Orphic Hymn to Mars: Empower Your Martial Prayers & Magic

Although Mars may have a fearsome reputation, building a relationship with Mars can be approached the same way one would build a relationship with any spirit. 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 Mars: The Orphic Hymn to Mars.

The Orphic Hymn to Mars

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 Mars exemplifies one approach to planetary prayer, which is to regale the spirit with praise, listing many noble qualities, powers, accomplishments, and superlatives associated with that spirit.

Magnanimous, unconquered, boistrous Mars,
in darts rejoicing, and in bloody wars
Fierce and untamed, whose mighty power can make
the strongest walls from their foundations shake:
Mortal destroying king, defiled with gore,
pleased with war’s dreadful and tumultuous roar:
Thee, human blood, and swords, and spears delight,
and the dire ruin of mad savage fight.
Stay, furious contests, and avenging strife,
whose works with woe, embitter human life;
To lovely Venus, and to Bacchus yield,
to Ceres give the weapons of the field;
Encourage peace, to gentle works inclined,
and give abundance, with benignant mind.
—Orphic Hymn to Mars, tr. Thomas Taylor

The Orphic Hymn to Mars can be recited on Tuesdays, particularly during the planetary hours of Mars. We recommend lighting a candle and burning incense with any prayer or invocation. Dragon’s blood incense is often used for Mars, and bdellium resin can be used as well, as can any incense that smells spicy, such as ginger, mustard, or some kind of pepper (e.g., long pepper); myrrh can be used in a pinch. You could light a single candle or if you were performing a more involved ritual or petition you might use five (the number associated with Mars).

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 Mars

Another prayer to Mars 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 of Mars is somewhat more commanding than the Orphic Hymn to Mars, and you may wish to use it when you have more experience invoking and petitioning Mars. 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 Mars. Different versions appear in the text, one of which is as follows:

O Lord, powerful and mighty, whose anger dries the bottom of the sea, whose powerful glance breaks mountains, the mountains feared you and the abyss was terrified by you. Every choir of archangels and angels worshipped you. In your name, my Lord, I dare to attempt every work. I conjure you, Mars, bellicose Mars, by the heart of the mighty lion and b y the flame of the strong, burning fire, to obey me. I conjure you, Mars, sanguine and daring, by the air, by the earth and by the center of the earth, to obey me. O Mars, who rejoices in calamity and despises happiness, I conjure you by Him, whom you and every planetary creation fears, and in your following fiery names: Agla, Aser, Pioriroth, Alband, Endor, Omer, Skonaphor, Kalonos, Almanos. In your above names, grant your grace an your virtue to my present work.
—Hygromanteia, MS Harleianus 5596, tr. Ioannis Marathakis

The Heptameron Conjuration of Mars

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. The Heptameron takes a very different approach than the Orphic Hymns or the Hygromanteia prayers. Rather than appealing to Mars 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 Mars, Samael. The Heptameron planetary invocations are prefaced by invocations of angels of the relevant level of heaven in the four directions. An abbreviated ritual for appealing to the angels of Mars could go as follows:

[Facing East:] Friagne. Guael. Damael. Calzas. Arragon.
[Facing West:] Lama. Astagna. Lobquin. Soncas. Iazel. Isiael. Irel.
[Facing North:] Rahumel. Hyniel. Rayel. Seraphiel. Mathiel. Fraciel.
[Facing South:] Sacriel. Janiel. Galdel. Osael. Vianuel. Zaliel.
[Facing East:] I Conjure and Confirm upon you, ye strong and holy Angels, by the name Ya, Ya, Ya, He, He, He, Va, Hy, Hy, Ha, Ha, Va, Va, Va, An, An, An, Aie, Aie, Aie, El, Ay, Elibra, Eloim, Eloim; And by the name of that high God who made the dry land appear, and called it Earth, and brought forth herbs and trees out of the same, and sealed the same with his precious, honorable, fearful and holy name; And by the name of the Angels ruling in the Fifth Heaven, who serve Acimoy, a great Angel, strong, powerful, and honorable; and by the name of his Starre which is Mars, and by the names aforesaid, I Conjure upon thee Samael, who art a great Angel, and art cheif ruler of Tuesday; and by the name Adonay, the living and true God, that for me thou labour and fulfill [speak your own petition or request here].
—Heptameron, XX. Considerations of Tuesday, 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 Mars

A more extensive prayer to Mars can be found in the premiere grimoire of astrological magic, the Picatrix or Ghayat al Hakim. This 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 Mars that shows some of the similarities and differences to the other prayers follows:

O Mars, you who are an honored lord and are hot and dry, mighty, weighty, firm of heart, spiller of blood and giver of illnesses thereto! I conjure you by Raubeyl, who is the angel whom the God of the Universe set beside you to complete all your effects and potencies. I ask you by all your names, which are: in Arabic, Marech; in Latin, Mars; in Persian, Baharam; in Roman, Bariz; in Greek, Hahuez; and in Indian, Bahaze. I furthermore conjure you by the names Dayadeburz, Hayaydez, Handabuz, Maharaz, Ardauz, Beydehydiz, Mahydebiz, Deheydemiz, by all which I conjure that you will grant my petition, and attend to my requests, and have pity upon my lamentation and tears, and heal my injuries, and protect me from the malice and treachery of all those who seek to do harm to me. I conjure you by the high God of the entire firmament, the Lord of great power and dominion, namer of the prophets and the lord of good, giver of all life on Earth, who created life and death, end and persistence. He indeed it is who remains and endures for the infinite age of ages, without beginning or end, and I conjure you by Him, that you may hear my prayer and attend to my petition, and furthermore see my humility and fulfill my petition. I ask that you [speak your own petition or request here]
—Picatrix, tr. John Michael Greer & Christopher Warnock, Book III, Chapter 7

For the full Picatrix prayers to Mars, consult the full version of the Picatrix, available from Christopher Warnock.

Composing Your Own Prayer to Mars

The above prayers from the Orphic Hymns, the Hygromanteia, and the Heptameron are excellent general-purpose texts for coming into relationship with Mars. If you intend to pray to or petition Mars 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 all this is primary sources about the spirit. The Orphic Hymn to Mars and Picatrix prayer to Mars have some great epithets, names, and descriptions of Mars. The Hygromanteia and Heptameron likewise have associated names, spirits, and effects of Mars. Agrippa also lists a number of epithets and descriptions of Mars that you may wish to draw upon:

Mars is called Mavors, powerful in war, gory, bloody, powerful in arms, sword-bearing, magnanimous, bold, untamed, noble, lightning, strong in power and impetuously hastening, against whom no one can defend themselves if they wish to oppose him, who destroys the strong and powerful and deposes kings from their thrones, lord of heat and power, lord of fiery heat, and the blood planet, who inflames the hearts of quarrelers and excels in and grants boldness.
—Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II, Chapter 59, tr. Eric Purdue

Research into the mythology of Mars 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:
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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