MAGIC

from the editor: It is useless to attempt to ascertain whether their magic was the parent of the religion of their descendants in dynastic times, or whether it was a `barbarous offshoot' of the early forms of that religion, for it is pretty certain that in the earliest period of their history they had no religion at all, as we understand the word. They, no doubt, evolved the idea of the existence of HEKA, and probably made use of that very word, but what exactly HEKA was has not yet been found out. Our knowledge of Egyptian magic is derived en­tirely from texts of the dynastic period, and although, fortunately, they tell us what HEKA could do, they only suggest dimly what HEKA was. In my opinion HEKA was a something which formed a very essential part of a divine being or god. It made a god or its possessor superior in power to every being who did not possess it. By it alone a god was able to exist, and to do the work which lie did. It was not his life, but it was the source of his life, and it may be compared to the MANA of the peoples of the South Seas. Its posses­sion was absolutely necessary for a god if he wished to continue his existence, and in times of danger he relied on it for effective help, and he made use of it also whenever he wished to do any special piece of work.

Publisher: Holmes Publications [in a scholarly exposition of topic, in an academic fashion, authoritative ].