| From early times, magic was developed mostly by the Egyptians relating both to the dead and the living. The belief in magic is older in Egypt than the belief in God. Egyptian religion was centered in a firm and active belief in the importance of magic. Ancient Egyptians believed in, and aspired to use, the power of magical spells, amulets, names, scripts, and ceremonies. Ancient Egyptians believed that humans and other living creatures consisted of nine "bodies." These nine bodies show us 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 apparitions and in spirits, which were made possible by the existence of: Ab- The heart body Ba- The soul body Ka- The double body Khaibit- The shadow body Khat- The natural body Khu- The spirit body Ren- The name body Sahu- The spiritual body Sekhem- The form body Through astral experiences, the Egyptians communicated with the dead, assumed other creatures' power, and made use of other abilities that some people are believed to have today. I do not believe in classifying magick as black or white... Their magic consisted of two types: -magick worked to benefit the living or the dead -magick worked with a negative intent (like curses) The magician had the power to heal and the power to inflict pain upon enemies. The moralities of these acts was determined by the individual. Egyptians used divination and magick as needed to protect and empower. There were two primary reasons for divination: -to gain information about present circumstances and get a better working knowledge of the situation. -to get answers and/or assistance from a god for a specific situation. Therefore the magician compelled the god(s) to do his or her will. The popular methods used for divination were: -Dreams and/or dream interpretation -Fire, water and/or oil scrying -Mediumship -Oracles -Trance Most Egyptian magicians divined alone, but often employed a young boy to act as a medium. The unrestrained, pure mind of a child acted as an ideal channel for insight from the gods. This can be quite relative to later practices such as Wicca, where witches used familiars (animals that served a magical purpose) to assist them in performing special magical ceremonies. Ancient Egyptian divination is arguably the oldest and most powerful source of sorcery. |
| Ancient Egypt |
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