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.& quot; 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))