ABSTRACT
Magical arts in the modern mind are curiously associated with the East—and particularly with Egypt. According to the Ancient Egyptian belief it could, at the death of the body, enter into any image or magical implement prepared for its reception. This chapter aims to compare certain passages in The Tales of the Magicians with others in The Thousand and One Nights, in order to show that the traditions to the day regnant in the East have a genealogy which more often than not first started from the soil of Egypt. The magic mirror enjoys great popularity. The magician orders the boy to lay certain commands on the spirit. An account of a curious case of magic in Cairo, during the last century, may be given, to show how great a degree of faith the Egyptians in general place in the arts of enchantment.
