TEMPLE OF KHEM
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ToK's Contribution to the Pagan Federation's Interfaith Blog

7/29/2020

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In 1996, a group of British magical practitioners decided to form the Temple of Khem in order to offer structured courses into the Mysteries for those who wished to pay homage to the gods of the Nile Valley. Using the resources at the British Museum and the Egypt Exploration Society, it was possible to put together a basic, introductory course that would be well within the grasp of any genuine seeker, whilst not compromising or trivialising authentic source material.
 
Let’s make no bones about it, today’s Egyptian interpretation belongs to a revivalist tradition and should not claim to be anything else.  Nevertheless, the system needs to be as close as it can to the beliefs of ancient Egypt without falling into the trap of lumping all the gods together in one timeless pantheon … and expecting their heka to work!  In order to follow the Old Ways, it is easier to understand if we use three separate approaches:
 
  • the Stellar Path that deals with the primeval/primordial forces of the universe usually aligned with ritual magic and inner temple working;
 
  • the Solar Path that offers a more intellectual, spiritual or mystical approach;
 
  • the Lunar Path, which concentrates on the purely devotional aspects and the ability to move between the worlds, i.e. different planes of consciousness.
 
This three-fold approach needs to be understood from the start, but so does the enormous time span of Egyptian history, which always tends to complicate matters when identifying with a particular deity or Dynasty.  A fundamental study is necessary because not everyone works magically or mystically, at the same pace or level. Some take longer to realise that an intimate knowledge of Egyptian myth and its attendant politics is essential for the effective practice of magic/mysticism at a higher level of awareness.  A knowledge that has to extend beyond the stereotypical deities of popular Egyptomania to embrace a wider and loftier range of supernatural beings; and to accept that the deities are not local ‘gods’ at the student’s beck and call.  This is why it becomes so important to successful magic practice to be able to differentiate between the different levels of magic, historical influence and religious emphasis that mark the subtle shifts of importance between the different Paths. And to do so safely.
 
It may appear that this is merely massaging a system that purports to be all things to all men, but this is not the case. The original Egyptian religion was stellar based. Early texts refer to the stairway to heaven, and the alignment of the mortuary temples situated toward the north (the direction of the circumpolar stars) reveal the importance of the Imperishable Stars within the Mysteries. According to Egyptologists, the architectural changes in pyramid design reflect the shift from a stellar cult to one that was fully solar as the religious ideology changed and the newer priesthood gained power. As each new centre became the focus of power, so the religion altered and a new set of myths were created to attest to the local gods’ supremacy over the Old Ones.
 
Unfortunately, many present-day writings on the Egyptian Mystery Tradition make no attempt to unravel the tangled skeins of this magico-religious evolution. Rather, they impose some over-simplified form of order on the chaos created by the multitude of dual-purpose gods from different periods of history. But, there is no way of simplifying this complicated tapestry because of the immense time span from pre-dynastic times to the Battle of Actium, which sealed the fate of the last ruling Great House of Egypt. Cleopatra, in terms of chronology, was nearer to man landing on the moon than to the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
 
In the days of Egyptian antiquity, however, many of the gods were abstract concepts rather than actual anthropomorphic god pictures familiar to us today.  Many of the later fully-morphed deities were originally theological concepts represented by a distinctive hieroglyph. As the need for a controlling religion grew, so did the spiritual need for more tangible forms on which to focus the common people’s devotions.  The common man’s mind dwelt on the concrete, not the abstract and so the gods took on those easily recognisable animal-human shapes to satisfy the religious-teaching-by-pictures demands of less scholarly folk. Egyptian life, magic and religion were inextricably intertwined, one simply could not, and did not exist, without the other. God, or a male/female/multiple concept of that god, was manifest in everything animate and inanimate.
 
Contrary to popular belief, the modern Egyptian Mystery Tradition is not based on elaborate and complicated ritual.  In strictly historical terms, these daily observances were carried out in the inner sanctum of the Temple by pharaoh, or the high priest acting on his behalf.   Magic was used by all levels of society as a means of national and cultural preservation, but as far as the ordinary people were concerned, much of their religion was a blend of petitioning the local patron deity for help, and simple rites of protection or healing.  
 
Although Egyptian State magic was regarded as an exact science, with its secrets revealed only to the highest orders of the priesthood, the homes of ordinary people contained small shrines dedicated to the more domestic deities, such as Hathor, Bes and Tauret.  Whether you are drawn to the primordial forces of emerging civilization; the mystery elements of a highly cultured people; or the ‘dying god’ concept of the cycle of life – the Temple of Khem will help you find the Path that is right for you.

 
Melusine Draco : Principal of Temple of Khem
Author of The Atum-Re Revival; Liber Aegyptius and The Calendar of Ancient Egypt.
www.templeofkhem.com
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The Legacy of Western Ritual Magic

7/8/2020

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There have been many different approaches to Egyptian-based magic and under the circumstances, it would be extremely unwise to ignore the magical writings of Aleister Crowley when referring to modern Tradition since magically he was strongly influenced by the Egyptian background of the Golden Dawn, of which he was a member.  There are those, of course, who will be horrified at the mere mention of ‘the Great Beast’ but considering he is recognised by Initiates as the greatest magus of the 20th century, it would be impossible (and hypocritical) to consider Golden Dawn sources and Dion Fortune’s work without reference to Crowley’s valuable input.
     
The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic was given to the world by Israel Regardie complete with notes and explanations but it is mainly geared towards High Temple working, i.e. groups rather than solitary practitioners.  Much of the symbology used by Mathers in constructing the Golden Dawn was drawn from Egyptian (in addition to Christian and Hebrew) sources and as Regardie observes: “The references to Osiris as a symbol of man-made-perfect could be those of any of the Mediterranean crucified Gods, of whom there were many.”
   
The Order was a magical one but its mysticism was by no means separated from magic and although today many would consider them two entirely different methods of attaining the highest levels of understanding, this is far from the case.  As Regardie himself explains, it is the mark of real Adeptship when the student comes to realise that there is no real separation between these methods, and at the end they are one and the same. Here we may be seen to have completed another full circle with the uniting of authentic historical research and Western Ritual Magic because the religion/mysticism and magic of ancient Khem were inseparable.
 
For members of the Golden Dawn, initiation represented the beginning of a new life dedicated  to an entirely different set of principles for the ‘mere handful who can tolerate more than a glancing casual look at other than the superficial aspects of what life presents to them’ (The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic).  This handful of enlightened people had instant access to a system that did not, as Regardie explains, owe its origins to the formation of a new magical Order founded in the later part of the 19th-century.  This system, or a “greater part of it, in one form or another, has existed for centuries - actually forever - not necessarily in the open where it could be attacked by secular and ecclesiastical authorities, but under cover, secretly and safely.   Those who were in need of its teaching would inevitably be attracted to someone or other of its members, and undergo initiation. This process occurred in the past even as it does today.”
 
Because of the preservation and hi-jacking of Egypto-mania by the various esoteric Orders, the ‘essence’ of Egyptian magic becomes accessible again, due to European magi speaking the name of the dead (i.e. keeping the tradition/system alive) and making it live again, albeit with a modernised and, to use David Conway’s description, ‘synthetic rendering’.  This is no sweeping justification: when he founded the Golden Dawn in 1887, Samuel Mathers had considerably less scientific data at his disposal because Egyptology was then still in its infancy.  And we know that the Egyptian ‘essence’ within the Order was strong enough to sustain the magical rituals of people like Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley because we have their prolific writings to confirm it.  
 
The neophyte, having been given enough initial proof and encouragement that the pursuit of a long-dead Egyptian religion is not the product of a deranged mind, can begin to search out his or her own ‘essence’.  None of us know where or how we are going to find it; when it will ‘strike us down’ or why we should even want to search for it in the first place.  The author was struck down, aged four, by a series of black and white photographs taken during the Desert Campaign of WWII and, over fifty years later, there has been no signs of recovery.  Like the sands of Egypt, the ‘essence’ cannot be held in check once it has entered your veins.
 
A more popular, up-to-date approach to Egyptian Magick is that of Gerald and Betty Schueler which is based on Golden Dawn traditions but offers the necessary short-cuts rather than the neophyte (no doubt breathing a sigh of relief) having to plough through the largely incomprehensible rituals of Western Magical Orders. Using the different Paths as a guide (Primitive - ritualised magic; Heliopolitan - mystical, or Hermopolitan - devotional), the Adept can break down the widely used composite personalities of the gods used by the Schuelers and focus on the much more sharply defined deities for more precise, individual magical working.
 
The Schuelers’ method of working upholds occult belief that magical texts from The Book of the Dead provide a vital tradition of magic which has persisted through the ages (despite Geraldine Pinch’s scathing comments) to provide the basis of contemporary Western ritual magic.  The correct name for The Book of the Dead  is Chapters of  the Coming Forth by Day [E=Pert Em Hru] i.e. into the day- or sunlight.   This movement between light and darkness can be defined as the cycles of birth/waking and death/sleeping, symbolised by the sun falling into darkness at dusk, only to  be  reborn  again  with  the  dawn;  representing  not only a daily ritual but the human/divine life cycle.
 
The Book of the Dead cites six grades of magical attainment and  consciousness and having passed through each stage, the initiate assumes the relevant title, although the following are more pertinent  to group working where hierarchy needs to be firmly established.
 
1st Grade:  Master of the Earth [E=Tep-ta] is the lowest and most common for the Adept who can perform astral journeying.
 
2nd Grade: Master of the Hands [E=Tep-aau] is associated with the goddess Nuit and the god Hu (who personifies the authority of a word of command), the title being given to the Adept who has  control over all of his magical actions.
 
3rd Grade:  Master of the Temple [E=Tep-het] is associated with spiritual re-birth and the god Ptah.
 
4th Grade: Master of the Stone Mountain [E=Tepu-tu] was a title given to Anubis and refers to the funereal aspect of the pyramid.
 
 
5th Grade: Master of Fire [E=Nes-khet] is associated with Osiris and the title given to the Adept who can safely raise his consciousness through the Fire of Dispersion which lies in the Abyss.
 
6th Grade: Master of the Universe and the highest title given to Osiris.  This grade is for the Adept who can magically control his own rebirth.
 
Based on these grades, the Schuelers’ system refers to the use of a magical ‘body of light’ or astral form, representing the magical universe. “As the Magickal Universe is divided into many states and regions, so the Body of Light is divided into its subtle bodies.  The magician travels about in the Magickal Universe by shifting his consciousness into a corresponding subtle (astral) body.  While he travels about the Magickal Universe, his physical body is quiet as if asleep or in a coma.”  The six grades reflect the degree of competence attained by the Adept - but few will achieve them all in one life-time!
 
A considerable number of magical operations require an Adept to use the technique of assuming a god-form.  This ‘assuming the form’ was not a physical act, explains Gerald Schueler, since the magician transfers his consciousness to his body of light and then causes that subtle body to assume the form of the god or goddess.  “In addition to the appearance, the magician must also temporarily assume the personality characteristics of the god.  He/she must, in short, identify himself/herself with the god or goddess as much as possible.  To do this, the magician needs to know the characteristics of each deity before conducting the ritual.”
    
Your body of light can be entered using magical imagery, imagination and visualisation relating to the deity with whom you wish to work.  Achieve this by constructing the god-form and then thinking, speaking or acting as if you were that deity. Concentrate on an altar image of your god and imagine your body of light, or astral image, has the appearance of the deity.  Enter your astral image, still concentrating on the god-form and Will your body of light to take on this appearance.  The Schuelers’ suggest that it may be “helpful to place your physical body in a special position, or hold a special device similar to that held by the deity”.
 
Another method is to sit in front of a large mirror in a darkened room,  lit  only  by  a  solitary  candle.  By concentrating on a point beyond your own reflected image, you start to visualise the deity within your line of vision.  After a time, you should become aware of the floating sensation that normally accompanies astral journeying as your conscious mind registers that you are looking back into the room from the mirror.  You have, in effect, changed places with your own reflection.   This particular exercise, similar to the one described by Dion Fortune in Moon Magic, can take months of practice but it is well worth the effort just for the special effects!
     
The Book of the Dead translations used by the Schuelers’ in Egyptian  Magick  provide  a  valuable  workbook  of  rituals  and magical exercises for the neophyte, in addition to exercises for constructing amulets (a magically charged, or non-charged object that is carried or worn) and talismans (a charged object not normally worn).  Egyptian Magick and The Leyden Papyrus will provide endless  source  material  for  authentic  Egyptian  texts  for  both mystical and magical working and therefore should be considered as essential reading for anyone wishing to make a serious study of the subject.
 
This extract is taken from Liber Aegyptius: The Book of Egyptian Magic by Melusine Draco and published by Ignotus Press in 1998 : ISBN 0 9522689 4 9
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Summer Solstice

6/21/2020

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SHOMU-season (Harvest)
Fourth Month: Wp-rnpt
 
Day 8 – 21st June. Wadjet ceremony. If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Summer Solstice – the ancient New Year and the rising of Sirius. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
 
Aker: one of the earliest Egyptian earth gods and the deification of the horizon. He represents the horizon where the sun rises in the East and the sun sets in the West. He is believed to be protecting the sun god Re, as he enters the netherworld during sunset and returns to the land of the living at sunrise.
 
Text: Aker features prominently in the New Kingdom Book of Caverns and Book of the Earth, i.e., ‘of Aker’, a title suggested for it in the absence of a surviving title from antiquity. In the former, which charts the passage of Re by night through a series of caverns to visit Osiris, Aker, who has here seven assistants depicted as catfish-headed men, protects or encloses the corpse of Osiris, transmitting to him the revitalizing energy of Re, which renders the corpse ithyphallic in anticipation of its resurrection.
 
For thousands of years, the Nile flood would have reached Aswan by the last week in June (Summer Solstice) and reached its full height near Cairo by September. The floods would begin to subside about two weeks later to allow for the first crops planted in October and November to ripen in March and April when the river was at its lowest level. Another complication caused by six thousand years of precession (the gravitational pull by the sun and moon), meant that the Egyptian New Year now fell around 19th July (according to the old Julian calendar). Also, as a result of modern developments in Egypt, the annual flooding of the Nile has not happened since the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971.
 
The Calendar of Ancient Egypt: Melusine Draco (revised and expanded edition)
ISBN: 9781788765831 : Paperback :Pages 202 : €7.95
To order: https://www.feedaread.com/books/The-Calendar-of-Ancient-Egypt-9781788765831.aspx
Also available in Kindle e-book.
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The Ancient Egyptian Calendar

5/18/2020

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SHOMU-season (Harvest)
Third Month: Ipt-hmt
 
Day 1 – 15th May: A great feast in the southern Heaven. Every land and everybody starts jubilating. The Mistress of Heaven (Hathor) and every land are in festivity on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 16th May: Every god and every goddess spends the day in festivity in the sacred temple. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 17th May: Anger of the divine Majesty. Do not do anything on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 18th May: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 19th May: Do not go out of your house. Do not proceed on a boat. Do not do any work on this day. It is the day of the departure of the goddess to the place from whence she came. The heart of the gods is sad. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 20th May: Do not fight or make uproar in your house while every temple of the goddess is in like manner [mourning]. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 21st May: Sailing of the gods after the Majesty of the goddess … a flame which takes place in front of everybody on this day. [All the gods depart and a consecrated flame should be allowed to burn to guide their passage.] Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 22nd May: Do not beat anybody. Do not strike anybody. It is the day of the massacre of the followers of the Majesty of the goddess (Sekhmet). Sun rises in Gemini. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 23rd May: The gods are content (i.e. have returned to their respective temples) and they are happy because Re is at peace with the Akhet-eye. Every god is in festivity on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 24th May: The gods who are in the shrine, their hearts are sad (at having to return). Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 25th May: Do not perform any ritual on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 26th May: Holiday … reception of Re. His followers are in festivity, and everybody is in festivity. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 27th May: The Majesty of this god proceeds sailing westwards to see the beauty of Onnophris (Osiris) on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 28th May: Do not burn anything in your house in the way of flame with any of its glow on that day of the anger of the eye of Horus the Elder. [Traditionally all fires in the house should be extinguished for a day of fasting until sunset.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 29th May: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Horus hears your words in the presence of every god and every goddess on this day. You will see every good thing in your house. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 30th May: It is the day of the transmitting of Ma’at to the shrine by the Majesty of Re. The gods learnt that she was much blamed for this. [Justice is sometimes seen as blind even though it follows due process of the law.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 31st May: [Obscure entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 1st June: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. The Going Forth of Ma’at and Re in secret on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 2nd June: Do not do any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 3rd June: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 4th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 5th June: It is the day of Sepa in Tura coming from Heliopolis. [Sepa was a centipede-god who was invoked in charms and spells against dangerous creatures. Carry a talisman with this image for protection.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 6th June: It is a day of quarrelling and reproaching. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 7th June: [Obscure entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 8th June: Do not go out at mid-day, the great enemy [Apophis] is in the temple of Sekhmet. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 9th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 10th June: Do not go out of your house on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 11th June: Creating misery, and bringing terror into existence in conformity with the custom of what is in the year. [At this time of the year the Nile was at its lowest and this entry deals with the misery of the land when disease and pestilence were at their most dangerous.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 12th June: The Feast of Mut in Shera (a lake at Karnak) on this day. It is the day of feeding the gods and her followers. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 13th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
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The Gateway to the Temple - Part II

5/13/2020

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 Following the absorption of Egypt into the Roman Empire it was the cult of Isis that was transformed out of all recognition into a religion of mysteries, although it was still strongly influenced by Greek tradition.  Among the philosophers who accorded credence to the Egyptian mysteries, Philo, Plutarch and Plato probably feature the most. The consecration ceremonies of the Isian Mysteries are described in detail in The Golden Ass of Apuleius which contains a wealth of rituals, rites and festivals to celebrate the goddess.
 
Wallis Budge picks up on an interesting detail from Apuleius’s writings which demonstrates the views held by Isian worshippers of the time and just how many ‘foreign’ goddesses had been identified with her’.  He goes on to explain that The Golden Ass illustrates that Apuleius had no true knowledge of the actual position which Isis held in early Egyptian mythology, having ascribed to her the attributes which belong to Khepera, Atun, Re and Osiris.  “In short, he turned the Almighty God of the ancient Egyptians into a goddess …”
 
It is difficult to assess how far Isis was Hellenised in iconography and art when her cult was taken over by the Greeks (Isis in the Graeco-Roman World).  Author R E Witt suggests that she first became Greek and then Graeco-Roman, a statement supported by a quotation from Plutarch: “Isis belongs to Greece.”  The appeal of the Isis cult in the early centuries is persuasively presented and documented, especially its impact on budding Christianity with Witt suggesting that Isis was ‘the forerunner of Catholicism’s Mary, Mother of God’.  
    
The cult of Isis also made enormous strides in Italy.  In Vol. II of Osiris & the Egyptian Resurrection, Wallis Budge gives a long description of a ceremony from the temple of Isis at Pompeii around 65BCE.  From Rome the cult of Isis naturally spread to the provinces, and then to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Gaul and finally by way of Marseilles to Carthage and the countries of North Africa.  Although the Edict of Theodosius I (378-395CE) banned the worship of pagan deities, the worship of Isis continued at Philae until the reign of Justinian (527-565) when the temple at Philae was closed and its statues removed to Rome.
    
By the time the Graeco-Egyptian Hermetic literature had reached Rome it had also absorbed a wide range of cultures. Many of the original Egyptian gods, by being given Greek names, were more easily identifiable with the Graeco-Roman pantheons, not to mention Jewish, Persian, Babylonian, Gnostic and Christian influences.  As Christianity became the dominant religion in Egypt most of the ancient temples were closed down, although some Christian intellectuals were prepared to accept Hermes Trismegistus as a pagan but pious sage.  The Hermetic writings which are derived from copies of the Byzantine Period have, according to Geraldine Pinch, usually been purged of their magical elements.
    
After the Arabs conquered Egypt in 7AD the charms written by Coptic magicians (i.e. Christian Egyptians) were highly esteemed by the conquerors.  Both Arab and Coptic magic was strongly influenced by the introduction of the Qabalah, the magical tradition developed by the Jews, and so Solomon became a central figure in magical texts of the time. 
    
A different type of magic was preserved by the Arab scholars, including the famous Emerald Tablet which generally excites many gullible modern practitioners of the Egyptian Mysteries; Geraldine Pinch tells us that this is probably the work of an Arab alchemist from around 9AD.  From 12AD, European scholars began translating Arab sources although few genuine Hermetic manuscripts were known at this time in the West. Dr Christian Jacq maintains that the Coptic Christians of Egypt have never forgotten the ancient magic since there is evidence (Egyptian Magic) of them re-using many aspects of the rituals and magical practices which were used in Pharaonic times.
    
By the early medieval period the ‘Egyptian Hermes’ was being quoted as an authority on magic and astrology, continuing to inspire magical theory and practice right through the Renaissance to the early 17th century.  According to Pinch:  “Although the West still had no real knowledge of ancient Egyptian magical texts, Egypt retained its reputation as the source of magic and arcane wisdom during the 17th and 18th centuries ... and it was natural for movements such as the Rosicrucians and the Freemason to adopt Egyptian imagery for their secret rites.”
    
In 1781 a book was published which claimed an Egyptian origin for the tarot pack.  According to its author, Court de Gebelin, the 22 major trumps formed a ‘Book of Thoth’ which preserved the esoteric wisdom of ancient Egypt in complex symbols, whose meaning could only be recovered by contemplation.  In 1822, the French linguist, Jean Francois Champollion broke the key to the Rosetta Stone thereby making the hieroglyphic script accessible and by the late 19th century many dubious editions of Egyptian texts were available.  The French magus Eliphas Levi, considered to have produced the most important interpretations on the tarot, opined that there was a strong symbolic connection between the 22 cards of the major arcana and the Qabalah - which brings us full circle to the supposed Egyptian Mysteries of Iamblichus!
    
Echoing modern Egyptology’s disapproval of Wallis Budge’s continuing popularity with occultists, Geraldine Pinch comments:  “The only one to make a real impact on followers of the occult was a translation of The Book of the Dead by E A Wallis Budge, the Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum.  In the popular imagination this heterogeneous collection of funerary texts wrongly came to be regarded as the sacred book of the Egyptians.”   
    
Here we return to the age-old battle between historian and magician for the true esoteric meaning behind the ancient words.  Although scholars now refer to the  translations by R. O. Faulkner against Budge’s less reliable interpretations, it’s the latter’s work which appeals to the seeker after god-power.  It’s still Budge who can speak the ‘utterences’ that make the dead live again - not Faulkner.
    
Religious movements and secret societies of the 18-19th centuries continued to utilise Egyptian symbolism with many of them treating extracts from The Book of the Dead as the basis for initiation rites. In The Hiram Key, two Freemasons in search of ancient antecedents for their organisation claim that modern-day Masonics can be traced back to the concept of ma’at purely on the grounds that there could be no ‘clearer and more succinct description of Freemasonry’.  Ma’at in its pure form  symbolises  order,  truth and justice - a  concept  not  alien  to  many  other  Orders  of differing denominations.  Knight and Lomax also claim the sacred pillars representing  the  unification  of  the Two Lands of Egypt suggest another link  with  the  past  for  Freemasonry,  omitting  the  fact  that  dual columns also represent the ‘Pillars of Equilibrium’ in a magical Temple.
 
At best, Freemasonry might be able to claim certain parallels which have been adapted from translations available at the time but they remain firmly in the queue, along with other Orders whose scholarly founders were drawn to the esoteric splendour of ancient Egypt.  They also seem to (deliberately?) overlook the introduction of the ‘Egyptian Rite’ into Freemasonry by Cagliostro in the 18th century.  The fact that their Order uses Egyptian symbolism, ‘secret words’ and the ‘Universal Architect’ [E=Ptah]  merely proves accessibility to neo-classic Egyptian texts by those constructing the original rituals.  The organisation has no greater or  lesser claim to authenticity than the most famous ‘descendant’ of all - The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
    
The Golden Dawn, or Stella Matutina, was formed in 1887 and adopted a considerable amount of ancient Egyptian symbolism as part of its tradition - the temples or lodges being given names of Egyptian  deities.  The Order, studying the highest practical magic where men and women were admitted on equal terms was, according to esoteric author, Alan Richardson: “The genius of Moina and Samuel Liddell Mathers who formed a syzygy, which might be defined as the conjunction of two organisms without loss of identity.”
    
Occult legend claims that the Mathers met in the Egyptian Room at the British Museum and subsequently the temples had names such as Isis-Urania, Alpha et Omega, Amen-Ra, Osiris and Horus and although the Order expanded rapidly, membership only ever remained in the hundreds.  As Richardson observes in Priestess, unlike the Theosophic movement, the Golden Dawn demanded an extremely high level of academic ability in addition to discipline, commitment, imagination and ‘no little flair for the psycho-drama of ritual’. Each temple sported its own set of inner contacts which were manifestations of the individual or collective power of the deities to which the Temple was dedicated.
    
Dion Fortune, who later founded the Society of the Inner Light, was a member of the Alpha et Omega Temple (1919) as well as having apparently contradictory affiliations with The Science, Arts & Crafts Society, the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society and the Hermes Temple.  Richardson suggests that her Christian mysticism did not actually die; it merely retreated when her late marriage awakened her ‘dormant paganism’. It wasn’t until the late 1930s, however, that her strong mystical pagan-subconscious turned directly towards Egypt but students of the Egyptian Tradition would do well to read her novel Moon Magic as an introduction to the subject.
    
In taking the lease on The Belfry in West Halkin Street, off Belgrave Square, Fortune created her very own Temple of Isis. She still gave lectures but only ‘those entirely in tune with the Egyptian nature of the magic’ were admitted.  It was at The Belfry that she wrote Moon Magic, her last (1939-40) and one of the finest esoteric  novels ever written, which successfully blends Western Ritual Magic with the Egyptian Mystery Tradition as a blue-print for the 1900s and beyond.  For those with the eyes to see, Moon Magic does indeed act as a magical guide despite its highly readable fictional overtones.
    
In modern magical practice, the sympathetic multi-embodiment of the goddess-form is possibility nearer to traditional ancient Egyptian sources than the constrictions of the triple-goddess often found in contemporary Wicca.  The quadruple aspect makes a more coherent whole as a deity who waxes and wanes in a continuous cycle, as does her heavenly symbol, the moon. There is no abrupt change from crone to maiden as is the case when focus is directed towards a triple-goddess.
 
The maiden (new moon) opens the door between the worlds and steps through into our world.  As the moon waxes to maturity, her symbolic fertility grows and she becomes the mother, who stands in the place of power at the full moon. As the moon’s light wanes, her beauty dims and fertility fails; she becomes the crone who opens the door to the underworld but magically her age wanes, she grows younger, her dark beauty grows and strengthens.  The dark-queen rules the underworld, barren herself yet she gives the same gift of magical renewal to all souls who pass through her kingdom.  Her face is dark, black as the dark of the moon - Isis veiled and the Black Isis of Dion Fortune’s Moon Magic - but gradually as she grows ever-younger, the Maiden is once again revealed.  The maiden who opens the door from the Underworld and brings new life with her through into the physical world.”
    
The Western traditions of maiden-mother-crone can equally apply to the Bast/Hathor/Isis aspects within Egyptian mythology but for the Dark One - the Black Isis - the Adept should look towards the  primordial goddesses of Tefnut/Nut.  The dark goddess is the symbol of things in the shadows beyond ‘normal’ sight; of the vision  of the night, the dream; things seen by inner sight and the ability of  being able to sense happenings on the astral - all realms of the Dark One. 
    
In Western Ritual Magic the three days prior to menstruation is when the woman’s magical energies are at their most potent and it would be naive to suppose that this condition was unknown to the Egyptian priesthood.  The orgasm has often been called ‘the little death’ and so sexual magic is also one of the attributes of the dark– goddess. Temple sleep and astral travel also gives access to these realms, and by using scrying instruments we can develop the ability to see into this world. Perhaps this aspect of the goddess is ‘hidden’ and appears to live in darkness because people are blind to her possibilities. Tefnut/Nut is the key to greatly expanded awareness in all senses, but until we become aware of those  possibilities, they remain hidden in the darkness.
    
During the ‘dark of the moon’ (when many students are taught they should never attempt magical workings), things are broken down, re-absorbed, patterns are broken into chaos when they have outlived their purpose and are re-made; the dark of the moon is like Death in many ways and is symbolically the process which precedes birth. On the other hand, if the Adept naturally associates the dark of the moon with his or her own form of positive magic, then you will always be able to use this dark time for positive working, regardless of what anyone else may say.

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LIBER AEGYPTIUS

5/2/2020

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The Gateway to the Temple – Part I
 
Much of modern-day Egyptian-based magico-philosophy stems from the mingling of religious and philosophical literature which developed between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE.  In reality, the Hermetica, which is often passed off as the font of all classic Egyptian wisdom, is a collection of writings by an unknown Christian scholar, combining neo-Platonic, Qabalistic and Christian elements. 
    
As a result, no one is sure of their origin (or even if they are fakes, according to Eva Shaw), since there has been a continuing debate about their authenticity from the time of the Renaissance.  The works are referred to as Hermetica because the principal character in them is usually Hermes Trismegistus.  The name Trismegitus (thrice-greatest) shows that this is the Egyptian god Thoth (Tahuti) who, by this period in history (500BCE), had been equated with the Greek Hermes.  The epithet relates directly to an inscription in a temple at Isna, near Thebes: “Djeyeuty pa aa, pa aa, pa aa = Tahuti, the great, the great, the great”
    
Hermetic writings are in the form of dialogues in which the chief characters are Thoth/Tahuti himself in his Egyptian guise, the healing god Asclepius and his Egyptian counter-part Imhotep, Osiris, Amun, Isis and Horus.  Their purpose is to teach the understanding of God, man and the universe, with the authority of the ancient wisdom of Egypt.  But they rarely make full use of the pretence that the speakers are Egyptian gods and demi-gods, and there is little genuine early Egyptian tradition contained in the text. 
    
According  to  the  Hermetica  there  are  three  grades  in  the Egyptian  Mysteries  of  Hermes/Thoth/Tahuti, which do bear a remarkable (if unintentional) insight into the old stellar beliefs of the pre-dynastic period:
 
Mortals - those who are instructed but who have not yet gained inner vision.
 
Intelligences - those whose vision enabled them to tune into other life forms within the universe
 
Beings of Light - those who have become light.
 
The entry in the occult encyclopaedia, Man, Myth & Magic, openly states  that  originality  is  not  a  virtue  of  the  Hermetica since the writings contain scarcely a paragraph which cannot be considered as a development or continuation of older and more original ideas.   “Almost all the material is drawn from Greek philosophy, with a little from ancient Egyptian beliefs and Mesopotamian astrology ... often debasing or even mutilating the original thought.  Like most magical or mystical writings it is not remarkable for consistency of thought or uniformity of terminology, and the versions which have come down to us are crowded with obscurities and contradictions.”
    
Other widely used source material comes from the Egyptian Mysteries of Iamblichus (first published in 1911) which are another series of ‘dialogues’ although little is known about the author or precisely  when  it  was  written.  Occult  lore  appears  to accept the author as being a ‘representative of the Alexandrian School’ and a neo-Platonist, giving the date of the text as being 4CE.   Modern research into the text refutes these claims, however, since the content ‘deals with eternal mystical and philosophical questions of the creation of the cosmos …’ neither does it contain any fragments or references to an initiation ritual as is often claimed by occultists.
    
Iamblichus was recognised as an accomplished sorcerer who would have been familiar with the initiation rites of Egypto-Coptic mysteries, the theosophical doctrines, religious beliefs and magical rituals. Nevertheless, contemporary scholars find that his work bears no  resemblance  to  the  famous  initiatory  text On the Mysteries, particularly  those  of  the  Egyptians,  Chaldeans  &  the  Assyrians, usually attributed to him.  Neither do the translations of Iamblichus by Taylor (1821), Quillard (1895) and Hopfner (1921) contain ‘a single passage which is related to or identical with’ the text claimed to have been preserved by the 4th century CE sorcerer.
    
This is not to say that there is nothing worthy of note in the Weiser version of the Egyptian Mysteries.  It does smack, perhaps too conveniently, of a massaged text that now identifies easily with the 22-Paths of the major arcana of the Tarot.  Especially when the translator is identified as Jean-Baptiste Pitois, a student of Eliphas Levi, the great 19th century magus whose greatest contribution to modern occultism was - the Qabalistic discoveries relating to the 22-Paths of the Tarot!  Unlike the translation of the The Leyden Papyrus, which  dates  from  around  the  same  time, Egyptian Mysteries must be viewed with a hefty pinch of scepticism.
     
The  Hermetica,  The  Egyptian  Mysteries  and  The  Leyden Papyrus  offer  up  Greek  influenced  records  from  the beginning of the Christian era and therefore only reflect magico-religious practice from a decayed Egypt. Judging by the confusion from the end of the New Kingdom over the country’s traditional cultural identity, it is highly doubtful whether these late records can claim any degree of authority as to the ‘pure’ esoteric practices of the Early Period.  The Leyden Papyrus is believed to be the textbook of a practising sorcerer of the period, including spells, sex magical rituals, incantations and various other occult information which may be of more practical use to the neophyte interested in magic rather than philosophy.
 
Part II to follow …
 

 

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THE MAGIC OF COLOUR

4/18/2020

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​In Magic in Ancient Egypt, Geraldine Pinch records that although the colours of clothing, utensils or ingredients used in magic were carefully chosen, Egyptian colour-terms do not directly correspond with our own.  Shades of yellow, red and orange can all be described by one word because they all occur in fire.  Black and green were positive and powerful colours linked with growth and regeneration.  Blue and turquoise were heavenly colours.  Red was a very powerful colour linked with the solar deities; this power  could be harnessed  by the magician by using the red ribbons of the seven Hathors. The colour was also associated with Set and the ink made from flaming red poppies was used in writing spells to invoke him.
​[British Museum Press]


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THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CALENDAR

4/18/2020

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SHOMU-season (Harvest)
Second Month: Payni
Day 1 – 15th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn. The lack of celebration and public feast days in the calendar continues to reflect the preoccupation with working on the land. The harvest season meant that every available pair of hands were required to gather in the crops.
Day 2 – 16th April: O heart of the gods, listen well … The crew of Re is in festivity. [Refers to the crew of the solar barque.] Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 17th April: The month of the followers of Re. A day is fixed in heaven and on earth as a feast. [A time of public celebration.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 18th April: A feast day for Geb and Nut – possibly a celebration of fruitfulness. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 19th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 20th April: A feast day for Horus who is celebrated in his guise as protector of his father Onnophris (Osiris) on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 21st April: Do not go out of your house during waking time … Re is in the horizon. It is the day of the executioners of Sekhmet counting by names. [An anniversary of the slaughtering of the human race.] Sun rises in Taurus. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 22nd April: Make a holiday for Re and his followers – make a good day on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 23rd April: Make incense of sweet herbs for his (Re) followers while pleasing him on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 24th April: Anyone born on this day will be noble. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 25th April: Do not sail in a boat on the river. It is the day of catching birds and fish by the followers of Re. [Obviously a warning not to incur the wrath of the gods.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 26th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 27th April: Feast of Wedjet in Dep and her followers are also in festivity when singing and chanting take place on the day of offering the incense and all kinds of sweet herbs. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 28th April: [Obscure entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 29th April: Do not judge yourself on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 30th April: Anyone born on this day will die a great man amongst his people. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 1st May: Do not go out on it. Do not do anything, or any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 2nd May: Do not eat meat on this day. It is the day of the Going Forth of Khenti (Osiris) of the god’s house when he goes out to the august mountain (West). A day of fasting and prayer. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 3rd May: The Ennead sails, they are much in the entire land. It is the judging of the Great Ones on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 4th May: Do not go out in any wind on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 5th May: It is the day of the living-w’rty, the children of Nut. Do not go out until daybreak. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 6th May: Disturbance below and uproar of the gods of the kri-shrines on this day when Shu was complaining to Re about the Great Ones of infinity. Do not go out in it. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 7th May: The crew rest when they see the enemy (Apophis) of their master (Re). [Set protected Re from the attack by Apophis in order to prevent the return to Chaos.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 8th May: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 9th May: Everything and everybody is pacified. It is pleasant to the gods and Re. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 10th May: The Going Forth of Neith. She treads this day in the flood in order to look for things of Sobek (her son). Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 11th May: Do not do any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 12th May: Purifying things and offerings in Busiris. The gods spend the day in festivity. Act in accordance with that which happens on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 13th May: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 14th May: The Going Forth of Shu with the intention of bringing back the Wedjet-eye, and appeasing Thoth on this day. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.

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THE CALENDAR OF ANCIENT EGYPT

3/24/2020

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​SHOMU-season (Harvest)
First Month: Pakhons
 
Day 1 – 16th March: Feast of Horus, son of Isis and his followers on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 17th March: Do not sail in any wind on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 18th March: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 19th March: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Follow Horus on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 20th March: Feast of Ba-neb-dedet on this day. [Ba-neb-dedet was the ram-god of Djet wrongly translated by Greek historians as ‘the Goat of Mendes’.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 21st March: Coming of the Great Ones from the House of Re, rejoicing on this day when they receive the Wedjet-eye, together with their followers. If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Spring Equinox (Autumn in Egypt). Sun rises in Aries. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 22nd March: The crew follow Horus in the foreign land … Every land is happy, and their heart is glad … Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 23rd March: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 24th March: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 25th March: The proceeding of the White One of Heaven [Feast day of Osiris]. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 26th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 27th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 28th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 29th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 30th March: Do not go out of your house until Re sets in the horizon. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 31st March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe –not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 1st April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 2nd April: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 3rd April: A feast day of Thoth and Ma’at. All the gods are in great festivity. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 4th April: Ma’at judges in front of the gods who became angry. The Majesty of Horus revised (over-ruled) it. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 5th April: [Obscure text.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 6th April: Anyone born on this day will die of old age. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 7th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 8th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 9th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 10th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 11th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 12th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 13th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 14th April: Feast of … happiness. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
 

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The Ancient Egyptian Calendar

2/28/2020

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The Egyptian Book of Days provides an insight into both the religious and everyday aspects of ancient Egyptian life. It also introduces the seeker to genuine religious texts (in the form of prayers or invocations, including prayer times), and offers a general overview of Egyptian belief that makes it possible to see a living, breathing people – not just exhibits in a museum.
 
The new edition of the Calendar has been extended to include mini-biographies of the deities whose feast-days are being celebrated on each particular day, details of ritual offerings, holy places and sacred sites – not to mention the gossip and harem scandals that were recorded on ostraca – fragments of pottery shards - that were scattered the length and breadth of Egypt.
 
The Egyptian Books of Days has been compiled from the Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri lodged in the British Museum; the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris; the Staatliche Museum in Berlin; the Rijksmuseum in Leiden; and the Sallier Papyrus IV (No.10184); The Cairo Calendar (No.86637) currently lodged in the British and Cairo Museums and the Temple Festival Calendars of Ancient Egypt by Sherif el-Sabban.

 
 
The Calendar of Ancient Egypt - the revised and expanded edition compiled by Melusine Draco, is published by Ignotus Press UK ISBN 978 1 78876 583 1.   Order direct from the publisher to qualify for the special price.   https://www.feedaread.com/books/The-Calendar-of-Ancient-Egypt-9781788765831.aspx

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