Commanding Spirits: Curse Formulas
Sometimes innocent persuasion or bribery was not deemed to be enough, especially in cases when the operator sought to provoke mental disturbances or illness in another person rather than simply consult the demons.
The Latin Picatrix contains several formulas for commanding demons by means of natural magic in order to curse someone. In the third book, the author cites a book called Hedeytoz that, as he claims, was written by Hermes Trismegistus and gives four formulas for manipulating a victim's mind. One of these formulas mentions demons in the context of mental disorders. It advises mixing the brains of a hawk, a cat and a mouse with sulphur and myrrh, then burning the mixture with the excrement of a crane. When the fume of this sacrificial pyre enters a person's nostrils, it will cause the victim to become possessed by demons, and consequently, the person will lose his mind[829]In the fourth book of Picatrix (4.7.7) there is another anecdote that, as the author tells it, is based on age-old Chaldean wisdom. It discusses the magic properties of myrtle. The story claims that an image made of myrtle sprigs can make a person fall so seriously ill that ‘he seems to be cruelly afflicted by some demon.' The victim is also said to lose his mind and face many other infirmities. Unfortunately, the story does not explicate whether the illness is caused by a real demon or is a consequence of the co-operation of myrtle's occult properties with the powers of the image, but nevertheless it presumes the idea of demons as a general cause of illnesses.
Pseudo-Ptolemy's De imaginibus also links demons with illness. It offers two talismans (talismans 6 and 24), which do not protect the bearer, but, as in Picatrix, the treatise instructs the wearer in how to use demons to cause affliction in someone else. Both formulas require an anthropomorphic image, proper astrological timing and an oral invocation that expresses the intention of the talisman.
Lastly, the talisman must be located in an effective place, for example, in the sea:When you desire that someone would be caught by fever or demons (febres vel demones), carve an image of a man on a tin sheet, third face of Alhamel [Aries] ascending. Say this prayer to the image: ‘Let the demons or fever take him over, as they did to the image of Socrates Sophronicus.' Then drown the image in the sea beneath the waves.[830]
In the case of the 24th talisman, the anthropomorphic image is carved on tin or copper with the sign of Leo and then submerged in water accompanied by an oral conjuration. The purpose is to cause fever, sickness (morbus) or demons to enter a victim. These examples share many similarities with the curse formulas of ritual magic discussed above: The formulas contain conjurations, and usually certain spiritual beings are commanded to enter someone or do some other favour for the conjurer. The examples we find in Picatrix and Pseudo-Ptolemy represent, however, a slightly different tradition: names of the spirits are seldom mentioned, and the occult properties and astrological influences attain more attention than in ritual magic.