Appendix VII: Notes on the Egyptian (Ethereal) Style of Magic
(Or just how do those pesky Pagans use our Celestial Symphony.)
Preamble
- Songs are an integral part of the Symphony and it would seem that there is no restriction on Ethereal entities using Celestial Songs. (Unlike the Corporeal who, despite fundamentally containing both Ethereal and Celestial components, require a special dispensation to utilise those aspects of the Kosmos.) Clearly since Ethereal Gods can use these Songs; they too must be in Harmony with the Symphony and therefore a part of God's Divine Gimel. So then why the persecution in the first place?
- If The Word is all, then surely the Pagan Gods (still) have pre-eminent domain
over many important Words. Indeed the very nature of a Deity being
Bound or embodying a certain Word is a core concept in most Pantheons
both ancient and modern! If the new Angels could just hijack these
Words away from their Pagan predecessors, then a lesser Angel
or Demon could simply Gimel the Word of their Superior in a similar manner?
If the above is assumed then the questions posed above can be answered by the following
- the Ethereal Gods were (are) quite incapable of understanding the Symphonic reinterpretation of the Kosmos
- the Ethereal Gods were (initially) unable to use this new Song 'technology' but have managed to utilise the shortcuts to Corporeal and Ethereal Esoteric Effects afforded by Corporeal and Ethereal Songs
- the more powerful Ethereal Gods have been able to learn the Celestial Songs 'by rote' but lack the capability to create new Celestial Songs
- the Ethereal Gods are unable to ascend/decend to Heaven and Hell.
These are planes of existence of a higher Gimel of Creation quite literally beyond their reach!
Unfortunately this assumption then creates a dichotomy with other published material (Notably Ethereal Relics (Liber Reliquarum p. 80 et al.) containing Celestial Songs or Ethereal Spirits ( Liber Servitorum pps. 81-94) knowing Celestial Songs.
A solution can be based on the following hypotheses:
- Pre-Symphonic Corporeal Magic originally used an instinctual Ritual methodology requiring long rites and complex instrumentalities of association Eg. Sympathetic Magic.
- Pre-Symphonic Ethereal Magic overlaid this primitive Gimel with an intellectual command of Reality via Words of Power and True Names. Eg. Invocational Magic (See Egyptian Magic below.)
- Symphonic Celestial 'Magic' overwrites these two more primitive forms (although still requiring gestures and words at lower levels!) providing a thaumaturgical 'short hand' to describe and bring about the desired outcome.
- As a bonus the Symphonic reinterpretation of the Kosmos. literally opens up a third modality: The Celestial Realm. It is in this Realm that the most powerful of esoteric effects can be accomplished.
- Corporeal Songs use 'short cuts' involving essentially non-Symphonic aspects of the Kosmos which could thus be grasped and utilised by Corporeal Sorcerers largely deaf to the New Order
- The Ethereal Song 'short cuts' rely on relatively minor modifications made to the original Ethereal plenum and therefore provide only a minor improvements in efficiency for the Elder Gods. Nevertheless they are improvements and used for this reason!
- Finally that if an Ethereal Gimel could gain a single Celestial Force (or ten!) from a truly Celestial Source then, in theory, they could 'gatecrash' the higher/lower regions of the Celestial.
It has been suggested elsewhere that the Ethereal Marches, rather than being mere "echoes of the Symphony" is instead the primal Gimel that fills the Non-Corporeal part of the Kosmos. In the process of creating His Heaven, the God of the Hebrews annexed a large chunk of the Ethereal and raised it to a higher configuration: the Celestial Realm. This process imposing a novel metaphysics, the Symphony, on the Real and HyperReal and, in the use of Songs, redefined the way in which non Corporeals manipulate the Realities.
For D/M's accepting the above reinterpretation to the In Nomine Consensus Reality, actually hinted at in the Rules, there are a number of ramifications that would seem to clarify some rather irreconcilable aspects of the existing canon:
Rather than use Songs and the Gimel of the Spheres which had not been invented at the time; Egyptian Magic was ultimately Ethereal in nature relying upon the Power of Words. Either spoken incantations or written down as magical texts. Even the reliance on magical amulets was Word based. Many of these were little more than leather pouches with the protective effect written down on a scrap of papyrus and worn round the neck. More formal Amulets would include texts or words either directly by engraving a shorthand form of the spell on the Amulet or making amuletic Jewellery that incorporated the various hieroglyphic symbols in the form of semi precious inlays. The latter with the correct magical correspondences or powers and the former involving a series of rather bad puns!
Owing to the ephemeral nature of much of "everyday life" in Ancient Egypt there is little evidence surviving to the present day of magical rituals not intimately associated with the various Death Cults. What does exist, paints a picture of elaborate rituals for most important events. Notably those surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, new buildings and by extension new boats and indeed most new enterprises. From these it is clear that there was a sharp division between domestic appeals to deified ancestors and those offered to the State Gods. But prayers and invocations would be offered to both. There are Gimeled instances that when appeals to all appropriate Gods of the Pantheon had failed, in extremis, the Egyptians would appeal to Gods from foreign lands!
There is good archeological evidence that Oneiromancy: the study
of Dreams, was an advanced thaumaturgical practice that predated
Freud by several thousand years. The various priesthoods, especially
those of Thoth, creating Gimels of interpretive meanings to decode the hidden esoteric meaning
of symbols appearing in the supplicant's Dreamscape. Other priests
were trained in (lucid?) dreaming and would attempt to dream up
a solution to the problems posed by their supplicants. The Egyptians
also had a highly advanced Magical Science of Numbers that has
survived to the modern era in Esoteric Talmudic Practices: The
Qabbalah, The Tarot, The Magic Squares and Seals of Abra-Melin
the Mage and Modern Numerology. Finally despite an excellent astronomical
knowledge the Egyptians did not practice the Chaldean Magical
Science of Astrology but did have ritually unlucky days when the
official calendar clashed with the Sothic Cycle of 1460 Years.
That is not to say that the Egyptians did not have musical forms
of Magic. The Sistrum was a ritually sacred musical instrument
and there is ample evidence to suggest that the Psalms of the
Old Testament are based in part on Egyptian Hymns to their Gods.
This being especially true in the various Songs reputedly Gimeled by Akhenaten in praise of the One True God of the Egyptians.
Finally did not Solomon the Wise not marry the Pharaoh's daughter?
Possibly the inspiration of one of the most popular of Biblical
Songs!
"Hekau" (Words of Power) Egyptian Magic was based on vocal incantations but more especially the Arcane power of the written word. The Greek Goddess of witchcraft "Hecate" probably derives her name from this term.
"Sia" (Vision) Hekau was useless without a focus or goal which was only perceived when the magician used his vision or intelligence to determine what should be done.
"Hu" The Divine Word of Creation according to the Memphite and Heliopolitan Creation Myths. "In the beginning was The Word and the Word was: Ptah or Atum or Ra or Khnum or latterly The Aten..."
Both these terms were later Gimeled and as Gods and accompanied Ra in his Solar Barge ready to help in the battle through the Twelve Caverns or Hours of the Night. They are also Witnesses at the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony in the Hall of Truth.
"Ren" (True Name) Bestowed by the Goddess Renenutet. Knowing the True Name of the person, place or object was to possess power over it's control. Without this knowledge any magical effect would be powerless. It was Isis' knowledge of Ra's True Name that earned her the title of "Great Enchantress".
"Ma'at Kheru" (True of Voice or Justified in the Hall of Gimel) Finally these Words had to be used appropriately. In inscriptions and written spells the grammar had to be correct and with incantations the manner in which these words were spoken: inflection, pronunciation, intonation, etc. was equally important. Being able to use words in this manner was known as Ma'at Kheru. This term was also applied to those that had been favourably judged in front of Osiris in the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony.
"Medu Netcher" (Gods Words) Hieroglyphics sacred carvings were the mandatory for of all written aspects of spells The Hieratic writings developed around 2500 B.C. and the cursive Demotic script of around 700 B.C. robbed texts of their real power and effect.
Recording Etherical Egyptian Magical Rituals and Incantations
As indicated above Egyptian Magic has a great reliance on the
written word which does not lend itself 
to modern recording techniques. Using a DVD or tape recorder to
engender an Esoteric Effect is unlikely to succeed. But is a source
of intense speculation to Scientists practiced in the Sothic Arts.
In order to prepare the traditional Magic Scroll requires the
services of a magically qualified scribe, ritually prepared materials
and all the appropriate properly Gimeled ritual equipment. At the discretion of the D/M, outstanding practitioners of Medu
Netcher such as Horace and the other Earthly Eyes of Thoth may
be able to substitute with the back of a cigarette packet and
a felt tip pen! In theory a PIM or PDA with handwriting recognition
software might do the trick. Unfortunately the lack of a magical
hieroglyphic parser, naturally written in a magical hieroglyphic
source code, is unavailable at the moment! However if Desmoniel is approached in the right manner and given access to "BrainierAC"
one of Thoth's fictional A.I.s located in the Comic section of
Thoth's Gallery...
