Translation – The Archaeology of Ancient Magic & Ritual Practice

Quote from the prayer in a Coptic Magic Handbook

The prayer in this Coptic magic book from Egypt tells us interesting details about how the practitioner understood ancient magic and especially the power of…

Inscribed magical brick of Amenemopet

Inscribed magical brick of Amenemopet New Kingdom, Egypt The brick was inscribed with a protective curse in seven lines of Hieratic when the clay was…

The London-Leiden Magical Papyrus, 2nd-3rd century, Egypt.

How to Express “Very Good” in the Egyptian-Demotic Magical Papyri

Learning the languages of the ancient magical papyri In the Egyptian-Demotic magical papyri, to express that a ritual is “very” good, you write “good” and…

Fate has a Daughter

In this ancient Egyptian spell against poison we learn that the Egyptian god of fate, who is called Schay, has a daughter named Sarbytha. The…

From the Coptic-Gnostic Book “Pistis Sophia”, chapter 147:

Bainchôôôch in the Coptic-Gnostic Book “Pistis Sophia”

In Gnostic belief Bainchôôôch was a triple-powered deity, not a “vox magica” and not an epithet of a higher power. “Jesus said: If the time…

London-Leiden Magical Papyrus, Recto column 19, lines 21-24 Late 2nd or early 3rd century, Egypt. AMS 65, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden

Spell Against a Bone Stuck in the Throat

This ritual is against a bone stuck in the throat of a person. It is preserved in the Egyptian-Demotic magical papyrus pdm xiv dated to…

Section of the London-Leiden Magical Papyrus, recto column 2, 7-9. 2nd/3rd century, Egypt. British Museum EA10070,1 © The Trustees of the British Museum

Egyptian Divination Ritual – Beginning of the Invocation of Anubis

This section of the London-Leiden magical papyrus, also known as pdm xiv / PGM XIV, describes an Egyptian divination ritual, highlighted is the beginning of…

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Protective amulet for the practice – Prayer to Selene for any spell

“Take a loadstone engraved with a three-faced Hekate, with her middle face being that of a horned virgin, the left one that of a dog…

The Divine Determinative or: How Ancient Egyptians Marked Their Deities

In the ancient Egyptian script “Demotic” the names of gods and goddesses were written with a special sign at the end which marks the divine…

Kephaleke - Papyrus AMS 65, 2nd-3rd century (C) Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

Ram’s horn – An Ancient Egyptian Herb and How to Use It

The author of this ancient Egyptian magical papyrus wrote down the Demotic (Egyptian) words for plants and minerals and then added their Greek terms. We…