Prayer and Magic
Mechanics of Prayer
Vocabulary
of Prayer
euxe - prayer
euxomai - to prayer, claim, boast
charis - favor
Form
of the Prayer
invocation
(invocatio)
narrative
(pars epica/argumentum)
wish
(preces)
Types
of Prayer:
do
ut des: I give so that you might
give
da
quia dedi: give because I gave previously
da
quia dedisti: give because you
gave previously
da
quia dedit: give because (s)he
gave previously
da
ut dem: give so that I will give
da
ut dare possim: give so that I shall be able to give
Gifts for the Gods -
dedications and sacrifice
Dedications: votives, reliefs, statues, shrines,
temples
Types
of Sacrifice
libation
cereal
offerings
burning
incense
animal
sacrifice
communal
meal
holocaust
Sacrificial
Meals And The Ordering Of Society
origins
of sacrifice
procedures
of sacrifice
distribution
of sacrifice according to status
marking
boundaries of community
performer
of sacrifice
time
and place for sacrifice
Emic vs. Etic views of
prayer and sacrificial ritual
horizontal
vs. vertical axis of communication
performer
and audience
ritual
and self-definition
Pindar
Olympian 1
And when
he blossomed with the stature of fair youth, and down darkened his cheek, he
turned his thoughts to an available marriage, to win glorious Hippodameia from
her father, the lord of Pisa. He drew near to the gray sea, alone in the
darkness, and called aloud on the deep-roaring god, skilled with the trident;
and the god appeared to him, close at hand. Pelops said to the god, "If
the loving gifts of Cyprian Aphrodite result in any gratitude (charis),
Poseidon, then restrain the bronze spear of Oenomaus, and speed me in the
swiftest chariot to Elis, and bring me to victory. For he has killed thirteen
suitors, and postpones the marriage of his daughter. Great danger does not take
hold of a coward. Since all men are compelled to die, why should anyone sit
stewing an inglorious old age in the darkness, with no share of any fine deeds?
As for me, on this contest I will take my stand. May you grant a welcome
achievement." So he spoke, and he did not touch on words that were
unaccomplished. Honoring him, the god gave him a golden chariot, and horses
with untiring wings. He overcame
the might of Oenomaus, and took the girl as his bride. She bore six sons,
leaders of the people eager for excellence. Now he has a share in splendid
blood-sacrifices, resting beside the ford of the Alpheus, where he has his
attendant tomb beside the altar that is thronged with many visitors.
Euripides
Hippolytus 115ff.
Hippolytus: Come follow me and sing of Zeus's
heavenly daughter [60] Artemis,
who cares for us.
Lady, lady most revered, daughter of Zeus, my greeting,
daughter [65] of Leto and of Zeus,
of maidens the fairest by far, who dwellest in the broad heaven in the court of your good
father, the gilded house of Zeus. [70]
My greeting to you, fair one, fairest of all who dwell in Olympus! For you, lady, I bring this plaited
garland I have made, gathered from an inviolate meadow, [75] a place where the shepherd does not
dare to pasture his flocks, where
the iron scythe has never come: no, it is inviolate, and the bee makes its way
through it in the spring-time. Shamefast Awe tends this garden with streams of river-water, for
those to pluck who have acquired nothing by teaching but rather in whose very
nature [80] chastity in all things has ever won its place: the base
may not pluck. But, dear lady, take this coronal for your golden hair from a
worshipful hand. For I alone of
mortals have this privilege: [85]
I spend my days with you and speak with you, I hear your voice but never
see your face. May I end my life just as I have begun it!
Iliad
1.34 ff.
He went forth in silence along the shore of the
loud-resounding sea, and earnestly
then, when he had gone apart, the old man prayed [35] to the lord Apollo, whom
fair-haired Leto bore: "Hear
me, god of the silver bow, who
stand over Chryse and holy Cilla, and rule mightily over Tenedos, Sminthian
god, if ever I roofed over a temple to your pleasing, or if ever I burned to you fat thigh-pieces of bulls
and goats, [40] fulfill this prayer for me: let the Danaans pay for my tears by
your arrows."
So he spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Down
from the peaks of Olympus he strode, angered at heart, bearing on his shoulders
his bow and covered quiver. [45]
The arrows rattled on the shoulders of the angry god as he moved, and his
coming was like the night. Then he sat down apart from the ships and let fly an arrow: terrible was the
twang of the silver bow. The mules he assailed first and the swift dogs, [50]
but then on the men themselves he
let fly his stinging shafts, and struck; and constantly the pyres of the dead
burned thick.
Sappho
Frag. 1
Ornate-throned
immortal Aphrodite, wile-weaving daughter of Zeus, I entreat you: do not
overpower my heart, mistress, with ache and anguish, but come here, if ever in
the past you heard my voice from afar and acquiesced and came, leaving your
father's golden house, with chariot yoked: beautiful swift sparrows whirring
fast-beating wings brought you above the dark earth down from heaven through
the mid-air, and soon they arrived; and you, blessed one, with a smile on your
immortal face asked what was the matter with me this time and why was I calling
this time and what in my maddened heart I most wished to happen for myself:
"Whom am I to persuade this time to lead you back to her love? Who wrongs
you, Sappho? If she runs away, soon she shall pursue; if she does not accept
gifts, why, she shall give them instead; if she does not love, soon she shall
love even against her will." Come to me now again and deliver me from
oppressive anxieties; fulfil all that my heart long to fulfil, and you yourself
be my fellow-fighter.
Odyssey
3.75 ff.
[75]
Then wise Telemachus took courage, and made answer, for Athena herself put
courage in his heart, that he might ask about his father that was gone, and
that good report might be his among men:
"Nestor, son of Neleus, great glory
of the Achaeans, [80] thou askest whence we are, and I will surely tell thee.
We have come from Ithaca that is below Neion; but this business whereof I speak
is mine own, and concerns not the people. I come after the wide-spread rumor of
my father, if haply I may hear of it, even of goodly Odysseus of the steadfast
heart, who once, men say, [85] fought by thy side and sacked the city of the
Trojans. For of all men else, as many as warred with the Trojans, we learn
where each man died a woeful death, but of him the son of Cronos has made even
the death to be past learning; for no man can tell surely where he hath died,--
[90] whether he was overcome by foes on the mainland, or on the deep among the
waves of Amphitrite. Therefore am I now come to thy knees, if perchance thou
wilt be willing to tell me of his woeful death, whether thou sawest it haply
with thine own eyes, or didst hear from some other the story [95] of his
wanderings; for beyond all men did his mother bear him to sorrow. And do thou
nowise out of ruth or pity for me speak soothing words, but tell me truly how
thou didst come to behold him. I beseech thee, if ever my father, noble
Odysseus, promised aught to thee of word or deed and fulfilled it [100] in the
land of the Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes, be mindful of it now, I
pray thee, and tell me the very truth."
Odyssey
4.315 ff.
[315]
Then wise Telemachus answered him: " Menelaus, son of Atreus, fostered of
Zeus, leader of hosts, I came if haply thou mightest tell me some tidings of my
father. My home is being devoured and my rich lands are ruined; with men that
are foes my house is filled, who are ever [320] slaying my thronging sheep and
my sleek kine of shambling gait, even the wooers of my mother, overweening in
their insolence. Therefore am I now come to thy knees, if perchance thou wilt be
willing to tell me of his woeful death, whether thou sawest it haply with thine
own eyes, or didst hear from some other the story [325] of his wanderings; for
beyond all men did his mother bear him to sorrow. And do thou no wise out of
ruth or pity for me speak soothing words, but tell me truly how thou didst come
to behold him. I beseech thee, if ever my father, noble Odysseus, promised
aught to thee of word or deed and fulfilled it [330] in the land of the
Trojans, where you Achaeans suffered woes, be mindful of it now, I pray thee,
and tell me the truth."
Odyssey
4.758 f..
Penelope
went up to her upper chamber with her handmaids, and placing barley grains in a
basket prayed to Athena:
"Hear me, child of Zeus who bears
the aegis, unwearied one. If ever Odysseus, of many wiles, burnt to thee in his
halls fat thigh-pieces of heifer or ewe, [765] remember these things now, I
pray thee, and save my dear son, and ward off from him the wooers in their evil
insolence."
So saying she raised the sacred cry, and
the goddess heard her prayer.
Odyssey
17.239 ff.
And the
swineherd looked the man in the face, and rebuked him, and lifted up his hands,
and prayed aloud:
[240] "Nymphs of the fountain,
daughters of Zeus, if ever Odysseus burned upon your altars pieces of the
thighs of lambs or kids, wrapped in rich fat, fulfil for me this prayer; grant
that he, my master, may come back, and that some god may guide him. Then would
he scatter all the proud airs [245] which now thou puttest on in thy
insolence,ever roaming about the city, while evil herdsmen destroy the
flock."
Aristophanes
Peace 385 ff.
Chorus: [385] Oh! mighty Hermes! do not
do it; no, do not do it! If ever you have eaten some young pig, sacrificed by
us on your altars, with pleasure, may this offering not be without value in
your sight to-day.
Trygaeus: Do you not
hear them wheedling you, mighty god?
Chorus: [390] Be not pitiless
toward our prayers; permit us to deliver the goddess. Oh! the most human, the
most generous of the gods, be favourable toward us, [395] if it be true that
you detest the haughty crests and proud brows of Pisander; we shall never
cease, oh master, offering you sacred victims and solemn prayers.
Trygaeus: [400] Have mercy, mercy, let
yourself be touched by their words; never was your worship so dear to them as
to-day. Aside. Really they are the greatest thieves that ever were. To Hermes.
And I shall reveal to you a great and terrible plot that is being hatched
against the gods.
Hermes: [405] Hah! speak and
perchance I shall let myself be softened.
Trygaeus: Know then,
that the Moon and that infamous Sun are plotting against you, and want to
deliver Greece into the hands of the barbarians.
Hermes: What for?
Trygaeus: Because [410] it is to you that we sacrifice, whereas
the barbarians worship them; hence they would like to see you destroyed, that
they alone might receive the offerings.
Hermes: Is it then for this reason that these untrustworthy charioteers
have for so long been defrauding us, one of them robbing us of daylight [415]
and the other nibbling away at the other's disk?
Trygaeus: Yes, certainly. So therefore, Hermes, my friend, help
us with your whole heart to find and deliver the captive and we will celebrate
the great Panathenaea in your honor as well as all the festivals of the other
gods; [420] for Hermes shall be the Mysteries, the Dipolia, the Adonia;
everywhere the towns, freed from their miseries, will sacrifice to Hermes the
Liberator; you will be loaded with benefits of every kind, and to start with, I
offer you this cup for libations as your first present.
Hermes: [425] Ah! how
golden cups do influence me!
Aeschylus
Libation Bearers 245ff
Orestes: O Zeus, O Zeus, regard our cause!
Behold the orphaned brood of a father eagle that perished in the meshes, in the
coils of a fierce viper. They are utterly orphaned, gripped by the famine of
hunger: [250] for they are not grown to full strength to bring their father's
quarry to the nest. So you see both me and poor Electra here, children bereft of
their father, both outcasts alike from our home. If you destroy these nestlings
of a father who made sacrifice and revered you greatly, [255] from what like
hand will you receive the homage of rich feasts? Destroy the brood of the eagle
and you cannot again send tokens that mortals will trust; nor, if this royal
stock should wither utterly away, will it serve your altars on days when oxen
are sacrificed. [260] Oh foster it, and you may raise our house from low estate
to great, though now it seems utterly overthrown.
Demosthenes
18.141
In your
presence, men of Athens, I now invoke all the gods and goddesses whose domain
is the land of Attica. I invoke also Pythian Apollo, the ancestral divinity of this city, and I
solemnly beseech them all that, if I shall speak the truth now, and if I spoke
truth to my countrymen when first I
saw this miscreant putting his hand to that transaction--for I knew it,
I knew it instantly--they may grant to me prosperity and salvation. But if
with malice or in the spirit of personal
rivalry I lay against him any false charge, I pray that they may dispossess me
of everything that is good.
Aristophanes
Thesmophoriazeusae 1136ff
Chorus:
Oh! Pallas, who art fond of dances, hasten hither at my call. Oh! thou chaste
virgin,-- [1140] --the protectress of Athens, I call thee in accordance with
the sacred rites, thee, whose evident protection we adore and who keepest the
keys of our city in thy hands. [1143] Do thou appear, thou whose just hatred
has overturned our tyrants. [1145] The womenfolk are calling thee; hasten
hither at their bidding along with Peace, who shall restore the festivals.
And ye,
august goddesses, display a smiling and propitious countenance to our gaze;
come into your sacred grove, [1150] the entry to which is forbidden to men;
'tis there in the midst of the sacred orgies that we contemplate your divine
features. [1155] Come, appear, we pray it of you, oh, venerable Thesmophorae!
If you have ever answered our appeal, oh! come into our midst.
Aristophanes
Thesmophoriazeusae 295ff
Woman Herald: [295] Silence! Silence! Pray to
the Thesmophorae, Demeter and Cora; pray to Plutus, Calligenia, Curotrophus,
[300] the Earth, Hermes and the Graces, that all may happen for the best at
this gathering, both for the greatest advantage of Athens [305] and for our own
personal happiness! May the award be given her who, by both deeds and words,
has most deserved it from the Athenian people and from the women! [310] Address
these prayers to heaven and demand happiness for yourselves. Io Paean! Io
Paean! Let us rejoice!
Chorus: May the gods deign to accept
our vows and our prayers! [315] Oh! almighty Zeus, and thou, god with the
golden lyre, who reignest on sacred Delos, and thou, oh, invincible virgin,
Pallas, with the eyes of azure and the spear of gold, who protectest our
illustrious city, [320] and thou, the daughter of the beautiful Leto, queen of
the forests, who art adored under many names, hasten hither at my call. Come,
thou mighty Poseidon, king of the Ocean, leave thy stormy whirlpools of Nereus;
[325] come, goddesses of the seas, come, ye nymphs, who wander on the
mountains. Let us unite our voices to the sounds of the golden lyre, [330] and
may wisdom preside at the gathering of the noble matrons of Athens.
Woman Herald: Address your prayers to the
gods and goddesses of Olympus, of Delphi, Delos and all other places; [335] if
there be a man who is plotting against the womenfolk or who, to injure them, is
proposing peace to Euripides and the Medes, or who aspires to usurping the
tyranny, plots the return of a tyrant, or [340] unmasks a supposititious child;
or if there be a slave who, a confidential party to a wife's intrigues, reveals
them secretly to her husband, or who, entrusted with a message, does not
deliver the same faithfully; if there be a lover who fulfils naught of what he
has promised a woman, whom he has abused on the strength of his lies; [345] if
there be an old woman who seduces the lover of a maiden by dint of her presents
and treacherously receives him in her house; if there be a host or hostess who
sells false measure, pray the gods that they will overwhelm them with their
wrath, [350] both them and their families, and that they may reserve all their
favours for you.
Chorus: Let us ask the fulfillment of these wishes both for the city
and for the people, [355] and may the wisest of us cause her opinion to be
accepted. But woe to those women who break their oaths, [360] who speculate on
the public misfortune, who seek to alter the laws and the decrees, who reveal
our secrets to the foe [365] and admit the Medes into our territory so that
they may devastate it! I declare them both impious and criminal. Oh! almighty
Zeus! see to it that [370] the gods protect us, albeit we are but women!
Hesiod,
Theogony 535-557
For when
the gods and mortal men had a dispute at Mecone, even then Prometheus was
forward to cut up a great ox and set portions before them, trying to deceive
the mind of Zeus. Before the rest he set flesh and inner parts thick with fat
upon the hide, covering them with
an ox paunch; [540] but for Zeus he put the white bones dressed up with
cunning art and covered with shining fat. Then the father of men and of gods said to him:
"Son of Iapetus, most glorious of
all lords, good sir, how unfairly you have divided the portions!"
[545] So
said Zeus whose wisdom is everlasting, rebuking him. But wily Prometheus
answered him, smiling softly and not forgetting his cunning trick:
"Zeus, most glorious and greatest
of the eternal gods, take which ever of these portions your heart within you
bids." [550] So he said, thinking
trickery. But Zeus, whose wisdom is everlasting, saw and failed not to
perceive the trick, and in his heart he thought mischief against mortal
men which also was to be fulfilled.
With both hands he took up the white fat and was angry at heart, and wrath came
to his spirit [555] when he saw the
white ox-bones craftily tricked out: and because of this the tribes of
men upon earth burn white bones to the deathless gods upon fragrant altars.
But Zeus who drives the clouds was
greatly vexed and said to him:
"Son of Iapetus, clever above all!
[560] So, sir, you have not yet forgotten your cunning arts!"
So spake Zeus in anger, whose wisdom is
everlasting; and from that time he was always mindful of the trick, and would
not give the power of unwearying
fire to the Melian1 race of mortal men who live on the earth. [565] But the
noble son of Iapetus outwitted him and stole the far-seen gleam of unwearying fire in a hollow
fennel stalk. And Zeus who thunders on high was stung in spirit, and his dear
heart was angered when he saw
amongst men the far-seen ray of fire. [570] Forthwith he made an evil thing for
men as the price of fire; for the very famous Limping God formed of earth the likeness of a shy
maiden as the son of Cronos willed.
Homer,
Odyssey xiv.418-436
On this
he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine fat five year
old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaios did not forget the gods, for he was a man of good
principles, so the first thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig's face
and throw them into the fire, praying to
all the gods as he did so that Odysseus might return home again. Then he
clubbed the pig with a billet of oak which he had kept back when he was chopping the firewood, and its soul
left it, while the others slaughtered and singed it. Then they cut it up, and
Eumaios began by putting raw pieces
from each joint on to some of the fat; these he sprinkled with barley
meal, and laid upon the embers; they cut the rest of the meat up small, put
the pieces upon the spits and
roasted them till they were done; when they had taken them off the spits they
threw them on to the dresser in a heap. The swineherd, who was a most equitable man, then stood up to
give every one his share. He made seven portions; one of these he set apart for
Hermes the son of Maia and the
nymphs, praying to them as he did so; the others he dealt out to the men man by
man. He gave Odysseus some slices cut
lengthways down the loin as a mark of especial honor, and Odysseus was
much pleased. "I hope, Eumaios," said he, "that Zeus will be as
well disposed towards you as I am,
for the respect you are showing to an outcast like myself."
[441] To
this you answered, O swineherd Eumaios, "Eat, my good fellow, and enjoy
your supper, such as it is. A god grants this, and withholds that, just as he thinks right, for he
can do whatever he chooses."
[446] As he spoke he cut off the first
piece and offered it as a burnt sacrifice to the immortal gods; then he made
them a drink-offering, put the cup
in the hands of Odysseus, and sat down to his own portion.
Isaeus
8.15-16
Now there are other proofs which we can
bring forward to show that we are the children of Ciron's daughter. For, as was
natural, seeing that we were the sons of his own daughter, Ciron never offered
a sacrifice without our presence; whether he was performing a great or small
sacrifice, we were always there and
took part in the ceremony. And not only were we invited to such rites but he
also always took us into the country for the Dionysia, and we always went with him to public spectacles
and sat at his side, and we went to his house to keep all the festivals; and
when he sacrificed to Zeus Ctesius
--a festival to which he attached a special importance, to which he admitted
neither slaves nor free men outside his own family, at which he personally performed all the rites--we
participated in this celebration and laid our hands with his upon the victims
and placed our offerings side by
side with his, and took part in all the other rites, and he prayed for our
health and wealth, as he naturally would, being our grandfather.
Pausanias
V.15.3-12
Well,
there is in the Altis, when you are about to pass to the left of the
Leonidaeum, an altar of Aphrodite, and after it one of the Seasons. About opposite the rear chamber a wild
olive is growing on the right. It
is called the olive of the Beautiful Crown, and from its leaves are made the
crowns which it is customary to give to winners of Olympic contests. Near this wild olive stands an altar of
Nymphs; these too are styled Nymphs of the Beautiful Crowns. [4] Outside the Altis, but on the right
of the Leonidaeum, is an altar of Artemis of the Market, and one has also been
built for Mistresses, and in my account of Arcadia I will tell you about the
goddess they call Mistress. After
this is an altar of Zeus of the Market, and before what is called the Front
Seats stands an altar of Apollo surnamed Pythian, and after it one of
Dionysus. The last altar is said
to be not old, and to have been dedicated by private individuals. [5] As you go to the starting-point for
the chariot-race there is an altar with an inscription "to the Bringer of
Fate." This is plainly a surname of Zeus, who knows the affairs of men,
all that the Fates give them, and all that is not destined for them. Near there is also an oblong altar of
Fates, after it one of Hermes, and the next two are of Zeus Most High. At the starting-point for the
chariot-race, just about opposite the middle of it, there are in the open
altars of Poseidon Horse-god and Hera Horse-goddess, and near the pillar an
altar of the Dioscuri. [6] At the
entrance to what is called the Wedge there is on one side an altar of Ares
Horse-god, on the other one of Athena Horse-goddess. On entering the Wedge itself you see altars of Good Luck,
Pan and Aphrodite; at the innermost part of the Wedge an altar of the Nymphs
called Blooming. An altar of
Artemis stands on the right as you return from the Portico that the Eleans call
the Portico of Agnaptus, giving to the building the name of its architect. [7] After re-entering the Altis by the
processional gate there are behind the Heraeum altars of the river Cladeus and
of Artemis; the one after them is Apollo's, the fourth is of Artemis surnamed
Coccoca, and the fifth is of Apollo Thermius. As to the Elean surname Thermius, the conjecture occurred to
me that in the Attic dialect it would be thesmios (god of laws), but why
Artemis is surnamed Coccoca I could not discover. [8] Before what is called The‘coleon is a building, in a
corner of which has been set up an altar of Pan. The Town Hall of the Eleans is within the Altis, and it has
been built beside the exit beyond the gymnasium. In this gymnasium are the running-tracks and the
wrestling-grounds for the athletes.
In front of the door of the Town Hall is an altar of Artemis Huntress. [9] In the Town Hall itself, on the
right as you enter the room where they have the hearth, is an altar of
Pan. This hearth too is made of
ashes, and on it fire burns every day and likewise every night. The ashes from this hearth, according
to the account I have already given, they bring to the altar of Olympian Zeus,
and what is brought from the hearth contributes a great deal to the size of the
altar.
[10]
Each month the Eleans sacrifice once on all the altars I have enumerated. They sacrifice in an ancient manner;
for they burn on the altars incense with wheat which has been kneaded with
honey, placing also on the altars twigs of olive, and using wine for a
libation. Only to the Nymphs and
the Mistresses are they not wont to pour wine in libation, nor do they pour it
on the altar common to all the gods.
The care of the sacrifices is given to a priest, holding office for one
month, to soothsayers and libation-bearers, and also to a guide, a flute-player
and the woodman. [11] The
traditional words spoken by them in the Town Hall at the libations, and the
hymns which they sing, it were not right for me to introduce into my
narrative. They pour libations,
not only to the Greek gods, but also to the god in Libya, to Hera Ammonia and
to Parammon, which is a surname of Hermes. From very early times it is plain that they used the oracle
in Libya, and in the temple of Ammon are altars which the Eleans
dedicated. On them are engraved
the questions of the Eleans, the replies of the god, and the names of the men
who came to Ammon from Elis. These
are in the temple of Ammon. [12]
The Eleans also pour libations to all heroes and wives of heroes who are
honored either in Elis or among the Aetolians. The songs sung in the Town Hall are in the Doric dialect,
but they do not say who it was that composed them. The Eleans also have a banqueting room. This too is in the Town Hall, opposite
the chamber where stands the hearth.
In this room they entertain the winners in the Olympic games.
Hesiod
Works and Days 320-340
[320]
Wealth should not be seized: god-given wealth is much better; for if a man
takes great wealth violently and perforce, or if he steals it through his tongue, as often happens when gain
deceives men's sense and dishonor tramples down honor, [325] the gods soon blot
him out and make that man's house
low, and wealth attends him only for a little time. Alike with him who does
wrong to a suppliant or a guest, or who goes up to his brother's bed and commits unnatural sin in lying with
his wife, [330] or who infatuately offends against fatherless children, or who
abuses his old father at the cheerless
threshold of old age and attacks him with harsh words, truly Zeus himself is
angry, and at the last lays on him a heavy requital for his evil doing. [335] But do you turn your
foolish heart altogether away from these things, and, as far as you are able,
sacrifice to the deathless gods purely
and cleanly, and burn rich meats also, and at other times propitiate
them with libations and incense, both when you go to bed and when the holy
light has come back, [340] that
they may be gracious to you in heart and spirit, and so you may buy another's
holding and not another yours.
Porphyry, On Philosophy Drawn from Oracles
I
have come in response to your eloquent prayer, which was invented by mortals in
accordance with divine counsels ... Why then have you summoned me, goddess
Hekate, from purest heaven by means of god-taming constraints?
Catullus
34
We, upright maids and youths, are in Diana's care:
upright youths and maids, we sing Diana. O Latonia, progeny great of greatest
Jove, whom your mother bore beneath Delian olive, that you might be queen of
lofty mounts, of foliaged groves, of remote glens, and of winding streams. You
are called Juno Lucina by the mother in the pangs of childbirth, you are named
potent Trivia and Luna with an ill-got light. You, Goddess, with monthly march measuring the yearly course, glut
with produce the rustic roofs of the farmer. Be you hallowed by whatever name
you prefer; and cherish, with your good aid, as you are accustomed, the ancient
race of Romulus.
"Orphic
Hymn" 16. To Hera,
incense
- aromatic herbs
You are
ensconced in darksome hollows, and airy is your form,
O Hera,
queen of all and blessed consort of Zeus.
You send
soft breezes to mortals, such as nourish the soul,
and, O
mother of rains, you nurture the winds and give birth to all.
Without
you there is neither life nor growth;
and,
mixed as you are in the air we venerate, you partake of all,
and of
all are queen and mistress.
You toss
and turn with the rushing wind.
May you,
O blessed goddess and many-named queen of all,
come
with kindness and joy on your lovely face.
"Orphic
Hymn" 17. To Poseidon,
incense
- myrrh
Hearken,
dark-maned Poseidon, holder of the earth,
equestrian;
carved in bronze is the trident in your hand,
and you
dwell in the foundations of the full-bosomed sea.
Deep-roaring
ruler of the sea and shaker of earth,
your
blossoms are waves, O gracious one, as you urge horses and chariot on,
rushing
on the sea and splashing through the rippling brine.
To your
lot fell the third portion, the unfathomable sea,
and you
delight in waves and in their wild dwellers, O spirit of the deep.
Save the
foundations of the earth and ships moving at full tilt,
and
bring peace, health, and blameless prosperity.
"Orphic
Hymn" 18. To Plouton
Subterranean
is your dwelling, O strong-spirited one,
a meadow
in Tartaros, thick-shaded and dark.
Chthonic
Zeus, sceptered one, kindly accept this sacrifice,
Plouton,
holder of the keys to the whole earth.
You give
the wealth of the year's fruits to mankind,
and to
your lot fell the third portion, earth, queen of all,
seat of
the gods, mighty lap for mortals.
Your
throne rests on a tenebrous realm,
the
distant, untiring, windless and impassive Hades,
and on
dark Acheron that encompasses the roots of the earth.
All-Receiver,
with death at your command, you are master of mortals;
Euboulos,
you once took pure Demeter's daughter as your bride
when you
tore her away from the meadow and through the sea
upon
your steeds you carried her to an Attic cave,
in the
district of Eleusis, where the gates to Hades are.
You
alone were born to judge deeds obscure and conspicuous;
holiest
and illustrious ruler of all, frenzied god,
you
delight in the worshipper's respect and reverence.
Come
with favor and joy to the initiates. I summon you.
"Orphic
Hymn" 19. To Zeus the Thunderbolt,
incense
- storax
Father
Zeus, sublime is the course of the blazing cosmos you drive on,
and
ethereal and lofty the flash of your lightning,
as you
shake the seat of the immortals with divine thunderbolts.
With the
fire of your lightning you emblazon the rain clouds;
storms
you bring and hurricanes, and mighty thunder,
blazing
and roaring thunder - like a shower of arrows -
which
with horrific might and strength sets all aflame,
this
dreadful missile that makes hearts pound and hair bristle.
Holy and
invincible, it comes with a sudden crash,
an
endless spiral of noise, omnivorous in its drive,
unbreakable,
threatening, and ineluctable; the gale's
sharp
and smoke-filled shaft swoops down
with a
flash, dreaded by land and sea.
Wild
beasts cringe when they hear the noise,
faces
reflect the brilliance of thunder roaring
in the
celestial hollows. You tear the robe
that
cloaks heaven and hurl the fiery thunderbolt.
But, O
blessed one, (calm down?) the anger of sea waves
and mountain
peaks. We all know your power.
Enjoy
this libation and give all things that please the heart,
a life
of prosperity, queenly health,
divine
peace that nurtures youths and is with honors crowned,
and an
existence ever blooming with cheerful thoughts.
"Orphic
Hymn" 28. To Hermes,
incense
- frankincense
Hear me,
Hermes, messenger of Zeus, son of Maia;
almighty
is your heart, O lord of the deceased and judge of contests;
gentle
and clever, O Argeiphontes, you are a guide
whose
sandals fly, and a man-loving prophet to mortals.
You are
vigorous and you delight in exercise and in deceit;
interpreter
of all, you are a profiteer who frees us of cares
and who
holds in his hands the blamesless tool of peace.
Lord of
Korykos, blessed, helpful and skilled in words,
you
assist in work, you are a friend of mortals in need,
and you
wield the dreaded and respected weapon of speech.
Hear my
prayer and grant a good end to a life
of
industry, gracious talk, and mindfulness.
"Orphic
Hymn" 29. Hymn to Persephone
Persephone,
blessed daughter of great Zeus, sole offspring
of
Demeter, come and accept this gracious sacrifice.
Much
honored spouse of Plouton, discreet and life-giving,
you
command the gates of Hades in the bowels of the earth,
lovely-tressed
Praxidike, pure bloom of Deo,
mother
of the Furies, queen of the nether world,
whom
Zeus sired in clandestine union.
Mother
of loud-roaring and many-shaped Eubouleus,
radiant
and luminous playmate of the Seasons,
august,
almighty, maiden rich in fruits,
brilliant
and horned, you alone are beloved of mortals.
In
spring you rejoice in the meadow breezes
and you
show your holy figure in shoots and green fruits.
You were
made a kidnapper's bride in the fall,
and you
alone are life and death to toiling mortals,
O
Persephone, for you always nourish all and kill them, too.
Hearken,
O blessed goddess, and send forth the earth's fruits.
You who
blossom in peace, in soft-handed health,
and in a
life of plenty that ferries old age in comfort
to your
realm, O queen, and to that of mighty Plouton.
"Orphic
Hymn" 42. To Mise
incense
- storax
I call
upon law-giving Dionysos who carries the fennel stalk -
unforgettable
and many-named seed of Euboleus -
and upon
holy, sacred and ineffable queen Mise,
whose
twofold nature is male and female. As redeeming Iacchos,
I summon
you, lord, whether you delight in your fragrant temple at Eleusis,
or with
the Mother you partake of mystic rites in Phrygia,
or you
rejoice in Cyprus with fair-wreathed Kythereia,
or yet
you exult in hallowed wheat-bearing fields along
Egypt's
river with your divine mother,
the
august and black-robed Isis, and your train of nurses.
Lady,
kind-heartedly come to those contesting for noble prizes.
PGM
I. 262-347
Apollonian
invocation: Take
a seven-leafed sprig of laurel and hold it in your right hand as you summon the
heavenly gods and chthonic daimons. Write on the sprig of laurel the seven
characters for deliverance.
The characters are these:
, the first character onto the first leaf, then the second again in the
same way onto the second leaf until there is a matching up of the 7 characters
and 7 leaves. But be careful not to lose a leaf [and] do harm to yourself. For
this is the body's greatest protective charm, by which all are made subject,
and seas and rocks tremble, and daimons [avoid] the characters' charm for the
rite so that you fear nothing.
Now this is the rite: Take a lamp which has not been
colored red and fit it with a piece of linen cloth and rose oil or oil of
spikenard, and dress yourself in a prophetic garment and hold an ebony staff in
your left hand and the protective charm in your right (i.e., the sprig of
laurel). But keep in readiness a wolf's head so that you can set the lamp upon
the head of the wolf, and construct an altar of unburnt clay near the head and
the lamp so that you may sacrifice on it to the god. And immediately the divine
spirit enters.
The burnt offering is a
wolf's eye, storax gum, cassia, balsam gum and whatever is valued among the
spices, and pour a libation of wine and honey and milk and rainwater, [and
make] 7 flat cakes and 7 round cakes. These you are going to make completely
[near] the lamp, robed and refraining from all unclean things and from all
eating of fish and from all sexual intercourse, so that you may bring the god
into the greatest desire toward you.
Now these are the
names,
[which] you are going to write on the linen cloth and which you will put as a
wick into the lamp which has not been colored red: "ABERAMENTHïOULERTHEXANETHRENLYOïTHNEMARAIBAI
AEMINNAEBARïTHERRETHïBABEANIMEA." When you have completed all the instructions set out above,
call the god with this chant:
|
"O
lord Apollo, come with Paian. Give
answer to my questions, lord. O master Leave
Mount Parnassos and the Delphic Pytho Whene'er
my priestly lips voice secret words, First
angel of [the god], great Zeus. IAï And
you MICHAEL, who rule heaven's realm, I
call, and you, archangel GABRIEL. Down
from Olympos, ABRASAX, delighting In
dawns, come gracious who view sunset from The
dawn, ADïNAI. Father of the world, All
nature quakes in fear of you, PAKERBæETH. I
adjure God's head, which is Olympos; I
adjure God's signet, which is vision; I
adjure the right hand you held o'er the world; I
adjure God's bowl containing wealth; I
adjure eternal god, AIïN of all; I
adjure self-growing Nature, mighty ADïNAIOS; I
adjure setting and rising ELïAIOS: |
I
adjure these holy and divine names that They
send me the divine spirit and that it Fulfill
what I have in my heart and soul. Hear
blessed one, I call you who rule heav'n And
earth and Chaos and Hades where dwell [Daimons
of men who once gazed on the light]. Send
me this daimon at my sacred chants, Who
moves by night to orders 'neath your force, From
whose own tent this comes, and let him tell me In
total truth all that my mind designs, And
send him gentle, gracious, pondering No
thoughts opposed to me. And may you not Be
angry at my sacred chants. But guard That
my whole body come to light intact, For
you yourself arranged these things among Mankind
for them to learn. I call your name, In
number equal to the very Moirai, ACHAIPHïTHïTHïAIæIAæIA AIæAIæIAïTHïTHïPHIACHA." |
And when
he comes, ask him about what you wish, about the art of prophecy, about
divination with epic verses, about the sending of dreams, about obtaining
revelations in dreams, about interpretations of dreams, about causing disease,
about everything that is a part of magical knowledge.
Cover a throne and couch
with cloth of linen, but remain standing while you sacrifice with the
aforementioned burnt offering. And after the inquiry, if you wish to release
the god himself, shift the aforementioned ebony staff, which you are holding in
your left hand, to your right hand; and shift the sprig of laurel, which you
are holding in your right hand, to your left hand; and extinguish the burning
lamp; and use the same burnt offering while saying:
"Be gracious unto me, O primal god,
O elder-born, self-generating god.
I adjure the fire which first shone in the void;
I adjure your pow'r which is greatest o'er all;
I adjure him who destroys e'en in Hades,
That you depart, returning to your ship,
And harm me not, but be forever kind."