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Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power
This provocative collection of rites, spells, amulets, curses, and recipes of the early Coptic Christians documents Christianity as a living folk religion resembling other popular belief systems - something quite different from what theo-logical and doctrinal traditions have led us to believe.
Like The Nag Hammadi Library, this extraordinary collection of little known incantatory texts radically alters our perception of Christianity as primarily a highly theological and orthodox tradition. These texts and illustrations show that the folk practices of the earliest Christians are quite similar to the day-to-day beliefs and rituals of spirituality that imbue indigenous primal religions and popular religion generally. Placing these previously unknown ancient texts in historical context and explaining their significance, Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith also reveal the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the Christian teaching practice.
Illustrated with line drawings and photographs from the original ancient documents and containing a plethora of rituals, curses, and spells, Ancient Christian Magic is the practical and liturgical companion to the narrative and theological texts of The Nag Hammadi Library.
Like The Nag Hammadi Library, this extraordinary collection of little known incantatory texts radically alters our perception of Christianity as primarily a highly theological and orthodox tradition. These texts and illustrations show that the folk practices of the earliest Christians are quite similar to the day-to-day beliefs and rituals of spirituality that imbue indigenous primal religions and popular religion generally. Placing these previously unknown ancient texts in historical context and explaining their significance, Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith also reveal the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the Christian teaching practice.
Illustrated with line drawings and photographs from the original ancient documents and containing a plethora of rituals, curses, and spells, Ancient Christian Magic is the practical and liturgical companion to the narrative and theological texts of The Nag Hammadi Library.
407 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1994
9 people are currently reading
460 people want to read
About the author
Marvin W. Meyer
35 books64 followersMarvin Meyer is a scholar of religion and a tenured professor at Chapman University, in Orange, California.
He is the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. He is also Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Dr. Meyer is the author of numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. He has been interviewed on television programs that have aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the National Geographic Channel.
Professor Meyer is best known for his translations of the texts of documents associated with the ancient mystery religions, early Christian magic, and Gnostic texts, of which the most notable have been the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas. He is regarded as an authority on Gnosticism and has published many books on the subject.
Meyer died of melanoma on August 16, 2012.
He is the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. He is also Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Dr. Meyer is the author of numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. He has been interviewed on television programs that have aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the National Geographic Channel.
Professor Meyer is best known for his translations of the texts of documents associated with the ancient mystery religions, early Christian magic, and Gnostic texts, of which the most notable have been the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas. He is regarded as an authority on Gnosticism and has published many books on the subject.
Meyer died of melanoma on August 16, 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 18, 2008
An amazing window, based strictly on these primary sources, into an important aspect of early Christianity in Egypt, primarily in the 4th century but ranging from the 100's to the 1100's. Over 100 ritual incantations and spells, several of which are accompanied by facsimiles of the original papyrus. Fascinating.
February 18, 2023
This book is an absolute beauty; if you've ever wanted a general collection and examination of early Christian magical texts, then it's absolutely a book you should add to your collection.
The 135 listed primary sources examined by the book covers a wide range of syncretic and original magic, ranging from healing to cursing, and just about every subject in between- really showing you a wide breath of syncretism and general belief that was prevalent among the early Coptic Christians. The best is that the 7 page long list of references, which doubles as the book's Table of Contents, includes what appear to be the museum archive numbers for their home museums as well- something I've noticed some academically oriented texts fail to include when it comes to museum items in particular, but which is very appreciated.
My favorite part of the book, however, is arguably the introduction, which discusses many of the problems inherent in the modern dichotomy of science and logic vs magic (and it is wholly a modern juxtaposition). Especially in regards to how academics tend to approach the topic of magic and its study within academia, and the many problems these now traditional approaches cause. This is something the Pagan community in particular has been speaking on for decades now regarding academia's treatment of magic and paganism, and it was nice to actually see that being spoken about in an academic context.
The book also touches a bit about the contexts of this early magic, as well as a simplified discussion of the early Christian views on magic. It delves into the ways in which these texts were utilized, how they'll be formatted in the book, and more... All of which adds another layer of perspective and understanding to the sources examined, and helps to further place them in their proper cultural and social contexts. This is something I believe is absolutely integral to any study of older magical and religious systems. Unfortunately it's another thing typically lacking in studies I've read on similar topics.
Overall it's a lovely book. And though it's certainly one narrow look at one region of a much broader topic, it's one worth picking up and digging into. Especially for those who think the bible prohibits (and has always prohibited) the practice of magic as sinful or evil. But I'd argue that if you consider yourself a Christian magical practitioner of any stripe, this book should be a must read in general- if for no other reason than to understand Christianity's magical legacy, its early viewpoints, and its development; learning a little history never did anyone dirty.
The 135 listed primary sources examined by the book covers a wide range of syncretic and original magic, ranging from healing to cursing, and just about every subject in between- really showing you a wide breath of syncretism and general belief that was prevalent among the early Coptic Christians. The best is that the 7 page long list of references, which doubles as the book's Table of Contents, includes what appear to be the museum archive numbers for their home museums as well- something I've noticed some academically oriented texts fail to include when it comes to museum items in particular, but which is very appreciated.
My favorite part of the book, however, is arguably the introduction, which discusses many of the problems inherent in the modern dichotomy of science and logic vs magic (and it is wholly a modern juxtaposition). Especially in regards to how academics tend to approach the topic of magic and its study within academia, and the many problems these now traditional approaches cause. This is something the Pagan community in particular has been speaking on for decades now regarding academia's treatment of magic and paganism, and it was nice to actually see that being spoken about in an academic context.
The book also touches a bit about the contexts of this early magic, as well as a simplified discussion of the early Christian views on magic. It delves into the ways in which these texts were utilized, how they'll be formatted in the book, and more... All of which adds another layer of perspective and understanding to the sources examined, and helps to further place them in their proper cultural and social contexts. This is something I believe is absolutely integral to any study of older magical and religious systems. Unfortunately it's another thing typically lacking in studies I've read on similar topics.
Overall it's a lovely book. And though it's certainly one narrow look at one region of a much broader topic, it's one worth picking up and digging into. Especially for those who think the bible prohibits (and has always prohibited) the practice of magic as sinful or evil. But I'd argue that if you consider yourself a Christian magical practitioner of any stripe, this book should be a must read in general- if for no other reason than to understand Christianity's magical legacy, its early viewpoints, and its development; learning a little history never did anyone dirty.
August 15, 2014
Pros: good introductions to each section, lots of explanatory notes, variety of texts
Cons: only has a few pictures in instances when illustrations are present in the text
Ritual has long been a part of spiritual practices, Christian or otherwise. These texts, written in the Coptic language of Egypt (invented as a way of transliterating Egyptian heiroglyphs using Greek letters), shows how Christianity amalgamated older traditions of using words as protection against the evils of the world. The texts presented in this book mix Egyptian gods and Christian stories to create amulets, love spells, curses and more.
There’s a fantastic mix of texts presented here, many for the first time in English. There are extensive end notes, though a casual reader will get enough information from the introductions to the individual texts - which are, in some cases, longer than the texts themselves.
It’s interesting seeing the variety of names of power called upon for the different purposes: Mary, Christ, archangels, Biblical figures, ancient gods and more.
My only complaint with the book is that some of the manuscripts included diagrams. In a few cases the translator copied the picture, but in many more cases only a notation stating there was a diagram is included. Actual photographs of some of these manuscript pages would have been welcome to get a feel for how the text and diagrams worked together and to see the original images.
I would advise reading up on the ancient Egyptian religious practices or the Book of Coming Forth by Day (now known as the Book of the Dead) before reading this though, as you’ll get a better idea of how much of the Coptic Christian tradition was borrowed from what came before it.
If you’re interested in magic and ritual practices, and how they developed, this is an interesting book.
Cons: only has a few pictures in instances when illustrations are present in the text
Ritual has long been a part of spiritual practices, Christian or otherwise. These texts, written in the Coptic language of Egypt (invented as a way of transliterating Egyptian heiroglyphs using Greek letters), shows how Christianity amalgamated older traditions of using words as protection against the evils of the world. The texts presented in this book mix Egyptian gods and Christian stories to create amulets, love spells, curses and more.
There’s a fantastic mix of texts presented here, many for the first time in English. There are extensive end notes, though a casual reader will get enough information from the introductions to the individual texts - which are, in some cases, longer than the texts themselves.
It’s interesting seeing the variety of names of power called upon for the different purposes: Mary, Christ, archangels, Biblical figures, ancient gods and more.
My only complaint with the book is that some of the manuscripts included diagrams. In a few cases the translator copied the picture, but in many more cases only a notation stating there was a diagram is included. Actual photographs of some of these manuscript pages would have been welcome to get a feel for how the text and diagrams worked together and to see the original images.
I would advise reading up on the ancient Egyptian religious practices or the Book of Coming Forth by Day (now known as the Book of the Dead) before reading this though, as you’ll get a better idea of how much of the Coptic Christian tradition was borrowed from what came before it.
If you’re interested in magic and ritual practices, and how they developed, this is an interesting book.
July 26, 2018
Marvin W. Meyer and Richard Smith, edd., Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power [1994] 409 pages
A few years back now I read translations of the pagan magical texts written in Demotic and in Greek -- I don't even remember now for what project; this book contains the later Coptic texts from the Christian period. They're not all strictly Christian; there's a lot of syncretism in any magical texts, the selections begin largely pagan and Jewish and gradually the pagan elements drop out and the Christian and Christian-Gnostic elements become more dominant.
There is also a continuum in the selections going from texts which are essentially just prayers to those which are full of "magic names of power" and involve potions and rituals -- the editors quote Malinowski's phrase, "the coefficient of weirdness". Perhaps the prayers only seem less weird because we're more familiar with "we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ" than with "in the name of Abba Abba Abba Ablanatha Nafla Akrama Chamari Ely Temach Achoocha" and so forth, but the underlying mindset is the same, things happen not by natural processes but by supernatural interventions which can be influenced by words and holy names. The general introduction argues that the distinction of "religion" and "magic" is basically just a Eurocentric distinction between "our" Christian culture and "primitive" cultures, and that the existence of these Christian texts undermines the distinction -- hence the editors' preference for the term "ritual power" rather than "magic".
Reading this book after Rovelli's Anaximander I could really see what he means when he says that there is an eternal conflict between two worldviews, the scientific and the magical/religious, and that the latter is always the majority while the former only becomes an important minority for short periods in particular places, as in fifth century Ionia or eighteenth century Europe.
The selections begin with some older texts in Old Coptic, then are divided into groups such as Healing spells, Protective spells, Sexual spells, and Curses ("make his male member like an ant that is frozen in winter, tiny and frozen"); they end up with a few collections that were the property of individual magicians or groups. The introductions to the various selections point out what is distinctive in each, so the book seemed less repetitious than the collections I read previously.
A few years back now I read translations of the pagan magical texts written in Demotic and in Greek -- I don't even remember now for what project; this book contains the later Coptic texts from the Christian period. They're not all strictly Christian; there's a lot of syncretism in any magical texts, the selections begin largely pagan and Jewish and gradually the pagan elements drop out and the Christian and Christian-Gnostic elements become more dominant.
There is also a continuum in the selections going from texts which are essentially just prayers to those which are full of "magic names of power" and involve potions and rituals -- the editors quote Malinowski's phrase, "the coefficient of weirdness". Perhaps the prayers only seem less weird because we're more familiar with "we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ" than with "in the name of Abba Abba Abba Ablanatha Nafla Akrama Chamari Ely Temach Achoocha" and so forth, but the underlying mindset is the same, things happen not by natural processes but by supernatural interventions which can be influenced by words and holy names. The general introduction argues that the distinction of "religion" and "magic" is basically just a Eurocentric distinction between "our" Christian culture and "primitive" cultures, and that the existence of these Christian texts undermines the distinction -- hence the editors' preference for the term "ritual power" rather than "magic".
Reading this book after Rovelli's Anaximander I could really see what he means when he says that there is an eternal conflict between two worldviews, the scientific and the magical/religious, and that the latter is always the majority while the former only becomes an important minority for short periods in particular places, as in fifth century Ionia or eighteenth century Europe.
The selections begin with some older texts in Old Coptic, then are divided into groups such as Healing spells, Protective spells, Sexual spells, and Curses ("make his male member like an ant that is frozen in winter, tiny and frozen"); they end up with a few collections that were the property of individual magicians or groups. The introductions to the various selections point out what is distinctive in each, so the book seemed less repetitious than the collections I read previously.
May 18, 2025
Great resource from people with academic background.
Read
September 17, 2013Ummm, my grandma said 'If ya can't something nice HUSH GIRL!" So let me say this! It wasn't a bad book however it was not what I was looking to find. There where several curses in it, and I cant see how that is very christian, even though Jesus did curse a tree and whip a few people out of a temple. I guess maybe Im just not really down with the dark side of things. I know I need to except it, however i was just turned off a bit with this read. I'll give it another chance later when I am mentally able to study it with the heart of exegesis and not so much eisegesis. I still think there is some fear related dogma in my programming I need to get rid of! http://www.gotquestions.org/exegesis-... - Lady Rayne McCloud
October 21, 2008
A fascinating look at an obscure aspect of Early Christianity. Very interesting.
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February 24, 2019Good research.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews