The Greek Magical Papyri are a body of papyri from Greco-Roman Egypt – mostly written in Greek but also Old Coptic and Demotic – that record magical spells from the era, dating from the 100s BCE to the 400s CE.
They were not brought together as a collection of works in ancient times, but rather were brought together by modern collectors in the 1700s. Today, the collection is referred to by the abbreviation PGM and then the number of the text based on discovery and inclusion.
History and Discovery
Significant mythology has grown up around the texts. Some scholars suggest that they are fragments of magical books containing secret knowledge from antiquity, many of which were burned, for example, during Augustus’ burning of magical books recorded by Suetonius, and the book-burning episodes recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Others suggest that they were written by Egyptian priests and then fragmented during the decline of the Egyptian temples. The truth is that we know very little about the context in which they were written.
The texts started to turn up in the antiquities trade from the 17th century onward and became particularly popular in the early 19th century. Many were collected by the French diplomat Jean-François Mimaut and deposited in the French National Library. More were purchased by an Armenian diplomat named Jean d’Anastasi, forming the Anastasi collection. Others found their way into the British Museum, the Louvre, the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, and other major European institutions.
Modern consensus is that many of the papyri came from the library of an ancient scholar from late antiquity based in Thebes.
Belief Systems
The belief system reflected in the papyri seems to be the Hellenic Greek culture imported to Egypt following the conquest of Alexander the Great and the rise of the Ptolemaic dynasty at the end of the 4th century BCE. This formed an aristocratic culture in Egypt that existed alongside the local Egyptian culture, with the two influencing each other through the emergence of gods like Serapis.
The evidence that the papyri reflect a mostly Hellenic culture is the reference to Greek gods, such as Zeus, Hermes, and Artemis, in a way consistent with Greek folklore. There is evidence of syncretism with Egyptian and Jewish beliefs, as expected for Greeks living in Egypt for centuries. Both Egyptian and Jewish religions were seen as linked to magic by the ancient Romans and Greeks, so it makes sense that they would incorporate elements into their magic texts.
Spells and Rituals
What kinds of spells and rituals are preserved in the papyri, which seem to have been collected either as references for scholars or guides for traveling magicians?
You can find the full text of the papyri in translation as a PDF here.
Love Spells
The papyri contain a variety of love spells. One of the most common types is “fetching” love spells that “lead” a person to love. One spell instructs the caster to take a seashell, write both names with the blood of a black donkey, and recite a formula to attract their chosen love. They must be careful when and where they do the spell because it has an immediate effect.
Charaktēres
Magical signs known as charaktēres were used in a variety of spells. They often take the shape of an asterisk or lines ending in small circles. One love spell explains that a tin lamella should be engraved with the sign and the names of the lovers, rolled up with some magical material like a lock of hair, and thrown into the sea.
Invoking Deities
It was also common to invoke deities. One example invokes Selene, the Moon, as the mistress of the entire world. Offerings are made by molding a mixture of clay, sulphur, and blood or a dappled goat into a figurine of the goddess. This should be offered on a consecrated shrine made of olive wood that should never see the sun. Selene would then send a holy agent to do the bidding of the summoner.
Hermes was invoked for business spells. One says to take orange beeswax and the juice of the aeria plant and of ground ivy and mix them and fashion a figure of Hermes with a hollow bottom. Write in hieratic papyrus: “CHAIOCHEN, OUTIBILMENOUDTH, ATRAUICH, give income and business to this place because [name] lives here.” Put the papyrus inside the figure and fill the hole with beeswax, then deposit it in a wall in an inconspicuous place. You must then sacrifice a cock to Hermes and make a drink offering of Egyptian wine and light a lamp that is not red.
Protective Spells
There are a variety of protective spells that also invoke the assistance of the gods. One example says to take sulphur and the seed of Nile rushes, burn them as incense to the moon and say:
“I call on you, Lady Isis, whom Agathos Daimon permitted to rule in the entire black land. Your name is LOU LOULOU BATHARTHAR THARESIBATH ATHER-NEKLESICH, ATHER-NEBOUNI EICHOMO CHOMOTHI Isis Sothis, SOUERI, Bubastis, EURELIBAT CHAMARI NEBOUTOS OUERI AIE EOA OAI. Protect me, great and marvelous names of the god; for I am the one established in Pelusium, SERPHOUTH MOUISRO, STROMMO MOLOTH MOLONTHER PHON Thoth. Protect me, great and marvelous names of the great god. ASAO EIO NISAOTH. Lady Isis, Nemesis, Adrasteia, many-named, many-formed, glorify me, as I have glorified the name of your son Horus.”
The importance of writing and reciting many mystical and secret names of the gods seems to reflect a belief in the power of the name, common in many modern magical traditions, in which naming something is to control it.
Divination Dream
To receive dreams of divination, recite a Jewish-influenced spell: “I call upon you, Sabaoth, Michael, Raphael, and you Gabriel, do not pass by me as you bring visions, but let one of you enter and reveal to me concerning [what you want to know], AIAI ACHENE LAO. Write these things on leaves of laurel and place them on your head.
Another spell says to take a strip of linen and write on it with myrrh ink what you want to know and wrap an olive branch, and place it beside your head, beneath the left side, and go to sleep on a rush mat on the ground. You should also recite this spell seven times to a lamp:
“Hermes, lord of the world who is in the heart, o circle of Selene, spherical, and square, the founder of the words of speech, please of Justice’s cause, garbed in a mantle, with golden sandals, turning airy course beneath earth’s depths, who hold the spirit’s reigns, the sun’s and who with lamps of gods immortal. Give joy to those beneath earth’s depths, to mortals who have finished life. The Morai’s fatal thread and dream divine, you’re said to be, who send forth oracles by day and night, you cure the pains of all mortals with our healing cares. Hither, o blessed one, o mighty son of the goddess who brings full mental powers, by your own form and gracious mind. And to the uncorrupted youth reveal a sign and send him your true skill of prophecy.”
Magical Drawings
Many spells are accompanied by drawings to serve as a model for performing the ritual. One spell instructs to take a shell from the sea and draw on it with myrrh ink the figure of Typhon given below, and in a circle write his names, and throw it into the heating of a bath. But when you throw it, keep reciting these words engraved in a circle and attract to me her [name] whom [name] bore, on this very day from this very hour on, with her soul and heart aflame.
Invisibility Spell
One spell instructs to take the eye of an ape that has died a violent death and plant peony roses, and rub them with oil of lily from right to left while reciting a spell to Anubis and Osiris. You then rub your face with the concoction to become invisible. When you wish to become visible again, move from west to east, and the spell will end.
A similar spell says that you can take the egg of a flacon, gild half of it, and smear the other half with cinnabar. Wearing this will make you invisible when you sand the name.
Taming Crocodiles
There is a spell to tame a crocodile to carry you across the Nile if you do not have a boat. Sit down and say “hear me, you who live your life I the water. I am one who is at leisure in heaven and goes about in water and in fire and in air and on earth. Return the favor done for you on the day when I created you, and you made your request to me. You will take me to the other side for I am…” and say your name.
This certainly seems like a risky spell for any but the most experienced practitioners.
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