ABSTRACT
GreekandLatinantiquity,aswellasforJewishand Arabiantradition.Butwithoutexactlydefining thedoctrinesofeither,wemustdistinguish,asquite differentintheirprinciplesandprocesses,the EgyptianfromtheChaldeanschool.Thisisalmost atruism,andthestudyoftheoriginaldocuments oneithersideconfirmsit.Chaldeanmagic,aswe haveexplainedit,andasitappearstoussoclosely unitedineverypart,islikethelastwordsandthe mostlearnedsystemoftheancientmagicofthe primitiveagesfoundeduponthebeliefinthespirits ofnature.Egyptianmagicisatheurgyarisingfrom thedoctrinesofatheologicalphilosophywhichhad becomealreadysomewhatrefined.'Theonebegan bybeingthesoleworshipofanaturalisticandcoarse
religion, and preserved the imprint of it in spite of the learned appearance that it sought to give to its systematic development; the other is the superstitious conception of a religion higher and purer in its tendencies, and retaining in its subtleties the impress of a higher faith.
