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Magical Techniques In Ancient Egypt

In the western modern sense, any activity that obtains its objectives in a way that goes beyond what is called, the natural laws of cause and effect, is automatically labeled “magical”. (Pinch, 1995) The identification of magic is therefore apparent in the Egyptian, spells and rituals. Especially, through three rituals of spitting, licking and swallowing. Each of these have a long history within the practice of western images and folklore, in both the ancient and modern cultures. However, any one of these magical techniques may function in contrasting ways. Spitting was the best-known magical technique, which helped greatly in healing and stirring the corrupted evil away from the body, in other words, washing it off harmlessly. “Spittle” is the equivalent to “Spit” in the Egyptian language, and according to their language this word is donated in hieroglyphic determinatives by this arrow to signify fluids of any kind. For example, “pour”, “spit”, “vomit” or even “kiss”. (Ritner, 1993)

“One day St. Automona di Meris, seeing a young novice yawning, suddenly spat into her mouth, and that without malice or though of mischief. Some ninety hours afterwards the said novice brought into the world Blessed St. Elizabeth Bathlide, who, by dint of skipping, changed her sex at the age of forty and became a man” –Ronald Firbank, Valmouth. This quote briefly explains how the act of spitting is done. The saliva used in the ritual use in the spittle serves as a medium to convey the revitalizing power, hence, the transmission of healing and blessing. “My purification is the purification of the spittle which issued from the mouth of Re-Atum”. In Wadi Hammamat, direct use of spittle reappears to be inscribed in a Saite Demotic Spell against the scorpion sting, for illustration. A series of exorcising incantations are directly followed after the “spell for enchanting scorpion” instructions have been completed successfully, “ You should recite them to your finger while it is moistened with spittle then you should seal the opening of the mouth with it (the spittle)”. There are also examples of medical spiting that are common throughout the funerary literature, were the spittle is used to cure baldness or weal vision, injured shoulders or even infusing breath in a new born baby. (Ritner, 1993) The second ritual is licking, which is rarely encountered. It usually appears as a common technical expression for spell manipulation. And in a way or another it has similar “mechanisms” to that of spitting. Both rituals have two forms/acts: curative and cursing acts. In other words, they function as a double-edge sword. The magical technique of transferring health and blessings through saliva reflects a naturally observable phenomenon, as licking the wound. This natural observation highlights the licking imagery associated with the cow goddess Hathor, “licks whom she has borne”. She grants Hatshepsut her blessing at Dier El-Bahari by the ritual of licking, “Kissing your hand, licking your limb, endowing you Majesty with life and dominion”. Hathor also grants her blessing to the deceased, where she, the goddess, for example, licks a man’s hand to ensure his re-birth. “She has licked the injury that is in your body” is basically an addition to what goddess Hathor is capable of, this presents the “Healing Kiss” which is still evoked at the Ptolemaic temple of Edfu, where Hathor appears before Horus. In addition to the Pyramid Text spells 166 and 181, and the coffin texts spell 936, which presents the deceased king as two bowls of zizyplus-fruit, qualified as the “Eye Of Horus, which they have licked”. This quote can be translated in a way that shows that the licking of Horus’s injured eye has help in its recovery after it had been perpetrated by Seth and his cohorts. Therefore, the restoration of the eye is attributed to the curative force of the divine saliva that is present because of the ritual of licking, that is parallel to that of spitting, as a medico-magical technique. (Ritner, 1993) The third ritual is swallowing; it is a mundane act of eating, its hostile function is “to devour” implying the act of “to destroy”, the development if this ritual is the most important thing. The bond between eating and the ritual of swallowing is made obvious throughout the offering custom at the Pyramid Text, where goods/foods are identified with the stolen eye of Horus and that the act of swallowing, basically restores the eye of the recipient’s body. However, the most famous expression of his general concept appears in the elaborate “Cannibal Hymn” (Pyramid Text Spells 273-74): The King is one who eat men and lives on the gods… The king eats their magic, swallows their spirits: Their big ones are for morning meals, The middle ones are for evening meals, Their little ones are for his night meals,… He has smashed bones and marrow, He has seized the hearts of the gods,… The king feeds on the lungs of the wise, And likes to live on hearts and their magic (Ritner, 1993)

Moreover, in the New Kingdom, spells of the Book Of The Dead, the imagery of eating and swallowing remains noticeable through the accompanying rubrics that, unfortunately, lack specific references to ritual consumption. Also, the mention of swallowing gods “as a potion of the death” directly reflects contemporary medical practice, meaning that the prescriptions and fluids are to be “charged” with divine force by spells then swallowed by the patients. Best example of such presentation is the generic “spell for drinking a remedy” that was found near the beginning of the Ebers Papyrus. Snakes remedies provide a linkage between the negative instances of the three rituals: spitting, licking and swallowing. This is apparent in the recitation against serpents of pyramid text spell 228, it is stated, “it has swallowed itself that which it has licked” licking in this quote refers to the method by which the serpent releases its toxins, paralleling the common use of “spitting”, and this was found in the Pyramid Texts. What is intended of this recitation is for the snake to lick its own poison that it ejected, so that the antagonistic reptile is forced to “swallow for itself”. (Ritner, 1993) According to the book, “Magic In Ancient Egypt” there exists evidence that magic in Egypt spans to about four and a half thousand years. Therefore, it can be summed up that those three rituals are a form of magical techniques that have been used during different time periods. However, it can be generalized that magical techniques, are techniques used in a way so that the spells could be effective. This is done through the following of not only the words of the magical rite, but also the rubric, preparations and purification. For a magical rite to be effective there were steps that had to be followed, first they began a suitable date and hour had to be decided based on the calendar and the moon, as for the moon was of significant importance to the Egyptian “magical techniques” since the first millennium BC and onwards, therefore, the appropriate stage of the lunar system is mentioned in the rubric. Source: Magic In Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch This image is a sample of a calendar showing, which days were particularly the lucky ones and which days were unlucky, 13th century BC.

The magicians then start preparing themselves by following the rubric by purifying, for example, if a magician is married he is not allowed to have sex with his wives on, immediately before, nor are they allowed to touch a women who is menstruating as for any bodily fluid is considered to ruin the magician’s purification. In addition to that fact that they are not allowed eating certain kind of food, pork and fish. And in some rubrics they specify that the magician has to shave his head and all his hair body. And in some temples there are lakes and pools designed for the magicians in order for them to bathe in, having water poured on them, in the “House of Morning”. (Pinch, 1995) However, in The Book Of The Heavenly Cows, the enchanter has to wash in water form the Nile Flood, get dressed in new clothes with white sandals and perfumed oils, in addition to having the Goddess Maat, the Goddess of truth and justice, painted on his tongue to ensure that the his words were true, bringing what they desired into real life/being. (Guilhou, 2010)

This is an image of Goddess Maat. Found in tomb Sety I. Despite all those preparations, the area where the rite would take place had to be also prepared and purified. This was done by sprinkling the floors with water and sweeping it with a special broom, layering it with clean sand and sterilizing the area with smoke, in order to kill any kind of insects. Furthermore, the rubric specified what type of pen should be used to draw symbols on papyrus or onto the skin of the patients. Magical ingredients had to be prepared, and its color to be chosen carefully, especially for the rite so that they would not be contaminated by any previous use. The colors were important and they symbolized different things, for example: yellow, red and orange symbolize fire, while black, which was favored in Egyptian magic, and green symbolize positivity and power. (Pinch, 1995) Magical practices, therefore, integrate magic by speech, amulets and portions. For a magical technique to be effective, it has to depend on more than one aspect: purification, rubric and the magician, for example. Also, magicians do not only depend on what is written in the rubrics, because some situations are not specified and so they have to re-construct a magical spell by examining a similar magic technique in other cultures. However, if the magician followed the instructions, in other words, followed it by the book, then the magical spell will go as the patient desires. Nonetheless, some people still mistake priests for magicians and vice-versa. Magicians could be easily be distinguished from priests by their clients; they have clients instead of congregations, as well as the fact that they are not expected to exercise any moral authority. However, the success of the Egyptian magical techniques is not solely due to the fact that they follow the rubrics and directions or even historical texts, but it is also due to how clever the Egyptians were in describing magic and their capability of passing and creating knowledge that the whole world still talks about until today.

Work Cited Allen, James P. "The Egyptian Coffin Texts." (n.d.): n. pag. The University Of Chicago Oriental Institution Publication. The Oriental Institute Of The University Of Chicago, 2006. Web. 16 May 2015.

David, A. Rosalie. Cult of the Sun: Myth and Magic in Ancient Egypt. London: J.M. Dent, 1980. Guilhou, Nadine. "Myth of the Heavenly Cow." EScholarship. UCLA Encyclopedia Of Egyptology, 8 Dec. 2010. Web. 09 May 2015. Ritner, Robert. "The Mechanics Of Ancient Egyptian Magical Prcatices." Ed. Thomas A. Holland. (1993): n. pag. Studies In Ancient Oriental Civilization. The Oriental Institute Of The University Of Chicago. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. Pinch, Geraldine. "Magic in Ancient Egypt." Choice Reviews Online 32.10 (1995): 7-187. British Museum Press. Web. 28 Apr. 2015.