Episode 24: History of Brick Magic!
On this episode of Two Witches, SJ and Andrea don their best History Professor hats to nerd out hard on why bricks have been so important throughout time, and how they have been used for magical purposes! A lot of the symbolism related to the Gods and Goddesses related to bricks translates over many cultures with several universal themes including Birth, Judgment and Death.
After we made friends with Author, High Priestex and Necromancer Mortellus the Bagans Slayer (who has a new book coming later this year that you should definitely pre-order HERE), SJ realized they'd been somehow channeling Egyptian brick rituals into their own "made up" magical practices. *Nervous Laughter*
Before we dive into what SJ calls "Egyptian Madness," we're going to discuss the history of Babylonian bricks and the story of a Nephilim from the "Book of Enoch" (a forbidden part of the bible) named Gilgamesh. We'll explain how SJ has a personal link to a bizarre conspiracy theory that emerged a couple of years ago about what American Troops were really doing over in Baghdad during the war and what THAT has to do with Magic Bricks!
Babylonian brick magic and a Nephilim named Gilgamesh
The Gates of Ishtar that were built by King Nebuchadnezzar II (who reigned Babylon from 605-532 BCE) to welcome the Gods into his kingdom contain some remarkably strong (and unique) bricks. The wall's bricks are encased in blue lapis lazuli stone and bear some magical symbols that may look familiar to occultists that have studied sigil magic:
We also touch on Gnostic beliefs about the history of man and the afterlife with a basic primer on what the Book of Enoch actually has to say about giant Nephilim like Gilgamesh and other mysterious "shades of the Underworld" called Rephaim that have magical healing powers as shamans.
Also of note is “Israel’s Stonehenge,” the Gilgal Rephaim, a megalithic astronomical complex built of loose stones. In ancient Sumerian, the name translates to “Palace of the ancestor giants”, or “Big house of the ancestor healers.”
It turns out that the history of magic bricks and their related symbols translated over to basically all major religions and cultures, and were important throughout a person's entire life, from their birth through their death.
We'll break down how most of these symbols can be traced back to the Goddess Isis. Some of the connections with your own religion's belief system may surprise you!
Bricks aren't the only magical anthroporphic items to appear on ancient artwork - the Palette of Narmir shows a hawk (for Horus) removing the power from a floating papyrus.
SJ recently had the experience of an up close and personal look at a copy of the "Book of the Dead" and a Djed amulet that was found on top of one of the magical bricks guarding Queen Nefertari's tomb... and had lots of feelings. For more on that experience, you can join the Holy Donut Cult for just $1 to hear the bonus episode detailing the rest there, too!
(Re)introducing Two Witches Podcast's Official Astrology Wizard!
We had so much fun having them school us on Astrology as part of our Power Train lineup that we just had to ask Weird Astrology to come back for another mini lesson!
Hot off their appearance at the Newkirk's Phenomenacon 3, Maighdlin Kelly has agreed to be our Official Two Witches Podcast Astrology Wizard!
Listen to find out what interesting nugget Maighdlin noticed about the Astrology at the time of John Keel's Mothman investigation!
You can book an Astrology or Lenormand reading on their website to harness this amazingly talented Wizard's knowledge for yourself, or click above to support them on Patreon!
Special thanks to the amazingly talented Chelle from The Eternal Void...but with Jazz for whipping up a fresh tune for Maighdlin's debut!
WE LOVE HAVING TALENTED FRIENDS!
WE LOVE HAVING TALENTED FRIENDS!
Also Mentioned this episode...
It's totally normal behavior to have haunted bolts chilling in a vintage candy dish on top of some clay, isn't it? The little clay teapot contains ashes from the recent fires at the Boleskine House that our buddy AP Strange sent us.
SJ's sister Rose served in the Army and was stationed at Baghdad's Al Faw Palace when the Gulf War was in progress. The entire palace is actually a great example of what we call smoke and mirrors - most of the gilding and riches inside are all fake.