Lunar Spell of Klaudianos
PGM VII.862—918, entitled “the Lunar Spell of Klaudianos and ritual of heaven and the north star”, claims that it comes from a divine papyrus that belonged to the Twelve Gods (presumably the Hellenic pantheon of Olympos) and was discovered in Aphroditopolis beside a statue or shrine of Aphroditē Ourania (Heavenly Aphroditē) “who embraces the universe”. The city of Aphroditopolis can refer to two ancient Egyptian cities, but it is most likely that it refers to the city of Per Hathor, also known as Pathyris in classical times or Gebelein in modern times. The connections between Aphroditē and Hathor are strong in this ritual, and links them both to the lunar goddess Selēnē. The ritual as given in the PGM text is primarily to send dreams and visions to others, and by these dreams and visions bind others to your will. The original text phrased things in such a way as to bind a target into loving the magician:
…go off to her, to draw her by her hair, by her feet; may she, in fear, seeing phantoms, sleepless because of her passion for me and her love for me, come to my consecrated bedroom.
…so that she be unable to have success until coming to me. May she remain fully satisfied, loving, desiring me, and may she be unable to have intercourse with another man, except with me alone.
Interestingly, when used for love-binding, the original text includes a reference to “she, NN. (or he, NN.)”, indicating that the ritual may be used on both male and female targets. However, the ritual may be used more generally than this as a general-purpose rite to obtain the assistance and aid of the lunar angels that rule over the hours of the night, and is presented below as such. This ritual was first mentioned in this 2018 post.
First, prepare a shrine in the form of a cabinet or chest with a door that can fully close. Ideally, the cabinet would be made out of olive wood, but the wood of any tree with lunar properties will suffice; barring that, any light-colored but fully opaque material will do. The cabinet should be kept out of sunlight so that no sunlight even touches the external part of the cabinet, and the door should face to the north away from the Sun (or south, if in the southern hemisphere). The shrine should be kept in a pure and clean room.
Prepare a statue of “Mistress Selēnē the Egyptian…in the form of the Universe”. The original text includes a reference to a diagram that indicates how this statue should be formed and a large empty space for such a diagram, but none seem to exist. Because the ritual describes this as one of Aphroditē Ourania and was discovered in Aphroditopolis, it is likely that this image is a Greco-Egyptian rendering of Hathor-Aphroditē. To this end, extant images of Hathor-Aphroditē or Isis-Aphrodite may be used as inspiration for making such a statue, likely with her arms out as if in embrace. The statue is to be made from a mixture of potter’s clay, sulfur, and the blood of a dappled goat. If such blood is not available, it may be replaced with a mixture of cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and sea water.
Once finished, the statue is to be dedicated to Selēnē using “the ritual that works for everything”. The original text does not elaborate on this, but assumes that the magician is either aware of such a ritual or is accustomed to enlivening, ensouling, or dedicating statues to divinities. Any such ritual may work as the magician chooses, so long as it prepares the statue as a spiritual vessel, seat, and home for the goddess. Though the headers of the respective texts might suggest it, it is unlikely that it refers to PGM IV.1275—1322 (“Bear charm which accomplishes everything”) or PGM IV.1596—1715 (“Consecration for all purposes”, a.k.a. Consecration of the Twelve Faces of Hēlios). However, other extant prayers in the PGM to Selēnē or Aphroditē may be used or modified to this specific purpose:
- PGM IV.2244—2358 (“Document to the waning moon”)
- PGM IV.2441—2621 (“Spell of attraction”)
- PGM IV.2708—2084 (“Another love spell of attraction”)
- PGM IV.2785—2890 (“Prayer to Selēnē for any spell”)
- PGM IV.2891—2942 (“Love spell of attraction”)
In conjunction with the dedication ritual of the statue, the statue is to be anointed with “lunar anointment” and wreathed. For this, any magical oil prepared using animal, plant, or mineral components associated with the Moon may be used, and a wreathe should be made of olive, hyssop, white roses, or palm; laurel is discouraged due to its solar associations. In addition or instead of plant wreathes, silver or sheer white fabric may be used.
Once all the above steps have been completed, the statue may be stowed away in the olive wood shrine until needed with the lunar ointment, candles, or any other magical materials or supplies to be used for these workings. When one desires to work with the statue, one should be in a state of purity and not having had sex for three days, and should have their working room cleaned and purified; for a love-drawing working, this should be the bedroom. Anoint yourself with the same “lunar anointment” that was used for the statue. In the fifth hour of the night, remove the image of Selēnē from the shrine and set it in the working room facing south. Prepare a set of lunar offerings to make to Selēnē; these could be cakes, wine, incenses, flowers, or any other things to be offered to Selēnē. Set the offerings before the image of Selēnē, then recite the first invocation while standing facing the north towards the statue:
I call upon you, Mistress of the entire world, ruler of the entire cosmic system, greatly powerful goddess, gracious daimōn, lady of night, who travels through the air,
ΦΕΡΟΦΟΙΡΗ ΑΝΑΘΡΑ ΡΕΟΥΘΡΑHeed your sacred symbols and give a rustling sound, and give a sacred angel or a holy assistant who serves this very night, in this very hour,
ΠΡΟΚΥΝΗ ΒΑΥΒΩ ΦΟΒΕΙΟΥΣ ΜΗΕ
and order the angel to do this for me: …
Note: the first set of barbarous words are incomplete in the original text due to a small lacuna (“ΦΕΡΟΦΟΡΗ ΑΝΑΘΡΑ…ΟΥΘΡΑ”) amounting to no more than two or three letters. I have reconstructed it to be “ΡΕΟΥΘΡΑ” based on PGM XII.1—13, which uses a similar name in a nocturnal ritual of Hekatē.
Recite the invocation until you see the statue of Selēnē begin to turn red; at this point, the goddess is now entering into the statue and grows closer to you. When the statue begins to turn red, recite the second invocation:
Mistress, send forth your angel from among those who assist you, one who is leader of night, because I adjure you by your great names, because of which no aerial or infernal daimōn can ignore you,
ΜΕΣΟΥΡΦΑΒΑΒΟΡ ΒΡΑΛ ΙΗΩ ΙΣΙ ΗCome to me, as I summon you,
ΟΡΘΩ ΒΑΥΒΩ ΝΟΗΡΕ ΚΟΔΗΡΕ ΣΟΙΡΕ ΣΟΙΡΕ ΕΡΕΣΧΙΓΑΛ ΣΑΓΚΙΣΤΗ ΔΩΔΕΚΑΚΙΣΤΗ ΑΚΡΟΥΡΟΒΟΡΕ ΚΟΔΗΡΕ ΣΑΜΨΕΙHear my words and send forth your angel who is appointed over the first hour, ΜΕΝΕΒΑΙΝ
and the one over the second hour, ΝΕΒΟΥΝ
and the one over the third hour, ΛΗΜΝΕΙ
and the one over the fourth hour, ΜΟΡΜΟΘ
and the one over the fifth hour, ΝΟΥΦΙΗΡ
and the one over the sixth hour, ΧΟΡΒΟΡΒΑΘ
and the one over the seventh hour, ΟΡΒΕΗΘ
and the one over the eighth hour, ΠΑΝΜΩΘ
and the one over the ninth hour, ΘΥΜΕΝΦΡΙ
and the one over the tenth hour, ΣΑΡΝΟΧΟΙΒΑΛ
and the one over the eleventh hour, ΒΑΘΙΑΒΗΛ
and the one over the twelfth hour, ΑΡΒΡΑΘΙΑΒΡΙ
so that you may do this for me: …
The second invocation should be recited many times in succession. The offerings and the statue should be left out until your goal has been accomplished; after this point, the statue should be anointed again, wreathed with fresh flowers, plants, or cloth, and stowed away in the olive shrine along with any of the durable, imperishable, or dried lunar offerings that were left.
The invocations, with the barbarous names transliterated into Roman script:
I call upon you, Mistress of the entire world, ruler of the entire cosmic system, greatly powerful goddess, gracious daimōn, lady of night, who travels through the air,
PHEROPHOIRĒ ANATHRA REŪTHRAHeed your sacred symbols and give a rustling sound, and give a sacred angel or a holy assistant who serves this very night, in this very hour,
PROKYNĒ BAUBŌ PHOBEIŪS MĒHE
and order the angel to do this for me: ……
Mistress, send forth your angel from among those who assist you, one who is leader of night, because I adjure you by your great names, because of which no aerial or infernal daimōn can ignore you,
MESŪRPHABABOR BRAL IĒŌ ISI ĒCome to me, as I summon you,
ORTHŌ BAUBŌ NOĒRE KODĒRE SOIRE SOIRE ERESKHIGAL SANKISTĒ DŌDEKAKISTĒ AKRŪROBORE KODĒRE SAMPSEIHear my words and send forth your angel who is appointed over the first hour, MENEBAIN
and the one over the second hour, NEBŪN
and the one over the third hour, LĒMNEI
and the one over the fourth hour, MORMOTH
and the one over the fifth hour, NŪPHIĒR
and the one over the sixth hour, KHORBORBATH
and the one over the seventh hour, ORBEĒTH
and the one over the eighth hour, PANMŌTH
and the one over the ninth hour, THYMENPHRI
and the one over the tenth hour, SARNOKHOIBAL
and the one over the eleventh hour, BATHIABĒL
and the one over the twelfth hour, ARBRATHIABRI
so that you may do this for me: …