Egyptian Magick

Extract from Isis, Goddess of Egypt and India, visualising initation into an Egyptian Mystery cult in Roman Egypt

Famously Crowley’s own mother called him the Beast, not "a" but "the" … meaning the one from final book of the Christian Bible. An archetype he seemed to embrace … He was brought up in a Christian fundamentalist sect, viz the Plymouth Brethren Which despite their restrictive philosophy, rather than because of, the alma mata of several well, significant intellectuals or eccentrics, Crowley being just one of a parade of celebrities that come out of that sect. Though Crowley created or channeled his own religious or spiritual path, that of Thelema, many detect radical Christian undercurrent in much of his musings, and indeed he wrote at least one book directly on the topic of Christianity, this is "Crowley on Christ", originally “The Gospel of GBS” The Christian book that figures most in Crowley’s philosophy would be the New Testament "Book of Revelation". No surprise there. You could almost say he developed an entire magical philosophy from that one book. Thus in Thelema the Beast 666 and the figure of Babalon .. (Spelt Babalon rather than Babylon) have a big walk on role Was she a goddess? Apocalyptic literature : Revelation not unique and the compilers could well have chosen from an number of a similar class of literature. And this this book has several roads that lead directly to Egypt

In the rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian tradition, the god Horus emerges in numerous forms, each offering unique insights into the realm of magic. From Horus the Elder to Horus the Younger, these divine entities, despite differing parentage and characteristics, hold profound teachings for practitioners of the arcane arts.

Central to Horus' magic is its culmination during the full moon, particularly in rituals involving the enigmatic lamp. While often overlooked, the significance of lamp magic in the ancient world far surpasses its utilitarian function of providing light.

Delving into the annals of Egyptian history, we uncover a fascinating connection between lamps and the Festival of Lights, celebrated in various forms throughout the Egyptian world. Beyond mere illumination, lamps held spiritual significance, closely tied to deities like Osiris and Isis.

In rituals detailed in the Greek magical papyri, lamp magic takes centre stage, offering practitioners a glimpse into ancient mystical practices. These rituals, often associated with the Festival of Lights, held profound symbolic meaning, transcending the physical realm to access spiritual truths.

In the realm of ancient Egyptian religion and magic, lamps were more than simple sources of light; they were conduits for divine energy. Horus, personified in the lamp's flickering flame, symbolized enlightenment and protection on the journey through the underworld. The left eye of Horus, associated with the moon, embodied the mystic connection between light and lunar cycles.

The lamp, as the personification of the Eye of Horus, held immense symbolic power, offering guidance and protection to the departed on their voyage to the realm of Osiris. Rituals involving lamps were integral to funerary practices, ensuring the deceased's safe passage into the afterlife.

In ancient Egypt, the presentation of lamps, akin to modern-day candles, was a sacred rite performed by priests and loved ones alike. These offerings, made with reverence and accompanied by prayers, symbolized the eternal light that illuminated the path of the departed in the necropolis.

Through the lens of Egyptian Magick, we gain insight into the profound significance of lamp magic. From vessel divination spells to rituals invoking the wisdom of Horus, these ancient practices offer modern seekers a bridge to the mystical world of antiquity.

Embark on a journey into the heart of ancient Egyptian magic with the Egyptian Magick course. Discover the path to spiritual enlightenment and divine connection illuminated by mystical lamps.

Crowley peak moments For me, the story of Aleister Crowley’s moment of truth in Cairo 1904 is one of the most interesting in a lifetime graced by perhaps a half dozen such experiences. Their cruise ship arrived in Alexandra, a short hop from Cairo, where they planned some sightseeing in the fascinating metropolis. They no doubt took in the sites and the nightlife. Crowley, who already knew the city, having visited a few years earlier, paying a little baksheesh to the local family for special access to the pyramids at night, where in the King’s chamber, he was able to show off some of his old tricks, with a handy copy of the Goetia, which has a preliminary invocation taken from ancient Egyptian magical papyri. The results cannot fail to have impressed Rose Kelly, who later, back in their lavish hotel room, no doubt having imbibed perhaps a little too much of the local Omar Khayyam vintage, fell into a light trance and said: “They are waiting for you”.

The God Khonsu, the moon deity, which is very appropriate for the time of year whose name means The Wanderer, is all about Moon magic in ancient Egypt which is quite an important topic and I guess quite Central to our magical system based as it is around the lunar calendar.

Khonsu being a Luna deity, not the only one, but it is quite Central to that so for the ancient Egyptians this would be the first month of Summer which is also where some of us are now .  In the Egyptian tongue or the late version of it, the word is Pachons which you can break down into an Egyptian phrase  per-en-khonsu  “ the one of Khonsu” which can be contracted to Pachons.

The month of Khonsu is a very good example of this idea that within the Egyptian world view, every month of the cycle throughout the year of lunar months would be dedicated to one particular deity. Some of these were replaced and or lost as time went by but originally that would be the idea that each month of the year, through the seasons, is especially sacred to a particular deity. This month has retained its Khonsu connection, the moon God for a lunar month .

The Wanderer which is an obvious reference to the moon's fast moving and irregular cycle.  Egyptian Luna deities are,  I would say, invariably male. Other examples would be Horus and Set. Which shows, as people have long recognized, that there's no simple equation of males being solar and females being lunar, which is sometimes heard  within the Neo Pagan Theology and other theologies as well.  Perhaps the metaphor of male and female as plus and minus, maybe you'd say for the Egyptians that wasn't quite as important. It wasn't the only way that they represented this important idea of a binary relationship between things. 

Within Egyptian culture, a binary relationship between a pair of gods is a very important motif. But it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be male and female. It's an option but there are other ways of showing the same thing. And  just to confuse things even more, the categories of male and female are a little bit more flexible within the Egyptian system and it would be possible to find a male lunar deity who has what is usually thought of as female attributes such as the capacity to “give birth”. As indeed Set gives birth to Thoth, one Moon God giving birth to another. This is a very interesting piece of mythology which we probably have to go into sometime, but which we'll leave that for now, because it's such a rich area.

As I say, this interplay of important principles is often using sexual metaphors but they can be male/female male/male or female/female and other counterparts and there can also be sexual aspect that are just not the kind of strict male / female modality, which for them was not the only game in in town.  Quite a lot of interactions between the Egyptian gods are between those nominally of the same gender male and male or female and female and the homoerotic aspect of that was not avoided by the Egyptians it's just not really thought to be anything you always had to comment on. Or they may have seen it as just part of life as far as they were concerned.  So for instance the sun god Ra, the nocturnal sun can be another way of referring to the Moon. In this mythology the nocturnal sun, the Sun at midnight, is the Moon. And he has an important union to consummate with another underworld deity, the lord of the dead or Osiris. And when they come together and form a new entity, there's definitely a kind of sexual component to it, which they just didn't really feel that they had to comment on.

Senenmut, an elite scribe of the court of female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Expert scribe who likely devised or commissioned two important astronomical monuments, including the famous mortuary temple of Deir el Bahri, which is revealed as a massive solar observatory . The source of an ancient handbook of stella magick, still on the ceiling of tomb

Serpentine goddess Renenutet, can rightly be called the Serpent Power of Egypt. She gave her name to an entire month in the calendar. Her myth goes back to the primaeval serpent cults and forward to parallels in neighbouring cultures such those of Hindu tantra, whose Kundalini serpent lore is very similar

#magick

The celebrated occult teacher Franz Bardon author of masterpiece "Initiation in Hermetics" here discussed by William Morton for the Egyptian Magick Podcast

Psychopomp is the "Guide of Souls" - and in the Egyptian ritual year, the wolf god is every bit that. A perennial briefing on the myth and magick of Anubis

Ancient Egyptian Magick ... the wheel turns and at the solstice or mind focuses on rebirth of the inner and outer sun, from the death posture comes life, regeneration and rebirth

Blood on the threshold

In Egypt Osiris was regularly depicted and referred to as a giant. This happens in some very special monuments and situations too, devoted as they were to the magical transformation. This is yet another explanation of a Biblical account of the Nephilim, which was translated as meaning Giant in the Greek version of the Bible. This translation was commissioned by the pharaohs for their Library of Alexandria, where the 70 Jewish scholars worked, no doubt drawing on Egyptian sources chronicles. This is no mere idle interest but reveals an important magical and/or physiological insights, that persist over time.

Another installment exploring the connections between Egypt and India, laying the groundwork with look at the important magical structure "The Hidden Chamber"

At the time of Christ, there was a Greco-Roman merchant colony in south India.  The first landfall for the epic sea journey across what is now the Arabian Ocean, was Musiris or modern day Colchin.  Greek seamen often worshipped the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis as the protector of sea voyages.  Near Colchin is an ancient temple which has the remains of a secret underground shrine, the Indian version of Isis. 

Lunar days, an important concept in Egyptian Magick here examined and introduced from an Indian perspective where more information is available die to the passage of time.

Part I of a four part illustrated lecture on freeform Egyptian magick - with some "machinima" animations. Topics in part one: Aleister Crowley, Kenneth Grant, Seth, and the Tarot. Prepared by Mogg Morgan, author of "The Bull of Ombos" etc. Visit www.mandrake.uk.net for more info.

Do you turn off whenever someone mentions The Book of the Dead? Consider the less well known but more coherent otherworld books, for example The Book of Gates. Secret books for a reason

Witchcraft in Egypt, Witchcraft in Egypt, Margaret Murray and the Wolf Bitten by a stray dog, the famous Egyptologist pursues magick methods to prevent her succumbing its rage

Drakons of Egypt, Tawaret is the Ferocious Hippo Goddess. She is one of 13 "Typhonian" gods .

In the Egyptian ritual year, it is her time. The Companions of Seth have a ritual for her online

“Someone, I forgot who, had once told me that the witches obviously had a special form of religion, ‘for they danced around a black goat’.” as told to Margaret Murray around about the time of her health retreat in Glastonbury. And so Murray heard the call of the horned piper. Several years later, after much research she published her groundbreaking book The Witchcult in Western Europe in which she made the startling claim that the Witches of Europe worshipped Baphomet ! Well, almost. As any Egyptologist would know, talk of black goats immediately suggests the myth of the famous “Goat of Mendes”, Mendes being the Greek name for Djedet in the Egyptian Delta where god Amun, “the mysterious one” was worshipped. Which neatly leads us into the topic of Witchcraft in Egypt, and her extraordinary experiences

Horus “Egyptologists recognise about 40 forms of Horus and some treat them as separate gods, none of them however readily equates with the Crowley’s ghastly ‘Horus’ vision inspired by Nyarlathotep-Aiwass.” (Epoch) Horus more well known as part of the later famous story or passion play of Isis, Osiris. The generation of five “cursed” gods, include Seth and Nephthys and a Horus. This extremely important and productive myth concerns dynastic struggle among the gods. Seth tricks and kills his Brother Osiris in order to take absolute power for himself. Or another way of looking at it is that he Initiates Osiris, albeit in a diabolical way, into the role of Lord of the Underworld. Isis conceives another child also called Horus, who being a child is unable to resist his stronger Uncle, and has to be protected by Isis until he is strong enough to challenge for the succession, depose Seth and take absolute control himself. #horus #egypt

The sun god Ra is all, more than just the visible sun, his Mysteries include the sun at midnight, the moon, his left-eye. Khonsu is the ancient moon god who gives his name to this month. To those that love him he is also the centre of the universe, thus Queen Cleopatra commissioned a cosmological inscription for the temple of Khonsu at Karnac:

Chats with Natural Meditation author Michael Salihovic about this basic technique, that is essential for all styles of magick. In his opinion is it not about will but letting go .. . find out why. Want to raise the serpent power, things in here that might help.

The Abydos Arrangement is an short ritual based on Egyptian sources, sometimes also called the heptagramme rite but also the Tankhem opening . It comprises words, vowel chants and gestures drawn most from ancient magical papyri from various eras

Paganism, because it rejects, mostly, the western religions most heavily associated with the colonial project. And its adherents look to the east of Suez, principally to Egypt and beyond for values.

This is not to say there were no empires before the Christian era either in the Near and far east. But their values have been absent from cultural memory for so long, they can appear fresh and natural.

Pharaonic Egypt is a non western African civilisation that is also the ultimate canceled culture. Its language was suppressed and forgotten in antiquity.

Its journey back into intellectual debate has been bumpy.

It took 1400 years for first reception of Egypt in our culture. The famous mosaic of Hermes Trismegistos in the Duomo (Cathedral) of Sienna cites Egypt as the font of all wisdom but really this is Egypt mediated by the culture of the Roman Empire and thence Greece.

Zar, meaning visitation, in this video the author explore the connections between the contemporary ecstatic cult and the way popular magick was practiced in ancient Egypt

Part 1 is a short talk about the Magical Papyri of Egypt, sometimes called the PGM. Their influence of neopaganism, what I think they really represent in terms of magical work. I've been working with these texts since 1986 when a new edition was issued that changed our world. Part 2 is a conversation with long time friend and colleague the magician SteveD (see BlogOfBaphomet) author of some of the most thoughtful writings on things magical. Here he talks about his view of the God Seth, and how he got into that

"Eaten by wolves" ... Magick for the month that was dedicated to Egypt's ancient wolf god. Very ambiguous supernatural entity. Eg there is a long association between the Jackal god Anubis and a technique known as a vessel divination or inquiry.  

Dance, known as Iba, Mww etc - an important ancient magic technique but how the reconstruct the ancient methods and how it might relate to the magical papyri

Aleister Crowley’s evocation of Nuit, Nwt (or Newet) in Liber AL 4  focuses our attention on a very unusual and unique Egyptian Goddess. The sky Goddess Nwt is one of the oldest deities in the Egyptian pantheon. Her first appearance in prehistory was as a clan deity. The really old Goddesses often had a bovine form. Thus Nwt is described in Pyramid Text spell 548 as a long horned celestial cow who suckles the king and takes him to herself in the sky: “May Nwt the Great put her hands on him/ she the long of horn, the pendulous of breast”. Over time she assume human form.

Decans, Demons and Magick. In this video I explain what the decans are, their importance to Egyptian magical religion and how they were used in magick, and hint at how they are still a basic part of the revised system. I talked some of ancient battle magick, but the more personal, Gnostic quest also worthy of note. How do I use these decanal traditions ... there is a liminal ritual to the five gods that can be adapted given in my book. I often start by taking note of the decan where It corresponds with a ritual moment, e.g. one coming up is new moon, solstice and star goddess Nwt

The god Osiris is a hidden influence on magick and the later alchemical tradition. Hear about the resurrection chambers (plural) connected with his cult, how they might have worked, and how they still might help us how to dream whilst awake and asleep, one of the secrets of our art.  Ancient Egyptian Magick Podcast video

Another look at the deep history of Egyptian magick and its records of generations of disorganized gods and goddess who existed before finite time began. I offer my own theory of the age of the Sphinx and the pyramids, and certain archaic features,  the Egyptian's own view on their origins. As always, I show how this is relevant to modern magical religion, how it plays out in our practice, how to use these ancient "secrets".

In Hathor's sacred month what more appropriate than to revisit some of her mysteries, a lunar blessing to eradicate toxicity, a hazard of the work, envisioned as the side effect of an unorthodox sexual of Seth and Hathor, she is the sungod's partner. The secrets of the later alchemical tradition start here.

A presentation to Transstates conference at Northampton University (9-10the September 2022) casting new light on the origin of the European Tarot images. Scholarly consensus has been that they could be no earlier than the 15th-16th century Italian renaissance. However, a rare manuscript of the ancient Book of Pictures (mushaf as suwar) - discovered in Istanbul and translated in 2011 by Theodor Apt and Salwa, Fuad places the whole dating in doubt.   Independent scholar Mogg Morgan, Oxford University alumni, draws this conclusion from the new manuscript, comments that in order to approach this one should “start thinking of the Tarot, not so much as a set of playing cards, but as an array of transformation images, that take the viewer, via meditation or dreaming, through a resurrection chamber to psycho-physical rebirth”. The author of the Arabic Book of Pictures was Zosimus of Panopolis in Egypt. He and his partner Theosebeia  are the mother and father of Alchemy, known in Egypt as “Hiera Techne”. The alchemical character of many of the images in the Tarot sequence is well known. The title alone of Zosimus'  “Book of Pictures”, thought to be lost, tells you all you need to know. Zosimus served as an Egyptian priest and technician at the temple of Min (Pan) at Akhmin, a location famous in Arabic sources for its frescoes illustrating mystical themes. It is also a stone's throw from the famous temple of Sety I at Abydos with its “resurrection chamber” . #tarot

Short update on Siwa in Egypt, place of oracles visited by Li Chun Lin in last episode. Bulk of show discusses the work of the late
Kenneth Grant, a magus with a particular interest in Atavistic Resurgence, or merging with ancestral voices, a ancient technique, reused by Aleister Crowley and perfected by the artist-sorcerer Austin Spare

Underworld Journey to the Desert - A Personal View. Taiwanese shamanic practitioner with interest in magick tells the story of her

retreat to the Egyptian desert, one that mirrors the ancient Egyptian view of the desert as the underworld of the soul

The Egyptians built the pyramids and an "Atlantean" myth. Continuing the explorations of the sounds of magick and a special feature of their ancient monuments such as the pyramids a Giza would be hidden underground chambers seemingly from another space and time, the underworld of the soul. What connects this to Abydos where we must now transfer our attention. The sounds of ritual

The riddle of the Sphinx, a magician is often expected to know it, and won't be long before someone will ask what you think it might be. Will the truth be followed by disillusionment or is it possible to keep the enchantment

Thoth and the ritual cycle - this important god had an entire month named for him, and what better time to discuss some of his many philosophical and magical mysteries  

Aleister Crowley's Egyptianized system of magick has been hugely influential on the neopagan revival, mostly amongst those with no formal allegiance to his putative new religion of Thelema. Like many magicians, he felt contact with the secrets of ancient Egypt was an important rite of passage. How much does his system really owe to Egyptian culture and how faithful to it are his goddess Nuit, and twin gods "Hadit" and Rahoorkhuit.  Seeds of truth in his system or made up stuff ... and what of the two ways and upholding Maat? 

As its the solstice what better than to discuss the connection in my mind between the famous Stonehenge monument in Wiltshire and those of other megalithic cultures such as that of ancient Egyptian which also made use of similar ideas of religious astronomy for possible resonance 

Explores some of the work of the celebrated Egyptianized magical order of Victorian times, the Golden Dawn, but not the usual material. What happened when it failed to deliver the secrets, what did the poet adept W B Yeats do then and how does it connect us to some real Egyptian Magick rather than the theatrical material most commonly described. It's about trance and dreams, just like in Egypt. If you place a flower petal in water by the bed, as Yeats and his adept wife did, what happens next. 

A magical friend introduced me to the spirit of place, how landscapes and temples of all times can come alive within you and without, hence the eroticism or sensuality of real place experiences inside you and another 

Mogg continues his exploration of Egyptian Magick, now within the Typhonian OTO,
he learns of the importance of the Tarot card The Lovers to all Thelemites, and begins to understand how this is related to the mysteries of Horus & Seth, and to sexual magick, a secret suppressed in late antiquity only to be rediscovered by Aleister Crowley through his emotional life, especially for him, his relationship with Victor Neuburg. 

Personal account of first encounters with spirituality and finding magick