blood

Ingredients

blood of white dove, blood of hoopoe, blood of black dog, blood of mountain raven, blood of bat, blood of frog

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Animal blood was used as ink either alone or mixed with other substances. Specific animal types were selected based on the ritual's intent: white dove blood was used for 'positive' rituals like gaining power or love (p. 517), while blood from bats, hoopoes, black dogs, mountain ravens, and frogs was used for 'negative' purposes like deception or causing destruction (p. 518).

Evidence

"In Coptic spells, the blood of white dove is especially common... Damage to the papyri makes it difficult to be certain that the blood is to be used as ink, but this seems to be the most reasonable reading of the text."

Remarks

The use of blood as ink is described as intimately tied to human and animal life (p. 517). The author identifies a series of linked dichotomies (positive/negative, white/black, female/male) that dictated the choice of animal species for the blood ink (p. 519).