The first and perhaps most obvious reason for this great popularity is that it is a very easily accessible animal. It is already a widespread pet in the ancient Mediterranean. And listen, pets, so the roots of getting used to the hand must be sought in the distant past. The roots of the donkey’s domestication go back to the land of distant and mysterious Egypt. An interesting coincidence is that a bunch of magic papyrus also comes from here, which mentions the donkey as a magical ingredient. The Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from c. 2613 to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other countries is documented. From that time on, more than a thousand donkeys are known, who were not only utilized in agriculture for their endless patience and modesty, but also consumed their meat. They can also carry it and are really quite a peace tolerant company. We can also meet some Egyptian gods who wear donkey heads (Ra, Typhon or Seth). So the donkey’s relationship with human is pretty old.
When searching for ancient donkeys, the first thing that comes to mind is Apuleius’s The Golden Ass. After all, the main character is the donkey (after some transformation, but he spends most of the novel in donkey skin). The donkey, like a necky, stubborn, is a bit of a silly animal with very little social esteem. I could also say looked down on an animal. In literary works we encounter this stereotype of the donkey. It likes to be reason, a little foolish, but he’s a lovable figure. Oh, and the magic, the magic, just sparks around it because it’s kind of a mystical animal. I don't know if the donkey was really considered a magical animal, and it entered the literature because of its property, or whether the writers made it magical ...
The stupidity of donkeys is also indicated by the term that ASINUS AD LYRAM SEU AD TIBIAM APTUS = the name of an incompetent person who understood something as an ass to a lute or a flute; today we are said to know the alphabet as a hen. The donkey is also a common character in the tales of Aesopus, and is certainly not as a symbol of prudence and wisdom.
In the past, the donkey was considered the horse of the poor. This was the case even in the last century: you can sit on a donkey, it can handle a human, and it is far from as delicate as a horse. In ancient society, the donkey was a bit like the slave among humans: it works, it can be burdened, but it is not suitable for independent thinking, because it is only on the fools that it comes to mind. Obviously this is the point of view of the slaveholders, from the point of view of the donkeys it all means total vulnerability.
Of course, the most effective magic ingredient in all cases is blood. Blood can even eliminate madness (although, to the best of my knowledge, enthusiastic pioneers of psychology avoided magical procedures superstitiously, even if they seemed more harmless than pioneering scientific methods such as electrotherapy and lobotomy).
Finally, follow a magic recipe for insomnia - of course, trying it is highly contraindicated (if you can’t sleep, you’re not tired enough yet):
„Take an unburnt clay brick and draw a donkey on it with a bronze stylus. Write on the donkey's face: IAO, O, draw a small bell shape on its neck and write on it: EOEOE. And write on the back of the donkey: LERTHEMNIO, and on the chest: (S)ABAOTH, under its hooves: ABRASAX. Smear the drawing with a mixture of Typhoon and a pig’s blood and an onion juice.
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