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Ancient Egyptian Spellbook

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Or what the ancients really thought magic was capable of. I have read descriptions and brief sections of similar books, and the magic of my worlds draws on these concepts to some extent.

Ancient Egyptian Handbook of Spells Deciphered

Among other things, the "Handbook of Ritual Power," as researchers call the book, tells readers how to cast love spells, exorcise evil spirits and treat "black jaundice," a bacterial infection that is still around today and can be fatal.

The book is about 1,300 years old, and is written in Coptic, an Egyptian language. It is made of bound pages of parchment – a type of book that researchers call a codex.

The ancient book "starts with a lengthy series of invocations that culminate with drawings and words of power," they write. "These are followed by a number of prescriptions or spells to cure possession by spirits and various ailments, or to bring success in love and business."

For instance, to subjugate someone, the codex says you have to say a magical formula over two nails, and then "drive them into his doorpost, one on the right side (and) one on the left."

The Sethians

Researchers believe that the codex may date to the 7th or 8th century. During this time, many Egyptians were Christian and the codex contains a number of invocations referencing Jesus.

However, some of the invocations seem more associated with a group that is sometimes called "Sethians." This group flourished in Egypt during the early centuries of Christianity and held Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, in high regard. One invocation in the newly deciphered codex calls "Seth, Seth, the living Christ." [The Holy Land: 7 Amazing Archaeological Finds]

The opening of the codex refers to a divine figure named "Baktiotha" whose identity is a mystery, researchers say. The lines read, "I give thanks to you and I call upon you, the Baktiotha: The great one, who is very trustworthy; the one who is lord over the forty and the nine kinds of serpents," according to the translation.

"The Baktiotha is an ambivalent figure. He is a great power and a ruler of forces in the material realm," Choat and Gardner said at a conference, before their book on the codex was published.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Keep in mind that this is a very, very late spellbook. It doesn't come from any time period most people think of when they hear "ancient Egyptian". And ancient Egyptian religious philosophy was never a static thing, it changed a lot over the millenia. What Egyptians believed during the Old Kingdom was quite different from what they believed during the Middle Kingdom was quite different from what they believed during the New Kingdom, etc. Egypt in the 7th and 8th centuries was so affected by outside influences that it was barely Egyptian anymore.
 
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