The Magician's Craft
Relations with the gods -
magic vs. religion -- unsatisfactory criteria
supplication
vs. coercion
sacrifice
vs. complex ritual
abstract
ends vs. practical goals
public
vs. private - open vs. secret
Structural shift - in
heaven as it is on earth
agonistic
vs. centralized
locative
vs. utopian
celebrative
vs. rebellious
Magic and Mystery cults
secrecy
ritual
of initiation
direct
contact with divine
Initiation and
transformation of status
van
Gennep - rites of passage
separation
liminality
reaggregation
marking
and making the transformation of status
performer
and audience
Divine revelation and
special knowledge
revelation
and authority
epiphany
vs. katabasis or anodos
Specialists - religious
craftsmen
crisis
and troubleshooters
business
and competition
authority
and legitimation
tradition
and innovation
coefficients
of weirdness and familiarity
multiculturalism
and exoticism
passing
on the secrets
tools
of the trade - handbooks and formularies
The Greek Magical Papyri
Dates
and styles of handbooks
increasing
complexity of spell procedures
voces
magicae start around 1st century CE
scholarly
tradition in the PGM - copying, redaction, and annotation
Special
Collections
The
Anastasi Collection and the Demotic papyri
Origen, Against Celsus,
6.22
After this from a desire
to parade his erudition in his attack on us Celsus also describes some Persian
mysteries, where he says: "These truths are obscurely represented by the
teaching of the Persians and by the mystery of Mithras which is of Persian
origin. For in the latter there is a symbol of the two orbits in heaven, the
one being that of the fixed stars and the other that assigned to the planets,
and of the soul's passage through these. The symbol is this. There is a ladder
with seven gates and at its top an eighth gate. The first of the gates is of
lead, the second of tin, the third of bronze, the fourth of iron, the fifth of
an alloy, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of gold. They associate the
first with Kronos (Saturn), taking lead to refer to the slowness of the star;
the second with Aphrodite (Venus), comparing her with the brightness and
softness of tin; the third with Zeus (Jupiter), as the gate that has a bronze
base and which is firm; the fourth with Hermes (Mercury), for both iron and
Hermes are reliable for all works and make money and are hard-working; the
fifth with Ares (Mars), the gate which as a result of the mixture is uneven and
varied in quality; the sixth with the Moon as the silver gate; and the seventh
with the Sun as the golden gate, these metals resembling their colors. He next examines the reason for this
particular arrangement of stars which is indicated by means of symbols in the
names of the various kinds of matter.
And he connects musical theories with the theology of the Persians which
he describes. He waxes
enthusiastic about these and gives a second explanation which again contains
musical ideas.
Hesiod, Theogony 23-34
And one day they taught
Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and
this word first the goddesses said to me-- the Muses of Olympus, daughters of
Zeus who holds the aegis:
"Shepherds of the wilderness,
wretched things of shame, mere bellies, we know how to speak many false things
as though they were true; but we know, when we will, to utter true
things."
So said the ready-voiced daughters of
great Zeus, and they plucked and gave me a rod, a shoot of sturdy laurel, a
marvellous thing, and breathed into me a divine voice to celebrate things that
shall be and things that were aforetime; and they bade me sing of the race of
the blessed gods that are eternally, but ever to sing of themselves both first
and last.
Pausanias IX.39.5-14
What
happens at the oracle is as follows. When a man has made up his mind to descend
to the oracle of Trophonius, he first lodges in a certain building for an
appointed number of days, this being sacred to the good Spirit and to good
Fortune. While he lodges there, among other regulations for purity he abstains
from hot baths, bathing only in the river Hercyna. Meat he has in plenty from
the sacrifices, for he who descends sacrifices to Trophonius himself and to the
children of Trophonius, to Apollo also and Cronus, to Zeus surnamed King, to
Hera Charioteer, and to Demeter whom they surname Europa and say was the nurse
of Trophonius. At each sacrifice a diviner is present, who looks into the
entrails of the victim, and after an inspection prophesies to the person
descending whether Trophonius will give him a kind and gracious reception. The
entrails of the other victims do not declare the mind of Trophonius so much as
a ram, which each inquirer sacrifices over a pit on the night he descends,
calling upon Agamedes. Even though the previous sacrifices have appeared
propitious, no account is taken of them unless the entrails of this ram
indicate the same; but if they agree, then the inquirer descends in good hope.
The
procedure of the descent is this. First, during the night he is taken to the
river Hercyna by two boys of the citizens about thirteen years old, named
Hermae, who after taking him there anoint him with oil and wash him. It is
these who wash the descender, and do all the other necessary services as his
attendant boys. After this he is taken by the priests, not at once to the oracle,
but to fountains of water very near to each other. Here he must drink water called the water of Lethe
(Forgetfulness), that he may forget all that he has been thinking of hitherto,
and afterwards he drinks of another water, the water of Memory, which causes
him to remember what he sees after his descent. After looking at the image
which they say was made by Daedalus (it is not shown by the priests save to
such as are going to visit Trophonius), having seen it, worshipped it and
prayed, he proceeds to the oracle, dressed in a linen tunic, with ribbons
girding it, and wearing the boots of the country.
The
oracle is on the mountain, beyond the grove. Round it is a circular basement of
white marble, the circumference of which is about that of the smallest
threshing floor, while its height is just short of two cubits. On the basement
stand spikes, which, like the cross-bars holding them together, are of bronze,
while through them has been made a double door. Within the enclosure is a chasm
in the earth, not natural, but artificially constructed after the most accurate
masonry. The shape of this structure is like that of a bread-oven. Its breadth
across the middle one might conjecture to be about four cubits, and its depth
also could not be estimated to extend to more than eight cubits. They have made
no way of descent to the bottom, but when a man comes to Trophonius, they bring
him a narrow, light ladder. After going down he finds a hole between the floor
and the structure. Its breadth appeared to be two spans, and its height one
span. The descender lies with his back on the ground, holding barley-cakes
kneaded with honey, thrusts his feet into the hole and himself follows, trying
hard to get his knees into the hole. After his knees the rest of his body is at
once swiftly drawn in, just as the largest and most rapid river will catch a
man in its eddy and carry him under. After this those who have entered the
shrine learn the future, not in one and the same way in all cases, but by sight
sometimes and at other times by hearing. The return upwards is by the same
mouth, the feet darting out first.
They
say that no one who has made the descent has been killed, save only one of the
bodyguard of Demetrius. But they declare that he performed none of the usual
rites in the sanctuary, and that he descended, not to consult the god but in
the hope of stealing gold and silver from the shrine. It is said that the body
of this man appeared in a different place, and was not cast out at the sacred
mouth. Other tales are told about the fellow, but I have given the one most
worthy of consideration. After his ascent from Trophonius the inquirer is again
taken in hand by the priests, who set him upon a chair called the chair of
Memory, which stands not far from the shrine, and they ask of him, when seated
there, all he has seen or learned. After gaining this information they then
entrust him to his relatives. These lift him, paralyzed with terror and
unconscious both of himself and of his surroundings, and carry him to the building
where he lodged before with Good Fortune and the Good Spirit. Afterwards,
however, he will recover all his faculties, and the power to laugh will return
to him. What I write is not
hearsay; I have myself inquired of Trophonius and seen other inquirers. Those
who have descended into the shrine of Trophonius are obliged to dedicate a
tablet on which is written all that each has heard or seen.
Plutarch, fragment 168
The soul suffers an
experience similar to those who celebrate great initiations... Wandering astray in the beginning,
tiresome walkings in circles, some frightening paths in darkness that lead
nowhere; then immediately before the end all the terrible things, panic and
shivering and sweat and amazement.
And then some wonderful light comes to meet you, pure regions and
meadows are there to greet you, with sounds and dances and solemn, sacred words
and holy views.
Plutarch, Progress
in Virtue 10, 81de
Persons who are being
initiated into the mysteries throng together at the outset amid tumult and
shouting, and jostle against one another, but when the holy rites are being
performed and disclosed the people are immediately attentive in awe and
silence.
B1
- Petelia in Southern Italy, 4th century BCE (45 x 27 mm)
You will find in the
halls of Hades a spring on the left,
and standing by it, a
glowing white cypress tree;
Do not approach this
spring at all.
You will find the other,
from the lake of Memory,
refreshing water flowing
forth. But guardians are nearby.
Say: "I am the child
of Earth and starry Heaven;
But my race is heavenly;
and this you know yourselves.
But I am parched with
thirst and I perish; but give me quickly
refreshing water flowing
forth from the lake of Memory."
And then they will give
you to drink from the divine spring,
And then you will
celebrate the rites[?] with the heroes.
This is the tablet[?] of
Memory, when you are about to die …
… ?write this? … … ??
shadow covering around
P1
- Pelinna in Thessaly, 4th century BCE (40 x 31 mm)
Now you have died and now
you have been born, thrice blessed one, on this day.
Say to Persephone that
Bacchios himself freed you.
A bull you rushed to
milk.
Quickly, you rushed to
milk.
A ram you fell into milk.
You have wine as your fortunate honor.
And rites await you
beneath the earth, just as the other blessed ones.
A1 - Thurii in
Southern Italy, 4th century BCE (51 x 36 mm)
Pure I come from the
pure, Queen of those below the earth,
and Eukles and Eubouleus
and the other immortal gods;
For I boast that I am of
your blessed race.
But Fate mastered me and
the Thunderer, striking with his lightning.
I flew out of the circle
of wearying heavy grief;
I came on with swift feet
to the desired crown;
I passed beneath the
bosom of the Mistress, Queen of the Underworld,
I came out with swift
feet from the desired crown.
"Blessed and
enviable one, a god you shall be instead of a mortal."
A kid I fell into milk.
A2 - Thurii in
Southern Italy, 4th century BCE (47 x 28 mm)
Pure I come from the
pure, Queen of those below the earth,
and Eukles and Eubouleus and the gods and other
daimons;
For I boast that I am of
your blessed race.
I have paid the penalty
on account of deeds not just;
Either Fate mastered me
or the Thunderer, striking with his lightning.
Now I come, a suppliant,
to holy Phersephoneia,
that she, gracious, may
send me to the seats of the blessed.
Anastasi collection
included:
P. Holmiensis - a 15 page codex of Greek
alchemical recipes, written by the same scribe as the other alchemical treatise
and PGM XIII.
P. Leid. J 397 - a 10 page codex of Greek
alchemical recipes, written by the same scribe as the other alchemical treatise
and PGM XIII
PGM IV - a 36 page codex of spells in Coptic and
Greek, 3274 lines long.
PGM V - a 7 page codex of spells in Greek, 489
lines long.
PGM Va - a loose page with a Greek magical spell
in 3 lines, found among the pages of P. Holmiensis.
PGM XII - 3.6 m papyrus roll with 19 columns of
spells on one side (verso) in Demotic and Greek, dating to 4th
CE. On other side (recto) is
Demotic literary text from 2nd BCE. Written by the same scribe as PGM XIV, the great Demotic
Magical Papyrus, and PDM supplement.
PGM XIII - a 1078 line collection of Coptic and
Greek spells in codex form, written by the same scribe as the two alchemical
texts (P. Leid. J 397 and P. Holmiensis).
PGM XIV - papyrus roll of 29 columns on one side
and 33 on the other with spells in Old Coptic, Greek and Demotic. The scribal hand is the same as on PGM
XII and PDM supplement.
Probably from the same collection:
PGM VII - papyrus roll of 1027 lines in Greek.
PGM LXI - Papyrus roll with 8 columns on one side
(recto) in Demotic, with some Greek and some Coptic voces magicae; the other
side (verso) has 2 columns of Demotic and 4 columns of Greek.
PDM supplement - a roll of 7 columns of Demotic on
one side and 1 on the other (along with an effaced Greek text). Written by the same scribe who wrote
PGM XIV and PGM XII.
Possibly from the same collection:
PGM I - complete papyrus roll with 5 columns of
Greek in 347 lines.
PGM II - papyrus roll with 4 columns of Greek in
183 lines.
PGM III - papyrus roll over 1.5 m long with 734
lines of writing on both sides in Greek and Old Coptic.
Initiation
Grades for Mithraic syndexioi
|
1. Corax (Raven) 2. Nymphus 3. Miles (Soldier) 4. Leo (Lion) |
5. Perses (Persian) 6. Heliodromus 7. Pater (Father) |