(Update 1/9/2018: Interested in more about these entities?  Check out my more polished, fleshed-out writeup over on this page!)

Recently, I described my method of applying PGM IV.1596, a prayer used for a consecration under the twelve faces of Helios, in a ritual format, but there’s a lot of stuff in there that isn’t in the PGM because…well, it’s not in the PGM.  All that we have is the prayer, so I took some liberties and frameworks of my own and structured a ritual around it.  As part of that, I incorporated four barbarous words of power: ΕΡΒΗΘ, ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ, ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ, and ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ.  I only briefly mentioned where they were from, and only really discussed them once before on my blog as something relating to the directions, but I think it’s time for me to talk a bit more about them.

Let’s take a look at the Greek Magical Papyri for a sec, specifically PGM II.64-183, An alternative procedure on a conjuration of Apollon-Helios for wisdom and blessing.  After a lengthy “greeting formula” including a hymn not unlike the Orphic Hymn to Helios, we find the following:

…you who dwell throughout the whole inhabited world, you whose bodyguard is the sixteen giants, you who are seated upon the lotus and who light up the whole inhabited world; you who have desiguated the various living things upon the earth, you who have the sacred bird upon your robe in the eastern parts of the Red Sea, even as you have upon the northern parts the figure of an infant child seated upon a lotus, O rising one, O you of many names, ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ; on the southern parts you have the shape of the sacred falcon, through which you send fiery heat into the air, which becomes ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ; in the parts towards the west you have the shape of a crocodile, with the tail of a snake, from which you send out rains and snows; in the parts toward the east you have the form of a winged dragon, a diadem fashioned of air, with which you quell all discords beneath the heaven and on earth, for you have manifested yourself as a god in truth, ΙΩ ΙΩ ΕΡΒΗΘ ΖΑΣ ΣΑΒΑΩΘ ΣΜΑΡΘ ΑΔΩΝΑΙ ΣΟΥΜΑΡΤΑ ΙΑΛΟΥ ΒΑΒΛΑ ΥΑΜ ΜΟΛΗΕΝΘΙΩ ΠΕΤΟΤΟΥΒΙΗΘ ΙΑΡΜΙΩΘ ΛΑΙΛΑΜΨ ΧΩΟΥΧ ΑΡΣΕΝΟΦΡΗ ΕΥ ΦΘΑ ΗΩΛΙ…

From this passage, we can note a few things:

• The Sun, again, changes his form based on his position in the sky, only instead of it being hour by hour as in PGM IV.1596, here he changes based on what quarter of the sky he’s in.
• The northern quarter has the name ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ with the form of an infant seated upon a lotus.
• The southern quarter has the name ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ (part of the whole Aberamen formula) with the form of the sacred solar falcon sending out heat and fire.
• The western quarter has no name here, but the form of a crocodile with the tail of a snake sending out coldness and water.
• The eastern quarter has a long name starting with ΕΡΒΗΘ, with the form of a winged dragon with a “diadem of air”, or of clouds.

Despite what I normally think about him and his work, Stephen Flowers in his Hermetic Magic occasionally hits on a few good thing.  He references this part of the PGM in the construction of his Hermetic ritual circle and preliminary invocation; after he calls the sevenths with the seven vowels in the Heptagram ritual, he then uses the four names ΕΡΒΗΘ, ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ, ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ, and ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ as well as the four forms given to the four directions as stated before.  While this section of the PGM does not list ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ as one of the names, given its presence throughout the rest of the PGM, I think it could be a safe attribution to make.

However, Flowers isn’t the only one to use barbarous words of power for the directions.  Michael Cecchetelli in his Book of ABRASAX uses a similar arrangement in his ritual of “Calling of the Sevenths to Induce Equilibrium”.  In it, he uses the names ABLANATHANALBA, AKRAMMACHAMARI, DAMDAMENNEOS, and SESENKEBARPHAGES for the south, north, west, and east (well, technically, to the right, left, rear, and front of the magus, respectively, while facing the East).  However, he doesn’t say where these words come from nor whence their directional correspondences, and neither does he list any visualization or imagery for the names; he says the ritual is found in “PGM 824”, though I’m pretty sure he means to reference lines 824 through 840 of PGM XIII.734-1077, a long section entitled The Tenth Hidden Book of Moses that includes far more than just the recitation of the seven vowels of the Heptagram and, in fact, includes a far more complex calling of the directions, as well.  However, this section doesn’t list any words of power for the directions specifically, and Fr. MC’s spelling of the names is a little odd compared to what we’d normally find (ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ instead of ΔΑΜΔΑΜΕΝΝΕΟΣ, ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ instead of ΣΕΣΕΓΚΕΒΑΡΦΑΓΗΣ).

What’s interesting to me is that we have two separate authors, Flowers and Cecchetelli, who both use the Heptagram ritual with a ritual of calling on the names of…something at the four directions.  Both Flowers and Cecchetelli use the name ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ, and without a PGM reference to indicate otherwise, Flowers hits the mark closer to assigning the names to the directions than Cecchetelli does.  However, all six names are powerful and quite common throughout the PGM, and I dislike having to pick between two otherwise-competent and reasonable systems, so I figured, why not use all six?  After all, both of these sets of names are used in the context of calling on seven directions, not just four, and between Flowers and Cecchetelli, we have six names.  My system for assigning the names to the directions is largely based on Flowers’ system:

• ΕΡΒΗΘ in the east
• ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ in the south
• ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ in the west
• ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ in the north
• ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ in the heights
• ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ in the depths

It’s my own innovation to include the heights and the depths to this directional framework, and the two names have responded more-or-less well in practice, though they do feel a bit detached from the others.  This makes sense; in the context from which the four names for the cardinal directions come, they reference the forms of the Sun in his path across the skies, while the heights and the depths don’t really take part in the path of the Sun.  Instead, they form more of a backdrop, a general rulership, or “host” to the Sun.

When it comes to the “forms” for ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ and ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, I spent a bit of meditation with the names and the directions, and received two images:

• ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ has the form of an old man in pale grey or white silver, balding with head uncovered, looking downward, holding a ring of keys in his right hand and a staff as tall as he is in his left.
• ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ has the form of a young woman dressed all in fiery red, head and hair covered in a red shawl, looking directly forward, holding a tall spear in her right hand a torch in her left.

It’s important to note that these are personal revelations and are somewhat influenced by the planetary attributions of the heights and depths given in the Heptagram (heights with Saturn, depths with Mars), but were obtained from the names through reflection and meditation.  It’s also striking that these forms are humane in nature, unlike the animal forms of most of the Sun’s forms with the exception of the face of ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ in the north, where it’s a babe (primordial human) on a lotus (the growth of celestial seed and fertile earth).

Now we have six names, but what about a seventh?  We have names for the four cardinal directions, the heights, and the depths, but we’re lacking one to match the directions used in the Heptagram ritual, where that missing direction is the center.  For this, I originally suggested to use the name of one’s HGA/genius/paredos/agathodaimon/whatever, but after some more meditation and communion with…something, I settled on the word ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ, a word I use for empowering and directing the self itself.  This is, again, a word I was “given” by one of the planetary angels, but I felt like it works well as a stabilization and centralization of the self in preliminary rituals.  It’s like a generic “higher self” name, in my experience.

So, to that end, my ritual (or mini-ritual component) for calling on the directions goes something like this.

1. Start facing the east (or whatever quarter of the sky the Sun happens to be in), and calm and center the breath.
2. Take a half-step forward with the right foot and raise the right arm in a salute, hailing the direction and its guardian while visualizing him to fill that direction.  Move clockwise, saluting the four cardinal directions:
   

   ΙΩ ΕΡΒΗΘ, take thy place in the East!
   ΙΩ ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ, take thy place in the South!
   ΙΩ ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ, take thy place in the West!
   ΙΩ ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ, take thy place in the North!

3. Return to the original direction.  For the next two guardians, stand with both feet together and look towards the direction, moving the right hand towards it and moving the left hand away; thus, raise the right hand and lower the left when saluting the heights, and vice versa for the depths.  Again, visualize the guardian while saluting.
   

   ΙΩ ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ, take thy place in the Heights!
   ΙΩ ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, take thy place in the Depths!

4. Return to the original direction.  Face forward with arms extended out to the sides, visualizing all the guardians around you in their proper stations, with yourself luminous and casting light out in all directions.  Intone the following salutation:
   

   For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ in the Center of All!

   If you wish, mentally intone the name of your HGA as you physically say the word ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ.

And that’s basically what I do when calling on the guardians of the directions, although I’m thinking of changing it up some.  As I’ve mentioned before, the guardians of the heights and the depths don’t feel in the same current as those of the four directions; they do respond, just not with the same force or oomph as the other four.  For a general preliminary invocation, I’m probably just going to drop the salutation of ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ and ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, though I will keep the self-proclamation of ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ as a preliminary centering act before other ritual work.

Admittedly, it’s been not that easy for me to contact the four guardians, but when I have, they’ve indicated that they’re not strictly separate, just as the four points on a circle aren’t really separate but part of the same line.  Instead, they told me that they’re definitely stations, managers, or “reflections” of the Sun at the four corners of the world.  This is fascinating in retrospect, since I only really fully realized what this meant after reviewing PGM II.64 in light of the consecration of the twelve faces of Helios, which is a much more recent study.  However, they do have separate powers and presences, and although they are best called together, one will usually predominate, the one that represents the quarter of the sky that the Sun is currently in.

I’m a dunce for not recognizing this sooner or picking out the patterns, but this has led me to think of a new ritual dedicated just to the salutations of the four faces of the Sun in the two realms of the Heights and the Depths.  It’s turned out a bit like Liber Resh, about which I’m unsure about how I feel, but it’s a good PGM-centric alternative to be used by those who don’t have a taste for Crowley’s rituals.  Again, when I say “noon” or “midnight”, I mean astronomical noon/midnight, not necessarily clock noon/midnight, since things like summer time or DST may leave you an hour early or late to the appropriate station.

1. At sunrise, hail the rising Sun in the East crossing the boundary from the Depths to the Heights.  Face the rising Sun at the East, with the right foot forward and right hand raised in salutation, visualizing the form of the winged dragon-serpent with a crown of clouds taking reign over the East.
   

   ΙΩ ΕΡΒΗΘ, you who are Helios who rise now from the realm of ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ into the realm of ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ, take your place in the East as you come from the North, quelling all discord as you bring bright force to dark space!

   Extend both arms outward with the feet together.

   For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ standing before you, calling upon you who are ΕΡΒΗΘ!

2. At noon, hail the bright Sun in the South at the zenith of the Heights.  Face the noontime Sun at the South, with the right foot forward and right hand raised in salutation, visualizing the form of the solar golden falcon with fire emanating from his wings taking reign over the South.
   

   ΙΩ ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ, you who are Helios who surmount now onto the highest heights of the realm of ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ, take your place in the South as you come from the East, sending upon us radiant fire and life-giving heat!

   Extend both arms outward with the feet together.

   For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ standing before you, calling upon you who are ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ!

3. At sunset, hail the setting Sun in the West crossing the boundary from the Heights to the Depths.  Face the setting Sun at the West, with the right foot forward and right hand raised in salutation, visualizing the form of the snake-tailed crocodile sinking below the oceanic waters taking reign over the West.
   

   ΙΩ ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ, you who are Helios who sink now from the realm of ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ into the realm of ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, take your place in the West as you come from the South, shedding cold water as you cleanse hot day with cool night!

   Extend both arms outward with the feet together.

   For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ standing before you, calling upon you who are ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ!

4. At midnight, hail the reborn Sun in the North at the nadir of the Depths.  Face the midnight Sun at the North, with the right foot forward and right hand raised in salutation, visualizing the form of the sacred naked child enthroned on a blossoming lotus in the mud taking reign over the North.
   

   ΙΩ ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ, you who are Helios who set now upon the darkest depths of the realm of ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ, take your place in the North as you move from the West, reborn as king from the virgin womb of the world!

   Extend both arms outward with the feet together.

   For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ standing before you, calling upon you who are ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ!

Looking back at this ritual, we can begin to see something resembling a solar-elemental attribution to the four directions: east has a crown of clouds to clear the airs, so Air; south has heat and light, so Fire; west has coldness and water, so Water; north has the lotus in the mud, so Earth.  This…well, huh.  This is the same as the Enochian/Neopagan/Golden Dawn system of directional-elemental attributions.  I’ll be damned; I didn’t expect to see this kind of thing pop up here, of all places, but it’s cool to see that maybe, just maybe, if we were to extrapolate this ritual out a bit into the powers of the four elements, it could tie itself into more modern forms of Hermetic or angelic magic.

Anyway, this new approach I’m planning incorporates the four cardinal directions as the Sun travels between the two realms, without recognizing the guardians ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ and ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ in the same way as the other four guardians, while also asserting the power of the self through the presence of ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ.  I’m planning on taking this approach in the future as opposed to the mini-invocation before rituals as well as when calling on the guardians themselves for their own sake or for a more concerted purpose than just having their presence upon me.  Like, I could supplement the self-proclamation at the end of the salutation with a libation or offering to the Sun, as well as any personal requests.  It’s a possibility I’d like to explore, at least to learn more about these four spirits.

For instance, I was in the habit of calling all the guardians at once on the night of the full Moon to make offerings to them, when either ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ (if between sunset and midnight) or ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ (if between midnight and sunrise) would dominate the conversation, with the guardians of the Heights and of the Depths kinda just hanging back and the other three guardians of the cardinal directions just kinda…being mute.  Instead of doing that, I could dedicate the time to making four separate invocations, calling on each guardian of the direction separately as the Sun reaches its proper station, recognizing the guardian into whose realm the Sun was reaching or traveling to or from, and meditating or communing with the Sun through its proper face at the given quarter of the day-night cycle.

Such a ritual invoking the four faces of the Sun at the four stations of the day-night cycle could be done, really, any day, but I’d think that it’d be best done at a time when the Moon is full or close to it, so that the Moon could represent the magus as the one who receives the light of the Sun and who is “standing before” the Sun.  For a similar reason, the full Moon is the time when the most possible light is shed upon the Earth, both from the Sun on one side and the full reflection of the Sun’s light upon and from the Moon on the other.  It’s a highly luminous time, and one when the most possible benefit could be obtained from the Sun.  Alternatively, a day when the Sun is otherwise powerful, such as on that of an election, the summer solstice, or when the Sun reaches his exaltation point at 18° Aries, would be especially nice.

However, this ritual done in its entirety wouldn’t be suitable as a framing ritual like the shorter invocation would be from before.  For that, perhaps this variant would suffice:

ΙΩ ΕΡΒΗΘ, take your place in the East between dark ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ and bright ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ!
ΙΩ ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ, take your place in the South at the zenith of ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ!
ΙΩ ΑΒΛΑΝΑΘΑΝΑΛΒΑ, take your place in the West between hot ΑΚΡΑΜΜΑΧΑΜΑΡΕΙ and cool ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ!
ΙΩ ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ, take your place in the North at the nadir of ΔΑΜΝΑΜΕΝΕΥΣ!
For I am ΜΑΛΠΑΡΤΑΛΧΩ in the Center of All!

And, of course, I write all the above from my comfortable position in the northern hemisphere, where the Sun rises into the southern skies and sets into the northern skies.  For my readers in the southern hemisphere, where the case is reversed, you might try reversing the attributions of the names and directions as necessary, so that you’d have ΛΕΡΘΕΞΑΝΑΞ (noon) in the north and ΣΕΣΕΓΓΕΝΒΑΡΦΑΡΑΓΓΗΣ (midnight) in the south, moving counterclockwise instead of clockwise, and so forth.