Spell for unknown effect

Take the blood of an owl and myrrh ink, mix the two together, and, using a new reed, draw the figure as appended* on a clean tablet. And having stared simultaneously at a clean wall, while glancing to the east, having fixed the image to a pure linen cloth using thorns from a male date palm, veil the image completely. Then after stepping back from it six cubits, once you have veiled it, count to fifty-nine three times while walking backwards, stopping at the six-cubits-mark.

Λαβὼν αἷμα νυκτιβαοῦτος καὶ ζμυρνομέλαν, ὁμοῦ τὰ δύο μίξας γράφε καινῷ καλάμῳ τὸ ζῴδιον, καθὼς περιέχι, εἰς πιττάκιον καθαρόν, καὶ ἅμ' ἀτενίσας εἰς τοῖχον καθαρόν, εἰς ἀνατολὴν βλέπων, πήξας εἰς σουδάριον ὁλόλινον σκόλοψιν ἀρρενικοῦ φοίνικος συνκάλυπτε τὸ ζῴδιον καὶ ἀποστὰς ἀπ' αὐτο̣ῦ̣ πήχεις ἕξ, συνκαλύψας μέτρησον πεντήκοντα ἐννέα ἐπὶ τρὶς ἀναποδίζων, στήκων ἐπὶ τὸ σημῖον τῶν ἓξ πηχῶν.

Magical Greek Papyri 36.264–274

*The image is not appended. No purpose is given.

Aetius of Amida on the Choking Cure of St. Blaise

“[Treatment] for swallowing of a bone and for removing things that are stuck in the throat. Hold on to the patient with them sitting opposite you, and make them hold on to you. Say: ‘Come up, bone—whether you are a bone or a twig or anything else—just like Jesus Christ brought Lazarus up from the grave, and like Jonah was brought up out of the sea monster.’ Another. Cover the throat of the patient. Say: ‘Blaise, the martyr, the servant of god, says, ‘either rise up, bone, or go down.’”

Πρὸς ὀστοῦ κατάποσιν καὶ πρὸς ἀναβολὴν τῶν καταπειρομένων εἰς τὰ παρίσθμια. προσέχων τῷ πάσχοντι ἀνθρώπῳ ἄντικρυς καθεζομένῳ καὶ ποιήσας αὐτὸν προσέχειν σοι λέγε· ἄνελθε, ὀστοῦν, εἴτε ὀστοῦν ἢ κάρφος [<ϛ>] ἢ ἄλλο ὁτιοῦν, ὡς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Λάζαρον ἀπὸ τοῦ τάφου ἀνήγαγε, καὶ ὡς Ἰωνᾶν ἐκ τοῦ κήτους. Ἄλλο. κατέχων τὸν λάρυγγα τοῦ πάσχοντος λέγε· Βλάσιος ὁ μάρτυς ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ θεοῦ λέγει· ἢ ἀνάβηθι, ὀστοῦν, ἢ κατάβηθι.

Aetius of Amida, Libri Medicinales 8.54

Dream Spells: a spell from Pachrates given to Emperor Hadrian

“Pachrates, the prophet of Heliopolis, who exhibited the power of his divine magic to the Emperor Hadrian. For it caused attraction in one hour; it caused illness in two hours; it caused destruction in seven hours; and it sent dreams to the Emperor himself while he was testing the complete truth of his magic. And because he was amazed at the prophet, he ordered that twice the pay be given to him.

“Take a field-mouse that’s been made divine with spring water; and take two moon beetles made divine with river water; also: a river crab, the fat of a spotted virgin goat, feces of a dog-faced baboon, two ibis eggs, two drachms of storax, two drachms of myrrh, two drachms of saffron, four drachms of Italian sedge, four drachms of unbroken frankincense, a single onion.

“Throw all these into a mortar with the field-moue and the rest, and having ground them up well keep them ready for use by storing them in a lead box. And whenever you want to perform [sc. the magic rite], take a little bit, light a coal, climb up on the roof, and burn the offering while saying this spell as [the moon] is rising, and immediately she will come.

“Spell: [i’ve omitted it]

“Therefore, let this not be done heedlessly, unless it is necessary that you perform it. It also has a protective charm against you falling, for the goddess is accustomed to make those who perform this spell without a protective charm airborne and throw them from the roof to the ground. For this reason, then, I figured it necessary that a precaution be made in the form of a protective charm, so that you can perform it without hesitation. Keep it secret.”

Παχράτης, ὁ προφήτης Ἡλιουπόλεως, Ἁδριανῷ βασιλεῖ ἐπιδεικνύμενος τὴν δύναμιν τῆς θείας αὑτοῦ μαγείας. ἦξεν γὰρ μονόωρον, κατέκλινεν ἐν ὥραις βʹ, ἀνεῖλεν ἐν ὥραις ζʹ, ὀνειροπόμπησεν δὲ αὐτὸν βασιλέα ἐκδο<κ>ιμ<ά>ζοντος αὐτοῦ τὴν ὅλην ἀλήθειαν τῆς περὶ αὐτὸν μαγείας· καὶ θαυμάσας τὸν προφήτην διπλᾶ ὀψώνια αὐτῷ ἐκέλευσεν δίδοσθαι.

λαβὼν μυγαλὸν ἐκθέωσον πηγαίῳ ὕδατι καὶ λαβὼν κανθάρους σεληνιακοὺς δύο ἐκθέωσον ὕδατι ποταμίῳ καὶ καρκίνον ποτάμιον καὶ στῆρ ποικίλης αἰγὸς παρθένου καὶ κυνοκεφάλου κόπρον, ἴβεως ὠὰ δύο, στύρακος δραχμὰς βʹ, ζμύρνης δραχμὰς βʹ, κρόκου δραχμὰς βʹ, κυπέρεως Ἰταλικῆς δραχμὰς δʹ, λιβάνου ἀτμήτου δραχμὰς δʹ, μονογενὲς κρόμμυον·

ταῦτα πάντα βάλε εἰς ὅλμον σὺν τῷ μυγαλῷ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς καὶ κόψας καλλίστως ἔχε ἐπὶ τῶν χρειῶν ἀποθέμενος εἰς πυξίδα μολιβῆν. καὶ ὅταν βούλῃ πράττειν, ἀνελόμενος ὀλίγον καὶ ποιήσας ἀνθρακιὰν ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ δώματος ὑψηλοῦ ἐπίθυε λέγων τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἀνατολῆς οὔσης, καὶ παραχρῆμα ἥξει. λόγος· […]

μὴ οὖν εὐχερῶς πράσσῃς, εἰ μὴ ἀνάγκη σοι γένηται. ἔχει δὲ φυλακτήριον πρὸς τὸ μή σε καταπεσεῖν· εἴωθεν γὰρ ἡ θεὸς τοὺς ἀφυλακτηριαστοὺς τοῦτο πράσσοντας ἀεροφ<ερ>εῖς ποιεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕψους ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ῥῖψαι. διὸ οὖν ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην καὶ τοῦ φυλακτηρίου τὴν πρόνοιαν ποιήσασθαι, ὅπως ἀδιστάκτως πράσσῃς. κρύβε.

PGM IV 2443–2508

More dream spells

A Dream-Sender. Make a hollow hippopotamus out of red wax. Into this hippopotamus’* belly, place gold, silver and the ‘Ballatha’ of the Jews. Dress it in clean linen and set it on a clean windowsill. Then, take a piece of hieratic papyrus and with myrrh-ink and the blood of a baboon write on it what you want to send. Roll it up into a wick and use it to light a new, clean lamp. Put the foot of the hippopotamus onto the lamp, say the name, and it sends the dream.

ὀνειροπομπόν· ποίησον ἱπποπόταμον ἐκ κηροῦ πυρροῦ κοῖλον καὶ ἔνθες εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν αὐτοῦ τοῦ βιεβετνεησι καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ τὸ καλούμενον βαλλαθὰ τὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ στόλισον αὐτὸν λίνῳ καθαρῷ καὶ θὲς ἐπὶ θυρίδος καθαρᾶς καὶ λαβὼν χάρτην ἱερατικὸν γράψον εἰς αὐτὸν ζμυρνομέλανι καὶ αἵματι κυνοκεφάλου, ἃ βούλει πέμψαι, καὶ εἰλήσας εἰς ἐνλύχνιον καὶ ἐνλυχνιάσας λύχνον καθαρὸν καινὸν ἐπίθες ἐπὶ τὸν λύχνον τὸν πόδα ἱπποποταμίου καὶ λέγε τὸ ὄνομα, καὶ πέμπει.

PGM XIII, col. vii 47 - viii 7 (lines 312-319)

*alternatively, going with what comes next, ‘from the metals of the miners’, following a note in the scanned copy at Heidelberg. See right: βιεβεσνεητι “Metall des Erzarbeiter”, but I cannot make out the reference.

Dream spells

Here are some dream spells from the collection of magical Greek papyri: one in case you want someone else to have a dream, one in case you want to have a dream.

“If you wish to appear to someone in dreams during the night, say to the lamp that gets used every day, say to it often: Cheiamôpsei, Erpebôth: Let so-and-so, daughter of so-and-so, see me in her dreams, now, now, quickly, quickly. Then the usual, whatever you’d like.”

Ἐάν τινι ἐθέλῃς [ἐ]μφανῆναι διὰ νυκτὸς ἐν ὀνείροις, λέγε πρὸς τὸν λύχνον τὸν καθημερινόν, λέγε πολλάκις· ‘χειαμωψει: ερπεβωθ: ἰδέτω με ἡ δεῖνα, ἣν ἡ δεῖνα, ἐν τοῖς ὕπνοις, ἤδη ἤδη, ταχὺ ταχύ.’ καὶ κοινά, ὅσ’ ἂν βούλῃ.

PGM VII 405-411

“Request for a dream. Draw the god Hermes, upright and Ibis-faced, as accurately as possible on a scrap of linen cloth using quail’s blood, then, using myrrh, write his name above and say the words: Come to me, here, quickly, you who have the power. I call to you, the god of gods who is set over the spirits, to show me this in my dreams. By your father Osiris and Isis, your mother, I summon you to show me some image of you and reveal what I wish to know. By your name, Êiiouathi, Psrêpnousa Nertêr, Diokhasbara, Zarakhô, whom they call Balkham, reveal this, reveal everything that I ask.”

Ὀνείρου αἴτησις· Ἀκριβὴς εἰς πάντα γράψον εἰς βύσσινον ῥάκος αἵματι ὀρτυγίου θεὸν Ἑ[ρ]μῆν ὀρ[θ]όν, ἰβιοπρόσωπον, ἔπειτα ζμύρνῃ ἐπίγραψον καὶ τὸ ὄνομα καὶ ἐπίλεγε τὸν [λό]γον· ‘ἔρχου μοι ὡδὶ αἶψα, ὁ ἔχων τὴν ἐξουσίαν. ἐπικαλοῦμαί σε τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν [πν]ευμάτων τεταγμένον θεὸν θ(εῶν), δεῖξαί μοι καθ’ ὕπνους τόδε. ἐξορκίζω [σε]κατὰ [τ]οῦ πατρός σου Ὀσίριδος καὶ Ἴσιδος, τῆς μητρός σου, δεῖξαί μοί τι[να] μορφήν σου, καὶ περὶ ὧν θέλω, χρημάτισον. ὄνομά σοι· ‘ηιιουαθι, ψρηπνου̣α̣ νερτηρ, διοχασβαρα, Ζαραχω’, ὃν καλοῦσι Βαλχάμ· χρημάτισον περὶ τοῦδε, περ[ὶ π]άντων, <ὧν> πυνθάνω.’

PGM XII  144-152