Transcendental Magic — Éliphas Lévi

p. 300cum quo puella conciibuerit ; and the skull of a parricide.

All these hideous and scarcely obtainable objects having been collected, they must be arranged as follows : A perfect circle is traced by the sword, with a break, or way of issuing, on one side; a triangle is drawn in the circle, and the pantacle thus formed is coloured with blood ; at one of the angles of the triangle a chafing-dish is placed, and this should have been included among the indispensable objects already enumerated; at the opposite base of the triangle three little circles are described for the operator and his two assistants ; behind that of the operator the sign of the labarum or monogram of Constantine is drawn, not with the blood of the victim, but with the operator's own blood.

The operator and his assistants must have bare feet and covered heads. The skin of the immolated victim must be also brought to the place, and, being cut into strips, must be placed within the circle, forming a second and inner circle, fixed at four corners by the four nails from the coffin already mentioned.

Hard by the nails, but outside the circle, must be placed the head of the cat, the human or rather inhuman skull, the horns of the goat, and the bat ; they must be sprinkled with a branch of birch dipped in the blood of the victim, and then a fire of cypress and alderwood must be lighted, the two magical candles being placed on the right and left of the operator, encircled with the wreaths of vervain.

The formula of evocation can now be pronounced, as they are found in the magical elements of Peter of Apono, or in the grimoires, whether printed or manuscript.

That of the Grand Grimoire, reproduced in the vulgar Eed Dragon, has been wilfully altered, and should be read as follows : " By Adonai Elo'im, Adonai Jehova, Adonai Sabaoth, Metraton On Agla Adonai Mathon, the pythonic word, the mystery of the salamander, the assembly of the sylphs, the grotto of the gnomes, the demons of the heaven of Gad, Almousin, Gioor, Jehosua, Evam, Zariatnatmik, Come, Come, Come ! " The grand appellation of Agrippa consists only in these

THE SABBATH OF THE SORCERERS

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words: DIES MIES JESCHET BOENEDOESEF DOUVEMA ENI- TEMAUS. We make no pretence of understanding their meaning ; possibly they possess none, assuredly none which is reasonable, since they avail in evoking the devil, who is the sovereign unreason. Picus de Mirandola, no doubt from the same motive, affirms that in black magic the most barbarous and unintelligible words are the most efficacious and the best. The conjurations are repeated in a louder voice, accompanied by imprecations and menaces, until the spirit replies. He is commonly preceded by a violent wind which seems to make the whole country resound. Then domestic animals tremble and hide away, the assistants feel a breath upon their faces, and their hair, damp with cold sweat, rises upon their heads. The grand and supreme appellation, according to Peter of Apono, is as follows : — " Hemen-Etan ! Hemen-Etan ! Hemen-Etan ! EL* ATI* TITEIP* AOZIA* HYN* TEU* MINOSEL* ACHADON* vay* vaa* Eye* Aaa* Eie* Exe* A EL EL EL A HY ! HAU ! HAU ! HAU! HAU! VA! VA! VA! VA! CHAYAJOTH. Aie Saraye, aie Saraye, aie Saraye ! By Eloym, Archima, Rabur, BATHAS over ABRAC, flowing down, coming from above ABEOR UPON ABERER Chavajoth ! Chavajoth ! Chavajoth ! I command thee by the Key of SOLOMON and the great name SEMHAMPHORAS." The ordinary signs and signatures of demons are given below : —

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THE RITUAL OF TRANSCENDENT MAGIC

But they are those of the inferior demons, and here follow the official signatures of the princes of hell, attested judicially — judicially, 0 M. le Comte de Mirville I — and preserved in the archives of justice as convicting evidences for the trial of the unfortunate Urbain Grandier.

These signatures appear under a pact of which Collin de Plancy gives a facsimile reproduction in the Atlas of his " Infernal Dictionary.

It has this marginal note : " The draught is in hell, in the secretary of Lucifer," a valuable item of information about a locality but imperfectly known, and belonging to a period approximate to our own, though anterior to the trial of the young Labarre and Etalonde, who, as every one knows, were contemporaries of Voltaire.

Evocations were frequently followed by pacts written on parchment of goat skin with an iron pen and blood drawn from the left arm. The document was in duplicate ; one copy was carried off by the fiend and the other swallowed by the wilful reprobate. The reciprocal engagements were that the demon should serve the sorcerer during a given period of years, and that the sorcerer should belong to the