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| Translation, Source (Hebrew) | Translation (English) |
|---|---|
ניסיון באראקון |
The ‘Operation’ BARAQON. |
ויוכל להעשות בכל מקום בחברים וזולת חברים ויותר טוב בלא חברים |
This may be carried out in any place, with associates or without, better without. |
יהיה לך ראשונה חרב אחר חדה ומבהיק הטב ועשה עם החרב הזה עגולה אחת |
In the first place you must have a sword, very sharp and glittering, and make with this sword a circle. |
והכין בדברים הנצרכים למען לא תצטרך לצאת מהעגולה אחרי הכנסך׃ |
Have all the requisites ready, so that you should not have to go out of the circle, when you have once entered it. |
וכאשר תכנס קח החרב הנ״ל ותתקע אותה לפניך תוך העגולה |
Having entered it, take the said sword, and fix it in front of you within the circle. |
אח״כ יהיה לך קלף מכלב בלתי נולד ודם הודהו״ד וכתוב בזה הקלף עם זה הרם הקרקטירו האלו בשתי שורות זו למעלה מזו, שיטה ב׳ תחת הראשונה |
Afterwards you must have the hide of a dog unborn and the blood of a hawk (?), and write on this hide with this blood these charaktêres[1] The specific charakteres are provided in the manuscript. in two lines one above the other |
[……. …….] |
[……. …….] |
ודע כי אחר שדברת עם הרוח הפעם הראשון לא תצטרך עוד לעגל וכאשר חפצת לעשות הבחינה הזאת תחזיק הקלף הזה בידך הימניך (sic) ואמור המזמור הזה ג״פ אח״כ אמור ההשבעה הזאת: |
Understand that having conversed once with the spirit, there is no further need of the circle; and if you wish to employ this test, you need but take the hide in your right hand and say this psalm three times,[2] The specific psalm (a mizmor?) is not identified in this manuscript. after which repeat this conjuration: |
אשביעך רוח הנקרא בראקון באמונה אשר לך עם חברתך השדה ובכח ואמיתית אלקים חיים אמת ורחמן ובמלאך ההוא אשר יאמר בקול חצוצרות ליום הדין קומו כל האנשים ונשים המתים ויאמר באו באו באו אל הדין הישר לפני האלהים בורא הכל׃ |
I adjure thee, O Spirit, called BARAQON, by the faith that is in thee, together with thy associate the demon, and by the power and truth of the Living God, true and merciful, and by that Angel who shall, with the sound of the trumpets on the Day of Judgment, say: “Rise, all ye men and women that are dead,” and he shall say, “Come, Come, Come unto the righteous judgment before God, Creator of All.” |
עוד אשביעך בארקון באלו המלאכים הקדושים ומשרתיהם ואותותיהם בשם רפאל ומשרתו חמה׃ גבריאל ומשרתו לבנה׃ סמאל ומשרתו מאדים׃ מיכאל ומשרתו ככב׃ צדקיאל ומשרתו צדק׃ ענאל ומשרתו נוגה׃ קפציאל ומשרתו שבתי׃ שתתראה מהרה לפני בצורה אנושית מבלי שתזיק לא לגופי ולא לנפשי ואבריי בכח אלהים חיים ואמת והוא יכבש אותך לבא להשיב לי׃ |
Furthermore, I adjure thee, BARAQON, by these holy angels, their ministers, and their signs; by the name Rafael and his minister, the Sun; Gavriel and his minister, the Moon; Samael and his minister, Mars; Mikhael and his minister, Mercury; Tsadqiel and his minister Jupiter Anael, and his minister Venus Kaftsiel and his minister, Saturn; (I adjure thee) to appear before me quickly in human form without harming either my body or my soul and members, by the power of the Living God of Life and Truth, and He will subdue thee so that thou come to reply to me. |
עוד אשביעך בי״ב מזלות מש״ת סא״ב מע״ק גר״ד ובכת גבריאל המלאך שנתן כח לשמשון ואשר השפיע בחכמה לשלמה הע״ה׃ |
I next adjure thee by the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces; and by thee, O Gavriel, the angel who gave strength unto Shimshon, and who inspired with wisdom Shlomo haMelekh, peace be to him! |
עוד אשביעך בראקון בשמות ה׳ הקדושים פ״ופ ובשם כוזו אשר זה השם יקרא בחצי הלילה ובקולו יקומו כל המתים טובים ורעים ברגע עין ובשם שוטֵ״ר אשר בו הבורא ה׳ אלקים יעשה שכל אבני העולם מכל הבנינים יפלו אחד מול האחר ויהפכו וילחמו יחד ואז יאמרו הבריות אנושיים אל ההרים בואו ליפול עלינו ולגבעות תכסו אותנו׃ |
I further adjure thee, BARAQON, by the Holy Names YHVH, (Ploni and Ploni), and by the name KUZU, at the sound of which when proclaimed at midnight all the dead, both good and bad, shall rise in the twinkling of an eye; and by the name SHOTEIR, by means of which the Creator, YHVH ELOHIM, shall cause all the stones of all the buildings of the world to tumble one against the other, so that they shall be overturned and engage in war together; then shall the human creatures “say unto the mountains, Come, fall upon us, and to the hills, cover us ” (cf. Hosea 10:8). . . . |
צ. ש. ב. ובשם יה הבלתי נדבר אשר בו האלקים אחר יום הדין יהרוג השטן עם בחיריו וכל רשעי לב יושעו בנהר דינור וישמחו בחיריו ויגילו בכבוד אלקים חיים וגאותו שמה יתענגו וינוחו מנוחת עולמים׃ |
And I adjure thee by the Ineffable Name, with which ELOHIM after the Day of Judgment shall slay the Satan and his select ones, and all the wicked of heart shall be put into a stream of fire; whilst his own elect shall be glad and rejoice in the glory and pride of the Living God, and there they shall find their delight, and rest the everlasting rest. |
עוד אשביעך בראקון ברוח העניו עם חבריך ג״כ בה׳ המברך והמפאר בחדרי מרומיו הגורא בעולמו ושמי השמים הנעבד מכל היצורים לעד ולדור דורים שתבא מהרה בצורה אנושית קטנה׃ |
Again, I adjure thee, O BARAQON, by the spirit of Him on high,[3] uncertain for העניו, l. העלין together with thy associates, also by the Eternal Being, blessed and glorified in the recesses of the high places, tremendous in His world and the heaven of heavens, served by all His creatures for ever and unto all generations, that thou come speedily in the form of a little man. |
עוד אשביעך בראקון במלאכי השרת הקדשים ובכל שמות ה׳ שתבא מהרה ולא יעצרך שום עיכוב ושום סבה כלל׃ |
I further adjure thee by the holy ministering angels and by all the Names of YHVH, that thou come quickly, that no obstacle prevent thee, nor any cause whatsoever. |
עוד אשביעך באראקון בכל ברואי ה׳ מעלה ומטה (ויפרוש המעולים שיצורים) שתבא מיד בלי איחור בצורה אנושית קטנה בלי נזק ובלי רעדה והפחדה כלל לא בגופי ולא בנפשי ולא בשום אבר מאברי וכו׳׃ |
I further adjure thee, BARAQON, by all the things created by YHVH on high or below (and he shall detail the foremost creatures) that you come immediately and without delay in the form of a little man, without hurt, trembling, or fear whatsoever, either to my body or my soul or to any of my members. |
עוד אשביעך בהפלגת השמחה שנתן ה׳ למיכאל המלאך ולגבריאל המלאך במעלה הקדושה׃ |
I again adjure thee by the extraordinary portion of joy which YHVH allotted to the Angel Mikhael and the Angel Gabriel in the grade of holiness. |
ואז מיד יבא רוח אשר הוא חכם ושומע למצוותיך ויניד לך כל חפציך ויבא בצורה אנושית בכל פעם שתרצה לדבר עמו ואתה תשאלהו מאשר תבחר ויענה אמת בענוה ונפש הפיצה׃ |
Thereupon immediately there will come the spirit that understands and listen to your commands, and tell you all you desire. He will come in human form at all times that you wish to speak to him; as for thee, ask whatever thou choosest, and he will answer truthfully, in humility, and with cheerful heart. |
This is a version of the Invocation of Baraqon, a spell found in the Key of Solomon (Clavicula Solomonis) and its Hebrew translations (Mafteaḥ Shlomo). This particular variation is as found on the folios 70a-70b of a manuscript republished as ספר מפתח שלמה Sepher Maphteaḥ Shelomo (Book of the Key of Solomon): An exact facsimile of an original book of magic in Hebrew (1914) with a partial transcription translated into English by Rabbi Sir Hermann Gollancz. Claudia Rohrbacher-Stricker writes that Gollancz had located the manuscript in the collection of his father, Samuel H. Gollancz. The manuscript itself dated from around 1700 in Amsterdam, in a Sefardic script. Gershom Scholem was able to prove the Arabic origin of the Baraqon operation in “Some Sources of Jewish-Arabic Demonology,” Journal of Jewish Studies, vol. 16 (1965), p. 6.
Compared with other Key of Solomon manuscripts, this particular variation omits the names of several entities. The figure of Baraqon as a demonic entity can also be found in Richard Francis Burton’s rendition of the Arabian Nights stories, The Book of A Thousand Nights and a Night, vol. 7, where he is referred to as King ‘Barqan’ (or Barkan depending on your preferred transliteration). Gershom Scholem, in the article cited above, notes that in the Faust literature he is referred to as ‘Arqan.
I have adjusted Gollancz’s English translation slightly in places in order to have it set side-by-side with the source translation in Hebrew. –Aharon Varady
Source(s)
Notes
“ניסיון באראקון | the Baraqon Operation, as found in Sefer Maftéaḥ Shlomo (Hermann Gollancz 1914, ca. 1700)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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Sefer Mafteaḥ Shlomo f. 70a – Nisayon Barqon (Golancz 1914)
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