Ancient Egyptian Magic was the first authoritative modern work on the magic of ancient Egypt, delving into the occult practices and spiritual beliefs across thirty centuries of dynastic rule during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms. Though it was written in 1980, and much has been learned since that time, this authoritative work will appeal to anyone interested in Egyptology, the history of magic, and the occult, ancient religions, and mythology.
While a few of the conclusions asserted by the author are clearly in error when considered from an initiatory theurgical point of view, he offers a voice of objectivity in terms of Egyptology itself.
On page 12, the author makes the statement,
“While Budge is an almost inexhaustible source of information, much of what was then believed about magical practices has been revised, the knowledge of the language has increased greatly, and even the concept of magic has changed.”
Since this text was written in 1980, the above statement has been true several times over now; however, there is still considerable value in Bob Brier’s Ancient Egyptian Magic, as these excerpts clearly attest. (Find on Amazon)1
Anthologies are curated excerpts from texts I have in my library (Ex Libris) that are part of my ongoing personal research process which focuses heavily on practical aspects of theurgy and the illuminatory process of initiatory traditions in the Divine Mysteries.
I share them (protectively) to provide transparency to my students and subscribers for references I use in my work and to encourage those keenly interested to purchase the full text in support of the authors.
From the Text, Ancient Egyptian Magic…
Etymological evidence suggests that the priests of the House of Life ([symbols] per ankh) were the interpreters. Coptic writing, which is ancient Egyptian transcribed in Greek letters with a few characters added, is the strongest connection we have with vocalized ancient Egyptian. In the Coptic (Bohairic) version of the Bible, when the pharaoh calls for his dream interpreters, the word used for “interpreters” is spheransh. This is probably a corruption of [symbols] (sesh per ankh)—scribe of the House of Life. (p. 217)
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Excerpts Continued:
Excerpted from:
Brier, Bob, Ancient Egyptian Magic, William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1980
Note: Any bracketed text is my notation.
Footnotes:
- Amazon links may be affiliate links. ↩︎
