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Egyptian Magic
La magia egiziana sorge dai tempi predinastici e preistorici in cui si credeva che la terra, e il mondo sotterraneo, l'aria e il cielo, fossero popolati da innumerevoli esseri, visibili e invisibili, che potevano essere amichevoli o ostili all'uomo.
Gli attributi di simili esseri per l'uomo primitivo assomigliavano da vicino a quelli umani, ne possedevano tutte le passioni, le emozioni, le debolezze e i difetti; il fine principale della magia era quello di dare all'uomo la preminenza su tali entità.
Il favore degli esseri positivi per l'uomo poteva essere ottenuto mediante doni e offerte, ma la cessazione delle ostilità da parte di quelli negativi poteva essere ottenuta solo con lusinghe e adulazioni, o facendo uso di amuleti, nomi segreti, formule magiche, o immagini che possedevano un potere più forte di quello del nemico che lo minacciava.
Gli attributi di simili esseri per l'uomo primitivo assomigliavano da vicino a quelli umani, ne possedevano tutte le passioni, le emozioni, le debolezze e i difetti; il fine principale della magia era quello di dare all'uomo la preminenza su tali entità.
Il favore degli esseri positivi per l'uomo poteva essere ottenuto mediante doni e offerte, ma la cessazione delle ostilità da parte di quelli negativi poteva essere ottenuta solo con lusinghe e adulazioni, o facendo uso di amuleti, nomi segreti, formule magiche, o immagini che possedevano un potere più forte di quello del nemico che lo minacciava.
234 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 1971
29 people are currently reading
748 people want to read
About the author
E.A. Wallis Budge
1,346 books159 followersSir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 18, 2012
This is an awesome book that I often refer to at times when I am seeking answers in relation to Egyptian beliefs and rituals..I have many aha moments of insight that have been triggered after seeking it's assistance.. As a Master Energy Healer myself it certainly is a welcome friend along my path. I have a deep respect for E A Wallis Budge, great read for those that have parallel interests in this field of study and work, but a not so good read for the mainstream mindsets.
February 20, 2008
My old instructors would ramble on as to how irrelevant Budge had become. His translations were iffy, his chronology off. The books no longer taken seriously by academics.
Budge has survived because he is readable. His writing stands after a hundred years. While most of my instructors couldn't go twenty minutes without putting half the class into a coma.
Budge has survived because he is readable. His writing stands after a hundred years. While most of my instructors couldn't go twenty minutes without putting half the class into a coma.
April 14, 2018
In the beginning, it's obvious this book is written by and for Victorian Christians. The word superstition gets thrown around a lot. Once you get past that, it's all fact with little editorializing. This is a good overview of what was known of Egyptian magickal practices. It leaves a lot of unanswered questions but so does everything else in Egyptology.
February 16, 2022
Not what I expected, but after all, who really knows what the ancient Egyptians believed?
What was "magic" and what was "religion" and what was just good old common sense, derived from experience and practical deductions and careful observation of the natural environment and legends, myth, and campfire stories?
Some things the Ancient Egyptians practiced, to them it was technology and art. It's kind of a misnomer to call it magic.
What the eff IS "magic" anyway.
I guess you could say, that what the ancient Egyptians believed and wrote about and precticed, that was magic, or to be accurate "Egyptian Magic."
Now in my mind, magic that WAS is STILL magic. We may have lost social and cultural features that made it more powerful in the past, but if there truly is such a thing as "magic" then perhaps it should have an enduring reality, like matter and energy.
Or is it merely a delusion, like religions and ideologies and philosophies, only existing for a time in the minds and behaviors of very particular groups of people?
I suppose I am probably a little peeved that I was never able to master Egyptian hieroglyphics during my lifetime. That would have been a nice ability to put in a resume, and I would have been able to appreciate more that Egyptian Book of the Dead I bought 25 years ago at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Sanata Barbara for $1.
It's five stars, because, Budge worked really hard to study, understand, and promulgate facts from such ancient times. Kudos for that.
Those Egyptians, they have left more of a legacy than most civilizations of the past. Modern Egypt has fully accepted modern Islam, and we shall see what kind of a legacy that will leave.
Mummies and The Mummy, many many versions. Tut. Nefertiti. Sphinx. Pyramids. Ramses. Israelites, the Old Testament. Eventually Cleopatra and Caesar.
Those pharaohs, what determination they had to be immortal, and it shows in the remnants of themselves and their civilizations which exist thousands of years later.
What was "magic" and what was "religion" and what was just good old common sense, derived from experience and practical deductions and careful observation of the natural environment and legends, myth, and campfire stories?
Some things the Ancient Egyptians practiced, to them it was technology and art. It's kind of a misnomer to call it magic.
What the eff IS "magic" anyway.
I guess you could say, that what the ancient Egyptians believed and wrote about and precticed, that was magic, or to be accurate "Egyptian Magic."
Now in my mind, magic that WAS is STILL magic. We may have lost social and cultural features that made it more powerful in the past, but if there truly is such a thing as "magic" then perhaps it should have an enduring reality, like matter and energy.
Or is it merely a delusion, like religions and ideologies and philosophies, only existing for a time in the minds and behaviors of very particular groups of people?
I suppose I am probably a little peeved that I was never able to master Egyptian hieroglyphics during my lifetime. That would have been a nice ability to put in a resume, and I would have been able to appreciate more that Egyptian Book of the Dead I bought 25 years ago at the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Sanata Barbara for $1.
It's five stars, because, Budge worked really hard to study, understand, and promulgate facts from such ancient times. Kudos for that.
Those Egyptians, they have left more of a legacy than most civilizations of the past. Modern Egypt has fully accepted modern Islam, and we shall see what kind of a legacy that will leave.
Mummies and The Mummy, many many versions. Tut. Nefertiti. Sphinx. Pyramids. Ramses. Israelites, the Old Testament. Eventually Cleopatra and Caesar.
Those pharaohs, what determination they had to be immortal, and it shows in the remnants of themselves and their civilizations which exist thousands of years later.
September 22, 2014
'Egyptian Magic' was first published in 1895 and the language is very much of that era. In its time, the book was an authoritative work on ancient Egyptian magic and occult practices. It contains interesting information on amulets, scarabs, spells, ghosts and mind control. Tales of magic have also been included, as well as an interpretation of the ancient Egyptian calendar. There are also some good illustrations.
I enjoyed leafing through this book, but mostly from a writer's point of view. I was intrigued by the language and typesetting (and the paper was also quite nice). Budge writes with the eloquence of a Victorian. It was, however, difficult to read as research material.
I enjoyed leafing through this book, but mostly from a writer's point of view. I was intrigued by the language and typesetting (and the paper was also quite nice). Budge writes with the eloquence of a Victorian. It was, however, difficult to read as research material.
March 25, 2017
Zeer degelijk werk over de Oud Egyptische religie, hun rituelen, geloof en bijgeloof. Ik heb er heel veel van bijgeleerd. Zeer interessant hoe sommige rituelen zelfs bleven doorleven tot in de 19de eeuw. Wallis E.A. Budge is ook niet de minste, hij was een befaamd Egyptoloog en zelfs verantwoordelijk voor de Assyrische en Egyptische afdeling in het Brittish Museum. Het enige minpunt aan dit boek is dat het niet altijd even vlot geschreven is.
July 31, 2013
Great little book about the concepts behind ancient Egyptian Magic. The book was written in 1901, so long before the advent of the new age movement, or discoveries in quantum physics, so none of that stuff influenced the writer. It was very interesting to read about the religious ideas regarding words, names, ceremonies, statues, and the universe.
September 30, 2016
It's just a nice easy read of accounts of the magical practices in Ancient Egypt.
October 8, 2024
This is a very specialist book. It mainly consists of excerpts on the subject from the vast amount of translation and research done by Professor Budge. This is a reprint of a work originally published in 1901, so by no means is it necessarily current. As a layman, it was interesting to read, keeping those things in mind.
September 25, 2024
Very good book
August 5, 2025
While clearly outdated and a bit heavy on the writing, a nonetheless interesting book on egyptian mythology.
July 16, 2023
Budge is known among Egyptologists today for being cited again and again by amateurs. His works—this one was originally published in 1901—are badly out of date, but they show up everywhere because they're out of copyright. The problem is still more serious when Budge discusses religion, the study of which changed dramatically in the mid- to late 20th century.
Egyptian Religion, a companion volume to this one, mostly covers aspects of Egyptian religion that Budge and his readers found sympathetic (i.e., those that resembled Christianity). This one is mostly about what he calls near the outset "gross and childish superstition"—a classic example of the way people use "religion" to refer to beliefs and practices that they like and "magic" for those they don't. The book lumps together all kinds of miscellaneous practices, as shown by the title of the last chapter: "Demoniacal Possession, Dreams, Ghosts, Lucky and Unlucky Days, Horoscopes, Prognostications, Transformations, and the Worship of Animals." Other topics covered include mummification and funerary rites, amulets, spells, and the power that the Egyptians ascribed to names, demonstrated with overlong quotations from ancient Egyptian stories.
Most of what Budge says isn't exactly wrong, but there are better and more recent books on the subject. Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt discusses all types of Egyptian religious practices. Bob Brier's Ancient Egyptian Magic is an unsystematic collection somewhat like this one, while Geraldine Pinch's Magic in Ancient Egypt and Maarten Raven's Egyptian Magic: The Quest for Thoth’s Book of Secrets are a bit more thoughtful. To a greater or lesser extent, they all have problems defining magic, a problem tackled most convincingly in The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, an academic work that usefully discusses many types of ritual on the way to its conclusion. When discussing ancient Egypt, if there's any value to the term, "magic" is a synonym for the Egyptian word heka, a principle that is integral to all Egyptian religious practice. Viewed in that light, it makes a certain amount of sense to call these practices "magic"—just not in the biased, haphazard way that Budge did it.
Egyptian Religion, a companion volume to this one, mostly covers aspects of Egyptian religion that Budge and his readers found sympathetic (i.e., those that resembled Christianity). This one is mostly about what he calls near the outset "gross and childish superstition"—a classic example of the way people use "religion" to refer to beliefs and practices that they like and "magic" for those they don't. The book lumps together all kinds of miscellaneous practices, as shown by the title of the last chapter: "Demoniacal Possession, Dreams, Ghosts, Lucky and Unlucky Days, Horoscopes, Prognostications, Transformations, and the Worship of Animals." Other topics covered include mummification and funerary rites, amulets, spells, and the power that the Egyptians ascribed to names, demonstrated with overlong quotations from ancient Egyptian stories.
Most of what Budge says isn't exactly wrong, but there are better and more recent books on the subject. Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt discusses all types of Egyptian religious practices. Bob Brier's Ancient Egyptian Magic is an unsystematic collection somewhat like this one, while Geraldine Pinch's Magic in Ancient Egypt and Maarten Raven's Egyptian Magic: The Quest for Thoth’s Book of Secrets are a bit more thoughtful. To a greater or lesser extent, they all have problems defining magic, a problem tackled most convincingly in The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, an academic work that usefully discusses many types of ritual on the way to its conclusion. When discussing ancient Egypt, if there's any value to the term, "magic" is a synonym for the Egyptian word heka, a principle that is integral to all Egyptian religious practice. Viewed in that light, it makes a certain amount of sense to call these practices "magic"—just not in the biased, haphazard way that Budge did it.
August 16, 2012
I'm very impressed. No question Budge's work is dated. Goodness, it was written in 1899; however, he is readable. And, if you've done much reading in the field of Egyptology, you can find he has the occasional surprising insight, the little detail, that he adds to your collective knowledge about ancient Egypt. As to the translation itself, I certainly don't read any of the Egyptian scripts, having done nothing more than toy with them. But I admire him for an admission he makes in the preface to another book he wrote, "we must hope that the faults made in translating today may be corrected by the discoveries of tomorrow." This book should probably be read in conjunction with that other book, by the way, which was first published in 1899 also: "Egyptian Ideas of the Afterlife."
May 22, 2016
Reading history is a fun past time for me. I enjoy the time travel and nostalgia. to return to a great time in history especially a time as far back as ancient Kemet (the original name of Egypt) is of great interest to me because it is a past dear to my essence being a descendant of such a great people. The title of this book is quite alluring considering what the world already knows about Egypt's past greatness and how even today the land and its monuments are consider magical just to behold, but to have chance to explore the details of the internal workings of Egyptian magic made the book quite irresistible to leave on the shelf any longer. Read More: http://drakuabookreviews.blogspot.com...
April 30, 2014
I'm sad to say that I have to agree with the others who said this book was boring. I always find when I read that, I enjoy the books. This time, they were so, painfully right.
It felt like Budge was mocking the Egyptians for their beliefs. Also, most of the book was just quoted from the Bible and the Book of the Dead. Pages and pages of quoted material. I could just pick up those books if I wanted those stories. Please, tell me something new.
There was literally only one piece of information that I found interesting and new to me, so this book was not worth it. I'm glad I only borrowed it from the library and didn't pay for it.
It felt like Budge was mocking the Egyptians for their beliefs. Also, most of the book was just quoted from the Bible and the Book of the Dead. Pages and pages of quoted material. I could just pick up those books if I wanted those stories. Please, tell me something new.
There was literally only one piece of information that I found interesting and new to me, so this book was not worth it. I'm glad I only borrowed it from the library and didn't pay for it.
February 23, 2023
Budge does well to explain how magic influenced culture in a way that assumes it was to some extent common place at some point in Egypt's past. He uses translations and interpretations of ancient texts to elucidate the nature and significance of the presence of magic, whether we of the 2oth and 21st century wish to laugh at the idea with our extremely fictitious super-heroes and anime or not. Seeing how Budge was not alive to witness our boredom, his book revolves around a society with government, religion, and everyday life tied into one structure, therefore adding merit to the possibility of validity, giving this writing merit.
August 25, 2017
Interesting material, but poorly presented. It deals with various aspects of Egyptian misticism, like amulets, protection spells, mumification, afterlife, magical scriptures and so on, but no one who is not already well educated on the subject of Egyptian mythology is not going to profit much from reading presented materials. It is not begginer-friendly, and it obviously should've been.
January 7, 2017
Very interesting historic background on amulets, superstitions, and more. I was particularly interested to learn that so many aspects went into making a person: body, heart, name, ka (twin, soul), shadow, akh (ego), ba, etc.
June 26, 2020
Budge’s book comes off as unfortunately rather dated by modern standards and displays clear bias in favor of explicit Christian traditions. As a guide to Egyptian magic this book is passable but only really focuses on the magic associated with the dead.
August 5, 2021
An excellent novel that, even through it's lack of academic respect as well as occasional poor translations, manages to perfectly capture and describe the meaning and actions that went into Egyptian Magic to the average reader.
January 15, 2009
Describes some of the Egyptian rituals. Most of these are violent and used to gain power over their enemies.
-Joe-
-Joe-
December 13, 2010
Could barely get through this one. Wow was it boring!
July 7, 2019
Ancient Egypt is reputed to be the source of all forms of ritual magic practised in the west. This is a source book.
February 28, 2013
A bit convoluted but having read several of E.A. Budge's books this one is by far the easiest to follow. Highly informative.
June 21, 2016
This was interesting, but it tended to echo much from his "The Gods of the Egyptians".
July 29, 2017
So fun. I love the author's description of the multi-part soul.
October 3, 2017
Old-style and extremely detailed!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews