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The Mithras Liturgy, Passage IV: Be gracious — the dedication

The opening of the Mithras Liturgy (PGM IV.475–834), the only surviving ancient rite of ascent to the gods. The magician-priest dedicates the secret to his 'only child,' praying that Providence and Soul be gracious as he writes down mysteries that are given, not sold, and asking for the child alone the gift of immortality (ἀθανασία) — the ἀπαθανατισμός the rest of the text will perform.

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Passage IV, passage by passage

• IV.475 Be gracious — the dedication. Be gracious to me, Providence and Soul, as I write down these mysteries that…
• IV.480 What Helios Mithras commanded through his archangel. (for you must, O daughter, take the juices of herbs and spices, which will…
• IV.485 First origin of my origin — the invocation. This is the invocation of the formula: 'First origin of my origin, aeêioyô; first…
• IV.491 Fire of fire, water of water. Fire, god-given into my blending of the blendings in me, the first of the…
• IV.494 The perfect body, fashioned by a deathless hand. Earthy substance, the first of the earthy substance in me, uē uōē; my perfect…
• IV.499 If it please you — hand me over to immortal birth. — and in the soulless and the ensouled, uēi aui euōie. And if it…
• IV.504 That I may behold the immortal beginning. so that, after the present and sharply pressing need upon me, I may behold…
• IV.510 The holy breath, the holy fire, the abyss of the East. and may the holy spirit breathe in me, nechthen apotou nechthin arpi ēth, that…
• IV.517 Born of a mortal womb, about to behold with immortal eyes. since I am about to behold today, with immortal eyes, though born a mortal…
• IV.522 The immortal Aion, lord of the fiery diadems. [to behold] with immortal spirit the immortal Aion and lord of the fiery diadems,…
• IV.528 Which I shall take up again — by God's unalterable decree. which I shall take up again after the present and pressing bitter necessity upon…
• IV.534 Stand, perishable nature — the secret name. Stand, perishable nature of mortals, and at once take me up whole after the…
• IV.537 Draw breath from the rays — you will rise. Draw in breath from the rays, drawing up three times as much as you…
• IV.542 You will hear nothing mortal — all you see is immortal. You will hear nothing, of any human or any other creature, nor will you…
• IV.548 The gods rising and descending through the disk. the gods wheeling up into heaven, and others coming down. And the path of…
• IV.551 Toward the quarters of the winds. and toward the regions to the southwest, boundless, like the east wind, if it…
• IV.555 Silence, silence, silence — the symbol of the living god. You will see the gods staring at you and rushing upon you. At once…
• IV.560 A long hiss, a pop, and the name of power. Then hiss a long hissing, then make a popping sound with your lips, saying:…
• IV.566 The gods look kindly, and return to their order. and then you will see the gods looking kindly on you and no longer…
• IV.570 The thunderclap — 'I am a star wandering with you'. So when you see the upper world clear and whirling, and none of the…
• IV.575 The disk unfolds — stars pour out. When you have said these things, at once the disk will unfold. After you…
• IV.584 The fiery doors, shut fast — the third formula. Say again: 'Silence, silence.' And when the disk opens, you will see a fireless…
• IV.590 Hear me, lord who bound the fiery bolts. 'Hear me, hear me — so-and-so, child of so-and-so — O lord, you who…
• IV.596 Spirit-light, light-ruler, light-giver. spirit-light, ōai; fire-joy, eloure; fair-light, azai; Aion, achba; light-ruler, pepper prepempipi; fire-bodied, phnounioch; light-giver;…
• IV.601 Thunder-driver, glory of light — open to me. fire-whirler, gallabalba; light-force, iaiaō; fire-eddy, pyrichi boosēia; light-mover, sancherōb; thunderbolt-driver, iē ōē iōēiō; glory…
• IV.605 The immortal names never spoken by a mortal tongue. because I invoke, on account of the pressing and bitter and inexorable necessity, the…
• IV.616 Sound it all, with fire and breath — seven times. Say all these with fire and breath, completing the first round, then likewise beginning…
• IV.621 The doors open on the world of the gods. When you have said these things, you will hear thunder and a shaking of…
• IV.627 Draw the spirit in — 'Come, lord'. so that, from the pleasure and joy of the sight, your spirit runs together…
• IV.635 A young god, fiery-haired, crowned with fire. When you have said this, the rays will turn toward you; look into their…
• IV.639 Lord, hail! — the fiery greeting. At once greet him with the fiery greeting: 'Lord, hail, great in power, mighty…
• IV.645 Announce me to the god who made even you. If it please you, announce me to the greatest god, the one who begot…
• IV.651 Immortalized out of so many myriads. immortalized out of so many myriads in this hour, by the will of the…
• IV.650b So you may bring the hour-guardian. (…so that you may take along the guardian of the hour of this day…
• IV.657 He comes to the pole; bellow, and kiss the amulets. When you have said these things, he will come to the pole, and you…
• IV.663 Seven maidens from the deep. Having said these things, you will see doors opening, and coming out of the…
• IV.666 Hail, seven Fortunes of heaven. Seeing these things, greet them thus: 'Hail, the seven Fortunes of heaven, august and…
• IV.671 The seven Fortunes, each by name. 'Hail, the first, chrepsenthaēs; hail, the second, meneschéēs; hail, the third, mechran; hail, the…
• IV.674 Seven bull-faced gods: the Pole-lords. And there come forward also seven other gods, having the faces of black bulls,…
• IV.677 Hail, guardians of the axle-pin. whom you must greet likewise, each by his own name: 'Hail, guardians of the…
• IV.682 Bolts on the impious, wholeness for the devout. and hurling thunders and lightnings and the cast of earthquakes and thunderbolts upon the…
• IV.688 My lords, the great rulers, each by name. my lords and great rulers, gods! Hail, the first, aïerōnthi; hail, the second, mercheimeros;…
• IV.694 A god descending, vast beyond measure. Gaze at the air, and you will see lightnings coming down, and gleaming lights,…
• IV.699 In his hand, the Bear that turns the sky. and trousers, holding in his right hand the golden shoulder of a calf, which…
• IV.705 Rouse the five senses; 'my Life, remain'. And you at once [give] a long bellow, straining the belly so as to…
• IV.709 Dwell in my soul; then greet the god. dwell in my soul, do not abandon me, for [entho phenen thropiōth] commands you.'…
• IV.713 Lord of water, earth, and spirit. master of water, hail, founder of earth, hail, ruler of spirit, [lamprophengê proprophengê emethiri…
• IV.718 Born again, I pass away. Lord, being born again I pass away; being exalted, and having been exalted I…
• IV.725 He gives the oracle, and departs. At once he will prophesy. You will be faint in soul, and not in…
• IV.729 Remembered word for word. you will remember, unfailingly, what was said by the great god, even were the…
• IV.731 A fellow-initiate, purified seven days. But if you wish to make use of a fellow-initiate as well, so that…
• IV.737 Alone, you speak as in ecstasy. But if you are alone and undertake what has been said by the god,…
• IV.739 If you would show the god to another. But if you wish to show him [the god] as well, judging whether he…
• IV.744 Thrice a year; and the warning. And the rest that follow, say as an initiate over his head, in a…
• IV.750 Instruction of the rite: the solar scarab. Instruction of the rite: taking a solar scarab, the one that has the twelve…
• IV.755 It eats, and at once it dies. throwing in with it lotus-pod seed and honey, and grinding smooth, make a little…
• IV.760 'I have consecrated you'. you wish; and strewing, purely, sacred sand, set the vessel on it, and say…
• IV.764 For I am Phōr, the light. may you be useful; for I am phōr phora phōs phōtizaas (but others read:…
• IV.769 Bury it in a blooming bean-field. and with fine linen, lay it away in a bean-field in bloom. And the…
• IV.775 Ask the god what you wish. with rose-oil, and he will see clearly, so that you marvel. Greater than this…
• IV.779 Write the eight-lettered name on a persea leaf. plant, at the conjunction occurring in Leo, take the juice and, mixing it with…
• IV.785 Lick the leaf, facing the sunrise. And keeping pure for three days, come at dawn toward the east; lick off…
• IV.789 The god corrects the recipe. Lick it off, so that you be protected, and rolling up the leaf, throw…
• IV.794 Once a month, at the full moon. the great mystery of the scarab, revived through the twenty-five living birds; use it…
• IV.799 The kentritis, and how to know it. The kentritis plant grows from the month Payni in the parts of the black…
• IV.804 Found by the embankments. the barbs fall off. This, the lord having shown it, was found in the…
• IV.809 Like wild asparagus and beet. having [it] like the cluster of wild asparagus. It is close to the so-called…
• IV.814 The two amulets, right and left. this: the right one, write on the membrane of a black sheep with myrrh-ink,…
• IV.820 Four verses of Homer. 'So speaking, he drove the single-hooved horses across the trench;' 'and men gasping in…
• IV.825 Let go what you hold. Zeus went up onto a golden mountain holding a calf and a silver knife;…
• IV.830 Ares endured — the closing charms. 'Ares indeed endured, when Otos and mighty Ephialtes [bound him].' An anger-restrainer: 'Will you…

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