The seven Olympic spirits
The Arbatel, printed at Basel in 1575, names seven governors of the world, one for each planet, and says when to call them: at sunrise, on the day that is theirs. Enter a date and a place.
The seven governors
| Governor | Planet | His day | Provinces | What the text says of him |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aratron | Saturn | Saturday | 49 | teaches “Alchymy, Magick, and Physick”; “the barren he maketh fruitful, and giveth long life”; “causeth one to bee invisible” |
| Bethor | Jupiter | Thursday | 42 | “he soon cometh being called”; raises “to very great dignities”; prolongs life “if God will” |
| Phaleg | Mars | Tuesday | 35 | “the Prince of peace”; raises “to great honours in warlike affaires” |
| Och | the Sun | Sunday | 28 | “bestoweth great wisdom”, “teacheth perfect Medicines”; gives health and gold |
| Hagith | Venus | Friday | 21 | makes “very fair” the one dignified with his character; gives spirits “which do faithfully serve” |
| Ophiel | Mercury | Wednesday | 14 | “he teacheth all Arts”; “he easily giveth Familiar Spirits” |
| Phul | the Moon | Monday | 7 | “governeth Lunary things; healeth the dropsie”; gives “spirits of the water” |
How the Arbatel says to call them
The moment. “When you would call any of the Olympick Spirits, observe the rising of the Sun that day, and of what nature the Spirit is which you desire” (aphorism 21). Aratron “appeareth in the first hour of Saturday”; “so likewise do the rest appear in order in their days and hours” (aph. 16).
The prayer. “Omnipotent and eternal God, who hast ordained the whole creation for thy praise and glory, and for the salvation of man, I beseech thee that thou wouldst send thy Spirit N. of the solar order, who shall inform and teach me those things which I shall ask of him […]. Nevertheless not my will be done, but thine, through Jesus Christ thy onely begotten Son, our Lord. Amen.”
The length. “But thou shalt not detain the Spirit above a full hour” (aph. 21).
The licence to depart. “Forasmuch as thou camest in peace, and quietly, and hast answered unto my petitions; I give thanks unto God, in whose Name thou camest: and now thou mayest depart in peace unto thy orders; and return to me again when I shall call thee by thy name, or by thy order, or by thy office, which is granted from the Creator. Amen.”
By the office, not by the name. The text warns that names are effectual only when revealed to the one who uses them. “Therefore it is most safe for the young practisers of Art, that they work by the offices of the Spirits alone, without their names” (aph. 18).
What one must be. “There is no greater hinderance then a wavering minde, levity, unconstancy, foolish babbling, drunkenness, lusts, and disobedience to the word of God” (aph. 20). And it is here that the Arbatel sets its best-known sentence: the true magician “is brought forth a Magician from his mothers womb” (aph. 17). That is the question of the Magus degree test.
The limit. An Olympic spirit “can bring forth nothing into action, unless he be permitted by the Divine power” (aph. 15). The whole book is a prayer: the magic of the Arbatel is asked of God, not commanded.
Under which governor do we live?
Each of the seven, the text says, rules 490 years: Bethor from 60 BC to 430, Phaleg to 920, Och to 1410, “and thenceforth Hagith ruleth untill the year 1900” (aph. 16). The text stops there. Continuing its rule, the next is Ophiel, the governor of Mercury, from 1900 to 2390: the one who “teacheth all Arts”.
What is the text’s, and what is ours
The governors, their planets, their offices, the call at sunrise and the prayers are the Arbatel’s, in Robert Turner’s translation (London, 1655). The day of each, Saturday apart, follows from his planet; the hours after the first and the reign after 1900 are our reckoning. The “characters” — the signs the text attaches to each governor — are not reproduced here.
We report a text of 1575. We promise no effect, and nothing here replaces medical, psychological or financial advice. The calculation runs in your browser; nothing is sent.
The notebook of the seven governors — US$19
For your town, the seven days ahead: the governor of each day, the sunrise to the minute and his four hours; the governor of the day you were born; the three prayers in full; the seven precepts and the seven greatest secrets of the Arbatel. Emailed within 24 hours; you pay after you have received it.