Practical egyptian magic (gnv64)

8 PRACTICAL EGYPTIAN MAGIC 16.. THE BOOK OF THE DEAD The Book of the Dead was, to the Egyptians of old, something like the Bible is to modern day fundamentalist Christians.. SPIRITUAL H

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9 The Hermes Trismegistus Part II: The Teachings 83

10 The Egyptian Mysteries Acc ording to Iamblichos 93 PART TWO: THE PRACTICE

11 Symbols and Instruments

12 Colours, Robes and Archetypes

13 The Structure of the Lodge or Group

14 Suggestions and Warnings

15 Ancient Prayers and Invocations

8 PRACTICAL EGYPTIAN MAGIC

16 Ceremonial Magic

17 Some Practical Magical Techniques

18 General Correspondences

19 Egyptian Magic and Today's Religions

20 Sirius - The New Cosmic Magic

PREFACE

The ensuing work presupposes a fair knowledge of occult semantics and at least some degree of familiarity with the meta­physical world As the word 'magic' itself tends to have con­troversial overtones for the uninitiated - there still being people who associate it either with what are ignorantly referred to as the <black arts' or with entertainers who produce objects from hats by sleight of hand - a clear definition is necessary

I coukl not hope to put it better than the late A.E Waite In his book, The Occult Sciences, he writes:

The popular conception of Magic, even when it is not identified with the trickeries of imposture and the pranks of the mountebank, is entirely absurd and gross

'Magic or, more accurately, Magism: says Christian in his

Histoire de la Magie 'if anyone would condescend to return to its antique origin could be no longer confounded with the supersti­tions which calumniate its memory Its name is derived to us from the Greek words MAGOS, a Magician and MAGELA Magic, which are merely permutations of the terms MOG, MEGH, MAGH, which in Pehlvi and in Zcnd, both languages of the eldest East signify "priest", "wise" and "excellent" It was thence also that in a period anterior to historic Greece, there originated the Chaldean nameMaghdim which is equiva1cnt to "supreme wisdom" ,or sacred philosophy Thus, mere etymology indicates that Magic was the syn­thesis of those sciences once possessed by the Magi philosophers

INTRODUCTION

It has been suggested in recent years, by both scientists and

mystics, that time is neither linear nor movable but exists in

stationary bands through which we, as individual minds or

incarnate essences, move in order to gain experience On this

premise we can adjust OUf attitude towards what is broadly

referred to as 'ancient Egypt' and consider those time-shrouded

days.to be as close to us now as more recent and better docu­

mented epochs The Aquarian Age, we are taught, is a time to

return to simple, natural truths; a time to discard the multiple

layers of accumulated veneer that have resulted from centuries

of religious and political oppression; a time for the individual to

seek his true identity through his basic cosmic roots

Egypt and its magical past has much to contribute towards a

better and broader understanding of our cosmic origins and our

future inter-cosmic connections It completes a circle, as it were,

a circle in time that closes the yawning gap between pure faith in

the existence of external forces and a practical knowledge of,

and communication with, those forces that could enrich the

quality of life for many and make a valid contribution towards

easing the stresses brought about by the slow and painful transi­

tion from Piscean to Aquarian principles and life standards

Before we can make that journey of discovery into Egypt's

dim and distant past, it is necessary to strip away some of the

overlays and substructures that have presented themselves in

PART ONE THE HISTORY AND THEORY

I THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

The Book of the Dead was, to the Egyptians of old, something like the Bible is to modern day fundamentalist Christians the inference being that it was taken too literally in later times, while the real meanings behind some of its teachings had become so obscured by the mists of antiquity that they bore no relationship

or terms of reference to life in the later years

The very title is, in fact, a misnomer, for its literal translation

is Chapters of the Coming Forth by Day, and it would appear that the sole reason for referring to it as The Book of the Dead was on account of its deep concern with life after death and the preparation therefor

Only fragments of this work, in the form that it has come down to us today, are actually concerned with magical ritual, whereas whole portions do refer to the state of the soul that has passed over and its trials and existences in other dimensions In fact, more importance is placed upon what happens to us once

w e are dead and gone than on our welfare while still incarnate here Shades of more contemporary beliefs methinks But one has also to take into account the fact that the ancient Egyptians, far from being 'pie in the sky' folks, were eminently practical, enjoyed a very ordered society, and did not spend their whole lives prostrating themselves before idols of cats dogs, lions and the like Fascinating looking but indecipherable sets of hierogly­phics that appeared to our forefathers to be mystical or magical wonders turned out to be simple invoices for so many barrels of

2 SPIRITUAL HIER OGL YPHICS

This is primarily a book about magical matters and I do not intend to embark upon a history of the development of the Egyptian hieroglyphic system of writing There are many excel­lent text-books on the subject for those of scholarly inclination, and my employment of hieroglyphics will only be inasfar as they

are related to spiritua l or magical contexts It is, however, important to examine the basic beliefs held in ancient Egypt regarding life after death, the journey of the soul and the p.upose of life in the first place At this point a great deal of IOrting the wheat from the chaff is essential

The subject of mummification is always a controversial one,

as it can be argued that a people who placed so much aignificance upon the preservation of the physical vehicle couldn't have had much understanding of matters esoteric; and

a valid point this is, too Perhaps a deeper look into the character and psychology of this early race might throw a little light on the subject As I have already explained, these were not basically a mystical people but essentially dow.n to earth, which tendency inclined them to translate their gods into practical and easily understood imagery

It has ever been the ego of man to fashion his deities in his

own image and likeness and the ancient Egyptians were no exception, although they were, perhaps, a little broader-minded than modern day theologians in that they saw their gods in all creation and not just Homo sapiens From studies I have made

3 ORIGINS

From our studies of The Book of lhe Dead it must be quite apparent that, at some point in their early history, the people of the Nile rubbed shoulders with a highly sophisticated and advanced culture that enjoyed a system of religious and magical beliefs different from anything they had formerly encountered Scholars disagree among themselves regarding the dates and time periods involved in pre-dynastic and early dynastic times For example, according to Budge the fourth and fifth dynasties existed approximately around 3500 B.C., while American expert James Bonwick, in his excellent book Egyptian Befitif' and Modem Thought considers that the empire was founded about 5,000 years before the Christian era Before King Menes, he states, the gods were said to have governed the country, which rather suggests that, whoever these people were who brought the civilizing light to the Egyptian lands in those far distant times they ruled for a while and either took otT again or being few in number were slowly absorbed into the indigenous population Before we proceed any further it might be a good idea to consider who these 'advanced people' might have been and whence they came There is a lot of speculation and, as nobody knows for sure, much of what has been written and the theories put forward are purely academic The more orthodox concept is

of a small pocket of civilization evolving ahead of its surrounding cultures, possibly from Sumerian roots, and descending upon Egypt around 4000 B.C As students of matters occult we must

4 THE GODS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The Egyptian theological scene might appear at first glance to

be a complex one but this is not really the case It is essential to bear in mind that we are dealing with two layers to start with, the primitive and nature deities of north Mrica and the more archetypal god-forms into which they eventually became absorbed During the passage of time numerous conquering peoples superimposed their own tribal gods over existing theologies, which resulted in what might appear to many to be a hotchpotch of polytheistic worship But, even in the distant days

of the past, there were enlightened souls who were perfectly capable of sorting the wheat from the chaff, as may be evidenced in traditions and fragments that have come down to

us over the centuries Of course, Egyptian magic and its accompanying cullus does leave much to be desired But what system doesn't?

Sections of the Egyptian pantheon can be said to confonn to the archetypal pattern of other early cultures although there are aspects that do not slot easily into general correspondences as

we shall examine in detail later Of course it can be argued that

an archetype manifesting through any given civilization or culture, wiU automatically assume an overlay relative to the individuality or idiosyncrasies of the indigenous people in Question Thus, a maternal archetype appearing in a patriarch ally-orientated culture would tend to manifest more domestically than it would amongst a matriarchal people where

s THE REAL THEOLOGY

From the foregoing chapters it might strike the casual observer

as facetious that a people so primitive as to be misled into divers polytheistic beliefs could possibly possess any real knowledge of human psychology, let alone have a grasp of the divine But this couldn't be further from the truth For one thing, the polytheism that appears so obvious at first glance does not hold good under closer scrutiny Many individualized Egyptian deities were simply aspects of the one divine archetype, and minor gods were

of no more importance than the Catholic saints who are prayed

to for this or that favour, according to their earthly deeds and inclinations The recently demoted 8t Christopher has much in common with the Egyptian Anubis, for example, and many a lonely traveUer carried an emblem of the guide-dog god to see

him safely to his destination St Thomas Aquinas, like his Egyptian counterpart Thoth, is also invoked by earnest students about to sit theological examinations and, after all, both were magicians in the truest sense of the word

There are countless other examples which go to prove that people haven't changed much over the centuries We all have a basic psychological need, whether it be for a form of spiritual strap to hang onto in times of stress, a scapegoat to rid us of our guilty feelings, or simply something beyond the normal senses which we deem to be a cut above earthly weaknesses and therefore worthy of our respect and worship

The Egyptians believed in the priest, or professional religious

6 PYRAMID POWER

'he pyramids have been a very popular topic for observation, ebate and investigation over the past few years Endless books ave appeared covering the mathematics of these super­tructures, the reason for their erection in the first place, their ceult significance and their defiance of the laws of modern cience.1t has been postulated that they were built by some anti­ravitational force, sonics, spacemen, telekinesis or, last but not jast, by hordes of poor little slaves hauling large slabs of stones

p inclined ramps

That there is some connection between the pyramidal tructures and the history and evolution of our planet has ecome increasingly obvious of late For example, the basic unit

f measurement that the designer appears to have used turns out ) be an exact ten-millionth of the Earth's polar radius; and this

I only one of many similarly related mathematical

�incidences' Decoding the message of the Great PYramid has ecome a popular pastime among authors with the lathernatical know -how leaving the reader with numerous leories to choose from We are told that the sacred number ssociated with this pyramid is five ]n Egyptian magic this is 'both's number, on the one hand, and the magical number for trius on the other

," Even from a purely materialistic and scientific standpoint )ere would appear to be more to the pyramids than meets the

ye For example, a project was set up recently by the United

7 TOMBS AND CURSES

Many people I have encountered, who consider themselves rather a spiritual cut above others tend to look down on the ancient Egyptian priesthood because of the use of 'protectors'

on their tombs or holy places When happily chatting to a vicar

a year or so ago I remarked on this fact and he laughingly replied, 'I wish I could muster up a few ghouties to frighten away the hooligans who are constantly pinching the lead off my church roof.' Obviously not a spiritual snob, but a very practical man

The ethical question inevitably arises, should one conjure forth something to do one's bidding and, assuming one possesses the know-how to do this, should the poor creature be encapsulated in a time zone from which it cannot escape without the aid of a magician of equal power to the original spell binder? Who are we in our glasshouses to throw stones at those Egyptian priests who earnestly believed it was their duty to protect both the bodies and souls, or spirits, of those who placed themselves in their sacerdotal care? But there are, perhaps, kinder ways of going about things, as we shall shortly see The main methods of tomb protection employed by the Egyptian priests fell into two categories, the evocation of ele­mental spirits (spirits of the elements and not prehuman-type energies) and the creation of artificial elementals or ensouled thought forms (See my book Practical Techniques of Psychic Self-Defence.) The earlier Egyptian occult practitioners