How does ancient magic work?

This project is about the completion and publication of my non-fiction book Wie funktioniert antike Magie? (How dies ancient magic work?") It offers an exciting insight into ancient magic based on the ancient Egyptian and Greek ritual manuals and the archaeological record of magical artefacts, and it makes scientific findings from international research accessible to a wide audience.

As an e-book, it will also be offered at a really great price: Just 18,00 €. It will comprise approximately 350 pages and contains about 50 colour images, illustrations, and infographics.

About the book
The book How does ancient magic work? is divided into three main parts, beginning with a concise introduction and overview of the ancient Egyptian and Greek ritual manuals, moving forward to introducing and explaining step by step 34 selected rituals, taking a closer look at the people who practiced magic and those who commissioned it, and finally discussing in detail the book's title question: How does ancient magic work? There is also a chapter on recent studies from neuroscience, anthropology, archaeology, psychology and social sciences on the question: Does magic work?

Why a non-fiction book about ancient magic?
Ancient magic is a fascinating field of research that has grown significantly in recent years, but only a few findings are made accessible to a wider public in the German language. Moreover, specialized literature in German is rare and expensive compared to publications in English.

The book Wie funktioniert antike Magie? aims to close this gap. It offers a comprehensive overview of the ancient books of magic and magical artefacts and makes international research accessible to a wide audience. In addition, this book comprises for the first time the Egyptian sources in the Demotic and Coptic languages next to the Greek and Roman sources.

Exchange
This project is also about the opportunity:

• to get in contact with an archaeologist from the field of ancient magic,
• to get a glimpse behind the scenes of translating an ancient spell book,
• to get an insight into the latest research of ancient magic signs and symbols,
• and to get the chance to ask questions in a personal meeting or in a small group of up to five people.

There are multiple rewards available in English!

Goal
The goal of this project is to fund the completion and publication of the non-fiction book Wie funktioniert antike Magie? as an affordable e-book.

Target audience
The project and the book are aimed at all people interested in archaeology, ancient magic books, and magical artefacts. Previous knowledge is not required. However, those who are already familiar with ancient magic will find more in-depth knowledge and a lot of further information here.

Why it is worth supporting the project.

• With your support you contribute to the dissemination of international research results to a broad audience.
• Your support enables me to make the ancient magic books and artefacts accessible to a wide public.
• Thanks to your contribution, this project can include the Egyptian magical texts in Demotic and Coptic for the first time together with the Greek and Roman sources.

Why it is worth supporting the book

• The book offers the most comprehensive overview in the German language of the sources of ancient magic and how it works.
• The information is both reliable and verifiable.
• Wherever possible, openly accessible online literature has been included and images under a creative commons license have been referenced.
• The book saves a lot of time in researching the net and finding good information.

About the pledges.
In the pledges section, the e-book is separated from the "Meet & Greet" pledges, with the exception of the All inclusive Super Support Bundle. This is because:

• The "Meet & Greet" pledges are also available in English, while the book is currently not.
• If the pledges were bundled into English and German bundles with and without the e-book, the number of bundles would be so high that it would become confusing. Who likes to plow through 20 or more pledges?
• The e-book can easily be combined with all the Meet & Greet pledges offered here.

If successfully funded, the money will be used to complete and publish the non-fiction book Wie funktioniert antike Magie? as an affordable e-book.