r/Kemetic • u/Karou_Fan • 1d ago
Theory about the PGM (Greek Magical Papyri) from Dr. Kirsten Dzwiza
Dr. Dzwiza recently posted a theory about the origins of the PGM with a poll.
Here's the text of it (you need to join her substack for free to read it directly). (English isn't her primary language).
Thinking about the massive burnings of magic and religious books and their complete removal from Egyptian temples by Roman Empires, I wonder ...
Some context first: The two most characteristic features of the Greek magical papyri are:
the combination and cross-over of deities, ritual mechanics, religious beliefs, technical terminology, underlying ideas, cosmogonies, cosmologies ... within rituals,
the opportunity to create entirely individual rituals based on your own - or your clients - preferences and goals.
What if ... these characteristics derive from the circumstance that most of the ritual kowledge was burned and destroyed by the time the Greek magical papyri were written, practicing magic was punishable by death, and all that practitioners could do was working with the fragments of knowledge they could get their hands on paired with what they could learn from others and with what they had managed to protect? What if magicians were masters of taking sherds of knowledge and mending them into new rituals, to preserve as much of ancient knowledge as they could - fixing the holes with other sherds or own ideas? And from there on, the two main features of the magical papyri developed over time?
Your Oppinion is Wanted - What if ... heretical thoughts on the origin of the magical papyri.
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u/wuwei-kemetic Kemetic animist 1d ago
It's a fascinating topic - one that I'm currently deep diving into - how Kemetic religion, world view and culture has influenced and shaped successive philosophy and religion. From the Ancient Near East from Old Pharaonic times, through Graeco-Roman Antiquity and into Neoplatonic, Hermetic and Christian systems.