THE MAGICAL PAPYRI & THEURGY · LESSON 1 OF 6 · 15 MIN · FREE
The working spellbooks of Roman Egypt — what they contain, how they reached us, and why every later grimoire owes them a debt.
In the early 19th century, papyrus books and sheets began to reach Europe from Egypt — many of them, it seems, from a single hoard found near Thebes. Among them were the working handbooks of professional magicians of Roman Egypt. Today we call them the Greek Magical Papyri, or PGM.
In the early 19th century, papyrus books and sheets began to reach Europe from Egypt — many of them, it seems, from a single hoard found near Thebes. Among them were the working handbooks of professional magicians of Roman Egypt. Today we call them the Greek Magical Papyri, or PGM.
Much of the collection passed through the hands of Giovanni Anastasi, a merchant and diplomat in Alexandria, who sold papyri to museums in Leiden, London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm in the 1820s–50s. Scholars noticed that several shared a style and a source, and speak of a "Theban magical library".
The German scholar Karl Preisendanz edited the Greek texts as Papyri Graecae Magicae (1928–31); his numbering — PGM IV, PGM V and so on — is still used. In 1986 Hans Dieter Betz and colleagues published an English translation that included the related Demotic (late Egyptian) papyri. Some texts had been translated much earlier, such as C.W. Goodwin's 1852 version of the rite you will meet in The Headless Rite.
The papyri date from about the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE, most from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.
They are practical — recipes, not philosophy:
Egypt under Rome was a meeting place, and the magicians borrowed everything:
| Egyptian | Greek | Jewish |
|---|---|---|
| Thoth, Isis, Osiris, Seth-Typhon, Horus | Hermes, Helios, Hecate, Apollo | Iao (from YHWH), Sabaoth, Adonai, the archangels |
To this they added long strings of "barbarous names" and vowels — the subject of Words of Power.
The papyri are the missing link between ancient temple magic and the medieval grimoires: the circle, the divine names, the conjuration with threats, the protective amulet and the seal all appear here. The Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley drew on them directly.
Many spells are ugly: they try to force another person's love, or harm a rival. Read them as history. Take from them what is wise — the names, the prayers, the discipline of purity before a rite — and leave the coercion behind (see Ethics, Safety & a Sound Mind).
Find PGM IV 475–829, the Mithras Liturgy, in a library or online translation, and read it slowly once. Note the stages of the ascent and any images that stay with you.
4 questions — choose an answer to check it.
1.Roughly when were the Greek Magical Papyri written?
2.Which diplomat and collector sold many of the papyri to European museums in the 19th century?
3.Whose edition gave the papyri the 'PGM' numbers still used today?
4.Which three traditions blend in the papyri?
Reading once is not remembering. Study Cards bring each fact back just before you would forget it, until it is yours.
Members can ask questions about any lesson and get an answer grounded in the lesson and its sources — explanations, practical guidance and what to study next.
Become a member