Ancient Egyptians also believed that in the West lies the World of the Dead, where the Sun god disappeared every evening. They referred to their departed as "Westerners" and believed that the dead, disguised as birds, flew into the sky where the heavenly barge of Ra, the Sun god, awaited them and transformed them into stars to travel with him through the expanse of the heavens.

The Egyptian occult of the dead reached its pinnacle when it incorporated the story of Osiris. It was believed that Osiris was born to save humankind. At the birth of Osiris, a voice was heard proclaiming that the Lord had come into the world. However, his brother/father Seth shut him up in a chest, which he carried to the sea by the Tanaitic mouth of the Nile. Isis brought him back to life. Seth then scattered his body all over the place. It is said that Isis fastened the limbs together with the help of the gods Nephtis, Thoth, and Horus, her son. Fanning the body with her wings, and through her magic, Osiris rose again to reign as king over the dead.

The Egyptians believed that a person had two souls; the soul known as Ba progressed into the afterlife while the soul known as Ka remained with the mummy. Ka was believed to live a magical life within the tomb. Therefore, the Egyptians placed favorite belongings of the deceased in the tomb.

Egyptian priests believed they could deceive the gods, menace and force them into obedience. They had such faith in the power of their magic, their spoken words and magic gestures and other rituals, that they believed they could bend even their good gods to their will. They threatened to bring retribution to deities who failed to deal leniently with their dead, to shoot lightning into the area of Shu, god of the air, who would then no longer be able to support the sky-goddess and her star-sown body would collapse, thereby disrupting the order of the world.

From these varied beliefs of the Ancients, magickal thought continued to grow. The most powerful and common beliefs and rituals survived and were incorporated into the daily lives of many who eventually came to be known as Pagans or Heathens.