Three Books of Occult Philosophy · 182 of 186

Book III, Ch. 61: How these things must be performed, as to God, so as to inferiour dieties

Every Adoration therefore, oblation, or sacrifice, deprecation, invocation, are differenced thus, viz. either because they are made to God only, or to inferiour dieties [deities], as angels, Stars, Heroes. In these therefore such rules are to be observed, that when any prayer is to be offered to God alone for the obtaining of any effect, it must be done with the commemoration of some work, miracle, sacrament, or promise, taken somewhere out of Scripture; as if there be a deprecation made for the destruction of enemies, let it be commemorated that God destroyed the Giants in the deluge of waters, and the builders of Babel in the confusion of tongues, Sodom, and Gomorrha in raining of fire, the host of Pharaoh in the Red-sea, and the like; adding to those some malediction out of the Psalms, or such as may be gathered out of other places of scripture. In like manner when we are to deprecate against dangers of waters, let us commemorate the saving of Noah in the flood; the passing of the children of Israel through the Red-sea, and Christ walking dryshod upon the waters, and saving a ship from shipwrack [shipwreck], commanding the winds and waves, and lifting up Peter sinking in the waves of the sea, and such like. But if a prayer be necessary for obtaining Oracles, or dreames, whether it be to God, Angels, or Heros, there are many places offer themselves out of the old testament, where God is said to talk with men, promising in very many places Presages, and Revelations, besides the propheticall dreams of Jacob, Joseph, Pharaoh, Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, in the old Testament, and the Revelation of John, Paul, in the new; also of holy Magicians, as Helen, Constantine and Charles; also of later Prophets, as Methedius, Cyrillus, Joachim, Merlin, Brigitta, Mechtindis, Hildegardis, the dieties [deities] of whom being piously invocated, render us oftentimes partakers of divine Revelations. Moreover we must invocate the sacred names of God, but those especially, which are significative of the thing desired, or any way applicable to it; as for the destruction of enemies we must invocate the name of Gods wrath, of the revenge of God, fear of God, justice of God, fortitude of God: but for the avoiding of any danger we most invocate the names of pity, defence, salvation, goodness, and the like. Moreover we must petition for and to the effecters of the thing desired, viz. such an Angel, Star or Heroe on whom that office lies, but observing that our invocation on them must be made with due number, weight, and measure, and according to the rules delivered concerning inchantments [enchantments]. For betwixt these there is no difference, but that inchantments are such as affect our mind, disposing the Passions thereof into a conformity to certain dieties [deities]; but prayers are such as are exhibited to any diety [deity] by way of worship, and veneration; and from the same root also may the manner of consecrations be taken, of which we shall in the next place speak.