111 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
History of Witchcraft (part 3)
|
|
|
|
From here, let us move on to Egypt where we will look at other
|
|
mystical symbols and more history of magic and the craft.
|
|
|
|
The Sphinx was a mythological creature with lion's body and human
|
|
head, an important image in Egyptian and Greek art and legend.
|
|
The word sphinx was derived by Greek grammarians from the verb
|
|
sphingein (to bind or squeeze), but the etymology is not related
|
|
to the legend and is dubious.
|
|
|
|
The winged sphinx of Boeotian Thebes, the most famous in legend,
|
|
was said to have terrorized the people by demanding the answer to
|
|
a riddle. If the person answered incorrectly, he or she was eaten
|
|
by the sphinx. It is said that Oedipus answered properly where
|
|
upon the sphinx killed herself.
|
|
|
|
The earliest and most famous example in art is the colossal
|
|
Sphinx at Giza, Egypt. It dates from the reign of King Khafre
|
|
(4th king of 4th dynasty; c. 2550 b.c.)
|
|
|
|
The Sphinx did not occur in Mesopotamia until around 1500 b.c.
|
|
when it was imported from the Levant. In appearance, the Asian
|
|
sphinx differed from its Egyptian model mostly in the addition of
|
|
wings to the leonine body. This feature continued through its
|
|
history in Asia and the Greek world.
|
|
|
|
Another version of the sphinx was that of the female. This
|
|
appeared in the 15th century b.c. on seals, ivories and
|
|
metalworkings. They were portrayed in the sitting position
|
|
usually with one paw raised. Frequently, they were seen with a
|
|
lion, griffin or another sphinx.
|
|
|
|
The appearance of the sphinx on temples and the like eventually
|
|
lead to a possible interpretation of the sphinx as a protective
|
|
symbol as well as a philosophical one.
|
|
|
|
The Sphinx rests at the foot of the 3 pyramids of Khufu, Khafre,
|
|
and Menkure. It talons stretch over the city of the dead as it
|
|
guards its secrets.
|
|
|
|
The myth goes that a prince who later became Thutmose IV, took a
|
|
nap in the shadow of the half-submerged Sphinx. As he slept, the
|
|
Sun-god (whom the Sphinx represents, appeared to him in a dream.
|
|
Speaking to him as a son, he told the prince that he would
|
|
succeed to the throne and enjoy a long and happy reign. He urged
|
|
the prince to have the Sphinx cleared of the sand.
|
|
|
|
In his book on Isis and Osiris, Plutarch (A.D. 45-126) says that
|
|
the Sphinx symbolizes the secret of occult wisdom, though
|
|
Plutarch never unveiled the mysteries of the Sphinx. It is said
|
|
that the magic of the Sphinx lies within the thousands of hands
|
|
that chiseled at the rock. The thoughts of countless generations
|
|
dwell in it; numberless conjurations and rites have built up in
|
|
it a mighty protective spirit, a soul that still inhabits this
|
|
time-scarred giant.
|
|
|
|
Another well know superstition of the peoples of Ancient Egypt
|
|
was that regarding their dead.
|
|
|
|
They believed that in the West lies the World of the Dead, where
|
|
the Sun-god disappears every evening. The departed were referred
|
|
to as "Westerners." It was believed that, disguised as birds, the
|
|
dead soar into the sky where in his heavenly barge Ra, the Sun-
|
|
god, awaits them and transforms them into stars to travel with
|
|
him through the vault of the heavens.
|
|
|
|
The occult of the dead reached it's height when it incorporated
|
|
the Osiris myth. Osiris was born to save mankind. At his
|
|
nativity, a voice was heard proclaiming that the Lord had come
|
|
into the world (sound familiar?). But his brother/father Seth
|
|
shut him up in a chest which he carried to the sea by the
|
|
Tanaitic mouth of the Nile. Isis brought him back to life. Seth
|
|
then scattered his body all over the place. It is said that Isis
|
|
fastened the limbs together with the help of the gods Nephtis,
|
|
Thoth, and Horus, her son. Fanning the body with her wings, and
|
|
through her magic, Osiris rose again to reign as king over the
|
|
dead.
|
|
|
|
The Egyptian believed that a person had two souls. The sould
|
|
known as Ba is the one that progressed into the afterlife while
|
|
the Ka remains with the mummy. The Ka is believed to live a
|
|
magical life within the grave. Thus the Egyptians placed
|
|
miniture belongings of the deceased into the tomb. Such items as
|
|
images, statuettes, imitation utensils, and miniture houses take
|
|
the place of the real thing. They believed that the Ka would use
|
|
these as the real item because the mortuary priests possesed
|
|
magic that would make them real for the dead.
|
|
|
|
The priests believed that the gods could be deceived, menaced and
|
|
forced into obedience. They had such trust in the power of
|
|
magic, the virtue of the spoken word, the irresistibility of
|
|
magic gestures and other ritual, that they hoped to bend even the
|
|
good gods to their will. They would bring retribution to the
|
|
deities who failed to deal leniently with the dead. They
|
|
threatened to shoot lightning into the are of Shu, god of the
|
|
air, who would then no longer be able to support the sky-goddess,
|
|
and her star-sown body would collapse, disrupting the order of
|
|
all things.
|
|
|
|
When Ikhnaton overthrew the Egyptian gods and demons, making the
|
|
cult of the One God Aton, a state religion, he also suppressed
|
|
mortuary magic. Ikhnaton did not believe in life after death.
|
|
|
|
As Christianity became a part of this nation, there is much
|
|
evidence to show where the Christians of the time, and the pagans
|
|
lived peacefully together.
|
|
|
|
Downloaded From P-80 Systems 304-744-2253
|