Life after Life: Guidebook to Conquering Dangerous Demons and Dark Waters in Duat – Part II
One of the pivots for the successful implementation of ‘heka’, the ancient Egyptian term for magic, was words – both spoken and written – and the latter was considered the most powerful form. Scores of vases, potsherds and voodoo dolls have been found with religious formulae and curses written on them in red ochre (as the color symbolized the powers of destruction) by priests and magicians on behalf of their clients.
Given the choice of colors, this is a rather unusual depiction of Osiris on a sarcophagus lid. Egypt, Second Century AD. Allard Pierson Museum. (Rob Koopman/CC BY-SA 2.0)
