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I grew up in a very religious household. What I came to call myths and legends about saints were a common dinner time subject although the elders seemed to take it all quite seriously. My mother had statues of all her favorites strategically placed here and there complete with adornment and votive candles – stages all set to make the prayer requests when necessary.

Being a youngster, by youthful appeal, the more outlandish and gruesome the stories connected to these “saints” the better … the kind that scare you so badly you have trouble sleeping for a few nights. Of course as I grew older all that changed as I evolved into my true spirituality and began to have my own learning experiences. Yet, I do recall a few favorites and number one on the list is the story of Saint Cyprian of Antioch.

This guy really had it going on. The best of all worlds really. He is the legendary patron saint of sorcerers and necromancers, THE pagan magician of Antioch. He was born a Pagan child dedicated to the service of Apollo. He received various “godly” initiations throughout the years, learned the ways of possession and demonology, met the dæmons of the Great Solomon and finally at age thirty met the devil himself who gave him a demon infantry. He dealt with all sorts of nasties, killed people physically and magically, rendered blood sacrifices and was an all-round dark magic machine.

Here is the legend connected to him:

There was a Christian virgin by the name of Justina who was being sought after for marriage by Alcadius, a Pagan. When she refused his marriage proposal, Alacadius went to see Cyprian offering him sixty pounds of gold if he would cast a spell to change her mind. Cyprian summoned up a variety of demons from his infantry to afflict Justina so she would change her mind but she banished them off by making the Sign of the Cross and praying. After several attempts his magic was extinguished. Convinced he needed to learn this more ‘powerful magic’, Cyprian freed himself from the grip of Satan by making the cross himself and then hastened off to see the bishop of Antioch to become baptized. He already possessed great intellectual prowess and his superior spiritual talents became evident so quickly that he became a deacon, priest and finally a bishop in a very short time. Justina became the head of a convent.

As the tide turns with most things in history, the end of Cyprian and Justina is a gruesome tale. They were arrested during the persecution of Diocletian in 280 C.E. and thrown into boiling water from which they emerged unharmed. As this produced great fear and proof of the devil, they were sentenced to beheading which took place on the bank of river Gallus. Afterwards, they were both recognized as martyrs.

 Now oddly, there is no proof that the man actually existed. Stories about him went into circulation in the fourth century and he was mentioned by a Byzantine compiler of the lives of saints known as Simon Metaphrastes but there is no record of a bishop Cyprian. The Vatican removed his name from the List of Saints in 1968. There is also a book, The Great Book of Saint Cyprian which according to Wikipedia.org:

“ … contains instructions to priests on how to cure disease; evil spells and exorcisms; a list of 174 treasures of Galicia; the Prayer of the Guardian Angel; 50 mysteries of witchcraft from the time of the Moors (including medicine); treasure of magic (for example, way to capture a little devil making a pact with Satan; black magic to destroy a marriage; a skull lit up with candles of grease to do evil to a person); an explanation of hidden powers of hatred and love; the hidden powers of magnetism; prayers of popular religiosity (Magnificat, Cross of Saint Benedict, Dream of Our Lady, Dearly beloved Jesus Christ, a prayer to aid the sick in the hour of death) and the prayer of the Black Goat; and so on.”

The problem is, the book appeared centuries after his death and cannot rightfully be attributed to him (the first edition having come out in 1849, with the title, it was the Book of Saint Cyprian, taken from a manuscript. Made by the Saint himself, who teaches how to undo all the spells made by the Moors in this Kingdom of Portugal, and also how to find the places where riches can be found. The book is said to have a life of its own and is said to absolutely terrify anyone who reads it. Legend has it that if a reader finishes it to completion they will attract the devil in person.

Despite ALL of this, Saint Cyprian is still honored today in some circles particularly among Gnostics and Hoodoo practitioners.

Certain Christian occult circles during the Middle Ages claimed that that Cyprian continued to practice magic after his conversion having given up Pagan magic for --- you know ---- proper Christian magic.

So what do I think? Hell of a story. Magic in any form is a manipulation of that which is natural. Does it exist? If you are a realm walker or have a belief in universal balance it does. Does that make it negative or positive? Depends on your point of view based in your personal spiritual experiences and what you feel is ‘proper.’

                                                          Baraka                                                             

                                                                       سيد الروحي