Hades Rituals and Spellwork

[persepholloway]

Howdy, ya’ll!

I did the good deed for my friend for Yule by asking about his stuff, so now it’s my turn ;p

These days, I primarily work with chthonic entities. Most of what I’ve found has been primarily focused on Hekate, which is great, but for obvious reasons (my name nonwithstanding) I would really love to work with more Hades-centric stuff.

I’m definitely going to create my own rituals, but if there are any existing, I’d love to see what’s out there and use them as starting points.

Any recommendations?

The Orphic Hymns are first on my list to read into, of course.

 

[boymatmat]

Unfortunately there are not many historical sources or grimoires related and focused to ancient hellenic ritual practices (like magic and sorcery) apart from the PGM and a few other manuscripts that you can count on the fingers of your hand(s) , there is a definitely a "new" modern witchcraft current that is focused on Hellenism and it's Gods but that is not strictly linked or related to historical magical reconstructionism with its ancient practices, it's somewhere in the middle between the two

Here are some books about this Modern Witchcraft Current that I can suggest :

- Strix Craft: Ancient Greek Magic for the Modern Witch

- Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods: History, Insights & Magickal Practice by Jason Mankey and Astrea Taylor

- Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today by Jason Mankey

Hellenic Polytheism : Household Worship is a worthwhile read too , with a more Traditional Historical Recostructionist approach.

Talking about Hades and possible related rituals to him I suggest you to also look into The Eleusinian Mysteries, there are a few reconstructionist approaches that try to reconstruct what happened during the mysteries

Try looking into Homeric and Orphic hymns aswell as the Thessalian Oracles and the Chaldean Oracles, Curse tablets sometimes referenced Hades too

 

[Pyrokar]

Maybe Greek Magical Papyri

 

[HoldAll]

Maybe Greek Magical Papyri

Nothing in the PGM as far as I can tell, Hades is more treated like a specific realm, not like a separate entity.

Post automatically merged: Dec 22, 2023

There is a Hades ritual in "Modern Witchcraft with the Greek Gods", the other books don't have all that much information. It seems the ancient Greeks (and even the gods) were afraid of him, so nobody ever thought of building a temple to him.

 

[persepholloway]

I know I’m a weird exception but he’s just not that scary to me… I don’t get it haha but fair. Some folks have a hard time with the idea of
impermanence and I guess the ancient Greeks really did.

It’s actually fun because I’m getting to write my own rituals so that’s exciting.

 

[Pyrokar]

Sure there is, such a people would never ignore Death's place in the world.

And whaddaya know two searches later there is an "Nekromanteion" which was a temple to Hades and Persephone and the dead.
also a little bit about necromancy looked for them, and how they would raise these temples of the dead in connection to the river Acheron
I had a glimpse of more detailed pages but they were not in English.

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there 100% is resources on the subject it's a matter of digging, and probably language.

i see you vandy. <3 stay mad

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Vandheer said nada, not sure why youre trying to get him riled up.
I agree, PGM or maybe Olympic Pathworkings,

 

[persepholloway]

Who is vandy- sorry lol, new here

 

[Vandheer]

Indeed @Pyrokar perhaps you could explain why you mentioned me in a thread I have not commented on whatsoever?

 

[Konsciencia]

I know I’m a weird exception but he’s just not that scary to me… I don’t get it haha but fair. Some folks have a hard time with the idea of
impermanence and I guess the ancient Greeks really did.

It’s actually fun because I’m getting to write my own rituals so that’s exciting.

I never heard of someone writing their own ritual. That's far-out Punk Rock!

 

[pixel_fortune]

I never heard of someone writing their own ritual.

I think we keep it on the down-low because there's a subset of internet occultists who get mad about it (on Reddit, seems much rarer here)

If you're looking for advice, you're better off just referring to your plans as "a ritual" so your thread doesn't get filled up with
"I'm sorry but that's NOT Golden Dawn and it's wildly irresponsible for you to be doing that so I cannot in good conscience give you any suggestions except to stop immediately and go do the LBRP for another year"

Post automatically merged: Dec 22, 2023

I know I’m a weird exception but he’s just not that scary to me

It's not necessarily because of viewing the deity as scary. It could be that, because he's synonymous with the underworld as a place, he's viewed as too impersonal to address directly

It could also be that he's too high up. Lots of Sumerian prayers are addressed to the lesser-known consort of the powerful god. I imagine this comes out of how women got stuff done in that era. You didn't go talk to the powerful guy directly, you went and had a cup of tea with his wife and slipped hints about whether she could influence her husband on this problem you're having. (But then some very powerful gods are addressed directly, so it's not consistent, at least at this distance)

It could also be that those rituals existed but have been lost to history.

Another reason is that rituals often re-enact myths in a way that applies to the problem the supplicant is having.
So to cure a snakebite, you might perform a ritual about the time Isis created a snake to bite Amun(I think?), and then refused to draw the snake venom out of the wound until he gave her secret information.

Anything involving renewing or rebirth would obviously be good for healing too.

So it's possible Hades doesn't have myths that work well as analogies for the everyday problems Ancient Greeks were having

(This is all very general frameworks for understanding ancient ritual, I don't know anything specific about why there aren't rituals involving Hades, so I could be way off)

 

[Roma]

If Hades refers to the underworld, then it is described in quite a few cultures.

The Sumerian account is quite detailed. After Inanna is killed in the underworld:

"Upon the corpse hung from a stake direct the fear of the rays of fire,
Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, sprinkle upon it,
Verily Inanna will arise."

. . . (twenty-four(?) lines destroyed) p. 95

Upon the corpse hung from a stake they directed the fear of the rays of fire,
Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, they sprinkled upon it,
Inanna arose.

Inanna ascends from the nether world, The Anunnaki fled,"

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The food of life and the water of life appear in the Christian ritual but are not used 60 times.

The "fear of the rays of fire" does not appear in modern rituals afaik

 

[pixel_fortune]

If Hades refers to the underworld,

I think @persepholloway was looking for rituals or hymns involving Hades the deity, not the underworld as a place, if you know of any? (I got nothing)

Oh wait, in the elemental balancing section of Helios Unbound, there's a brief ritual to Hades. I'm not sure it'll be much use, and I think the wording is taken from the Orphic hymn anyway, but I'll post it below:

(Helios Unbound is a pagan process for connecting with your Holy Guardian Angel, called in this the Higher Genius - that's why this ritual includes a sun invocation and solar breath (pore breathing solar energy into tiphareth). In Month Two, you do an earth-balancing ritual invoking Hera every day for a week, a water-balancing ritual invoking Persephone every day for a week, an air-balancing ritual invoking Zeus every day for a week, and this fire-balancing ritual invoking Hades:

Week Four

1. Inscribe a red candle from top down with the sign of Leo, Zorothion, your name, Hades and a Fire triangle. {Zorothion is a Coptic egyptian fire elemental word]
2. Draw a banishing pentagram in front of it and say:
   
   "Creature of Wax, I exorcise you so that you will be a perfect sacrifice to the gods of the element of Fire so that I might better manifest the of this element in my life and be a more aware channel powers for my Higher Genius. As you are sacrificed so shall the elemental blocks and barriers which prevent this happening be removed."
   
   
3. Place the candle on the triangle on your altar and wash yourself as you did last month.
4. Invoke the Sun for that time of day.
5. Commence the solar breath for five minutes.
6. Perform your confession.
7. Go northeast and say,

The purpose of this ritual if it pleases the divine triad is to awaken in my sphere of sensation the powers of the element of Fire so that I might manifest these powers for my Higher Genius and that these will help me to awaken to my spiritual self.

Open the quarters in the element of Fire (in all four quarters using the supreme pentagram ritual). If the Fire element is over powered in your chart do not use the pentagrams but stand in each quarter and vibrate the names.
Purify and consecrate (as last month). Invoke Hades as the King of the Fire:

Magnanimous Hades whose Kingdom is below the earth, You are wrapped forever in the depths of night.
Zeus Khthonios with the keys to the Earth you unlock the Fires of Vulcan upon which all matter is tested.
You bring forth riches of the world and are the throne of creation.
Distant, unknown, surrounded by pale ghosts and the shrouds of the dead.

In Akheron's obscure depths you hold the flames hidden within everything.
The life animating, burning, and creating. Awaken your powers within me, raise your Fire spirits to help me manifest my Higher Genius' elemental power over Fire.
I offer you this sacrifice in the hope that you will assist me to awaken to my true self.

Light candle and meditate.

---

haha okay having written that out... I really doubt it's going to be much help. Hopefully someone else can provide!!

 

[Roma]

looking for rituals or hymns involving Hades the deity

My question is whether the supervisor is more important than the functionality of the place

Is the bus driver more important than the bus ride?

 

[pixel_fortune]

My question is whether the supervisor is more important than the functionality of the place

Is the bus driver more important than the bus ride?

That's an interesting philosophical question, but not the help OP was requesting

"Can you drive me to the airport on Saturday?"
"The real question is, should you be travelling at all, or is what you're seeking found within you?"

 

[Pyrokar]

Yeah dude my bad. Solemn apologies, meaning Vandheer.

Also to come back in style, you are wrong about the Greek Magical Papyri.
As i had taken a dive to find the temple so too i dived for Hades,results vary because no one likes Hades apparently.

"Yes Hades is indeed mentioned in the GMP. As the God of the underworld in Greek mythology,
Hades often appears in these texts in the context of magical invocations or rituals related to
death, spirits, and the afterlife. The papyri often contain spells or instructions on how to communicate
with or appease Hades and other underworld deities. Additionaly Hades is sometimes invoked for protection
or assistance in matters related to the dead or the underworld journey. TGMP provide interesting insights
into the role and significance of Hades in magical and religious practices of the time"

That's two out of two.
So im gonna call it while im ahead and say "Mic drop"

 

[Vandheer]

All good mate. Let's just move on, whatever disagreement happened, happened two weeks ago.

 

[HoldAll]

Yeah dude my bad. Solemn apologies, meaning Vandheer.

Also to come back in style, you are wrong about the Greek Magical Papyri.
As i had taken a dive to find the temple so too i dived for Hades,results vary because no one likes Hades apparently.

"Yes Hades is indeed mentioned in the GMP. As the God of the underworld in Greek mythology,
Hades often appears in these texts in the context of magical invocations or rituals related to
death, spirits, and the afterlife. The papyri often contain spells or instructions on how to communicate
with or appease Hades and other underworld deities. Additionaly Hades is sometimes invoked for protection
or assistance in matters related to the dead or the underworld journey. TGMP provide interesting insights
into the role and significance of Hades in magical and religious practices of the time"

That's two out of two.
So im gonna call it while im ahead and say "Mic drop"

Bummer. I simply did a quick word search to the Betz translation, concluded that "Hades" in the PGM only signified the realm and not the deity, and that was it. Then it would seem that there were shrines to Hades after all, and maybe even ancient Greek goths. Last time I seriously studied Greek mythology when I was given a book with ancient Greek legends as a boy. Time to re-evaluate and re-educate myself.

 

[Pyrokar]

well that just makes me sad.

Time to re-evaluate and re-educate myself.

jesus nah man chill stop wait. we were supposed to fight ..... look no. please.
we were supposed to clash of the titans this thing
i even had a mean girls line, something like "what am i? the librarian?"

im gonna be real with you dawg i just chtgpt-ed that sh**
and, i was bluffing at temples
but i struck out that he's mentioned (apparently) in the thing,
which plotwist i know nothing about either. (still won babyyyyyyyy)

you guys are being awkwardly nice and menacingly humble and
i don't like it.
maybe . i got carried away a little.

and maybe we will never mention that none of it had anything to do with the op question.
in fact. if you think about it. it's all their fault.

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2023

seriously,though it's several posts of clutter, ill take a strike
or whatever, it's fair.

 

[persepholloway]

Bummer. I simply did a quick word search to the Betz translation, concluded that "Hades" in the PGM only signified the realm and not the deity, and that was it. Then it would seem that there were shrines to Hades after all, and maybe even ancient Greek goths. Last time I seriously studied Greek mythology when I was given a book with ancient Greek legends as a boy. Time to re-evaluate and re-educate myself.

I’m all about Ancient Greek goths.

Post automatically merged: Dec 25, 2023

I think @persepholloway was looking for rituals or hymns involving Hades the deity, not the underworld as a place, if you know of any? (I got nothing)

Oh wait, in the elemental balancing section of Helios Unbound, there's a brief ritual to Hades. I'm not sure it'll be much use, and I think the wording is taken from the Orphic hymn anyway, but I'll post it below:

(Helios Unbound is a pagan process for connecting with your Holy Guardian Angel, called in this the Higher Genius - that's why this ritual includes a sun invocation and solar breath (pore breathing solar energy into tiphareth). In Month Two, you do an earth-balancing ritual invoking Hera every day for a week, a water-balancing ritual invoking Persephone every day for a week, an air-balancing ritual invoking Zeus every day for a week, and this fire-balancing ritual invoking Hades:

Week Four

1. Inscribe a red candle from top down with the sign of Leo, Zorothion, your name, Hades and a Fire triangle. {Zorothion is a Coptic egyptian fire elemental word]
2. Draw a banishing pentagram in front of it and say:
   
   "Creature of Wax, I exorcise you so that you will be a perfect sacrifice to the gods of the element of Fire so that I might better manifest the of this element in my life and be a more aware channel powers for my Higher Genius. As you are sacrificed so shall the elemental blocks and barriers which prevent this happening be removed."
   
   
3. Place the candle on the triangle on your altar and wash yourself as you did last month.
4. Invoke the Sun for that time of day.
5. Commence the solar breath for five minutes.
6. Perform your confession.
7. Go northeast and say,

The purpose of this ritual if it pleases the divine triad is to awaken in my sphere of sensation the powers of the element of Fire so that I might manifest these powers for my Higher Genius and that these will help me to awaken to my spiritual self.

Open the quarters in the element of Fire (in all four quarters using the supreme pentagram ritual). If the Fire element is over powered in your chart do not use the pentagrams but stand in each quarter and vibrate the names.
Purify and consecrate (as last month). Invoke Hades as the King of the Fire:

Magnanimous Hades whose Kingdom is below the earth, You are wrapped forever in the depths of night.
Zeus Khthonios with the keys to the Earth you unlock the Fires of Vulcan upon which all matter is tested.
You bring forth riches of the world and are the throne of creation.
Distant, unknown, surrounded by pale ghosts and the shrouds of the dead.

In Akheron's obscure depths you hold the flames hidden within everything.
The life animating, burning, and creating. Awaken your powers within me, raise your Fire spirits to help me manifest my Higher Genius' elemental power over Fire.
I offer you this sacrifice in the hope that you will assist me to awaken to my true self.

Light candle and meditate.

---

haha okay having written that out... I really doubt it's going to be much help. Hopefully someone else can provide!!

This was massively helpful thank you!!!