- Eko Eko Azarak
"Eko Eko Azarak" is the opening phrase from a
Wicca n chant, assembled in its current form byGerald Gardner , usually considered as the founder of Wicca as an organized, contemporary religion. In the form given by Gardner, it appears in the ritual forSamhain , as follows::"Eko, eko, Azarak":"Eko, eko, Zomelak":"Bazabi lacha bachabe":"Lamac cahi achababe" ::"Karrellyos" :"Lamac lamac Bachalyas":"Cabahagy sabalyos"::"Baryolos" :"Lagoz atha cabyolas":"Samahac atha famolas"::"Hurrahya!" [
Gerald Gardner , "The GardnerianBook of Shadows ", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/gbos/gbos07.htm 1949 redaction] ]Gardner also published his version of this chant in his 1954 occult novel, "
High Magic's Aid ". Another variant of the text expands the "Eko, eko" opening to four lines, using these words to salute various Wiccan deities, typicallyCernunnos and Aradia. ["Lady Sheba ", "The Book of Shadows " (Llewellyn, 1971; repr. 2002. ISBN 0-87542-075-3)]ources
There are two sources for the text Gardner used to make this chant. The opening lines, with their repeated "Eko eko" refrain, apparently come from an article published in a 1921 edition of the journal "Form" ["Form" was an art magazine edited by
Austin Osman Spare .] byJ. F. C. Fuller , on "The Black Arts", reprinted in "The Occult Review" in 1923. Fuller's version goes::"Eko! Eko! Azarak! Eko! Eko! Zomelak!":"Zod-ru-kod e Zod-ru-koo":"Zon-ru-koz e Goo-ru-mu!":"Eo! Eo! Oo...Oo...Oo!" [James W. Baker, "White Witches", in "Magical Religion Then and Now", James R. Lewis, ed. (SUNY, 1996; ISBN 0-79142-890-7)]
Fuller gives no source for this spell, but the text he gives, with its repeated "zod" syllables, is reminiscent of the
Enochian language of John Dee andEdward Kelly . [Cf. the expanded text of the First Key given in Michael D. Eschner, " [http://www.kc-verlag.de/files/leseproben/leseprobe_3894231300.pdf Die Henochische Magie nach Dr. John Dee] " (Kersken-Canbaz-Verlag, 2007), p. 18 (German)]To Fuller's opening lines, Gardner has appended a variant of a text that appears first in the thirteenth century French
miracle play , "Le Miracle de Théophile ", by thetrouvère Rutebeuf . The original text from the French play is given to the character Salatin — apparently a version of "Saladin " — who in this play is labelled a sorcerer; Salatin uses these words to invoke theDevil ::"(Ci conjure Salatins le deable.)"
:"Bagahi laca bachahé,":"Lamac cahi achabahé,"::"Karrelyos.":"Lamac lamec bachalyos,":"Cabahagi sabalyos,"::"Baryolas.":"Lagozatha cabyolas,":"Samahac et famyolas,"::"Harrahya." [ [http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/resource/france/annexe/theoph.html "Le Miracle de Théophile"] , online text at
Indiana University , accessed Jan. 15, 2008.]Interpretations
The meaning of the source texts is unclear.
Pennethorne Hughes , in his 1952 monograph on "Witchcraft ", claimed that the text from "Le Miracle de Théophile" is a garbled version of aBasque language original. [Pennethorne Hughes, "Witchraft" (1952; repr. 1969, Pelican)] Michael Harrison, in "The Roots of Witchcraft", attempted to give a more specific interpretation of the entire chant in Basque; his translation has the chant speak of flying through the air,sacrifice ,feast ing and drinking, and then washing the dishes. [Michael Harrison, "The Language of Witchcraft", in "The Roots of Witchcraft" (Citadel, 1974).] According toRaven Grimassi , some Wiccans believe that the chant is an invocation of the forces of the four elements. [Raven Grimassi , "Eko Eko Azarak", in "Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft" (Llewellyn, 2001; ISBN 1-56718-257-7).]The "Eko Eko Azarak" chant is well enough known outside of Wicca proper to provide the title of a
manga and Japanese live-action movie/TV series, nihongo|"Eko Eko Azarak"|エコエコアザラク, also known by the title "Wizard of Darkness".Electric Wizard , adoom metal band from England, recorded a song called "Eko Eko Azarak" on their 2004 album "We Live ".References
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