Ancient Egypt Magazine Issues 7-9 – 2001

Nine Measures of Magic by Dr Panagiotis Kousoulis

Part 1: Heka, its theological aspects and importance
to the fabric of the Egyptian cosmos

• Ancient Egypt, which has long been recognised as the land of myth and magic,… reflected in an ancient text: “Ten measures of magic have come into this world. Egypt received nine of them, the rest of the world only one measure.”
• The Heka (HkA), Egyptian term for magic, existed before the creation of divine and mundane world and it was the cause for the emanation of cosmos. It was the ‘life-giving energy’ which was conceived in the mind of the creator god and expressed as ‘divine logos’.
• “Re ( the sun god) gave to them (mankind) magic (Heka) as weapon in order to repel the strokes of bad events.”

Part 2:–> The role of the Magicican in Egyptian society, Clement of Alexandria, 3rd century AD, regarded Egypt as ‘the mother of the magicians.’

• Khaemwaset, son of Rameses II, a ‘good scribe and very wise man,’ trained to understand and write the ‘language of the gods,’ the hieroglyphs.
• Papyrus Westcar, a magician transformed a wax crocodile into a real one and used it to hunt down his wife’s lover
• Another magician from the same story parted the water of a lake to recover a dropped pendant.
• House of Life (pr-ankh)’, a sacred institution attached to all the major temples.

• created for the magical protection of the gods (Re, Osiris) and the Pharaoh,
  who was regarded as their representative on earth.
• the role of the temple library, where all the sacred books (mdat ntr),
  writings and cultic archives were kept.

PART 3:–> ‘Overthrowing Apophis’: EGYPTIAN RITUAL IN PRACTICE. Throughout Egyptian history, a major focus of ritual activity was intended to overcome personal, divine or foreign enemies of the king or state.

Trampling upon an enemy was a standard gesture in magical rites… common imagery of the traditional enemies of Egypt, … on the king’s footstool and on the sole of his sandals, so that he was constantly trampling on them.