Rosicrucian Beacon Magazine - 2013-06 - AMORC
Rosicrucian Beacon Magazine - 2013-06 - AMORC Rosicrucian Beacon Magazine - 2013-06 - AMORC
12Rarepresentations (Ra-Horakhty and Khepri) which hadbecome associated with Ra, and chose one aspect only, theAten solar-disc, ascribing to it all of Ra’s attributes. Hisgod, the Aten, was ONE, and of course it was obvious thatthe solar-disc was one alone without any counterpart orequal. By adding hands and arms to the solar-disc, whichreached towards the earth, he had made this symbol moreaccessible and personal.Yet Akhenaten’s title for his god was still “TheLiving One, Ra-Horakhty, Ruler of the Two Horizons,who rejoices in the Horizon in his name of Shu (Light) whohas come in the Aten” and, “The words of Ra are beforethee, my august father who taught me theiressence”. Breasted makes a good point here:“Under the name of Aten, AmenhotepIV introduced the worship of the SupremeGod, but he made no attempt to conceal theidentity of his new deity (that is, Aten)with the old sun god, Ra.” Ra was still thesource it appears…, only the name hadchanged. Why?Ra was a national god. Eg yptwas an empire, not just a country; a newuniversal god was required to embrace andunify all peoples. The sun-disc, visible in allcountries, was therefore a potent, universalsymbol, which could be readily acceptableby all! To quote Breasted again: “It can beno accident that the concept of a universalgod arose in Egypt when he, the pharaoh, wasreceiving universal tribute from the knownworld of the day.” So Akhenaten’s ‘reform’seemed to be really the culmination ofAkhenaten and his wife Nefertitipraying to the Aten who providedhis rays to the Pharaoh and his queen.the move begun by his grandfather Thutmosis IV, thencontinued and extended by his father, Amunhotep III,with both pharaohs’ swing towards the Heliopolitan solarworship of Ra and the sun-disc.One may sense the psychological tension thatAkhenaten would have experienced when he namedhis first four children after Aten, (Merit-aten, Mekhitaten,Ankhesenpa-aten, Neferneferu-aten), the last twochildren and his own assumed name (Nefer-neferu-ra,Setepen-ra and Nefer-kepheru-ra Wa-en-ra), as theenclitic. However, Akhenaten’s concept of the Aten wasnot as the sole god, but the idea of universal monotheismhad been expressed, although at this stage the other godshad not been excluded!Advances in Akhenaten’s ReformsWhat was still more revolutionary about Akhenaten’sreligious reforms was the total banning of the worship ofAmun, the closing of that God’s temples and the expulsionof the Amun priesthood. This was unprecedented. Neverbefore had the worship of one of the gods been banned nora temple closed. Even the name Amun was systematicallychiselled out from temple walls, tombs and monuments,even to the defacement of this own father’s name!The enormous wealth and revenues of Amun’streasury were directed towards the worship of the Templeof the Aten. His early tolerance had ceased and religiouspersecution had begun. Later still, this edict was extendedto the names of the other gods; away with Ptah, Osiris, Isis,Horus and all the other familiar traditional gods, althoughapparently their temples and cult centreswere not all closed.The Third PhaseThe third phase culminated in a totalreligious revolution…, the banishing of allother gods, with the Aten alone remainingas the only God, not just the Supreme God.This is the first occurrence of absolutemonotheism, the total exclusion of allother gods.I n c o n g r u o u s l y h o w e v e r ,Akhenaten made three exceptions: Ma’at,goddess of truth and cosmic order, was notbanned because he claimed he was ‘Livingin the Truth’; Thoth, god of knowledge andwisdom, was also tolerated; and thirdly thepriests of Ra at Heliopolis continued theirfunctions, for Atenism had after all evolvedfrom this ancient solar cult.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2013© Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC
The Assessments ofEgyptologists over TimeIt would be interesting to survey the assessments ofAkhenaten over the last 100 years. Egyptologists,writing in the early 1900s, e.g. Arthur Weigall andthe famed James Breasted, were full of praise andadmiration for Akhenaten as a religious visionaryand the world’s first monotheist. Breasted calls him“the first prophet” and “the first individual in humanhistory”, but even he criticised Akhenaten’s methodsas being too harsh when he said “The persecution ofAmun was especially severe”.One of the greatest authorities onEg yptian Religion, Wallis Budge, writing inthe same period, was however less enthusiastic.He once again raised Akhenaten’s ideals, callinghim “…precocious and clever with a mind thatworked quickly, possessing a determined will,very definite religious convictions and a fearlessnature; earnest and sincere in his beliefs”, but accuseshim of “…spiritual arrogance and self-sufficiency, whichmade him oblivious to everything except his own feelingsand emotions.”Yet another highly respected Egyptologist, SirAlan Gardiner, admired Akhenaten’s ideals and couragebut deplored the methods he used to implement hisreligious reforms. Later scholars, with access to muchmore information, namely Cyril Aldred, DonaldRedford and Nicholas Reeves, have also given mixedopinions about Akhenaten, some more condemnatorythan others.The Debate on AkhenatenLet us first look at some of these less than adulatorycomments made about Akhenaten.1. The Negative Position: Far from his monotheismbeing new, it looked more like an attempt tosubstitute one solar god for another. As Pharaoh, hewas the only one in complete union with the supremeDeity, to the extent of limiting the access of all othersto the Deity, except through himself as intermediary.This is as it had been with all past pharaohs. ButAkhenaton differed from them in that he wantedall other doctrines abolished. There was to be nomention of the age-old Egyptian myths and creationstories, no afterlife scenes at Akhetaten, no sacredanimals, no cult statues, no anthropomorphic gods,not even personal amulets.Akhenaten, Nefertiti and their three daughters(ca. 1350 BCE) Neues Museum, Berlin.This demonstrates extreme religious intolerance.There was an absence of concern for the age-oldproblems of evil and suffering, for wrong it seems,no longer existed. There was no doctrine of oppositesin nature and their reconciliation. There were noinjunctions towards living a moral and virtuouslife, and no petitions for spiritual enlightenment,understanding or wisdom. Atenism contained noeschatological hope of resurrection after death, andOsiris, the god of the underworld, was removed andnothing else put in its place.This, above all else, must have caused greatuncertainty and anxiety, and destroyed the hopesof ordinary people in any form of afterlife. In statepolicy Akhenaten has been accused of neglectingthe national interest and of using religion to breakthe political dominance of the Theban priesthood.Finally, it has been alleged that the new religionintroduced distortion and ugliness in art andsculpture, stressing instead, freedom, indolence andsensuality.2. Positive Aspects of Akhenaten’s Theolog y:Akhenaten attempted to drive home the point thatthe sun-disc was not just the abode of the god, butwas the god itself “…who by means of the heat and lightwhich emanates from his body gave life to everything”.And, as stated by Budge in Akhenaten’s cult “…defiedthe heat of the sun and worshipped it as the one eternal,creative, fructifying and life-sustaining force.”© Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 201313
- Page 3 and 4: CONTENTSJune 2013, Vol 22, No. 3Par
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- Page 12: and taken in by a young man and his
- Page 20 and 21: 18If you think about and identify y
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- Page 24: have been equally frank in expressi
- Page 30 and 31: y Louise lanence UPON a TIME there
- Page 33 and 34: like these help us compete in a bla
- Page 35 and 36: the longer he thought about it, the
- Page 37 and 38: At thirty, man suspects himself a f
- Page 39 and 40: new skills? Go on then, learn them!
- Page 41 and 42: y Martha Folinome EXPERIENCES are m
- Page 43 and 44: y Marc Cornwallhe SWISS CIT Y of Ba
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12Rarepresentations (Ra-Horakhty and Khepri) which hadbecome associated with Ra, and chose one aspect only, theAten solar-disc, ascribing to it all of Ra’s attributes. Hisgod, the Aten, was ONE, and of course it was obvious thatthe solar-disc was one alone without any counterpart orequal. By adding hands and arms to the solar-disc, whichreached towards the earth, he had made this symbol moreaccessible and personal.Yet Akhenaten’s title for his god was still “TheLiving One, Ra-Horakhty, Ruler of the Two Horizons,who rejoices in the Horizon in his name of Shu (Light) whohas come in the Aten” and, “The words of Ra are beforethee, my august father who taught me theiressence”. Breasted makes a good point here:“Under the name of Aten, AmenhotepIV introduced the worship of the SupremeGod, but he made no attempt to conceal theidentity of his new deity (that is, Aten)with the old sun god, Ra.” Ra was still thesource it appears…, only the name hadchanged. Why?Ra was a national god. Eg yptwas an empire, not just a country; a newuniversal god was required to embrace andunify all peoples. The sun-disc, visible in allcountries, was therefore a potent, universalsymbol, which could be readily acceptableby all! To quote Breasted again: “It can beno accident that the concept of a universalgod arose in Egypt when he, the pharaoh, wasreceiving universal tribute from the knownworld of the day.” So Akhenaten’s ‘reform’seemed to be really the culmination ofAkhenaten and his wife Nefertitipraying to the Aten who providedhis rays to the Pharaoh and his queen.the move begun by his grandfather Thutmosis IV, thencontinued and extended by his father, Amunhotep III,with both pharaohs’ swing towards the Heliopolitan solarworship of Ra and the sun-disc.One may sense the psychological tension thatAkhenaten would have experienced when he namedhis first four children after Aten, (Merit-aten, Mekhitaten,Ankhesenpa-aten, Neferneferu-aten), the last twochildren and his own assumed name (Nefer-neferu-ra,Setepen-ra and Nefer-kepheru-ra Wa-en-ra), as theenclitic. However, Akhenaten’s concept of the Aten wasnot as the sole god, but the idea of universal monotheismhad been expressed, although at this stage the other godshad not been excluded!Advances in Akhenaten’s ReformsWhat was still more revolutionary about Akhenaten’sreligious reforms was the total banning of the worship ofAmun, the closing of that God’s temples and the expulsionof the Amun priesthood. This was unprecedented. Neverbefore had the worship of one of the gods been banned nora temple closed. Even the name Amun was systematicallychiselled out from temple walls, tombs and monuments,even to the defacement of this own father’s name!The enormous wealth and revenues of Amun’streasury were directed towards the worship of the Templeof the Aten. His early tolerance had ceased and religiouspersecution had begun. Later still, this edict was extendedto the names of the other gods; away with Ptah, Osiris, Isis,Horus and all the other familiar traditional gods, althoughapparently their temples and cult centreswere not all closed.The Third PhaseThe third phase culminated in a totalreligious revolution…, the banishing of allother gods, with the Aten alone remainingas the only God, not just the Supreme God.This is the first occurrence of absolutemonotheism, the total exclusion of allother gods.I n c o n g r u o u s l y h o w e v e r ,Akhenaten made three exceptions: Ma’at,goddess of truth and cosmic order, was notbanned because he claimed he was ‘Livingin the Truth’; Thoth, god of knowledge andwisdom, was also tolerated; and thirdly thepriests of Ra at Heliopolis continued theirfunctions, for Atenism had after all evolvedfrom this ancient solar cult.The <strong>Rosicrucian</strong> <strong>Beacon</strong> -- June <strong>2013</strong>© Supreme Grand Lodge of <strong>AMORC</strong>
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