# Ancient Tactical Magic

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789/ancient-tactical-magic
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789/ancient-tactical-magic.md
Podcast: [Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney](https://stenobird.com/podcast/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789)
Published: 2025-08-02T00:16:00+00:00
Episode link: https://ancientnow.substack.com/p/ancient-tactical-magic
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/167759643/bdd22fe98db52cf0b5cd99d25be2ac25.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/afterlives-of-ancient-egypt-with-kara-cooney-4507789/episodes/ancient-tactical-magic
Duration seconds: 3552

## Resource

How was magic/ritual practice used in the lives of ancient Egyptians to resist and gain a sense of agency? In this episode of Afterlives of Ancient Egypt , Kara, Jordan, and extra special guest Dr. Jonathan Winnerman delve into the concept of 'magical resistance,' exploring how ancient Egyptians and people today use magic and rituals to gain a sense of power and agency. They discuss broad definitions of magic, because yeah scholars really fight about what magic is and what it isn’t, its role in the assassination of Ramses III, and the fine line between state–sanctioned and subversive magical practices. The inspiration for this episode was a Substack article from Ancient Rome, Modern Witch which looked at how ancient Romans used magic as a form of resistance. And also please remember HBO’s Rome when Servilla curses Attia with all the elite witchcraft in her ancient Roman toolkit. With everything that is going on in the world— wild gesture —people are seeking different methods of resistance, including modern forms of magic. Now we aren’t telling you to go out and curse anybody, because that shit always comes back at you (!), but please use this podcast and the plentiful show notes below as inspiration to create some some good, magical, ancient defensive tactics for the days to come…. Show Notes * FREE DOWNLOAD – Robert Ritner, SAOC 54. The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice. (Fourth Printing, 2008). * Frazer’s Golden Bough (1890) – a seminal (read masculine AF) work on comparative mythology and religion * Magic → religion → science and rational materialism (!!) Harem Conspiracy * Papyrus Rollins “It happened because writings were made for enchanting, for banishing, for confusing, because some gods were made into wax and some men also– and furthermore for enfe…

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