Of The “Nephilim”
Magicals Speculation of the Adepts
978-1-914153-27-3
132pp 216×216 illustrated in colour
“The Nephilim were in the (land) earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.” (Bible, American Standard Version)
Beresheet, the first word of the Bible means ‘In the beginning’. Thus begins the foundation myth of the ancient Hebrews, including the account of their long sojourn in the land of the ancient Egyptians. The earliest parts of this narrative are full of strange things, including, famously, and very early on, a terse mention of the Nephilim, a class of supernatural entities, who erupt into the text only to disappear again almost as soon as they appear.
It was always assumed that this part of the myth originated somewhere within the mesopotamian myth cycles, either from Sumerian or Babylon. No one had, as far as I know, been asked, as I was, to explore if it might have some sort of basis in Egyptian mythology. So this was where I started, with what seemed to be the Elephant in the room: could the Nephilim and the events that surround them, have any resonance in Egypt?
And, much to my surprise, I found an Egyptian equivalent of the Nephilim. Deep mythology is what I call those very old stories that have no real home but seem global and part of the consciousness of all humanity. And as is often the case with comparative and deep mythology, one tradition illuminates many others.
So here are the fruits of that research, heavily illustrated and I hope an engaging and popular account based on Egyptian primary sources. The whole fascinating story of Egypt’s ancient origins.
What are we to make of this story and its origins, and perhaps more importantly, what can we do with it intellectually, philosophically, magically. For answers to all these questions, read on.
Table of Contents:
The Bible Story
Lilit
Giants
Miniaturization
The Flood
Egyptian sources
Apophis
The Fallen
Richat
Names
Demons
Manetho, and the survivors
Plato’s Atlantis
The Seriadic Land
The Old Chronicle
The Submerged Ones
Egyptian Star Maps
The Problem of Evil
Female Shebtiw
The Underworld of the Soul
The Osireion
Becoming a Giant
The Giant and the Dwarf
The Apet and the Ancestors under the Floor
Appendix: The Horoi
Author:
Mogg Morgan
Researcher and author of more than a dozen books, mostly on Egyptian magick and culture
The American Standard Version of this passage says the Nephilim were “In the earth”, which seems a bit awkward, and implies they are somehow underground, a point seized upon by some Hollow Earth theorists. The confusion is dispersed by a consultation of the original Hebrew, which I did with the assistance of Miryamdevi, who points out that the same term is used a line or two later for humans, (Ha-adam), who are also in what must be the land (Aretz) rather than the Earth.