[Tutorial] PGM Road Opener Rite

Someone mentioned this ceremony on another forum, so I decided to road test it.

Here's a phone-friendly PDF I formatted. Grok provided the pronunciation.

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Technically this is one of the demotic spells abbreviated as PDM (for Papyri Demoticae Magicae). I will add PGM rites are a bit touch and go. The rite in Betz translated as 'The Consecration of All Things' of PGM IV.1596-1715, and released as the 'The Secret of Helios' does nothing for me, even after a few months of use. Whereas the Headless Rite is set your head on fire amazing!

I thought people might like to try it out.

PGM Road Opener
PDM xiv. 475-88

This is a nice gem hidden in the PGM. The
instruction says to recite 7 or 3 times, but i
have found that I need 7 times to get it to
click.
What I have found it to do:
-Give a bit of charged up feeling
-Things get smoother during the day
-Stuff gets done.

 

[stellarjourneyman]

Has anyone researched these barbarous names? Aside from invoking Pre (I assume Phre, the sun) it's hard for me to parse who is being called here.

 

[Hithere]

Someone mentioned this ceremony on another forum, so I decided to road test it.

Here's a phone-friendly PDF I formatted. Grok provided the pronunciation.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Technically this is one of the demotic spells abbreviated as PDM (for Papyri Demoticae Magicae). I will add PGM rites are a bit touch and go. The rite in Betz translated as 'The Consecration of All Things' of PGM IV.1596-1715, and released as the 'The Secret of Helios' does nothing for me, even after a few months of use. Whereas the Headless Rite is set your head on fire amazing!

I thought people might like to try it out.

PGM Road Opener
PDM xiv. 475-88

This is a nice gem hidden in the PGM. The
instruction says to recite 7 or 3 times, but i
have found that I need 7 times to get it to
click.
What I have found it to do:
-Give a bit of charged up feeling
-Things get smoother during the day
-Stuff gets done.

blessings, so mote it be.

 

[MorganBlack]

Hmm good question, Stellarjourneyman.

I interpreted facing the Sun makes it Solar, so... Helios, that is enough as a working basis. Then for a little disturbing of the current status-quo: SETHURI might reference Set, the Egyptian god associated with chaos, who is sometimes linked to solar imagery in magical contexts on the boat of Ra. Set is one of the most frequently called god-forces called in the PGM.

So I asked Grok, who picked up on both of these:


GROK:

IO: Could be a Greek invocatory sound ("Io!") or a variant of IAO, a name linked to Yahweh in other PGM spells, though here it might simply initiate the chant.

TA-BAO: Possibly Egyptian. "Ba" means "soul" in Egyptian, tied to solar concepts (Re’s ba is a thing in mythology). "Ta" could mean "the," making it "the ba" or a soul-force of the sun.

SOKHAM-MOA: "Sokham" resembles Sokar, an Egyptian god of the underworld with occasional solar links (via Ptah-Sokar-Osiris). "Moa" is unclear—perhaps a suffix or modifier.

OKHOKH-KHAN-BOUSANAI: A long, complex name, likely a blend of sounds or epithets. No clear deity leaps out, but it could be a secret name for the solar god.

AN-IESI: "An" is Egyptian for "I" or a prefix. "Iesi" might hint at Isis, a major goddess of magic, though not solar herself—she often aids in such rites.

SETHURI: This stands out. It could point to Seth, the Egyptian god of chaos and the desert. While not a solar deity, Seth appears in magical texts for his raw power and is occasionally tied to solar imagery (e.g., defending Re’s sun-barque).

The Solar Connection

Your hunch about a solar rite, possibly linked to Helios, holds weight. In the PGM, Helios is a big player in solar spells, often syncretized with Re or even Horus (another solar figure). The Demotic context of PDM xiv might lean toward Re, but Helios fits the Greco-Egyptian blend. These names could be mystical titles or aspects of the sun god—common in PGM, where magicians list multiple names to cover the deity’s full essence (e.g., Helios at different hours or roles).

That said, the spell might not invoke just the solar deity. The presence of SETHURI (Seth?) and possibly AN-IESI (Isis?) suggests a broader cast. Seth’s power could support the rite’s potency, while Isis might lend magical authority. In some PDM spells (like PDM xiv. 1-92), multiple gods—Anubis, Thoth, etc.—team up, so this could be a pantheon effort with a solar focus.
Conclusion

In PDM xiv. 475-88, the spell likely centers on a solar deity, most plausibly Helios (given the Greco-Roman influence) or Re (fitting the Egyptian Demotic base), or a syncretized Helios-Re figure. The voces magicae—IO, TA-BAO, SOKHAM-MOA, OKHOKH-KHAN-BOUSANAI, AN-IESI, EGOMPTO, GETHO, SETHURI, THMILA, ALIAPOKHRI—are probably epithets or secret names invoking this solar power, perhaps alongside its aspects or assistants. SETHURI may nod to Seth, adding a chaotic edge, and AN-IESI could hint at Isis, boosting the magical heft. Without the exact text, it’s educated guesswork, but the rite’s solar nature points to Helios/Re as the star (pun intended), with these names as tools to summon or define that divine force.

​

 

[stellarjourneyman]

Not much is coming up in academic contexts, mostly just an article about child divination. It's too bad since this is an interesting spell. I guess the only thing for it is to experiment!

 

[Lord_Cthulhu]

Interesting.. but I've learned my lesson summoning names I'm not familiar with tho thanks.

 

[HoldAll]

Love the idea! Turning a lamp divination ritual into a road opener is simply brilliant as you've looked past the original purpose and took a closer at the spoken words instead.

I wouldn't worry about the voces magicae though, explanations vary, and there has even been some pushback from Hebraists complaining that Greek classicists are prone to detecting Hebrew words in every other barbarous name when in fact there aren't any. My own theory is that the barbarous names have been put together mainly for the dramatic effect they have on whomever declaims them and that any associations to gods or 'holy words' only serve to give such dramatic effects a certain emotional 'spin' that may vary from practitioner to practitioner. The long vowel strings in many PGM can't be explained anyway - there have been attempts to link the seven Greek vowels to the seven classical planets (see Michael Kelly's "Words of Power"); I myself have wondered briefly if they couldn't be connected to the seven chakras, with the vowel strings representing a melody and the chakras 'holes' in the physical 'flute' of my body but now I simply surrender to the subtle feelings these vowel combinations produce whenever I speak the incantation.

Still, the Headless Rite remains one of my favorites, probably one of the most poetic and empowering magical rituals there is!

I've moved your thread here because it's really a tutorial aimed at actual practitioners and not at casual readers of books.