The parade of demons continued. One by one the thirty-six spirits of the zodiac stepped forward before Solomon's throne, each confessing the disease it inflicts and the angel whose name can banish it. This was not merely an interrogation. It was the creation of a manual of spiritual warfare — a catalog of every affliction and its cure.
Metathiax, the tenth, causes kidney pain. Banished by the angel Adonael.
Katanikotael, the eleventh, creates strife in homes and sends hard temper. To defeat him: write the name of his opposing angel on seven laurel leaves, wash the leaves in water, and sprinkle the house from inside to out.
Saphathorael, the twelfth, inspires partisanship and drunkenness. Write the names of the angels Iaco, Iealo, Ioelet, Sabaoth, Ithoth, and Bae on paper, fold it, and wear it around the neck.
Bobel, the thirteenth, causes nervous illness. Banished by calling out: "Adonael, imprison Bobel."
Kumeatel, the fourteenth, sends shivering fits and torpor. Banished by Zoroel.
Roeled, the fifteenth, causes stomach pain and bitter cold. Banished by the words: "Iax, be still — for Solomon is greater than eleven fathers."
Atrax, the sixteenth, inflicts incurable fevers. To defeat him: chop coriander, smear it on the lips, and recite: "I exorcise thee by the throne of the Most High God — retreat from the creature fashioned by God."
Ieropael, the seventeenth, causes convulsions. Whisper three times into the afflicted person's right ear: "Iudarize, Sabune, Denoee."
Buldumech, the eighteenth, separates wife from husband. To defeat him: write "The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands thee — retire from this house in peace" and place the paper in the entrance of the home.
Naoth, the nineteenth, settles upon men's knees. Banished by writing: "Depart, Naoth, and touch not the neck."
Mardero, the twentieth, sends incurable fever. Write the name of the angel Raphael on a leaf and tie it around the sufferer's neck.
Alath, the twenty-first, causes coughing and labored breathing in children. Banished by writing: "Rorex, pursue Alath."
Nefthada, the twenty-third, causes painful urination. Write the names "Iathoth, Uriel, Nephthada" on a plate of tin and fasten it around the waist.
Akton, the twenty-fourth, causes rib and muscle pain. Engrave on copper taken from a lost ship: "Marmaraoth, Sabaoth, pursue Akton."
Anatreth, the twenty-fifth, sends burning fevers into the entrails. Defeated by the words: "Arara, Charara."
Enenuth, the twenty-sixth, steals men's minds, changes their hearts, and makes them lose their teeth. Write: "Allazool, pursue Enenuth."
Pheth, the twenty-seventh, causes consumption and hemorrhage. Exorcise in wine and give the patient to drink.
Harpax, the twenty-eighth, sends sleeplessness. Write "Kokphnedismos" and bind it around the temples.
Anoster, the twenty-ninth, causes bladder pain. Grind three laurel seeds into pure oil and anoint the afflicted.
Alleborith, the thirtieth — if a man has swallowed a fish bone, take a bone from the same fish and cough, and the demon retreats.
Hephesimireth, the thirty-first, causes lingering disease. Throw salt rubbed in the hand into oil, anoint the patient, and cry: "Seraphim, Cherubim, help me!"
Ichthion, the thirty-second, paralyzes muscles. Banished by: "Adonael, help!"
Agchonion, the thirty-third, lurks among swaddling-clothes. Write the word "Lycurgos" on fig leaves, then write it again removing one letter at a time — Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos, yrgos, gos, os — and the demon flees.
Autothith, the thirty-fourth, causes grudges and fighting. Defeated by writing the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
Phthenoth, the thirty-fifth, casts the evil eye on every man. Draw an eye that has suffered much, and the demon is defeated.
Thirty-five demons. Thirty-five confessions. Thirty-five angelic names. Solomon recorded them all — building the most detailed demonological catalog the ancient world had ever known.
The tenth said: "I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins
to ache. If I hear the words, 'Adônaêl, imprison Metathiax,'
I at once retreat."
The eleventh said: "I am called Katanikotaêl. I
create strife
[36]
and wrongs in men's homes, and send on them hard
temper. If any one would be at peace in his home, let him write
on seven leaves of laurel the name of the angel that frustrates
me, along with these names: Iae, Ieô, sons of Sabaôth,
in the name of the great God let him shut up Katanikotaêl.
Then let him wash the laurel-leaves in water, and sprinkle his
house with the water, from within to the outside. And at once
I retreat."
The twelfth said: "I am called Saphathoraél, and
I inspire partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to
stumble. If any one will write on paper these names of angels,
Iacô, Iealô, Iôelet, Sabaôth, Ithoth,
Bae, and having folded it up, wear it round his neck or against
his ear, I at once retreat and dissipate the drunken fit."
The thirteenth said: "I am called Bobêl (sic),
and I cause nervous illness by my assaults. If I hear the name
of the great 'Adonaêl, imprison Bothothêl,' I at once
retreat."
The fourteenth said: "I am called Kumeatêl, and
I inflict shivering fits and torpor. If only I hear the words:
'Zôrôêl, imprison Kumentaêl,' I at once
retreat."
The fifteenth said: "I am called Roêlêd.
I cause cold and frost and pain in the stomach. Let me only hear
the words: 'Iax, bide not, be not warmed, for Solomon is fairer
than eleven fathers,' I at [once] retreat."
The sixteenth said: "I am called Atrax. I inflict upon
men fevers, irremediable and harmful. If you would imprison me,
chop up coriander1 and smear it on the lips, reciting the following
charm: 'The fever which is from dirt. I exorcise thee by the throne
of the most high God, retreat from dirt and retreat from the creature
fashioned by God.' And at once I retreat."
1. Pliny, Nat. Hist. xx. 20, notes the same
use of coriander: "Seminis grana tria in tertianis devorari
iubent aliqui ante accessionem, vel plura illini fronti."
The Testament evidently belongs to Pliny's age.
The seventeenth said: "I am called Ieropaêl. On
the stomach of men I sit, and cause convulsions in the bath and
in the road; and wherever I be found, or find a man, I throw him
down. But if any one will say to the afflicted into their ear
these names, three times over, into the right ear: 'Iudarizê,
Sabunê, Denôê,' I at once retreat."
The eighteenth said: "I am called Buldumêch. I
separate wife from husband and bring about a grudge between them.
If any one write down the names of thy sires, Solomon, on paper
and place it in the ante-chamber of his house, I retreat thence.
And the legend written shall be as follows: 'The God of Abram,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands thee -- retire
from this house in peace.' And I at once retire."
[37]
The nineteenth said: "I am called Naôth, and I
take my seat on the knees of men. If any one write on paper: 'Phnunoboêol,
depart Nathath, and touch thou not the neck,' I at once retreat."
The twentieth said: "I am called Marderô. I send
on men incurable fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book:
'Sphênêr, Rafael, retire, drag me not about, flay
me not,' and tie it round his neck, I at once retreat."
The twenty-first said: "I am called Alath, and I cause
coughing and hard-breathing in children. If any one write on paper:
'Rorêx, do thou pursue Alath,' and fasten it round his neck,
I at once retire...1"
1. There must here be a lacuna in the text.
The twenty-third said: "I am called Nefthada. I cause
the reins to ache, and I bring about dysury. If any one write
on a plate of tin the words: 'Iathôth, Uruêl, Nephthada,'
and fasten it round the loins, I at once retreat."
The twenty-fourth said: "I am called Akton. I cause ribs
and lumbic muscles to ache. If one engrave on copper material,
taken from a ship which has missed its anchorage, this: 'Marmaraôth,
Sabaôth, pursue Akton,' and fasten it round the loin, I
at once retreat."
The twenty-fifth said: "I am called Anatreth, and I rend
burnings and fevers into the entrails. But if I hear: 'Arara,
Charara,' instantly do I retreat."
The twenty-sixth said: "I am called Enenuth. I steal
away men's minds, and change their hearts, and make a man toothless
(?). If one write: 'Allazoôl, pursue Enenuth,' and tie the
paper round him, I at once retreat."
The twenty-seventh said: "I am called Phêth. I
make men consumptive and cause hemorrhagia. ,If one exorcise me
in wine, sweet-smelling and unmixed by the eleventh aeon1,
and say: 'I exorcise thee by the eleventh aeon to stop, I demand,
Phêth (Axiôphêth),' then give it to the patient
to drink, and I at once retreat."
1. A Gnostic reference. Just above "eleven
fathers" were mentioned.
The twenty-eighth said: "I am called Harpax, and I send
sleeplessness on men. If one write 'Kokphnêdismos,' and
bind it round the temples, I at once retire."
The twenty-ninth said: "I am called Anostêr. I
engender uterine mania and pains in the bladder. If one powder
into pure oil three seeds of laurel and smear it on, saying: 'I
exorcise thee, Anostêr. Stop by Marmaraô,' at once
I retreat."
The thirtieth said: "I am called Alleborith. If in eating
[38]
fish one has swallowed a bone, then he must take a bone from the
fish and cough, and at once I retreat."
The thirty-first said: "I am called Hephesimireth, and
cause lingering disease. If you throw salt, rubbed in the hand,
into oil and smear it on the patient, saying: 'Seraphim, Cherubim,
help me!' I at once retire."
The thirty-second said: "I am called Ichthion. I paralyze
muscles and contuse them. If I hear 'Adonaêth, help!' I
at once retire."
The thirty-third said: "I am called Agchoniôn.
I lie among swaddling-clothes and in the precipice. And if any
one write on fig-leaves 'Lycurgos,' taking away one letter at
a time, and write it, reversing the letters, I retire at once.
'Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos, yrgos, gos, os1.'"
1. botrydón, for which Bornemann conjectures
boystrofydón. There is a parallel in a magic papyrus
edited by Dieterich (Abraxas, p. 185).
The thirty-fourth said: "I am called Autothith. I cause
grudges and fighting. Therefore I am frustrated by Alpha and Omega,
if written down."
The thirty-fifth said: "I am called Phthenoth. I cast
evil eye on every man. Therefore, the eye much-suffering, if it
be drawn. frustrates me."
