As I continue my journey through Egypt I’ve found the single most important use of magic in ancient Egypt was to provide protection.

Jessikah my main character in the ‘Daughters of the Wind’ series has been told she’s in danger and needs protection. She was given a lapis and gold eye of Horus. It’s a symbol we’re all very familiar with…

Eye of Horus – Sign for Healing

A powerful symbol used to protect from evil, the ancient name for the Eye of Horus was “udjat”
Horus lost his left eye in his war with Seth, who tore the eye into pieces.
The left eye, being the moon was discovered by Thoth lying in pieces, but he was able to reassemble them into the full moon.
This healing of the eye became a symbol of renewal of health Horus gave the reassembled eye to his murdered father Osiris, thereby bringing him back to life.
Egyptians believed that the Eye of Horus was capable of healing sickness and capable of bringing the dead to life, as it did with Osiris
The Egyptians used the eye as a funerary amulet for protection against evil and rebirth in the underworld, and decorated mummies, coffins and tombs with it.
The Book of the Dead instructs that funerary eye amulets be made out of lapis lazuli or gold
Amulets were magical symbols of protection used in ornaments, and articles of dress and jewelry, made of various substances, to protect the human body, either living or dead, from baleful influences.
Until the end of the Middle Kingdom, priests performed lengthy consecration rituals on amulets carried by the living, the appropriate chapter from the Book of the Dead was read
Staring form the New Kingdom, the original consecration ritual was now considered unnecessary for amulets worn by the living persons, the amulet only needed to be inscribed with the chapter number or the first line of the prayer.
However, the original consecration ritual was still performed on funerary amulets, which doubled the amulets’ powers.
Furthermore, the drawing of an amulet or any sacred symbol contained the identical power as the actual amulet, to accomplish this task the scribe and tools used had to be purified.

The above gold-and-glass pectoral amulet was discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun near Luxor, Egypt. It depicts the familiar eye of Horus, a symbol of protection from evil, flanked by the cobra goddess representing Lower Egypt and the vulture goddess representing Upper Egypt.
Photograph by Robert Harding