egyptian Archives

Explore the ancient Egyptian city found beneath the waves

January 13, 2015 by Andrew 2 Comments

Two years ago the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion was found below the waves in the Abu Qir Bay. Just off the coast of Egypt but lost for hundreds of years, scientists had no idea what they would found.

Thonis-Heracleion was founded around the 8th century BC and after a series of natural disasters it vanished completely by the 8th century AD. There was some mention of an important temple of Amun in texts but the city came close to vanishing entirely from written records.

In the watery ruins scientists also found a huge statue of the god Hapi. It once was part of the temple of Heracleion and part of the city. As it happens, Hapi is is the god of flooding of the Nile, perhaps appropriate for a sunken city, as well as being a symbol of fertility.

Want to try Egyptian magic? Start with the basic herbs, symbols and power items by visiting special stores on Etsy.

Tempted by a cheap holiday to Egypt? Holiday maker First Choice have package deals.

In Pure Spirit

What do you make of these remarkable photos? Isn’t Thonis-Hercleion almost like something out of a sci-fi movie?

Image credits: Reddit.

1,300 year old book of Egyptian spells finally deciphered

December 26, 2014 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Do you believe in Egyptian magic? History claims they could do everything from exorcising demons, defeating enemies and had plenty of love spells?

In fact, such spells have been found in the Handbook of Ritual Power, a 20-page codex from the 8th-century which Malcolm Choat at Macquarie University and Iain Gardner at the University of Sydney have now decoded.

The researchers found 27 spells in the Coptic codex. The spells come from an era in Egypt in which many people were Christian and some of the spells actually reference Christ.

In Pure Spirit

Do you believe Egyptian magic as represented in this codex has any power at all? Or do you even doubt the historical value of the document?

Fans of Egyptian wisdom are able to buy accessories at Etsy. Shops liek Timeslide sell polished agate amulets from 1800 BC while others like Phytognosis offer up Ancient isis incense blends. Pagan Scrapbook Supply is even offering digital downloads in the style of magic spell pages so you can build your own grimoire.

Image credit: Macquarie University, Ancient Cultures Research Centre. Story via Io9.)

Five Reasons To Believe In Life After Death

January 31, 2014 by Guest Author 2 Comments

The concept of life after death is one that transcends all cultures and religions. Death is the great unknown. After all, until we actually die, how can we be certain that life really does go on? And if it does, where exactly will we end up? Many people embrace the idea that the human soul continues on its journey after the demise of the physical body, but if you are not convinced, here are a few reasons why there really could be life after death.

Near Death Experiences

There have been numerous reports over the centuries of people having a near death experience at some critical moment in their life. They describe a sensation of drifting down a long tunnel towards the light, to a place where their loved ones are waiting. Often the person has stopped breathing and their physical body is to all intents and purposes dead. But even though the physical body has stopped working, their consciousness is still alive and kicking. So whether (or not) you believe in the idea of ‘heaven’, experiences like this suggest that our ‘essence’ does leave the physical body at the point of death and travel somewhere else.

Because the Bible Says So

Most of us are familiar with the teachings of the Bible. Jesus was crucified on the cross and His dead body placed inside a cave. Three days later the tomb was discovered to be empty and Jesus’s body had disappeared. Many witnesses reported seeing a resurrected Messiah over the next forty days, which is a good indication that in Christianity at least, the concept of life after death really does hold water.

The Egyptians were Believers

The ancient Egyptians were strong believers in the idea of life after death. In fact they were such firm believers that when anyone died, their corpse was mummified and placed in a burial chamber along with all of their worldly possessions, including household slaves and anything else that might have come in useful in the afterlife. The only problem with this scenario is that if the person did indeed enter the next life, their cozy domestic arrangements might have been hampered by a lot of very angry slaves.

Past Life Regression Therapy

Past life regression therapy is a contentious practice. Proponents of the therapy place their patients in a deep hypnotic trance and using questions, try and take them back in time to a place before they were born. Critics regard the recovered memories as delusions and fantasies, but past life regression therapy has been around for thousands of years and it is even mentioned in ancient Indian literature. There is no concrete evidence that memories recovered during past life regression therapy sessions are real, but subjects who report such memories are convinced they are true, so who knows?

Paranormal Activity

Ghosts and paranormal goings on have been reported for centuries. It could be argued that a ghostly sighting is simply a residue of electrical activity left over from a traumatic event, but for those who believe in the afterlife, ghosts are simply more evidence in favor of life after death. The body of the person has died, but their soul remains tied to a place that has special significance to them and therefore it can’t move on.

If you are yet to be convinced about the concept of life after death, at least make sure you organize a good send off. After all, your funeral could be the last chance you get to be present at a great party.

In Pure Spirit

Richard Earnshaw, the author of this article, is part of the team at, All State Cremation & Funeral Care, leading providers of cremation and burial services, based in CT. He is extremely good at graphic designing and is also an amateur photographer.

Creative Commons: Elroy Serrao, Ralph Repo, Mike Johnson, Ravindu Ranaweera, Marco and Beckie.

The meaning of cat talismans

July 30, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Originally cat charms were used to signify luck and are common today. The question is whether they represent good or bad luck.

Cat charm necklace by Bohemian Design Studio on Etsy.

The black cat, in particular, is sometimes seen as unlucky as it represents one of the forms Satan is believed to take as he stalks the Earth. Others will wear the black cat charm to specifically ward against bad luck.

The Romans took the fiercely independent nature of the cat and translated this to the concept of liberty. The ancient Egyptians associated the cat to the moon and drew connections between the dilation and contraction of cat eyes to the waxing and waning of the moon. Egyptian moon gods or goddesses would often be depicted with the wedjat eye in the full-moon disk over their head. The wedjat-eye, however, belonged to Re and was later associated with Thoth, rather than the cats.

In Pure Spirit

Do you wear cat jewellery? Do you ever think it might be a bit like wearing a cat charm?

Five female deities with some masculine traits

January 20, 2009 by Andrew 1 Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Channelling deities, asking for their guidance, support or blessing is common. Whenever you attempt to involve a deity in a blessing or ritual it is important to know exactly with whom you are dealing with. Deities have their own personalities, preferences and traits. Further more, these aspects of the deity can begin to have an effect on you as well as your rituals. Sometimes rituals and blessings should be done in conjunction with a female deity but would also benefit from not being overwhelmingly feminine.

We’re certainly not suggesting that any of these deities are butch, far from it. Instead the following five deities each have an aspect or two which is also commonly found in male deities.

Artemis (Greek)

Artemis shows her masculine aspects through her hunting and use of bow and arrows. She is twinned with Apollo. If you do channel Artemis with her masculine side in mind then it also equally important to remember she is a virgin and does also represent fertility.

Ma’at (Egyptian)

Ma’at, also sometimes known as Mayet, is a deity of balance, justice and truth. She is a very magical deity and a powerful one. Some Egyptian traditions equated Ma’at with the male deity Thoth.

Frejya (Norse)

Frejya is one of the two main female deities from the Norse tradition. While she is a deity of love, beauty and fertility who would assist in childbirths she is also associated with war, battle, death and wealth.

Ninsar (Babylonian)

There are few significant female Babylonian deities to choose from other than Tiamat and channelling any aspect of Tiamat is not recommended. Ninsar is the daughter of Ninhursag the mother-goddess. Whereas Ninhursag is one of the seven greater deities from Sumer Ninsar is a much smaller entity. She is the Green Lady and a goddess of plants.

Oya (Voodoo)

Oya is a deity of the winds, of the marketplace and cemeteries. Oya is channelled when a change is needed; particularly a business change. In the Yoruba tradition Oya is also a warrior-goddess responsible for hurricanes and tornadoes.

In Pure Spirit

Who would you recommend a female deity appropriate for channelling and who might bring some suggestion of masculinity diversity?

Pythagorean numerology

January 8, 2009 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

Pythagorean numerology is the system evolved from the original developed by Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras (580/572 BC – 500/490 BC).

The evolution of this western form of numerology now includes elements from Arabian sources, Druid, Phoenician and Egyptian studies. Pythagorean numerology uses the numbers 1 to 9 (unlike Chaldean numerology which often stops at 8 ) and frequently reduces numbers down to a single digit (for example, the number 23 becomes 5 as 2+3=5).

Pythagorean numerology states that the universe and life is ordered. People may influence their fate (therefore pythagorean numerology can both predict the future and not predict the future at the same time) but there is a sustainable structure to the future.

Two common numerological studies involve translating a name to numbers (changing your name is therefore significant in numerology) and understanding the date of birth.

In Pythagorean numerology numbers are assigned in the following way:

1 = A, J and S
2 = B, K and T
3 = C, L and U
4 = D, M and V
5 = E, N and W
6 = F, O and X
7 = G, P and Y
8 = H, Q and Z
9 = I and R

In Pure Spirit

How do you use numerology? Do always reduce to a single number?

Eye of Horus

December 13, 2008 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Image via Wikipedia

An ancient Egyptian protection symbol associated with royal power from gods. Some modern rituals use the Eye to channel prosperity, health and regeneration.

Horus is a sky god and is often depicted with the head of a falcon. The Eye of Horus is commonly shown as a right eye with a tear drop below and, together, they symbolise the sun and Isis. The left eye and teardrop is more usually shown to represent the moon as Thoth.

In some Egyptian mythologies Horus lost his left eye to Seth in a fight over the murder of Osiris. Seth lost the fight and Thoth, the god of writing, was able to use magic to restore Horus’ eye.

The design of the Eye of Horus is fractional – parts of the image represent different fractions.

In Pure Spirit

Do you wear an Eye of Horus?

Demonic names

November 19, 2008 by Andrew 3 Comments

Beelzebub as depicted in Collin de Plancy's Di...

Image via Wikipedia

Abaddon

Abaddon is the name of the demonic entity which the Bible (Revelation 9:11) describes as the angle of the bottomless pit.

Abigor

Abigor is a demon conjured for military assistance, advice and fortune telling powers.

Afrit

Afrit, in Islamic lore, are giant and malevolent devil-djins. They are the second most powerful type of devil and may be related to ancient Egyptian spirits of the desert sandstorm.

Ahriman

According to Zoroastrain lore, Ahriman is the demon of lies and is trapped in never-ending conflict with Ahura Mazda. He is associated with the serpent form of Satan.

Alastor

In ancient Greek the word Alastor was used to mean avenging god. Roman demonologists used the name to refer to the evil Genius of a house.

Apollyon

Apollyon is the Greek name for the demon Abaddon.

Arioch

In Milton’s Paradise Lost Arioch is one of the fallen angels. The name is dervived from the Hebrew for ‘fierce lion’.

Asmodeus

In the Aprocryphal Book of Tobit the demon Asmodeus is the personal tormentor of Tobias’ wife-to-be. In the Testament of Solomon the demon is one that conspires to plot against the newly married. Don Cleofas is taken on a night flight by Asmodeus in the literatury work Le Diable Boiteux (1707, Le Sage) which gives rise to the term ‘flight of Asmodeus’. In the book Asmodeus uses magic to allow Don Cleofas to see into the houses he flies over so that the inhabitants private lives were revealed to him.

Azazel

In Paradise Lost Azazel is described as the standard bearer for the rebelling angels. In Islamic demonology Azazel is one of the Djin who was expelled from heaven for refusing to worship Adam.

Baphomet

Although the name Baphomet is sometimes used in conjunction with a demon it is more likely to be a variation of the word ‘Mohammed’ when the Knights Templar were acused of blasphemous worship.

Barbason

William Shakespeare writes of Barbason in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Some scholars suggest the name may have been taken from the Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584, Reginald Scot).

Beelzebub (Baalzebub)

The name Baalzebub may stem from the Sryian ‘Baal’ and infer ‘Lord of the High House’ whereas Beelzebub translates as ‘Lord of Flies’. Beelzebub has come to be regarded as the leader of the fallen angels and the Prince of Devils.

Belphegor

Belphegor stems from the name ‘Baal-Poer’ a Moabitish god of orgies. Medieval demonologies later mapped the name to a devil sent from hell to investigate whether there really was such as thing as married happiness on earth. Belphegor concluded there was no such thing.

Caliban

In Shakespeare’s The Tempest Caliban is the half-human deformed offspring of the devil and the witch Sycorax.

Cambion

The name Cambion was given in the post-medieval period to anyone believed to the semi-human offspring either an incubus or succubus.

Demogorgon

Lactantius wrote that Demogorgon was the chief power in Hell. The name was once kept a secret as to speak it was to invite disaster.

Eblis

The name Eblis means despair. Eblis is the same as the demon Azazel.

Gog and Magog

The Book of Revelation describes Gog and Magog as the future enemies of the Kingdom of God.

Lamia

Lamia is the name of a legendary queen of Libya who turned into a monstrous serpentine monster. The name became used as a synonym for a witch who could transform from demonic form to beautiful woman.

Lucifer

Lucifer means “Morning Star” or “Daily Star”. The name Lucifer has become synonymous with Satan – probably due to reads of Isaiah 14:12.

Mammon

Mammon is the Syrian term for “riches” or “wealth”. The name was linked to demonic names in Matthew 6:24 and Mammon has now come to be seen as a demon of money.

Mephistopheles

In Faust, Mephistopheles is the devil. The name is Greek and means “the one who hates the light”.

In Pure Spirit

Missing any? Please feel free to comment (and cite a reference) and we’ll grow the list.