The Picatrix
or Ghayat al Hikam,
the Aim of the Wise, was composed in Arabic circa AD 1000 and translated into
Latin at the court of Alphonso the Wise of Castile in AD 1256. It is a
key work of for medieval and Renaissance
astrological magic.
The invocations of Mercury
translated below are from Picatrix, Book III, chapter 7, which as the
late David Pingree notes, "describe the private rituals of the Harranian Sabians..."
"Some Source of the Ghayat al-Hakim" Journal of the Warburg & Courtauld Institute,
vol 43 (1980) at 12. We are privileged to have the translation of these invocations
by Nigel Jackson, a leading contemporary mage, artist and esoteric researcher.
INVOCATION OF MERCURY
Picatrix, Book III, Chapter 7,
translated by Nigel Jackson
Mercury, noble lord, you who are
truthful, sensible, intelligent,
you who, like the scribes, know and spread arithmetic, calculation,
the science of the heavens and the earth! You are a noble lord, a master
who supports and understands subtly the measured joy, riches, trade, profits,
the profound significations.
To whom is due all prophecies of
prophets and their meanings, reasoning, theory,
the apprehension of diverse sciences, of subtlety, intellect, philosophy, geometry,
of the sciences of heaven and earth, divination, geomancy, poesy, of writing, eloquence,
intellectual agility, of the depth in all the teachings and in all the actions, of
aptitude, of the changing of one affair to another, of deception, to render oneself
pure and sincere, of perseverance, of aiding men, and of comporting oneself well
toward them, of forgiveness, of intelligence, of tranquillity, of averting wickedness,
of good religion in the regard of God and of the law in regard to men, it is you who
organize all these and of them are the significator.
You who are masked, by your
subtlety, so that your nature is not able to be known nor your effects determined
for certain. You are favourable with the favourable planets and unfavourable with
the unfavourable planets, masculine with males and feminine with females, with the
diurnal stars diurnal and nocturnal with the nocturnal, in accord with them in all
their natures. You model yourself on them in all their forms, and you transform
yourself into all their qualities.
I pray and invoke you by all your names:
Hotarit in Arabian, Mercury in Latin, Haruz in Roman, Tyr
in Phoenician, Meda
in Indian. I conjure you in the first place, by the Lord, the God of Greatness,
who is the master of the firmament and of the great and high realm.
I conjure you by Him to favourably
receive my request, to realise for me that
which I ask of you, to pour on me the powers of your spirit, so that I am made
strong, that I be made effective to realise my wish, so that I am capable and
prepared to apprehend the sciences and the wisdoms.
C ause me to be liked and to be well
received by kings and men of exalted office,
make it so that I am highly placed and honoured of all men, in the secret
confidence of the kings so that they value me, agreeing fully with my words,
having need of me and asking of my knowledge and wisdom as regards revenues,
arithmetic, astrology and divination. Act in my regard and dispose me so that
I am able to benefit from these who precede, so that I can receive wealth,
honours, and excellence before kings, those in high places and all men.
It is why I conjure you by Arquyl,
the Angel that God has placed with you
to carry out your actions and operations, to carry out my request, to grant
my prayer, to pay attention to my supplications and to carry them out. I ask
you to help me of your spirit, to strengthen me, to bind me in amity with
kings by the grace of your spirit and your power and that I attain, by your
virtue, to science and wisdom; so that you assist me by your aid to grasp
that which I do not know, to comprehend that which I do not comprehend and
to see that which I do not see.
Keep away from me of necessity,
that which diminishes intelligence and gives
rise to forgetfulness, keep from me feebleness, so that I can attain the
standard of the superior sages of yore, who naturally by their spirit and
their heart, acquired knowledge and intellect. Send to my spirit your power
and your spirit, so that it exalts me, makes me attain the aforesaid state
and directs me in knowledge, wisdoms and in all my actions, so that I have
the grace and the capacity to serve kings and men of high station, and that
I acquire in this manner riches and treasures; accomplish this request swiftly
for me.
For my part, I conjure you by the Lord God,
master of the high firmament
and puissant kingdom, to gather my demand and to carry out effectively all the
requests I address to you.
DIRECTIONAL SPIRITS OF
MERCURY
Picatrix, Book III, Chapter 9,
translated by Nigel Jackson
Barhuyex, Emirex, Hamerix, Sehix, Deryx, Meyer,
Deherix, Baix, Faurix; scribe, Mercury! Come swiftly with your spirits!
The name which includes the spirits of Mercury is
Merhuyez, that of its spirit in the height is Amirez, that in the depth Hytyz,
that to the right hand side Cehuz , that to the left Deriz, that of the front
Maylez, Dehedyz behind: that of his movement in the heavens and its progression
in the signs is Mehendiz. The name which includes all these preceding
(it is so to speak the radix and the type of all those preceding)
is Merhuyez, named above.