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My beloved Son, if thou findest any Theft, thou shalt do as is hereinafter ordained, and with the help of God thou shalt find that which hath been taken away.
If the hours and days be not otherwise ordained in this operation, thou must refer to what hath already been said. But before commencing any operation whatsoever for the recovery of things stolen, after having made all necessary preparations, thou shalt say the following Oration:--
Ateh 1 Adonai Elohim Asher Ha-Shamain Ve-Ha-Aretz, etc.
Thou, O Lord, Who hast made both Heaven and Earth, and hast measured them in the hollow of Thy hand; Thou Who art seated upon the Kerubim and the Seraphim, in the high places, whereunto human understanding cannot penetrate; Thou Who hast created all things by Thine agency, in Whose Presence are the Living Creatures, of which four are marvellously volatile, which have six wings, and who incessantly cry aloud: 'QADOSCH, QADOSCH, QADOSCH, ADONAI ELOHIM TZABAOTH, Heaven and Earth are full of Thy glory'; O Lord God, Thou Who hast expelled Adam from the Terrestrial Paradise, and Who hast placed the Kerubim to guard the Tree of Life, Thou art the Lord Who alone doest wonders; show forth I pray Thee Thy Great Mercy, by the Holy City of Jerusalem, by Thy wonderful Name of four letters which are YOD, HE, VAU, HE, and by Thy Holy and Admirable Name, give unto me the power and virtue to enable me to accomplish this experiment, and to come unto the desired end of this operation; through Thee Who art Life, and unto Whom Life belongeth unto the eternal ages. Amen.
After this perfume and cense the place with good scents and sweet
odours. This aforesaid place should be pure, clean, safe from interruption or disturbance, and proper to the work, as we shall hereafter show. Then sprinkle the aforesaid place with consecrated Water, as is laid down in the Chapter concerning Circles.
The Operation being in such wise prepared, thou shalt rehearse the Conjuration necessary for this experiment, at the end of which Thou shalt say as follows:--
O Almighty Father and Lord, Who regardest the Heavens, the Earth, and the Abyss, mercifully grant unto me by Thy Holy Name written with four letters, YOD, HE, VAU, HE, that by this exorcism I may obtain virtue, Thou Who art IAH, IAH, IAH, grant that by Thy power these Spirits may discover that which we require and which we hope to find, and may they show and declare unto us the persons who have committed the theft, and where they are to be found.
I conjure ye anew, ye Spirits above named, by all the aforesaid Names, through which all things created tremble, that ye show openly unto me (or unto this child here present with us 1) those things which we seek.
These things being accomplished they will make thee to see plainly that which thou seekest. Take note that the Exorcist, or Master of the Art, should be such as is ordained in the Chapter concerning the Exorcist and his Companions; and if in this experiment it should be necessary to write down characters or Names, thou shalt do that which it is necessary to observe regarding the pen, ink, and paper, as is duly prescribed in the Chapters concerning them.
For if thou dost not regard these things, thou wilt neither accomplish that which thou desirest, nor arrive at thy desired end.
Take a Sieve and suspend it by a piece of cord wherewith a man has been hung, which should be fastened round the circumference of the rim. Within the rim write with blood in the four divisions thereof the characters given in Figure 4. After this take a basin of brass perfectly clean which thou shalt fill with water from a fountain, and having pronounced these words: DIES MIES YES-CHET BENE DONE FET DONNIMA METEMAUZ, make the sieve spin round with thy left hand, and at the same time turn with thy right hand the water in the basin in a contrary direction, by stirring it with a twig of green laurel. When the water becometh still and the sieve no longer whirls, gaze fixedly into the water, and thou shalt see the form of him who hath committed the theft; and in order that
thou mayest the more easily recognise him, thou shalt mark him in some part of his face with the Magical Sword of Art; for that sign which thou shalt have cut therewith in the water, shall be really found thereafter upon his own person.
Take a Sieve and stick into the outside of the rim the open points of a pair of scissors, and having rested the rings of the said opened scissors on the thumb-nails of two persons, let one of them say the following Prayer:--
DIES MIES YES-CHET BENE DONE FET DONNIMA METEMAUZ; O Lord, Who liberatedst the holy Susanna from a false accusation of crime; O Lord, Who liberatedst the holy Thekla; O Lord, Who rescuedst the holy Daniel from the den of lions, and the Three Children from the burning fiery furnace, free the innocent and reveal the guilty.
After this let him or her pronounce aloud the names and surnames of all the persons living in the house where the theft hast been committed, who may be suspected of having stolen the things in question, saying:--
'By Saint Peter and Saint Paul, such a person hath not done this thing.'
And let the other reply
'By Saint Peter and Saint Paul, he (or she) hath not done it.'
Let this be repeated thrice for each person named and suspected, and it is certain that on naming the person who hath committed the theft or done the crime, the sieve will turn of itself without its being able to stop it, and by this thou shalt know the evil doer.
48:1 This is simply the Hebrew of the prayer which follows; but in the MS. Codices it is so mutilated as to be worthless.
49:1 A child employed as a clairvoyant in the operation; as is still the custom in some places in the East.
49:2 The rest of this Chapter is from 1203 Lansdowne MSS.
50:1 This is the ancient divination by the sieve and shears, and from St. Peter and St. Paul being mentioned in it, has evidently undergone a mediaeval reconstruction.