The Vowels AEEIOYO in the Mithras Liturgy

Joannes Richter The Mithras Liturgy is the name given to one of the texts found in one of the Greek Magical Papyri1, the so-called "Great Magical Book", numbered PGM IV, on lines 475-834. and was given the title "Mithras Liturgy" by its first translator, Albrecht Dieterich (1903), because one of the deities invoked is Helios Mithras ( ), but the text is generally now considered as syncretistic, and with no connection to Mithraism.2 The English version of the manuscript the Mithras Liturgy reveals some interesting quotations of genuine vowel sequences such as Aeeiouo in several divine names and other sacred texts3. Incantations of long vowel-sequences appear in Greek-Egyptian magical papyri dating back to the 2nd century BCE. They also appear in Gnostic writings.

AEEIOYO
Strange is the alphabetical order in the special vowel sequence AEEIOYO, which seems to be adapted for the special use of the Greek alphabet. Aeeiouo may be found in the Nag Hammadi Library4 in which is defined as the shape of the Self Begotton Soul. In the Mithras Liturgy AEEIOYO is explained as the First -origin of my origin. In seven holy vowels of the Greek alphabet the magical formula AEEIOYO is described as a vowel sequence of all seven Greek vowels: Alpha, Epsilon, Eta, Iota, Omicron, Upsilon, Omega In their wing formation the word Aeeiouo consists of exactly these seven Greek vowels in their alphabetical order, which may be transcribed as follows5:

6
From this sequence AEEIOYO eventually may be shortened to I.
1
The manuscripts came to light through the antiquities trade, from the 18th century onwards. One of the best known of these texts is the so-called Mithras Liturgy 2 Source: Wikipedia's Mithras Liturgy 3 AEEIOYO in The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation from: The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells by Hans Dieter Betz 4 AEEIOUO - SUMS 5 AEEIOYO in the Nag Hammadi Library cited in Magic Words: A Dictionary 6 AEEIOYO Alpha, Epsilon, Eta, Iota, Omicron, Upsilon, Omega , from Magic Words: A Dictionary

Vowel sequences in Weekdays7

In a marvelous concept our language has been built around a central core 8, which seems to have been designed around the PIE-names *Dyus Ph2tr (the god of the day-lit sky9) and *deiwos (god)10 On the other hand some Mediterranean divine names, especially IOU-piter and YHWH, seemed to be pure vowel sequences, which may be illustrated by numerous YHWHtranslations by the Church Fathers, resulting in names like: IAO11, Yau, (Iaoue), (Iaouai)12, Ieuo (Ieuo)13, IEHOUAH and others. In the Mediterranean area the days of the week suggest to derive the divine names from the days of the weeks, which result in the following list of vowel sequences as familiar divine names and may have been valid around 100-300 AD14: iaou, jous, Yow, Yaou, a, jeu, joi, Jov, Jou or Jovis, gio, joi, jue, Iau Simultaneously southern-European Ego-pronouns15 seem to consist of genuine concentrated vowel-sequences such as16: ieu, iu m, jou, jau, eau, ego, jeg, jag, jk, jak, iak, ich, ick, ek, *ik, ih, ic, i, ik, k, ek, eg, g , eo, je, eu, iu, yo, jo, ja, : (ja), j and Y, I. Obviously there is a remarkable difference between the original PIE-concept (using a D or Th as first letter for the divine PIE-names Dyaus and Deiwos) and the Mediterranean system (avoiding a D or Th in Jupiter and in YHWH). This topic is to be discussed for its consequences. These observed vowel-sequences in the divine names and ego-pronouns seem to follow the same pattern as in the Mithras Liturgy, in the Nag Hammadi Library and in other Greek-Egyptian magical papyri and Gnostic scripts. The archaic divine names such as iaou, jous, Yow, Yaou, a, jeu, joi, Jov, Jou or Jovis, gio, joi, jue, Iau however have been designed according to the master pattern I*U, which may have been derived from the PIE-root Dyaus. These names are contrasting to the strictly alphabetically ordered AEEIOYO, found in the Mithras Liturgy and in the Nag Hammadi Library, in which the names basically follow the master pattern AIO. Obviously the Mithras Liturgy understood the basic vowel principle, but did not accept the I*Upattern, which is found in the original divine PIE-names and ego-pronouns.

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

The I's Antipodes The Key Morpheme - analyzing the PIE-concept See for details: PIE-religion Deus (Latin pronunciation: [des]) is Latin for "god" or "deity". Latin deus and dvus "divine", are descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, from the same root as *Dyus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-IndoEuropean pantheon. Iao as as a translation for YHWH is first mentioned by Diodorus Siculus and by Varro Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5, 6, 34, 5 Philo of Byblos also mentions the name 'lao', this time in the form of Ieuo . The Key Morpheme - analyzing the PIE-concept The personal pronoun for the first person singular The Key Morpheme - analyzing the PIE-concept

The Vowel Sequences in A Mithras Liturgy

The Mithras Liturgy is part of the great magical codex of Paris (Papyrus 574 of the Bibliotheque Nationale). Presumably compiled in the early 4th century BCE, this codex contains a variety of formulas for use in the working library of Egyptian magicians. In Dieterichs book A Mithras Liturgy, describing the Paris Codex I identified a number of other vowel sequences, which may add some details to the understanding of these vowel-sequences. Unfortunately the English translation differs from the original German version "Mithras Liturgy" of Dieterichs work. In the following overview the vowel-sequences have been numbered according to the page numbers and line numbers in the full Greek/German text of "Eine Mithrasliturgie" (second edition, 1910). The images have been captured from the Greek transcripts in Dieterichs book. The source does contain a great number of vowel-sequences, such as: page 2, line 10: First origin of my origin: ( AEEIOYO)17,

page 4, line 1: the first of the fire in me:

( EYEIAEE),

page 4, line 2: the first of the water in me:

( OOO AAA EEE),

page 4, line 3: the first of the earthy substance in me:

( YEYOE),

page 4, line 6: without soul and yet alive with soul, ( YEI AYI EYOIE)

page 4, line 27: god: ( EYEYIA EEIA OEIAYIYAIEO)

18

17 Cf. On the Eighth and Ninth (Nag Hammadi Codex VI, tractate 6), page 60, line 20. With regard to the Mithras Liturgy in general, cf. this tractate as well as another Hermetic tractate, Corpus Hermeticum XIII. 18 The highlighted symbol is a consonant nu and not a vowel Y

page 4, line 29: immortal brilliance: ( OEY AEO EYA EOE YAE IAE )

page 8, line 20: Fire-Feeler:

( IAO),

page 8, line 21: Light-Breather:

( OAI)19

page 8, line 24: Light-Forcer,

( AIAIO),

page 10, line 1: Thunder-Shaker (600),

( IEOEIOEIO),

page 17, (second last line of the main text), unnumbered: (765) I have consecrated you, that your essence may be useful to me, to _______ alone, IE IA E EE OY EIA, that you may prove useful to me alone.

page 18, line 19 (785-790) Now this is the formula:

( IEEOOIAI

In the English translation A Mithras Liturgy this statement erroneously is transcribed as: Now this is the formula: "I EE 00 IAI."

19 A permutation of the divine name IAO. cf. also AIO (below, line 598).

I invoke the immortal names, living and honored, which never pass into mortal nature and are not declared in articulate speech by human tongue or mortal speech or mortal sound: page 10, line 9:

----------( EEO OEEO IOO OE EEO EEO OEEO IOO OEEE OEE) page 10, line 10:

-------------( OOE IE EO OO OE IEO OE OOE IEOOE IEEO EE IO OE) page 10, line 11:

------------IOE OEO EOE OEO OIE OIE EO OI III EOE OYE EO OEE page 10, line 12:

----------
EOEIA AEAEEA EEEE EEE EEE IEO EEO OEEEOE EEO EYO page 10, line 13:

-------OE EIO EO OE OE EE OOOYIOE.

The alphabetical sequence AEEIOYO obviously indicates the individual person's origin of origins, in which all vowels need to be used only once. Other first fire, water and earth origins in a individual person's structure seem to be described by several more complicated combinations of two respectively three lettered vowel sequences. Most of the short 2- and 3-vowel sequences may be found in the specified immortal names, which never pass into mortal nature. The formula for the Fire-Feeler (IAO), obviously is a triad in which in analogy with the archaic divine names starts with an I in the sequence of reading from left to the right. In contrast the Light-Breather (OAI) starts with an I in the sequence of reading from right to the left. Some of the specified immortal names, which never pass into mortal nature, may correlate to some of the ego-pronouns: correlates to the Spanish, respectively Italian ego-pronoun yo, jo. may be correlated to the French ego-pronoun je, may also fit for the Slavic ego-pronoun (ja).

Aeeioyo in a magic papyrus

From a papyrus containing magical incantations 20:
For those possessed by demons, an approved charm by Pibechis: Take oil made from unripe olives, together with the plant mastigia and lotus pith, and boil it with marjoram (very colorless), saying, Joel, Ossarthiomi, Emori, Theochipsoith, Sithemeoch, Sothe, Joe, Mimipsothiooph, Phersothi, Aeeioyo, Joe, Eochariphtha: Come out of such a oneand the other usual formulae. But write this phylactery upon a little sheet of tin: Jaeo, Abraothioch, Phtha, Mesentiniao, Pheoch, Jaeo, Charsoc, and hang it round the sufferer. It is of every demon a thing to be trembled at, which he fears. This papyrus, which obviously calls the First origin of my origin Aeeioyo and probably also Joe and Jaeo in a a cure against demons.

The vowel-sequence IAOUE

The "unpronounceable Name - IHVH" has been defined as a vowel-combination IAOUE21. "The sonic, OO, HU, or IEU is one of our very oldest God-names. Most of the "Secret Names" of the Gods were vowel combinations alluding to the fundamental forces behind Life from one angle or another. The "unpronounceable Name - IHVH" was the vowel combination IAOUE. Not pronounced, but breathed. That is uttered without closing the mouth. Its Latinised form of course is IAO - YO-WEH, or Jove."

Ancient Vowel-Songs
A. J. H. Vincent (1797-1868), had in 1859 announced his discovery of a Greek vase in the Berlin museum that seemed to corroborate Demetrius's statement about the Egyptians singing a hymn of the four archaic vowels A E I O22. In 1887 Conrad Leemans published the great Leiden magical papyrus, which was full of such vowel-sequences.

Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus (1st century B.C.E.) says expressly that Moses received his laws from the god called lao, and it is the consensus of modern scholars that this name replaced the Tetragrammaton after the latter ceased to be pronounced by Jews. lahve and lao were among the multitude of names for the supreme or solar deity. These names may be considered as pure wovel-names.

20 Source: From Child-Killing to Mysticism 21 source: William G. Gray - The Language of the Gods cited in The Mystery of the Seven Vowels by Joscelyn Godwin (1991) 22 Cited in The Mystery of the Seven Vowels by Joscelyn Godwin (1991)

The Names of the Gods

The divine names often consist purely of vowels, e.g. the Tetragrammaton, the four-lettered name of the God of Moses, revealed at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3:15), transliterated as YHVH, but also as IEVE, IEUE, Iahve, etc. Note J.R.: Godwin does not remark the utterance of the divine name at the Yom Kippur also known as the Day of Atonement, one of the holiest days of the year for the Jewish people. According to Jewish tradition, it was on the Day of Atonement that the high priest - and only the high priest - could pronounce the name of God, the sacred Tetragrammaton YHWH. When he entered the Holy Place with the blood of the goat set apart to the Lord, he would utter the name. He was the only one, and that was the only time, when the name could be uttered, and the high priest was to pass on the exact pronunciation of the name of God to his successor with his dying breath.

Godfrey Higgins
In various parts of Anacalypsis Godfrey Higgins (1771-1833) juxtaposes the following names, with the implication that they should be regarded as virtual identities:23 1. The one-lettered name I as denoting IHVH, ultimately reducible to his first letter. 2. The two-lettered name IE, equally referring to "the selfexisting J ah or Jehovah" (cf. Psalm 68:4 in the English Psalter which names God as "JAH"). This name also appears as the EI on the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. Early Greek writing, Higgins explains, could read from right to left, hence the EI is indeed IE - and by implication IHVH is the Sun God. 3. The three-lettered name lAO, which the Greeks considered to be the name of the Jewish God. In Hebrew it is the letters iod-he-vau. 4. The Tetragrammaton IHVH, iod-he-vau-he, which the ancients wrote and pronounced variously JAHO, JEVO, and sometimes IAOU, is lAO or IEU plus the definite article. This is none other than the Juve of the Etruscans, from which the Romans took their Jove; Jupiter then being of the same family, with piter, "father," added. The same name is heard in India, where the devotees of Krishna sing "JEYE! JEYE!" 5. The name JEHOVA or JEHOVAH. This is generally explained as deriving from the Tetragrammaton, made pronounceable by interspersing the Masoretic vowel-points from Adonai: thus JeHoVaH. We have already heard Eusebius say that the Jews expressed the name of God with the seven vowels. Higgins also quotes scholars who suggest that the Bacchantes' cry "EVOHE!" derived from the very same word.

23 Cited in The Mystery of the Seven Vowels by Joscelyn Godwin (1991)

Conclusion
The English version of the manuscript the Mithras Liturgy reveals some interesting quotations of genuine vowel sequences such as Aeeiouo in several divine names and other sacred texts24. Strange is the alphabetical order in the special vowel sequence AEEIOYO, which seems to be adapted for the special use of the Greek alphabet. The archaic divine names such as iaou, jous, Yow, Yaou, a, jeu, joi, Jov, Jou or Jovis, gio, joi, jue, Iau however have been designed according to the master pattern I*U, which may have been derived from the PIE-root Dyaus. These names are contrasting to the strictly alphabetically ordered AEEIOYO, found in the Mithras Liturgy and in the Nag Hammadi Library, in which the names basically follow the master pattern AIO. Obviously the Mithras Liturgy understood the basic vowel principle, but did not accept the I*Upattern, which is found in the original divine PIE-names and ego-pronouns. AEEIOYO refers to the First origin of my origin. In contrast the alternative name IAOUE25 (or even JEHOUAH) for IHVH is using another sequence of the vowels. IAO obviously may be identified as the first segment of the vowel-sequence IAOUE. Some of the specified immortal names, which never pass into mortal nature, may correlate to some of the ego-pronouns: IO correlates to the Spanish, respectively Italian ego-pronoun yo, jo. The immortal name I may correlate to the English ego-pronoun I. IE may have been used as the French ego-pronoun je, whereas IA fits for the Slavic ego-pronoun (ja).

24 AEEIOYO in The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation from: The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells by Hans Dieter Betz 25 source: William G. Gray - The Language of the Gods cited in