Self-Identification with Deity and Voces Magicae in Ancient Egyptian and Greek Magic

By Laurel Holmstrom

Occultists and esotericists , such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [1], have theorized that ancient Egyptian magic is a primary source for western magic practice and ideas. Since we know that the Hermetica and Neo-platonic theurgy have had a profound influence on later European magical traditions [2], an inquiry into possible relationships between Egyptian and Greek magical ideas would be useful in exploring the veracity of the occultists’ claim. This paper focuses on one set of ancient texts, the Greek Magical Papyri, which offer considerable potential for investigating this relationship.

The PGM (Papryi Graecae Magicae) [3] is the name given to a cache of papryi of magical spells collected by Jean d’Anastaisi in early 1800’s Egypt. Hans Deiter Betz, in his introduction to the newest English translation, speculates that these papyri may have been found in a tomb or temple library and the largest papyri may have been the collection of one man in Thebes.[4 ]However, the exact provenance for the PGM is unknown. Betz states that through literary sources it is known that quite a number of magical books of spells were collected in ancient times, most of which were destroyed.[5] Thus, the PGM are a very important source for first-hand information about magical practices in the ancient Mediterranean.

The PGM spells run the gamut of magical practices from initiatory rites for immortality to love spells and healing rites. Most of the papyri are in Greek and Demotic with glosses in Old Coptic and are dated between the 2^nd century BC and the 5^th century AD. The spells call upon Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, Gnostic and Christian deities.  Two of the most intriguing aspects of these texts are the practice of self-identification with deity and the use of voces magicae in performing magical rituals. In many of the spells, the practitioner is told to use “I am” with a specific deity name to empower or work the spell. PGM I 247-62, a spell for invisibility, states ‘I am Anubis, I am Osirphre, I am OSOT SORONOUIIER, I am Osiris whom Seth destroyed. .”[6] The use of specific magical language in these texts, the voces magicae, is abundant. Most of these words are considered “untranslatable” by the scholars working with the papyri [7].  Words of power in the incantations are composed of long strings of vowels, A EE EEE IIII OOOOO, YYYYYY, OOOOOOO, alone or with special names of deities or daimons which are often palindromes and significantly lengthy as in IAEOBAPHRENEMOUNOTHILARIKRIPHIAEYEAIPIRKIRALITHONUOMENE RPHABOEAI. [8] The exact pronunciation of these voces magicae was key to the success of the spells.

Since Egyptian funerary texts clearly identify the deceased with deity and the power of words and language is a predominant feature of Egyptian magic, these notions found in the PGM appeared to provide a possible link between ancient Egyptian and Greek magic.

Throughout the funerary literature of ancient Egypt, from the Pyramid Texts to the Book of the Dead, there is abundant evidence that ancient Egyptians thought that human beings could become deities. Deities were seen as possessing heku, magic, an aspect of the original creative power that formed the cosmos. [9] Thus, magic was perceived to be an intrinsic part of reality and the divine. [10] The Coffin Texts provide a guide book for the deceased to help her or him retain what magic they already possess and to gain more. Naming is extremely important in this experience and it is the ability to name all the gods and objects encountered that proves one has acquired enough magic to sit with the gods. [11] In these texts, the deceased is clearly identified with the god Osiris. By using historaloe the deceased will successfully navigate the journey to the afterlife as did Osiris. The use of historaloe in magical practice was common, particularly in healing rites. [12] By knowing the names of all encountered in the afterlife and establishing a link with a deity that had already been successful in this realm, the deceased was well prepared for the journey.

In the Pyramid texts, the initial Utterances appear to be a script directing the different Egyptian deities to recite specific formulas on the deceased king’s behalf. Utterance 1 begins “recitation by Nut, the greatly beneficent”, utterance 2, “recitation by Geb” and so forth. [13] Evidence that these utterances were spoken during funeral rites are the notes after the recitations which give directions saying, for example, “pour water”(ut 23) and “cold water and 2 pellets of natron”( ut 32). The priests and priestesses are taking the role of the deities in preparing the deceased to join the gods in the afterlife as well as the deceased being identified with Osiris. Self-identification with deity is an “authentically Egyptian trait”. [14]

Language, and particularly naming, carries substantial magical power in Egyptian thought. The goddess Isis, once she learns Ra’s true name, is then able to cure him of snake bite. [15] One of the oldest cosmologies of the Egyptians from Memphis (approx. 2700 BC) describes the god Ptah creating by his mind (heart) and word (tongue) [16]. Thus, words contain a primal substance and the act of speaking mirrors original creation. Speaking creates reality. Writing was given to humans by the god Thoth and the Egyptians called their langauge “words of the gods” and hieroglyphs “writing of the sacred words.” [17]

The Pyramid Texts, Coffin Text and the Book of the Dead all exhibit the Egyptian belief in the power of language to affect the world. Words, spoken or written were not just symbols, but realities in themselves. [18] Hieroglyphs held particular resonance with magical power and most of the funerary texts were written in hieroglyphs. The Egyptians clearly believed that humans have energetic doubles in the world beyond the physical and it seems reasonable to suspect that the hieroglyphs were thought to have a similar existence since they were written on the inside of the pyramid tombs or coffins or on scrolls placed inside the coffins for the deceased to use. Further evidence of the reality of the images themselves comes from the practice of cutting particular hieroglyphs in half to diminish their potential effect. [19]

Vowel chanting is also found in Egyptian religious practice as reported by Demetrius in his Roman treatise, De Eloutione:

“in Egypt the priests, when singing hymns in praise of the gods, employ the 7 vowels which they utter in due succession and the sound of these letters is so euphonious that men listen to it in place of the flute and lyre” [20] The distinction between religion and magic in scholarly discourse breaks down in the context of Egyptian religion and it is reasonable to suspect that vowel chanting could be used for more than hymns of praise by Egyptian priests.

Thus, self-identification with deity and use of a specific kind of magical language found in the PGM places Egyptian magical notions within a Greek magical context. The question then becomes, can evidence be found that Greek magic, prior to the PGM, included these practices and do they appear in later Greek magical material that we know to have influenced the European tradition.

Betz states in the Encyclopedia of Religion that “magic was an essential part of Greco-Roman culture and religion.” [21] In classical Greece, Egypt and Thessaly were considered prime sources of magical knowledge, but by 323 BC magical material in Greece had increased considerably. Betz further states that it was “Hellenistic syncretism that produced the abundance of material available today.” [22] Greek magical practitioners distinguished different types of magic; goeteia - lower magic, mageia - general magic and theourgia - higher magic. Theourgia, appears to be the most likely place to find self-identification with deity and the use of voces magicae.  Self-identification with deity in magical acts as part of ancient Greek magical practice prior to the PGM is not evident. The Greeks speculated that humans and gods “had the same mother”, but a huge gap existed between them. From ancient times to the latest date of the PGM, Greek notions about the relationship between human existence and divine existence took a variety of forms [23,] but never followed the Egyptian pattern of the possibility of declarative divine identity. The ancient Greeks believed that communion with the gods was possible as in the Eleusian and Dionysian mysteries [24] and Empedocles declared he had the knowledge to make himself immortal. [25] But, the Greek idea of a divine spark within the human soul which can be activated, contemplated and re-united with the gods still assumes an other-ness of deity and validates the fundamental separateness of human existence from the divine.  For the Egyptians, the divine appears to be immanent in the world. The world of humans and gods were not seen as being decidedly different. Human activity continued after death and Gods, embodied as the Pharoah, lived in human society. Magical practice was merely clarifying what already exists. For the Greeks, magic was a conduit for communication and communion with deity or a process whereby the soul could be purified through direct contact with the Divine. Egyptians had only to affirm a state of being through speech to create the sought reality. “Repeated commands or assertions that a desired state of affairs was already in being, are a common feature of Egyptian spells.” [26]

However, there are references to the voces magicae in ancient Greek material aside from the PGM. Early, are the Ephesia grammata, ( ASKION, KATASKION, LIX, TETRAX, DAMNAMENEUS, AISIA ) mystic letters that were supposedly inscribed on the statue of Artemis at Ephesus used verbally and written to avert evil. A lead tablet inscribed with the Ephesia grammata dates to the 4^th c BC and they were said to be used spoken as an apotropiac charm while walking in a circle around newlyweds.  [27 ]

Peter Kingsley, writing of Empedocles’ magical worldview, states “there is nothing that is not vibrantly and knowingly alive. For him [Empedocles] - everything - even the words spoken by a man of understanding has an existence, intelligence and consciousness of its own.” [28] This notion appears close to the Egyptian ideas that words are not symbols, but realities.

Orpheus healed human pathos with poems and the lyre, while Pythagoras could chant his disciples to sleep and heal body and soul through musical words. [29] Fox argues that the PGM are carrying forward this “shamantic” tradition of magical musical charms. For the actual author(s) of the PGM, the notion of the magical potency of language could have been very strong indeed coming out of both the Egyptian and Greek magical traditions.

The use of voces magicae continues into later Coptic texts. For a spell invoking a “thundering power to perform every wish” the practitioner should say: “I invoke you. .  .who is addressed with the great secret name HAMOUZETH BETH ATHANABASSETONI .” [30] Vowel incantations are also found in these Coptic texts in figures typical of the PGM: [31]

AEEIOUO

EEIOU

EIO

IO

I

Voces magicae are also referred to in the Chaldean Oracles which are contemporary with the PGM and they appear to be an intrinsic part of the theurgist’s ritual. What is intriguing, for this study, about the Chaldean Oracles, is the relationship between the voces magicae and the process of immortalization of the soul, which is the goal of theurgy. These texts provide the closest approximation to self-identification with deity in a non-Egyptian context. According to the Chaldeans, the soul, in its descent to the body gathers impure substances. Through theurgistic rites, the soul can re-ascend, encounter the Divine and be purified of these impure substances and attain immortality.  The voces magicae invoke the assistant spirits that will help the soul to ascend without fear of being dragged down into Hades. [32] However, even though immortalization is the goal, self-identification with deity is not declared and only the soul can attain such a state.

The idea that the Egyptian language specifically held magical power is seen in the writings of people of the time. In the Hermetica (CH xvi) there is a passage which states that Greeks will not understand the Hermetica when translated into their language as Greek does not contain the power of Egyptian. [33] The Chaldean Oracles state “do not ever alter the foreign names (of the gods)”. Lewy elaborates further, “It is impossible to translate the magical formula, because its power it not due to its external sense.” [34] Iamblichus, describing the difficulty of translating the Hermetica from Egyptian to Greek says “. . .for the very quality of the sounds and the [intonation] of the Egyptian words contain in itself the force of things said.” [35] Invocation of deities by their secret names is also characteristic of Egyptian magic prior to the PGM according to Pinch, but unfortunately she does not give examples. [36]

Scholars have identified other potential sources beside Egyptian for specific voces magicae. The glossary in the Betz edition of the PGM speculates on a few of the voces magicae.  Jewish and Greek origins are offered as well as Egyptian for the eight names considered. Betz finds a intricate syncretism of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish elements in the texts. [37] To tease out the various strands and definitively locate the origin of specific voces magicae is yet to be done and will be difficult. What we may be seeing in the voces magicae is a general and wide-spread ancient Mediterranean magical practice. It could be that ABRACADABRA is a cousin to the voces magicae in the PGM.

Further questions to be asked regarding the voces magicae are: what were the potential avenues of magical communication between Egypt and Greece in the 4^th century BCE where the earliest evidence of specific magical words is found in the Ephesia grammata? Is there evidence of specific voces magicae, other than vowel chanting, in Egyptian magical practice prior to the PGM? If the specific form comes from Greek notions, why are the voces magicae in the PGM glossed into Old Coptic in many spells where the main body of the text is in Greek?

In conclusion, the claim that the roots of European magic can be traced to Egyptian magic appears highly suspect in regard to the notions discussed. Egyptian ideas and practices of self-identification with deity do not seem to be compatible with Greek notions of the relationship between the human and divine worlds. Through the voces magicae there is evidence of a generalized magical tradition in the ancient Mediterranean from which the European tradition may draw, but not specifically from Egypt.

Endnotes

1. Flying Roll no. XVI “The History of the Rosicrucian Order” states “Know then, O

Aspirant, that the Order of the Rose and Cross hath existed from time immemorial and that its mystic rites were practised and its hidden knowledge communicated in the initiations of the various races of Antiquity. Egypt, Eleusis, Samothrace, Persia, Chaldea and India alike cherished these mysteries, and thus handed down to posterity the Secret Wisdom of the Ancient Ages. . .” Flying Rolls were semi-official internal documents of the Order of an instructional and theoretical nature. see King, Frances.  Ritual Magic of the Golden Dawn. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1987 & 1997, p.  105. See also Ramacharaka. The Kybalion: a study of the Hermetic philosophy of ancient Egypt and Greece. Chicago:”The Yogi Publication Society.

2. see "Occultism" in The Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Elidae, ed.

3. I am using Betz, Hans Deiter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation including the Demotic spells. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. Papyri Graecae Magicae refers to the original title of the Preisendanz edition.

4. see Betz, Introduction to the PGM, p. xlii.

5. Ibid, p xli.

6. PGM I, 140, 195.

7. Betz, p. xliii.

8. Betz, p. 332

9. Pinch, p. 6.

10. In hieroglyphics, the word for magician uses the symbol for a god as the determinative. Personal communication with Dr. W. Poe, 11/24/97.

11. Brier, p. 125

12. Pinch, p. 23 and Kotansky, Roy. "Incantations and Prayers for Salvation on Inscribed Greek Amulets." in Faraone & Obbink, eds. Magika Hiera.

13. Faulkner, p.1, 4 and 6.

14. Fowden, p. 26.

15. Pinch p. 7.

16. Eliade, p. 89.

17. Personal communication with Dr. W. Poe, 11/24/97.

18. Barb, p. 155

19. Ibid

20. Fowden, p. 118.

21. see "MAGIC: Magic in Greco-Roman Antiquity" in The Encyclopedia of Religion.

22. Ibid.

23. see Corrigan, K. "Body and Soul in Ancient Religious Experience" in Armstrong, A.H. ed. Classical Mediterranean  Spirituality.

24. Willoughby

25. Kingsley, p. 233-38.

26. Pinch, P. 72. For another perspective on this problem, I asked subscribers to ARCANA, a listserv devoted to the scholarly study of the occult if they know of any examples of self-identification with deity in Western magical practice outside of theurgy. Aleister Crowley’s works and the writings of the Golden Dawn were mentioned several times. One writer specifically wrote: “In all their initiatiory rituals, the officers [of the Golden Dawn] took on the forms and powers of various Egyptian gods and directed that force at the initiate” (Benjamin Rowe, Oct 6, 1997 email correspondence, see also http://w3.one.net/~browe) He also suggested that John Dee’s Enochian magic included self-identification with deity implicitly in it’s “Angelic Calls”.  The significance of Dee’s use of this particular magical practice is beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is fascinating that the Golden Dawn associated Egyptian magical practice with divine self-identification. Exactly how this association was made is also not our topic, but it apparently did not come through the Greek magical tradition.

27. Kotansky, p. 111.

28. Kingsley, p. 230

29. see Fox, Patricia. "In Praise of Nonsense" in Armstrong, A.H. Classical Mediterranean Spirituality.

30. Meyer & Smith, p. 239.

31. Ibid, p. 234 and PGM I, 15-20.

32. Lewy, p. 227-257.

33. see Fowden, chapter 1.

34. Lewy, p. 240.

35. Fowden, p. 30.

36. Pinch, p. 23.

37. Betz, p. xliii

Works Cited

Armstrong, A.H., ed. Classical Mediterranean Spirituality: Egyptian, Greek and Roman. NY: Crossroads, 1980.

Barb. A.A. "Mystery, Myth and Magic" in Harris, J.R. The Legacy of Egypt, 2^nd edition, London: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Betz, H.D. The Greek Magical Papyri in translation including the Demotic spells. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Brier, Bob. Ancient Egyptian Magic. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1980.

Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas. vol. 1, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Eliade, Mircea, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillian, 1987.

Faraone, Christopher and Obbink, Dirk, eds. Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Faulkner, R. O., trans. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. London: University of Oxford, 1969.

Fowden, Garth. The Egyptian Hermes: a historical approach to the late pagan mind. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Kingsley, Peter. Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

Lewy, Hans. Chaldean Oracles and Theurgy: mysticism, magic and platonism in the later Roman empire. Le Caire: Impremerie De L'institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale, 1956.

Meyer, Marvin and Smith, Richard, eds. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic texts of ritual power. San Francisco: Harper, 1994.

Pinch, Geraldine. Magic in Ancient Egypt. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Willoughby, Harold R. Pagan Regeneration: a study of mystery initiations in the Graeco-Roman world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929.

Other Works Consulted

Johnston, S.I. Hekate Soteria: a study of Hekate's role in the Chaldean Oracles and related literature. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.

Majercik, Ruth. The Chaldean Oracles: text, translation and commentary. Leiden and New York: E.J. Brill, 1989.

Parrott, Douglas, ed. Nag Hammadi Codices 5:2-6 and 6 with papyrus Beronliensis 8502, 1 and 4. Leiden: Brill, 1979.

Shaw, G. Theurgy and the Soul: the neoplatonism of Iamblichus. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.

EGYPTIAN MAGIC

Heka, god of magic (far left), stands with the goddess Maat behind the throne of Osiris. Funerary papyrus of the priestess Nesitanebetisheru, c. 950 BC.

Magician's wand in the form of a bronze cobra. From a Theban burial, 16th century BC. Such wands may represent the goddess Weret Hekau, 'the great of magic'.

Egypt has long been considered a land of mystery and magic. This has led some commentators, ancient and modern, to brand the Egyptians as an irrational, morbid and superstitious race. Professional Egyptologists prefer to distance themselves from the popular image of Egypt as the source of occult knowledge. They tend to stress the numerous practical achievements of Egyptian civilization and those Egyptian writings that expound a pragmatic and cheerful philosophy of life. This may tip the balance too far. Many of the practices described in this book seem weird, foolish, or even repulsive from the viewpoint of Western rationalism, but if they are ignored our picture of Egyptian society is incomplete.

The evidence for ancient Egyptian magic spans about four and a half thousand years. Amulets go back as far as the early fourth millennium BC; while magical texts occur from the late third millennium BC until the fifth century AD. Written spells are the main source material, but objects sometimes provide evidence for types of magic scarcely recorded in the texts. These objects would have been even more useful if all early archaeologists had appreciated the need to record the exact context of their finds. The large number of well-preserved tombs and the sheer quantity of tomb objects on view in museums have ensured that funerary magic has been the subject of much research. Ritual magic performed in temples and everyday magic - the spells and rites enacted for individuals in life - have been studied far less. These three types of magic were closely related and influences passed back and forth between them. The insights that everyday magic can give into the personal lives of the ancient Egyptians make it of far more than marginal interest.

The Egyptian word usually translated as 'magic' is heka. This was one of the forces used by the creator deity to make the world. In Egyptian myth, the primeval state was chaos. Before creation there was only a dark, watery abyss known as the Nun. In the Nun existed the great serpent or dragon Apep (Apophis) who embodied the destructive forces of chaos. When the first land, the Primeval Mound, rose out of the Nun, the spirit of the creator had a place in which to take shape. The creator made order out of chaos. This divine order was personified by a goddess called Maat. The word maat also meant justice, truth and harmony. Finally, the creator made deities and humans.

These deities included the god Heka, who was depicted in human form, sometimes with the signs that write his name on his head. Heka could be identified with the creator himself, particularly when the latter appeared in child form to symbolize the emergence of new life. Heka is also described as the ba (the soul or manifestation) of the sun god. He was the energy which made creation possible and every act of magic was a continuation of the creative process.

Some Egyptian deities were merely personifications of abstract concepts or natural phenomena and were never the focus of cult worship or private devotion. No major temples were built for Heka, but he did have a priesthood and shrines were dedicated to him in Lower (northern) Egypt. There was also a goddess called Weret Hekau 'Great of Magic'. Originally this was just an epithet, applied to a number of goddesses. As a goddess in her own right, Weret Hekau was usually shown in cobra form. She was one of the goddesses who acted as a foster-mother to the divine kings of ancient Egypt and she was the power immanent in the royal crowns. The snake-shaped wands used by magicians probably represent her.

All deities and lesser supernatural beings, including the forces of chaos, had their own heka. It was considered as much a part of them as their bodies or their names. Egyptian kings automatically had heka. People who were abnormal in some way, such as dwarfs, might also be thought to possess this quality. All the dead were credited with a certain degree of heka. This ancient concept is comparable with the modern Arabic barraka, a force possessed by many types of being and by some places and objects. Anything strange, exotic or ancient can be credited with barraka1 and it was the same with heka.

Another Egyptian word for magical power is akhu. This is sometimes translated as 'enchantments', 'sorcery' or 'spells'. Deities and stars used akhu power, but it was particularly associated with the blessed dead. Like heka, akhu was neither good or bad in itself. Both were powers which could be channelled towards creation or destruction. This book is primarily about the ways in which the Egyptians used these powers.

Some past studies of Egyptian magic have been contemptuous in tone. According to one scholar 'Magic, after all, is only the disreputable basement in the house of religion'. Another scholar peppered his book on Egyptian religion with references to magic as a form of senile imbecility. This judgemental attitude was partly based on the outdated theory that magic and religion must be seen as opposites. Most definitions of magic concentrate on trying to distinguish it from religion. It is paradoxical that, while Egypt is famous as a source of magical knowledge, many of the best known theories about magic do not easily fit the Egyptian evidence.

In his famous book The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer defined magic as the manipulation of supernatural beings by a human who expects that the correct sequence of words or actions will automatically bring about the desired result. This, Frazer held, was in contrast to religion, in which humans were dependent on the divine will and supplicated deities to grant their requests. He did recognize that the same supernatural beings might be involved in both magic and religion, but he saw magicians and priests as belonging to rival groups.

In Egypt, magic and religion enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Rituals which would count as magic under Frazer's definition, were more commonly performed by priests than by any other group. Magicians are often said to be distinguishable from priests because they have clients instead of a congregation, and because they are not expected to exercise any moral authority. However, this description would also cover most ancient Egyptian priests, who were paid specialists in ritual rather than moral teachers. The theory that magic is always unorthodox and subversive, part of a religious and political counterculture, does not seem to apply in Egypt where ritual magic was practised on behalf of the state for at least three thousand years.

Some Egyptian priests used magic for private purposes, even when it involved practices that might seem blasphemous from a religious viewpoint. Egyptian spells may plead with and command a deity to carry out the magician's desire. Other spells go as far as threatening the gods with sacrilegious acts and cosmic catastrophe. One such spell was owned by a priest named Hor, who lived in the second century BC, yet he was an exceptionally pious man who dedicated his life to the service of the god Thoth after receiving divine visions. Frazer's categories of manipulation and supplication are distinct, but the same person might approach a deity in both these ways.

Frazer's theory that magic involved a sequence of words and actions which, if performed correctly, would bring an automatic response is still useful, but it could be a general definition of ritual rather than just magic. The daily cult performed in every major temple in ancient Egypt might be considered just such a ritual. The Polish anthropologist, Bronislav Malinowski, suggested that ritual action in general, and magic in particular, were resorted to when a society reached the limits of its technological capability. This sounds very plausible, but the Egyptians did employ magic to deal with health problems that their medical technology was capable of treating. They also used magic against foreign enemies whom they could and did defeat with their military technology. Parallel practical and ritual action aimed at the same problem seem characteristic of Egyptian culture. These two types of action were obviously expected to work in different ways, or perhaps on different planes of existence.

Malinowski argued that magic is usually aimed at solving a specific problem, while religion is, or can be, an end in itself. Another anthropologist, Mischa Titiev, defines religion as 'calendrical' and magic as 'critical'. In other words, religion is concerned with regular rites carried out on behalf of the community, while magic is mainly performed for individuals at times of crisis. The primary concern of the state-run temples of ancient Egypt was to benefit society as a whole, not to cater to the religious needs of the individual. This benefit was achieved by means of the daily ritual and through a calendar of religious festivals. However, the principle of crisis was built into Egyptian theology. Each setting of the sun was a cosmic crisis which required ritual action. These rituals were often very similar to acts of private magic and they were performed by the same type of priest who might work magic for individuals.

It is true that in the private sphere many Egyptian magical practices were associated with standard life-crises, such as the dangers of childbirth, or with sudden disasters, such as an accident or an infectious disease. Magic may be a form of 'crisis management', but it was not only resorted to when a crisis had already happened. A high proportion of Egyptian magic was prophylactic. It aimed to prevent trouble by setting up a magical defence system for an individual, a group or a place.

The wishes of an individual can conflict with the welfare of society as a whole, but examples of 'anti-social' magic are quite rare in the Egyptian record before the period of Roman rule. Many cultures have divided magic into acceptable and unacceptable types. When unacceptable magic is mentioned in Egyptian sources it is usually attributed to foreigners.

In medieval Europe, a distinction was made between Demonic and Natural Magic. The former relied on invoking demons to carry out the magician's commands. Demonic Magic was held to be bad because dealings with such beings inevitably led to the moral corruption of the magician. Natural Magic, on the other hand, simply utilised natural phenomena, such as astral energy, and could therefore be used by Christians. Most ancient Egyptian magic would have to be classed as Demonic, since it invoked all manner of supernatural beings including the fearsome inhabitants of the underworld In Egyptian theology, however, few of these beings were regarded as evil, so communication with them involved no spiritual danger. A type of Natural Magic, partly based on the principle of analogy, was practised in Egypt, but usually in conjunction with Demonic Magic. Either type of magic could be used in a defensive or an aggressive manner, according to the intentions of the magician.

Many of the ideas behind Egyptian magic are difficult to comprehend from the viewpoint of Western rationalism. Feats of engineering such as the Giza pyramids suggest that the Egyptians understood a great deal about the scientific laws of cause and effect, but these laws would not have been regarded as the only ones by which the world worked. A belief in the creative power of words and images was central to Egyptian magic. The magician also strove to discern the true nature of beings and objects and the connections between them. These connections were created by shared properties such as colour, or the sound of a name. Similarities which seem irrelevant to our classification systems were considered significant by the Egyptians. Once a pairing had been established, it was thought possible to transfer qualities from one component to the other, or to produce an effect on the one by actions performed on the other. Heka was the force that turned these connections into a kind of power network.

Magic is sometimes interpreted as primitive science, but science proceeds by experiment to verify a single cause for each effect. Magic tends to multiply causality. A dozen possible causes for a problem may be listed within a single spell, and natural phenomena are credited with complex motives and intentions. Bizarre as this may seem, it had distinct psychological advantages.

The magical approach was primarily concerned with anticipating or diagnosing the ultimate causes of misfortune. The source of a disease, for example, might be traced to the anger of a deity, the magic of a foreign sorcerer, or the malice of a demon or ghost. Magic therefore answered the question which is so often asked when disaster strikes, 'why me?'. The religious answer to such a question might be that the afflicted person had sinned, or that suffering was the general lot of humanity. Magic gave the more comforting answer that there was some accidental but specific cause, conceptualized in an understandable form. Magical texts often make the afflicted party the innocent victim of circumstances. Ritual action might be required to repair the damage, but repentance was unnecessary. Some magical texts went further and laid the blame for human suffering on the gods. Magic then became a legitimate defence for humanity.

The appeal of magic was twofold: it identified the cause of your troubles and it promised hope in even the most desperate situation. Magic was described by Malinowski as ritualized optimism. In the sense that it satisfied the participants, Egyptian magic worked. Protective magic presumably gave people the comfort of believing that they had taken all possible precautions. This may have made tragedies such as the death of a child a little easier to bear.

In a text known as the Instruction for Merikara,, which may have been written as early as 2000 BC, heka is described as a gift from the creator to humanity 'to ward off the blows of fate'. In magical texts at least, even the gods were subject to fate and needed their heka to overcome misfortunes. The next sentence in the Instruction for Merikara names kingship as another gift to humanity. Magic and the institution of kingship helped humanity to order their world and deal with natural and supernatural forces.

In Egypt, magic and religion were part of the same belief system. Much that is usually classified as religion could equally be regarded as magic. Ancient writers refer to the daily ritual performed in Egyptian temples to 'animate' divine statues, as an exalted form of magic. This does not make it morally inferior. Temple magic was believed to be a great work performed for the benefit of all Egyptians. Indeed, one esoteric text claims that the land of Egypt was 'the temple of the whole world'.

FURTHER READING B. MALINOWSKI

Magic, Science, and Religion and Other Essays Illinois, 1948. J. NEUSNER et al. Religion, Science and Magic: In Concert and In Conflict Oxford, 1989. S.J. TAMBIAH Magic, science, religion, and the scope of rationality Cambridge, 1990.