Egyptian Magic: A History of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practices Including Amulets, Names, Enchantments, Figures, Formulae, Supernatural Ceremonies and Words of Power Book

A STUDY of the remains of the native religious literature of ancient Egypt which have come down to us has revealed the fact that the belief in magic, that is to say, in the power of magical names, and spells, and enchantments, and formulæ, and pictures, and figures, and amulets, and in the performance of ceremonies accompanied by the utterance of words of power, to produce supernatural results, formed a large and important part of the Egyptian religion. And it is certain that, notwithstanding the continuous progress which the Egyptians made in civilization, and the high intellectual development to which they eventually attained, this belief influenced their minds and, from the earliest to the latest period of their history, shaped their views concerning things temporal as well as spiritual in a manner which, at this stage in the history of the world, is very difficult to understand. The scrupulous care with which they performed their innumerable religious ceremonies, and carried out the rules which they had formulated concerning the worship of the divine Power or powers, and their devotion to religious magic, gained for them among the nations with whom they came in contact the reputation of being at once the most religious and the most superstitious of men. That this reputation was, on the whole, well deserved, is the object of this little book to show.This book is not a cheap scanned version of the original but has been completely digitally revised and optimized for Kindle, including an interactive table-of-contents. Contents:PREFACE.CHAPTER I. ANTIQUITY OF MAGICAL PRACTICES IN EGYPT.CHAPTER II. MAGICAL STONES OR AMULETS.CHAPTER III. MAGICAL FIGURES.CHAPTER IV. MAGICAL PICTURES AND FORMULÆ, SPELLS, ETC.THE LEGEND OF RÂ AND ISIS.CHAPTER V. MAGICAL NAMES.CHAPTER VI. MAGICAL CEREMONIES.CHAPTER VII. DEMONIACAL POSSESSION, DREAMS, GHOSTS, LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS, HOROSCOPES, PROGNOSTICATIONS, TRANSFORMATIONS, AND THE WORSHIP OF ANIMALS.Read More