Ancient Egyptian Magic

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 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
DIVINATION AND MAGIC

Eleanor L. Harris

SAMUEL WEISER, INC.

York Beach, Maine

First published in 1998 by
Samuel Weiser, Inc.
P.O. Box 612
York Beach, ME 03910-0612

Copyright © 1998 Eleanor Harris

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro¬

duced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from Samuel Weiser, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief
passages.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Harris, Eleanor L.
Ancient Egyptian divination and magic / Eleanor L. Harris
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57863-036-3 (alk. paper)
1. Divination—Egypt. 2. Magic, Egyptian. I. Title.
BF1770.E3H37 1998
133.4'3'0932—dc21 98-18797
CIP

EB

Cover art is "Stele of the Lady Taperet," Egyptian c. 1000 B.c.

Used by permission, Bridgeman Art Library International, New
York.

Cover design by Ed Stevens

mphis

States of America

is publication meets all the minimum re-

erican National Standard for Perma-
d Library Materials Z39.48.1984.
 This book was written with love for my fa¬
ther, Charles R. Lillie. Won-j n mr(w)t-k
("I shine through love of you").
I dedicate this book also to my husband,
Philip A. Harris, who knows the solar Eye of
Ra. Together, we shall love eternally.

Special thanks to the loyal scholar-magicians

of the House of Life, who have helped make
this book possible.
Table of Contents

List of Figures.ix

Introduction.xi

Chapter 1: Understanding Egyptian Religious

and Magical Philosophy.1

Chapter 2: Ritual Tools.35

Chapter 3: Amulets.65

Chapter 4: Writing and Using Magical Script.93

Chapter 5: Divination.117

Chapter 6: Ancient Egyptian Magic.155

Glossary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.201

Glossary of Terms.213

Egyptian Resources.217

Bibliography.221

Index...223

About the Author.228

vii
List of Figures

Figure 1: Kilt with broad collar, wig, and

amulet pendant.26

Figure 2: Sem priest wearing leopard pelt,

priest wig, collar, kilt, and sheer kilt.27

Figure 3: Nemes headcover. Fabric, pleated,

white or off-white, worn by kings and
high officals or priests. Often adorned
with cobra ornament on top.28

Figure 4: Nemes pattern. 29

Figure 5: Priestess/royalty wrapped gown.. 30

Figure 6: Bead-net dress over sheath dress.31

Figure 7: Rush-work sandals.33

Figure 8: Animal head-shaped top of Uas staff.46

Figure 9: Vulture amulet.72

Figure 10: Wooden scribe's palette (with ink

and reed pens).98

Figure 11: Auset (Isis).167

IX
x Ancient Egyptian Divination and Magic

Figure 12: Tehuti (Thoth).171

Figure 13: Ra (Phre).177

Figure 14: Set (Seth).180

Figure 15: Het-heru (Hathor).183

Figure 16: Seb (Geb).186

Figure 17: Khonsu.191

Figure 18: Sekhmet.192

Introduction

First and foremost, this is a practical manual and study

of the native divination and magical practices of ancient
Egypt. All of the instruction and material herein is au¬
thentic, as derived from ancient Egyptian magical pa¬
pyri. The Leyden Papyrus, an Egyptian magical papy¬
rus, and The Papyrus Ani, the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
and many more renowned literary works have contrib¬
uted to this book.
The aim of this book is to provide you, the contempo¬
rary student, with a practical collection of Egyptian divi¬
nation and magical instruction. The teachings and ritu¬
als of Egyptian magic are as alive today as they were
in predynastic and prehistoric Egypt. Like hidden trea¬
sure, the wisdom and practice awaits your discovery.
Written for the beginner, yet enticing to more ex¬
perienced practitioners, this guide celebrates the
world-renowned mystery, tradition, and ceremonial
prestige of Egyptian magic.
Within this user-friendly text, you will be led step-by-
step through religious and magical philosophy, tech¬
niques, instruction, and divination and magical formu¬
las thousands of years old. You will:

• Explore the Egyptian religious and magical philoso¬

phies that are suitable for your own spiritual and
magical quest today;
• Discover how the Egyptians developed their magical
practices and why they were successful;
XI
xii Ancient Egyptian Divination and Magic

• Find out how the ancient temples and priesthoods

functioned, and how you can create your own work¬
ing environment today;
• Create and wear ancient priesthood clothing, and
learn how to make and use the ritual tools of Egyp¬
tian magicians;
• Examine the use of amulets, figures, pictures, written
magic, spells, words of power, and more magical items
and techniques to empower your magic;
• Come to understand the format and purpose of Egyp¬
tian magical ceremony and how to design your own;
• Learn how to fire, water, and oil scry, have dream vi¬
sions, shape-shift into a god-form, sound the secret
names of the deities to acquire their awesome power,
conjure dead spirits, make and use ancient eye-paint
to see invoked deities, understand and write your own
Egyptian magical formulas, make and use amulets,
work defensive magic; cast love, protection, and heal¬
ing spells; evoke spirits into statues and other magi¬
cal objects, use sex magic, bring good fortune, and
more exciting acts of sorcery;
• Revive the wisdom of the ancient Egyptians through
work with dreams, prognostications, transformations,
and more.

The instructions herein include original formulas of divina¬

tion and magic that you can use immediately This allevi¬
ates your tedious research to compile working data from
ancient magical papyri and other historical literature. Ev¬
erything you need to know is here at your fingertips.
With this book as your guide, you can learn to use
the ancient and potent magical arts that captured the
fascination of ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Roman writ¬
ers, all of whom considered the Egyptians experts in the
occult sciences.
Chapter One

Understanding
Egyptian Religious
and Magical Philosophy
Ignorance is Darkness —Egyptian proverb

From the earliest times, magic was developed largely

by the Egyptians in relation both to the dead and the
living.* 1 The belief in magic is older in Egypt than the
belief in God.2 Egyptian religion was grounded in a firm
and active belief in the importance of magic. Ancient
Egyptians believed in, and aspired to use, the power of
magical amulets, spells, scripts, names, and intricate cer¬
emonies. To best understand Egyptian magic, you need
to understand their religious and magical philosophy.

Religious Philosophy
The Egyptians did not maintain a universal system of
religious belief. Dogma did not exist. There were no

1 F. L. Griffith and Herbert Thompson, eds., The Leyden Papyrus:

An Egyptian Magical Book (New York: Dover, 1974), p. 6.
2 E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Magic (New York: Dover, 1971), p. ix.
1
2 ^ Ancient Egyptian Divination and Magic

holy texts defining strict religious doctrines requiring

conformity. In polytheism, there was tolerance. The
ancient Egyptians were peaceful, kind, and very
aware of family values. Their religious dealings re¬
flected this in that there were no persecutions in the
name of religion.
Egyptians revered and respected all of natural ex¬
istence. They did not attempt to persuade or force non-
Egyptians to worship their deities, nor did they de¬
grade the beliefs of others. In fact, the Egyptians were
open-minded and receptive to other cultures' belief
systems.
Ancient Egyptian religion is puzzling to a degree; it
resembles Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in that it pro¬
pounded a belief in a central god, the Creator, but it was
also polytheistic.
Whether polytheism grew from monotheism in Egypt,
or monotheism from polytheism, will remain a mystery.
The evidence of the pyramid texts shows that, already
in the 5th Dynasty, monotheism and polytheism flour¬
ished side by side.3
While the ancient Egyptians had a pantheon of gods
and goddesses, they believed in one central god who
was the Creator, invisible and eternal. This one god cre¬
ated all in existence. This god was divine, but had lived
upon the Earth and had suffered a cruel death at the
hands of his enemies. He had risen from the dead and
had become the God and Pharaoh of the world beyond
the grave.4 This god was Ausar.
The following outline of beliefs taken from native re¬
ligious works, some calculated to be between six and
seven thousand years old, describes the basic composi¬
tion of Egyptian religious philosophy:

3 E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Book of the Dead (New York: Dover,

1967), p. xciii.
4 E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Book of the Dead, p. xiii.
Understanding Egyptian Religious and Magical Philosophy ^ 3

• A central god, the Creator;

• A company of gods and goddesses possessing hu¬
manlike emotion and human-animal characteristics;
• Divine truth, order, and judgment;
• Divine battle between Order and Chaos;
• Resurrection;
• Immortality.

From primitive times and well into more civilized peri¬

ods, Egyptian religious beliefs remained much the same.
The Egyptians were immaculate record keepers and very
conservative in maintaining early traditions. New in¬
sights gained with the passage of time were merely
added to the main body of beliefs.

Order and Chaos at War

The Egyptians believed the forces of primal chaos posed a
continuous threat to the world. The creation of the world
had occurred in conjunction with the creation of social or¬
der and kingship, and the harmony of the universe could
be preserved by practicing the principal of maat; divine
truth, justice, and order. The principal of maat was the ba¬
sis of the Egyptian religion, and was symbolized by the
goddess Maat. She reigned over the equilibrium of the uni¬
verse, the divine order of all things, and the regular cycles
of the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the seasons, and time itself.
Although it was clear these chaotic forces had been
tamed, only the deities could protect and defeat the eter¬
nally present threat of chaos.

The Nine Bodies: A Religious Theory

Egyptians believed that humans and other living crea¬
tures consisted of nine "bodies." These nine bodies de¬
fine why the Egyptians believed that it was possible to
invoke a creature's life force into a statue, and thereby
gain the creature's power. They believed in ghosts and
4 Ancient Egyptian Divination and Magic

apparitions, which were made possible by the existence

of the "ka" body, and the "khu" body, discussed below.
Through different bodies, the Egyptians communicated
with the dead, projected out-of-body, assumed other
creatures' power, and enjoyed other abilities that -you
can share today
The nine bodies are defined and discussed below.
By learning the principles of each, you will understand
their uses in magic that are described in later chap¬
ters.

Khat, the natural body: which is

translated as something which
is able to decay. It is the physi¬
cal body. The word also applies
to the mummified body in a tomb. Funeral ceremonies
on the day of burial have the power to transform the
khat into the spiritual body, the "sahu." The physical body
was given to the Earth upon death but the soul resided
in heaven. This proves Egyptians believed in an after¬
life, eternal life, and resurrection.

Sahu, the spiritual body: de¬

scribes a physical body that
has obtained a degree of
knowledge, power, and glory.
It evolves thereby into the sahu, which is everlasting and
incorruptible. The sahu has the ability to become related
to the soul and to communicate with it. When the physi¬
cal body changes into the sahu body, it ascends into the
heavens to dwell with the gods and the righteous.

Ah, the heart body: the heart. Considered the

core power of life, it houses the abstract person-
f ality, or the characteristic attributes of the per-
- son. It is the instrument of good and evil
thoughts. This body can move freely by separating itself
 Understanding Egyptian Religious and Magical Philosophy ^ 5

from, or uniting with, the physical body at will. It also

enjoys life with the gods in heaven.5

Ka, the double body: literally describes a

"double" of image and genius. Considered a
copy of the physical body, (compare to contem¬
porary "astral body"), the ka was offered meat,
wine, and other delicacies at funeral ceremonies to sus¬
tain it after physical death. The ka dwelt within the
deceased's statue, just as the ka of a deity dwells within
its statue. Someone who wished to communicate with
the deceased read a message, left a written message
on papyrus in the tomb, or tied a statue of the deceased
in the tomb. Since the ka lived therein, it could, of course,
observe and understand.6
There was a priesthood in Egypt, termed Priests of
Ka, who performed services, worshipped, and left offer¬
ings for the ka in a special chamber within the tomb,
called the "ka chapel." After physical death, the ka re¬
quired offerings of food and drink. If food and drink were
scarce, the ka was given offerings painted upon the walls
of the tomb. Magical intent transformed the pictures into
suitable nourishment.

Ba, the soul body: means something

roughly equivalent to "sublime," or "noble."
The ba dwells in the ka. It continues to pos¬
sess both substance and form after death.
It is depicted in hieroglyphs as a human-headed hawk
and its nature is ethereal. The ba can revisit the body in
the tomb, re-animate it, and converse with it. It can take
any shape desired and passes into heaven to dwell eter¬
nally with other perfect souls. Like the ka, the ba needs

5 E. A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Book of the Dead, p. lxi, lxii.

6 Leemans, Monuments Egyptiens, Partie II, pp. 11, 183, 184 re¬
ferred to in Egyptian Magic, p. 219.