Sabaoth

A word commonly used in Medieval magical invocations, and derived from the Hebrew word TZ'VAOT, which means "Hosts" as in "The Lord of Hosts." This information was kindly supplied me by Eric Friedman, who goes on to state: "In the original Hebrew, it bears no relationship whatsoever to the word SABBATH (SHABAT), meaning 'rest'. It is only in transliteration into Roman characters that they appear related . . . "

Joseph Curwen used the word "Sabaoth" to refer to some sort of mystic spell or incantation. He wrote that he "Say’d ye SABAOTH thrice last Nighte but None appear’d." On another occasion, he wrote "Saw olde V. saye ye Sabaoth and learnt ye Way." The next sentence is "Rais’d Yog-Sothoth thrice and was ye nexte Day deliver’d." So it is possible that the Sabaoth spell is for raising Yog-Sothoth. This spell may be the same spell that Charles Dexter Ward used when reviving Curwen, since that spell includes the phrase "Adonai Sabaoth," meaning "Lord of Hosts." The spell reads:

Per Adonai Eloim, Adonai Jehova,
Adonai Sabaoth, Metraton On Agla Mathon,
verbum pythonicum, mysterium salamandrae,
conventus sylvorum, antra gnomorum,
daemonia Coeli Gad, Almousin, Gibor, Jehosua,
Evam, Zariatnatmik, veni, veni, veni.

The same spell was used by Curwen to defend himself from Marinus Willett. Probably the spell is used to summon an entity such as Yog-Sothoth, who can then be further instructed to perform your bidding. [HPL Case (online text)] For further information on this spell, see Sources of Necromancy in Charles Dexter Ward.

Although Curwen and Ward used a Latin and Hebrew version of the Sabaoth incantation, it appears that Wilbur Whateley used a version in the Aklo language. Wilbur wrote that he "learned the Aklo for the Sabaoth." Wilbur also mentions "He that came with the Aklo Sabaoth," which confirms that Wilbur used the spell to summon some kind of entity, possibly Yog-Sothoth. [HPL Dunwich (online text)]

See also: Legend of the Elder Saboth

Return to Cthulhu Universalis Contents Page

Return to CthulhuFiles.com Home Page

Send comments to jfm.baharna@gmail.com.