THE HISTORY OF MAGIC · LESSON 1 OF 7 · 14 MIN · FREE
Heka, Isis, execration pots and the Babylonian "Burning" rites.
The two oldest literate civilisations, Egypt and Mesopotamia, left thousands of texts in which magic is not a fringe activity but a normal, respected part of religion, medicine and statecraft. Much of later Western magic — through Greek, Jewish and Arabic hands — descends from them.
The two oldest literate civilisations, Egypt and Mesopotamia, left thousands of texts in which magic is not a fringe activity but a normal, respected part of religion, medicine and statecraft. Much of later Western magic — through Greek, Jewish and Arabic hands — descends from them.
The Egyptians called magic heka. It was a creative force present at the beginning of the world, and it was personified as a god, Heka, who travelled in the sun's boat. Magic was not opposed to religion; it was the power by which the gods themselves acted. Priests, physicians and "lector priests" who read the sacred books all used it.
Key figures:
In Sumer, Babylon and Assyria (modern Iraq), the specialist was the āšipu — often translated "exorcist" — who diagnosed whether illness or misfortune came from a god, a demon, a ghost or a witch, and performed rites to remove it.
| Idea | Where it reappears |
|---|---|
| Secret names give power | Divine names in the grimoires, Isis legend retold in Hermetic texts |
| Image magic and figurines | Greek kolossoi, curse dolls, poppets |
| Burning the witch's image | Folk counter-magic, witch bottles |
| Thoth as god of wisdom | Hermes Trismegistus |
| Celestial omens | Western astrology and magical timing |
Choose one practice above — the execration pot, the protective amulet or the secret name — and write a paragraph on how it survives in a modern practice you have met in this course.
4 questions — choose an answer to check it.
1.What was heka in ancient Egypt?
2.What were execration texts?
3.What does the Babylonian ritual series Maqlû mean?
4.Which demon's image protected against the child-stealing demoness Lamashtu?
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