The Headless Rite (As Exorcism)

Introduction

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.

Image of The Headless God from PGM II. 170-1775

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:

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

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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