Egyptian Magic by E.A. Wallis Budge

Egyptian Magic Reviews

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  Timothy Boyd

  Well not what I hoped for. I was looking for a nice overview of magical practices, like the dust jacket description made it sound like the book was about. Instead it is a more archeological review of recovered magical texts and scrolls. Not recommended
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  Jeannette Jackson

  This is an awesome book that I often refer to at times when I am seeking answers in relation to Egyptian beliefs and rituals..I have many aha moments of insight that have been triggered after seeking it's assistance.. As a Master Energy Healer myself it certainly is a welcome friend along my path. I have a deep respect for E A Wallis Budge, great read for those that have parallel interests in this field of study and work, but a not so good read for the mainstream mindsets.
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  Varmint

  My old instructors would ramble on as to how irrelevant Budge had become. His translations were iffy, his chronology off. The books no longer taken seriously by academics.
  
  Budge has survived because he is readable. His writing stands after a hundred years. While most of my instructors couldn't go twenty minutes without putting half the class into a coma.
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  Jim

  In the beginning, it's obvious this book is written by and for Victorian Christians. The word superstition gets thrown around a lot. Once you get past that, it's all fact with little editorializing. This is a good overview of what was known of Egyptian magickal practices. It leaves a lot of unanswered questions but so does everything else in Egyptology.
• 
  G.A. Wilson

  'Egyptian Magic' was first published in 1895 and the language is very much of that era. In its time, the book was an authoritative work on ancient Egyptian magic and occult practices. It contains interesting information on amulets, scarabs, spells, ghosts and mind control. Tales of magic have also been included, as well as an interpretation of the ancient Egyptian calendar. There are also some good illustrations.
  
  I enjoyed leafing through this book, but mostly from a writer's point of view. I was intrigued by the language and typesetting (and the paper was also quite nice). Budge writes with the eloquence of a Victorian. It was, however, difficult to read as research material.
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  David Leroy

  Great little book about the concepts behind ancient Egyptian Magic. The book was written in 1901, so long before the advent of the new age movement, or discoveries in quantum physics, so none of that stuff influenced the writer. It was very interesting to read about the religious ideas regarding words, names, ceremonies, statues, and the universe.
• 
  Glenn

  Historical events of Egyptian occult is among some of the reading information. It includes jeweled scarabs and amulets illustration. Learn the difference between white and black magic with there magical artifacts. I really enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it.
  
  I was given this book from Quarto Knows for an honest review.
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  Jaryl

  It's just a nice easy read of accounts of the magical practices in Ancient Egypt.
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  AL

  An entertaining read and a great source for learning about some of the earliest Western scholarship on Ancient Egyptian culture. Apparently, Budge is regarded as irrelevant to some modern scholars, and many resent him as a source, due to his work being public domain and still selling. Nonetheless, despite any flaws now known in his research or of his translations of different texts, there is valuable knowledge given with passion, clarity, and discrimination that still stands up today. The influence of his writing cannot be underestimated, and I for one will always honor his contribution to Egyptian scholarship.
• 
  Genndy

  Interesting material, but poorly presented. It deals with various aspects of Egyptian misticism, like amulets, protection spells, mumification, afterlife, magical scriptures and so on, but no one who is not already well educated on the subject of Egyptian mythology is not going to profit much from reading presented materials. It is not begginer-friendly, and it obviously should've been.
• 
  Kingdomofkush718

  Classic book but not really dealing with Heka
  
  I like Budge as an author and egyptologist!Would not recommend as far as magic(heka)is concern.Doesn't really deal with it.More like history in charms and the trailer dynasties
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  M.A. Stern

  Budge’s book comes off as unfortunately rather dated by modern standards and displays clear bias in favor of explicit Christian traditions. As a guide to Egyptian magic this book is passable but only really focuses on the magic associated with the dead.
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  Jessica L.

  OMG so boring
  
  My gods was this long and boring. I tried so hard to keep reading and even had the kindle robot lady read it to me but the sentence were insanely long. A lot of them run on. But I finished the whole thing. Glad it was only 0.99. Not worth anymore than that.
• 
  PreistoftheTempleofSyrinx

  An excellent novel that, even through it's lack of academic respect as well as occasional poor translations, manages to perfectly capture and describe the meaning and actions that went into Egyptian Magic to the average reader.
• 
  Amanda

  So fun. I love the author's description of the multi-part soul.
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  Julia

  Old-style and extremely detailed!
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  Cynthia Teow

  It is a very informative and detailed book on Egyptian belief and culture.
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  Daniel G.

  I'm very impressed. No question Budge's work is dated. Goodness, it was written in 1899; however, he is readable. And, if you've done much reading in the field of Egyptology, you can find he has the occasional surprising insight, the little detail, that he adds to your collective knowledge about ancient Egypt. As to the translation itself, I certainly don't read any of the Egyptian scripts, having done nothing more than toy with them. But I admire him for an admission he makes in the preface to another book he wrote, "we must hope that the faults made in translating today may be corrected by the discoveries of tomorrow." This book should probably be read in conjunction with that other book, by the way, which was first published in 1899 also: "Egyptian Ideas of the Afterlife."
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  K AKUA GRAY

  Reading history is a fun past time for me. I enjoy the time travel and nostalgia. to return to a great time in history especially a time as far back as ancient Kemet (the original name of Egypt) is of great interest to me because it is a past dear to my essence being a descendant of such a great people. The title of this book is quite alluring considering what the world already knows about Egypt's past greatness and how even today the land and its monuments are consider magical just to behold, but to have chance to explore the details of the internal workings of Egyptian magic made the book quite irresistible to leave on the shelf any longer. Read More:
  http://drakuabookreviews.blogspot.com...
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  Keitra

  I'm sad to say that I have to agree with the others who said this book was boring. I always find when I read that, I enjoy the books. This time, they were so, painfully right.
  
  It felt like Budge was mocking the Egyptians for their beliefs. Also, most of the book was just quoted from the Bible and the Book of the Dead. Pages and pages of quoted material. I could just pick up those books if I wanted those stories. Please, tell me something new.
  
  There was literally only one piece of information that I found interesting and new to me, so this book was not worth it. I'm glad I only borrowed it from the library and didn't pay for it.
• 
  Stephen Simpson

  It's practically mandatory that any review of a book written by Budge has to mention that he was, at best, a questionable scholar, a lot of his theories/writings have been discredited, and so on. That said, he was an accessible writer who wrote on a wide range of subjects regarding Ancient Egypt.
  
  I haven't come across too many books about the Egyptian attitudes and practices regarding magic. This book doesn't go into much detail, but it at least touches on some of the major points. It's a decent starting point, but by no means a thorough reading on the subject.
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  Debby Stassek

  Very interesting historic background on amulets, superstitions, and more. I was particularly interested to learn that so many aspects went into making a person: body, heart, name, ka (twin, soul), shadow, akh (ego), ba, etc.
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  Joe

  Describes some of the Egyptian rituals. Most of these are violent and used to gain power over their enemies.
  
  -Joe-
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  Glenda

  Could barely get through this one. Wow was it boring!
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  Lysergius

  Ancient Egypt is reputed to be the source of all forms of ritual magic practised in the west. This is a source book.
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  Zoe Forward

  A bit convoluted but having read several of E.A. Budge's books this one is by far the easiest to follow. Highly informative.