Since ancient times, Egypt has been considered a land of great secrets. Oriental scholars and European warlocks learned from ancient Egyptian magicians and priests. Old papyri were hunted by alchemists who wanted to subjugate nature, and occultists who sought to establish a connection with supernatural forces. Magic, indeed, was central to the ancient Egyptian religion. But this magic was not very similar to the legends about it.
The glory of the homeland of magic was entrenched in Egypt in ancient times. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not believe that such grandiose structures as the majestic pyramids of Giza could be built by ordinary people, without the help of the Higher powers. The Egyptians themselves sincerely believed in the power of spells and amulets, which were used in any important matter. They combined their outstanding engineering skills with mysterious rituals that both terrified and attracted the uninitiated.
Power of the soul
Ancient Egyptian magic was closely and inextricably linked with religion. In fact, it is impossible to separate where the Egyptians ended a religious rite and began a magic act. Accordingly, the main magicians were precisely the priests, who generally possessed enormous influence in Ancient Egypt and actually ruled the country together with the pharaohs.
There was also a special god who was responsible for magic. His name was Heka. Magic as such was also called the same word. The word "heka" literally means "strengthening the activity of Ka." Ka - this is how the Egyptians called one of the hypostases of the human soul. Accordingly, they considered magic not as some kind of external force, but exclusively as something that comes from within the person himself. With the help of this power, the magician could influence other people, the world around him, and then the gods themselves! Some researchers emphasize that, unlike other ancient religions, where people, in order to achieve their goals, sought to appease and please the gods as much as possible, the Egyptians dared to order and even threaten their gods! A powerful magician was able to force the gods to do even what they strongly disliked.
Ancient Egyptian surgical instruments
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Another god associated with magic is the satellite of Ra named Sia. He was considered the keeper of the sacred papyrus, on which invaluable knowledge accumulated by people and gods were recorded. His name
denoted divine omniscience. If a person could master Sia, then he got the opportunity to act both in the world of the gods and in the world of the dead. It is worth noting: the Egyptians believed that the worlds of people and gods did not have cardinal differences between themselves and act according to the same laws.
To awaken the power of Hek in themselves, the priests performed special rituals known collectively as "seshau". In addition, Heck was in charge of the magical recipes "pahret", which were mainly used for healing. After all, medicine was one of the most demanded and popular varieties of ancient Egyptian magic.
The healthiest people
Even Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians are the most skilled physicians and the healthiest people in the whole oecumene. The high development of medicine was promoted by the culture of mummification of the dead. This required a good knowledge of the internal structure of the body. Accordingly, knowledge about a variety of diseases developed. But at the same time, the Egyptians did not consider the human body only as a complex mechanism. They strove to influence as deeply as possible. Therefore, they healed, using both medicines and spells. Moreover, they considered demons, ghosts, evil gods, or the influence of other sorcerers to be the cause of all diseases. Therefore, the treatment in places resembled a Christian rite of exorcism and looked rather strange.
The priests-doctors were called "Senu". Before starting treatment, they always read a prayer, enlisting the support of the gods. The patient, in turn, after his recovery, must have made a generous offering to the temple in order to thank the god who helped him.
By the way, contrary to popular misconception, the priests in Ancient Egypt were not only men, but also women. The first female doctor in history was the priestess Merit Ptah, who lived in Memphis in the 3rd millennium BC.
Egyptian doctors knew how to treat a wide variety of diseases and performed operations of varying degrees of complexity. They even had dentistry. True, it was rather primitive and boiled down to the extraction of teeth from a patient drugged with opium. Nevertheless, the art of the priests-doctors simultaneously delighted foreigners and frightened them. And even gloomy stories about the details of embalming and making mummies did give rise to rumors that the Egyptians were able to revive the dead and almost create artificial people. The priests did not interfere with these rumors, but willingly used them to strengthen their reputation as almighty servants of the formidable gods.
Of course, the priests could use their medical knowledge to harm those who were not lucky enough to be their enemies. The art of making poisons flourished in ancient Egypt. And in it, of course, it also did not do without magic. In one of the papyri that have come down to us, the following recipes are told:
“Take a shrew, drown it and let a man drink this water - he will go blind in both eyes”, “A tincture of wine and bile of a shrew will cause death to the one who drinks it”.
Dreams and amulets
Another widespread type of magic was all kinds of fortune-telling and predictions. The ancient Greeks believed that it was the Egyptians who were the first to master something similar and all types of fortune-telling originate from them. Most popular
there was fortune telling by dreams. This art was taught in the temples of the city of Iunu (the Greeks called this city, located not far from modern Cairo, Heliopolis). High Priest Yunu even officially bore the title of Great Seer.
"Egyptian priest reads a scroll." Painting by Stepan Bakalovich, early 20th century
An ancient Egyptian dream book, written 2 thousand years before our era, has survived to this day. It describes the interpretation of about 200 dreams and magical rituals that can protect against evil spirits.
Also, the Egyptians were extremely developed all kinds of curses. They were divided into two groups. The first consisted of curses that priests and magicians sent by order of a person to his rival. Of course, before the war, the ruler of the enemy state and all of its military leaders were cursed. Moreover, a person, having learned that he was cursed by the powerful Egyptian sorcerers, could actually die or perish - such was the power of self-hypnosis. The second huge group was made up of curses, which densely covered the walls of the tombs. The Egyptians treated the dead with great respect. But it is worth noting that not all of these curses were addressed to those who disturb the mummy. Many threatened with terrible punishment those who would steal gifts and offerings from the tomb intended for the priests.
A dark section of magic was also associated with the afterlife, which was responsible for helping the soul of the deceased find the right path and with honor withstand all trials before the gods. Only in this case a good sentence awaited him at the trial of Osiris and eternal rest. To help the soul, the famous magic "Book of the Dead" was created, the images from which were applied to the ancient Egyptian sarcophagi. This section of magic, of course, also frightened the uninitiated.
Amulets were an obligatory attribute of ancient Egyptian magic. There were a huge variety of them, and they had the widest range of applications. Amulets protected the Egyptians from demons and wild animals, promised good luck in love, business and work, kept the family and guaranteed health. The dead were also generously supplied with amulets. As a rule, amulets were made in the form of animal figurines or sacred scarab beetles. Those amulets on which the texts of spells were applied were considered stronger. Although an ordinary figurine without inscriptions could be endowed with magical powers.
Eternal plots
As time went on, dynasties were replaced in Egypt. The old gods were forgotten, new ones came to replace them. But the glory of the cradle of magic did not fade. Stories of the incredible power of the Egyptian priests continued to be told in all corners of the ancient world. Some of them became part of new mythologies and new religions. For example, about the priest Zazemanch, who allegedly served the pharaoh Snefer in the middle of II! millennium BC, it is said that he forced the waters of the lake to part in order to find an ornament lost by one of the maids. The presentation of this story clearly has similarities with the famous biblical story of Moses.
The historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived in the Roman Empire in the IV century, wrote about the secret knowledge of Egypt: “If anyone wishes to attain the divine understanding and to comprehend the beginning of forebodings with a cheerful mind, he will see that this kind of knowledge spread throughout the world from Egypt. Here, for the first time, people long before others reached various, so to speak, incunabula religions and carefully guard the first foundations of the sacred rites contained in the secret scriptures … Thanks to Egyptian wisdom, Anaxagoras was able to predict a stone rain and, touching the silt from a well, an upcoming earthquake. And Solon, using the sayings of the Egyptian priests, issued his own just laws and rendered them great assistance to Roman law. Jesus drew from these sources, without having seen Egypt, in the sublime flight of his speeches, he is a rival of Jupiter, a hero of glorious wisdom."
The wisdom of Ancient Egypt was eventually inherited by medieval Europe. The philosopher's stone, which alchemists hunted for centuries, trying to create it in secret laboratories, was first mentioned in his writings by the sage Zosima of Panopolitan, who lived in Alexandria around 300 AD. He left behind numerous treatises in which he outlined the foundations of chemistry. By the way, he was one of the first to use the name of this science, describing it as "sacred secret art." Zosima was convinced that the philosopher's stone, capable of turning base metals into gold and silver, was not a fiction, but a reality. Following him, tens and hundreds of people around the world believed in it.
Emerald Tablet
In the Middle Ages, Egypt finally turned for people into a country saturated with magic, inhabited by almost omnipotent sorcerers. The name Heck was firmly forgotten, and magical secrets were now associated with the Egyptian god of wisdom Thoth. Then he receded into the background. European alchemists considered Hermes Trismegistus to be the greatest sage of Ancient Egypt. They did not call him God, but they did not doubt the reality. Although, most likely, such a person never existed.
Hermes Trismegistus was credited with the authorship of the most mysterious treatises on alchemy. The famous Emerald Tablet held a special place among them. Historians are still debating who and when actually created this text. The legend said that Trismegistus carved it on an emerald plate, which was kept in one of the Egyptian temples. Later, Alexander the Great found her.
Hermes Trismegistus was credited with the authorship of several dozen alchemical and philosophical treatises
The text consists of fragmentary phrases that outline the basic principles of alchemy. The adepts of the secret sciences were convinced that the very real recipe for obtaining the philosopher's stone was written in such an amazing form. They sought to comprehend the hidden meaning of the text of the Emerald Tablet and set up endless experiments. Alas, none of them managed to get the Philosopher's Stone. However, in pursuit of ancient magic, the alchemists have advanced the natural sciences considerably. Modern physicists and chemists, of course, cannot take their searches seriously, but they still pay due respect to their great-grandfathers.
Many people today believe that not all the secrets of the priests-magicians of Ancient Egypt have been revealed. Well, perhaps, trying to comprehend them, they will open some more amazing paths for humanity.
Love spell with threats
Magic was also used by the ancient Egyptians in such delicate matters as love affairs.
For a love spell, a huge number of magic drinks were used, which were made by magicians, as well as spells. Moreover, love conspiracies sometimes looked rather strange. For example, here is a text written by an unknown magician during the reign of the XX dynasty (about 1100 BC). The author, without ceremony, declares to the gods that if they do not help him, he will destroy their temples:
“Hello to you, Ra-Horathi, father of the gods, Hello Seven Hathor, To you, adorned with scarlet headbands!
Hello gods, Lords of heaven and earth!
May she, his daughter, follow me, Like a bull for feed
Like a servant for children
Like a shepherd behind a flock.
If you don't make her follow me,
I will put fire on Busiris And I will burn him."
Source: "Mysteries of History"