While the complex material mentioned in some PGM spells has almost become a running joke amongst practitioners, there are also many spells that require no material or something simple like a piece of paper or a leaf.
Recently a friend mentioned that they had been sleeping poorly. I had this spell bookmarked for the next time an opportunity arose because the instructions seemed very simple. They drew the symbols and wrote the words on the bay leaf, then slept with it in their pillowcase. When I asked how they slept the next day they answered “deeply and far too long” so you may want to test this on a night where you can sleep late the next day.
PGM CXXIII a 51-55
For Sleep: on a bay leaf [write] [charakteres] ΘΑΡΑ ΘΑΡΩ
Whole dried bay leaves are a common cooking ingredient and can be found most places spices are sold.
This spell does not seem to require any additional ritual or special ink.
(Please see the featured photo or consult the PGM for the charakteres/symbols)
Author: Alison Chicosky
Alison Chicosky is a scholar and practitioner of a variety of forms of thaumaturgy with a focus on results-based magic. While especially interested in both Solomonic magic and the Graeco-Egyptian magic of the Greek Magical Papyri, she is also well versed in soul-flight and psychic magic of various kinds. The founder and force behind Practical Occult (www.practicaloccult.com), she strives to provide pentacles and other enchanted items drawn from a broad background of rigorously studied ancient arts, leveraging the systems of the past for practical modern use.