of the Greek verb τελευτᾷν (‘to die’ and ‘to be initiated’), Plutarch writes ” to die is to be initiated.”[13] At this point the candidate recites a long incantation calling upon the power of Typhon and waits for a sign of the “divine encounter.”

Prayer:

”O mighty Typhon, ruler of the realm Above and master, god of gods, O lord ABERAMENThÔOU (formula), O dark’s disturber, thunder’s bringer, whirlwind, Night-flasher, breather-forth of hot and cold, Shaker of rocks, wall trembler, boiler of The waves, disturber of the sea’s great depth, IÔ ERBÊT AU TAUI MÊNI, I’m He who searched with you the whole world and Found great Osiris, whom I brought you chained. I’m he who joined you in war with the gods I’m he who closed heaven’s double gates and put to sleep the serpent which must not be seen, Who stopped the seas, the streams, the river currents Were’er you rule this realm. And as your soldier I have been conquered by the gods, I have Been thrown face down because of empty wrath. Raise up your friend, I beg you, I implore: Thrown me not on the ground, O lord of gods, AEMINAEBARÔThERREThÔRABEANIMEA, O grant me power, I beg, and give to me This favor, so that, whensoe’r I tell One of the gods to come, he is seen coming Swiftly to me in answer to my chants, NAINE BASANAPTATOU EAPTOU MÊNÔPhAESMÊ PAPTOU MÊNÔPh AESIMÊ TRAUAPTI PEUChRÊ TRAUARA PTOUMÊPh MOURAI ANChOUChAPhAPTA MOURSA ARAMEI IAÔ AThThARAUI MÊNOKER BORO PTOUMÊTh AT TAUI MÊNI ChARChARA PTOUMAU LALAPSA TRAUI TRAUEPSE MAMÔ PhORTOUChA AEÊIO IOY OÊÔA EAI AEÊI ÔI IAÔ AÊI AI IAÔ.”

After you have said this three times, there will be this sign of divine encounter, but you, armed by having this magical soul, be not alarmed. For a sea falcon flies down and strikes you on the body with its wings, signifying this: that you should arise. But as for you, rise up and clothe yourself with white garments and burn on an earthen censer uncut incense in grains while saying this:

“I have been attached to your holy form. I have been given power by your holy name. I have aquired your emanation of the goods, Lord, god of gods, master, daimon. ANThThOUIN ThOUThOUI TAUANTI LAÔ APTATÔ.”

Having done this, return as lord of a godlike nature which is accomplished through this divine encounter.

– PGM IV 179-221

A full examination of this incantation is beyond the scope of today’s post, but we can clearly see that it is intended to align the practitioner to Set as both murder of Osiris and protector of the Sun barque.[14] As opposed to the exoteric mythologies of the religious cults and institutions of the Hellenic world, the Graeco-Egyptian magicians did not shun the deities of chaos and darkness; instead, they drew upon them to empower their magic. This is clearly seen in the number of spells of the PGM that call upon Typhon, Set, and the syncretic Typhon-Set not as the demonized antipode of good and order, but as source of raw unbridled power to be channeled by the magician.[15] There is a distinct science of spirit amongst the ancient magical traditions, a desire to identify, classify and name all the forces of nature outside any moral implications such deity may have had in the exoteric myths of the state religions. Consequently, all the forces of nature whether understood by the uninitiated masses as ‘good’ or ‘evil’, became part of the magician’s arsenal of power.

Thus, employing the power of Typhon to “attach yourself to Helios” was not a contradiction, but rather a powerful focal point of orientation to the mythic narrative of the solar deity who is slain and reborn as living god. The initiate not only aligns to the solar deity, but to the primordial energies of the entire cosmic narrative. As the headwords of PGM IV 154-285 suggest, this rite is designed to initiate the practitioner and to “make equal to the original gods in power.” Indeed, upon completion of the ritual, the practitioner arises as a “lord of a godlike nature.” This initiation rite is without a doubt the primary ritual of PGM IV154-285 both in importance and in size, spanning 53 lines and thus about 40% of the text.

Following this ritual and the subsequent offering of uncut incense to Helios, the practitioner – now an initiate into this magical system – has the ability to call upon all spirits and gods using the Evocationary Bowl Scrying method described below. This is a stand alone rite, and as the scribe mentions can be employed by the initiate who now wields the required spiritual authority at any time and for any reason.

Inquiry of bowl divination and necromancy. Whenever you want to inquire about matters, take a bronze vessel, either a bowl or a saucer, whatever kind you wish. Pour water: rainwater if you are calling upon heavenly gods, seawater if gods of the earth, river water if Osiris or Sarapis, spring water if the dead. Holding the vessel on your knees, pour out green olive oil, bend over the vessel and speak the prescribed spell. And address whatever god you want ask about whatever you wish, and he will reply to you and tell you about anything. And if he has spoken dismiss him with the spell of dismissal, and you have used this spell will be amazed.

The spell spoken over the vessel is: “AMOUN AUANTAU LAIMOUTAU RIPTOU MANTAUI IMANTOU LANTOU LAPTOUMI ANChÔMACh ARAPTOUMI, hither to me, O NN god; appear to me this very hour and do not frighten my eyes. Hither to me, O NN god, be attentive to me because he wishes and commands this AChChÔR AChChÔR AChAChACh PTOUMI ChAChChÔ ChARAChÔCh ChAPTOUMÊ ChÔRAChARAChÔCh APTOUMI MÊChÔChAPTOU ChARAChPTOU ChAChChÔ ChARAChÔ PTENAChÔChEU” (a hundred letters).”

But you are not unaware, mighty king and leader of magicians, that this is the chief name of Typhon, at whom the ground, the depths of the sea, Hades, heaven, the sun, the moon, the visible chorus of stars, the whole universe all tremble, the name which, when it is uttered, forcibly brings gods and daimons to it. This is the name that consists of 100 letters. Finally, when you have called, whomever you called will appear, god or dead man, and he will give an answer about anything you ask. And when you have learned to your satisfaction, dismiss the god merely with the powerful name of the hundred letters as you say, “Depart, master, for the great god, NN, wishes and commands this of you.” Speak the name, and he will depart. Let this spell, mighty king, be transmitted to you alone, guarded by you unshared.

-PGM IV. 222-256

The primary element that we want to point out in the context of this post is the use of Typhon’s great name of a hundred letters. Again, like in the initiation rite, the power of Typhon represents that primordial force capable of altering universal order and destroying the boundaries between the realms of the living and of the dead. This is precisely the power needed to call forth a deity or the spirit of the deceased.

However, such power should not be wielded without the proper precautions. The scribe informs us that a phylactery in the form of a lamen is to be worn around the practitioner’s neck to presumably protect from the presence of the gods and the potentially destructive power of the Typhonic energy.

There is also the protective charm itself which you wear while performing, even while standing: onto a silver leaf inscribe this name of 100 letters with a bronze stylus, and wear it strung on a thong from the hide of an ass.

– PGM IV. 257-260

This is a common technique in the PGM, both to use a phylactery to protect the magician from the evoked gods, and to include the description of the phylactery after the evocation ritual. [16] Such a phylactery when hung over the neck lays over the heart of the practitioner. We may find parallels in the protective qualities of the lamens found in later grimoires, Dee’s Enochian system, and the use of priestly breastplate of the Hebrews.[17]

Lastly, the scribe includes a final ritual. This one is designed to call upon Typhon and petition the deity to aid the practitioner.

Divine encounter of the divine procedure: Toward the rising sun say: “I call you who did first control gods’ wrath, You who hold royal scepter o’er the heavens, You who are midpoint of the stars above, You, master Typhon, you I call who are the dreaded sovereign over the firmament. You who are fearful, awesome, threatening, You who’re obscure and irresistible and hater of the wicked, you I call, Typhon, in hours unlawful and unmeasured, You who’ve walked on unquenched, clear-crackling fire, You who are over snows, below dark ice, You who hold sovereignty over the Moirai, I invoked you in prayer, I call, almighty one, that you perform for me whatever I ask of you, and that you nod assent at once to me and grant that what I ask be mine (add the usual) because I adjure you GAR ThAIA BAUZAU ThÓRThÓR KAThAUKATh IAThIN NA BORKAKAR BORBA KARBORBOCh MO ZAU OUZÓNZ ÓN YABITH, mighty Typhon, hear me, NN, and perform for me the NN task. For I speak your true names, IÓ ERBÉTh IÓ PAKERBÉTh IÓ BOLChOSÉTh OEN TYPhON ASBARABÓ BIEAISÉ ME NERÓ MARAMÓ TAUÉR ChThENThÓNIE ALAM BÉTÓR MENKEChRA SAUEIÓR RÉSEIODÓTA ABRÉSIOA PhÓThÉR ThERThÓNAX NERDÓMEU AMÓRÉS MEEME ÓIÉS SYSChIE ANThÓNIE PhRA; listen to me and perform the NN deed.”

– PGM IV. 261-285

Here the scribe presents us with an all encompassing prayer leaving the petition up to the practitioner to fill in according to the desired intent(“NN task”, “NN deed”). I believe that such a prayer can be used as part of a daily practice to attune the practitioner to the magical system described in the letter. Such a prayer would function in the same vein as the daily prayer from the Arbatel (Aphorism 14) where prior to the invocation of the Olympic spirits the magician petitions the Abrahamic god to teach and initiate him into the mysteries. [18]

As with the other rites preserved in PGM IV 154-285, this prayer is designed to align the practitioner to both the sun and to the raw unbridled energy of Typhon. As explained earlier, the Graeco-Egyptian magician would not have seen a contradiction here, but rather a source of power that results in the cosmic balance of the rising and setting sun. This echoes the importance placed on the principle of countermovement in other practices of the PGM. [19]

Moreover, this technique is not a new or unique concept. The use of a deity representing primordial chaos and one representing the sun and order would have been an ancient formula by the time this rite was written. Indeed, the very first record we have of a practice of Lecanomancy is in the Babylonian Ritual Tables dating to the 7th Century BCE.[20] Here, nearly a millennia before the writing of PGM IV 154-285 , the magician is instructed to invoke Šamaš, the Babylonian solar deity of order and light, and Hadad, the storm deity of the primordial waters. The Babylonians themselves were convinced of the antiquity of such practices, attributing them to the antediluvian king Emmeduranki who was said to have learned the art directly from the gods.[21] Thus, as perhaps was the original intent of the scribe of PGM IV, we can clearly see that despite the papyrus most likely not being a transcription of a letter to an ancient pharaoh, the practices laid out within had undoubtedly very ancient roots.

We have reached end of this introduction to PGM IV 154-285. In summary what we have is a complete magical system analogous in structure to some of the later medieval and renaissance grimoires. The following table displays the multiple sections of the passage that we have briefly touched upon, each of these can stand alone as an individual rite or practice. Together; however, they compose a workable system complete with a daily prayer, a protective phylactery to wear, a ritual of initiation, and method for evoking and communicating with spirit and deity.

Section	Lines	% of Passage
Introduction	154-168	11%
Initiation Rite	168- 221	41%
Evocationary Bowl Scrying Rite	222-256	26%
Creation of Phylactery	257-260	3%
Sunrise Rite: Prayer & Petition	261-285	19%

Notes

1. Hans Dieter Betz (ed). The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation: Including the Demotic Spells (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992). pp. 40-43.
2. David P. Silverman. Ancient Egypt. (Oxford University Press, 2003).
3. Pieter W. van der Horst. The Great Magical Papyrus of Paris (PGM IV) and the Bible. In A Kind of Magic: Understanding Magic in the New Testament and Its Religious Environment. (A&C Black, 2007).
4. Stephen Skinner. Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic. (Singapore: Golden Hoard Press, 2014). pp. 246.
5. Skinner. pp. 246 -247.
6. Skinner. pp. 51-52.
7. Skinner pp. 250.
8. According to both Plutarch and Herodotus, Dionysus was the Greek name for Osiris and several PGM spells reveal and implicit association between Dionysus and Osiris in both symbolism and eucharistic practices.
9. Eleni Pachoumi. The Greek Magical Papyri: Diversity and Unity. (Doctoral Thesis, Newcastle University, 2007) pp. 42-44.
10. See Black of Isis for a discussion on the use of blindfold in rituals of initiation.
11. René Guénon. Symbols of Sacred Science. (Hillsdale, NY: Sophia Perennis, 2004). Also, Joseph Campbell. The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work, 3rd edition, Phil Cousineau, editor.(Novato, CA: New World Library, 2003). and Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008).
12. Mircea Eliade. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2004). Also, Michael Harner. The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing (New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1980). and references within.
13. Plutarch. Fragments also see Albert G. Mackey.The Symbolism of Freemasonry (1882).
14. The phrase “closed heaven’s double gates and put to sleep the serpent which must not be seen,” is a reference to Set defeating Apep in the twelfth hour of the journey of the solar barque. Apep is referred to as the “serpent which must not be seen” several times throughout the PGM. See appendix in Betz. 
15. Stephen Edred Flowers (ed). Hermetic Magic: The Postmodern Magical Papyrus of Abaris. (York Beach, ME: Weiser Books, 1995). pp. 94.
16. Skinner. pp. 163-166.
17. Skinner. pp. 165 & 203.Also, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3668-breastplate-of-the-high-priest
18. http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/arbatel.htm
19. See Countermovement in Hermetic Magic.
20. Ritual Tablets 15-25 quoted in Skinner. pp. 247.
21. Wilfred G. Lambert. The Qualifications of Babylonian Diviners. In Festschrift für Rykle Borger zu seinem 65. (Groningen, NE: Styx, 1998).