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Ancient Egypt Magazine

Issue Seven ­ June / July 2001

Nine Measures of Magic Part 1: Heka, its theological aspects and importance to the fabric of the Egyptian cosmos The genius of the ancient Egyptians was renowned throughout the ancient world. Egyptian magic, in particular, was feared and envied by Egypt’s neighbours. Our own view of this,

argues Dr Panagiotis Kousoulis of the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, is coloured by 19th and 20th century interpretations of the Egyptian Heka. He reveals that understanding Heka, magic, is fundamental to our appreciation of the Egyptian cosmos. Heka was a natural force, but it could also be represented as a god in human

form.

Vignette illustrating part of the spell 23 of the Book of the Dead, referring to the opening­of­the­mouth ceremony for the deceased. Although the opening­of­the­mouth

ceremony is mainly a funerary ritual, it bears strong magical connotations. The

rejuvenating aspect of Heka was used by the sem­priest/magician to revive the deceased by raising ritual implements to the mouth. Funerary papyrus of Hunefer, probably from

Memphis, 19th Dynasty (c. 1310 BC). BM 9901/5 (R. O. Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, London 1985, 54). Magic permeates Egyptian society

In studying ancient societies, magical and ritual sources have tended to be under­exploited, partly for their superficial inaccessibility, and partly because they have been disreputably attractive to the “esoteric” fringe. These sources do, however, provide a number of detailed insights into the relationship between real and practical behaviour and the religious, ideological explanation of that behaviour. That holds especially true for ancient Egypt, which has long been recognised as the land of myth and magic. This is best reflected in an ancient text: “Ten measures of magic have come into this world. Egypt received nine of them, the rest of the world only one measure.” Magical beliefs and practices played a very prominent role within the socio­religious morals and behaviour of the ancient Egyptians, interfering in almost every aspect of Egyptian life at all levels of society. Egyptian magic covers a time­span of almost 4000 years: the earliest protective amulets date back to the 4th millennium BC, while written magical spells make their first appearance in 3000 BC, and continue in use until the 5th century AD.

Anthropological misunderstandings In the last two centuries, various scholars, primarily from the fields of anthropology and sociology (Taylor, Frazer, Evans­Pritchard, Durkheim, Mauss, Malinowski, Goode, Brown, Smith andTambiah, to mention but a few), have produced works reflecting the interest of scientific investigators in the magical beliefs and practices of the ancient world. Their work, which was based mainly on observations of the social and magico­religious behaviour of primitive cultures, was directed towards the assumption of a “universal definition of magic.” Having been influenced to a great extent by generalised Judaeo­Christian theological assumptions and prejudices about the unorthodoxy and illegality of such practices, they tended to clearly differentiate magic from religion. The former was regarded as a “lower, mechanistic system” of words and actions, which demanded hybris and blasphemy from its devotees. Religious practice, on the other hand, consisted of noble and pious rituals expressing a standard theology. Thus, magic was stigmatised as illegal and antisocial behaviour and that illegality is “the one universal characteristic” of magic. All the first historical studies on Egyptian magic seem to be “coloured” by this conjectural difference between “positive/beneficent” and “negative/hostile” actions, consisting of either pious, religious acts, or irreverent, blasphemous magical performances. For example, the British Egyptologist Alan Gardiner recognised two categories of actions: “ordinary” and “magical” actions. The first could be treated with knowledge acquired naturally, by education or habit, while the latter could only be fulfilled with the aid of Heka, which he translates as “magical power.” He also differentiates them from all the other kinds of religious and cultic acts, such as “the cult of the dead” or “the cult of the gods”, which are “implicitly classed together as ‘religion’.” Thus, he redefines magic as “private religion” and divides magical practice, according to the aims the performers want to obtain, into defensive, productive, prognostic and malevolent magic. Another prominent Egyptologist, J. Borghouts, follows the same categorisation 58 years later and elaborates on this theme by dividing the category of destructive magic into “evil sorcery and witchcraft”. The latter term was an obvious loan from contemporary European anthropological theories and its application within the general framework of Egyptian magical practice is problematic.

The “Harim Conspiracy”: a case of black magic?

The case that is usually referred to as “witchcraft” or “black magic” is the “Harim Conspiracy” against the Pharaoh Ramesses III (Nineteenth Dynasty, c. 1186­1154BC). Here the magical process took the form of written magical spells, inscribed wax figurines and specially prepared potions, which, according to the partially preserved trial records, were produced by a priest/magician with the aid of several other functionaries. The conspirators failed to kill the king and they received the death sentence for the “great capital crime” they had intended to commit: rebellion against the legitimate state authorities. It was the hidden, insidious and rebellious intentions that were actually condemned in the above conspiracy and not the method that was used. The latter could equally have been a knife or sword, instead of a magical technique. So, the only accusation for “black magic” known from Ancient Egypt has failed to have parallels, or, further, to be equated with the well­known witchcraft trials from medieval times, or those reported among primitive tribes studied by anthropologists. Thus, any fixed and standard definition that tries to explain the theoretical and performative context behind the notion of Egyptian Heka by comparing it with non­Egyptian possession and use of magic, should be regarded at least as erroneous.

Heka, God of magic (far left), stands with the goddess Maat behind the throne of Osiris. Funerary papyrus of the priestess Nesitanebetisheru, c. 950 BC. EA 10554/88, British Museum

(Pinch 1994, 11, fig 2)

The creative aspect of Egyptian magic The Egyptian term for magic, Heka (HkA), was used throughout the Pharaonic period until Roman times. It was succeeded by the Coptic word Hik (xik), which was equated with the Greek wordmagia. The best definition ofHeka in Egyptian terms comes from funerary spell 261 that was inscribed on a Middle Kingdom sarcophagus. The spell is entitled “To become the god Heka”: “I am he whom the Lord of all made before duality had yet come into being … I am the son of him who gave birth to the universe … I am the protection of that which the Lord of all has ordained … I am he who gave life to the Ennead of gods … I have come to take my position that I may receive my dignity. Because to me belonged the universe before you gods had come into being. You have come afterwards because I am Heka.” So, the notion of Heka existed before the creation of divine and mundane world and it was the cause for the emanation of cosmos. It was the “life­giving energy” which was conceived in the mind of the creator god and expressed as “divine logos”. According to the Memphite theology, as expressed in the inscriptions on a late period monument the Shabako Stone, the creation of each human or divine being and, in general, of everything that exists in the universe, by the creator god Ptah, was achieved through the verbal manifestation of the divine thought and its correct pronunciation as “logos,” (Hw), or “word, command” (mdt). The divine “logos” had as encrypted point of reference the abstract, symbolic notion of “name.” By “proclaiming the name of everything” Ptah gave birth, initially, to Shu and Tefnut and consequently to the whole Ennead) (group of nine gods). Without the notion of Heka creation was not possible. All the gods and human beings came afterwards as a result of this divine creativity caused by Heka, made manifest by the spoken words of Ptah. Another epithet for Heka was “the one who consecrates imagery” (HkA­kA). It refers exactly to the primeval generative attribute of Heka to empower the creator’s divine thoughts and actions and translate them into their substantial equivalent in the visual and material world. Heka was the animation force behind every ritual act, state or private, beneficent or hostile. Since the creation of the “first time” was re­enacted in the daily temple ritual, “the ritual of the opening of the mouth,” every morning, the power of Heka was present in every ritual activity.

Heka visualised The creative act of Heka is personified and depicted on the solar bark of the creator god Re. In company with Su (“creative logos”) and Sia (“perception”), Heka re­enacts the creation of the first time and the separation of heaven and earth. The theological manifestation of Heka is also present in tomb and temple representations as early as the Old Kingdom. In the Fifth Dynasty funerary temple of the king Sahure, Heka heads a procession of nome (regional) deities bearing offerings to the king. In late period documents and on the walls of the Ptolemaic temples of Dendera, Edfu, Kom Ombos and Philae,Heka appears as one of the fourteen kas of the sun­god Re, an idea that was already present in the Middle Kingdom Coffin Texts. For example, in Coffin spell 261 Heka styles himself as “Lord of kas.” In the so­called underworld books, the corpus of texts and scenes inscribed on the walls of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the godHeka protects the sun god Re during his night journey in the Netherworld (Amduat).Heka appears among the crew of the solar bark exorcising Apophis, the eternal serpentine demonic enemy of the sun god. The fight usually takes place in the seventh hour of the night when the evil serpent tries to stop the movement of the solar bark by hypnotising the crew. Apophis is defeated by virtue of the magic (Heka)

of the goddess Isis and the “eldest magician” (Heka Semeshw). The qualification ofHeka as “elder” should be seen as a reference to his primordial status as first­born son of Re.

Magic and Temple ritual

A re­enactment of Apophis’s defeat takes place daily in cultic ceremonies in all the major temples. The ritualist, magician/priest, plays the role of the god Heka and executes the serpent of chaos by smiting, breaking or burning his wax image. In the Late Period document, the Papyrus Bremner­Rhind, there are magical instructions of how to make wax figurines of the serpentine demon or other divine or human enemies: “This spell is to be recited over (an image of) Apophis drawn on a new sheet of papyrus in green ink, and (over a figure of) Apophis in red wax. See his name is inscribed on it in green ink. To be spat upon, smitten with a knife. To be put on the fire. It is a burning in a fire of bryony.” This magical procedure “was performed daily in the temple of Amun­Re, Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, who dwells in Karnak.” So, in ancient Egypt magic was closely interconnected with the religious activities and form of the state and it was not only the concern of individuals performing rituals for their own benefit. Magical rituals were performed as part of religious festivals. That is best illustrated in the Ptolemaic festival in favour of Horus of Edfu (the Behdetite), celebrated over a fourteen day period at Edfu, where images of the serpent Apophis, together with those of hippopotami and crocodiles, symbolic of the god Seth, are used in execration rituals against the enemies of Horus. The rituals were completed with the“striking of the eye” (of Apophis), the offering of the hippopotamus cake, the “trampling of fishes” and “destruction of all the enemies of the king.” At the temple of Esna, the ritual against Apophis was developed within the proper cultic liturgy in favour of the goddess Sekhmet on the first day of the year. It was performed by the same Sekhmet­priest, for there was not a caste of professional magicians in Ancient Egypt. This magical work was considered as just one of many priestly duties and the literate lector­priest (khary­hebet) was at the same time a public servant of the cult and a private practitioner of magic. Also, the spells and techniques of Heka, about which we shall talk in detail in a future article, are those of temple ceremony: invocation of gods as assistants in the magical operation (divine speech), erasure of names and mutilation of images (damnatio memoriae), threats, enumeration of the human bodily parts that are ascribed to particular deities (lists), just to mention a few. The Pharaoh was responsible for defeating chaos (isefet) and maintaining order (maat). This antithesis between order and chaos is not regarded as an exclusive subject of the magical rituals, but it permeates almost every cultic activity. Order versus chaos provides a crucial theme of reference in Egyptian ritual. Ritual is central to both religion and magic. It consists of the main point of reference, composed of a sequence of actions that express and fulfil certain purposes through the mobilising of specific mythological or “theological” events. So Heka, as a mobilised force within a certain performative environment, could be considered as a personification of the power of ritual. In the Middle Kingdom teaching of Amenemhat I, there is a definition of Heka that clearly shows its protective and apotropaic / ritualistic nature: “He ( the sun god) gave to them (mankind) magic (Heka) as weapon in order to repel the strokes of bad events.” These beliefs were not only held as intellectual ideas, but acted out in the daily ritual in temples.

For the Ancient Egyptians magic as Heka is a neutral, amoral creative force that is not opposed to religion but which animates it. This approach to Egyptian magic helps us to study the anthropology and sacred praxis (work) of Heka rather than to see it as a compilation of superstitions and popular beliefs

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Heka: The magic of ancient Egypt

.....to me belonged the universe before you gods had come into being. You have come afterwards because I am Heka.

Coffin texts, spell 261 [2] First Intermediate Period to Middle Kingdom All religions have a magical aspect [1], ancient religions like the Egyptian, according to which all of creation was animated to some extent, perhaps more so than many others. Through magic the creation had come into being and was sustained by it. Thus, magic was more ancient, and consequently more powerful, than the gods themselves I am one with Atum when he still floated alone in Nun, the waters of chaos, before any of his strength had gone into creating the cosmos. I am Atum at his most inexhaustible ­ the potence and potential of all that is to be. This is my magic protection and it's older and greater than all the gods together!

Book of the Dead, New Kingdom It was also the extraordinary means for acquiring knowledge about one's surroundings ­ above all the hidden parts of them ­ and gaining control over them. Gods, demons and the dead could be implored, cajoled or threatened. Their help could be enlisted to avert evil or achieve one's desires. Magic was accepted by all ancient peoples as a real force. The Hebrew tradition which was strongly opposed to it, did not deny its efficacy, but rather extolled the even greater magical power of its own god: 8 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron saying, 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 The Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

Exodus 7 [29] about 6th or 5th century BCE

Egyptian magical thinking continued to influence Europe. Thoth, god of wisdom and learning, was identified with the Greek Hermes Trismegistus. He was thought by the Hermetists to have originated the Hermetica, 42 books of magic [12].

Isis lactans 26th dynasty

The worship of Isis, of whom the Metternich Stela (4th century BCE) says "I am Isis the goddess, the possessor of magic, who performs magic, effective of speech, excellent of words," became widespread throughout the Roman empire. She was the original mother of god, Isis lactans feeding her son Horus, which Christianity adopted as the Madonna. Her role as protectress is reflected in the Marian cult.

Acquiring magical powers

While its efficiency in the hands of mortal practitioners was perhaps often less than had been hoped for, magic attracted people because it was practical and made sense. Everything had a reason, often hidden to the ordinary person, but revealed to the knowledgeable.

Magical spell written in Coptic Picture source: Duke Papyrus Archive

Magic explained the relationships between causes and effects using ideas people could relate to. Analogies and symbolisms were widely used, the sympathetic principle of like affecting like was invoked, associations, be they pure coincidence, were imbued with meaning, and historic occurrences became predictors for the future. There were even prescribed ways for explaining why expected results had not materialized. It appears that, originally, the Egyptians, like some other peoples who practiced ritual cannibalism, thought that spiritual powers resided in the body and could be acquired by ingestion. There is no evidence, though, that such a view was more than speculative and ever acted upon. The king orders sacrifices, he alone controls them, the king eats humans, feeds on gods, he has them presented on an altar to himself, he has agents to do his will. He fires off the orders! ............

The king eats their magic, he gulps down their souls, the adults he has for breakfast, the young are lunch, the babies he has for supper, the old ones are too tough to eat, he just burns them on the altar as an offering to himself.

Pyramid Texts 273­4, Old Kingdom translated by Jacob Rabinowitz [5]

Magic was tightly bound up with writing, although there must have been an extensive purely oral tradition which was never recorded and is therefore lost to us. Most practitioners gained magical knowledge by studying ancient scriptures [20]. Chief among them were the lector­priests, the only clerics who were fully professional since the beginning of recorded history. They were the keepers of the sacred books.

The practitioners of magic

Magical knowledge and power emanated from the gods and was bestowed upon their servants, the kings ... Utterance of all the gods, [to] Amon­Re: "This thy daughter [Hatshepsut], who liveth, we are satisfied with her in life and peace. She is now thy daughter of thy form, whom thou hast begotten, prepared. Thou hast given to her thy soul, thy [...], thy [bounty], the magic powers of the diadem......

The coronation of Hatshepsut 18th dynasty

Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part 2, § 220 Come glorious one; I have placed (thee) before me; that thou mayest see thy administration in the palace, and the excellent deeds of thy ka's that thou mayest assume thy royal dignity, glorious in thy magic, mighty in thy strength.

Thutmose I, summoning his daughter to be crowned 18th dynasty

Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part 2, § 235

... and their substitutes in the service of the gods, the priesthood. But there were also less exalted magicians who did not deal with life and death, but with more mundane issues like good luck charms, pest control or love potions.

Ay dressed as High Priest performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony Tomb KV 62, 18th dynasty

Picture source: Lionel Casson Ancient Egypt Sometimes spells fell into the wrong hands. Anybody capable of reading could use them [17], and, at times, some did so with evil intentions. Now, when Penhuibin, formerly overseer of herds, said to him: "Give to me a roll for enduing me with strength and might," he gave to him a magic roll of Usermare­Meriamon (Ramses III), L.P.H., the Great God, his lord, L.P.H., and he began to employ the magic powers of a god upon people.

Records of the Harem Conspiracy against Ramses III20th dynasty To the ordinary mortal magic could be dangerous, and coming into physical contact with the divine deadly. The accidental touching of the royal sceptre even by a sem priest had to be counteracted by the king's spell, and the incident was serious enough to be recorded: The king of Upper and Lower Egypt Neferikare appeared as King of Lower Egypt on the day of the seizing of the anterior rope of the God's barque. There was the sem priest Rewer before his majesty in his office of sempriest, responsible for the clothing. The ames sceptre which was in the hand of his majesty, touched the foot of the sem priest Rewer. His majesty said to him: "May you be well!" ­ thus spoke his majesty.

Behold, his majesty said: "It is desirable to my majesty that he may be well, without a blow for him." Behold, he is more esteemed by his majesty than any other man. His majesty ordered to have (it) put in writing on his tomb which is in the necropolis. His majesty caused a record to be made about it, written in the presence of the king himself in the district of the palace, in order to write down according to what had been said in his tomb which is in the necropolis.

From the tomb of Rewer (5th dynasty) [24]

Practical purposes

Magic had important pragmatic aspects, which were exploited to achieve the aims of humans, dead or alive, spirits, and gods: Creation of the world by Ptah, the self­fertilization of Amen or Khnum's shaping of man from clay were all deeds unachievable by ordinary means. He (Ptah) gave birth to the gods, He made the towns, He established the nomes, He placed the gods in their shrines, He settled their offerings, He established their shrines, He made their bodies according to their wishes.

From the Shabaka Stone, 25th dynasty

The giving of birth was not just miraculous, but also dangerous, and the newly born was especially vulnerable.

Birth brick Picture source: University of Pennsylvania Museum website [2]

Birth bricks [2] on which the woman in labour crouched, were decorated with depictions of Hathor and other goddesses and were believed to bestow protection on the mother and above all her baby, and charms were used to guard children from evil demons [18]. Boys appear to have been favoured by their parents and given better protection, e.g. only boy's names are mentioned on apotropaic wands carved of ivory and decorated with pictures of protective deities.[25] The dead and their resting place needed protecting too and, as history has proven, ancient curses turned out to be most ineffective The elder of the house of Meni, he says: A Crocodile against him in the water. A snake against him on land. He will do something against that same one. At no time did I do anything against him. It is God who will judge.

Inscription in the tomb of Meni, 6th Dynasty, at Giza Amulets were worn by the living and given to the dead to empower and ward off evil [21]. Some mummies had dozens of scarabs packed into their bandages. He (the sun god) created for them magic as a weapon, to fend off the blows of the happenings.

The teachings of Merikare, Middle Kingdom After Jan Assmann Ägypten ­ Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur, p.72

As diseases were thought to be caused by spirits, healing was a magical science: the giving of medicines and the nursing care were accompanied by spells designed to expel these pathogenic agents. Get thee back, thou enemy, thou dead man or woman ... Thou dost not enter into his phallus, so that it grows limp. Thou dost not cast seed into his anus (?) ...

Gardiner, Theban Ostraca, C 1, p.13­15 According to the Bentresh Stela, describing an apparently fictitious medical case in the strange far­off country of Bekhten, when the daughter of the chief fell ill, the statue of Khonsu­the­Plan­Maker, Great God, Smiter of evil Spirits was sent from Egypt: Then this god went to the place where Bentresh was. Then he wrought the protection of the daughter of the chief of Bekhten. She became well immediately. Then said the spirit which was in her before Khonsu­the­Plan­Maker­in­Thebes: "Thou comest in peace, thou great god, smiting the barbarians......... I am thy servant. I will go to the place whence I came, to satisfy thy heart concerning that, on account of which thou comest .........."

Bentresh Stela possibly 27th dynasty or later

James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part Three, § 443 f. Physicians, priests and magicians ­ no clear demarcation line appears to have separated these, to our eyes very different, callings ­ seemingly worked according to quite strict guidelines as to how the body was to be examined, how the results were to be interpreted and which treatments were to be performed and which were not. There are vessels in every limb of the body. When some physician, some sakhmet priest, some magician lays his finger on the head, on the back of the head, on the hands, on the place of the heart, on both arms and both legs, then he will feel the heart, as there are vessels in every limb of the body and it (i.e. the heart) 'speaks' at the beginning of the vessels of all body parts.

Ebers Papyrus, col. 99, Middle Kingdom The more radical cures, like Isis restoring Osiris to life or Khufu's magician Djedi re­attaching cut­off heads belonged strictly to the realms of mythology or fancy. The acquisition of knowledge concerning spiritual beings or the future enhanced a person's control over his destiny. One path to such knowledge was theinterpretation of dreams, which was also used for justifying one's actions or legitimizing one's power: In year 1, of his coronation as king ...... his majesty saw a dream by night: two serpents, one upon his right, the other upon his left. Then his majesty awoke, and he found them not. His majesty said: "Wherefore [has] this [come] to me?" Then they answered him, saying: "Thine is the Southland; take for thyself (also) the Northland. The two goddesses shine upon thy brow, the land is given to thee, in its length and its breadth. [No] other divides it with thee."

Stela of Tanutamen 25th dynasty

James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part Four § 922

The power attained through magic could serve many purposes, good or evil. It could be used to manipulate people's behaviour or feelings as the many love­spells prove [23]. According to the writings of Pseudo­Callisthenes Nectanebo II used magic to defend his country from outside enemies.

Magical stela, middle of 4th century BCE => Picture source: Metropolitan Museum [7]

Whenever he was threatened with invasion by sea or by land he succeeded in destroying the power of his enemies, and in driving them from his coasts or frontiers; and this he did by the following means. If the enemy came against him by sea, instead of sending out his sailors to fight them, he retired into a certain chamber, and having brought forth a bowl which he kept for the purpose, he filled it with water, and then, having made wax figures of the ships and men of the enemy, and also of his own men and ships, he set them upon the water in the bowl, his men on one side, and those of the enemy on the other.

He then came out, and having put on the cloak of an Egyptian prophet and taken an ebony rod in his hand, he returned into the chamber, and uttering words of power he invoked the gods who help men to work magic, and the winds, and the subterranean demons, which straightway came to his aid. By their means the figures of the men in wax sprang into life and began to fight, and the ships of wax began to move about likewise; but the figures which represented his own men vanquished those which represented the enemy, and as the figures of the ships and men of the hostile fleet sank through the water to the bottom of the bowl, even so did the real ships and men sink through the waters to the bottom of the sea. In this way he succeeded in maintaining his power, and he continued to occupy his kingdom in peace for a considerable period.

E. A. Wallis Budge Egyptian Magic [4] Through death a person lost his power over his body. In order for him to pass safely through the underworld his mummy's sensual functions had to be restored. This was done in the ceremony of the opening of the mouth. Statues were similarly empowered. There was no tradition of magic that was evil in itself, what we would refer to as Black Magic, but magic could be abused and was in these instances treated as criminal behaviour, though possibly especially abhorrent. Both in the Rollin and the Lee Papyrus the deeds of magicians who had supported a conspiracy against Ramses III were called "great crimes of death", "the abominations of the land" or the like, probably because the victim had been the king himself.

The practice of magic

The [magician Horus­son­of] Paneshe returned [quickly]; he brought his books and his amulets to [where Pharaoh] was. He recited a spell to him and bound an amulet on him, to prevent the sorceries of the Nubians from gaining power over him. He [went] out from Pharaoh's presence, took his offerings and libations, went on board a boat, and hastened to Khmun. He went to the temple of Khmun, [made his] offerings and his libations before Thoth, the eight­times great, the lord of Khmun, the great god. He made a prayer before him saying: "Turn your face to me, my lord Thoth! Let not the Nubians take the shame of Egypt to the land of Nubia! It is you who [created] magic [spells]. It is you who suspended the sky, who founded the earth and the netherworld, who placed the gods with ....... Let me know how to save Pharaoh [from the sorceries of the] Nubians!"

From the story Prince Khamwas and Si­Osire [3]

Preparations

In order for magic spells to succeed elaborate preparations had to be made at times: It was generally wise not to choose an unlucky day, the time (dusk and dawn were especially auspicious) and place (often a dark chamber, a dark recess, a clean dark cell or a secret dark place) had to be appropriate, and, as is only proper for such spiritual endeavours, the ingredients, the medium and the magician had to be suitable, which generally meant that they had to be ritually pure: If it be that you do not apply (?) purity to it, it does not succeed; its chief matter is purity [9]. Thus in one divination spell a boy who has not been with a woman as medium was required, in another one could address the moon after being pure for three days. Implements and ingredients too needed to be acceptable, either new or carefully cleansed: You go to a dark chamber with its [face] open to the South or East in a clean place: you sprinkle it with clean sand brought from the great river; you take a clean bronze cup or a new vessel of pottery and put a lok­measure of water that has settled (?) or of pure water into the [cup] and a lok­measure of real oil pure ....

The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden

Roman Period One's own semen, a new brick or even milk of a black cow were relatively easy to come by, a two­tailed lizard on the other hand needed some searching, and Alexandrian weasels or hawks were becoming quite rare in the late first millennium BCE: in a temple which specialized in mummifying hawks there was a major scandal when it was discovered that the mummies contained anything but hawks.

Spells

The word, spoken or, perhaps even more potent, written down and read out aloud, was the means to influence other beings and bend them to one's will. Speech was often accompanied by actions, precisely prescribed rituals for which there were no obvious reasons and which were frequently repeated: ...... you take a vine­shoot before it has ripened grapes, you take it with your left hand, you put it into your right hand ­ when it has grown seven digits (in length) you carry it [into your] house, and you take the [fish] out of the oil, you tie it by its tail with a strip (?) of flax,you hang it up to . ..of(?) the vine­wood......

The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden Execration rituals included piercing of a figurine with needles or knives, spitting, or burning. Some pharaohs asserted their dominance over their enemies by symbolically trampling on them: they had their foes' pictures painted on the soles of their sandals.

Talisman facilitating the process of childbirth

Ptolemaic Period Source: © Georges Poncet / Musée du Louvre [16]

Many spells required the use of special foodstuffs [18], magical implements, figurines, talismans and the like. During the Middle Kingdom magic knives [15], sometimes also called apotropaic [14] wands, were made of carved hippo tusks and often decorated with animal depictions. One of them carried the words Cut off the head of the enemy when he enters the chamber of the childrenand the

spells were hoped to afford protection from snakes, scorpions[28] and other dangers. Animal figurines were among the equipment of tombs. Very popular were hippo talismans. Hippos are fiercely protective of their young and dangerous to man, the dead were therefore frequently endowed with figurines which had a leg purposely broken off to prevent them from hurting the tomb owners. Vessels, lamps, knives and other utensils were used. Blood (of smun­geese, hoopoes, nightjars, worms, puppies, humans etc), semen, oil and water were mixed with other animal or plant matter (shavings from the head of a dead man, hawk, ibis or crocodile eggs, gall of a gazelle, ankh­amu plant, [senepe plant], 'Great­of­Amen' plant, qes­ankh stone, genuine lapis­lazuli, 'footprint­of­Isis' plant). Myrrh and frankincense were burned as was the Anubis­plant. Turpentine and styrax (storax), a fragrant gum, were added to the incense [9].

In execration rituals figurines were made of wax which could then easily be destroyed by force or by fire

Magic figurine Ancient Egypt Magazine, Issue Nine ­ November/December 2001 [10]

This spell is to be recited over (an image of) Apophis drawn on a new sheet of papyrus in green ink, and (over a figure of) Apophis in red wax. See, his name is inscribed on it in green ink ... I have overthrown all the enemies of Pharaoh from all their seats in every place where they are. See, their names written on their breasts, having been made of wax, and also bound with bonds of black rope. Spit upon them! To be trampled with the left foot, to be fallen with the spear (and) knife; to be placed

on the fire in the melting­furnace of the copper­smiths ... It is a burning in a fire of bryony. Its ashes are placed in a pot of urine, which is pressed firmly into a unique fire.

Nine Measures of Magic; Part 3: 'Overthrowing Apophis': Egyptian ritual in practice Ancient Egypt Magazine Issue Nine ­ November/December 2001 [10]

Things were often chosen for their colour. Black, mentioned twenty times in the Demotic Magical Papyrus, and white, twelve instances, dominated: milk from a black cow, blood of a black dog, a new white lamp etc. Great importance was attached to the names of the invoked gods or spirits, names which were hidden from the uninitiated. The very knowledge of their true names as opposed to those more widely known (Sarpot Mui­Sro is my name, Light­scarab­noble (?) is my true name) [9], gave one considerable power over them. These appellations had to be pronounced properly, in the right sequence and in their entirety: '........ Io, Tabao, Soukhamamon, Akhakhanbou, Sanauani, Ethie, Komto, Kethos, Basaethori, Thmila, Akhkhou, give me answer as to everything about which I ask here to­day.' Seven times.

The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden This invocation was to be repeated seven times. Often a simple two­fold repetition seemed to suffice, but three­, four­ and even nine­fold reiterations were also frequent. In Ani's Book of the Dead, the deceased reaffirms his innocence four times: I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure.

Budge The Book of the Dead, Chapter 125 [8] These magical numbers were also important in other contexts. A certain love spell required nine apple­pips together with your urine, another a Kesh...­fish of nine digits and black. For a vessel divination three new bricks were needed; and one was supposed to pour an unsavory concoction of semen, blood and other ingredients into a cup of wine and add three uteh to it of the first­fruits of the vintage. Other numbers like five, six or eight were rarely used [9]. When the life of a patient was in danger because of a snake bite, a sekhmet priest might threaten to cause the solar barque to run aground on a sandbank, describing the dire consequences that would ensue to the very fabric of the world: The sun barque is at rest and does not proceed, The sun is still in the same spot as yesterday. The nourishment is without ship, the temple is barred, There the disease will turn back the disturbance To yesterday's location. The daemon of darkness is about, the times are not separated. The shadow's shapes cannot be observed anymore. The springs are blocked, the plants wither, Life is taken from the living Until Horus recovers for his mother Isis, And until the patient's health is restored as well.

After Jan Assmann Ägypten ­ Theologie und Frömmigkeit einer frühen Hochkultur, p.85 The need of the deceased for magic was perhaps even greater than that of the living. After dying they were completely helpless until their faculties had been restored by the ritual of the Opening of the Mouth and they had been equipped with the knowledge needed to address gods and daemons by their hidden, true names and the spells necessary to ward off the dangers they would encounter. Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maati! I have come unto thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the names of the Forty­two Gods who live with thee in this Hall of Maati, who live by keeping ward over sinners, and

who feed upon their blood on the day when the consciences of men are reckoned up in the presence of the god Un­Nefer. In truth thy name is "Rehti­Merti­Nebti­Maati."

The Papyrus of Ani, translated by E.A.W. Budge But not all was gloom in the Netherworld. The duties a person had to perform by himself in this world, could be attended to by a stand­in, an ushabti (also calledshawabti at times) in the next, if you knew how to make him do it [19]: Spell for causing a shawabti to work for its owner in the underworld. To be recited over the shawabti, which will be made either of tamarisk or thorn wood. This shall be carved to resemble its owner as he appeared in life, and placed in the tomb. Look upon this man, ye gods, transfigured souls and spirits of the dead, for he has acquired force, seized his moment, taken on royal authority, he's a pharaoh, ruling mankind, controlling them like cattle. They were created to serve him. The gods themselves ordained it. Now, shawabti: If, in the world of the dead, X is ordered to perform the yearly stint of public work all Egyptians owe their pharaoh, be it to move bricks, level off a plot of ground, re­survey land when the Nile­flood recedes or till new­planted fields, you will say; "Here I am!" to any functionary who comes looking for X while he is trying to enjoy his meal of funerary offerings. Take up your hoe, shawabti, your pick, your demarcation pegs, your basket, just as any slave would for his master. O shawabti made for X, if X is called for his obligations to the state you will pipe up: "Here I am!" whether X is summoned to oversee workers in the new­planted fields, tend to irrigation, move sand from East to West or vice versa "Here I am!" you will say and take his place.

Coffin Text 472, translated by Jacob Rabinowitz [6]

Addressing supernatural powers

Prayers and offerings

In dealing with the gods care was required. They were powerful and, consequently, highly respected: Mut carried the epithetGreat in Magic, the vulture­headed Heknet [26], the Praiser, was Mistress of Spirits,[27] the hippo goddess Taweret was calledGreat of Sorcery and Sekhmet was the Powerful One. Their nature was often dual: Taweret was a protectress against Typhonic powers, carrying an ankh or a burning torch, but she had the form of an extremely dangerous animal [13]; Sekhmet, a ferocious lion goddess, brought death and

destruction when she accompanied the pharaoh on his campaigns of war, but was the main support of the healers in their fight against disease. It was best to treat them with reverence. Many people today may see practices such as prayers and offerings to gods as distinct from magic, it was not to the Egyptians. Both the living and the dead went to great lengths to receive the blessing of the gods. Hymns of praise were composed and recited, written down on papyrus and put in the tombs. Offerings of food, real or carved on walls, were supposed to satiate the god's hunger and thirst. Just as the statue of the god Amen for instance was the god himself, a magician, by identifying himself with a god, was transformed into him 'I will say: "Come to me Montu, lord of the day! Come, that you may put N born of N into my hand like an insect in the mouth of a bird". I am Montu whom the gods adore. I will sever your bones and eat your flesh.'

Ostracon found at Deir el Medine 19th dynasty

Ancient Egypt Magazine: Nine measures of magic [11]

Invoking and dismissing Lesser magical beings like demons, spirits or the deceased did not quite warrant the same amount of respect. But they were the main agents of magic and could be invoked by simple means: Prescription to make them speak: you put a frog's head on the brazier, then they speak. or Prescription for bringing the gods in by force: you put the bile of a crocodile with pounded frankincense on the brazier. If you wish to make them come in quickly again, you put stalks (?) of anise (?) on the brazier together with the egg­shell as above, then the charm works at once.

The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden If they did not obey they (even lamps) could be threatened: I will not give thee oil, I will not give thee fat. O lamp; verily I will give thee the body of the female cow and put blood of the male bull into (?) thee and put thy band to the testicles (?) of the enemy of Horus.

The Demotic Magical Papyrus of London and Leiden Once one had received their services it was best to send them away as they could be unpredictable His dismissal formula: 'Farewell (bis) Anubis, the good ox­herd, Anubis (bis), the son of a (?) jackal (and ?) a dog . . . another volume saith: the child of . . . Isis (?) (and ) a dog, Nabrishoth, the Cherub (?) of Amenti, king of those of.....' Say seven times. or The charm which you pronounce when you dismiss them to their place: 'Good dispatch, joyful dispatch!' ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Practical Applications of Heka May 13, 2013

The glyphs which make up the word 'Heka' are the twisted rope and the arms and hand glyph (which by itself means the Ka).

The Egyptian word 'Heka' which we understand to mean 'magic', is literally translated "to employ the Ka".

To use the well known Crowley definition of magic, it is "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick). The Egyptologist Robert Ritner is a little more specific: "At the stroke of a word, Magic

penetrates the ka or 'vital essence' of any element in creation and invests it with power, either generative or destructive."(Robert K. Ritner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, page 23). Of course, it is up to the magician to be scrupulously ethical in

all his 'generative or destructive' attempts. So one uses one's own Ka (vital life force) to effect the ka of others. Ritner is allowing that elements besides living creations also have this 'vital essence'. Thus, a material item may be invested with power, and anyone who comes into contact with that item will experience that power. A case in point is a small Was scepter, which I was privileged to see while

seeing the treasures of King Tut in 2005 at the Lacma museum:

Photo source: _Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoah_, photos by Kennett

Garrett and text by Zahi Hawass. It is about 16 inches high (40cm), made of faience and comes from the 18th dynasty, reign of Amenhotep II. It was found in Thebes, in the Valley of the Kings, in Amenhotep II's tomb. This small scepter emanated great power. Perhaps because it had laid relatively undisturbed all those centuries, the power which the ancient priest­magicians had

invested within it still remains for the sensitive to receive. So how do magicians do this? They call up their Ka and direct it by force of their will to the intended target. While the entire body is energized by the Ka, there's a particular

region of the body in which it is particularily potent:

If we look at the glyph for 'Ka', note the part of it which cooresponds to the elbow and how this relates to the height position of the elbow. For the height of the elbow is at about the level of what other traditions know as the 'fire chakra'(Manipura). One Pyramid text declares “Unis’s powers are on his torso.” (_The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts_, translated by James P. Allen, page 51) A frequent phrase concerning possessing magical powers is, “’…I

have filled my belly with magic…” (Coffin Text spell 239), “I have called to mind all the magic which is in my belly.” (Coffin Text spell 657), both via Ancient Egyptian Magic by Bob Brier,

pages 124, 126) So for any magical attempt, it is necessary to 'call to mind' this stored energy. So what might

we attempt? "You undertake a GBM working because you want to understand something or because you want to change something. The former type may be referred to as an illustrative working, while the latter is often called an operative working. (Michael Aquino, "Black Magic",page 128 https://xeper.org//maquino/nm/BlackMagicRL.pdf The GBM stands for 'Greater Black Magic'. Some may have a problem with the descriptive color 'black', as so often this color has

been given a nefarious meaning, as in magic that is meant to cause unethical harm. So what do those who describe their magical efforts as 'black' mean by this? It refers to the Left Hand Path, which is defined as 'My will be done', as opposed to the Right Hand Path's 'Thy will be done'. Yet any magical attempt by the very nature of magic itself must be directed by one's

own will! The Egyptologist James Allen is in accord with this 'understanding' and/or 'changing'. Of

magic, he says, "In this respect it has two components, what the Egyptians called sia "perception" and hw "annunciation." Perception is the ability to see what needs to be done, and annunciation is the power to make it happen through speech. The king's courtiers say to him, for example, "Annunciation is in your mouth, perception is in your heart, your speech is the shrine of Maat. (KRI II, 356, 9­11)." (James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction

to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, Essay 13: "The Creative Word") Perception is the gateway to understanding, and 'annunciation' is one way by which change might occur. How might someone go about increasing their ability to perceive something via magical efforts? There are many ways. One useful method is via 'automatic writing', as accessing one's intuitive side may draw forth much hidden information. You might gain

insight regarding your current situation or future goals for your life. For instance, a person who is seeking to move has a great deal of non magical tools at his disposal, for much can be done via web searches, realtor web sites, Google satellite views and the like, before one ever decides to physically look at a location. But is it worth the effort of a physical visit? The magician may send his Ka out on an astral walkabout to determine the 'psychic vibes' of a particular location. Of course, more can be determined about the vibes with a physical visit,

but this helps to narrow the field of potentially worthy areas. Simply the act of directing one's spiritual 'ear' to listening may increase the likelihood of receiving informative messages. One way this often happens for me is via music. In my experience, a particular phrase will seem much louder and specifically directed to me.

Returning to the example of the person in process of moving, (that would be me!) the day before we visited one house, the song Closing Time by Semisonic came on the radio, "time to go out to the places you will be from" jumped out. Would this place be that? As we spent a

good while examining the house, and having a more direct soak of its vibes, I had hopes that in the future I would be able say, yes, I'm from there.

Hopefully these few examples of seeking to 'understand' something will inspire you to further ideas.

Now, turning to the heka of changing something, this has equally wide possibilities. A very potent instance of this type of heka occurred when I needed to change my diet for health reasons. I needed to cut way back on the carbs in order not to feed an infection, as its yeast

which were being fed by the sugars caused me to crave them increasingly more. Cutting carbs was not easy as I had become quite the addict. For example, eating five doughnuts in one

sitting was not uncommon. So this heka was very emotional for me. In order to have effective magic, we must feed our ka. A curious church sign I've been seeing frequently in my trips around town declares, "Food for the soul has no calories!". (Perhaps much overeating could be averted by feeding our soul instead.)To do this heka, I strengthened my Ka 'by 'feeding' on the gods. In the Pyramid Texts spells 273­74, the king 'lives on the

gods... The King eats their magic, swallows their spirits." (via Ritner "Mechanics of...", page 103) This is not just a one way thing, for communication with the gods is a circular exchange of energy. We take in their essence, which feeds our Ka, and also allows the gods to work

through us, which in turn feeds their Ka. Our ka, which is so strengthened, allows us to 'work' as the god. Im my example working, I proceeded by 'becoming' as various Netjeru:

I am become as Set, who slays the Apep. Apep­Yeast, who would devour my flesh, must die.

I am become as Osiris. Osiris­Joan­Carb­Eater must die.

I am become as Isis who revives Osiris. Osiris Joan is reborn as Osiris Joan Healthy Eater.

It took quite a reworking of my operational circuitry to change my way of eating. Only through employing this heka, did I gain the strength to make the necessary changes.

It's a daily process. As Set slays the Apep daily, I have to keep my mindfulness daily. But the rewards are so worth it! Having banished the yeast, by continuing to avoid the yeast­tempting sugars, it is less likely the infection will return. Also, although it was not the intended goal, a

side effect has been losing about sixty pounds. Surprise! My joints feel better, too! Dr Aquino further explains how magically aided change might occur, "Each takes effect by expanding and/or altering your SU [subjective universe], which then exerts a corresponding and proportionate influence upon the OU [objective universe] ­ and other SUs ­ via the ML (Magical Link) phenomenon." ("BM", page 128) He defines "the Magical Link (ML) ­

between the OU and SUs. Hence a change occuring in one will have at least a partially similar effect in the other." ("BM", page 99)

As Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." If we want a more peaceful, more just world, we must first endeavor individually to become more peaceful and just. Returning to 'feeding the Ka', I contemplate the nature of Ma'at. As the Book of the Dead 125 declaries, "I live in maat, I feed my heart upon maat." (Steven Schweitzer, A

Teacher for All Generations: Essays in Honor of James C. VanderKam, Volume 1, edited by Eric Farrel Mason, page 132)

It is part of the process of the willed conscious evolution (aka 'Xeper' or 'Kheper'), that we seek to bring about order and balance within ourselves. Left to our unawakened selves, disorder and deception might gain control. But it is in the power of our free will to choose

better. It is in the fullest exercise of our will that transformative heka can be enabled.

Also see New Discoveries, (Aka IMPRACTICAL Applications of Heka!) Other perspectives on HEKA can be found at the "Roundtable"

Great of Magic. The Enchantress. Lady of Sacred Magic. What does it mean that Isis

bears these (and so many more) titles having to do with magic? What is magic?

If you’ve been reading this blog, you already know that “magic” isn’t what the

ancient Egyptians would have said. They would have said heka. But the same

question applies: what the heck is heka? (Pronunciation note: I usually say

“HAY-kah,” because I think it sounds better than heck-kah. Coptic shows the word

as hik. If Coptic retained the vowel correctly, then the Egyptians might have said

hik-kah, which is worse, since it sounds—in my head anyway—like hiccup. So for me,

hay-kah it is.)

Heka, the God Magic

Unfortunately, we can’t ask any ancient priestesses or priests of the Goddess of

Magic what they meant by magic. So we have to to look to some of the scholars who

have studied it. One of the first things that they—and we—see is that in Egypt, heka

was not at allsupernatural, that is above nature. Indeed, Heka (the God) and heka

(the concept) were the very foundation of the natural world. In at least one myth,

the God Heka, Magic personified, is the Being first made by the Creator and Heka’s

power in every Deity and every thing that comes after Him. The Deities are the most

potent wielders of heka, though humanity has its portion, given to us “to ward off

the blow of events,” according to one of the Wisdom Texts.

The reason we translate heka as magic is because that’s how the ancient Greeks,

who were actually in contact with the ancient Egyptians, translated it: mageia. A

person “who does heka” was translated by the Greeks as a magos (masc.) or maga

(fem.). On the Egyptian priestly side of things, there were Servants of the God

Heka, who were, no doubt, considered powerful magicians. Interestingly, an

Egyptian stele listing the names and titles of physicians has both sunu, “doctors”

and hem-netjer Heka, “Servants of the God Heka.”

So here magic meets science, as it usually does around thoughtful magicians. It

seems that the magicians of every age are anxious to explain magic with the science

of their time. Everybody knows that it works (somehow); yet we have a need to

explain to ourselves precisely how. In ancient Egypt, heka and Heka are so

intertwined that often no distinction seems to be made between them. This is sacred

science, priestly science, and magic is a Divine, living, conscious “energy.” Egyptian

magic has rather precise ritual forms. Surely these were the advanced scientific

forms of their day, having been refined through many generations of

experimentation.

A beautiful Isis working energy magic, by artist Bill Brouard. You can purchase it

here.

In the Middle Ages, magic might be explained in demonic or satanic terms; the

magician invoked devils to do his bidding; it was sort of an anti-priestly science of

ritual names and actions. Alchemists blended spirituality with chemistry and

explained both effects as revealing the Ways of Nature. And isn’t revealing the

workings of nature what scientists do to this very day?

18th-century occultists preferred to use scientific-sounding explanations for magical

effects: “magnetism” explained attractions between things as well as defined

pathways for moving “life energy” or the “etheric medium.” In the late 19th and

early 20th century, Aleister Crowley famously defined magic as “the Science and Art

of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will” and “the Science of

understanding oneself and one’s conditions. It is the Art of applying that

understanding in action.” Psychology was a relatively new science at the time, you

see.

An image from one of the shrines of Tutankhamon; clearly an energy transfer

from star to these Otherworld Beings

Many modern magicworkers speak of magic as “energy.” There are many types of

energy we are just beginning to understand or do not yet understand, so why

shouldn’t magical energy be one of these? Some “postmodern magicians” speak of

magic in terms of information—as ones and zeros even—since that is the scientific

paradigm of our day.

The truth is, I find value in just about all of these ideas about magic. Information

magic gets along famously with Egyptian magic and its Words of Power (which is a

translation of hekau; plural of heka). The as-yet-unexplained-energy theory of magic

also works well with ancient Egyptian magic as there often seems to have been a

physical component in Egyptian magic. Both the demon and Deity theories attribute

consciousness to magic as was done in ancient Egypt with Heka. And how can our

own psychology not play a part in magic?

As usual, my personal answer to a definition of magic is “all of the above.”

As devotees of Isis, the Goddess of Sacred Magic, we have a certain obligation to

address magic in some way in our personal practice. This may be the magic of

spiritual growth, the Great Work of Hermeticism. Healers might explore the

connection between magic and medicine. We may find we have a talent for practical

magic, the spellcasting magic that can help us get a job or find a parking spot.

Come to think of it, I haven’t been doing enough magic lately. Think I’ll try to

remedy that this weekend…

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Hidden S3cr3ts, 33 Degrees, Your Spinal Column, And The Seal Of Solomon

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June 14, 2012 in Uncategorized

by Max

Hello dearest s33ker, would you like to s33 some s3cr3ts hidden within 33?

1) Firsty, it would help to know that although a lie-brary is certainly fascinating, it’s books are

filled with his-story, and this is why you have probably never heard of the s3cr3ts relating to

the number 33.

Fascination = Fasci(st)nation

2) Everyone has heard of the 7 chakras by now, but not many know that these same chakras

are symbolized in many parts of the Old and New Testaments, such as The 7 Churches from

the Apocalypse of St.John.

Chakras/Churches

Sure, I may look strange,

but I’m trying to tell you something!

3) The 7 chakras or churches really do exist along the 33 vertebrae of the human spinal

column, as do many sacred and hidden traditions which are used to activate them.

The Tree of Life

(33 vertebrae: 24 articulating, 9 fused)

4) The chakras are located at the mangetic center of the glands located within your endocrine system.

Chakras are located at the

magnetic center of the endocrine glands

5) In world wide Freemasonry the highest honor is the 33rd degr33- Sovereign Grand

Inspector General, and this number is related to the mystery of the manipulation and

transmutation of vital energy, although many Freemasons today have lost this s3cr3t, due to

the corruption that exists within the modern lodges.

Click image so you can love their naming abilities.

6) The 33rd degree used to signify one who received an initiation by transmuting their vital

energy up through the 33 vertebrae of the spine…

Men occasionally stumble over the truth

but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off

as if nothing ever happened

~Winston Chuchill 33rd° Mason

7) Like the 2 serpents that entwine the Wing’d Staff of Hermes, this vital energy ascends its

way up through the 33 vertebrae of the spinal column, opening the 7 chakras along the way.

In India the vital energy is best known as Kundalini the Fiery Serpent, and can be awoken

with arts like pranayama or Maithuna.

Mr.Symbolic Man

9) In Egypt this energy was ISIS, in the Bible it is The Fire of the Pentacost, the Holy Spirit,

awoken with the Art of Alchemy.

10) in China it is Ch’i or Qi energy, and awoken when practising sacred arts like Qigong.

Qigong and Chi Energy

11) Da Vinci = Divine Chi. This great master awoke himself with the mysteries of 33, as have

many others before and after his time.

Hidden in Plain Sight,

The atom of ‘The Father

Located in the Pineal Gland

12) Even today thousands upon thousands of people know of these ancient arts… they’re

simply just not taught in any public education institutions. =’(

This eye is opened after the practitioner

raises the waters from below (the sexual waters)

up through their 33 vertebrae

to the waters above (the brain).

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the

ranks of the insane.”

~Marcus Aurelius

13) 33 is a curious number, because adding the two 3′s together form the 6; which

geometrically speaking would be two triangles; The Seal of Solomon.

14) The Seal of Solomon is the hexagram (Greek) or sexagram (Latin) – the six pointed star,

the union of two 3′s, also known as the Star of David, which is the flag of Israel.

15) Israel = ISIS RA EL – A symbol for the Holy Trinity which is found in all the religions of

the world under one name or another.16) Solomon = Sol (Latin) Om (India) On (Egyptian) –

Another trinity based on the three names of the sun from the ancient world.17) … Etymology

is cool! 0_0

Does one scent appeal more than another? Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling? Is your

practice sacred and your work profane? Then your mind is separated: from itself, from

oneness, from the Tao. Keep your mind free of divisions and distinctions. When your mind is

detached, simple, quiet, then all things can exist in harmony, and you can begin to perceive

the subtle truth.

~Hua Hu Jing by Lao Tzi

18) And yes… in ancient Latin six was called sex, which is where we get six from in english.

Uniting 3+3 is sexy because it’s six. =3

19) The hexagram and the cross () are a few of the tools used in order to perform the

mystery of 33.

20) and in the New Testament this is symbolized as Jesus dying on the , and resurrecting at

the age of 33.

21) That famous medical symbol we see everywhere, the two serpents which entwine around

the Wing’d Staff of Hermes, is infact a very ancient symbol that depicts how the kundalini fire

ascends up the 33 vertebrae of the spinal column.

22) Uniting 33 also makes the Holy 8, the symbol of infinity.

23) 3+3=6 which the initiate converts into a 9, the completion.

“If you only knew the magnificence of the 3, 6 and 9, then you would have a key to the

universe.”

~Nikola Tesla

24) The cross is the perfect symbol to represent creation.

25) This is because in order to create, the crossing of opposites must occur, on all levels of

nature; atoms, minerals, plants, animals, humans, angels, planets, solar systems, ect… all

perform a cross to create.

26) The horizontal line crosses the vertical line, the positive with the negative, ying with yang,

male with female

27) Because the cross has four points, it also symbolizes the 4 elements of nature. Fire, Earth,

Air, Water.

28) The swastika, the spinning cross, is an ancient tibetan symbol that shows very beautifully

how the 4 elements mix together in order for creation to occur.

The practical science used in order to awaken the pentecostal flame is in the following book,

written in 1954:

There is also this:the Bible is an encyclopedia on Physiology, Anatomy, Astrology and Chemistry: > Thread: Books Rejected by the Council of NICEA - The BIBLE Allegories, Parables and Stories representing Physiology, Anatomy, Astrology, Chemistry !!

Excerpt:

Chapter NAMES

NAMES

Names will be explained without alphabetical order , the object being to show that the 66 books of the whole book (Holy Book) ,were actually 66 statements by 66 writers about the SAME identical subject- the HUMAN BODY, its CHEMICAL OPERATION, and the planetary positions, impinging to create and bring into physical manifestation the visible Universe.

ABEL: Breath/transitoriness/moisture

SETH: Seed/seedling/germ

WIFE: Marraige of Earth and Water

MOSES: Drawn from the water

related:

> Thread: Metaphysical-World -( Part 2 ): The Gateway to God

AARON: Enlightened/Buddha Third Eye

EDOM: Red, EDOM or ODUMEA - Pirtuitary body

JACOB: Solar Plexus

RACHEL : represents the product

BENJAMIN: seed that redeems

ADAH/ADDI: Pituitary gland

GILGAL: a circle rolling away:the place where the 12 stones were set up:the place of the 'passover'. Refers to anatomy to the 12th dorsal vertebra,at which place the semi-lunar ganglion connects. At this point the seed or ark enters Jordan or the Spinal Cord.

JORDON: the Spinal cord.the great nerve which is supplied with fluid from the Claustrum in the Cerebrum

Sea Of Galilee: semi-lunar ganglion thru which the seed or Jesus passes , to reach the spinal cord.

GALILEE: A circle or conduit

NAZARETH: Shoot, sprout or twig

CANA: Place of reeds: Lungs

JERICHO: Place of fragrance: Cerebellum

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Posts Tagged Planetary Seals

Esoteric History of Man

Posted by Kim Graae Munch in Esoterics, Kabbalah, Rosicrucianism on March 17, 2010

The Planetary Cycles

Our Earth have gone through a number of incarnations, each incarnation alternates between pralaya,

a cosmic night and manvantara, a cosmic day, just as we alternately pass through day and night, life

and dead. Pralaya is the non­physical, preparatory stage and manvantara the physical or lower

spiritual development stage.

Man have gone through three planetary Earth incarnations (AEons) before Earth, and are going

through three after Earth before we have finished the complete development cycle. These seven

Earth incarnations are called Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and ending with Vulcan. The

emanation of Sephira’s in the Kabbalah tree of life corresponds to these planetary cycles.

The Earth development phase is split in two parts: Mars, before the Son incarnates, and Mercury

after this incarnation. In a seven pointed star it looks:

The sequence of the planetary development,

Mars is first part of Earth and Mercury last part of Earth development.

Just start with Saturn, and follow the arrows. It follow the week days:

– Saturn Samedi, Samstag, Lørdag Saturday

– Sun Sonntag, Søndag Sunday

– Moon Lundi, Montag, Mandag Monday

– Mars Mardi, Dienstag, Tyr – Tirsdag, or Tiu Tuesday

– Mercury

Mercredi, Mittwoch, Odin – Onsdag Wednesday

– Jupiter

Jeudi, Donar – Donnerstag, Tor, Torsdag

Thursday

– Venus Vendredi, Freya — Freitag, Fredag Friday

Until the middle of Earth round, all development have been made under strict guidance from higher

hierarchies, first with the development of sentience on the Earth, through the lower ‘I’ is it possible

for man to enter the development consciously.

You will not find a human being as he is today on Earth on any other planet. Beings, yes — but not

human beings. The Earth exists in order that “I”­conscious human beings could be created. Through

the first four Rounds the kingdoms of nature evolved in order that in the fourth man could be made a

self­conscious being, who could reflect himself in his body. He will rise to higher levels of evolution,

something that few can understand correctly. In the next, the fifth Round, the mineral kingdom will

disappear. All mineral matter will be transformed to vegetable matter. Then the vegetable kingdom

will reach its culmination and in the next Round the animal kingdom will form the lowest kingdom.

During the seventh Round the human being will achieve his highest level of evolution. He will have

become what planetary evolution intends. RS

The development of man in these first four phases goes through the four states as described by

F.W.J. Schelling:

“Mind sleeps in stone, dreams in the plant, awakes in the animal and becomes conscious in man.”

Old Saturn

The first seed of man was created on the Earth incarnation called old Saturn, and it’s remnants is the

Saturn of today.

Planetary seal of Old Saturn

Old Saturn was a planet which was made of warms. The creator is known as Saturn or Cronos or in

Christian terminology, The Thrones [Binah].

Saturn – Cronus

The first seed of minerals were created here. At this time man created unconsciously the seed of

what would become it’s Spirit Body (Atma). Man had at that time mineral­consciousness.

Man is the first­born of our creative process. But Saturn­man was very different from the man of

today. He was for the most part a spiritual being; he would not have been visible to physical eyes. It

was a kind of primal mineral, with no etheric body round it; hence we can say that man passed

through the mineral kingdom; but to think of it as anything like our present­day mineral kingdom

would be quite wrong. On Saturn there was no kingdom other than the human kingdom. From

“Evolution of the Earth”

Old Sun

The old Sun was a planet of Light, where a great part of the minerals of man was connected with the

etheric, creating a higher life form with plant­consciousness.

If one looks at how after a pralaya old Saturn changed into old Sun with the spiritual gaze that

moves over the planets one notices that Saturn’s warmth atmosphere condenses into air. Man gets

an etheric body on the Sun. He is a shining being. Spiritual beings work through the Sun’s astral

atmosphere upon the etheric body, ignite it and thereby make it shine. One calls this the sulfuric

process.

Planetary Seal of Old Sun

Some of our development wave of Saturn didn’t connect to the Etheric, so they stayed on the

mineral­level. Man creates here, under guidance, the seed for the Buddhi layer of the later

development. Zeus is connected to the Old Sun.

Old Moon

The Old Moon is a watery planet, with earth like living plants. Here is man connected with Astral

stuff, acquiring animal­consciousness.

When the Sun passes over to the Moon, air condenses to water. The Moon’s body is a water body.

We notice something very strange about this water body. Single water drops change their position in

an extremely lively manner and race around with inner mobility. I some respects one can compare

this property of the water drops with mercury. That’s why one calls this principle that’s added on the

Moon the mercurial principle. The parts are put together into forms by sounds, somewhat like

Chladni’s sound figures. First two came together, then two pairs made four, etc., just as one still

finds in new plant, animal and human forms. That’s the female principle. The male principle only

arose later from pure earth forces. From “Esoteric Lessons“.

Planetary Seal of Old Moon

Some of our brethren from the Saturn development wave didn’t connect to the Astral so they stayed

at the plant­level. Here creates man under guidance Manas. The Old Moon are connected to The

Mother, Sophia, or Cthlon.

Earth

On this Earth we have, besides man, the minerals who stayed back on the Old Saturn, the plants

who stayed back on the Old Sun, and the animals who stayed back on the Old Moon.

When the moon passed over to the earth, water condensed to earth. The precipitating salt process

took place on the earth for the first time through the interaction of fire and water. Man arose from

female and male and began to dissolve things again through thinking so that evolution could

continue. Man received the erring I on earth. From “Esoteric Lessons“.

The Earth development phase is split in two parts: Mars, before the Son incarnates, and Mercury

after this incarnation, which takes place in the middle manvantara..

First half of Earth called Mars

In the first part, called Mars, mankind descend into the Physical, into the dominion of the Cthlonic

powers, through a kind of repetition of the first three planetary rounds.

Planetary Seal of Mars,

first part of Earth

Here Man acquires the seed of the Ego, which is needed to become a sentient being. See the table in

Dream Interpretation in Esoteric Work

Second half of Earth called Mercury

Planetary Seal of Mercury,

second part of Earth

In the second part of Earth, called Mercury, we ascends again to the spiritual world, and we have

been working on it for two thousand years now.

In the second part we develop what we previously have created the seed for together with the Gods,

that is Sentient soul (Orektikon), the Intellectual soul (Kinetikon), and the Consciousness soul

(Dianoetikon), The three aspects of Isis/Sophia. Those who don’t unite with the spirit, stays back.

New Jupiter

Planetary Seal of New Jupiter

The New Jupiter is known as the New Israel, or New Jerusalem, Paradise or Shambhala, which

already exist in embryonic form. Here we will develop Angelic Consciousness. All creation of Old

Saturn are one Wave, and it’s our responsibility to get every creation of Saturn, from mineral to man,

with us in the development. And this is part of our task now and in the future, and it is a result of the

work toward this goal, transforming our astral body to Spirit Self, Manas. The minerals of Earth is

transformed to vegetable matter.

New Venus

Planetary Seal of New Venus

On Venus we are transforming the etheric body to Life Spirit or Buddhi, and on Vulcan we are

transforming the physical to Spirit Body, Atma. On Venus the lowest kingdom is the animal kingdom

and on Vulcan the lowest kingdom is the human kingdom.

This cycle of seven planets are bound to the Chakras, where Earth corresponds to the Heart, to

Christ, who transformed Earth, gave it life, for the new future, called New Jerusalem, the New

Jupiter.

The Creation are described by Steiner in “From the Akasha Chronicles” and Max Heindel in “The

Rosicrucian Cosmo­Conception or Mystic Christianity“.

In each of these Earth­incarnation man develops a higher level of consciousness as described:

There are seven grades of human consciousness: trance consciousness, deep sleep, dream

consciousness, waking consciousness, psychic, super­psychic and spiritual consciousness.

Actually these are in all twelve stages of consciousness; the five others are creative stages. They

are those of the Creators, of the creative Gods. These twelve stages are related to the twelve signs

of the zodiac. The human being must pass through the experiences of these twelve stages. He

ascended through the trance, deep sleep and dream consciousness up to the present clear day

consciousness. In the succeeding stages of planetary evolution he will reach still higher stages. All

those which he has already passed through he will also retain within him. The physical body has the

dull trance consciousness as this was gained by man on Old Saturn. The human etheric body has

the consciousness of dreamless sleep, as this developed on Old Sun. The astral body dreams in the

same way as one dreams during sleep. Dream consciousness derives from the Old Moon period. On

our present Earth, man achieves waking consciousness. The ego has clear day­consciousness.

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11. February, 2012Articles, Esotericism, Mysticism 21 comments

Activation of Chakras­Opening the 7 Seals:

Chakras are wheel­like vortices of energy, rotating around the spinal column. Our physical eyes can not see them and we tend to be poorly prepared and educated in their observation.

How can we, people living on this planet, comprehend the subtle work of chakras operating beyond the limits of our habitual sensory perception? Even in those rare moments, when we are truly awake and receptive, and can feel their subtle effects, we may easily confuse them with other psychological sensations.

Chakras are real – it is possible to experience them. This article will attempt to clarify and demystify the concept of chakras and elucidate benefits of their activation within the context of transformative spiritual awakening.

Internal energetical centers such as chakras in Hinduism, dantians in Taoism and lata`ifs in Sufism, were known in mystical traditions from ancient times.

The word chakra can be traced back to Upanishads, Puranas and Tantras, sacred Hindu and Buddhist texts. The literal translation from Sanscrit is “turning”, “circle” “wheel”,”disk”. The earliest mention from ancient Hindu texts, which is very likely related to chakras, can be found in Rig Veda`s description of “lightnings (powers) with golden wheels”.

Within the waters runs the Moon, he with the beauteous wings in

heaven. Ye lightinings with your golden wheels, men find not your

abiding place. -Rig Veda.I. 105.1

While chakras can`t be perceived physically, they are connected to the surface of the physical body in specific locations. These points are mostly located along the Ren and Du Meridians, as depicted in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

There are 7 main Chakras, all aligned with the center line of the body.

1. Sahasrara, Crown Chakra, located on the top of the head 2. Ajna, Third Eye Chakra, between the eyebrows 3. Vishuddha, Throat Chakra, throat and neck area 4. Anahata, Heart Chakra, heart area 5. Manipura, Solar Plexus Chakra, navel area 6. Swadhistana, Sacral Chakra, prostate (uterus) area 7. Muladhara, Base Chakra, the coccyx bone

Spiritual knowledge of chakras is a part of universal esoteric tradition revealing deep secrets of multidimensional human anatomy to mystics seeking spiritual enlightenment. It is understood fully by prepared initiates commited to the rigorous demands and requirements of esoteric work, walking along the path towards true wisdom, salvation and liberation.

References to chakras may be not evident in mystical teachings. For example, Kabalistic sefirots of the Tree of Life describe symbolically emanations of God – spiritual principles and main components of Creation.

But there is another aspect of their symbology: as above so below, on an individual psychological level of interpretation, they may refer to chakras. Esoteric work starts in

Malkuth, the root chakra and gets grounded in the procreative force of Yesod, the sexual chakra. Then energy ascends between the connected opposite pillars Mercy and Severity through all the higher chakras. The top of the Tree of Life is Kether – the crown chakra on top of the head. This process repeats itself many times on different levels and stages of internal transformation.

Another example can be found in the mystical Book of Revelation which had managed to become a part of the Bible. The seven stars, angels, candlesticks and churches all relate to the internal “opening of 7 seals” – activation of 7 chakras and spiritual progress. The church Ephesus corresponds to the first chakra, that`s where energy starts to rise with alchemical transmutation, “eating from the tree of life” (as opposed to the fall of Adam and Eve.)

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is

in the Paradise of God. – Rev 2:7

Esoteric work has a potential to progress through all 7 churches. The last one is the Church of the Laodiceans related to the 7th chakra and establishing close connection with the divine.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even

as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

– Rev 3:21 and 3:22

Symbols express the complexity and unity of esoteric matters and pass superior feelings, as well as protect sacred knowledge. Ancient mystics were commonly persecuted and mistreated in societies driven by materialistic selfish values, so esoteric knowledge had to be passed secretly in public.

Even in the last few centuries, knowledge of chakras was not always revealed openly. For example one can find a hidden allegory of 7 chakras in George Gurdjieffs story

about seven divisions of the Society of Akhaldan in his book “Beelzebub`s Tales to his Grandson.”

Interestingly, some messages of crop circles also illustrate 7 chakras…

The future not only of our human race but entire organic life on Earth depends on humans clarity of understanding, affected greatly by the clarity and depth of human perception.

What can be perceived by our 5 senses is only a tiny fraction of reality. If we take it as the whole, this fragment of existence is mere “illusion”, “maya”.

An example can be our sense of vision capable of seeing only within a small frequency range of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, somewhere between 405 to 790 Thz. The rest of light emission doesn`t exist for the physical eye, yet it is real and we use it in a variety of applications: television and radio broadcasts, microwaves, night vision devices, x­ray scanners, etc.

The perception of chakras greatly superceeds the five physical senses and the capacities of modern technology. All psychic faculties such as ESP, clairvoyance, clairaudience, polyvision, intuition, telepathy, a capacity to astral project, etc. depend

on the activation of chakras. This superior perception opens up a whole new set of intriguing possibilities.

No matter how much one`s physical eyes are trained to see distant objects, a naked eye can not see events across the globe, but the psychic faculty of clairvoyance can. Chakras operate beyond the physical – they are senses of subtle energetical bodies, superior than physical matter.

Thus, with a sense of developed intuition it may be possible to “feel the truth” about important matters. A faculty of polyvision allows mystics to see things in superior worlds before they manifest in the physical realm. During out­of­body experiences, mystics may travel in a blink of an eye to remote locations and search for self­knowledge and esoteric wisdom.

All this may sound a bit strange, to say the least, for those who have not experienced it. It is much easier to be a sceptic than to experience and know the supernatural.

What many don`t realize, is that most of us already know some of the effects of chakras. For example when we speak about “warmheartedness”, obviously we don`t mean the elevated temperature of our physical heart. What we mean is the activated heart chakra spreading warmth of compassion, kindness and love.

Chakras play a vital role in our functioning as human beings, corresponding to glands of the endocrine system and internal organs. When the chakras are active and balanced, they help to maintain health and vitality.

Development of chakras establishes a clarity of perception, a sense of well being, a capacity to effectively communicate and connect to the world. It requires diligent preparation to develop these superior capacities and use them intelligently and responsibly, with love and wisdom.

We all tend to see things as we are, and as the majority of the population is not seriously interested in spirituality, or not interested in it at all, consequently there is not much interest in proper research on the subject of chakras.

It is easy to feel superiority over what we refer to as “past generations” and think of them as blind worshippers of established religions, believing that the Earth was flat and the stars had been placed in sky just to provide some illumination at night, etc. Science took over from religion in modern times – many of us got used to relying on

science for its answers. But despite its remarkable acheivements, modern science in general is poorly prepared to study and understand the supernatural.

Even if much effort and money were to be invested in chakras research for the needs of the general population, it would inevitably stumble upon obstacles trying to find adequate methods of collecting and examining data.

The effects of chakras are an internal experience and a non­phyisical phenomena. It is impossible to validate their existence if they are studied only as something external from us, and only with physical means.

Commonly people get raised, educated and conditioned to become sceptics when it comes to the supernatural. If a person is truly open minded and keeps questioning, that may help them to learn and discover something new. But sceptics might be questioning for the sake of questioning, in their attempt to overcome their deep fears and feel safe and superior within the limits of their “proven” sceptical beliefs.

The spiritual is not widely known. If one lacks direct experience of the spiritual, it may be convenient for people to get locked within their own sceptical beliefs, hypnotized by widely believed dogmas and self­righteousness.

Mystics can go beyond one`s conditioned mind. They can reach the depth of multidimensional reality and know the truth from direct experience.

Mystics can go where materialistic science cannot.

It is possible to discover a depth of reality both amazing and magical beyond our five physical senses. The internal science of esoterics is a systematic objective study providing one with sufficient evidence, if one progresses far enough with the esoteric work.

To know that chakras exist, one has to know their effects from direct experience.

There are a number of factors influencing the functioning of chakras, such as daily activities, speed and depth of breathing, amount and quality of rest, diet, etc., but the crucial factor influencing their condition is our psychological state of being.

Usually a typical person swings psychologically between compulsive feelings of seeking gratification and escaping the bitterness of life, which is related to an imbalanced and underdeveloped work of the 3 lowest chakras.

This is the life which most people live: fighting for survival, making money, drunk by sexual lust, obsessed by attachment to food, striving for self­esteem by controlling others, creating a fake reality with one`s I, Me, Mine being the center… But nothing physical really lasts. All material victories and failures are gone in time, sooner or later.

Superior senses don`t work properly because of human`s involuntary identification with the input of the 5 physical senses, combined with subconscious influences of our mind, desires, drives, emotions, etc.

As long as we are not aware of what is seen, heard, touched, smelled and tasted, realizing ourselves in the moment, chakras remain predominantly dormant.

Being aware is not easy. The subconscious rapidly kicks one out of enjoying the wonderful flavors of being in the moment. One tends to live their lives bombarded by currents of subconscious thoughts, worries, emotions, whether it is liked or not.

In esoteric terminology subconscious elements are called “egos” because they are selfish elements and their huge multitude comprises ones person`s ego. The individual way of perception and thinking tends to be governed by these self­centered subconscious low energies, known as hatred, laziness, envy, pride, fear, greed, anger, etc.

In esotericism the human perception of the world and everyday way of being is often referred to as “sleep”. One of the first steps of any authentic spiritual tradition is to “wake up” in order to “see”. How much can be understood of life in psychological sleep? How much can be seen daydreaming? Here is an insightful instructional story from Sufi tradition:

“Once a man caught a little bird.

­“I won`t be useful for you in a cage”, she told him “let me go, and I will give you three valuable pieces of advice.”

The little bird promised to give the first advice inside the hand, the second one – when she will fly up on the branch of the tree, and the third one, on the top of the hill.

The man agreed and asked her what is her first advice.

­“If you have lost something, even if you valued it not less than your life, don`t regret it.”

The man let the little bird go, and after she flew up to the top of the branch, she told him her second advice.

­“Never believe that what contradicts common sense and has no evidence.”

Then she flew up on the top of the hill and yelled from there:

­“O POOR YOU! I`VE JUST SWALLOWED TWO HUGE DIAMONDS! IF YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED ME, THEY WOULD BE YOURS.”

A man grabbed his head in desperation.

After he came back to his senses he asked her:

­“Give me at least your third advice.”

­“You are so foolish!”, ­said the little bird. “You ask me the third advice, not even thinking about the first one and the second one. I`ve just told you not to regret about what is lost and not to believe nonsense, and you`ve simply done the opposite. You believed in the nonsense, and regretted what you`ve lost! Think about it, how can two huge diamonds be placed inside of me, so little.

You are foolish, that`s why you need to remain within limits predestined for ordinary people.”

Human intelligence is hugely affected by one`s inner development and current state of being. Even if a person starts to try acting spiritually (symbolized in that story by preferring to learn from a wise bird rather than to lock it in a cage), the subconscious easily kicks in and one is blinded by its own selfish agenda.

Fortunately, there are spiritual techniques which support awareness of the present moment and expand it to a higher level of perception. One of the very effective practices is chanting mantras.

Mantras are repetitions of vowels, words or phrases. They may temporarily activate chakras. Mantras allow conscious creation with the magical powers of sound…

Sounds get substance in lungs and take shape by the position of the lips, toung and teeth, causing subtle vibrations in one`s physical body and affecting energies. Usually those sensations and vibrations are not noticed and rapidly replaced by others.

However, if those vibrations are amplified by prolonged pronounciation over a period of time, chakras related to those areas become charged by energy and become active. For example, the vowel “O” resonates the most with the heart chakra. The mantra Om Mani Padme Hum has a powerful effect over different chakras, connecting mystics with their inner spiritual core.

Everything has its particular aura, its auric radiation, and this

principle is also accomplished in the action of Words. -Dr. Arnoldo

Krum-Heller, (“Huiracocha”) Logos, Mantram, Magic.

How long should one pronounce mantras? Even a few minutes of mantra practice may have an effect, but more effective results are acquired with longer practices, as long as they are done properly, by maintaining steady focus and relaxation.

Spiritual practitioners affect their human bodies with mantras on a deep level. Our physical bodies are about 65 percent water, changing its quality according to the type of energy charge.

An interesting recent illustration of that process have been discovered by Masaro Emotu. He demonstrated with his photos that words pronounced with a positive vibration, classical music, mantras, etc., affect the molecular structure of water and create intricate beautiful crystals. Also in contrast, he has shown disharmonious chaotic formations caused by negative words, aggressive music, etc.

When mystics pronounce mantras with the right attitude – harmony and beauty crystallizes within them.

The word produces objective geometric figures. These geometric

figures crystallize materially when they are endowed with cosmic

matter. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God, and the Word was God… All things were made by him..!” [John

1:1]” – Samael Aun Weor, Geometry of the Word.

All inner psychic vibrations relate to corresponding vibrations from the external world due to the affinity of vibrations and each of them in its complete form may be divided into 7 components. As our predominant senses are often vision and hearing, 7 notes of musical octave and the 7 primary colors of the rainbow tend to be used by mystics to amplify the corresponding vibrations of the 7 chakras.

For example, the vowel I (pronounced as “E” in the word eagle) relates to the note TI. If one chants the mantra of Eternal Feminine Principle IS IS activating the faculty of clairvoyance, it may have a greater power, if pronounced with a higher pitched note TI corresponding to the Ajna chakra.

Another aspect of this external­internal relationship is that spiritual harmony crystallized by mantras is not limited by the constraints of the physical body of a mantra practitioner. It spreads to others, sharing light with the world, according to the mystic`s powers and a person`s level of receptivity.

Sharp concentration and profound relaxation magnify the effects of mantras, neutralizing egos.

Awareness of the “here and now” is a step towards awareness of “everywhere and always.”

However as the effect of mantras on chakras is temporary, advanced spiritual progress is needed to activate them permanently.

Chakras are connected with cosmic energies. Habitually most of us are driven psychologically by cosmic vibrations of a low kind emitted by the Moon. Unless esoteric work have been done in the past, our subtle energetical bodies are lunar and consist primarily of egos, all having a sense of “I”, all fighting for dominance.

Egos block the spiritual experiences of chakras, preventing one from experiencing divine “powers of golden wheels”, inhibiting one from living a spiritual life.

Egos need to be disintegrated for one`s particles of consciousness trapped within them to get liberated – for awareness to dominate over low self­centered states. On a bit larger scale, freedom from selfishness is a way to peace, love and wisdom on our planet.

Besides elimination of egos, the creative force of Alchemy is required to replace lunar bodies with solar ones and to activate the chakras permanently.

With Alchemy, the serpentine sexual force Kundalini may awaken in the Muladhara Chakra and gradually ascend through Sushumna, the energy channel inside the spinal cord. As one progresses on the Path to Enlightenment, internal fire ignites the “7 candles”. The 7 chakras get activated permanently, enriched by the excess of transmuted energy.

Alchemy, known as White Tantra and the Bridal Chamber, was one of the greatest esoteric secrets ever…

It has been hidden for centuries in codes, parables, legends and symbols due to its vital importance for spiritual development and its sexual nature. For example a well known symbol of Caduceus symbolizes energy risen in the spinal column, the snakes coiled around it are the energy channels Ida and Pingala.

Finally in the middle of the 20th century, the Avatar of the Age of Aquarius spiritual teacher Samael Aun Weor removed the seals of symbolism. He explained Alchemy

openly in his numerous writings and public talks as a sacred sexual practice between a married couple in love devoted to inner purification and helping others spiritually.

Samael Aun Weor wrote many books with profound explanations of Alchemy, such as his late work “Mystery of the Golden Blossom”.

He was a great herald of pure spiritual love, enlightening the hearts of spiritual practitioners with his inspiring poetic and profound language.

“God as Father is Wisdom.

God as Mother is Love.

God as Father resides in the Eye of Wisdom.

The Eye of Wisdom is situated between the eyebrows.

God as Love is found in the Heart­Temple.

Wisdom and Love are the two Main Columns of the Great White Lodge.

To love, what a beautiful thing it is to love.

Only the great Souls can, and know how to love. Love is infinite tenderness… Love is the life that palpitates in every atom, as in every Sun.

(excerpted from Samael Aun Weor`s Perfect Matrimony)”

Alchemy transmutes the energy from mutually complementing male­female united currents.

The secret wisdom of esotericism is that gradually the “lead” of raw energies may transform into the “gold ” of the Spirit in all 7 dimensions. Once the physical body is filled with transmuted energy, its excess of goes higher restoring and creating Solar Vital, Astral, Mental, and Causal bodies and then even further, creating advanced vehicles for parts of one`s individual Divine Being to be incarnated internally. (Lunar bodies can be replaced with Solar bodies, then with superior Golden bodies on the stage of spiritual work known as The Second Mountain, and ultimately with bodies of Light on the Third Mountain to merge consciously with the Absolute.)

The universe is governed by cosmic laws and conscious beings. Everything is created by the combined energy of 2 opposite forces: positive and negative, assertive and receptive.

Human beings have the potential for 3 different types of births. The first one is eternal birth. The Monad, a tiny spark of light is born by the father who is in heaven. The second birth is a temporary one from a physical mother. The third birth is a spiritual birth where the unity of harmonized masculine and feminine transmuted energies

create bodies in higher dimensions. Its ultimate purpose is to return back to God, completely awakened, being a conscious part of the Absolute.

This spiritual birth was mentioned by Jesus when he told Nicodemus to be born again.

“1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

­excerpted from The Gospel of John

Rotating chakras by themselves do not make one progress spiritually. Their activation is not the main goal in Esotericism. Psychic faculties of consciousness may be compared with beautiful flowers on the side of the road: they may help to advance forward, but they may also distract. Activation of chakras has the most benefis if it is a part of the process of awakening, helping people and the world.

Spiritual development is much more superior way of being over excitement, worries, confusion and impermanence of a so­called normal life.

There are many levels of superiority of the spiritual over the material. If one advances to the heights of spirituality, their superior perception integrates naturally in their way of life. Similarly, qualities of divine love and cosmic wisdom are natural consequences of spiritual awakening.

There is a lot to pass for a tiny spark of one`s consciousness to ascend from low points of Creation to the most purest Light with no shadow – the Ancient of Days, the Absolute, God.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

"A Tibetan monk sits out in the open in the biting cold and makes his body perspire. This is all a

matter of will. Through his determination he denies the reality of the bitter cold and creates another

reality that the sun is shining and it is hot. Merely by his resolve, he subordinates his circumstances

to his state of mind.The actual situation around him is that of the falling snow, but closing his eyes

he denies that situation. He suggests to himself that it is not snowing, that the sun is burning hot. He

causes this suggestion to go so deep within that a moment comes when his every breath, every cell

of his body, every part of his being begins to feel the heat. Then how can he not perspire? His very

perspiration shows that he made his state of mind prevail over the circumstances.In a sense, all

yoga is nothing but allowing the state of mind to overcome the

circumstances. And all worldliness in a sense is nothing but subjecting the state of mind to the

circumstances."­­Oso