submited in honor of
the hall of the Aeris
When many people hear the word “magic”, it brings visions of spells and potions, of black and white, of good and bad. These people tend to associate magic with witches and the devil, and believe that it is used to influence people against their will, to make things happen that are not of the norm.
But to those who know and practice the craft, it isn’t any of these conceptions, but a way to help oneself, those in need and to bring the earth and its natural magic into ones home.
Magic is practiced in many cultures and religions and one such religion that incorporates magic into their beliefs is the Egyptian religion.
Egyptian magic dates from the time when the pre-dynastic and prehistoric dwellers in Egypt believed that the earth, and the underworld, and the air, and the sky were peopled with countless beings, visible and invisible, which were held to be friendly or unfriendly to man according as the operations of nature, which they were supposed to direct, were favorable or unfavorable to him. The nature and attributes of these beings were thought by primitive man to closely resemble him self and to possess all human passions, emotions, weaknesses, and defects; and the chief object of magic was to give man the pre-eminence over such beings.
In the Egyptian faith, magic is an important component of the Egyptians everyday life. Magic goes hand in hand with the Egyptians spiritual conceptions and doesn’t entail just spells and potions, but also extended to rituals for everyday activities in life, and for death. They incorporated their magic on stones, on the papyrus and other substances that could be worn by the person as either a charm or talisman and thus the magic could be transmitted with the person to any distance. They believe in the magic that can encompass a picture, a figure and even the magic in a name.
The Egyptians have two different kinds of magic: 1.magic that is used for legitimate purposes with the idea that benefits either the living or the dead, 2. and magic that is used in the furtherance of nefarious plots and schemes that is intended to bring calamities upon those against whom it was directed.
The Egyptian magic enables the Egyptians to call to their Gods and ask them for help in their daily life, with problems or wrong-doings and to oversee events. Many herbs and oils are used when calling the Gods to help bring the person evoking the Gods more energy for the ritual.
The Egyptian magic had more potency due to the use of certain words that have to be uttered in a proper tone of voice by a duly qualified man and or woman, but in order for the words to have the impact you want, you have to believe in the words themselves. By pronouncing certain words or names of power in the proper manner and in the proper tone of voice, one could heal the sick, and cast out the evil spirits which caused pain and suffering in those who were diseased. 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. The words enabled human beings to assume divers forms at will, and to project their souls into animals and other creatures; and in obedience to the commands, inanimate figures and pictures became living beings and things which hastened to perform the behests. The powers of nature acknowledged one’s might, and wind and rain, storm and tempest, river and sea, and disease and death worked evil and ruin upon one’s foes, and upon the enemies of those who were provided with the knowledge of the words which one had wrested from the gods of heaven, and earth, and the underworld.
Those who practice Egyptian magic have two kids of wisdom: the wisdom in both the material world and the spiritual world. Using magic has to incorporates both concepts in order for the magic to have the highest energy level. Being able to tune into the world on all levels ensures that your magic gets projected in the direction you want it to go.
The Egyptian magic has been thought of as being black in nature due to the rituals the Egyptians had to prepare their dead for the next life and for their work with metal and magic they derived from the metal.
At a very early period the Egyptians were famous for their skill in the working of metals and in their attempts to transmute them, and they employed quicksilver in the processes whereby they separated the metals gold and silver from the native ore. From these processes there resulted a "black" powder or substance which was supposed to possess the most marvelous powers, and to contain in it the individualities of the various metals; and in it their actual substances were incorporated. In a mystical manner this "black" powder was identified with the body which the god Osiris was known to possess in the underworld, and to both were attributed magical qualities, and both were thought to be sources of life and power. Thus, side by side with the growth of skill in performing the ordinary, processes of metal-working, in Egypt, there grew up in that country the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes and alloys; and the art of manipulating the metals, and the knowledge of the chemistry of the metals and of their magical powers were described by, the name "Khemeia." that is to say "the preparation of the black ore" (or "powder") which was regarded as the transmutation of metals. To this name the Arabs affixed the article al, and thus we obtain the word Al-Khemeia, or Alchemy, which will perpetuate the reputation of the Egyptians as successful students both of "white magic" and of the "black" art.
(info obtained from : http://www.touregypt.net/egyptmagic1.htm, and from the book by Jonathan Dee “Chronicles of Egypt”)
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