Preparation

In addition to your usual magical paraphernalia, have at hand and within the boundary of your circle the following items:

• Rectangular strips of paper, each about the size of a cigarette paper or slightly larger; one for each person to be restrained. I prefer to use good quality unlined letter writing stock.
• Black pens. I prefer either brush tips or a fountain pen and ink.
• A candle. I use bee’s wax.
• Matches.
• A brazier. I have a small brass three legged bowl but an ashtray is also fine.
• A writing surface. [^3]
• Myrrh and/or dragon’s blood incense (optional).[^4]

Method

Having taken the necessary precautions to ensure that you won’t be interrupted for at least half an hour, prepare yourself for ritual according to your magical tradition or personal practice.

With all materials for the spell within reach, cast a circle or create your ritual space as usual.

Light the candle.

Bring your awareness into a liminal state and maintain this throughout. Gazing into the candle flame may assist.

Now summon the person to be restrained into your mind as you write their name onto a piece of paper. Use their full name if you know it.

If you are restraining more than one person, turn the first piece of paper face down and shift your attention to the next person as you write their name on a second strip of paper. Repeat until you have one piece of named paper for each recipient.[^5]

Once you are ready, hold the piece of paper and bring the person as clearly into your mind as you can. Attune with them. For me this is happens when I can hear their voice clearly in my mind, however you may be more visually or olfactory orientated. Whatever your method, you will know when you have them present.

Then, allowing feelings of defiant indignation to rise within you, scribble and scrawl the word “CHNEŌM” across 
the target’s name, obliterating it as best you can. Then fold the paper once lengthwise.[^6]

While holding the piece of paper near to the candle, gaze 
into the flame and allow your sense of magical intent to instensify, deepening your candle gaze with the use of your third eye. Hold the individual in mind the whole time.

Then say:

I restrain the anger and gossip of all, and especially of NN, which is CHNEŌM

Replace NN with the target’s name. In the slight pause between the final two words, touch the paper to the flame and watch it begin to burn as you intone the magical formula. As you powerfully vibrate the final word of the formula, CHNEŌM, drop the flaming paper into the brazier and watch it burn to ember and ash.

Repeat for each piece of paper.

Once you are done, cover the brazier.

Close your circle.

As soon as possible, dispose of the ashes in the centre of a crossroads. Note that you should carry the covered brazier there and just tip it out. The quieter the crossroads the better, for magical reasons as well as those of personal safety.[^7] There is no need for any ceremony, just tip it out and keep moving.

Note that the spell is not fully complete until the ashes have been disposed.

Clean your brazier as soon as possible. I use fresh rosemary from my garden as a scrub and running water from an outside tap, but you can do this however and with whatever you like.

Notes

Noting that the pronunciation of ancient Greek is a complicated and contested topic, I offer my approach only in the hope that it helps. I tend to pronounce the initial “CH” of “chneōm” with an aspirated “K” sound (think of a breathier version of the initial consonant in the word “chaos”), and the Ō as a long O.

The word Chneōm has no apparent meaning and is usually considered to be one of the many Nomina Magica, ancient magical words or names.[^8] However the footnote to the spell in Betz observes, ”CHNEŌM here and in I. 181 is probably Egyptian Khnum.”

Khnum was one of the oldest Egyptian divinities.[^9] Khnum, whose name meant 'to create'[^10] is frequently shown fashioning the royal ka “upon the potter’s wheel along with the human [vessel].”[^11]

That Khnum has the head of a ram connects him with Aries, whose glyph is the horned ram’s head.[^12] Aries whose impulsive creative force can be seen as an echo of the “vital essence” that is ka.[^13] Aries whose fire can perhaps be thought of as the fire of Khnum’s kiln. Aries which is ruled by Mars. Mars who, like the ram, is hot-headed. Mars, who is often angry, like the person you seek to restrain.

Postscript

In the course of writing up this spell I stumbled on a true kaos magixal formula of power. 😈

Being the lazy writer that I am, I took a photo of the publication details from Gordon White’s Chaos Protocols so I could use OCR to extract test to use in a footnote. When I selected the first line of the bibliographical details (title, date, author) and pasted it into my notes app, the pasted text appeared to be Russian!

Соботи номі манно лос ка ром остатон а у с санта вадо

Curious, I pasted this into google translate, where the language auto-detect feature also identified it as Russian. I selected the option to translate into English and it rendered a sort of transliteration instead, I presume because the text did not contain actual words. After removing a little bit of White space (😜) the following magical formula was revealed!

Soboti nomi manno los carrum ostaton aus santa vado

This formula may or may not have a relationship to the anger restraint spell. It is thus far, untested by me so please use with caution. However I would be delighted to receive a summary of your results via email.

Footnotes

[1]. For an English translation of this almost 2,000 year old spell contained in manuscript PGM XII of the Theban Magical Library see: Betz, H. D. et al. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Texts. University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 160.

For PGM XII manuscript details (including age) see: https://www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m160/

[2]. White, Gordon, The Chaos Protocols: Magical Techniques for Navigating the New Economic Reality, Llewellyn Publications, 2016. p.194. This spell is one thing that I learned from Mr White.

[3]. I typically perform the actual spell sitting on the floor in front of the candle and brazier and so I simply use the cover of my personal grimoire as a writing surface. However if you wish to stand and use a high altar you may either need space on the altar to write on the scraps of paper or else have some kind of lectern or tall desk beside your altar for this purpose.

[4]. The original spell calls on the magician to “write with myrrh [on linen]” so in homage to this I will often use myrrh incense. I associate myrrh with Saturn and Hecate which is appropriate for restraint magic. Dragon’s blood is another incense option if, like me, you correspond it to Mars. See the Notes section at the end of the article for a fuller explanation of the relevance of Mars to this operation.

[5]. Note that I do not recommend more than three targets for any given performance of this ritual. Any more and you risk diluting the effectiveness, impact, and result.

In fact I strongly suggest that you to limit the spell to one target at a time whenever possible, which should be most times. Consider the following questions. Who is the most pivotal person in the problems you currently face? Which individual if silenced would have the most impactful change on your current circumstances?

[6]. Note that you can write this word as: ΧΝΕΩΜ if you prefer, as per the original Greek.

[7]. I cannot comment on the likely outcome if you choose to dispose of the ashes in any other way and I do not advise it.

[8]. See Skinner, S, Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic, Golden Hoarde, 2021, pp. 92-96 for more on Nomina Magica

[9]. For an overview of Khnum see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khnum

[10]. The meaning of Khnum is sourced from: https://www.theosophytrust.org/1078-aries

[11]. Ozaniec, Naomi, Becoming a Garment of Isis: A Nine-Stage Initiatory Path of Egyptian Spirituality, Inner Traditions, 2022, pp. 212-213

[12]. For a detailed overview of the mystical dimensions of Aries including references to Khnum this see: https://www.theosophytrust.org/1078-aries

[13]. For an overview of the Egyptian concept of soul and the role of ka within it, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_conception_of_the_soul

#spells #pgm #anger #magic

I present here my version of the famous ‘headless rite’ as originally recorded sometime between 100 BCE and 400 CE in one of the scrolls now in the collection known as the Greek Magical Papyri. Specifically this is the famous “Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist in his letter” found in PGM V. 96-172.

I rely heavily on the Betz translation of the PGM, with the most major variation in my version being in relation to the six magical names. For these I follow T.F. from Sublunar Space.

I retain what I believe to be the original intent of the operation as an exorcism, a common form of spell in antiquity. Use this spell to drive negative energy or forces from a beleaguered loved one.

While I do not present this ritual as a “preliminary invocation” or an initiatory operation to connect with one’s Holy Guardian Angel as per the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Crowley’s Bornless Ritual, I also don’t reject these uses. However the version below more closely follows the original and should only be used as an exorcism.

Performance notes and a brief list of background reading are provided at the end for those who are interested.

The abstinence recommendations are my own as is the suggestion to bathe and wear clean clothes, preferably robes reserved for ritual use. However these recommendations are in keeping with magical practices in antiquity and indeed through the middle ages and the renaissance and will no doubt be familiar to many modern practitioners. For more on approaches to, and the purpose of purity, fasting, and sexual abstinence in ancient magic see Skinner’s Techniques of Greco-Egyptian Magic (pp. 74-78). In addition to the aspects outlined by Skinner, I acknowledge and utilise a sacrificial dimension to abstinence.

Preparation

For three or nine days prior:

• Abstain from meat, fish, seafood, eggs if these are part of the diet.
• If the above are not part of the diet, then abstain from one item that is usually ingested daily, such as coffee, sugar, cheese, or bread.
• Abstain from sexual release.
• Abstain from alcohol and narcotics (although be guided by yourself regarding weed in relation to specific performances).

In advance of the operation:

The spell requires a piece of parchment or good quality paper stock which will be attached to the forehead as a phylactery using a ribbon. The “parchment” should be long enough to go across the forehead from one temple to the other. It should be wide enough to be able to be folded in half length-wise such that the magical formula and sign can be written on one folded half and be visible.

Write the following formula on the paper or parchment phylactery as described above:

αιη αιωι ηωιαη αη ιω ωη αιηουευωαι εαι υο ιαω ιωη οαυ αεη υωυω

ΧΑΒΡΑΧ ΦΝΕΣΧΗΡ ΦΙΧΡΟ ΦΝΥΡΩ ΦΩΧΩ ΒΩΧ

Include the “good sign” on the parchment, between or below the two lines of text according to your preference

The “Good Sign” as per Preisendanz and Betz

Performance

Bathe and don clean clothes or robes or perform “skyclad” as is your want.

Cast a circle or open the liminal as per your usual practice

Face North

Fold the parchment lengthwise so that all of the writing and the good sign is visible.

Attach it to your forehead like a coronet, with the ends of the parchment touching each temple. A simple but effective method to do this is to run a ribbon through the fold and tie it to your head with the text and the good sign showing outwards.

Still facing North, breathe slowly until you enter the liminal then, say the formula from the parchment once or six times as is your want. The formula transliterates as follows (note macrons e.g. Ō indicate long vowels):

AIĒ AIŌI ĒŌIAĒ AĒ IŌ ŌĒ AIĒOYEYŌAI EAI YO IAŌ IŌĒ OAY AEĒ YŌYŌ

KHABRAKH PHNESKHĒR PHIKHRO PHINYRŌ PHŌKHŌ BŌKH

Then say:

Subject to me all daimons, so that every daimon, whether heavenly or aerial or earthly or subterranean or terrestrial or aquatic, might be obedient to me and every enchantment which is from God.

Then:

I summon you, Headless One!

Thou art IABAS; thou art IAPOS.
 You have distinguished the just and the unjust.
 You have made female and male.
 You have revealed seed and fruits. 
You have made men love each other and hate each other.

I am Moses, your prophet, to whom you have transmitted your mysteries, celebrated by Israel.

I am the angel , the messenger of PHARAOH OSORONNOPHRIS.
 This is your true name, handed down to the prophets of Israel. Hear me!

ARBATHIAŌ, REIBET, ATHELEBERSĒTH, ARA, BLATHA, ALBEU, EBENPHKHI, KHITASGOĒ, IB AŌTH IAŌ.

Hear me and turn back this daimon!

I call upon you, awesome and unseeable god who dwells in the void.

AROGOGOROBRAŌ,

SOKHOU, MODORIŌ,

PHALARKHAŌ, OOO.

Holy Headless One,
 Deliver NN. from the daimon that restrains PN:

ROUBRIAŌ MARI ŌDAM BAABNABAŌTH ASS ADŌNAI APHNIAŌ, ITHŌLĒTH, ABRASAX, AĒOŌU.

Mighty Headless One,
 Deliver NN., from the daimon that restrains PN:

MA, BARRAIŌ, IŌĒL, KOTHA, ATHORĒBALŌ, ABRAŌTH.

Deliver NN.:

AŌTH, ABAŌTH, BASYM, ISAK, SABAŌTH, IAŌ.

He is the lord of the gods.

Lord, King, Master, Helper,

IEOU, PYR, IOU, PYR, IAŌT, IAĒŌ, IOOU, ABRASAX, SABRIAM, OO, YU, EU, OO, YU, ADŌNAIE,

Immediately, immediately, good messenger of god:

ANLALA LAI, GAIA, APA, DIAKHANNA KHORYN

I am the Headless Daimon with my sight in my feet; the mighty immortal fire; I am the Truth.

I am the one whose sweat falls as inseminating rain upon the earth. I am the one whose mouth is scorching flame. 
I am the one who begets and manifests. 
I am the Favour of the Aion.

My name is a heart encircled by a serpent.

Come forth and follow!

Descend the magical hierarchy (see performance notes) to return to your magical form.

Close the circle as you normally would

Performance Notes

As is standard in such spells, replace the letters NN in the spell with the name of the beneficiary, i.e. the afflicted individual.

In the text I introduce the term PN in place of the translated pronoun. Replace the letters PN with the appropriate pronoun for the beneficiary, e.g. her; him; them; per; ver; xem etc.

To successfully perform this ritual you first assume your own magical form by opening your circle and entering the liminal.

You then assert your magical authority by subjugating all daimons. It should be noted that daimons are not limited to our modern malevolent concept of the demon, but rather refer to a vast array of “lesser divinities or spirits, often personifications of abstract concepts, beings of the same nature as both mortals and deities, similar to ghosts, chthonic heroes, spirit guides, forces of nature, or the deities themselves”.

Or, as Socrates quoting Diotima tells us, daimons are:

Interpreters and ferrymen, carrying divine things to mortals and mortal things to gods; requests and sacrifices from below and commandments and answers from above. Being midway between, [daimones] make each half supplement the other, so that the whole becomes unified. Through them are conveyed all divination (mantike) and all priestly crafts concerning sacrifices, initiations, incantations, all prophetic power (manteia) and magic. For the divine does not mix with the mortal, and it is only through the mediation of [the daimones] that mortals can have any interaction with the gods, either while awake or while asleep.

Plato, Symposium, 202e-203a as quoted in Skinner, p54

Having asserted your magical authority over all daimons you then assume the form of the legendary prophet Moses, the “One Who Conversed with God”. In this form you first summon the Headless One before then moving up the spiritual hierarchy to assume the form of an angel, a messenger to Pharoah Osoronnophris. A number of sources, including this one make the claim that the name Osorinnophris is a corruption of the “old Egyptian names of the great god of the dead ‘Ausar Unnefer’”. Whether this is correct or not is, for our purposes immaterial. The important point is that while performing you are moving upwards through the spiritual hierarchy, increasing your magical authority and, hence your potency, at each stage.

It is in the form of this powerful messenger angel, with the ear of a god, that you beseech that god to free the afflicted person from the control of the possessing daimon.

Finally one assumes the form of the great Headless Daimon to command the possessing daimon to follow.

While the orginal text concludes with this powerful command of your assumed Headless Daimon form, I find that the lack of a descent down through the spiritual hierarchy leaves me concerned that I am in some way attached to the exorcised form. To avoid this I visualise myself “disrobing” each form, first the Headless One, then the messenger angel, then Moses. I picture myself taking each form off up over my head as I would a long robe. I then observe it walk towards the edge of the circle where it fades into its own realm. I wait for each form to disappear fully before “disrobing” myself of the next until finally I stand as magician, alone once more in my circle. I then close the circle as usual.

As outlined in the introduction, the abstinence preparations are my own addition, but such an approach features in many PGM spells and later medieval grimoires. I’ve found in my own practice that such preparations do improve the efficacy of important rituals. They act as both a sacrifice and an act of spiritual purification.

References

• Betz, H. D. et al. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Texts, University of Chicago Press, 1986.
• Skinner, Stephen, [Techniques of Greco-Egyptian Magic](https://booko.com.au/w/7776887/Techniques-of-Graeco-Egyptian-MagicbyStephen-Skinner “Techniques of Greco-Egyptian Magic”), Golden Hoard Press, 2021
• Rapposelli, Dionesia, Sorcerers and Magi, <https://sorcerersandmagi.blogspot.com/2016/06/stele-of-jeu-bornless-ritual-.html>

A Good overview, background, and context to the ritual * T.F. (2017), The Six Names, <https://sublunar.space/2017-08-the-six-names.html>

Excellent piece of research and detective work into the six god names that the PGM instructs the magician to write on a piece of parchment. These god names are the subject of much speculation, however this blog post offers a very compelling case for the god names it proposes and I’ve incorporated them into this version of the Headless rite. * Block, Sam, Headless Rite, <https://digitalambler.com/rituals/classical-hermetic-rituals/the-headless-rite/>

A good overall discussion by Sam Block (a.k.a. The Digital Ambler) with translation and suggestions for use. Also features a detailed discussion on the ‘good sign’. * Stratton-Kent, Jake, The Headless One, (epub), Hadean Press, 2012 * Wikipedia contributors, 'Daimon', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 December 2023, 11:11 UTC, <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daimon&oldid=1190011034> [accessed 16 December 2023] * Estéban Trujillo de Gutiérrez, ‘Abrasax, the Invincible Name of Power’, Samizdat, 2014, <https://therealsamizdat.com/2014/11/09/abrasax-the-invincible-name-of-power/>

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