EVERYDAY MAGIC

The Egyptians were using spells as a part of everyday life long after the birth of Christ – as The Egyptian Handbook of Ritual Power, a 7th or 8th century parchment acquired by Macquarie University in 1981, illustrates. This magical tome contains invocations and spells, including spells for love, success, exorcisms, and healing.

The magic it contains is often dark – for example, there are instructions for how to bring someone under mind control! The book prescribes a magical formula to be read out over two nails. These nails should then be hammered into either side of the victim’s doorframe.

The introductory pages refer to ‘Baktiotha’, a divine being who’s something of a mystery. The translation reads: ‘I give thanks to you and I call upon you, the

Baktiotha: The great one, who is very trustworthy; the one who is lord over the 40 and the nine kinds of serpents.’