Sacred Words

The Sacred Words were used to activate the Golem of Prague.

History

In 1580, after he wrote down part of the incantation on a paper Rabbi Loew, recited the spoken part of the incantation to awaken the Golem to defend the city of Prague. In 1996 (four hundred and sixteen years later), Rabbi Loew revealed the words to his descendant, Max Loew, in a dream. But before he could awaken the Golem himself, Tomas Brod stole the clay creature and written incantation for Halcyon Renard. Preston Vogel would recite the sacred words aloud and insert the written incantation into the Golem's mouth before Renard would proceed with a second incantation he found that would allow him to transfer his soul into the automaton. (Golem)

Characteristics

To activate the Golem, the Sacred Words were a combination of the verses Max recited aloud alongside the shem he wrote down on a paper. Speaking the verses aloud activated only the Golem's mouth, which allowed the written part of the incantation to be fed to the clay creature. The initial verses spoken aloud by Rabbi Loew and Preston Vogel were identical, with Halcyon Renard adding on the second incantation he found (see below). What was written on the paper remained unaltered.

First Incantation

Hebrew

נפש חיים תהיה בגוף של אדמה

English

A living soul will be in a body of earth.

Second Incantation

Hebrew

נה לה הווי נפשי לגוף הא אדמה

English

Let my soul be for the body of the earth.

Real World Background

As with the series, the Sacred Words were believed to be a combination of verses spoken aloud that were learned in a dream in addition to writing down one of the shem (in Hebrew, שם, meaning "name"), one of the secret names of God, on a paper. According to legend, Rabbi Loew removed the shem from the Golem's mouth on every Friday Afternoon so that the automaton would observe the sabbath. [1][2]