IV.601
Papyri Graecae Magicae IV.601 · Thunder-driver, glory of light — open to meIV.601Thunder-driver, glory of light — open to me
The titles climax and turn to petition: fire-whirler (gallabalba), light-force (iaiaō), fire-eddy, light-mover (sancherōb), thunderbolt-driver, glory of light, increaser of light, star-tamer — 'open to me, forth-shining one!'
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πυρικλόνε1
pyriklóne
fire-whirlerfire-driving, whirling fire
γαλλαβαλβα2
gallabalba
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, φωτοβία3
phōtobía
light-forcemight of light
ιαιαω4
iaiaō
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, πυριδῖνα5
pyridîna
fire-eddyfire-whirling, eddying with fire
πυριχι6
pyrichi
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
βοοσηια8
boosēia
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, φωτοκινῆτα7
phōtokinêta
light-movermoved by light, light-stirred
σανχερωβ10
sancherōb
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, κεραυνοκλόνε9
keraunoklóne
thunderbolt-driverdriving the thunderbolt
ιη13
iē
soundedan untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
ωη15
ōē
soundedan untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
ιωηιω16
iōēiō
soundedan untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, φωτὸς11
phōtòs
of lightdaylight / the light of life, illumination
κλέος12
kléos
gloryfame / report, renown
βεεγένητε17
beegénēte
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, αὐξήσιφως14
auxḗsiphōs
increaser of light
σουσινεφιεν24
sousinephien
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, πυρισχησιφως25
pyrischēsiphōs
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
σουσινεφι26
sousinephi
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
αρενβαραζει27
arenbarazei
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
μαρμαρεντευ28
marmarenteu
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
ἀστροδάμα18
astrodáma
star-tamersubduer of stars
·; ἄνοιξόν19
ánoixón
openopen up / (pass.) be opened
μοι20
moi
to meI
, προπροφεγγῆ21
proprophengē
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, εμεθειρε22
emetheire
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
μοριομοτυρηφιλβα23
moriomotyrēphilba
name of poweran untranslatable magical name or sound, spoken for power, not meaning
, fire-whirler, [gallabalba], light-force, [iaiaō], fire-eddy, [pyrichi boosēia], light-mover, [sancherōb], thunderbolt-driver, [iē ōē iōēiō], glory of light, [beegénēte], increaser of light, [sousinephien], [pyrischēsiphōs sousinephi arenbarazei marmarenteu], star-tamer: open to me, [proprophengē emetheire moriomotyrēphilba]!
fire-whirler, [gallabalba], light-force, [iaiaō], fire-eddy, [pyrichi boosēia], light-mover, [sancherōb], thunderbolt-driver, [iē ōē iōēiō], glory of light, [beegénēte], increaser of light, [sousinephien], [pyrischēsiphōs sousinephi arenbarazei marmarenteu], star-tamer: open to me, [proprophengē emetheire moriomotyrēphilba]!
Interpretation
fire-whirler, gallabalba; light-force, iaiaō; fire-eddy, pyrichi boosēia; light-mover, sancherōb; thunderbolt-driver, iē ōē iōēiō; glory of light, beegénēte; increaser of light, sousinephien; pyrischēsiphōs sousinephi arenbarazei marmarenteu, star-tamer: open to me, proprophengē emetheire moriomotyrēphilba!'
The wave of titles breaks on a single request: ánoixón moi, “open to me.” Everything before it — the fire-whirler, the thunderbolt-driver, the star-tamer — has been earning the right to say those two words to the being who bolted the universe shut. The whole litany is a key cut to fit one lock: the fiery doors of the previous passage.
What the accumulation finally paints is a storm-and-light deity who is also the master of the sky's machinery: he whirls fire, drives the thunderbolt (keraunóklone), tames the stars (astrodáma) — the very stars that just swarmed from the disk. He is the cosmos's engineer and its weather at once. And the names never stop braiding through: even at the moment of the plea, “open to me” is sealed with three more sounds, proprophengē emetheire moriomotyrēphilba — as if the request itself had to be spoken half in the language men use and half in the language that moves gods.
IV.605
Papyri Graecae Magicae IV.605 · The immortal names never spoken by a mortal tongueIV.605The immortal names never spoken by a mortal tongue
The reason for the invocation, and its climax: driven by pressing necessity, the initiate calls the immortal, living, honored names that have never passed into mortal nature nor been shaped by human tongue or mortal voice — and then sounds them: the great seven-vowel series (arranged, the apparatus notes, as 23×7 letters).
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because I invoke, on account of the pressing and bitter and inexorable necessity, the names never yet passed into mortal nature nor articulated by human tongue or mortal sound or voice — the immortal, living, and honored names: [the seven vowels, intoned, in their long array]'