Orphic Hymn to Jupiter: Empower Your Jovial Prayers & Magic -

Jupiter, known in traditional astrology as the Greater Benefic, would be an excellent place for many people to start building relationships with planetary spirits or beginning a devotional practice. The Renaissance magician-physician Marsilio Ficino advised as a general rule for people “to increase the influence of the Sun, of Jupiter, or of Venus.” Invocations, prayers, and offerings to a planetary spirit can help you attune to and come into rhythm with that planet. There are many ways to pray to or invoke a planetary spirit, including simply speaking from the heart, but a natural place to start is one of the most common and accessible prayers to Jupiter: The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter.

The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter

The Orphic Hymns are a collection of Hellenistic religious poems that were involved in the practices of Orphism, a mystery religion centered around the mythical figure Orpheus. The infamous magician Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote that “nothing is more effective in natural magic” than the hymns of Orpheus.

The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter exemplifies one approach to planetary prayer, which is to regale the spirit with praise, listing many noble qualities and superlatives associated with that spirit. The traditional Orphic Hymn to Jupiter (Jove) reads as follows:

O Jove much-honored, Jove supremely great,
to thee our holy rites we consecrate,
Our prayers and expiations, king divine,
for all things round thy head exalted shine.
The earth is thine, and mountains swelling high,
the sea profound, and all within the sky.
Saturnian king, descending from above,
magnanimous, commanding, sceptered Jove;
All-parent, principle and end of all,
whose power almighty, shakes this earthly ball;
Even Nature trembles at thy mighty nod,
loud-sounding, armed with lightning, thundering God.
Source of abundance, purifying king,
O various-formed from whom all natures spring;
Propitious hear my prayer, give blameless health,
with peace divine, and necessary wealth.
—Orphic Hymn to Jupiter, tr. Thomas Taylor

The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter can be recited on Thursdays, the day of Jupiter, or on any day, particularly during the planetary hours of Jupiter. We recommend lighting a candle and burning incense with any prayer or invocation. Incenses for Jupiter would include mastic, aloeswood (lignum aloes), frankincense, and storax (styrax officinalis). You could light a single candle, or if you were performing a more involved ritual or petition you might use four (the number associated with Jupiter).

In actuality, there are three separate Orphic Hymns to Jupiter, as befitting this magnanimous power. Although most magicians use the standard Orphic Hymn above, a second, longer, and more dramatic Orphic Hymn to Thundering Jupiter might better fit your purposes, depending on the intention of your work.

O Father Jove, who shakes with fiery light
the world deep-sounding from thy lofty height:
From thee, proceeds the ætherial lightning’s blaze,
flashing around intolerable rays.
Thy sacred thunders shake the blest abodes,
the shining regions of the immortal Gods:
Thy power divine, the flaming lightning shrouds,
with dark investiture, in fluid clouds.
‘Tis thine to brandish thunders strong and dire,
to scatter storms, and dreadful darts of fire;
With roaring flames involving all around,
and bolts of thunder of tremendous sound.
Thy rapid dart can raise the hair upright,
and shake the heart of man with wild afright.
Sudden, unconquered, holy, thundering God,
with noise unbounded, flying all abroad;
With all-devouring force, entire and strong,
horrid, untamed, thou roll the flames along.
Rapid, ætherial bolt, descending fire,
the earth all-parent, trembles at thy ire;
The sea all-shining; and each beast that hears
the sound terrific, with dread horror fears:
When Nature’s face is bright with flashing fire,
and in the heavens resound thy thunders dire.
Thy thunders white, the azure garments tear,
and burst the veil of all surrounding air.
O Jove, all-blessed, may thy wrath severe,
hurled in the bosom of the deep appear,
And on the tops of mountains be revealed,
for thy strong arm is not from us concealed.
Propitious to these sacred rites incline,
and crown my wishes with a life divine:
Add royal health, and gentle peace beside,
with equal reason, for my constant guide.
—Orphic Hymn to Thundering Jove, tr. Thomas Taylor

The third Orphic Hymn to Jupiter is relatively short, and appeals to him in his aspect of the Author of Lightning:

I call the mighty, holy, splendid light,
aerial, dreadful-sounding, fiery-bright;
Flaming, aerial-light, with angry voice,
lightning through lucid clouds with horrid noise.
Untamed, to whom resentments dire belong,
pure, holy power, all-parent, great and strong:
Come, and benevolent these rites attend,
and grant my days a peaceful, blessed end.
—Orphic Hymn to Jove, as the Author of Lightning, tr. Thomas Taylor

If the aesthetics of 18th century poetic verse do not appeal to you, then be aware that other more modern translations of the Orphic Hymns exist, such as in the Orphic Hymns Grimoire by Sara Mastros.

The Hygromanteia Prayer to Jupiter

Another prayer to Jupiter comes from the Hygromanteia, also known as the Magical Treatise of Solomon, a group of Byzantine-era grimoires focused on astrological and planetary magic. The Hygromanteia prayer to Jupiter is somewhat more commanding than the Orphic Hymn to Jupiter, and you may wish to use it when you have more experience invoking and petitioning Jupiter. This prayer, like the Orphic Hymn, lists some of the qualities and powers of the spirit. In contrast, though, the Hygromanteia prayer appeals to the spirit by a list of names associated with Jupiter. Different versions appear in the text, one of which is as follows:

Lord our God, the great, praised and incomprehensible, whose height of divinity is immeasurable, unto you I pray. I, the unworthy, beg the height of your compassion, hear me and make this attempt and the work I want to do, to be highly effective. I conjure you, most valorous and most beneficial Jupiter, by the immeasurable ankle of God, do not disobey me. I conjure you, Jupiter, by the grace of all herbs. I conjure you, Jupiter, by the grace of all herbs. I conjure you Jupiter, by your valor and justice, by your miraculous virtues and in your following names: Misthan, Mesaou, Alasigno, Pelkhaous, Aabio, Kedesod, Olaber, Sedio, Aoloi, Azanor, Merran. In your most great and valorous names, grant your grace and your virtue by the work I am going to do. Amen.
—Hygromanteia, MS Harleianus 5596, tr. Ioannis Marathakis

The Heptameron Conjuration of Jupiter

Another somewhat more involved prayer can be adapted from the Heptameron, a grimoire of spirit invocation attributed to Peter de Abano. A translation of the Heptameron by Joseph H. Peterson is available at Esoteric Archives. Rather than appealing to Jupiter himself, this invocation approaches the spirit by appealing to other spirits in the same cosmic hierarchy. The Heptameron also involves facing and calling upon spirits of the different directions. You can think of this type of prayer as locating yourself within the Great Chain of Being so as to best position yourself to appeal to a particular spirit.

This particular invocation invokes the planetary archangel of Jupiter, known as Sachiel (or Tzadkiel). The Heptameron planetary invocations are prefaced by invocations of angels of the relevant level of heaven in the four directions. Above the fifth heaven (the sphere of Mars) there are no angels of the air, so the prayers to Jupiter have more general prayers to a higher God rather than to a specific retinue of angels. An abbreviated ritual for appealing to the angel of Jupiter could go as follows:

[Facing East:] O great and most high God, honored world without end.

[Facing West:] O wise, pure and just God, of divine clemency, I beseech thee most holy father, that this day I may perfectly understand and accomplish my petition, work, and labor; Thou who livest and reignest world without end, Amen.

[Facing North:] O God strong and mighty from everlasting.

[Facing South:] O mighty and merciful God.

[Continuing to face South:] I Conjure and Confirm upon you, ye holy Angels, and by the name Cados, Cados, Cados, Eschereie, Eschereie, Eschereie, Hatim, Ya, strong founder of the worlds, Cantine, Jaym, Janic, Anic, Calbot, Sabbac, Berifay, Alnaym: And by the name Adonay, who created Fishes, and Creeping things in the waters, and Birds upon the face of the earth, and flying towards Heaven, in the fifth day; and by the names of the Angels serving in the sixth host, before Pastor, a holy Angel, and a great and powerful Prince; and by the name of his Star, which is Jupiter, and by the name of his Seal, and by the name Adonay, the great God, creator of all things; and by the name of all Stars, and by their Power and Virtue, and by all the names aforesaid, I conjure thee, Sachiel a great Angel, who art chief ruler of Thursday, that for me thou labour, [speak your own petition or request here].
—Heptameron, XXII. Considerations for Thursday, tr. Joseph H. Peterson

Note that the Heptameron is a highly complex grimoire and the above prayer is a simplified adaptation of a much more extensive rite of conjuration. You may wish to further research the text before delving into this prayer.

Picatrix Prayer to Jupiter

A more extensive prayer to Jupiter can be found in the premiere grimoire of astrological magic, the Picatrix or Ghayat al Hakim. Such a prayer can be used on its own, but was originally intended as part of a more extensive rite of petition involving complex suffumigations and other ritual trappings. The full version of the Picatrix prayer involves all three approaches we have seen so far: listing epithets and qualities, appealing to different names of the spirit, and appealing to associated spirits in the relevant cosmic hierarchy. A partial selection of the Picatrix prayers to Jupiter that shows some of the similarities and differences to the other prayers follows (note that the full prayer to Jupiter is very long):

For I invoke you by all your names, that is, in Arabic, Misteri; in Persian, Bargis; in Latin, Jupiter; in Roman, Harmiz; in Greek, Biuz; that you may listen to my prayer and hear my words, and that you will deign to hear my petition. I conjure you by the name Raubeil, who is the angel whom God placed beside you to complete the virtues and powers of your spirit and your effects, and by the names Deryes, Ahatyz, Mahaty, Darquiz, Themiz, Caruyiz, Dehedeyz, Carnaduyz, Deme, and by the oldest works of the world, ancient and exalted above all others, which is without beginning or end, and is the principle of all things. By all these names, then, I conjure you, that you may listen to my request, which is [speak your petition or request here]. May you hear the prayer I have spoken and to my requests, and fulfill the petition I have made to you, and purify my mind toward you. I ask you for these few and limited things for us on account of the fragility of our nature and our deeds, and I return in all my doings to you and to your spirit, which cleanses and purifies my mind toward you, and disposes me toward you, that with humility and benevolence what I ask will be granted, and that I may be preserved by your name and spirit. For I know and understand your lordship and power, and am obedient to them. May you hear my prayer and words, on account of your goodness, and hear all my petitions, so that they may be made by me without any defect, and those which in our petition we have forgotten to ask for, you will deign to fill.
—Picatrix, tr. John Michael Greer & Christopher Warnock, Book III, Chapter 7

For the full Picatrix prayer to Jupiter, consult the full version of the Picatrix, available from Christopher Warnock.

Writing Your Own Prayer to Jupiter

The above prayers from the Orphic Hymns, the Hygromanteia, and the Heptameron are excellent general-purpose texts for coming into relationship with Jupiter. If you intend to pray to or petition Jupiter for a very specific purpose, such as making an astrological talisman with a particular intention or keyword, you may wish to write your own prayer.

As we saw above, there are generally three main approaches to praying to a particular spirit that are exemplified in the prayers listed above. These are:

Listing noble qualities, powers, or deeds of the spirit;
Calling upon the spirit by their various different names and epithets;
Situating oneself in the relevant cosmic hierarchy by invoking or appealing to other spirits associated with or ruled by the spirit.

Prayers in astrological and planetary magic can serve as double duty for a request or petition: that is, one can appeal to what the spirit does effectively and downplaying what is not in line with the spirit’s influences. As Agrippa writes:

“[C]omposing [prayers] for attracting the virtue of any star or god…is accomplished by praising, extolling, amplifying, and adorning that which the star typically brings about and influences, while suppressing and rejecting that which the star typically destroys and impedes. Pray and implore for that which the star typically destroys and impedes; reprimand and detest that which one desires to destroy and impede.”
—Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book I, Chapter 71, tr. Eric Purdue

A good place to start with this is primary sources about the spirit. The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter and Picatrix prayer to Jupiter each have some great epithets and descriptions of Jupiter. The Hygromanteia and Heptameron likewise have associated names, spirits, and effects of Jupiter. Agrippa also lists a number of epithets and descriptions of Jupiter:

Thus Jupiter is called, as it were, a helping father, king of heaven, magnanimous, thundering, lightning, unconquered, highest power, greatest power, good, fortunate, the sweetest, mild, good will, distinguished, the world, walking well and in honor, lord of joy and judgment, wise, truthful, revealer of the truth, judge of all, excelling in all goodness, lord of wealth and wisdom.
—Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II, Chapter 59, tr. Eric Purdue

Research into the mythology of Zeus and the epithets of Zeus can also help provide perspectives from which to approach the planetary spirit. Although the Hellenistic god and the planetary spirit are not identical, it can help provide an inroad into the aspect of the spirit you wish to invoke.

Other Resources

Other resource posts in this series:
- Prayers to Saturn: The Orphic Hymn to Saturn and Other Saturnine Devotional Materials
Diana Rose Harper‘s primer on planetary prayers is an excellent general place to start for beginners.
Christopher Warnock’s book The Celestial Way provides a more extensive resource for planetary devotion.

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