Spirituality/Paganism & Magick: The Relationship of Modern Paganism to Ancient Egypt

The relationship of modern Paganism to ancient Egypt seems to be one of an evolution of fact and fantasy. We pagans, unfulfilled spiritually by existing religions, gravitate towards a past culture and body of knowledge independent of the Bible and the Koran. We look back to the earliest high culture, seeking connections with creation, the Divine and original knowledge. The architecture and art, mysteries and magic, wisdom and worship of ancient Egypt offer a fertile field in which we can cultivate this aspiration.

Exploring the development of Egyptian currents in modern Paganism, I examined the Theosophical Movement of the 19th century, the Rosicrucians and Freemasons of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the Gnostics and Hermeticists of Hellenistic Antiquity in the 1-3rd centuries.

It is important to note that although we invoke much authentic Egyptian symbolism into our modern rituals and beliefs, much of our information about ancient Egypt comes from classical Hellenistic, Greek, writers of the Common Era. The notion that all wisdom originally sprang from Egypt was solidly ensconced in Greek thought and greatly influenced Pagan practices from antiquity to the present.

Let's look at a few of the most prominent Greeks who have shaped our understanding of ancient Egypt:

In the 5th century BCE, Herodotus wrote an account of ancient Egypt. Although his information is sometimes inconsistent and incorrect, his perceptions have been a part of every esoteric movement down to this day.

In the 2nd century BCE Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca, a history of ancient Egypt, bringing together the Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures. Because he was a priest, Manetho had access to a vast number of mythological texts, official records, magical formulas and scientific treaties. However, we find many myths and folk-tales mixed with his facts of Egyptian history.

Plutarch visited Egypt at the end of the 1st century CE and, taking his material from Manetho, wrote an account of Isis and Horus that forms the basis of how that myth is viewed today. Plutarch was the first known writer to equate the Sphinx as a symbol of mysterious Egyptian wisdom, although only its head was visible protruding form the sand until 59 CE when Nero had the giant sculpture uncovered.

Even though it was the Greek scholars who investigated Egypt, it was the Romans who opened the floodgates for the inundation of tourists and scholars that has never ceased, thus recovering an abundance of information that has come down to us today. In the 18th and 19th centuries Egypt, albeit an imaginary Egypt, became an alternative to contemporary European culture and had an astonishing influence on the intellectual and spiritual life of Europe.

Taking a closer look at some of the original sources of today's Pagan belief systems, starting with classical Greek Hermeticism, two individuals stand out: Thoth and Hermes Trismegistus.

The Egyptian god Thoth is the creator of magic, inventor of writing and the calendar, measurer of time, teacher of man, the divine record-keeper and mediator, and guardian of the Eye of Horus, assisting the deceased in ascending to the sky. He is most often represented with the head of an Ibis or as a baboon.

It is in the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts that we first hear of a "Divine Book of Thoth," making the god the author of sacred wisdom texts.

There is a story about one of the son's of Ramesses II, named Setna, who desired to find the Book of Thoth, purportedly a collection of magics that would enable the reader to know the language of the animals, to cast great spells, even to enchant the sky and the earth itself - in effect, to know the secrets of the gods and control the elements.

By 570 BCE the Egyptian Thoth was already called "twice great" (aa aa) and by the third century BCE Thoth was transformed into the Greek Hermes and called Trismegistus, the "thrice great."

Hermes is the Greek god of dreams, shepherds, land travel, merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves. He is known for his cunning and shrewdness but, most importantly, he is the messenger of the gods, whose duty it was to guide the souls of the dead down to the underworld.

In the classic, and still prevalent tradition, of new gods taking on the qualities of old gods, the Greeks syncretized their gods with those of Egypt, identifying Hermes with Thoth and calling him Hermes Trismegistos, Hermes the thrice great, author of the Wisdom Texts. By the ninth century CE, Hermes Trismegistus was credited with building all the temples of Egypt and depositing timeless knowledge into them.

Now let's look at the foremost traditions to evolve from Classical Antiquity and from which Modern Paganism draws much of its practice: Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Rosecrucianism, Freemasonry and Theosophy.

The tenets of Hermeticism come down to us from a collection of occult texts ascribed to Hermes Trismegistos, who, as we have noted, was sycretized by the Greeks with the Egyptian god Thoth. These texts were composed in the 1st - 3rd centuries CE and contain a conversation involving Thoth, Osiris and a student. Thoth imparts information regarding the netherworld, ethics, sacred geometry, secret language and mysteries. The texts also reflect ideas and beliefs widely held in the early Roman Empire on astrology, alchemy, and magic. The goal of the writings was the deification of humanity through knowledge of the transcendent god.

The central texts of the tradition, the Corpus Hermeticum, were lost to the West in classical times, but their rediscovery and translation during the late 15th century provided a determining force in the development of Renaissance thought and culture. These texts claim to be direct communications from Hermes Trismegistus to either his son Tat, Thoth, or with Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. There are also conversations of Isis with Horus.

Another early Hermetic text, The Kore Kosmou, meaning Virgin of the World, proclaims that Isis and Osiris found the books of Hermes Trismegistus and passed their contents, the seed of all culture and religion, on to humankind.

The Credo of all Hermeticism is from the Tabula Smaragdina, also called the Kybalion. It is believed to be the work of an Arab alchemist of the 8th or 9th century. The Kybalion states:

"True, without lie, sure and most true; What is below is the same as what is above, and what is above is the same as what is below...And just as all things were created by One, all things spring from this One... His father is the sun, his mother is the moon; the wind bore him in her womb, his nurse was the earth."

There was no Hermeticism as we know it in Ancient Egypt, but the most probable roots of the concepts are to be found in the Ramesside period, following the "Heretic King" Akhenaten. At that time there developed a concept of a single god, hidden in the multiplicity of things and whose name remained secret from both deities and humans.

Gnostics' founder, Simon Magus, was supposedly taught in Alexandria in the 1st Century. Gnosis, means knowledge usually of deeper, inner, spiritual truths, based on direct experience. The term was coined in the 17th century when it was applied to ancient Christian heretical sects who sought salvation through esoteric revelation and mystical spirituality.

The Gnostics emphasized the teachings of Jesus, rather than his death and resurrection, as the key to salvation.

Though Gnosticism is a derivation of Old Testament concepts mixed with various religious elements, it draws much of its symbolism from ancient Egypt, such as Nun for the outer darkness, the West for the netherworld and realm of the dead, and reference to the Highest God as the 'Hidden One.' The first female element, Sophia, is equivalent to Ma'at. The descriptions of the archons, depicted with animal heads, draw on Egyptian sources. There is also the ouroborus, the serpent with its tail in its mouth first seen as early as 1600 BCE in Egypt.

Hermeticism and Gnosticism continued to exist through the Middle Ages in Europe. It was during this time that the Jewish Kabbalah rose to prominence with its own creation theories, redemptions, magic, and gematria with numbers and letters.

The Crusades of the 11 century awakened Renaissance European interest in the classical accounts of Egypt and its superior wisdom. Imitations of Egyptian art abounded, although the hierglyphs were not yet deciphered. Plays, poems and literature were written describing an ideal, mysterious Egypt that had little basis in reality, but greatly inspired new beliefs that were taken as gospel. Hermeticism spread to England, significantly influencing the Pagan cults, some of which have evolved into today's Wicca.

The secret order of the Rosicrucians was inspired by the 17th century Renaissance movement of religious freedom. The name derives from the order's symbol, a combination of a rose and a cross, connected with the Christian Passion - life renewed from death. Its earliest known document, "Account of the Brotherhood" (1614), tells the story of the supposed founder, the figurative German, Christian Rosenkreuz. Allegedly born in 1378, he is said to have acquired his wisdom on trips to the Middle East. The system includes Kabbalah, gematria, mysticism, Hermeticism and alchemy, as well as Far eastern influences.

The American order, The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, is built in Egyptian style, with a collection of Egyptian antiquities in their holdings. They claim that the order was founded by TIII, and that Akhenaten founded a new religion.

The Freemasons, originating with the medieval 17th and 18th century stonemason guilds, possibly arose from Rosicrucianism but added the beginnings of a hierarchical structure. Membership originally was extended only to adult males willing to express a belief in a Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul. The lodges later accepted women and produced a multiplicity of diverse groups, including an order of Druids to which Helena Blavatsky belonged.

According to the Freemasons, history began with Adam and his sons. After the Flood, Noah kept the builders' art alive. His grandson Mizrain brought Freemasonry to Egypt where Moses later perpetuated the teachings while serving as Grand Master. The Mason's adopted alchemy, the belief in the Philosopher's Stone, Kabbalah, sacred geometry and the teachings of the Rosicrucians.

The Egyptian component was elaborated in the latter part of the 18th century. A great influence was the novel Sethos by the Abbe Jean Terrasson. Later, a brief German article, Initiations into the Ancient Secret Society of the Egyptian Priests, became the model for an Egyptian initiation, as supposedly founded by the 1st dynasty king Menes. The initiation into the degrees takes on many Egyptian subjects and postures: life, death and rebirth experience, and passwords with Egyptian themes.

The actual founder of Egyptian Masonry was the 18th century Count Cagliostro, who said he had learned his secret knowledge in the subterranean vaults of the Egyptian Pyramids. In his time, ancient sources older than Plutarch and Diodorus were still unknown. He probably got much of his 'teaching' from the Sethos novel, but his made-up doctrines were very popular.

The Isis Religion, which was the last opponent of early Christianity, enjoyed another heyday in the French Revolution. Under Napoleon, Isis became the tutelary goddess of Paris. It is here that the Veiled Image of Isis, from the temple at Sais, became celebrated. Translated by Plutarch, it states:

Kant, Beethoven, Jung, etc. took this theme for many important works. Again the secret priestly societies of Egypt beckoned. New literature and plays with trials by the elements appeared, attempting to lift the goddess's veil, decipher nature, and learn the ancient wisdom.

The Theosophical Society, founded by Helena Blavatsky in 1875, was previously known as the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, the Egyptological Society and the Hermetic Society. Theosophy holds that God, whose essence pervades the universe as an absolute reality, must be known directly through mystical experience. It is characterized by esoteric doctrine, an interest in occult phenomena and a belief in the Indian concepts of karma and reincarnation. Its seal contained the ouroborus and the ankh.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was initiated in Tibet and lived mostly in India. After founding the Society she wrote Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. For the Theosophists to lift the veil of Isis was to experiment practically in the occult powers of nature. Theosophist's desired to collect and disseminate among Christians information about oriental religious philosophies. Theosophy asserted that Moses and Aristotle had been initiated into Egyptian wisdom, and Pythagorus and Plato had learned their philosophy from the books of Hermes Trismegistus. As the Book of the Dead was not yet discovered, Blavatsky used the Egyptology of her day to formulate ideas. Helena's source for Egyptian initiation was Masonic, not Egyptian. To her, the pyramids were a place of initiation and the sarcophagus was a baptismal font for the rebirth of the neophyte.

Modern (Steiner) Theosophy states that "Our modern truths are re-born Egyptian myths." And "all modern culture seems to us to be a recollection of that of ancient Egypt."

Thus, in the past, mysterious, imaginary Egypt became the focus for an alternative to contemporary culture and religion. Today there appears to be a trend toward understanding Egypt as explained by modern Egyptology with its ability to read the old texts. The holistic thought of the ancient Egyptians is even closely akin to that of modern science, to the world of quarks and bosons, which in a hermetic manner, is concerned with the unity of nature.

Now let's briefly look at some of the components of modern Paganism that are common to most sects. These are initiation, the Fall, astrology, alchemy, magical arts and Tarot.

The first known mystical initiation ritual is the Hellenistic Isis Mysteries. For these rites, the greatest mystery was that of beholding the sun at midnight, which conveyed the Greek desire for overcoming death, being released from the forces of fate and mortality, and being free from imprisonment in this world. Not, at all, an Egyptian concept, but the imagery is taken from the sun's nighttime journey in the Egyptian books of the netherworld, where at midnight the sun completes its renewal on the arms of darkness.

The New Kingdom The Book of the Heavenly Cow sets the precedent for all later teachings about the Fall and redemption. In the original paradise, humankind and the gods were not yet separated. Humanity rose up against the aged sun god and was punished and nearly exterminated by Hathor-Sekhmet's divine fire. The sun god then withdrew to the distant sky on the back of the Heavenly Cow.

Original paradise was lost, the creator's work was damaged and now imperfect. Strife and death came into the world, and the eternal light of day yielded to the alternation of day and night. Since that time, much of humanity has desired to return to the original unity.

Astrology as we know it was foreign to the ancient Egyptians, but astronomy was studied in detail. There were many astronomical ceilings depicting the months and the most important stars. The planets were designated with divine names, formulated with that of Horus, but in Pharonic times played no divinatory role.

By 850 BCE, in the Hellenistic Period, the constellations functioned as deities and were connected with the concept of fate. By 380 BCE the constellations were influencing the elements and certain parts of the body, and were in relationship with minerals and metals. Astrology took shape with the Greek focus of how one could overcome one's fate.

The actual Zodiac was adopted in the Ptolemaic period close to the CE.

Alchemy migrated to Egypt from the East during the Hellenistic period and was later revived in 12th-century Europe through translations of Arabic texts into Latin. The roots for the idea of alchemy may be traced back to both the Egyptian concept of the god's skin being gold and to the function of deity Ptah, the God of craftsman. It was Ptah who transformed the Creator's expressed perception into reality by in-forming potentiality into matter. Also, the entire myth of Osiris is one of alchemic process, as is mummification.

The beginnings of actual alchemy are indicated in the Hellenic temple of Hathor in Dendera. Designated the house of gold, the room served to prepare cultic implements. Thoth, here called twice great, was responsible for these activities.

Magic is well attested to in ancient Egypt. There are numerous medical texts, love charms, healing spells and protection spells. Isis was known as Great of Magic for both wresting the secret name of Re from him with her spells and by bringing Osiris back to life long enough to conceive Horus.

The ancient Egyptians employed shawabtis magically in the tomb to do the deceased's work in the afterlife. The Netherworld books are full of magical spells of all kinds, including the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony. The Ancient Egyptians used magic daily in their rituals and rites to assure the continuous rising of the sun, flooding of the Nile, the safety of the sun during its nighttime journey, successful childbirth, good fortune in the afterlife and to secure safety at all times of transition.

Tarot is traced back to the 14th century, but it's the 17th century Freemasons who postulated it to be from the Book of Thoth, who cloaked his wisdom in the garb of a game. This notion was picked up by Crowley of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, for which he drew up a pseudo-Egyptian ritual.

So, we have seen Hellenic Egypt propagate its concepts of ancient Egypt, whether erroneous or not, through Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry and Theosophy. Many modern Pagan societies draw on ancient Egyptian wisdom, symbolism and magic. We include Egyptian deities who speak to us as evolved modern archetypes. We develop new rituals for worship and self-improvement. Many of us mix these practices with Eastern traditions such as meditation, Yoga or equating the rising of the djed-pillar with the ascent of the Kundalini serpent. We include a newly formed Western, and highly Christianized, Kabbalah.

With the new discoveries and translations of so many ancient texts, Egypt remains an inexhaustible source for magical, ritual and fanciful components. I cannot leave out two of my personal favorites of all time: Stargate, a great movie and a TV series - we can now even replace our di-lithium crystals with naquida. Then there is Karloff's The Mummy, whose images first got me interested in Egypt when I was a child.

But, no matter what traditions and rituals we choose to practice, or which archetypes and gods we chose to invoke, I believe it is important to know and understand the origins, evolution and fusion of the concepts - to know and understand the difference between fact and fantasy. The child's game of telephone comes to mind here as regards the history and myths of ancient Egypt.

So, I leave you with this question: How would a continued awareness of the distinction between fact and fantasy affect the evolution of your own practice?

Bibliography:

Assmann, Jann, The Mind of Egypt. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1996.
Assmann, Jan, The Search for God In Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press. 2001
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna, Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology, Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House, 1997
Faulkner, Faymond, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Chronicle Books, 1994
Hall, Manly P., Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians, Philosophical Research Society, Inc, 1937
Hornung, Erik, The Secret Lore of Egypt, Its Impact on the West. Cornell University Press, 2001
Knight, Christopher and Lomas, Robert, The Hiram Key, Element, 1996
McIntosh, Christopher, The Rosicrucians, Samuel Weiser, Inc, 1998

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