“In his polemical work against Christianity, written in 178, the Greek philosopher Celsus (in Origen C.Cels. 8.58) wrote that according to the Egyptians every part of the human body has been put under the charge of 36 daemons or heavenly gods, whose names are invoked in times of sickness in order to treat the sufferings of their subordinate parts. Celsus assuredly is referring to the decans (Gk. δεκανός). In Egyptian astronomy the decans were single stars or clusters of stars which were used to mark the hours of the night and divide the 360-day Egyptian year into ten-day intervals, with the exclusion of the five epagomenal days.”
Source: Spyros Piperakis, Decanal Iconography and Natural Materials in the Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius,in: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 57 (2017) 136–161.
Celsus goes on to say: “Let any one inquire of the Egyptians, and he will find that everything, even to the most insignificant, is committed to the care of a certain demon. The body of man is divided into thirty-six parts, and as many demons of the air are appointed to the care of it, each having charge of a different part, although others make the number much larger. All these demons have in the language of that country distinct names; as Chnoumen, Chnachoumen, Cnat, Sicat, Biou, Erou, Erebiou, Ramanor, Reianoor, and other such Egyptian names. Moreover, they call upon them, and are cured of diseases of particular parts of the body. What, then, is there to prevent a man from giving honour to these or to others, if he would rather be in health than be sick, rather have prosperity than adversity, and be freed as much as possible from all plagues and troubles?”
Source: Origen, Against Celsus 8.58, translation: Frederick Crombie, The writings of Origen, vol. 2 (1872), 542-543.
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