Heka: The Practices of Ancient Egyptian Ritual and Magic - Softcover

Rankine, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905297076 ISBN 13: 9781905297078

Publisher: Avalonia, 2006

Synopsis

The religious and magical practices of the ancient Egyptians have had a profound and lasting effect on the world. Egypt has been described as the "mother of magicians". To appreciate the Egyptian view of magic, we need to accept that to the Egyptians magic was not considered strange or eccentric, but a part of daily life, to which everyone resorted. Magic blended seamlessly with religion and medicine, being seen as part of a holistic worldview.

In this volume these magical and religious practices are explored, from both a historical and practical perspective. The practices are explored from an ancient Egyptian worldview, taking into consideration that the Egyptian culture spread over a period of more than 3000 years. The Egyptians saw the universe as being made of four worlds - the everyday world we live in, the underworld, the sky and the heavens.

Subjects covered in this book include: -What is Heka? -Ancient Egyptian Worldviews -The Gods and Goddesses of Magic -Symbolism - Colours & Sacred Numbers -The Tools Used -Sacred Words & Gestures -Statues & Masks -Crystals & Other Materials used in Heka -Incenses & Perfumes -Food & Wine used in Offerings & at Feasts -The Ancient Egyptian Magical Calendar -Purification, Sacred Space & Rituals

David Rankine is based in London (UK) and is a respected authority on spiritual & magical practices. He is the author of many books, including Climbing the Tree of Life, Circle of Fire & The Guises of the Morrígan. This book, HEKA - The Practices of Ancient Egyptian Magic, is the result of careful research & practical work and is highly recommended to students wishing to pursue practical work within this system.

About this title

From the Publisher:

There has long been an interest in the magick and spiritual practices of Ancient Egypt. Many books have been published on the subject - primarily focussing on the well-known Funeral Texts and only a few touching on the magic done by the living. This book draws together the different strands of Heka (the name of both the Egyptian God of Magic and the magic performed by and for the people)

From the Author:

In presenting this material I have endeavoured to place it within the context of the ancient Egyptian worldview as far as I am able, albeit limited by the knowledge we have thousands of years later. The glory of ancient Egypt spanned a period of around three thousand years, so inevitably during this time practices evolved or fell into disuse, and foreign influences crept in. Obviously we are not in ancient Egypt any more, and the level to which you may choose to recreate the practices of heka within your own magic is your decision.

I have included as much detail as possible about the various materials used by the ancient Egyptians, including food, crystals, metals, woods, incense materials, etc, so that you may work with the same materials if you wish to. Remember that the Egyptian magicians were rigorous in maintaining the discipline of good hygiene and timing!

You may be puzzled at the absence of information on hieroglyphics in this book. However as this volume is focused on techniques and information, I leave it to the reader to pursue this topic in one of the already extant works that cover the field admirably, such as Sir Alan Gardiner’s Egyptian Grammar or James Allen’s Middle Egyptian.

I hope you enjoy finding out more about heka, and may you always uphold Maat in all that you do.

David Rankine London December 2005

About this edition

• Publisher: Avalonia
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1905297076
• ISBN 13: 9781905297078
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 196