By weaving together the threads of the past and the insights of the present, Chicosky presents a powerful and evocative exploration of “The Consecration of All Things” a spell from the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) in her latest book The Secrets of Helios: Unlocking the Practical Uses of PGM IV.1596-1715. Chicosky does an amazing job of breaking down the spell and showing how simple and how extremely versatile the spell is in its application. The spell presented in this book is an invocation of the sun as eternal lord and ruler of the cosmos and a request for various blessings to be granted. Through a deep understanding of the cultural context in which this spell was written, Chicosky provides the reader with an easy to follow guide to the use of this spell.
The Secrets of Helios: Unlocking the Practical Uses of PGM IV.1596-1715 offers an illuminating insight into how the Graeco-Roman-Egyptian Sorcerers used magic to invoke the power of the sun and request blessings from it. What I particularly loved about this book was the footnotes, which is a weird thing to say about any book. But Chicosky and her translator Cory C. Childs, ensures that every single term that may be unfamiliar to the reader is thoroughly explained in those footnotes, along with general insights that further expound upon what she’s writing. The Secrets of Helios is a must-read for anyone interested in the practical uses of the magic of the PGM. She balances approachability with sound scholarship within her writing, which shows how thoroughly she understands the subject she’s discussing. Though it focuses on just one spell, by dissecting and exploring the spell, the reader gains a better understanding of the PGM in general. While it’s a fairly small book, it is an amazing work chock-full of insight, and a must-have for anyone who is interested in the magic of the Greek Magical Papyri and how to apply it in a practical manner. The book also includes the original spell in Greek, which was a cool addition to see.
Also, on Alison’s website she provides some awesome resources to go along with this working including music she commissioned from Cory to do for the rite, and two audio recordings of the spell, one in Greek and one in English. There is also International Phonetic Alphabet references on the barbarous names.
