Part 2 - AMORC

all come to when we die, when everything becomesconcentrated at a single point, and then disappearsfrom view.Figure 6 shows the stages of the sun god’snight-journey through Nut’s body, as he travels fromdeath to rebirth. Knowledge of this interior worldof the Dwat was considered by the Egyptians to bethe most important, most profound knowledge,for people living on earth to acquire. The Dwat wasnot only the realm of the dead, but also the realmof the gods and spirits and furthermore, the realmfrom which all living things emerge. 2 All life issuesfrom the Dwat. To know this mysterious interiorworld was to become truly wise, for then one knewboth sides of existence, the invisible along with thevisible.It is interesting that Thutmose III hadthe complete text and illustrations of the mostcomprehensive guide to the Dwat (The Book ofWhat is in the Underworld) painted on the innerwalls of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. As hiscoronation text reminds us, this was a king whowas “instructed in the wisdom of the gods.” UnlikeNapoleon, Thutmose III was initiated into a deepspiritual knowledge. It is not without significancethat the name Thutmose means “born of Thoth,”the god whom the Greeks identified with Hermes,and from whom one of the most important of theWestern esoteric traditions, the Hermetic Tradition,derives its name.The Three TasksI have tried to show that the Egyptians lived withan awareness of a dimension of reality that is bestdescribed by the term “imaginal,” a non-physical yetobjective reality that we become aware of throughthe human faculty of imagination. For the Egyptians,the agencies and powers that can be reachedthrough contact with the imaginal world arefar more potent than anything merely physical,because through them physical reality can betransformed.Thus we have seen how Thutmose IIIcalled upon Seth and Neith to infuse him with asuperhuman martial energy that enabled him togo to war with an irresistible ferocity. In battle afterbattle, he and his accompanying priests could alsomagically invoke the imaginal reality of the defeatof the powers opposed to the sun god and Ma’at,both of whom the pharaoh represented, indeedembodied, on earth. It was this, according to his ownaccount, that brought Thutmose his victories. 3Figure 6: On the left, Nut swallows the sun god Ra at sunset,while on the right she gives birth to the sun at dawn.I have also tried to show that the Egyptianslived with an understanding that we are not justterrestrial beings; we are also cosmic. As such, ourspiritual fulfilment is only possible in a cosmicsetting. This understanding is to be found from theearliest sacred literature (the Pyramid Texts), to thecoronation text of Thutmose III and the Book of theDead, where, for example, such mystical episodes asflying up to the sky, seeing the image of the sun god,boarding the sun-boat and/or becoming inwardly“solarised,” are all recorded. 4Finally, I have suggested that the Egyptianshad an orientation towards the world of the dead(the Dwat) that saw it as being the source of the mostprofound wisdom concerning the nature of reality.There is a remarkably rich metaphysical literatureconcerning the Dwat, knowledge of which wasevidently regarded as relevant not only to the deadbut also to the living. 5 All of this was “mainstream”ancient Egyptian religious consciousness.The Egyptian Consciousness GoesUndergroundAt the end of the Egyptian era it went “underground,”moving from the temple to the private household,and then to the small group meeting in secret,from whence it would pass into various esotericUnlike Napoleon, Thutmose III wasinitiated into a deep spiritual knowledge.traditions. 6 Thus in the Alchemical tradition, there is aparticular focus on the imaginal realm of archetypesand the path of inner transformation. In the Hermetictradition there is a concentration on the realisationof our cosmic nature, while in Gnosticism we finda particular emphasis on the invisible hierarchiesof the spirit world. These three Western esotericstreams could be understood as each preserving intheir different ways the ancient Egyptian wisdominto the next cultural era.Meanwhile the emerging mainstream cultureThe Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2008