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Egyptian Gods
I have written pieces on several of the old
religions and how my teaching is similar in many ways, when they are taken to
their basics beyond the added beliefs and traditions. Here I would like to write
about the Egyptian Gods.
I knew nothing at all about the Ancient Egyptians
and the Gods they worshiped until January this year, when we went for a holiday
cruise down the River Nile. We had an excellent guide who loved his subject and
was very willing to answer questions from those of us willing to learn. The
culture was interesting enough, but it was the stories of the Gods that stirred
something in me, and one part in particular. (I will add that I have found that
the stories varied between areas, but this is as it was told to us).
Those of you who have been with this teaching for
a while, and have perhaps read our book Essays in Truth, Glimpses into
Reality will know that I have said that, not only is God definitely male and
that he was in fact the original male element, but also that he is not the
ultimate. I explained that God, the principal that needs to exist and thus
brought about creation, came out of the original female element. This is a far
larger (infinite) and even more abstract power than the God we believe in or
worship, and one that does nothing but allowed the original essence of existence
to come to be, and now supports and permits all within 'Her'. She has no
attributes other than this. I also stated that I had never heard this before,
and this was original knowledge to me.
Well, things changed when we went to Egypt and
began to learn about their Gods:
The Ancient Egyptians are said to have been around
as far back as 5000 years ago; 3000 before Christ, Buddha or Krishna, whose
teachings I have shown have similarities with my own; but I was not prepared for
what I would find in Egypt, and it was something that would most likely have
meant little to anyone else.
We were taught about Ra, The Sun God, who created
all of existence, like the Christian God and as with my own insights that it is
the male element that is the driving force behind the world. However, in their
story - as discovered portrayed in an ancient picture on a wall in an uncovered
tomb - every morning Ra is born into existence by Nut, The Sky Goddess. He then
in turn creates everything else. During the day he travels across the sky, to
the head of Nut where he is consumed by her. The story says that Nut, shown as
being in an arch shape and often over her brother and lover Geb (The Earth God)
lowers herself onto Geb, thus all goes dark and existence ends. (She is complete
again with her other half). During the night Ra travels down the length of her
body to be born again the next morning.
To most this may be just a story, and even a silly
one at that, with the sky having a name and giving birth to the sun, but to me
this is amazing. It is amazing because they have put the female first and then
have the male creating all else. It is amazing, not because it confirms anything
I have said, but because it suggests to me that whoever first told these
stories, over 5000 years ago, was a very spiritual person, and most likely
Enlightened. It also demonstrates further that, whenever and wherever the truth
is realised (as I have said about the other major religions) the truth is the
same. We can give it different names and explain it in a different way
according to our culture, but the Truth does not change.
What I teach is firsthand from me, and yet it has
been said for millennia. It is here now, in my own experience (and yours when
you are ready), and yet it is also described in relics from civilisations long
gone, even from before the earliest records. 'I' (the space within you) do not
change, and the truth does not change. 'I' remain the same, wherever or whenever
'I' live.
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A picture as it was
portrayed on the wall of one of the tombs, showing Nut giving birth to
the Ra, the Sun, followed by the rest of creation coming to be.
Her name is pronounced 'Noot'.
'Nuit' means 'night.'
(click on the image to
enlarge) |
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During the day, Nut and
Geb are separated, but each evening Nut comes down to meet Geb and this
causes darkness.
Nut is shown as blue as
the sky, with stars. Geb is the earth.
(Earth is 'matter'. Matter
comes to be when there is separation from the nothing (symbolised by the
sky). They separate, and Ra, the male element and lord of creation, is
born). |
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Another picture, showing
Nut above Geb who is lying down, with Ra and all the other Gods in
between. |
Despite the above pictures, I have read that it is
said by some that Ra actually created Nut, as well as the other Gods, even
though she gives birth to him later. I do not know, but I suspect that the
hierarchy was changed to make the male principle come first, as the the male was
always first in society (all the Pharaohs were male; the only female who managed
to get onto the throne was even portrayed as male). As we know, in later
religions there was no reference to the female at all, having only one God, who
was always referred to as 'He'.
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