Egyptian Magick

Magick in Egypt is both powerful and weak. There are several millennia of magick beneath the land and the population has widely differing beliefs; in some places magick is so easy to perform that it is dangerous, in others only certain styles are acceptable and here and there there are veritable null pockets where nothing works due to ancient prohibitions or strange paradox effects. There is no general rule other than: magick that is done in harmony with the place works, magick that is in disharmony tends to get very messy (the Law of Maat).

Today the paradigm is largely modern Arabic, with some strong western influences in the large cities and of course along the tourist routes. But just a few steps away there are the villages of the Copts and Fellahin, where the paradigm is much gentler to at least hedge magick. And in the ancient sacred sites, when the archaeologists and tour guides are gone, the paradigm shifts back in time to the ancient era.

The Spheres in Egyptian Magick

For almost all magickal work ("Hekau") in the ancient Egyptian paradigm, true names were used. These names were all known by Thoth and Isis, who were the main gods of magick.

Correspondence

Interestingly enough, Correspondence was a very rare sphere among the ancient Egyptians. It was first discovered/created by Imhotep, who taught it to the priesthoods of Thoth and Ptah. In time it became the hallmark of the sacred architects, who in time connected with the Hellenic mathematicians.

In Egypt correspondence parallel to the Nile is much stronger than across.

Typical foci: Astrology, measuring ropes and poles, geometrical diagrams

Gods: Imhotep, Thoth

Entropy

Never a popular sphere, but sometimes used for destructive magick and in its form as destiny for blessings or curses.

Typical foci: Sand, water

Gods: Set, Nepthys

Forces

Another relatively little used sphere. The most common use was to protect against the heat of the sun.

Foci: sunlight

Gods: Sekhmet

Life

The Egyptian gods and priests excelled at Life. Changing form, becoming animals and plants, bringing forth growth and healing, controlling animals and even resurrecting the dead was fairly well known magick.

Foci: Water, ointments, amulets

Gods: Isis

Matter

Another fairly often used sphere. There are many Egyptian spells for animating clay figurines or giving dead matter various useful abilities such as acting as wards, tools or sentient beings, or for controlling natural phenomena, especially water (dividing the sea was known long before Moses). Most Egyptian matter magick was on a fairly human scale; for the monuments plain craftsmanship was usually used instead.

Foci: Clay, tools, body fluids

Gods: Ptah

Mind

Not widely known outside the priesthood of Thoth. This was the magick of knowledge and secrets.

Foci: Writing, secret words

God: Thoth

Prime

The ability to name things into reality. Quintessence was abundant in the ancient eras and especially in the Nile valley; most pattern magick didn't need any Prime components at all, just naming a pattern was enough. However, the sacred architects developed Prime magick to create effects that would strain even the fairly flexible reality around them, and as the quintessence levels slowly waned their knowledge became more and more essential for all magick.

Foci: True Names, architecture, water

God: Thoth, Maat

Spirit

Egyptian mages traversed the spirit worlds freely, and regularly dealt with the lands of the dead. In many ways Life and Spirit were the main spheres of most Egyptian mages.

Foci: statuettes, prayers, mummification tools

Gods: Anubis, Osiris

Time

Timekeeping was vital for the Egyptians, as was basic divination. But time control was never developed far; possibly the closeness to mythical time and the stasis of the society made it unnecessary.

Foci: astrology, Nile water

Gods: Khonsu, Sothis, Thoth

* Up to the Index Page