In honor of the Bastards’ one-year anniversary, we revive The Headless One!

This week, we’ll discuss the origins of the Headless Rite and the forms it has taken across traditions and practices. First, take a look at Jake Stratton-Kent’s pamphlet on the ritual, The Headless One. Then look at the translations from the Greek and Demotic magical papyri: from the PGM, “The Stele of Jeu the Hieroglyphist” (pp. 103, PGM V. 96-172) and from the PDM (pp. 232, PDM xiv. 675-694).

The Golden Dawn adapted their own version of the rite, translated as “The Bornless Ritual”, found in The Golden Dawn, pp. 442.

Next we progress to Crowley, who first adapted the ritual as the “Preliminary Invocation of the Goetia”, and later expanded it as Liber Samekh. And finally, a new version many of us have celebrated to great effect, Frater Antichristos’ Satanized and fleshed out Liber Thagirion.

OPTIONAL READING IF YOU ARE A GLUTTON:

Wikipedia article on the PGM.

Israel Regardie’s comparative analysis of the versions of the ritual.

From Hans Dieter’s translations, the introductions to the Greek and Demotic papyri found at the beginning of the volume (pp. xlii and lv).

AVDIERVNT’s preferred version of the ritual: The Stele of Jeu (Rite of the Headless One) as it appears in Stephen Flowers’ Hermetic Magic (pp. 182-184).

And our Skeue Euphemeo developed their own new variant from Liber Thagirion for personal use: Skeue Euphemeo’s Headless Rite (with commentary).

Many thanks to Princess Dysnomia for text-wrangling!