Category: quote

A peculiar feature of Egyptian magic was that threats might not be directed only at forces causing the problem, but at the deities who were asked to intervene. Once spell warns that no offerings will be made on the divine altars if the gods don’t make the magic work. A love charm ends with a threat that Busiris … will be burned if the client does not get what he wants.

In myth, Orisis was the most vulnerable of the gods and this is exploited in magic. In the Book for Banishing an Enemy, Osiris is threatened with not being allowed to journey to his two sacred sites (Busiris and Abydos) … The magician even threatens to take on the role of Seth and destroy the body of Osiris. …

The most direct way to influence a god was to interfere with their cult. Deities are sometimes threatened with the pollution and desecration of their temples and the slaughter of their sacred animals. …
The magician usually protects himself by saying ‘it is not me that is saying this but X’ – X being the god whose role he is playing in the rite. This suggests that even though it was only role playing, the Egyptians themselves had doubts about this procedure. Words were powerful, so such formulae might actually damage ma’at.

Possibly these formulae are not so much threats as predictions. The magician is speaking on behalf of humanity; reminding heaven that if people are not regularly cured and protected that they will lose faith in the gods and cease to make offerings, maintain the temples, and respect sacred animals. The magician is only demanding the enforcement of a kind of divine contract. If the gods do not help mankind, the whole divine order will collapse.

Magic in AE, Pinch, pg 73-75
(via thetwistedrope)

Yeah, the usual formula for asking the gods (or a dead relative) to intervene was 1) remind the god how faithful you had been and how many offerings you had provided, 2) ask for what you wanted, and 3) threaten to stop making offerings if he/she didn’t help.

But this formula was usually followed by common folk, not royalty.

(via wingsofmaat)

● Not a perfect soul, I am perfecting. Not a human being, I am a human becoming

● My body is but wax and wick for flame. When the candle burns out, the light shines elsewhere

● Name yourself in your heart and know who you are

● In my heart are the deeds my body has done and my heart has been weighed in the balance

● In the beat of a heart, the suck of a breath, you are the universe

– The Egyptian Book of the Dead

(via alwaysinsearchoflight)

There is time for wisdom, deed, and possibility. There is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Though we pass quickly, the earth and heavens remain. Let us make something useful with our hands. Though time forgets us, let it not forget our passing. Grant that today we may do work that matters.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, translated by Normandi Ellis (via kemetichaote)

Remember why you became a polytheist. Perhaps you prayed and Someone unexpected answered. Perhaps a Goddess tapped you on the shoulder and said “you’re mine.” Perhaps you realized that the world is better explained by many Gods of limited power and scope than by one all-powerful God and you decided that following Them was the best way to order your life.

It’s hard to be spiritual when your roof is leaking. If your current situation has dampened your enthusiasm for the Gods, Their virtues, and Their work, it’s understandable. And usually, They understand too – They tend to have a longer and wider perspective than we do. But whatever your reason for becoming a polytheist, it was valid then and it’s still valid now.

John Beckett “Polytheism in Difficult Times“
(via intaier)

Speak to the Gods. Ancient prayers are good. So are contemporary prayers written by priests and devotees. So are your own words that express the yearnings of your heart. Calling Them by names, titles, and epithets is good, but remember – They know They’re Gods. You’re the one who needs to be reminded.

Express your admiration and devotion. Give thanks where appropriate. Ask for what you want… but consider Who you’re speaking to. Is your request something important or something trivial? And remember the principle of reciprocity: if you expect to receive, you should expect to give.

Be careful what you offer. If you say “I’ll do whatever you want me to do” They may take you up on it in ways you never considered. My experience has been that the Gods are mostly (but not always) lenient with beginners, but much more strict with those of us who should know better.

Pray respectfully and pray mindfully, but pray.

John Beckett “Beginning a Devotional Practice“
(via intaier)

We, known as the Jackals, the priests of Anubis, are the guardians of their glorious tombs, or their humble graves.
We are the keepers of the dead.
We are the servants of Anubis.
We are Anubites.
We, the Anubites, are the guardians of Anubis, the guardians of the Pharaohs, and the servants of Amun-Ra.
May evil rain and fire rain from the sky should Amun-Ra be disturbed.

(via the-typhonian)

Anubis the Dweller in the Mummy Chamber, Governor of the Divine House … saith:- Homage to thee, thou happy one, lord! Thou seest the Utchat. Ptah-Seker hath bound thee up. Anubis hath exalted thee. Shu hath raised thee up, O Beautiful Face, thou governor of eternity. Thou hast thine eye, O scribe Nebseni, lord of fealty, and it is beautiful. Thy right eye is like the Sektet Boat, thy left eye is like the Atet Boat. Thine eyebrows are fair to see in the presence of the Company of the Gods. Thy brow is under the protection of Anubis, and thy head and face, O beautiful one, are before the holy Hawk. Thy fingers have been stablished by thy scribe’s craft in the presence of the Lord of Khemenu, Thoth, who hath bestowed upon thee the knowledge of the speech of the holy books. Thy beard is beautiful in the sight of Ptah-Seker, and thou, O scribe Nebseni, thou lord of fealty, art beautiful before the Great Company of the Gods. The Great God looketh upon thee, and he leadeth thee along the path of happiness. Sepulchral meals are bestowed upon thee, and he overthroweth for thee thine enemies, setting them under thy feet in the presence of the Great Company of the Gods who dwell in the House of the Great Aged One which is in Anu.

– The Speech of Anubis from the Papyrus of Nu and the Papyrus of Nebseni (via the-typhonian)

A story recorded in the first millennium B.C.E. tells how the wicked god Set disguised himself as a leopard to desecrate the body of Osiris. He was seized by Anubis and branded all over with a hot iron. This, according to Egyptian myth, is how the leopard got its spots. Anubis then flayed Set and wore his bloody skin as a warning to those who would disturb the dead. It was Anubis who then decreed that priests should wear leopard skins to honor his triumph over Set.

cowofgold (via the-typhonian)

Set was said to be a friend of the dead, helping them to ascend to heaven on his ladder (maqet), and the crowner of pharaohs and leader of warriors. Set became the patron deity of soldiers, who often wore Set amulets made of bronze or faience, hoping to acquire Set’s strength and protection. The warrior-king Tuthmosis III called himself “Beloved of Set.” Set was thought to be the lord of metals – iron, the hardest metal known to the Egyptians, was called the “Bones of Set.” Set was invoked for fertility – he often appears on uterine amulets to either open or close the womb. Like Anubis, the worship of Set predates that of both Horus and Osiris.

https://cowofgold.wikispaces.com/Set
(via the-typhonian)