Thread by @YUKOWAS

The vowels, in sequence, and in set configurations, were commonly used in spells. The cosmic power granted these elements has, again, links to the Pythagorean tradition. Each of the seven vowels was associated with one of the planetary gods: Apollo (the Sun), Mercury, Jupiter,

Saturn, Venus, Mars and the Moon. The very first instance of a magical spell cited in Hans Dieter Betz’s exhaustive compendium of magical papyri uses a vowel inscription to call up a demon. The ritual involved is complex, requiring first the deification of a falcon,

two fingernails, and hairfrom one’sheadinamixtureofmilkandhoney. Afteralltheparticu­ lars of the ritual are performed a strip of papyrus is to be inscribed with a spell written out in myrrh. This spell is the double figure of two pyramids of vowels, side by side.

The first is structured with a single ‘AKat the top, followed by two ‘E’s’ and so forth until the final row of seven long ‘O’s.’ The second pyramid inverts this order, placing the long ‘O’s’ at the top and diminishing to the point of the ‘A.’

This vowel sequence would in turn be incorporated into the actual prayer to invoke the aid of the demon helpmate. Vowel combinations such as these were often combined with other nonsense utterances in a manner which prefigures the Gnostic and Kabbalistic use of such combinations,

but metrical phrases were also fre­quently used. A charm used to restrain oneself against anger, fo r instance, places various patterns and combinations of vowels on the borders of a small lamella in the center areas of which are more arcane characters & nonsense combinations.

Kleromancy, or divination by lots, was also a common practice which sometimes involved alphabetic writing. In certain lot systems, twenty-four self-contained oracular lines, each of which begins with a different letter of the alphabet, were used.

When a lot was drawn, the line which bore the letter corresponding to the lot would be read as the response to the inquiry.36 W ritten tablets from which a choice would be made were fre­ quently inscribed in advance and produced as part of a prepared response.

Johanna Drucker