7 Prayers to Anubis for Protection, Guidance and the Dead

Anubis is one of the oldest funerary gods of ancient Egypt. He was associated with embalming, cemeteries, the protection of the dead and the journey into the afterlife. In surviving Egyptian funerary scenes he appears beside the deceased, attending the mummy or overseeing the weighing of the heart before judgment.

The British Museum’s description of Anubis describes him as a god of mummification, the afterlife and the dead who prepared the deceased and guided them through the underworld. The famous judgment scene from the Papyrus of Ani at the British Museum likewise shows Anubis tending the balance upon which Ani’s heart is weighed.

Those traditional roles give us a much clearer foundation for prayer than simply treating Anubis as a mysterious jackal-headed god who can be asked for anything.

I would pray to Anubis primarily for protection, guidance through dangerous or uncertain transitions, assistance when working with the dead and care for someone who has recently died. He is also appropriate when entering cemeteries or conducting spirit work where the magician wants a strong guardian between himself and whatever else may be present.

Some of the prayers below are my own. Others draw directly from historical Egyptian titles, funerary texts and invocations associated with Anubis. Where I have adapted ancient material into readable modern English, I have said so rather than presenting a modern composition as an untranslated Egyptian prayer.

1. Ancient Prayer of Praise to Anubis

A surviving Egyptian inscription praises Anubis as the one upon his mountain, lord of the necropolis, lord of embalming and foremost of the divine tent. These are not modern occult titles. They belong directly to his funerary role.

The Global Egyptian Museum preserves a translated inscription praising Anubis with these titles.

The prayer below is my modern adaptation of that historical material.

I would use this when the main objective is simply to approach Anubis and establish contact.

It can be spoken before an image or statue of him with incense and clean water as an offering. If you intend to perform a larger ritual afterward, this prayer also works well as the opening address.

2. Prayer to Anubis for Protection and Guidance

Protection and guidance are two of the main reasons I personally work with Anubis.

The prayer below is not adapted from an Egyptian funerary text. I wrote it during my own work with Anubis and under his guidance, and it was one of the original prayers I published on this site.

It is deliberately simple. Rather than building an elaborate petition around one narrow result, it approaches Anubis as guardian, protector and guide while presenting offerings directly to him.

I use this prayer when I want to approach Anubis directly without turning the interaction into a complicated ceremonial operation.

The line asking for protection from the darkness within the heart is also important. Protection does not always concern an outside spirit or hostile person. Sometimes poor judgment, destructive impulses or one’s own state of mind are part of what needs to be brought under control.

For more targeted protection work, I may expand upon the prayer afterward and explain the situation to Anubis in my own words.

3. Prayer to Anubis for Someone Who Has Died

Anubis is particularly appropriate when someone has recently died.

His traditional role was not simply ruling over the dead. He cared for the body, attended funerary rites and helped conduct the deceased toward the next stage of their journey.

A Roman-period Egyptian funerary stela preserved by the Metropolitan Museum shows Anubis presenting the deceased to Osiris, visually expressing this role as guide and intermediary.

For this prayer, replace [name] with the name of the deceased.

You can place a photograph of the deceased nearby while speaking this prayer.

I would give the deceased their own offering separately. Water, food they enjoyed, flowers or another appropriate memorial offering can be placed for them, while incense or another offering is presented to Anubis.

The distinction matters. The deceased person is not the offering.

4. Prayer to Anubis for Safe Passage Through a Difficult Transition

Anubis is also useful outside literal funerary work because his traditional function concerns crossing a boundary from one state into another.

This is partly a modern magical interpretation, but it develops naturally from his historical role as a guide through the dangerous transition between death and the afterlife.

I would consider this prayer when leaving an old life behind, moving somewhere unfamiliar, beginning a major undertaking or passing through a period where the outcome is uncertain and there is no easy route back to what existed before.

I would not use Anubis for every minor change in life.

This prayer makes more sense when you are genuinely crossing from one stage into another and the road itself is part of the problem.

5. Prayer to Anubis Before Spirit or Ancestor Work

Anubis is one of the spirits I would consider invoking before deliberate work with the dead.

The reason is straightforward. If you are trying to establish communication across the boundary between the living and the dead, it is useful to work with an intelligence whose traditional authority lies precisely around that boundary.

This prayer is not designed to call a particular deceased person. It asks Anubis to govern the conditions under which contact occurs.

This can be spoken before ancestor divination, necromantic scrying or a ritual intended to communicate with a particular deceased person.

I would still use my normal protective structure around the operation. Calling Anubis does not mean abandoning basic magical discipline.

6. Prayer to Anubis for Judgment and Truth

The weighing of the heart is one of the best-known scenes in Egyptian funerary religion.

In the Papyrus of Ani, Anubis tends the balance while the heart of the deceased is weighed against the principle of Ma’at. The result is then recorded by Thoth before the deceased proceeds toward Osiris. The British Museum’s Papyrus of Ani preserves the complete judgment scene.

Osiris is ultimately the greater figure of judgment in this context, but Anubis’s direct involvement with the balance makes him appropriate when you want your own motives and situation examined without self-deception.

I would use this less as a prayer to defeat an opponent and more when I need clarity before making an important decision.

This is useful before divination because it changes the purpose of the reading.

Instead of asking the cards, runes or mirror to confirm what you already hope will happen, you ask for the situation to be weighed more impartially.

7. Prayer to Anubis for Strength After Bereavement

Anubis’s connection with death also makes him appropriate for the living who have been left behind.

This is not the same as the prayer for a deceased person. Here the prayer is for the person grieving.

I would not ask Anubis to erase grief. Grief exists because something mattered.

The more useful request is for enough steadiness to carry it without being consumed by it.

I would keep this prayer simple.

There is no need to turn grief into an elaborate magical project unless the situation genuinely calls for one. Sometimes prayer is enough.

Historical Prayers and Invocations to Anubis

Ancient Egyptian religion did not preserve one standardized “Prayer to Anubis” in the modern sense.

Instead, Anubis appears throughout funerary inscriptions, ritual formulae and texts connected with preparing and protecting the dead.

For example, Chapter 26 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead includes material in which Anubis strengthens the deceased so that he can rise and continue his journey. University College London’s Digital Egypt project preserves the text and translation.

Another funerary text, Chapter 151, contains words spoken by Anubis as he attends the coffin and prepares the deceased for the road ahead. UCL Digital Egypt also preserves a translation of Chapter 151.

These texts are one reason I prefer building modern prayers around Anubis’s historical functions rather than inventing unrelated powers for him.

His original domain already gives us plenty to work with.

How to Pray to Anubis

You do not need a complicated ceremonial setup for prayer.

An image or statue of Anubis is useful but not mandatory. If you use an altar, I would keep it simple and deliberate rather than filling it with objects chosen only because they are black.

Light incense, present an offering and speak the prayer aloud.

Water is always a reasonable offering. Bread, beer or wine can also fit an Egyptian-style offering practice. Historical offering scenes frequently include food and drink rather than the exotic lists of crystals and oils that dominate many modern deity guides. A British Museum funerary stela records an offering formula involving bread, beer, water, wine and other provisions for the deceased.

After the formal prayer, speak normally.

Tell Anubis what is happening.

If you are asking for protection, explain what you believe requires protection. If someone has died, speak their name. If you are facing a major transition, describe where you are trying to go and what you fear might prevent you from reaching it.

I consider that more useful than repeating the same generic prayer every night while deliberately avoiding the actual problem.

Should You Call Him Anubis or Anpu?

Anubis is the Greek form of the name and the one most English-speaking practitioners recognize.

You will also encounter forms such as Anpu, Inpu and Inpw in modern transliterations of Egyptian.

I do not consider using “Anubis” an obstacle to working with him.

Historical pronunciation is a more complicated question than replacing one English spelling with another and assuming the result is exactly what an ancient Egyptian would have spoken.

Use the name through which you can address him deliberately and consistently.

Prayer to Anubis or a Full Ritual?

Prayer is appropriate when you want to honor Anubis, request protection, ask for guidance or begin establishing contact.

For work involving deeper spirit communication, necromancy or a substantial magical objective, I generally prefer a complete ritual.

My main guide to working with Anubis, including his powers, offerings and ritual methods covers that side of the practice in more detail.

A prayer can also become part of the ritual itself.

I often prefer that arrangement because the prayer establishes the relationship and intention before the more technical parts of the operation begin.

When I perform this kind of work professionally through my Ritual for Hire service, I build the ceremony around the actual situation. Work involving a deceased person needs a different structure from spiritual protection or guidance through a difficult transition.

Final Thoughts

Anubis does not need to be turned into a god of every possible human problem to remain useful.

His actual traditional roles are already substantial.

He guards the dead and protects sacred boundaries. He tends the body and accompanies the deceased through the transition into the hidden world. He stands beside the scales when the heart is weighed.

Those functions give us a coherent basis for modern prayer.

I would approach Anubis when protection is needed around spiritual boundaries, when working with the dead, when asking for safe passage through a serious transition or when someone who has died needs to be entrusted to a capable guide.

In all of those situations, the same image remains at the center of the work:

Anubis standing at the threshold, watching the road.