Egyptian Magic Books

The following is an excerpt from the back of the book entitled "Egyptian Magic," by E.A. Wallis Budge:

"For millenia, Egypt, the dark land, has been considered the home of magic. The feats of her priests and magicians were renowned throughout the ancient world, from the simplest legerdemain (according to present interpretation) to the heights of necromancy and sorcery. Even their most severe critics, the ancient Hebrews, admitted the power of Egyptian magic. In the famous sorcerers' duel between Moses and the Egyptian priests before Pharaoh, the Egyptians were almost as skilled as Moses.

This well-known study of ancient Egyptian magic, by E. Wallis Budge, long curator of Egyptian antiquities at the British Museum, sums up everything that is known about the wonder-working of ancient Egypt. Dr. Budge covers the powerful amulets that warded off evil spirits, the scarabs of immortality, the use of wax images and spirit placements, magical pictures and formulas, magic via the secret name, magic of sounds, rituals, curses, destruction of hostile magic, determination of fortunate dates, and many of the other practices of the Nile dwellers.

Dozens of excerpts are also given from the magical papyroi, tomb inscriptions, and other sources. Many wonderful tales are told in these Egyptian stories: mind control, enforcing will upon animals, suspended animation, calling upon the dead, finding ancient books of incredible magic power, and other miraculous events that we may or may not believe..."

This particular book is the unabridged republication of the 1901 edition, and it comes with 20 illustrations. I own this book, but I still haven't got around to reading any of it yet, well, except for the back of it that I'm typing into this blog, ha-ha! It looks interesting though, and I plan on checking it out in detail, later on. Hey, most people might classify this "Egyptian Magic" book under the 'woo-woo category' but we will just call it eccentric and leave it at that.

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P.S. I decided to combine another post to this page that was written on a similar timeline from another website that I recently deleted. It will contain several excerpts from the book itself along with some additional comments and interjections from me. 

Part 2: "E. A. Wallis Budge - Egyptian Magic - Excerpts from the Book"

The Introduction...

Preface from the Book:

A study of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, spells, formulas, figures, pictures, enchantments, amulets, and in ceremonies with words of power (to produce supernatural results), formed a significantly large, important part of Egyptian religion.  And it is certain that, notwithstanding the continuous progress which the Egyptians made in civilization, and the high intellectual development to which they eventually attained, this belief influenced their minds and, from the earliest to the latest period of their history, shaped their views concerning things temporal as well as spiritual in a manner which, at this stage in the history of the world, is very difficult to understand.  The scrupulous care with which they performed their innumerable religious ceremonies and carried out the rules which they had formulated concerning the worship of the divine Power(s), and their devotion to religious magic, gained for them among the nations with whom they came in contact the reputation of being at once the most religious and the most superstitious of men.  That this reputation was, for the most part, well deserved, is the object of this little book to show.

---Editor's Comment:  I haven't read this Egyptian Magic book yet, although the title sounds very interesting.  But one of the other things that interested me about it, was Egypt's amazing record keeping ability and their preservation of history.  Of course, the great Pyramids of Egypt and the possibility of advanced civilizations assisting them in the past, like, "Aliens from Another Planet," also factor into why I'm always interested in basically anything that involves Egyptian ways of living - whether fact or fiction. ---End of Comment

Egyptian magic dates from the time when the pre-dynastic and prehistoric dwellers in Egypt believed that the earth, the underworld, and the air and the sky were all peopled with countless beings, visible and invisible, which were held to be friendly and unfriendly to man according to the operations of nature (which they were supposed to direct) that were favorable or unfavorable to him.  

In nature and attributes these beings were taught by primitive man to closely resemble himself and to possess all human passions, emotions, weakness, defects, and the chief object of magic was to give man the pre-eminence over such things.  The favor of the beings who were placable (able to be appeased or placated) and friendly to man might be obtained by means of gifts and offerings, but the cessation of hostilities on the part of those that were implacable and unfriendly could only be obtained by wheedling, cajolery, flattery or by making use of an amulet, secret name, figure, magical formula, or a picture which had the effect of bringing to the aid of the mortal who possessed it the power of a being that was mightier than the foe who threatened to do evil to him. The magic of most early nations aimed at causing the transference of power from a super-natural being to a man, whereby he was to be enabled to obtain superhuman results and to become for a time as mighty as the original possessor of the power; but the object of Egyptian magic was to endow man with the means of compelling both friendly and hostile powers, nay, at a later time, even God himself, to do what he wished, whether they were willing or not. The belief in magic, the word being used in its best sense, is older in Egypt than the belief in God, and it is certain that a very large number of the Egyptian religious ceremonies, which were performed in later times as an integral part of a highly spiritual worship, had their origin in superstitious customs which date from a period when God, under any name or in any form, was not conceived in the minds of the Egyptians.

---Editor Interjects:  I find that last sentence to be interesting, but inconclusive.  In some sense, spirituality and divine ways of thinking along with the belief in magic, all sort of relate.  Even if the early Egyptians couldn't conceive a type of God with a name or form, they still sounded like they were very religious.  I suppose it is how you want to define God, religions and spirituality......but to me, it is all relative. ---End of Comment

Indeed, it is probable that even the use of the sign which represents an axe, and which stands as the hieroglyphic character both for God and "god," indicates that this weapon and tool was employed in the performance of some ceremony connected with religious magic in prehistoric or, at any rate, in pre-dynastic times when it in some mysterious way symbolized the presence of supreme Power.  But be this as it may, it is quite certain that magic and religion developed and flourished side by side in Egypt throughout all periods of her history, and that any investigation which we may make of the one necessarily includes an examination of the other. From the religious books of ancient Egypt, we learn that the power possessed by a priest or man who was skilled in the knowledge and working of magic was believed to almost be boundless.  By pronouncing certain words or names of power in the proper manner and in the proper tone of voice he could heal the sick, and cast out the evil spirits which caused pain and suffering in those who were diseased, and restore the dead to life, and bestow upon the dead man the power to transform the corruptible into an incorruptible body, wherein the soul might live to all eternity......

---Editor's Comment:  I'm going to have to cut this Preface / Introduction and/or Excerpts from the book "Egyptian Magic" off, mainly because it is getting rather long and also due to the fact that if you're sincerely interested, maybe you just need to buy the book so you can analyze it to death. However, one must realize that this book may contain lots of the woo-woo of wooism, so approach it with caution; reader beware.  Ha-ha!  Ahh, but it's a featured book on this website that deals with ancient Egyptian ways of living, so from there, you should realize that it has to be good.  Enjoy......

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