Restrain Anger and Gossip
This is a simple, reliable, fast acting, and very effective spell to stop anger that is being directed at you, to silence a gossip, to divert negative attention, to thwart a slanderous foe. It is a version of PGM XII 179-181,[^1] informed, I must admit, by Gordon White’s rendition,[^2] but enriched and refined by myself through a modicum of research and seasoned performance.
Preparation
In addition to your usual magical paraphernalia, have at hand and within the boundary of your circle the following items:
- Rectangular strips of paper, each about the size of a cigarette paper or slightly larger; one for each person to be restrained. I prefer to use good quality unlined letter writing stock.
- Black pens. I prefer either brush tips or a fountain pen and ink.
- A candle. I use bee’s wax.
- Matches.
- A brazier. I have a small brass three legged bowl but an ashtray is also fine.
- A writing surface. [^3]
- Myrrh and/or dragon’s blood incense (optional).[^4]
Method
Having taken the necessary precautions to ensure that you won’t be interrupted for at least half an hour, prepare yourself for ritual according to your magical tradition or personal practice.
With all materials for the spell close at hand, cast a circle or create your ritual space as usual.
Bring your awareness into a liminal state and maintain this throughout.
Now summon into your mind the person to be restrained as you write their name onto one of the pieces of paper. Use their full name if you know it.
If you are restraining more than one person, turn the first piece of paper face down and shift your attention to the next person as you write their name on a second strip of paper. Repeat until you have one piece of named paper for each recipient of the spell.[^5]
Once you are ready, take up the paper and bring the person as clearly to mind as you can. For me this is when I can hear their voice clearly, however you may be more visually orientated. You will know when you have them present.
Then, allowing feelings of defiant indignation to rise within you, scribble and scrawl the word “CHNEŌM” across the target’s name, obliterating it as best you can. Then fold the paper once lengthwise.[^6]
Light the candle.
While holding the piece of paper in your non-dominant hand, gaze into the flame. Bring yourself into a state of magical intent, deepening your candle gaze with the use of your third eye.
Continue to hold this state as you once more summon the person to mind and say:
I restrain the anger and gossip of all, and especially of NN, which is CHNEŌM
In the slight pause between the final two words, touch the paper to the flame and watch it begin to burn as you intone the magical formula, replacing NN with the target’s name. As you slowly vibrate the final word of the formula, CHNEŌM, like a monk might, drop the flamikng paper into the brazier and watch it burn away, holding that magical words as long as you can.
Repeat for each piece of paper.
Once you are done, cover the brazier of smouldering paper (if using a book, beware that you may end up with a sooty smudge on the cover).
Close your circle.
As soon as possible, dispose of the ashes in the centre of a crossroads. Note that you should carry the covered brazier there and just tip it out. The quieter the crossroads the better, for magical reasons as well as those of personal safety.[^7] There is no need for any ceremony, just tip it out and keep moving.
Note that the spell is not fully complete until the ashes have been disposed.
Clean your brazier as soon as possible. I use fresh rosemary from my garden as a scrub and running water from an outside tap, but you can do this however and with whatever you like.
Notes
Noting that the pronunciation of ancient Greek is a complicated and contested topic, I offer my approach only in the hope that it helps. I tend to pronounce the initial “CH” of “chneōm” with an aspirated “K” sound (think of a breathier version of the initial consonant in the word “chaos”), and the Ō as a long O.
The word Chneōm has no apparent meaning and is usually considered to be one of the many Nomina Magica, ancient magical words or names.[^8] However the footnote to the spell in Betz observes, ”CHNEŌM here and in I. 181 is probably Egyptian Khnum.”
Khnum was one of the oldest Egyptian divinities.[^9] Khnum, whose name meant 'to create'[^10] is frequently shown fashioning the royal ka “upon the potter’s wheel along with the human [vessel].”[^11]
That Khnum has the head of a ram connects him with Aries, whose glyph is the horned ram’s head.[^12] Aries whose impulsive creative force can be seen as an echo of the “vital essence” that is ka.[^13] Aries whose fire can perhaps be thought of as the fire of Khnum’s kiln. Aries which is ruled by Mars. Mars who, like the ram, is hot-headed. Mars, who is often angry, like the person you seek to restrain.
Postscript
In the course of writing up this spell I stumbled on a true kaos magixal formula of power. 😈
I was preparing to go on a road trip and I took some photos from a few of my books to refer to while away from home. Included in these photos was the publication details from Gordon White’s Chaos Protocols. Later, being the lazy writer than I am, I went to use the extract-text-from-photo (OCR) feature on my phone to grab the text for a footnote. I selected the first line of the bibliographical details (title, date, author) and pasted it into my notes app. Weirdly the pasted text appeared to be Russian!
Соботи номі манно лос ка ром остатон а у с санта вадо
Curious, I pasted it into google translate, where the language auto-detect feature also identified it as Russian. I selected the option to translate into English and it rendered a sort of transliteration instead, I presume because the text did not contain actual words. After removing a little bit of White space (see what I did there 😜) the following powerful magical formula was revealed!
Soboti nomi manno los carrum ostaton aus santa vado
This formula may or may not have a relationship to the anger restraint spell. It is thus far, untested by me so please use with extreme caution. However I would be delighted to receive a summary of your results via email.
Footnotes
[1]. For an English translation of this almost 2,000 year old spell contained in manuscript PGM XII of the Theban Magical Library see: Betz, H. D. et al. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Texts. University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 160.
For PGM XII manuscript details (including age) see: https://www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m160/
[2]. White, Gordon, The Chaos Protocols: Magical Techniques for Navigating the New Economic Reality, Llewellyn Publications, 2016. p.194. This spell is one thing that I learned from Mr White.
[3]. I typically perform the actual spell sitting on the floor in front of the candle and brazier and so I simply use the cover of my personal grimoire as a writing surface. However if you wish to stand and use a high altar you may either need space on the altar to write on the scraps of paper or else have some kind of lectern or tall desk beside your altar for this purpose.
[4]. The original spell calls on the magician to “write with myrrh [on linen]” so in homage to this I will often use myrrh incense. I associate myrrh with Saturn and Hecate which is appropriate for restraint magic. Dragon’s blood is another incense option if, like me, you correspond it to Mars. See the Notes section at the end of the article for a fuller explanation of the relevance of Mars to this operation.
[5]. Note that I do not recommend more than three targets for any given performance of this ritual. Any more and you risk diluting the effectiveness, impact, and result.
In fact I strongly suggest that you to limit the spell to one target at a time whenever possible, which should be most times. Consider the following questions. Who is the most pivotal person in the problems you currently face? Which individual if silenced would have the most impactful change on your current circumstances?
[6]. Note that you can write this word as: ΧΝΕΩΜ if you prefer, as a nod to the original Greek.
[7]. I cannot comment on the likely outcome if you choose to dispose of the ashes in any other way and I do not advise it.
[8]. See Skinner, S, Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic, Golden Hoarde, 2021, pp. 92-96 for more on Nomina Magica
[9]. For an overview of Khnum see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khnum
[10]. The meaning of Khnum is sourced from: https://www.theosophytrust.org/1078-aries
[11]. Ozaniec, Naomi, Becoming a Garment of Isis: A Nine-Stage Initiatory Path of Egyptian Spirituality, Inner Traditions, 2022, pp. 212-213
[12]. For a detailed overview of the mystical dimensions of Aries including references to Khnum this see: https://www.theosophytrust.org/1078-aries
[13]. For an overview of the Egyptian concept of soul and the role of ka within it, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_conception_of_the_soul