One of the oldest and most significant sets of voces magicae (a term used for magical words of unknown meaning and origin) was the Ephesian Letters or Characters, a group of six words. These words were askion, kataskion, lix, tetrax, damnameneus and aision(or aisia). We cannot be absolutely certain whether the Ephesian Letters were specifically connected with Hekate, though from the evidence it does seem likely. Their first known appearance was in a Mycenaean inscription from the fifth century BCE. The Ephesian Letters occur a number of times in the Greek Magical Papyri in charms which call on Hekate. Thus the first two of the Ephesian Letters were used in a Hekate charm associated with initiation (PGM LXX.12) as part of a string of voces magicae, being: “Askei Kataskei Eron Oreon Ior Mega Samnyer Baui Phobantia Semne.” The fifth word, damnameneia, was used in the Bear Charm, which included reference to Hekate as Brimo (PGM VII.686-702). A second-third century CE lead defixione tablet to Hekate as torch bearer of the crossroads also uses this word repeatedly (SM 49). An early fragmentary protective charm on a lead tablet from Phalasarna on Crete included the Ephesian Letters with phrases indicative of Hekate like ‘She-wolf’. It is also interesting to note that they are called the Orphic Formula in the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM VII.451). Considering the connections between Hekate and the Orphic Mysteries, this is another hint which suggests a specific ritual connection with Hekate and these words. The Ephesian Letters were also referred to by the Greek poet Anaxilas in his lost fourth century BCE play The Harp Maker, when he wrote “[unnamed person] carries around marvellous Ephesian letters in sewn pouches.” Various qualities were attributed to the Ephesian Letters, including endowing the wearer with great power (particularly wrestlers as described in Eustathius, Photius and the Suda) and protecting newly married couples (mentioned by Menander, fragment 371). It should also be noted that when Plutarch commented on the powers of the Ephesian Letters (Moralia 706E), he referred to daimones, who were specifically under the rule of Hekate: “For just as sorcerers advise those possessed by daimones to recite and name over to themselves the Ephesian letters.” The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria, who was well known for being the teacher of the theologian Origen, recorded suggested meanings for the Ephesian Letters in his workStromata (Miscellanies) in the early third century CE: “Androkydes the Pythagorean, indeed, says that the so-called Ephesian letters, which were well-known among many, were of the order of symbols. And he said that Askion is darkness, for this has no shadow; and Kataskion is light, since it casts a shadow with its rays; and Lix is the earth, according to the ancient name; and Tetrax is the year, according to the seasons; and Damnameneus is the sun, the tamer; and Aisia is the true word. And truly the symbol signifies that the divine things have been set in order: darkness to light, the sun to the year, the earth to every kind of genesis of nature.”
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 00:40:26 +0000
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