Papyri graecae magicae I.54

Having sanctified yourself in advance and abstained from meat [?] and from all impurity, on any night you wish, wearing pure garments, go up on a high roof. Say the first [prayer of] union when the sunlight is fading...having a black lsiac band over your eyes...When the sun rises, greet it...reciting this [hereafter specified] holy spell, burning uncut frankincense [etc.]...While you are reciting the spell, the following sign will occur: A hawk flying down will stop [in the air] in front of you and, striking his wings together in the middle [in front of his body], will drop a long stone and at once fly back, going up into heaven. You take up that stone and having cut...engraved and pierced it...wear it around your neck. Then at evening, going up to your roof again and standing facing the light of the [sun] god, sing the hymn [specified], sacrificing myrrh [etc.]...And you will soon have a sign, as follows: A fiery star, coming down, will stand in the middle of the roof and...you will perceive the angel whom you besought, sent to you, and you will promptly learn the counsels of the gods. But don't you be afraid. Go up to the god, take his right hand, kiss him, and say these [specified spells] to the angel. For he will respond concisely to whatever you wish [to ask]. You, then, make him swear with this [specified] oath that he will remain inseparable from you and...will not disobey you at all...And you set forth [these] words for the god [to agree to]: "I shall have you as a dear companion, a beneficent god serving me as I may direct, quickly, with your power, already while I am on earth; please, please, show [grant] me [this], 0 god!" And you yourself speak...in accordance with what he says, briefly...But when the third hour [of the night-about 9 p.m.] comes, the god will leap up at once. Say "Go lord, blessed god, whither you eternally are, as you wish," and the god will become invisible. This is the holy [rite for] acquiring an attendant [deity].

Know therefore that this god, whom you have seen, is an aerial spirit. If you command, he will perform the task at once. He sends dreams, brings women or men...kills, overthrows, raises up winds from the earth, brings gold, silver, copper, and gives it to you whenever you need; he frees from bonds . . . opens doors, makes invisible...brings fire, water, wine, bread and whatever foodstuffs you want...he stops ships [in mid voyage] and again releases them, stops many evil demons, calms wild beasts and immediately breaks the teeth of savage serpents; he puts dogs to sleep or makes them stand voiceless; he transforms [you] into whatever form you wish;...he will carry you into the air;...he will solidify rivers and the sea promptly and so that you can run on them standing up;...he will indeed restrain the foam of the sea if you wish, and when you wish [he is able] to bring down stars and...to make hot things cold and cold hot; he will light lamps and quench them again; he shakes walls and sets them ablaze. You will have in him a slave sufficient for whatever [tasks] you may conceive, 0 blessed initiate of holy magic, and this most powerful assistant, who alone is Lord of the Air, will accomplish [them] for you, and all the [other] gods will agree, for without this god nothing is [done].

Communicate this to no one else, but hide it, by Helios, since you have been thought worthy by the Lord God to receive this great mystery....[Here follow the spells to be used in the preceding ceremony.]...And when you send him away, after he goes, sacrifice to him...and pour an oblation of wine, and thus you will be a friend of the powerful angel. When you travel he will travel with you; when you are in need he will give you money; he will tell you what is going to happen and when and at what time of night or day. If anyone ask you, "What do I have in mind?" or "What happened to me?" or "[What] will happen?" ask the angel, and he will tell you sotto voce, and you say it to the inquirer as if from yourself. When you die he will embalm your body as befits a god, and taking up your spirit will carry it into the air with himself. For an aerial spirit [such as you have become] having been united with a powerful assistant will not go into Hades. For to this [god] all things are subordinate. So when you wish to do something, say into the air only his name and "Come," and you will see him, and standing right beside you. Then tell him, "Do such and such"-the work [you want done]-and he will do it at once, and having done it, will ask you, "Do you want anything else? For I am in a hurry to go back to heaven." If you have no other orders at the moment, tell him, "Go, Lord," and he will go. Now this god will be seen only by you, nor will anyone hear his voice when he speaks, except you only. When a man [is sick] in bed he will call you whether he will live or die, and [if the latter] in which day and which hour...He will also give you wild plants and [tell you] how to perform cures; and you will be worshipped as a god, since you have the god as a friend.

Papyri graecae magicae VII.429-58

A restraining [rite] for anything, works even on chariots. It also causes enmity and sickness, cuts down, destroys, and overturns, for [whatever] you wish. The spell [in it], when said, conjures daimons [out] and makes them enter [objects or people]. Engrave in a plate [made] of lead from a cold-water channel what you want to happen, and when you have consecrated it with bitter aromatics such as myrrh, bdellium, styrax, and aloes and thyme, with river mud, late in the evening or in the middle of the night, where there is a stream or the drain of a bath, having tied a cord [to the plate] throw it into the stream -- or into the sea -- [and let it] be carried along. Use the cord so that, when you wish, you can undo [the spell]. Then should you wish to break [the spell], untie the plate. Say the formula seven times and you will see something wonderful. Then go away without turning back or giving an answer to anyone, and when you have washed and immersed yourself, go up to your own [room] and rest, and use [only] vegetable food. Write [the spell] with a headless bronze needle.

The text to be written is: "I conjure you, lord Osiris, by your holy names OUCHIOCH OUSENARATH, Osiris, OUSERRANNOUPHTHI OSORNOUPHE Osiris-Mnevis, OUSERSETEMENTH AMARA MACHI CHOMASO EMMAI SERBONI EMER Isis, ARATOPHI ERACHAX ESEO IOTH ARBIOTHI AMEN CH[N]OUM (?) MONMONT OUZATHI PER OUNNEPHER EN OOO, I give over to you, lord Osiris, and I deposit with you this matter:" [Here one would write what effect the spell should have and on whom.]

But if you cause [the plate] to be buried or [sunk in] river or land or sea or stream or coffin or in a well, write the Orphic formula, saying, "ASKEI KAI TASKEI" and, taking a black thread, make 365 knots and bind [the thread] around the outside of the plate, saying the same formula again and, "Keep him who is held" (or "bound"), or whatever you do. And thus the plate is deposited. For Selene, when she goes through the underworld, breaks whatever [spell] she finds. But when this [rite] has been performed, [the spell] remains [unbroken] so long as you say over [the formula] daily at this spot [where the plate is deposited]. Do not hastily share [this information] with anyone, for you will find [its like (?) only] with much labor. (trans. Morton Smith in H.D. Betz (1986))

Papyri graecae magicae IV.1227-64

This text gives instruction for driving out a demon. After the opening sentence, the text indicates the words to be uttered, and the words to be addressed to the divine (1231-39) are given in Coptic. These Coptic words are the only Christian element in the text. The reference to "the seven" probably indicates the seven spheres of the sky. Next, the text describes the procedures to bind and defeat the demonic force (1248-52). Lastly, there are instructions for the preparation of an amulet. The utterances directed toward the amulet include permutations and verbal transformations based upon BOR and PHOR (P-Hor), are probably the name of the Egyptian god Horus. Other utterances refer to the Egyptian god Bes and the Greek word for favor (charis).

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, god of Abraham; greetings, god of Jacob; Jesus the upright, the holy spirit, the son of the father, who is below the seven, who is within the seven. Bring Yao Sabaoth; may you power issue forth from N., until you drive away this unclean demon Satan, 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.

Papyri graecae magicae IV.1716-1870

Sword of Dardanos: Rite which is called "sword," which has no equal because of its power, for it immediately bends and attracts the soul[[1]] of whomever you wish. As you say the spell, also say: "I am bending to my will th e soul of him NN."

Take a magnetic stone which is breathing and engrave Aphrodite sitting astride Psyche and with her left hand holding on her hair bound in curls. And above her head: "ACHMAGE RARPEPSEI"; and below Aphrodite and Psyche engrave Eros standi ng on the vault of heaven, holding a blazing torch and burning Psyche. And below Eros these names: "ACHAPA ADONAIE BASMA CHARAKO IAKOB IAO E PHARPHAREI." On the other side of the stone engrave Psyche and Eros embracing one another and beneath Eros’s feet these letters: "SSSSSSSS," and beneath Psyche’s feet: "EEEEEEEE." Use the stone, when it has been engraved and consecrated, like this: put it under your tongue and turn it to what you wish and say this spell:

"I call upon you, author of all creation, who spread your own wings over the whole world, you, the unapproachable and unmeasurable who breathe into every soul life-giving reasoning, who fitted all things together by your power, firstborn, foun der of the universe, golden-winged, whose light is darkness, who shroud reasonable thoughts and breathe forth dark frenzy, clandestine one who secretly inhabit every soul. You engender an unseen fire as you carry off every living thing without growing we ary of torturing it, rather having with pleasure delighted in pain from the time when the world came into being. You also come and bring pain, who are sometimes reasonable, sometimes irrational, because of whom men dare beyond what is fitting and take re fuge in your light which is darkness. Most headstrong, lawless, implacable, inexorable, invisible, bodiless, generator of frenzy, archer, torch-carrier, master of all living sensation and of everything clandestine, dispenser of forgetfulness, creator of silence, through whom the light and to whom the light travels, infantile when you have been engendered within the heart, wisest when you have succeeded; I call upon you, unmoved by prayer, by your great name: AZARACHTHARAZA LATHA IATHAL Y Y Y LATHAI ATHA LLALAPH IOIOIO AI AI AI OUERIEU OIAI LEGETA RAMAI AMA RATAGEL, first-shining, night-shining, night rejoicing, night-engendering, witness, EREKISITHPHE ARARACHARARA EPHTHISIKERE IABEZEBYTH IT, you in the depth, BERIAMBO BERIAMBEBO, you in the sea, MERMERGO U, clandestine and wisest, ACHAPA ADONAIE MASMA CHARAKO IAKOB IAO CHAROUER AROUER LAILAM SEMESILAM SOUMARTA MARBA KARBA MENABOTH EIIA. Turn the ‘soul’ of her NN to me NN, so that she may love me, so that she may feel passion for me, so that she may give me what is in her power. Let her say to me what is in her soul because I have called upon your great name."

And on a golden leaf inscribe this sword: "One THOURIEL MICHAEL GABRIEL OURIEL MISAEL IRRAEL ISTRAEL: May it be a propitious day for this name and for me who know it and am wearing it. I summon the immortal and infallible strength of God. Grant me the submission of every soul for which I have called upon you." Give the leaf to a partridge to gulp down and kill it. Then pick it up and wear it around your neck after inserting into the strip the the herb called "boy love."

The burnt offering which endows Eros and the whole procedure with soul is this: manna, 4 drams; storax, 4 drams; opium, 4 drams; myrrh, [f drams;] frankincense, saffron bdella, one-half dram each. Mix in rich dried fig and blend everything in equal parts with fragrant wine, and use it for the performance. In the performance first make a burnt offering and use it in this way.

And there is also a rite for acquiring an assistant, who is made out of wood from a mulberry tree. He is made as a winged Eros wearing a cloak, with his right foot lifted for a stride and with a hollow back. Into the hollow put a go ld leaf after writing with a cold-forged copper stylus so-and-so’s name [and]: "MARSABOUTARTHE -- be my assistant and supporter and sender of dreams."

Go late at night to the house [of the woman] you want, knock on her door with the Eros and say: "Lo, she NN resides here; wherefore stand beside her and, after assuming the likeness of the god or daimon whom she worships, say what I propose." And go to your home, set the table, spread a pure linen cloth, and seasonal flowers, and set the figure upon it. Then make a burnt offering to it and continuously say the spell of invocation. And send him, and he will act without fail. And whene ver you bend her to your will with the stone, on that night it sends dreams, for on a different night it is busy with different matters. (trans. E.N. O’Neill in H.D. Betz (1986))

[[1]] H.D. Betz (1986), pg. 69n.218 remarks: "Since the operator does not want spiritual love, PSYCHE here is probably the female pudenda. Against this interpretation is THN YUXHN TOU DEINA (l. 1721), but since the rest of the spell is concerned with attracting a woman, we should probably emend here and read THS DEINA."