Mystic South

Hans Dieter Betz, editor of the Greek Magical Papyri in Translation (PGM), proposes that “In its Hellenistic transformation, the Egyptian religion of the pre-Hellenistic era appears to have been reduced and simplified, no doubt to facilitate its assimilation into Hellenistic religion as the predominant cultural reference. I argue that in contemporary Paganism, revival and reconstruction continues this process. In 1999, I was an experienced Wiccan ritualist and magic worker who read the PGM. Eyes opened to a faraway time and magical culture, I was eager to try a PGM ritual for myself. I chose the copper cup divination from PDM XIV: 395-427, and with the overconfidence of youth, performed it at a public ritual in my local area. Focusing on this case study, I will demonstrate that the rite was reduced and simplified in an attempt to facilitate its assimilation into the Neopagan framework of the early 21st century CE.