Ancient Christian Magic

This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPt. 1Ritual Power in EgyptCh. 1Old Coptic Texts of Ritual PowerCh. 2Greek Texts of Ritual Power from Christian EgyptCh. 3Ritual Power in Coptic Gnostic TextsPt. 2Coptic Spells of Ritual PowerCh. 4Healing SpellsCh. 5Protective SpellsCh. 6Sexual SpellsCh. 7CursesCh. 8Spells with Other ApplicationsPt. 3Coptic Handbooks of Ritual PowerCh. 9Collections of RecipesCh. 10A Portfolio of Spells from the British LibraryCh. 11The Coptic Hoard of Spells from the University of MichiganCh. 12The Coptic Book of Ritual Power from LeidenCh. 13A Coptic Book of Ritual Power from HeidelbergAfterwordAppPreviously Unpublished Coptic Texts of Ritual Power in the Beinecke Library, Yale UniversityTextual NotesGlossaryIllustration CreditsBibliography