Quest 212, December 2022, pp.

23-30

Egyptomagia
The influence of Ancient Egypt on Western Magic1

Chris Wood

A ncient Egypt has left legacies in modern culture, seen in magical,

religious, artistic and political fields. A hundred years ago, popular
fascination with the splendours of this lost realm were rekindled by the
opening of the tomb of King Tutankhamun by Howard Carter (1874-
1939). Just two hundred years ago, Jean-François Champollion (1790-
1832) began his successful decipherment of the hieroglyphs. The routes of
transmission are convoluted and there is much inter-mingling with other
traditions. Speculation is, and always has been rife. Mistakes have been
made, which have often given wildly inaccurate impressions of ancient life
and practices, but have sometimes allowed potent new patterns to arise, in
harmony with the evolving Hermetic stream and in partnership with the
gods as they manifest today.
First, though, there is the question of what is meant by ‘Ancient Egypt’.
What we know most about is the Graeco-Roman period, from 332 BCE –
641 CE. This was when many of the major extant temples were built,
when authors like Plutarch and Herodotus lived, when many of the so-
called Books of the Dead were copied and when the famous ‘magical
papyri’ were written. It was in the middle of this period when the Corpus
Hermeticum came into being. For centuries afterwards it was believed that
these diverse and complex writings were survivals of a much earlier age,
predating the Biblical Moses, written by an Egyptian priest, Hermes
Trismegistus, ‘Thrice-Great Hermes’, or indeed by Thoth (Tehuti), the
1
A summary of a presentation at Norwich Pagan Moot’s ‘Ancient Egyptian Legacies: People,
Powers and Practice’ on-line conference, 19th & 20th November 2022.
Egyptian god of writing, records, knowledge, science and magic, Himself.
In fact, they were the legacy of the magical melting pot of Graeco-Roman
Alexandria, where Egyptian magic was combined with ideas from Greek,
Roman, Jewish and Syrian sources.
But this was a late, syncretic flowering of ancient Egyptian wisdom.
Before it, there was the great age of the Pharoahs (3100 – 664 BCE2),
during which the pyramids were built, temples and capitals rose and fell,
the so-called coffin texts and Books of the Dead appeared, and the
enduring forms of the Powers (neteru, deities) developed. But there was a
prehistoric, or pre-dynastic period too, covering at least three thousand
years of human life and cultural development. It is easy to talk glibly about
‘Ancient Egypt’ as if that were a static, if glorious phenomenon. In fact,
‘Ancient Egypt’ represents some seven millennia of civilisation, warfare
and evolving partnerships with the divine Powers.

Religious Transmutations
The development did not stop with the Islamic takeover in 641. Indeed, it
had already been travelling in new, syncretic directions. During the
Graeco-Roman Pagan period, Egyptian deities, already open to the sharing
of iconography and roles, became increasingly syncretised. The cause
célèbre was Aset, who became a universal Goddess for the Roman
Empire, by the name of Isis, sweeping up in Her being other Egyptian
deities (including, in particular, Neith of Sais) and Artemis of Ephesos,
amongst others. Her iconography was in turn used to clothe Mary, Mother
of God, as a deliberate means of conversion.
Indeed, the Coptic (Egyptian) Church was an important influence on early
Christianity, bringing through modified motifs from pre-Christian practice,
notably St Michael (instead of Thoth and Anubis) presiding over the
weighing of the soul of the deceased (rather than the weighing of the heart
against the feather of Ma’at), with Mary (instead of Hathor) waiting to
receive the justified spirit into the afterlife. The Creation as seen in the
Gospel of St John is reminiscent of Egyptian myths, the ministry of Jesus
reflects the peripatetic performance of Egyptian magical workers, and the

2
The period from 664 to 332 BCE, known as the Late Period, saw increasing Persian influence and
then occupation, until the Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great.
Lord’s Prayer follows an Egyptian magical formula. Church pillars owe
much to those in ancient Greek temples, but also to those of Egypt, where
bundles of papyrus stems sheltered early shrines in the Delta. And early-
modern church patrons had themselves painted into altar-pieces, to have
themselves immortalised in perpetual prayer, just as well-off and well-
connected Egyptians had themselves figured in their ‘Books of the Dead’
three millennia before.
In fact, the influence of Egypt goes back further, entering the Jewish
tradition. The probably composite figure of Moses (which seems to have
been an Egyptian name, signifying ‘child of’) may have brought the idea
of monotheism from Akhenatens’s philosophy. However, the Biblical
‘Heavenly Host’ perhaps reflects the holographic emanation of gods in
Egyptian tradition. Invocations to Amun seem to have transformed into
closing prayers with ‘Amen’ and, at the weighing of their heart, the
deceased made 42 negative confessions (‘I have not done such and such’),
which seems to have been boiled down to the Ten Commandments. Of
particular interest is the Exodus narrative, which actually seems to be a
conflation of at least four different events.3 1) In 1628 BCE, the Santorini
volcano erupted and caused saline flooding, dust storms and infestations
leading to the flight of people from these ‘plagues’ in the Delta, then
controlled by a Semitic elite, known as the Hyksos. 2) In c.1550 BCE,
Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos and expanded Egypt’s northern empire
across Canaan (taking bubonic plague, unwittingly, with his army). 3) In
c.1450 BCE, Thuthmosis III expelled troublesome Israelite slaves and
pursued them eastwards, but was hindered by a tsunami, leading to the
legend of the parting of the sea. 4) For a long period around 1200 BCE
there was natural climate change and a series of earthquakes, which led to
the collapse of civilisations around the eastern Mediterranean. The
displacement of people from the Aegean gave rise to the invasion of the
‘Sea Peoples’ and the combination of circumstances led to the collapse of
Egypt’s northern empire. The vacuum was filled by inter-tribal warfare
and the ascendancy of the Israelites. (Interestingly, a shrine to Hathor at

3
Nadav Naʽaman (2015) ‘Out of Egypt or Out of Canaan? The Exodus Story Between Memory and
Historical Reality’, in Thomas E. Levy, Thomas Schneider and William H.C. Propp (eds.) Israel’s
Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective, Springer; Barbara J. Sivertsen (2009) The Parting of the
Sea, Princeton University Press.
the Timna copper mine in the eastern Negev was replaced with one to
Yahweh…) Was the Exodus a coming out of Egypt, or emergence from
the Egyptian Empire?
The Exodus issue shows the extent to which the politics, economies and
cultures of Egypt and Canaan/Palestine/Israel were intertwined over
several hundred years in the late Bronze Age. Even on the evidence of the
New Testament, with its flight into Egypt, interaction with Egypt was far
from abnormal a thousand years later.
More speculatively, there is an interesting linguistic similarity between the
names of the ancient Egyptian beginning of harvest, the first month of
Shemu, called Pa-n-hns.w in the New Kingdom (and called by the Greeks
Pachon/ Παχών),4 and that of the Jewish barley harvest festival, Pesach
(i.e. Passover), which in turn became the Paschal festival of Christianity
(i.e. Easter). ‘Passion’ (i.e. of Christ) comes from the Latin patior, passus
(to suffer, bear, allow), but the similarity may have added to its resonance.

Alchemy and Islamic Transmission

The Hermetic tradition is the philosophical alter ego of the more craft-
based practice of alchemy, a word which seems to have two roots: the art
of the black land (i.e. Egypt, kmt) and the Greek words, chyma and
chymos. These words refer to the pouring of molten metals and plant juices
respectively, which in turn relate to two key elements of alchemy:
metallurgy and working with herbal essences (i.e. spagyrics).5 The
Hermetic-alchemical pursuits continued to be practised and developed in
Egypt and other Islamic lands, as they were seen as being compatible with
that faith. Arabic writings later became available to European scholars.

Renaissance European Reception

The elements of ancient Egypt passed down into and remodelled within
Christianity began to be reassembled with those embodied in the Hermetic
and alchemical traditions as Arabic works began to appear in Europe,
especially Italy, and be translated into Latin. Three key figures stand out in

4
The lunar calendar and precession meant that this month fell around February-March in the Old
Kingdom, but May in the Late Period.
5
Jack Lindsay (1970) The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt, Barnes & Noble, pp. 68-89.
the reception of this material. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) developed a
system of Natural Magic, i.e. magic involving the powers of the sub-lunary
realms, natural magical forces that could be manipulated by the magician
without recourse to deity. Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) inserted the
Cabala into this system, taken from Jewish tradition, rather than Egyptian,
but indispensable to the later transmission of Hermeticism. A little later,
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) delved deeper into the roots of Hermeticism
and dared to bring deities into the equation. He almost made it polytheist.
Having spent time teaching in Germany, Bruno returned to Padua,
convinced he could persuade the Papal hierarchy that this was the true root
of Christianity. The Pope disagreed and Bruno was imprisoned, tortured
and eventually burned at the stake.
However, whilst in Germany, Bruno’s teachings inspired many people. It
appears that some of them thought up a secret society and circulated
papers purporting to be its writings. These Rosicrucian Manifestos brought
together Hermeticism, alchemy, Cabala and Christian mysticism into a
revolutionary new esoteric system, supposedly developed and promulgated
by Christian Rosenkreutz (1378-1484 – as ever, new ideas were presented
as being older). Other people read the Manifestos and set up real
fraternities to put them into practice. The Rosicrucian movement was born.

Egyptomagia
Rosicrucianism was also taken on board amongst the more esoteric
echelons of Freemasonry, and the Knight of the Rose Croix is still the 18th
Degree of the Scottish Rite. In Britain, out of all this emerged the Societas
Rosicruciana in Anglia (1865), a specifically Christian esoteric society
with its basis in Hermeticism. This was followed by the Hermetic Order of
the Golden Dawn (1888), which developed a powerful magical system for
the modern age, drawing in particular on Hermetic, Christian, Ancient
Egyptian and Jewish (Cabala) traditions. The Golden Dawn was far from
the only ceremonial magic order of its day, but it was the most public and,
probably, the most influential.
Furthermore, the legacy of the Golden Dawn was passed on and developed
by its members and others associated with it. Two names are of especial
relevance, both of whom wrote extensively on magical practice – although
there the similarity ends. Aleister Crowley was the father of Thelema,
having had his own mystical experiences in Cairo, and had a strong
influence in the development of other magical and Pagan movements,
notably Wicca. Dion Fortune set up the Fraternity (later Society) of the
Inner Light in 1922 and conveyed occult teachings in novels and non-
fiction works. She and the Society have also had enormous influence on
Paganism and magic since the mid-20th century.6

Rediscovery and Egyptomania

The Golden Dawn did not only draw on Rosicrucian and Hermetic
traditions. It also assimilated the ideas coming out of Egyptology and the
popular fascination with all things related to ancient Egypt, known as
Egyptomania. As the European colonial gaze spread, more and more
travellers ‘explored’ Egypt and brought back tantalising (and often
inaccurate) images of its ancient remains, which were promulgated and
speculated on in literature, art and design, even after more accurate
representations became available, particularly from the ‘scientific’
explorations in the wake of Napoleon’s short occupation (1798-1801).
British forces repelled the French, as Egypt was an important staging post
en route to India, even before the Suez Canal was built – by a French
company. The waterway opened in 1869 and in 1875 the Egyptian
government was forced to sell its shares in it to Britain. In 1882, Britain
subsequently cemented its economic interests in the country by invasion,
designed to put down an anti-European revolt, which turned into a
prolonged occupation, lasting until 1922 (and informally until 1956).
The colonial appropriation of ancient artefacts and indeed of Egypt’s own
past brought iconic objects to Western museums, although the worst
excesses of this attitude were receding by the time Howard Carter found
Tutankhamun’s tomb. Even then, whilst a proportion of artefacts were
destined for the Cairo Museum, that institution was aimed at Europeans,
not Egyptians.7 The influx of Ancient Egyptian artefacts into the European
public and private realms, often wholly out of context, mirrored the
appropriation of the imagery and Western assumptions about its meaning

6
Richardson, Alan (2009) Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune, Llewellyn.
7
See Christina Riggs (2021) Treasured: How Tutankhamum Changed a Century, Atlantic.
in the arts, not least the decorative arts. Whilst, with hindsight, the
concepts of Ancient Egypt as conveyed through 19th- and 20th-century
Egyptology and Egyptomania left a lot to be desired, they did allow people
steeped in the Hermetic traditions to begin piecing together the esoteric
legacy with the material remains, in communion with the Powers.
Furthermore, Kemeticists have sought to recreate ancient practices.
How Egyptian is Modern Magic?
The original Golden Dawn used Egyptian imagery extensively, but its
system of magic drew on many other sources as well. It was deliberately
syncretic. This is hardly surprising, as this was the direction in which
magic was going in late antiquity. Our understanding of Ancient Egypt
depends on the Graeco-Roman era and, on one level, the Golden Dawn
could be seen as the natural successor to the Alexandrian melting pot.
Mistakes were made, naturally, not only because of the popular pastiches
found in Egyptomania, but because the Egyptian roots of Hermeticism
were not clear and because contemporary Egyptology made modern
Western assumptions about the ancient world. However, Egyptological
attitudes are not static and, a hundred years after Carter’s gilded drama,
there are important differences in how things are perceived. The so-called
Book of the Dead (in its various forms) is now recognised as the Book of
Coming Forth by Day. The notion that the religion was a death cult
(simply because so many funerary artefacts have survived) has altered to
one of a co-creative, alchemical religion. And mummies, far from being a
means of preserving the body after death, are now seen increasingly as a
means of wrapping the sacred, the contents being “godlike, not lifelike”.8
Indeed, the well-known statement from Aleister Crowley’s Gnostic Mass
(1913), “There is no part of me that is not of the gods,” echoes a genuine
spell from the third century CE, “There isn’t a single part of the body
which has not been sealed by a deity.”9
This modern, self-aware magic has been able to meet the ancient gods
again, in the forms in which they have evolved and been carried across the
8
Christina Riggs (2014) Unwrapping Ancient Egypt, Bloomsbury, p. 94.
9
From Papyrus Leiden I 348, quoted in Geraldine Pinch (2006) Magic in Ancient Egypt, second
edition, British Museum Press, p. 142.
centuries to us, through allegorical personification (e.g. Isis/Aphrodite as
Nature) and by some of them gathering up others by association and
syncretism, and serving as lifeboats. Perhaps the pre-eminent lifeboat of
the gods has been Isis, She of the Ten Thousand Names. As the gods
disembark, they are able to re-establish themselves and be remembered.
Not only do the gods evolve, they also move, taking root in fertile soil.
Hathor has turned up in the Broads.10 Isis Herself has become associated
with the River Thames, a dark river, redolent of death and rebirth, on
whose banks was once a temple to Isis (in Londinium) and many churches
dedicated to Mary. Higden, in the 14th century, split the old Romano-
British name, Tamesis, into Thama and Ysa for its two main tributaries.
Ysa (the same in fact as Ouse) became Isis for Leland (1546) and Camden
(1586). The river is still known as the Isis in Oxford. Dark Isis of the
Thames is the third main character in Dion Fortune’s novel, Moon Magic,
hidden in plain sight. And Peter Ackroyd is in no doubt, stating that the
tutelary deities of the Thames are Isis and Old Father Thames.11
To use a Biblical analogy, Egyptian survivals in text, architecture and
religion provide old wineskins … into which can be poured the old wine,
or at any rate wine thought to be like the old wine. This wine’s vintage is
Renaissance Hermeticism. A later vintage is that of the Victorian Golden
Dawn and its legacies in 20th- and 21st-century esotericism, in which
wineskins old and new are filled with living wine filtered through the
centuries in the cellar of Isis.
Selected Further Reading
Assmann, Jan (2008) Of God and Gods, University of Wisconsin Press.
Fowden, Garth (1993) The Egyptian Hermes, revised edition, Princeton University Press.
Hornung, Erik (2001) The Secret Lore of Egypt, trans. David Lorton, Cornell University Press.
Naydler, Jeremy (1999) Temple of the Cosmos, Inner Traditions.
Roberts, Alison (1995) Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient Egypt; (2000) My Heart, My
Mother: Death and Rebirth in Ancient Egypt; (2019) Hathor’s Alchemy: The Ancient Egyptian
Roots of the Hermetic Art, all Northgate.
Yates, Frances (1964) Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge & Kegan Paul.

10
See Chris Wood (2014) ‘Hathor: Death on the Nile, Life on the Broads’, Quest 178, pp. 25-30.
11
Peter Ackroyd (2007) Thames: Sacred River, Chatto & Windus, pp. 23-30.