“We are the Poets! We are the children of the wood and stream, of mist and mountain, of sun and wind! We are the Greeks! and to us the rites of Eleusis should open the doors of heaven, and we shall enter in and see God face to face. Under the stars will I go forth, my brothers, and drink of that lustral dew: I will return, my brothers, when I have seen God face to face and read within those eternal eyes the secret that shall make you free. Then will I choose you and test you and instruct you in the Mysteries of Eleusis, oh ye brave hearts, and cool eyes, and trembling lips! I will put a live coal upon your lips, and flowers upon your eyes, and a sword in your hearts, and ye also shall see God face to face. Thus shall we give back its youth to the world, for like tongues of triple flame we shall look upon the Great Deep — Hail unto the Lords of the groves of Eleusis!”

Aleister Crowley in “Eleusis”

In order to induce this religious ecstasy in its highest form Crowley proposes to hold a series of religious services; seven in number. These services are to be held at Caxon Hall, Westminster, and will be conducted by Aleister Crowley himself, assisted by other Neophytes of the A.A., the mystical society ( not the common group now using these same letters)

The seven services will be typical of Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man, and each one will be dedicated to the Planet that rules its particular age. For example, Saturn “the lean and slippered pantaloon,” or sad old age. Jupiter the solemn and portentous justice, the serious and serene man who has arrived and controls. Mars the soldier, full of energy and life, vigorous and formidable. Sol the man who has still something of his youth left, and is gay betimes and serious betimes, the man who loves and the man who works. Venus explains itself in Shakespeare’s words “the lover with a woeful ballad.” Mercury the schoolboy, happy, careless and gay, mischievous and full of animal life. Luna the age of childhood and innocence, unsmirched and white as the planet herself.

Each will have its own ritual, arranged for the purpose of illustrating the particular deity to which it is devoted; each ritual will be both poetic and musical. Verses of the great poets appropriate to the planet and all that the planet represents will be recited, and the ideas suggested to the spectators will be translated into inspired music by a accomplished violin player. There will further be mystical dances by a brilliant young poet who thus draws down the holy influence.

We put the mind of the spectator in tune with the pure idea of austerity and melancholy which we call Saturn, or the idea of force and fire which we call Mars, or with the idea of nature and love which we call Venus, and so for the others. If he becomes identified with this one idea the union is one of ecstatic bliss, and its only imperfection is due to the fact that the idea in question, whatever it may be, is only partial. Ecstasy is therefore progressive. Gradually the adept unites himself with holier and higher ideas until he becomes one with the Universe. To him there is no more Death; time and space are annihilated; nothing is, save the intense rapture that knows no change for ever.

Let us add a short analysis of the present series of rites; they may be taken as illustrating Humanity, its fate both good and evil. Man, unable to solve the riddle of existence, takes council of Saturn, extreme old age. Such answer as he can get is the one word despair.

Is there more hope in the dignity and wisdom of Jupiter? No; for the noble senior lacks the vigour of Mars the warrior. Counsel is in vain without the determination to carry it out. Mars, invoked, is indeed capable of victory: but he has already lost the controlled wisdom of age; in the moment of conquest he wastes the fruits of it, in the arms of luxury.

It is through this weakness that the perfected man, the sun is of dual nature, and his evil twin slays him in his glory. So the triumphant Lord of Heaven, the beloved of Apollo and the Muses is brought down into the dust, and who shall mourn him but his Mother Nature, Venus, the lady of love and sorrow? Well is it if she bears within her the secret of resurrection!

But even Venus owes all her charm to the swift messenger of the Gods, Mercury, the joyous and ambiguous boy whose tricks first scandalize and then delight Olympus. But Mercury, too, is found wanting. Not in him alone is the secret cure for all the woe of the human race. Swift as ever, he passes, and gives place to the youngest of the Gods, to the virginal Moon.

Behold her, Madonna-like, throned and crowned, veiled, silent, awaiting the promise of the future. She is Isis and Mary, Istar and Bhavani, Artemis and Diana. But Artemis is still barren of hope until the spirit of the Infinite All, Great Pan, tears asunder the veil and displays the hope of humanity, the Crowned Child of the Future. All this is symbolized in the holy rites which we have recovered from the darkness of history, and now in the fullness of time disclose that the world may be redeemed.

For the corruptible shall put on incorruptibility, the mortal shall put on immortality; my adepts shall walk crowned in the Gardens of the World, enjoying the breeze and the sunlight, plucking the roses and filling their mouths with ripe grapes. They shall dance in the moonlight before Dionysus, and delight under the stars with Aphrodite; yet they shall also dwell beyond all these things in the unchanged Heaven– Here and Now

Reprinted from “The Sketch” of 24th August 1910

“Working on tradition, just as Wagner did when he took the old Norse Saga for his world drama, we find Saturn as a Black, Melancholy God, the devourer of his children. Ideas of Night, Death, Black Hellebore, Lead, Cypress, Tombs, Deadly Night-shade. All these things have a necessary connection with Saturn in the mind of anyone who has read the classics. The first condition of this rite is, then, to make the temple a kind of symbolic representation of the sphere of Saturn. So the representative of Saturn wears the Black Robe. The time is declared to be midnight (though, as a matter of fact, it is only twenty minutes past eight — this is an ordinary theatrical convention, and the masons will think of certain analogies in their own “Orgies”). If the Brethren are fed, it is “on the corpses of their children” as Saturn fed on his. If they drink, it is “Poppy-heads infused in blood” — symbols of sleep and death. Saturn further represents the earth, the plane of matter, humanity bounded by old age and death, humanity blindly groping after illumination and failing to get it.”

Aleister Crowley in “The Rites of Eleusis. Their Origin and Meaning”

This attention to occult and traditional symbolism was carried through by Crowley into the design and setting of the stage itself. Even the position of the characters at the opening of each Rite was, in conjunction with the props, representative of some piece of occult symbolism which Crowley felt to be appropriate. Thus the opening scene in The Rite of Saturn presented a cabbalistic diagram, that of Jupiter the “Wheel of Fortune of the Tarot”, Mars an astrological plan, and so on.

It was the competence of the soloists that really carried the Rites, and accounted largely for whatever modest success they enjoyed. Leila Waddell with her violin, Crowley with his recitations, and (Victor) Neuburg with his dance, each seemed to capture some of that ecstasy of which Crowley spoke, and if any of it was transmitted to the audience it was through their enthusiasm. Victor Neuburg with his wild dance was, by popular consent, the most impressive of the performers. Untrained in any form of dance as such, Neuburg had either developed the performance spontaneously, or more likely evolved it from his observations of tribal “trance dances”.

The competence of its soloists was not, however, enough to make a success of the Rites. Already weakened by inadequate financial backing and haste of preparation, they were crushed altogether under the weight of hostile criticism. Rather then making a profit for the A.A., as Crowley had intended, the performances probably scarcely covered costs.

What is certain is that the Rites of Eleusis Stand as a (largely forgotten) landmark in the histories of both the occult and the theatre. Half a century before the “experimental theatre” of the sixties and the seventies, Crowley and his small band were pioneering a form of theatre with transcendental manipulations and a level of audience involvement until then undreamed of. “Ahead of its time” The Rites of Eleusis accordingly suffered the usual fate of the boldly experimental.

Quotes from Keith Richmond in “The Rites of Eleusis”

For Brother Vere and myself, we wanted to discover the environment in which Crowley found himself at that time; to take our sacred Book of the Law and read it in the country of its birth, and to witness for ourselves the Stele of Revealing from which Rose and Aleister drew inspiration.

stele of revealing

The only specific plan for all of us was to meet at noon on each of the three successive days, April 8, 9 and 10, to celebrate The Three Days of the Writing of the Book of the Law. Aside from that, we each strove to do and see as much as we possibly could, experiencing those things that would more closely give us insight or enhance our Thelemic perspectives.

On the morning of April 8, whomever was in Egypt for the event was to meet in the lobby of the Mena House Oboroi, a beautiful 5-Star hotel located right across from the Giza Pyramids. By noon, the following people had gathered in the hotel foyer: Brother Dionysius and Sister Valerie from Amsterdam, Netherlands; Sister Rhonda and Brother Gordon from Vancouver, Canada; Sister Annette, Brother Brent and Brother Daniel from Australia; Sister Xenia, Brother Alexey and Brother Nadav from Israel; Brother Peter, Brother Zacharias and Sister Kristina from Sweden; and Sister Mary Lynn, Brother Jason, Soror Ashera, Frater Hrumachis, Brother Vere and myself from the US — nineteen people from six different countries and four continents.

A perfect grassy spot on the garden grounds had been found with the Great Pyramid standing in witness, stately across the plateau, while we sat quite comfortably in a big circle under the shade of several palm trees. We began by going around the circle introducing ourselves. Most gave their legal name, their magical name, what country they were from, what body they were from, and if they served their body in any officer position. Most attendees were body masters, secretaries or treasurers.

garden

Frater Hrumachis set up a small central altar and incense was lit. He also began by doing an invocation for this special occasion. Then we read by going around the circle, each reciting a verse from the First Chapter, until it was completed. It was such a wonderful feeling to be sitting there sharing in the momentous occasion with brethren from around the world. I could see in each one’s face the same enthrallment.

Right afterward, we got the idea to call Hymenaes Beta and have him join us in our revelry. Brother Vere called him with his cell phone and of course we woke him up, as he was half way around the world in another time zone. Nonetheless, he seemed amenable to the occasion so we all called out “93!” into the phone. After Brother Vere signed off, we all did midday Resh and then lined up for group photos. Excited to get to know one another better, we all walked several blocks to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

After lunch we all split up to go exploring Cairo, but we all agreed to meet later that evening at a downtown restaurant for dinner. After a delicious dinner we walked around a bit as the town comes more alive after dark. Admittedly the temptation was too great. We each spent time at a nearby pastry shop filling up small trays of assorted Baklava and cakes to take to a local Ahwa (outdoor coffee house) to lounge and feast again. We gathered in a colorful tent like structure along the street. Some also partook of the local shisha (tobacco smoked in a water pipe) with one of two tobaccos, one soaked in molasses and the other soaked in apple. Something surely, we thought, Crowley must have also indulged in.

On the second sacred day at noon, we reassembled for our second day of the reading of The Book of the Law. We gathered once again in the same grassy area; however, today the call to prayer was even louder and longer as Friday’s are to the Muslim what Sundays are to Christians and prayer is delivered more fervently. So as not to delay our noon reading window, we decided to move further around the back of the hotel to a more private and quieter place, which ended up being just as pleasant if not more so.

We began as before with a brief invocation by Frater Hrumachis, incense, and then the reading commenced going around the circle. After the reading we agreed to call Sabazius. He did not answer his phone, as it was in the middle of the night for him, but we did leave a message on his recorder with our “93” greeting. We followed the reading with passing around a book for everyone to list their names and emails, in order to more easily share our comments and pictures of the entire event. We followed that by performing midday Resh and again going out to a local restaurant to feast.

feast

That evening we all met at the Oasis Hotel, where Soror Ashera had arranged to have a dinner and belly dancing show in the hotel’s nightclub for the entire group. We had a great dinner and entertainment began with a singing duo, and later featured an Egyptian Dancer “Sozi.” At one point Sozi came into the audience to our table, pulling Brother Peter up to dance with her. He began to dance with so much jubilation of arms swinging and feet kicking up, that he literally stole the show. He received a wild applause from everyone in the house.

For our third day of the reading of The Book of the Law, we once again found our familiar spot on the grassy grounds of the Mena House. Frater Hrumachis again performed an opening invocation, incense was lit and we read of the Third Chapter, going around the circle until, it too, was completed. It had all seemed too short. We passed around our individual Books of the Law to have everyone sign the others, to commemorate the occasion. Even within the short time that we had met, we could sense such a strong bond between us all. Many had tears in their eyes as we shared hugs of brother and sisterhood.

group

Midday Resh was performed and we all went to lunch again. After that most everyone decided to reassemble downtown at the Cairo Museum to once again look upon the Stele of Revealing. Brother Gordon and Sister Rhonda had done some research upon arriving earlier in Egypt, to learn that the Stele of Revealing had been discovered in a cache in the village of Gournah, where it had been moved from its original location in a hillside tomb near the Temple of Hatshepsut, which lies just south of the Valley of the Kings. It was the intention of our group to be able to get into the glass case where it was on display and be able to look at its reverse side. However, the director of that section of the museum was on vacation so it was not allowed.

museum

This last day for many on the pilgrimage still held a surprise, for everyone was about to be shown something we didn’t even know still existed, the coffin of Ankh-af-na-khonsu! Sister Xenia had been the one to find it in a side hall of the Egyptian Museum. Sure enough, there was a nameplate with his name and the date said it was from the XXVI Dynasty, the same as the Stele. The color was very good on the outside, the lacquer-like finish giving it a golden-orange color. Time and its transport had created chips off of the colorfully painted plaster and cracks had developed, but the overall effect was impressive. What a wonder to behold a painting of what once resembled the look of this unique individual. Finally, a face to go with his mysterious words!

ankhafnakhonsu

The trip for everyone had finally come to an end though too soon. Deep friendships had been formed. A taste for mystery had been rewarded. We had not only seen the Stele of Revealing, we had seen the Priest of the Prince’s last resting sarcophagus. The sacred truths that we had wanted to be sure of, had been confirmed. And like most pilgrims who answer to the call of spiritual yearning, the holiness and the mystery had found its way within us, and we would never be the same again.

In ancient Egypt we find a modality or practice, a way of life rich in this synthesis of body, mind and spirit. Ancient Egypt was a dominant country and its cultural centers were both ecclesiastically and politically all-powerful. It’s dynastic legacies and foreign ruler ships provided Egypt with a long and instructive history. For the context of this paper we will draw from the dynastic times of Egypt, ca. 3100–300 B.C.E.

Jon Manchip White describes the basic character of the Egyptian people as serene, industrious and disciplined. He claims that they must have been one of the least neurotic civilizations in history. They were secure, stable and sensible concerning their abilities toward life. As White put it, the Egyptian “put himself in tune with the rhythm of the Universe as it had been established by the gods.”

When an Egyptian experienced questions of self-doubt and analysis, he went to his priest. These were not the usual ministers we find today, who hear confessions, dole penances and offer prayer. They were multifaceted physicians, philosophers, architects, astronomers, mathematicians, artisans and dream interpreters; and they gave counsel with a wide base of knowledge. By 3,000 B.C.E. their philosophies were already firmly established. The Egyptians recognized a divine order, established at the same time of creation; this order is manifest in nature, in the normalcy of phenomena; it is manifest in society as justice; and it is manifest in an individual’s life as truth.

The consciousness of the people or their intelligence lay in “the way of the heart” and all judgment of oneself was weighed against the “feather of truth.” In essence, they knew upon death to the body, that their soul would meet with the great God Osiris, who would observe the balance that the individual had achieved during his or her life. If he were “true” or had lived a life of “ma’at” or balance, he would enjoy an afterlife. The Egyptian firmly believed in perpetuating his God-like qualities for a truly long-lived soul. The Egyptian was concerned with karma and good deeds. Thus, it was not a threat that propelled the person on in the care of their soul, such as possible damnation, but rather as a desire to do well and right by his Gods and Goddesses

One of the primary similarities between ancient Egyptian psychology and its modern counterpart in transpersonal psychology is that there are no sharp boundaries between their philosophies and their behavior. Through the analysis of the early dynastic periods of Egypt, Frankfort’s (1961) The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man stated that, to the Egyptian the visible and tangible phenomena within his existence was not only superficial and temporal, but also blended with the profound and eternal.

All children attended school at the age of four. By ten, they began technical training at whatever they had shown a propensity for. Some became artisans, or went into a trade, some became soldiers, and still others bearing philosophical inquisitiveness, continued their education in the outer peristyle in preparation to enter the temple. Beside scientific instruction and gymnastic exercises, they were taught ethics, practical philosophy and good manners. They were also taught the powers of observation as well as the recognition of values, both materially and morally; and they have had placed on them certain responsibilities which they had to fulfill.

Primarily, they were instructed on the physical world, and more specifically on the physical body. The functions of the organs and parts of the body were ascribed to different Gods. The interrelationship of these names given and their symbols provided a direct indication of their vital and cosmic function. The eye, for example, was extremely important symbol. The right eye symbolized the sun, the left the moon. They are the opening and closing, day and night. The word for eye “irt” basically means “to make” or “to create.” Ra, representing the right eye, created the day or made the night pass into day. So the student was not only to learn the words and symbols of the physical body, but also their esoteric counterparts.

Along with the physical understanding of the relationship between the body parts and that of a God, there was also taught the meaning of substance and matter, form and forms, number, measure and proportion. The knowledge of the value of measure was needed to understand the juxtaposition of images; for instance, in wall murals. Schwaller de Lubicz explains number from the Ancient Egyptian’s perspective. “Number begins with the scission of primordial unity. Causal unity, itself into two states, the self and the ego, but it requires the psychological consciousness to realize that one counts.” Thus begins the consciousness of the ego.

In the hypostyle, the lessons continue. The initiate was taught three levels of consciousness: the automation, which is the “moral being” — the physical, emotional and mental; the Permanent Witness, which is the personality; and the Spiritual Witness, which has the aspect of the incarnate being or the highest form of consciousness.

In Schwaller de Lubicz’ words, “There can be no final liberation for any human being without attaining Unity of Consciousness, in which the Permanent Witness recognizes and accepts the guidance of the Spiritual Witness.” The student eventually understands this and thus eliminates his selfish aims and obstinate opinions.

Along this path, the initiate must learn to discern the difference between two types of intelligence. There is the analytical, which comprehends cerebrally ideas with acquired experience, and then there is gnosis or “the intelligence of the heart,” which produces awareness upon the subtle state of being.

Another element of discernment is that between a perceived reality and the possibility that the perception may be illusory. Only by becoming a neutral observer can this identification become possible. The practiced initiate, having experienced different states of consciousness, can eventually and correctly identify them. By consciousness it is meant that it is the measure of individualization and it comes from the knowledge of the elements of the individual’s genesis.

To add to the initiate’s intellect and behavioral elements of genesis there were seven accomplishments and seven obstacles that helped to develop his psycho-spiritual self. A sense of presence was the first accomplishment of which the individual had to be aware; and more specifically, the Spiritual presence. The second was to attain great concentration, for the will must be a strong part of the personality. The third was serenity in achieving this quality where one must become “neutral” in one’s discrimination, which brings a “transparency” or a “quality of letting the light pass.” It is the “illumination within and the radiance without” (Schwaller de Lubicz, 1981). The fourth is a gesture, or rather the knowledge of the appropriate gesture in dealing with all nature. The correct gesture teaches one the rhythm and character of things. The fifth is silence. The first step in achieving silence is immobility of thought and no will to action, and immobility of the body and no will to emotion. Schwaller de Lubicz instructs us, “Silence is the void into which the spirit is drawn.” The sixth accomplishment is thankfulness, which leads to real joy, a vitalizing quality. The seventh accomplishment is generosity, which means forgetting oneself for the well being of another. It is the union of the Spiritual Self and the Universal Self, when these are brought together.

Now for the obstacles: The first, personal concern is the struggle for control between the ego and the higher self. Clarity of thought and control of emotions will help develop one’s values. A preoccupation with health is another concern. The second obstacle is the wrong notion of providence or the plan of destiny. The mistake is to try to bring in a God who would prevent causes from having consequences. The third is false pity. It is important to realize the difference between false charity and arbitrary pity from “disinterested sympathetic altruism.” Through the understanding of this, compassion is learned.

The fourth obstacle is the quest for sanctity. This being an extremely difficult obstacle, failing will at first occur. With these will be experienced shame and remorse which will have “the sacrificial value of purifying fire.” The fifth obstacle is sentimentality, which Schwaller de Lubicz describes as a “spurious relationship by the imagination between Nature and ourselves.” It is unproductive because it is the product of personal motives and not of contact with either natural or spiritual realities.

The sixth obstacle is satisfaction. The Personal Witness must control the Automaton up from the lower depths, but the Spiritual Self must raise it further. This can be done if the Ego’s self-satisfaction is not held down. The seventh obstacle is routine. If it is allowed, one loses one’s own nature. For one must be fully conscious of one’s aims and find virtue in the destiny of his incarnation.

The identification and assimilation of these qualities, once understood, can then be merged. They will enhance the physical, stimulate the mental and emotional, and strengthen the spiritual. The Egyptian names for these are very important and a very basic understanding, as herein given, must suffice. The khaibit is the astral or etheric body, and psychologically acts as the Shadow. The Ba is the animating spirit that gives the breath of life. It has two aspects. One is the Natural Soul, which stabilizes in bodily form; and the other is the human soul, which is represented as a bird with a human head, that comes and goes between heaven and earth.

The Ka also has three aspects. One is the creator of all the others; then there are the differing Ka’s of nature (mineral, vegetable and animal,) and third, the individualized Ka of man, which includes his inherited character. The human Ba of an individual soul, together with the Ka as the generative power, produces an entity. Schwall de Lubicz summarized it, “thus the Ka is his agent of consciousness, the Permanent Witness of the transformation of his being.” The enlargement of consciousness can modify the character of his personal Ka until the spiritual faculties are awakened and it makes contact with its divine Ka. It was then the aim of all students to acquire an enduring consciousness through a progressive communion of their physical body with their spiritual being. The mental and the emotional bodies were only transitory and quite often were hindered by the body-spirit union; but one could not have one without the other so a continual balance was needed.

Such were some of the teachings presented in stelae, ostraca and papyri, brought through the ages by translators for the modern student and teacher. It is with amazement that we can still today read about what the ancient student had to do to obtain an understanding of himself, how they learned to conquer their obstacles and accomplish a whole and integrated presence of self. It is no wonder that the Ancient Egyptians produced such a strong and stable society for so long a period. It was only through the invasions of differing political thought that the educational processes shifted. Though those original teachings and terminologies have changed to eventually produce what is now modern day psychology, there remains still a humanistic approach that modern day behaviorists might find beneficial, should they choose to examine and perhaps embrace.

Within the following lines of an old Egyptian meditation we find the simplicity, exactitude and beauty of their way of thought and how they lead their lives: “Divine law is my word. The divine word is my law. The path is my act. The knowledge is the chief of all things. The wisdom is the empathy with all things. The truth is my condition.”

Bibliography

Brunton, Paul  A Search in Secret Egypt, Anchor Press, Tiptree, Essex, 1965

Erman, Adolf  Life in Ancient Egypt, Dover Publications, New York, 1971

Franjkfortm, Henri  Ancient Egyptian Religion, Harper and Row, New York, 1961

Schwaller de Lubicz, Isha  Her-Bak, Egyptian Initiate, Inner Traditions International, New York, 1978

Schwaller de Lubicz, Isha  Her-Bak, the Living Face of Ancient Egypt, Inner Traditions International, New York, 1978

Schwaller de Lubicz, Isha  The Opening of the Way, A Practical Guide to the Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, Inner Traditions International, New York, 1981

Schwaller de Lubicz, R.  A Symbol and the Symbolic: Ancient Egypt, Science and the Evolution of Consciousness, Inner Traditions International, New York, 1978

White, Jon Manchip  Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt, G. P. Putnam’s Son’s, New York, 1963

Wilson, John A.  The Culture of Ancient Egypt, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1951

I am a modern day priestess involved in the pursuit of light, life, love and liberty and I have always found myself linked inexplicably to many ancient religious paths. The Ancient brotherhood of the Templars had a past that intrigued me with a sense that they had something to impart to me. My ancient historical interests had taken me to many places of Holy worship around the world. They had begun in Ancient Egypt with its arid plateaus and river valleys of hidden secrets. Then later the Ancient Celtic, Roman and Greek worlds became my study. All have provided a richness so vast in their mythologies and Gods, that I have been occupied with their cultures and theologies for many years. In each of these places I visited and with every book I had read on each subject, I placed myself in-setu as a person of the times, soaking up the etheric energies to get a sense or feel for how it must have been like to be alive in those times. I could picture myself among the pillars at the Temple of Diana, feel the mud below my feet along the Nile, be kneeling in prayer at a sacred well in Crete giving thanks, or dancing in the wild woods of Summer in the Bavarian Alps, because I had been to all of these places and had received a sense of discovery and understanding.

The closest thing I had ever had anything to do with the Crusades were the costuming of the Renaissance Fairs of Southern California, and even that was off by several hundred years. I had been to France twice before, but my interests of those experiences lay in the early prehistoric migrations or later in the 15th through 18th Centuries with the romanticism of Shakespeare. I had read about the Crusades. I knew that they were a combination of the Church wanting to destroy those that had non-believers and a State wanting more property. It was already a militaristic society with a penchant for vengeance and greed. Then something hit home. Was this fight still not going on? After all, there exists still today many countries with people who are still fighting a “liberation theology.”

In order for me to become clear about what I was embarking upon, it was necessary for me to investigate the history of the Knights Templar more deeply. To perhaps look at what prompted the creation of the Templar brotherhood. What I discovered was a series of events that politically and religiously set the stage for the perfect fervor that was to come.

There was a “miraculous” discovery by Empress Helena, wife of Constantine, 298 years after the death of Christ, of the Holy sepulcher. It was here that Solomon had erected a house where the Lord had appeared unto David. Where it was thought the remains of the true cross lay. A church was immediately erected over this sacred monument. When word got out, the pilgrims began to flood in. The Arabians captured the city in 637, and gave the Christians protection and the right to their own worship. In 1065 the Arabians were defeated by a Northern savage tribe, the Turcomans, who did not honor the Christian beliefs. In fact, they ridiculed, oppressed, plundered, imprisoned, ransomed and massacred most of the Christian citizens and pilgrims. In Addison’s book, The History of the Knights Templars, he says, “a nerve was touched of exquisite feeling, and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe.” The threat of having holy articles at such a holy place put in jeopardy was a compelling reason for an army to be dispatched; for at that time they believed that relics were imbued with supernatural power. Here then was the spark that stirred Pope Urban II to launch the First Crusade in November of 1095.

With this in mind, I climbed the steep and ancient mount in Le Puy, site of the Chapelle Saint-Michel D’Aiguilhe, where the first crusaders came to pray before embarking on their long journey to the Holy Land. It is a remarkable natural lava cone of only 170 meters in circumference at the base, but it soars to 82 meters high. On top sits a chapel that was begun in the 10th Century and completed in the 12th Century. In this small, darkened and irregularly shaped building, we sat in complete silence and awe. As our eyes adjusted to the light, we could make out the high altar, a simple stone table with flowers at its base. To the side was a rod iron candle holder that held perhaps a dozen candles. No flashes are permitted within, as the walls still hold their ancient vestments of design and color, albeit fading through the centuries. Paintings of Saints in red and ocher, blue-greens and gold could barely be made out in the shadows. Relics were in a small glass cabinet to the side.

I pictured many a knight coming here for blessing. When the sun broke through a small and deep-set window above, it flooded the high altar and floor before it. In that sudden burst of light, I felt an exquisite feeling of pure devotional love, a strengthened will powered by a strong determination, a courage that seemed to come from the very sturdiness of the rock below our knees, as those first crusaders must have felt.

The first Crusade was successful, partially. At least the Turcomans were sent out of Jerusalem, but they took up strongholds in the rest of Palestine. The pilgrims thought all was safe, but they were continually subjected to plunder, robbery, hostility and death along the roads that lead to Jerusalem. Then I learned how the Templars came to be, who were originally known as the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ.

The Knights Templar had began with nine French knights in 1118, who had “petitioned the king of Jerusalem, King Baldwin II, to allow them to live in a wing of the palace next to the ancient Temple of Solomon,” within the sacred enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah. It was once thought that they did this in order to explore most closely the secrets and possible treasures in the caverns below the Temple. Most importantly, they planned to protect all pilgrims on their way to and from this Holy City. Two of its members were well known, Hugh de Payens and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar; and it was Hugh de Payens, who was eventually chosen as the first Master of the Temple. Ten years later, after having kept their promise, they were granted the Pope’s approval. Because they militantly protected this temple, they came next to be known as the “Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon.”

In 1128, St. Bernard asked for a convocation of an ecclesiastical council at Troyes, where the Rule, or the regulation of the fraternity was written. It was divided into seventy-two chapters and was addressed, “to all who disdain to follow after their own wills, and desire with purity of mind to fight for the most high and true king.” It was most thorough, being many pages long listing their proper conduct. There were devotional exercises, self-mortification, periodic fasting, prayer and constant church attendance. “That being refreshed and satisfied with heavenly food …of the divine mysteries …that none might be afraid of the fight, but be prepared for the crown.”

The ranks of the Order grew with each nobleman donating portions of his properties and revenues. King Steven of England contributed a property in Essex. In 1133, King Alfonso of Aragon and Navarre, willed his entire kingdom to the Templars. When the sanction of the first priests that were allowed to spill blood was accepted, many joined the order. Like the feudal distinctions that separated the people of Europe, the knights were a combination of many classes. There were educated men that controlled the banking, but then there were many illiterate and simple men that filled the ranks. The Templars grew, and so did their holdings. Thus the Templars became the servants and companions of royalty. Princes, nobles, illustrious persons, sovereigns and their subjects all gave handsome amounts. All of which were to go to protecting the Holy city of Jerusalem. The Count of Champagne, the tenth member to join, and Abbot Bernard de Clairvaux utilized some of the money and properties collected to have built the cathedral at Chartres.

There were other Orders of Knights existing at the same time: The Knights Hospitallers or the Knights of St. John and the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary. At one time and another, they all fought along side each other in different skirmishes during the many waves of the first crusade upon the Holy City.

Hugh de Payens, having firmly established holdings in France, Spain and England, returned to Jerusalem with newly elected Templars from principally, France and England. This was done none too soon, for while away the Mussulmen and warlike Zinghis who felt themselves to be the chosen champions to avenge their prophet competent in their zeal, over-threw the Crusaders. Cries for support went to the Pope, and the second Crusade was begun. Pope Eugenius then decreed that the Templars would wear a red cross on a white tunic over their left breast so that on a battlefield every Christian would know them immediately as an ally. They were then called the Red Friars and the Red Cross Knights.

Brother Everard des Barres became the new Master of the Temple upon the death of Hugh de Payens, and with the standard of Louis the French king, they went back to Palestine. Conrad, emperor of Germany was already there. Together they all fought in the city of Damascus against the forces of Nur-ad-Din, the sultan of Egypt. They fought a bitter battle in Antioch, where the Turcomans and the armies of Nur-ad-din destroyed what was left and recaptured Jerusalem. Instead of rousing more Templars to their aid, Master Barres abdicated his authority and entered a monastery in Clairvaux unable to accept the blood upon his hands. The new Master would not give up, Bernard de Tremelay. He mounted an attack on the prime city of Ascalon and through a breach in the walls made it into the center of the town, where severely, every Templar was slain. Tremelay was succeeded by Brother Bertrand de Blanquefort, and he too, after attempting to march on the great city of Tiberias, was surrounded and three hundred brethren were slain. Himself and eighty-seven men were taken captive. The second crusade had been a failure. The stern fanaticism and religious zeal of the Nur-ad-Din armies, like the Templars, were just stronger. In that, the Templars and Muslims were remarkably similar. Both fought for their God with the belief that the other was the infidel and that the fight for their religion was in obedience to their God.

With these thoughts of the second crusade and the down-hearted majority of Templars returning to Europe with only a small foothold left in Gaza in Palestine, we entered the small church in La Couvertoirade, the ancient fortified town that was once the property of the Knights Templars and a last stronghold. All of the Templars were not knights; there were also priests and serving brethren who returned desiring a more protected and monastic life. Many fortified towns such as La Courvertoirade were built and many commandaries such as at St. Eulalie de Cernon and La Cavalrie were established.

We arrived early as the mist was just leaving the ground and the rough hewn stone walls that surrounded this village turned a lighter gray, up from the dark green moss at the walls base. In season this town boasts 148 citizens. In its height nearly 800 lived in and around the town. Now, in off-season there was no one about. We passed the arched gate entry and wound our way by the dirt paths up to the largest structure still standing, the Templar Castle. Built on a rock base, all that is left are the high Norman keep, with outer faced, flat buttresses and a curtain wall. The insides are open, and rocky with grassy tufts.

Next to it is the church of Saint Christopher, built in the 13th Century. It was built upon an older church, the Saint Christol parish church of the 12th Century. its base having been carved from a quadrangle of hewn-out rock. Just inside its doors two small steles on the far wall gave evidence that this was once a Templar place of prayer. Sparsely furnished, without even pews, a rough gray stone floor and walls with a leaking nave, all gave the ancient feeling that a returned pilgrim might walk in the door at any time. In the ceiling at the junction of the small crenelations to the wall, were Templar crosses. Alone and caught in a distant memory, I leaned against one wall and closed my eyes. I felt an overwhelming sense of hardship and disappointment. I pictured the sad faces of some returned pilgrims coming in through the light of the church door. Maybe they had gone all the way to the Holy land just to find that upon arrival, they had to turn right around, escaping with their life and had never been able to pray at the holy mount. Perhaps they had lost too many brothers on the battlefield. Perhaps they had returned home to find that all too much time had passed and their loved ones were gone.

Just outside, there is a small cemetery with half a dozen Templar tombstones. These are shaped from rock into a keyhole design. True to the Templar symbolism, their tops were round and inside were the crosses, or fleur-de-lis. No names, no dates, just circles and crosses. It was gray and lightly sprinkling, but it only added to the total ambiance of this amazingly intact village. Surrounding all are ramparts with high walls and a parapet, which can be walked upon half of the way around that gave visage to the bright green Larzac plain spread out below.

I remembered that at the end of the second crusade, even though the Templar virtues were exulted and their privileges confirmed, there arose alleged complaints of monetary and land abuse by some of the clergy. Many priest and Templar supporters had stayed in France and England to enjoy these land holdings, consuming large proportions of those revenues, which ought to have been faithfully forwarded to the Holy Land. There came about a collision with the jealous ecclesiastics. It was said that the Templars took over churches without consent, “that they administered the sacraments to excommunicated persons and buried them with all the usual ceremonies of the church.” They had also enjoyed immunities and advantages without legitimate right. They were not obliged to pay tithes to the church, but they could receive them. No brother could be excommunicated, and where ever they went they were to be received with reverence and ceremony. It was not to last.

The Pope, still concerned about the retrieval of their holdings in Jerusalem put out a call for more crusades in 1157, 1165, 1166, 1169, 1173, 1181 and 1184, but each time it fell on deaf ears. At this time a religious sect hiding in Tripoli descending from the Ismaelians of Persia, known as the Hassissin or assassins, became known. The Count of Tripoli, a large monetary supporter of the Templars, was slain by these fanatics. The Templars flew to arms, found the assassin stronghold and demanded compensation in the form of an annual tribute. The Hassissin leader told the leaders in Jerusalem that if his people embraced Christianity, could they be released from the payment? It was agreed, but one Knight, Templar Walter du Mesnil, killed the envoy, which caused the King of Jerusalem to become incensed and demanded that the guilty party be turned over to him. Master of the Knights, St. Amand, responded that they did not answer to anyone but the Pope. However, later, Mesnil was delivered in chains.

Also at this time, Nur-ad-Din, sultan of Damascus had died and what came to be known as the great Saladin, his nephew, raised himself as sovereign in Egypt and in Syria. Saladin was well aware of what had been going on in Jerusalem. He had earlier in his career actually mounted an attack on the city, but had withdrawn his troops when he saw how fierce the Templar Knights had acted. He was ready to recapture the countries Holy city. Saladin attacked in 1177 with 92,000 men, but Master Odo de St. Amand with only eighty knights, broke through the Mamlook guards and Saladin, barely escaped.

During this time, the Templar strongholds in England had become more numerous and a New Temple was erected for the military monks, novices, Superiors and for the now retiring elder Templars that had actually survived the first crusades. This Temple in London came to be known as the “storehouse of treasure.” An inquisition and a recounting of the Templar possessions and holdings was demanded by King Henry. There were holdings in Jerusalem, Tripoli, Sicily, Castille, Leon and Aragon. There were also numerous holdings in Germany, Hungary and Greece. France and England held the greatest riches and real estate. It was estimated that in the early 1200’s that the annual income of the order was six million sterling!

I bore witness to the wealth of the churches that were built in France in several places that I visited. One was as I stood near the transept of the great cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. On the site of a Roman temple the building was commissioned in 1159 by the Bishop de Sully. The Kings gallery features 28 stone images of the kings of Judah. All though it is difficult to know which is part of the original building since during the Revolution the building was desecrated, standing between the West rose window and the South rose window, I sensed a greatness that the church must have felt. The Holy Land was still secured. The brilliance of the reds and blues showed unknowingly an allegory to the spiritual pureness of the Holy endeavor and the ruby red blood spilled in the name of glory. The Templar heroes of the time were venerated at each Mass. In the low hum of the tourists, I thought I heard the murmuring of tens of thousands praying for their safety.

In Chartres Cathedral, on a previous trip, I remembered being in the Apsidal Chapel, standing before the Veil of the Virgin relic. The original Romanesque Cathedral was built in 1020. Later the Cathedral was mostly destroyed by fire in 1194, though the statue of the Virgin has survived. I saw this golden Virgin shrine haloed in brilliant white lights. They sparkled like diamonds around her, exulting her perpetuation. I remember experiencing a sense of awe wash over me. It had become more than a statue, more than adoration or a tribute; it represented the proliferation of a glorified idealism for religious perfection.

In Paris again, the ethereal and magical church of Sainte-Chapelle had given much of the same feeling. It originally housed Christ’s Crown of Thorns and fragments of the true cross that had been purchased from the Emperor of Constantinople. Built in 1248, Louis the IX had this masterpiece created with 15 magnificent stained-glass windows depicting more than 1,000 biblical scenes from Genesis through to the Apocalypse. Here we sat first on one side looking up at the North windows and then on the other side looking up at the South windows. I was tremendously impressed by the ardor of the artists that had rigorously recreated the insubstantial biblical stories in such detail. The depiction’s though glorious they were when the light poured through, were not what impressed me, but the degree of fervored belief that had cast its own strength.

Though the wealth and strength of the Templars had grown, only two groups of knights were expedited from Europe to Palestine to reinforce the holding of the Holy Mount. In 1185 a conference was held between the sovereigns of France and England concerning the proposed succor to the Holy Land. Word of their disenchantment reached the Jerusalem Christians. Other problems were brewing too. The Patriarch Heraclius of the Temple church quarreled with the king of England. He was already suspected of poisoning the archbishop of Tyre. But the coup de gras was soon to come. The Grand master Gerard de Riderfort, had crowned the nephew of king Baldwin the IV, when he died. But Baldwin the V also died only seven months later.

The Grand Master then raised Sibylla, the mother of the deceased and her husband Guy of Lusignan to the throne. Guy de Lusignan was not favored by the court; not even by his own brother Geoffrey. A great dissension arose. The Count of Tripoli withdrew in disgust, and “the state was torn by faction at a time when all the energies of the population were required to defend the country from the Moslems.”

Saladin lay in waiting for the perfect time. He’d assembled an army outside of Damascus and although the Templars with support of the Hospitallars and the new count of Tripoli’s forces had greatly strengthened their fortresses, most perished in those bloody battles. Master Amand was taken prisoner and after a refusal for a trade release of Saladin’s nephew, he was thrown to prison and there died. Saladin’s secretary wrote, “I bear witness that there is no God but that one great God who hath no partner, that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, who hath opened unto us the gates of the right road to salvation.” How perfectly the Islamic faithful were guided by the exact same sense of declaration as the Pope had enumerated to the Templar Christians to hold Jerusalem. The tipping of the karmic scale had begun to shift. On May 10, 1187 one of Saladin’s sons crossed the Jordan with 7,000 men for the first major assault. The Master of that cities temple tried to rally as many knights as fast as he could, but the inevitable slaughter commenced. The Muslim fighters severed the heads of the Templars and attached them to their lances, as they headed for the next battle at Tiberias.

Later in July, the Templars lead an attack against Saladin’s 80,000 who were backed by the lake of Tiberias. The Templars rushed “like lions upon the Moslem infidels.” Saladin set fire to the dry grasses between them and the wind blew the smoke directly into the faces of the on rushing knights. This battle has been compared to the last judgment, by the dust, smoke and fire, din and blood. Saladin’s secretary concluded, “The avenging sword of the true believers was drawn forth against the infidels; the faith of the Unity was opposed to the faith of the Trinity, and speedy ruin, desolation, and destruction, overtook the miserable sons of baptism!” After the conquest of almost forty cities, Saladin’s men rushed the holy city, Jerusalem; and on October 2, took control of the sacred city. Saladin had the Crusader army decapitated and washed the entire Temple area down with rose water. The ancient Temple was restored to its original condition with Muslim sanctity. Most all Templar holdings were ravaged, burned or captured except for Ascalan, Gaza, and Tyre. Two of those cities surrendered, but Tyre was left standing. Saladins attentions were distracted by the Turcomans beginning an invasion into the north of Syria. A truce was called for a period of four years, in which time the Templars desperately sought regrouping and support from king Henry the II of England.

Templars from all surrounding nations rallied and made many valid attempts to roust Saladin. In the mean time, the third crusade was being planned. Philip Augustus and Richard Coeur de Lion arrived in Acre on the shores of Palestine with royal fleets, ready to force their hand. They recaptured many of the forts and cities and settled into Gaza before the final blow. Their strength in laying siege was rewarded and thereby was ratified “a treaty whereby the Christians were to enjoy the privilege of visiting Jerusalem as pilgrims.” Tyre, Acre and Jaffa were yielded to the Christians. The Templars back in control strengthened their dominion.

It was not for long, however, because the Carizmians, a fierce tribe of Tartars from north Asia overthrew and slew nearly 1,000 men. Surprisingly, since the Carizmians were also the enemies of the Muslim sultan, they joined forces and routed their now shared enemy. This temporary alliance was not what Frederick the Second, wanted. In fact he accused the Templars of making war upon the sultan of Egypt in defiance of their present treaty. Fearing reprisal, another crusade was called. Despite this warning, in 1249 the Templars with the aid of French king, Louis IX went off to Egypt where they took the city of Damietta in retalience of their captives that had been taken to Cairo in the earlier war with Saladin.

Edward Prince of Wales, son of Henry the Second, king of England, rallied to the aid of the last defenders in Jerusalem and came with a fleet to Acre. He defeated the infidels and pushed them back to Egypt. On his journey back, his father died in England and when he returned found himself king. Now, King Henry the III tried to rally another crusade and sought to tax all ecclesiastical dignities. The Pope was in support, but died before the work of collecting commenced. A “change came over the spirit of the age; the fiery enthusiasm of the holy war had expended itself.” Sadly, without the hope of support, the Master of the Temple, William de Beaujeu returned to Acre to renew the peace treaty that was coming to closure after ten years. Although the truce lasted for some time, it eventually was broken by both sides, until 1291 when the sultan of Egypt mounted a final attack against the last 12,000 men.

Women, children and the feeble were sent to Cyprus. They battled for over a month and at the last 300 men, they asked for terms and were granted departure of the city, carrying what they could, unharmed. Upon seeing some of the women that had stayed behind, and curious as to what the Templars were carrying away, the Muslim soldiers charged and broke the terms of the surrender. Furious, the Templars slammed the gates shut and killed all Muslim soldiers within. In the night, a chosen few of the order collected the treasure of the order and left by a secret postern of the Temple, found their way to the harbor and escaped to Cyprus. The remaining few, held to a tower of the Temple; but the next day after workmen had undermined the tower and set fire to it, the remainder of the knights were killed.

Shortly thereafter, Jacques de Molay, the Preceptor of England, was chosen as the Grand Master of the Templars. After one more attempt at trying to gain back Palestine, the downfall of their fraternity was eminent. Now with the services of the Templars no longer needed, the envious began to regard the great wealth of the Templars most closely. “The privileges conceded to the fraternity by the Popes made the church their enemy. Disputes arose between the fraternity, the bishops and priests.” All revenues that had been coming in from the wealthy, began to cease. Edward the First seized and took back his money from the order to forward it to their brethren in Cyprus, for the better use of supporting the remaining families there. On the pretext that he wanted to see his mother’s jewels in the coffers of the New Temple in England, he broke into that treasury and carried off 10,000 pounds of it. His son acted similarly. The Templars too, began to interfere with the politics of the time. When they began to fight among themselves, partaking of the warfare between England and Scotland, their popularity diminished greatly.

At this time, Philip the Fair, son of St. Louis, was the king of France. When Pope Benedict XI died, Philip raised one of his groomed cardinals to the archbishop of France. The new pope moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon in France. In 1305, the new pope took the name of Clement V. He then received a letter from King Phillip to write to the master of the Temple ordering him to come immediately to conduct a new enterprise for recovery of the Holy Land. The Grand Master obliged and brought with him the treasure from Cyprus. While de Molay was in endless meetings that went no– where for the recovery plan, secret agents of the French king circulated rumors about the Templars. A pardoned prisoner was well rewarded for an accusation charging the Templars with heresy. King Philip, prepared with only these trumped up oaths, sent secret orders to all his provinces to have every Templar arrested on October 13th. An inquisition would then proceed, using torture if necessary to extract the truth of their “abominations”. The King of England, Edward the II, also received a similar letter outlining the same course of action. Edward refused to believe it. But it was begun.

While standing at one end of the Pope’s Tower at the Palais du Papes in Avignon, I mulled over the sequence of events that historians tell us occurred. The Pope must have looked out over the whole of his new palace grounds and with mixed emotions contemplated his new position and residency. Only months before he had been one of many cardinals, but one of king Philips trusted. Had it been a grim trade the king had bargained with him? Only the Pope could readily summon the Master of the Temple to France and bring the Templar treasure that had gone to Cyprus back to France and not to Rome as it might have gone. But King Philip was powerful and smart. Only the Pope could righteously direct the correct tone of the allegations that the king had presented him with. Before this, had he not supported the cause and bravery of the Knights Templar with all that they had done to secure the Holy Land? And now, the king had sent word to order their arrest with what he must have felt was very wrong. I pictured him, holding the letter from the King. There he must have stood, feeling as a puppet, forced to proceed with a deplorable plan. Many Templars had received early warning of the arrests that were soon to occur. Had there been a message sent secretly by messenger sending word to the Brethren? In my heart, I hoped the Pope had. But nothing now would stop the king.

The Knights Templar remained steadfast in their denials of all charges. Thirty-six under extreme tortures perished. The whole of Europe was astonished at the proceedings. King Edward of England wrote letters to the kings of Portugal, Castile, Aragon and Sicily, imploring them to “turn a deaf ear” to the allegations against so revered a brethren as the Knights Templar. He also wrote another letter to the Pope, imploring him to clear the Knights. The Pope replied that he had evidence that the brethren “had been secretly living in perfidious apostasy, and in detestable heretical depravity.” The king of England along with Ireland, Scotland and West and North Wales were asked to seize all lands owned by the Templars until the inquiries were completed. The Pope sent another letter listing all the various confessions extracted, though they had been done so under extreme duress. The Templars were arrested in 1308 in all parts of France and England. 229 Templar Knights were held, though some managed to escape.

On October 20th, 1309 with the Templars now imprisoned for more than a year and eight months, a tribunal convened, headed by the Pope. The papal bull was read listing 87 articles of atrocities that the Templars had performed against Jesus Christ. Thirty-three knights were brought before the tribunal for examination and all denied every charge against them. Examination upon examination continued from October through the following year. The tide was indeed turning against them. The priests condemned them, because they had always been against the church. The poor turned on them because the Templars had closed their doors to them and had only entertained the rich. The common mistrusted them, as they knew the Templars to have met secretly at night.

Some confessed near to their deaths, then when released revoked their confessions, whereby they were arrested again and condemned to the fire. Many followed; one hundred and thirteen in total were burned at the stake. The remainder, were held in solitary confinement for several more years. In London, some promised to publicly repeat a form of confession and then were solemnly absolved and reconciled to the church. “The counsels of Tarragona and Aragon pronounced the order free from heresy. In Portugal and in Germany the Templars were declared innocent.”

Jacques de Molay, the Grand master of the Temple had been in prison now for over five years. He was forced to write a confession, which afterward he called a forgery. On March of 1314, he and the Preceptor of Normandy, were brought forward with formal charges. When asked to confess his sins, de Molay replied, “I do confess my guilt, which consists in having, to my shame and dishonour suffered myself, through the pain of torture and the fear of death, to give utterance to falsehoods, imputing scandalous sins and iniquities to an illustrious order, which hath nobly served the cause of Christianity. I disdain to seek a wretched and disgraceful existence by ingrafting another lie upon the original falsehood.” At dawn the next morning, they were burned at the stake on a little island in the Seine, between the king’s garden and the convent of St Augustine.

Descending the Parisian stairs from the square du Vert Golant on the edge of where the king’s garden used to be, I saw before me the plaque that commemorates the last of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay. At the end of the isle de Cite now, is a peaceful little point of soil and rock where garden grass and colorful flowers bloom in plumed red and pink celosea. Here once was the swampy tulle area where Molay had been burned. When the sun came out we lounged on a park bench and meditated upon de Molay and his honor of dying by his truth. Falling from the trees were red-brown chestnuts. Their shape looking reminiscent of a human heart fallen to the ground. I sighed and could only think of the injustice that had befallen the once most beloved and devoted brethren in all of Europe. The song, Frere Jacques was going through my head and I wondered how many knew that this song was de Molay’s dirge. “Brother Jacques, brother Jacques. Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing, Ding, dong, ding. ”

Though some of the Templars had escaped, and it is long rumored that they took a great deal of their treasure with them, they must have had a lonely and sad remaining existence. Could the whole of the problem been averted if King Phillip had been admitted to the Templar brotherhood? Could jealousy of the clergy have been turned into full ecclesiastical support if the Knights had simply given a portion of their wealth over in a tithe? Would they have been more beloved of the people if they had opened their hearts and pockets to the living who really needed their support and not to the memory of the son of god that was long gone? Perhaps their zealousness was an outer extension of a lie so greatly created by the church, that when it reached such abominable bloody proportions the church had no choice other than to end their power? Perhaps their very riches were too tempting for the state to leave untouched?

Inside the Eglise Ste-Elizabeth located in the Quartier du Temple, near the Plaza de Templier, I sat in a back pew and listened to a small group of devoted members sing a song of such beauty that tears came to my eyes. I knew nothing of what they sang, only that the voices seemed to convey both a great joy and a great sadness. It was my last day in France. Had I found what I had come searching for? I knew that what I had explored was only the beginning of the crusades, even though it had been the end of the Knights Templar. The fight for religious freedom had continued on with the monks of the Cathars. I thought back to that first experience in Le Puy where the first crusade had taken leave, to all the places I had visited and received a compassionate, albeit intuitive sense of knowing. I had felt some of those glories and pain. The complete truth, I knew, remained hidden through the centuries in the unspoken words of the historians. It had been a deep journey. One I would never forget. Though I had never lit a candle in my life at any Christian church, I had done so in that dark little chapel in Le Puy. The prayer, I felt, was one that thousands must have similarly given.

“Dear God and all the forces of nature, I pray that all who have gone before and who continue to go bravely onto the following of their true wills; and having filled their hearts with the joy of their expressions of truth, and their preservation of liberty, be brought safely home. Unto their departed spirits I light this candle with love.”

Bibliography

Addison, Charles G.  The History of the Knights Templars, First published in London 1842. Reprinted by Adventures Unlimited Press Kempton, Illinois , 1997

Billings, Malcolm  The Cross & The Crescent. A History of the Crusades, Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 1990

Hallam, Elizabeth-Editor  Chronicles of the Crusades, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, New York, 1989

Newby, P.H.  Saladin in His Time, Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1983

Nicolle, David  Saladin and the Saracens, Reed International Books, Ltd., Chicago, 1986

Partner, Peter  The Knights Templar and their Myth, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 1990

Aleister Crowley has written a great many wonderful works: poetry, erotica, magical and Thelemic essays, novels, treatises on yoga and meditation, translations of foreign writers, volumes of instructional works, even a rhapsody; he also has written a couple of plays. One play in particular, The Ship, was written sometime between 1909 and 1913, but was only published within the Equinox, volume I, #10. It was never produced while Crowley was alive, but remained like many of his writings, available to be read and pondered over. It wasn’t until nearly 100 years later that The Ship found its way to a stage and an audience. At the Ordo Templi Orientis’ third National conference, held in Long Beach California, on August 11th this mystery play was finally produced on stage.

Frater Kallah Adonai also known as Thelemite Chris Parker, dreamed of the day when he might be able to produce this unusual two-scene production. Since the National conference was to be hosted by the Southern California Thelemic community, the opportunity sprang to the fore. Kallah Adonai’s mind raced with visual interpretations for each scene, possible costume constructions and ways of making what Crowley, the creative genius, meant by his stage directions and how to make them become realized in an acceptable and presentable manner. Crowley with a definitive flair for the dramatic, and having not had the play produced, was unaware of the difficulties that might be presented. Undaunted by these difficulties, a cast was drawn together, a costume designer asked to work a creative interpretation, a stage designer pushed to create a stage with no proscenium arch, a lighting director to create mood with no lighting rail or footlights, and a music master to create every sound from the opening to the closing. A colossal task, for the sake of only one or two performances, at most.

In a cursory reading of the script one may be left wondering at what is meant by the entire exercise. It seems more than a simple death and rebirth story. It is called The Ship, but a ship is never seen. The set is described more like a Tarot card than any every day setting. The characters seem to be randomly selected (an Arab, a Chinaman and a Zulu) and lazily named (Julie and Julian, Joanna and Jovian). The characters ask questions as often as they reply with exclamations. It seems to be presented as a modern mystery, yet has an ancient Greek feel with a chorus resounding asides and glorious adulations. Yet the play does leave one with a sense of ritual inspiration, via a divine device with a soulful recount. The language is poetically spoken in rhyming circles, yet it reveals a truth that is ever present and unending.

Since this was the first time that the play had been produced, this writer was curious to know what kind of insight each actor had received by embodying each character, and their insights on the production in general. A greater insight and understanding was needed for a production so paradoxical. To assist with this overall interpretation each of the actors was asked a series of questions. How did it feel to play their part? Did playing their part strike any particular note on a personal basis? Did their character represent in their mind any possible analogy magically or psychologically? Did their character reveal a particular truth or key aspect within the play? What were some of their overall interpretations of the production as a whole? It was discovered that multiple levels of symbolism were to be found depending upon the observer’s and participant’s magical experience and level of Thelemic initiation. Often only by examining the parts, can one discover the meaning of the whole; and only by succeeding magical experience can one understand the depth of each singular action.

Who is John the High Priest and what does he represent? Chris Parker, who played the lead as well as directed and produced the play, lent us his insight. John is “the aged kingship, with upright power, yet weary.” It’s about “his willing yet still tragic surrender to the forces of dissolution, Zagreus dismembered, the body broken, the host fractured that a particle might be extracted, a seed planted, then Life at last. The Light extended, Life reborn, the Deed Divine. John is “our Lord in ourselves, whose name is Mystery of Mystery. Solve et coagula; the Angel and a hint of the Abyss to come. The life of every man and woman; birth, death and rebirth; creation, their dissolution and their identity. The First Matter and the gold therein; descent into darkness per adventure to find the Light. Pouring the Sun into the Moon. Iacchos!”

When one reads the list of the play’s characters, it becomes obvious that something special is meant by naming the two women and the two wardens names that all begin with the letter “J”. Soror Lilavati, who played Julia, had this explanation: The four J’s are actually part of John. They represent the manifestation of John’s consciousness into the world of matter, through the four worlds of Tetragrammaton. Without the four J’s, the ‘Shin’ of John and the formula of IAO they are just abstract ideas. The actions of the four J’s bring the Shin into all four worlds simultaneously, including Assiah. Sarah Sabolek, who played Joanna reminds us that “each character in the play represents an aspect of our psychological makeup.” Chris Parker clarified it even more by saying, “The priest, the shrine, the God, the Rite of Creation, these are always present in the life of every person. The process cycles continuously whether we are conscious of it or not.”

Who are Julia and Joanna and whom do they represent? Again Soror Lilavati answers for Julia. Julia is “Isis in mourning, or Isis as the mature Queen of Magick, wife, and mother; the second ‘heh’ in tetragrammaton; any of the Queens of the Tarot; and the Empress. I was overcome with an aspect of Isis, but it was not until after the Rose Dance that the full impact hit me. When I said “Alas, no life reposes,” real tears filled my eyes, and I was overcome with grief and sorrow in that moment. That moment opened a door for me into the Mysteries of Julia… Her joy in union with the Priest, the dark night of her loss, her hope for the dawn and fear that it would not come, her rapture in the rebirth of the young Priest who is both her son and her husband, the knowing that she must ‘dare the dark again.’ Essentially, it is a particular window into the formula of IAO.”

Sarah Sabolek gives us a closer look at her character. “Joanna plays the innocent, the virgin; aspects of her are Persephone-like. She embodies a pureness, a sacredness within the shrine, and during the production, she goes through the passage of girlhood into adulthood. She is strong because she is pure. She is brave because she is innocent, and innocence can be a great strength. Joanna offers corn to John, as it represents the body and the work of being. The offer of wine by Julia is the blood of life.” Joanna cannot offer that as she has yet to know the mysteries of the blood.

When asked what she thought about the play, Sarah continued. “The play portrays the story of rebirth. Immortality is locked into mortality, which guarantees that the continuance of life is insured by its very demise. Crowley managed to fit so many stories into one play. He managed to fit a crucifixion in with the story of Noah’s Ark, and reincarnation with the basic changing of the seasons. Experiencing the role brought all those great truths to a focused reality inside of me. Performing made it a part of my body. I mean there is a spectrum of existence out there to experience, but then to share it with so many magicians sitting in the audience brought on a wave of that realization even more powerfully.”

Anthony Torchia played one of the wardens of the temple of the Sun, Jovian. “Playing Jovian seemed to suit who I am at this point in my life. The insight I have is that even though Jovian failed to protect John, the resurrection would not have been possible without this failure. So in reality he played his role exactly as needed to fulfill the formula, and to label it a failure is to miss the point. Each time John was resurrected in our rehearsals, and particularly at the two performances [a previous performance was given a month earlier at a local bookstore], I felt the universe saying to me as forcefully as it could that THIS is the universal theme, and this formula is available to be used every day of your life. The Sufis say that Allah recreates himself every moment, and now I begin to understand this and realize its incredible value. The past is DEAD. Let yourself be reborn into the youthful, enthusiastic star that you truly are.”

Frater Seraphino played the other warden Julian. “Basically, the warders struck me as being akin to the children of the Mass, both magically and in terms of stage presence. I don’t think Crowley wrote this play to be performed. Instead, I think he wrote this play in order to tick off the Masons by alluding to the various secrets of Masonry up to the highest of their degrees. I suspect that he had the warders fill many different bit characters in the Masonic stories (the grave diggers, the people hunting the assassins, the guards of the temple) that they sort of became the generic ‘Swiss army knife’ of the bit players on stage.”

Soror Lilavati instinctively viewing the tableau of the wardens on stage added that, Jovian and Julian in white and black [respectively], uphold John much as the black and white pillars of Joachin and Boaz uphold the Temple. John is able to manifest because he is upheld by the two opposites.

The three Assassins perhaps bring on the most inconspicuous and complex interpretations the play has to offer. Soror Lilavati and Kallah Adonai offered these analogies: the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas, Tamas; the three assassins in the Rite of Sol of Satan-Typhon, Scorpio-Apophis and Besz; the three characters on the rim of the wheel in the Rite of Jupiter of Typhon, Hermanubis and the Sphinx; and also alchemically with the substances of mercury, sulfur and salt. All of which possess the magical formula for transmutation.

Tess Moon played a voice in the chorus as well as one of the three assassins, the Arab. “Being the Arab Assassin wearing red, my costume was like the magician’s natural garment except the white undergarment was replaced with a black one (an impure being, combined with the red becoming Self-Will.) The color red may also refer to Jupiter’s red spot, aka the Eye of Horus. It has also been visualized as the mouth from where the original ‘Word’ of creation was uttered.”

Tess then makes a pertinent analogy of the three assassins, of Julia and Joanna and of John directly to the Sephiroth. “The sun [John/Tiphareth] requires proper tempering by the energies of Venus/Netzach [Soror Lilavati in green] and Jupiter/Chesed [Sarah in blue]. The assassins represent Mercury/Hod [Dr. Bright in yellow/ orange], Mars/Geburah (me in red) and Saturn/Binah [Rick in black]. The order of the assassins Hod-Geburah-Binah was reflected within their dialog and action, as in the tarot paths linking each to the sun god. Hod uses weapons that bind and scourge as in the Devil card. Geburah passes judgment through the nails corresponding to fate, and Binah is the one who ultimately sacrifices the innocent sun god. It is very much the energies of the left pillar alternating with the right pillar that create the cycle of the sun.

Tess lends a further insight; “also as humans, we encompass each of the archetypal energies represented by the Sephirah. Ultimately, we are to become our Higher Self represented by Tiphareth. The important thing is, that energy does not remain static. As we move through the paths back and forth through the Sephiroth, we often experience these as projected conflicts with others, which requires change, compromise and new understanding. These changes always bring us back to Binah, by integrating the new information in a way that [causes] future responses to be changed and becomes Wisdom. In the process, our Higher Self is ‘destroyed’ and goes through a process of Self-transformation we often save for our Regular Selves. It is then up to our Regular Self to continue working with the Devotional/Mystical Sephirah in order to bring our Higher Self ‘back to Life’ or ‘back into our Being,’ so to speak, since only through our Higher Self can we perceive (if only indirectly) the Divine Truth.”

Dr. Robert C. Bright played a voice in the chorus as well as the second of the three assassins, the Chinaman. “As the Chinaman I did think about the Chinese [or Oriental perspective] and what that might mean, but I didn’t have that deep of a connection to it on that level. The racial aspect was de-emphasized and the alchemical aspect emphasized. How did it feel to play this part ? A little scary because I must ‘kill and be killed,’ and I felt some sense of injustice because I did not kill the priest, I just gave him a whipping, and maybe I could have had a lighter sentence with better counsel. Their [the assassins] means of death related to the chakras, too. What also impressed me was the fact that the three assassins wanted the secret so bad that they were willing to risk death to get it, which is exactly what they would need to do. Also the yearning for the light part, and the blinding blazing forth from the desecrated temple, particularly struck a recent familiar experience.”

Rick Gorton also played one of the voices of the chorus, the third assassin — perhaps the cruelest, the Zulu. “For myself, I attempted to bring a surrealism to my role as the Zulu. I had to portray a sense of sarcastic evil; the epitome of being a Black Brother attempting to lure my way into the temple with my associates. When guile did not achieve my aim, force was attempted, then murder. During the period after the assassination, I tried to give an impression of desperation, as the three of us assassins realize our eventual fate. Historically, I drew an analogy to Brutus, and the assassination of Caesar.”

The Chorus was made up of six people. The three actors who played the assassins helped to fulfill three of these voices and the remainder played by Soror Pelagia Phosteres or sister Cynthea Wilkes, sister Angela Wixtrom, and Frater SivAnanda Samsara completed the chorus. Dr. Bright thought maybe they portrayed uninitiated humans.

Cynthea Wilkes played a voice in the chorus and the voice in the west. “Being the voice of the west, it was associated with the flood waters. The atrocities of the assassins were the catalyst for the flood waters to rise. As far as the rest of the play, I feel the entire Man of Earth triad is represented in the character of John, as if he were the Everyman initiate. The assassins represent the challenges to doing your True Will. The four seasons are represented by Julia (Spring), Joanna (Summer), Jovian (Autumn) and Julian (Winter), to work together to bring John through his natural cycle. In other words, Hye Kye. Let it flow, let it conceive.”

Angela Wixtrom also played a voice in the chorus. The chorus acted as a witness to the work. It can be thought of as mankind becoming manifest. At times dropping the mask and being true men and women. The Ship is about the incarnation of man, of consciousness being born from that; the slaying of Osiris, through the dark side of the moon.

Fr. SivAnanda Samsara played a voice in the chorus and the Keph-Ra Beetle. “Working as the Keph-Ra Beetle was for me much more of a richer spiritual experience than the chorus (which was more of an academic and historic exercise). One of the techniques that I used was to modify Crowley’s Liber Resh adoration from the second person to the first person, in order to gain the proper focus, Kephra in my hiding and also unto me who art Kephra in my silence. After I had gotten over the excitement-rush of being the sacred beetle for the play, I began to realize that I had personally neglected the understanding of the God Keph-Ra. My entire extent into the symbolism had been smashing Kephra beetles in order to hear them “POP” when I was traveling on my “Hajj” to Cefalu. I began to explore the various naturalistic attributes behind the concept of the force of life being contained in the shit/manure [which this animal rolls its eggs in to incubate them], but I had not yet completely connected with the spiritual aspect of this fact of Nature.

It was also noteworthy to me to keep in mind the formula of V.I.T.R.I.O.L. — Visita Interior Terrae Rectificando Iuvenies Occultum Lapidum, as an alchemical quest; utilizing also Jungian depth-psychological methods of delving completely into the complexes and insanities of your own psyche in order to find growth and strength from the resolution (rectificando) of subconscious stress-points and issues/baggage. When I had piped the results of this analysis into the Yogic techniques of Pratyahara->Dharana->Dhyana-> Samadhi->NirvikalpaSamapati I was able to DEEPLY jostle loose any complexes. Jung called it the “Misverhaeltnis” or literally wrongly-completely-state-of-holding or something being held in a false relationship or proportion with something else; especially in terms of complexes/interpretations in the psyche unconscious. This is what had led me to avoid the contemplation of the Keph-Ra mysteries in the first place. As Crowley once stated it, and I paraphrase: ‘Subdue thy fear and thy disgust of ALL THINGS soever, then behold! Who art when all but thou ART GONE thou centre and secret of the sun?’”

“Crowley says somewhere that the play The Ship contains all of the true secrets of Blue Lodge Masonry, i.e 1st through 3rd degree regular Craft masonry. The body of the slain priest-king John being carried and held within a “grown-new” ship to be set adrift into the “sea that hath no shores” was a masterful marriage of the Ashurbanipul-Ziggurat/SchneeWitchen(Snow White) — Crypt/Noah-Ark myth with the Krishna/Dionysus/Bacchus/Christ life and subsequent death events. Their obvious initiated interpretations cannot be here stated except that any O.T.O. initiate of the Man of Earth degrees should recognize some similarities (more in some degrees than in others) with the radical analysis. The character of the Beetle, to me, was rather a synthesis of the entire myth cycle contained within the seed of the God-form. My explorations made me realize and appreciate the beauty of the symbol of the Hawk-winged Beetle carrying the ultimate spark of the intimate fire sleeping within a shell of utter putrefaction carrying it across the Abyss to a convenient place for its rebirth.”

Part II

Each of the actors in The Ship has related what their character was representing symbolically in the play. There have been those that related to a differentiated part of the one self, a planet or Sephira, or that their part was analogous to other characters as related and explored in several of Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis. Another aspect, the alchemical model mentioned by Frater Kallah Adonai and Fr. SivAnanda Samsara, struck this writer particularly as hitting the mark for an explanation of the various portrayals and for the overall production of the work. If the cast and crew mates of The Ship will permit me, I would like to share this analogy more in depth.

The Great Work within the art of alchemy, as every great magician and artificer knows and as Crowley knew only too well, is working with the rarefying process of changing matter to spirit and back again. It is the dual process of applying equally the working of the outer forces of nature upon the inner dimension, and working upon the interior (plant, metal, man’s body and spirit), to produce a transmutation or rebirth of the original material. If applied to the Great Work upon metals the alchemist names this result the Philosopher’s stone. If applied to the Great Work upon the self, philosophers call it the Stone of the Wise. On one level, one can work the alchemy of plants, on another that of metals, and on another the soul of the individual. For Crowley, his laboratory notes were transcribed into what many philosophers had done before him, he had given a great truth literary and poetic analogy through the writing of a mystery play.

For most, it will work best if you open to a copy of the play and are able to follow along, while I delve into the specialized processes of alchemy as veiled through the verse that Crowley sets forth in The Ship. This is not meant to be another treatise on the subject, but only to describe the most rudimentary components as relates to The Ship.

First, let me briefly describe one small simple example of a transmutation immediately available to view in the opening scene. As one views the stage looking to the left are green trees, in the center the temple of the sun, and on the right a heap of builder’s refuse. Why one may ask? It is a simple and at once visual explanation of the nature of change, a foreshadowing of the great work to come. The trees are the original, organic form– the “prima materia.” The trees are changed into wood that becomes the temple of the sun and then the refuge or the dross after the building was completed is left. We see at once a transmutation of the trees into something beautiful and amazing.

The transmutation that takes place throughout The Ship is similar in principle, but is presented on another level. Through the elevation of the primary material — the body of John, by the purifying of the inner self, and an integration of the polarities within the soul or the self, the incarnation of spirit occurs. This process, which unfolds in a series of character conflicts, allegorically speaking, is the very alchemical process of the self in its Death-Rebirth experience, or the process of reincarnation. By the process of working with the elements within, the self transforms itself. This body or “ore” changes into something greater than from which it began and in the end becomes the enlightened soul, or transmuted “gold.”

Through successive alchemical operations, as explained through the famous work known as the Splendor Solis (written by no doubt a pseudonymous author naming himself Salomon Trismosin sometime in the 16th century), it explains the transformation process involving the incarnation of spirit in matter through a death-rebirth. The Splendor Solis is also accompanied by twenty-two successive illustrations that portray the work. In The Ship, amazingly, the plot closely follows this process. The soul of John, in his transmutation must go through the seven general successive alchemical steps that metals go through: calcination, sublimation, solution, putrefaction, distillation, coagulation & fixation. And we shall see how well this occurs within the play.

The play opens at the Temple of the Sun and drawn upon the backdrop are seen two intersecting disks; the terrestrial (earth) and the celestial (all of the heavens), and at their center is a vesica. In the first illustration of the Splendor Solis, is shown a shield of the sun, bringing the macrocosmic sun into the lower world of the earth. In the second illustration is seen a banner which says, “Let us go and seek the nature of the four elements, which are all found within the earth.” In the plays opening scene the King is resting, and behind the veil, Julia says, “Softly splendid, to his rest steals the godhead to my breast!” And Joanna says, “Hidden in the Holy veil, Thou and I prepare the rite…” John the sun, unites with Julia the mother earth and Joanna the moon. In the next Splendor Solis illustration is seen a knight guarding a double fountain, which is poured the golden and silver liquid, the sun and the moon, or the sulfur and the mercury, and on his shield is written, “Make one water out of two waters.”

In the next illustration is shown the meeting of the polarities of the lunar queen and the solar king. This represents the King’s decision to carry out the ensuing step of the process of calcination in the soul, the willingness to burn away the ego.

The vesica is the doorway through which the transmuted spirit will eventually find birth from the working of this unification. Both the play and the illustrations show that one must descend into the matter and then rise up remade. “As above so below, and as below, so above.” The first four Splendor Solis illustrations introduce the basic forces of what must be achieved, by first integrating the polarities within. Out of the two will come the product of their union. This groundwork must occur before the self or the ore may prepare for its transmutation.

Next, enter a Chinese, an Arab and a Zulu. Allegorically, the conflict that ensues represents the activating forces, which bring on “a heat” or the calcination of the ore. We must look beyond the National representations and understand the basis at which Crowley chose these particular men. It is easily understood when viewed as the alchemical stages of heat and its successive colorations. The Chinese represents the yellowing, the Arab the reddening, and the Zulu, the blackening. They are the salt, sulfur and mercury of the soul. In another alchemical writing called the “Turba” the heating process is generally explained. “Twice it turns black, twice also it turns yellow and twice red.” This is exactly what happens when the three men approach first Jovian and then Julian to obtain entrance into the shrine.

This heating process is next represented in the Splendor Solis illustrations in seven separate phases of the death and rebirth cycle, which we shall see, follow suit within the play. They can be divided up into the following: 1. the extraction of the ore, 2. the archetypal tree, 3. the death of the old king, 4. the meeting with the angelic spiritual being, 5. the winged hermaphrodite with the egg, 6. the beheading and dismembering of the body, and 7. the bath of transformation.

The Chinese says upon entering the stage, “I am the dragon brother of your priest and we come from north and south and east, to build your god a new and nobler shrine.” In alchemy, the symbolic language of calling the first heat, the alloy of copper and silver made by warming the two metals with mercury, is called the “Dragon, ” and signifies the beginning of the heating process. In the first illustration of the Splendor Solis, a youth is seen pouring a flask down a Dragon’s throat. The forces of John’s soul must now be dissolved.

In the next illustration we see that the forces have been digested and transformed into three birds — the three assassins of John’s soul. The red bird is the expansive fiery energies that are untamable. The Black bird is the dark and decaying material of old perceptions and habits. The White/yellow bird tries to mediate between the two. Thus the Chinese, the Arab and the Zulu work their scourging, impaling and spearing upon John. The metals separately work upon the soul material and then burn themselves into the next stage of the souls transformation. The three metals mostly fuse themselves together. In the next illustration is shown an eagle with three heads — the three assassins worked as one slayer, but in three different ways.

In the second phase, the next Splendor Solis illustration shows a tree uniting the earth and heaven, an analogy for the process of the self, establishing firm roots and growing new branches. This shift is an etheric one. In order for the self to grow, the self must release its etheric force. John is tied to the white column. His arms are outstretched and he is crucified, as upon a cross. From E.J. Holmyard’s book, Alchemy, he describes this analogy. “The symbolic equation of Christ with the philosopher’s stone may be explained as a projection of the redeemer-image, but with the reservation that the Christian earns the fruits of grace from a work already performed, while the alchemist labours in the cause of the divine world-soul slumbering and awaiting redemption in matter.”

John, the old king dies. In this third phase, the Splendor Solis illustration shows the Old King sinking into the universal sea of the soul, symbolizing the hardened, contracting and rigid patterns within.

As the assassins declare to the women to open the shrine, the chorus reveals the fourth phase of the work. “In it all principles inhere; to it all elements conspire; from it all energies revere, of it the inscrutable desire.” In the Splendor Solis is shown the four elements and in its center an hermaphrodite holds an egg, the fifth essence. Jovian and Julian stand by as Julia and Joanna open the door of the vesica and blind the assassins with a blaze of light. This light is the whitening of the “ore,” the bright soul of the spirit released in a blinding flash, John in angelic form, the quintessence of the spirit. The assassins sink down to the rubble on stage, appropriately, as the work they have done, like the metals they are, have done their work. In this phase, he has reached the turning point of the transformation. His etheric force has now become an astral soul.

In the next illustration we encounter the sixth process, of dismemberment of the body. The energies of the three metals that have worked their process must now be transformed. A final separation of them must be irrevocably separated from the body. In the Splendor Solis, a man is seen wearing garments of red and white with a sword. (John wears a white robe now stained with blood.) The pictured philosopher must cut and dismember the etheric forces that he has brought to bear. The three ruffians are now put to their final deaths. This process of purification is the second major step of alchemy, the sublimation.

At the final death of each of the ruffians, the waters succeeding rise. In Adam McLean’s commentary on this phase of the Splendor Solis, he writes about this illustration. “In the background are seen people welcoming the arrival of a ship with its long-sought cargo, a metaphor for the bringing of new forces into the work. Also is seen a temple, a physical manifestation of a spiritual impulse and represents the abiding, eternal foundation of the work in substance. John’s soul now must sink into the universal sea within the soul.”

The Ship is the vessel, which travels over the sea as an alchemical flask for the soul. It carries this developing ore of the self for a certain period of time in order for this truth to “sink” into the subconscious. The chorus peals, “Through the tempest, toward the dark, ploughs the fate-fulfilling bark, laden with the sacred ark.” In the next Splendor Solis illustration, the philosopher sinks into a restless sea. The earthly body is dissolved. This last phase of the death cycle is called the bath of transformation, and it heralds the beginning of the third major process in alchemy, the process of solution. It is one of silence and of peace for the soul. In this alchemical process the gold is slowly rising to form a red tincture by a gently heated water bath.

The chorus describes the fear that Julia and Joanna have in the opening of the second scene. “Dreams diluvian daunt the daring daughters that, devout in the hour of wastrel waters hither bore from its house of eld the shrine.” And, “the ocean labours; earth is awake; a murmured motion marks the end of the tragic theme.” Then the stage directions read, “A great beetle emerges from the pool holding in its mandibles the sacred Vesica! He advances, and affixes it to the Tree, just above the fork of the boughs.” This dramatic portrayal is the next major alchemical step of putrefaction. The beetle is black, which represents what the mixture in the vessel has turned into. It also symbolically represents the natural process of what this animal does with its young, that of rolling the eggs along within a dung ball to allow the life inside to incubate until its proper time. This is also what happens when the old seed in the soil decomposes to make a rich loamy food for the next seed to germinate. From the darkness of the unconscious mind, a new life is forming.

Through the alchemical process of this resolution there comes an integration of the three principles already mentioned, the salt, sulfur and mercury. In the Splendor Solis illustration there is seen the iridescence of the philosophical mercury and what is pictured is a peacock’s colorful tail. In the play, a rainbow is seen above the trees. Julia gets it right, “The seven colours glow upon the murk. This is the midmost moment of the work.” This is the next major alchemical step, the distillation. The coloration is caused by the rising of the vapors from the body of the material. “The energy is constantly falling back down to nature’s trio of Saturn, Mercury and Mars, and then rising again into the realm of the Moon and Venus,” says Mellie Uyldert in his Metal Magic.

In the play, the bier is brought before the tree. Julia dances about the body and roses fall from heaven. The body is then raised up and stood against the tree. Julia and Joanna raise their hands to heaven and invoke the powers of rejuvenation under the moon. Despite their work to bring the body back to life, it does not stir. The alchemist must be patient; this is the critical final point of the work. Everything happens of its own accord. One cannot force or rush this final phase of Coagulation. The final stage in alchemy is the process and formation of the red tincture of the solar forces, beautifully portrayed by John getting covered in roses.

In the Splendor Solis, the next illustration shows a Queen holding an orb in her right hand, a scepter in her left and she stands in brilliant light. The white stone or philosophical salt is finally brought into contact with living energies. Salomon Trismosin reminds us, “Without the moon the whole mastery is in vain, for it is a metallic water which rejoices in the body and makes it alive.” As the dawn’s light so prevails, so does the new spirit of the transmuted self come to rebirth. The young John now awakes and is reborn.

In the last Splendor Solis illustration, the king is seen holding the orb and scepter in his hands, and there he stands exalted, crowned and powerful. The sun is seen radiating out from behind him. The philosophical sulphur of John, has reached its fully active penetrating aspect, having acted inwardly to reattach its radiating and life-seeking reaches of his soul. “This is the alchemical marriage, where opposing principles are fused into a purified and incorruptible whole,” says E.J. Holmyard. John raises his hands and opens the vesica shrine. His inner soul, now transformed and luminous, shines upon all who are around him and touches all who see it, as one may feel the radiance from a transcended being.

Little did I, or many of the actors and crew know when first reading The Ship, what Crowley was fully trying to present. What at first glance was seen as a short play about rebirth, had become a major literary tableau for the story of the eternal soul in its evolution of reincarnation via the vehicle of the superlative cooperation of nature and man. “Mankind, matured from myriad wombs, is but the garden where it blooms.” As Tess Moon said, “It’s something that can be forever contemplated.”

To close, I would like to share the closing words of a rare Greek alchemical poem translated by C.A. Browne.

“Thus he doth easily release himself by drinking nectar, though completely dead; He poureth out to mortals all his wealth and by his help the Earth-born are sustained. Abundantly in life, when they have found the wondrous mystery, which being fixed will turn to silver, dazzling bright in kind, a metal having naught of earthy taint, So brilliant, clear, and wonderfully white.”

Bibliography

Crowley, Aleister  The Equinox Vol I, No 10, Samuel Weiser Inc, 1972

Holmyard, E.J.  Alchemy, Penguin Books, 1957

Uyldert, Mellie  Metal Magic –The Esoteric Properties And Uses Of Metals, Translated from the Dutch by Jane Fenoulhet Turnstone Press, 1980

Hail unto Thee who art Ra in Thy rising, even unto Thee who art Ra in Thy strength, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Uprising of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the Helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Night!

The sun god had a plenitude of names, Ra or Re being the Sun God of Heliopolis. The hieroglyph for Ra is an open mouth, an extended arm and a god seated with a sun and uraeus upon its head. Watching the sunrise upon the horizon, one can easily see why it appears as a mouth opening, its arms of light extending outward. A god sitting upon the edge of the world, or appearing to be born from the primeval abyss of water, which for the Egyptians was the Red Sea in the East. Budge declares that it was “by the agency of the god Khepera, who brought this result about by pronouncing his own name.” And, indeed, Khepera does proceed Ra coming from the darkness unto the light of day.

Ra’s bark is the Sektet (or Manjet) boat “the barque of millions of years,” which carries Him across the watery abyss of the celestial sky. Sektet can be translated as “sek,” that which gathers together and girds itself against something; and “te,” meaning a kiln or hot; and “t” is often used as an ending on nouns; Also, “tet” signifying stability or duration. Thus, “the stable, hot boat, which is and protects Ra.”

The crew of this boat is made up of the gods of creation, wisdom and magic. Tahuti, or Thoth, the God of Wisdom and magic, inventor of hieroglyphic writing and scribe of the Gods, sits in the front of the Sektet boat, like the baboon that ceremoniously, every day faces the rising of the sun; but in this case appears as an Ibis bird. Ra-Hoor, is another name for Horus, meaning “the house of Ra.” An ancient hymn, from the Papyrus of Ani describes this. “Thoth stands at the prow of thy boat, smiting all thine enemies,” and “I have seen Horus at the helm and Thoth acting at his command. ”

Hail unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy triumphing, even unto Thee who art Ahathoor in Thy beauty, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Midcourse of the Sun. Tahuti standith in His spendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Morning!

Ahathoor, Het-Hert, Het-Heru or Hathor when translated means “the dwelling or house of Horus” and was also known as “the mother of Light.” She is the symbolic celestial cow who gave birth to the universe. She was a sky goddess in general; but she was also considered both a sun goddess and a moon goddess. She represents the sky from the eastern to the western horizon. So honoring Her at noon, is to give recognition for Her creation at its peak. She is often depicted, being carried upon a boat, as water was Her element, and was identified astronomically with the star Sept, or Sothis, which is called “the second sun.”

Hathor was also the goddess of beauty. The Hathor Mirror, with its round brass face when highly polished was used by women of the Pharonic courts as a personal hand mirror. The suns celestial light was captured in the face of the beholder. The beauty of the sun transferred to the one who held the mirror. From the papyrus of Ani comes this sentence: “O thou beautiful being, thou dost renew thyself in thy season in the form of the Disk within thy mother Hathor.” The solar disc is often depicted between her horns. Her role of caring for the dead led Her to be called the Queen of the West, as she also ushered the dead to the underworld and fed the souls upon her milky tits.

Historically speaking, Hathor was not known to be the noon deity, Ra was, and Khepri or Khephera was the morning God, as Atum was in the evening. In the Boulaq translation, however, she is mentioned as one of the four main gods.

Hail unto Thee who art Tum in Thy setting, even unto Thee who art Tum in Thy joy, who travellest over the Heavens in Thy bark at the Down-going of the Sun. Tahuti standeth in His spendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Day!

Tum or Atum, was the original god of Heliopolis, preceding Ra. He was a sun god whose name meant “to be complete” or “to make an end of.”  He represents the sun in the evening and in His form of the snake, he represents the concept of the end of the universe. Atum is also pictured as a bearded man wearing the Double crown of the Pharaoh. Also from the Papyrus of Ani is found this line. “I am Atum when he was alone in Nun, I am Ra when he dawned, when he began to rule that which he had made.” There is also, “The glory of Unas is in the sky, his power is in the horizon, like Atum his father who fashioned him,” which is from the Pyramid Texts of the Fifth dynasty (2600 B.C.E.). Tum is the representation of the “old god, who grows weary,” the father of Ra. The Boulaq translation spells his name “Toum.” Gardiner & Gunn spell it “Tom,” and the modern translation is “Atum.”

Hail unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun. Tahuti standith in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening.

Khepra (the Boulaq translation) or Khepri (Gardiner & Gunn translation) and Kheperi (the modern translation) is known as the sacred scarab beetle and “he who becomes,” or “self created.” Historically, again, Khepra symbolized the dawning sun, having been born in the East, not as Crowley spoke of him at night. His interpretation of the beetle, who rolled together a ball of dung for which the female laid her eggs and buried it in the earth until it was time to hatch, gives the impression that this was a time of darkness. At the time of a funerary death, it was a scarab amulet that was placed over the heart, which was intended to stimulate the dead heart to beat again at some future time. From the Book of That Which is in the Underworld, (Papyrus Naskhem), it says, “In the twelfth hour of the night, Ra enters into the confines of thick darkness. In this region the god is born under the form of Khepera.” It is not Ra who is seen in the boat now, but a beetle that stands in the center. And from the papyrus of Nesi-Khensu, The god Khepera,“who is unknown and who is more hidden than the other gods, the unknown one who hideth himself from that which cometh forth from him.”

Unity uttermost showed, I adore the might of Thy breath, Supreme and terrible God, Who makest the gods and death to tremble before Thee: I, I adore thee!

Unity uttermost showed is the poetic paraphrasing of the grouping of the Stele’s gods, Khepera, Ra, Hathor and Atum. The above became the dramatic interpretation from the Boulaq translation, “o formidable soul, who inspires terror of himself among the gods.”

Appear on the throne of Ra. Open the ways of the Khu, Lighten the ways of the Ka. The ways of the Khabs run through To stir me or still me, Aum, let it fill me.

The throne of Ra is the horizon. It is also that which is our eternal, internal flame.

The Khu is known as several things. Primarily, it is of the spiritual self. It is a spirited intelligence that has a higher and a lower form. In the lower form it shows itself visually as a specter of low flame. It is the seat of intelligence and mental perception. It is part of the person and their thought forms that perform thought, reason, judgment, analysis, reflective facilities, memory and acts as the creative self. It can be trained and disciplined and dedicated to the higher form of Khu. There is always the possibility of it developing as vampiric. The higher form is the “Glorious, or Shining One. ” Its form is the crested heron, having a shining or luminous effect. It is the spiritual side of man. The Gods and Goddesses and divine persons can have several spirits or Khus. Using this Khu, one can pass into the domains of Thoth and Hathor. One of the seven souls of Ra was a Khu, depicted as a disc raining down in the meaning of “splendour.” In the Boulaq translation, it is spelled, n khu meaning “to the bright one.” or  khu “the brightness.” For Gardiner & Gunn, they translated it as the Sekh; and the modern translates to “ah” or “i.” The sentence refers to opening to this higher source within.

The Ka is the double or abstract personality; the inner self; the principle of the body; the consciousness self; the protective genius. It is the transcendent part of man. The Ka governs the senses, perceptions and consciousness. It is the sum of all the senses. Visually, it is a light shadow, the etheric and the astral body. It could separate itself from or unite itself to the body at will and could move about freely. Funeral offerings were made to the Ka or offerings were painted on the tomb walls. There were priests of Ka, who performed services in honor of the Ka. Its hieroglyph is seen as two connecting arms held up. It is a part of the astral inner self. The Boulaq translation states that Ka means elevated or sublime. Also, kha, means “elevated or appearing.” Gardiner & Gunn translated it to a different part of the subtle body, the Ba soul. The modern translation spells it ka meaning the “high one.” The sentence refers to the lightening of those physical senses and allowing the astral to ascend.

The khabs is from the Boulaq translator who was referring to the Khaibit. It is the shadow, the dweller on the threshold. Khaibit, means, “to veil or cover.” In general it is where the power of the seven planets converge and manifest in each individual. The Boulaq translation spelled it n khab meaning “to the shadow” or “to the body.” Gardiner & Gunn named it the khabt. The modern translation was very different, sw(t) (i), meaning “my shadow.”

There are two aspects to the Khaibit, the lower and the higher. The lower khaibit is the black shadow attached to every person. It can be independent and free at will and can go out into open sunlight. Sometimes it is visible as an aura of light. It can be vampiric and similar to Don Juans’ shadow. This shadow is also known to the Greeks as the Umbra. When it is seen as light in its lower form, it appears as a flickering ectoplasmic light. In the higher khaibit form the hieroglyph is depicted as a shade. Within the khaibit, as the dweller on the threshold, it is the “protective God of the heavens,” the “opposer and terrible defender of the door.” Within it rests the element of self-deception, but it is also the bridge to the higher planes where the “ill will” will not go. It is the producer of motion and emotion; it sustains sensory perception; and sustains blood; and is therefore very important in diseases. It is considered to be the “abode of the psychic pattern.” Because of its heavenly influences, it can cause delusions. It is the root of emotional sensitivity and the proficiency of creative arts. As the dweller, it sustains and enhances pride, jealousy, fear and anxiety. It is therefore also volatile and can influence others. It is the plus and minus poles of the imagination. There are invocations to bring it out from the physical body through the use of a mirror. It is also closely associated with the Ba soul. The sentence refers to the association we have with our shadow. Will it keep us still to the point of stagnation or will it stimulate us to our fullest creative potential ?

The light is mine: its rays consume Me: I have made a secret door into the House of Ra and Tum. Of Khephra and of Ahathoor. I am thy Theban, O Mentu, The prophet Ankh-af-na-khonsu.

We are each filled with our own individuated light. The secret door is that process by which we open ourselves up to the different aspects of ourselves in the form of each of these gods, which are a phase, a path, a transmutation where we find experience. The amount of light we shed upon these parts of ourselves, both within a twenty-four hour period in the way in which the lighted heavenly bodies give us their light and through time, from birth until death. This is the consuming culmination of all the rays. May this light transpose us.

It was in Thebes, now Luxor, the great city of the dead, that the greatest tombs and monuments are found. Thebes was the home of the high priests that ruled Upper Egypt when it was divided in the 21st Dynasty. Its Egyptian name also means “Wise.” It is also the largest city in which Mentu or Montju or Mont was honored. Mentu was the war-like falcon-headed or bullhead god who came to power in the 11th Dynasty. In the 12th, Amun rose to power and Mut his consort adopted Montu into the Theban triad. He was compared and equated with Ra, Amun and Horus. One of his titles was “Horus with the strong arm.”

Ankh-af-na-khonsu is the deceased prophet of Mentu, Lord of Thebes, who is “true of voice,” honored in the Stele of Revealing. He is also the son of a person of the same rank as Bes-n-maut, and of the priestess of Ammon-Ra, the mistress of the house Ta-nech. On the reverse of the stele with the Boulaq translation, it says that it is he who “has left the multitudes and rejoined those who are in the light, he has opened the dwelling place of the stars; now then, the deceased, Ankh-af-na-khonsu, who has gone forth by day in order to do everything that pleased him upon earth, among the living.” In the Gardiner & Gunn translation, he is “the Opener of the Doors of Nut in Karnak, the Justified.” The modern translation spells his name Ankhef-en-Khonsu.

To further translate the meaning might be closer to the following, “Ankh” is both a tool and a symbol meaning of “new life.” The hyphen –af is always part of another word that lends exclamatory force. The word na is generally used as a preposition, such as “to, for, belonging to, through, or because.” “Khonsu” was the adopted son of Amun and Mut from the Theban triad. His name comes from a word meaning, “to cross over” or “wanderer” or “he who traverses.” So, his entire name may be translated as “the truth that has crossed over.”

By Bes-na-Maut my breast I beat; By wise Ta-Nech I weave my spell. Show thy star-Splendour, O Nuit. Bid me within thine House to dwell, O wing’d snake of light, Hadit, Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.

In the Boulaq translation, Bes-na-maut is the “son of mnbsnmt (the fathers name who was a foreigner) and born of the Sistrum-bearer of Amon, the Lady Atne-sher.” It is also stated that Bes n mut, was the son of the priestess-musician of Amun-re, mistress of the house Ta nech. Bes-na-Maut (also spelled Bes-en-mut in the modern translation) can be broken down to mean, Bes, as bs, which means “to introduce, be initiated into a mystery, or having mysterious form.” Bes, was also a popular domestic deity, a bearded dwarf with shaggy hair, bandy legs and a tail, often wearing a lion’s skin. He was the patron of music, jollity, and childbirth. He was associated with human pleasures of all kinds and he protects mankind by first strangling then devouring any serpent that might threaten the one wearing his likeness as a charm. The word na, again to reiterate, means “to, for, belonging to, through, or because.” It can also be a negative, meaning “not,” or in this case may introduce a proper noun.

As for Maut, we must assume the phonetic pronunciation and make it that of the Goddess, Maat. Maat, in short was the personification of truth and justice, who was seen as wearing a single feather. The feather represented truth and it is seen in the judgment as being weighed on a scale in balance against the heart of an individual. So even though the name is foreign and there is no clue to the vocalization, if we use the Gardiner & Gunn translations, the name could be translated as an oath meaning essentially, “by the mysteries of initiation, I swear by all that is true,” or something similar.

For Ta-Nech we may break it down thus: Ta is the singular, feminine form for “this or the.” Once again, the particular spelling of Nech is not to be found on its own, and only conjecture can aid us here. It is of interest to note that it sounds very close to the God, Nekht, one of the fourteen names for Ra’s souls, meaning “strength.” It is also the root word for Nechabet, who was the vulture goddess most often shown on the double crown of Egypt, which represented the union of upper and lower Egypt. The name itself could be translated as meaning “by the wise uniting powers” that guide.

The starry spendour that is Nuit, or Nut, is both an eager and desirous request to be shown the night sky, and to be placed therein, as a star “in the company of stars.”

The god, Hadit in the Boulaq translation was spelled “Hudit.” By Gardiner & Gunn as “Behdet”; and in the modern translation as “Hehedite.” If we break down the syllables of the form that Crowley chose, we get these various meanings: Ha is a desert god. Had or hd means “to punish” or “defeat,” or to be “victorious.” The it means “father.” If we add an “n” to “it” it means the “sun” or the “sun’s disk.” So, I think we begin to see what Crowley was trying to say. He was invoking the light of night and the light of day that wings its way across the heavens, to be a part him.

Ra-Hor Khut, was as the Boulaq translation tells us, “chief of the gods” who faces Ankh-f-na-khonsu on the stele. Thankfully, there is a god of Egypt’s history, spelled only in a slightly different manner, as Ra-heru-Khuti. This is a compound name of the gods and attributes of Ra, Horus and Khuti. There is only one reference with Crowley’s spelling of “Khuit.” She was an ancient female deity from Anthribes that later became directly associated with “Hathor.” It is not surprising then, that Crowley chose the spelling of a goddess that was the personification of the great power of nature which was perpetually conceiving and creating. She was “the mother of her father, ” and “the daughter of her son.” Thus, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, was the Father, the son and the Mother, a potent triad in one magical formula. And after saying this all-encompassing power word, what could possibly be conveyed but the power of silence, with the sign of silence.

In the early Dynastic periods, the ancient priests taught that this strict interdependence not only existed, but that a continual appeasement by offering was necessary. The Gods and Goddesses were numerable and each temple as well as each home took on the obligations of giving offerings toward their local and state God forms. Throughout Egypt’s time, the Pharaohs belief or cosmogony of favoring one God or Goddess of creation above the others differed. The local deities often became secondary and formed a sort of lesser court, while the Pharaoh’s God became primary.

Conceptions of Heaven

To the ancient Egyptian the concept of Heaven, also called the Duat or Tuat, changed throughout its history. They saw the earth as a reflection of what was in the heavens. The celestial Nile existed above the flowing Nile below. It was the zone of twilight or the nocturnal sky, Nu, Nut or Nuit. At first, heaven rested on two mountains, one of sunrise and one of sunset, and the sky was divided up into the morning sky and the afternoon sky. Up to the IV Dynasty, the sky was divided into four parts, which related to the four sons of Horus. They each had four scepters, which held up the sky. These four parts together comprised the astral planes where one must be balanced in their physical, psychological, mental and emotional states in order to enter. It was also the land of light. Later, the Duat had more divisions, each with a head God. To enjoy the power to enter into certain cities in heaven, one had to know the various souls worshiped in each of them.

In the Papyrus of Nu, it speaks about the seven arrat circles or divisions, each of which has a door that one must pass through. Each was guarded by three entities; a doorkeeper, a watcher and a herald. One must know the names of all three, in each of the seven arrats, before being able to pass through.

The Cosmogonies or Creation Myths

There were four principle cosmogonies: Heliopoliton, Memphite, Hermapolitan and Theben. In the city of Heliopolis, the Great God Atum rose from the cosmic waters of Nun and created a place to stand. This “completed one” was identified in the Pyramid texts as ‘One with Ra.’  The God Ra-Atum was symbolized by the Bennu bird or the Phoenix. He was also symbolized by the scarab beetle, pushing his egg out in front of him, starting a new cycle of creation. He united with his shadow and through masturbation gave birth to his children Shu and Tefnut. Shu is the God of air and Tefnut the principle of divine order and of moisture. They begat Geb the earth, and Nut the sky. Geb and Nut begat Osiris, Isis, Nepthys and Set. Osiris and Isis begat Horus. The priests and priestesses considered themselves to be the representatives on earth of Geb and Nut. In Heliopolis, the High Priest was called ‘the Great One with Visions of Ra.’

In the city of Memphis, the Great God Ptah was the ‘Creator of the World’ and ‘Master of Destiny.’  The Shabaka Stone text declares that Ptah was the heart and tongue, mind and intelligence of the Ennead, or the group of Gods, of Heliopolis. Thus, Atum acted as the agent of Ptah’s will. Later, Horus the son of Isis and Osiris became the heart, and Thoth because he was the god of wisdom, the tongue. Ptah created an ethical order by creating the Ka or soul of each being. He established throughout Egypt provinces called nomes and a political order for the founded cities. In Memphis the High Priest was called the ‘Great Chief of the Artisans.’

In Hermapolis there was an Ogdoad, or group of eight gods: Nun and Naunet, Huh and Hauhet, Kuk and Kauket, Amon and Amaunet. These four groups represented the four elements. They were hatched out of the mud that formed around the sacred lake or waters called, the Sea of the Two Knives, from which emerged the “Isle of Flames.” There were four myths, which arose concerning the gods in this creation. One was that the world was a cosmic egg laid by a celestial goose. This egg, laid on this isle, contained Ra the creator of the word. Two, that, the egg was laid by an ibis, the bird representing the God of wisdom Thoth. Third, that on the lake a lotus opened to reveal a divine child, who was Ra. Four, that the lotus opened to reveal a scarab beetle that transformed into a child that cried and each drop contained the essence of life for the human form. So, while Gods emerged from Ra’s mouth, men and women came from his eyes.

In Thebes, the supreme and invisible creator God was Amon. The Theban doctrine incorporated in Amon aspects of all the other creator Gods. Thebes claimed to be the city of the primeval mound. Amon embraced whole cosmogonies as aspects or phases of his creative activity. He was the vital force, which roused Nun, the primeval waters into the creative cycle. In Thebes, the high priest was called the ‘Prophet of Amon.’

There was also a fifth, but smaller cosmology. At Aswan there is an island called, Elephantine. It was the birth site of Khnum, who created men and women from clay and straw and fashioned them on a potter’s wheel along with their Ba, soul. It is said that the figure needed Hathor, the goddess of joy, love and beauty, to animate it by touching it with an ankh.

The Five Laws of Truth

There were approximately five laws of known truths that were extent. One of these beliefs was that the universe contained an immaterial and impersonal force. The priesthood worked with collecting it, holding it, directing it and appeasing it. There was also the law of mystical participation. That which is influenced in one part of the universe is also affected in another. They believed in the law of similarity, and that “like evokes like.” Examples from relief and papyri speak of “the name chosen at birth influencing the individuals destiny; of a plant to an organ of the body, that it could heal that organ; that the mathematical properties of numbers conferred on them had corresponding attributes; that pouring water evoked rain; that knotting a thread stops bleeding, disease, or the sexual act; that one can, by punning, affect a person through his homonym; also that the anniversary of a mishap or lucky event that once occurred will have influence on that day again. There was also the law of solidarity, which holds that “a body remains forever linked to any fragment detached from it, … even to its shadow.” The fifth law was that death was thought of as a “protracted sleep.” The dead could return at any time and that offerings should always be ready for them.

The Temples

The Double House of Life was staffed with at least ten to twenty-five people; consisting of the high clergy, the low clergy, auxiliaries and upon special occasions, floaters or extra people. The Temple staff consisted of a man of the roll, or chief reciter; the chief priest; the priest of divine writing who was also in charge of the House of Life, and the Korpuu priests. These were the main healers, oracles, and herbalists. Within the temple, the temple staff always had duties to perform; initiations to coordinate and magical rituals to be done at every holiday. And the Ancient Egyptians celebrated approximately 172 rituals a year, depending on whether one goes by a calendar in the late period or it was leap year.

Every day there were services that had to be carried out. It started with building the fire and lighting the incense. Then of, opening the shrine by breaking the seal on the door to the Holy of Holies. Praises and hymns were sung to the god. Food and more incense and offerings were given with prayer. Then there was a purifying and cleansing of the statue and the shrine with natron and Nile waters. The God was finally dressed with ointments, eye paint and clothing. The offering incense was burned continually throughout the day until the temple was once more sealed at the close of the day.

The temples readjusted throughout the dynasties to suit the pharaoh and the peoples needs. From the 1st through the 3rd Dynasty the temple was nothing more than an elongated wicker hut; open in front and in back with an open front courtyard. It wasn’t until the 12th dynasty that the temples were constructed fully of stone. The middle dynasties are still somewhat of a mystery, but in the later periods, specifically during the Roman-Greco Period, the temples were large and elaborate, and there was the addition of a room known as the Holy of Holies.

During this time the temple was connected to a house of learning by a set of columns where the uninitiated students were taught. The separate building was called the Double House of Life. Here the initiated, the ‘beautiful students,’ called neferstashi, received the inner temple teachings within the hypostyle of the House of Life. They were instructed by divine priests in herbs, geography,  history, divination, weather, and were overseen by a Korpuu or leader. They were also taught the ways of the gods, but they did not practice the religion or its greater mysteries until they received their Priesthood and worked in the temple. The House of Life and the area around the hypostyle was also a gathering place for the priests, a place where scribes worked, councils met, women came to give birth and the sick were brought for healing.

The Twelve Schools of Magic

There developed twelve different paths that an initiate could follow, each having developed from a temples center of learning. There were different Gods or Goddesses heading these paths with specific teachings and exercises.

1. The path of Ra or the Path of the Sun comes from the city of Hermopolis. It was most popular from the XVIII to the XXII dynasty. It is of Kabbalistic structure, with a tree of life, a ten-part pantheon, a twenty-one-step path and a complete route through the astral plane.
2. The Path of the Tarot or The Royal Road was centered in Memphis and in Alexandria. There exists in Egypt a temple whose walls, no one could dispute, what can only be of an ancient tarot design. It is written on ostreca and they correspond with several of the major arcana. Originally, it was a meditation/nature/animal husbandry path and evolved into a meditation and alchemical path.
3. The Path of Creation or of Ptah originated in Memphis. Exoterically it was a path and discipline of artists and craftsmen. Esoterically, it was the center of pre-Pythagorean mysticism using form in art, architecture, and geomantria in the hieroglyphic language to express the teachings.
4. The Path of Osiris or the Path of Resurrection is a path that consists of a triad of Osiris the father, Isis the mother and Horus the son. The book of study is what today is called the Book of the Dead, or the Papyrus of Anni.
5. The Path of Amon or the Hidden Path was primarily a mystical path using meditations and mantras up through the XVIII dynasty. After that, Amon was combined with Ra, and the exoteric side of Ra was attached to Amon, thereby creating a large ceremonial magical priesthood.
6. The Path of Horus or the Path of Martial Arts is where many of the guards and priests were the Shemsu Heru, or warrior priests of Horus. Fighting techniques included stick fighting, hand-to-hand combat, bow and arrow and the spear.
7. The Path of Tehuti or the Path of Wisdom and Philosophy was from Hermopolis. The God Thoth, was the God of Intelligence and wisdom, and he headed the pantheon with Seshat and Ma’at. Many judges and most viziers were priests of Ma’at. The Wisdom texts are philosophical approaches to an individual’s relationship with the outside world as well as the world within. It contains codes of ethics and conduct between all strata’s of the culture.
8. The Path of Ceremonial magic or the Path of Thoth is actually from the same city of Hermopolis. Although the last path is also a path of Thoth, the path of wisdom and path of magic were separate systems that were taught in the same temple. This path was the Setep-Sa, or for the magicians that also included psychometry, divination, forms of astrology and of healing.
9. The Path of Astrology or the Heavenly Path was a path of Hathor, Nut and Horus. These temples are at Edfu and Denderah. Magic was based entirely on the movements of the heavenly bodies. Charts were cast and an accurate calendar system was drawn approximately 4,500 years ago. There were astronomy texts and astrology signs on temples and tombs.
10. This is the Golden Path or the Path of Alchemy. Zoismos was the Father of modern alchemy. There was also Bolos of Mendes, Maria the Egyptian and Hermes Trismagistis and his great Emerald tablet, which were all late Egyptian alchemists before Paraselseus. It started with the goldsmiths or priests of Ptah.
11. The path of the Aahti-Ahesheta or the Path of the wise woman is very Wiccan in style and content. It is therefore a Goddess and nature-worshipping path. The most common Goddesses worshiped were Isis, Hathor, Neith, Bast and Bes.
12. The Tantric Path was of short duration from the IV to the XIII dynasties. Special movements and practicing of the Kundalini with an invocation to the couple?s respective deity was enacted in the temple of mystery called sahadu.

The predominate traits shared by all students of magic consisted of an eleven fold path, having: strength of character, self-control, self-training, self-respect, readiness and boldness, activity, straight forwardness, discretion, quietness, extreme reserve, and right conduct.

The Ritual Aspects

The strongest magical act was what the heart desired and the tongue commanded. Once a word was spoken, it took an inevitable course, for the power was in the spoken word, the mind being the creative force, which gave the idea reality. Proper names when spoken or written were even more powerful. Maspero writes his comment on naming. “Nothing existed that had not received a name, and whoever lost his name lost his personality and his independence,” and could be prevented from re-incarnating his soul. To sing a name was “to make it appear,” and to know a hidden name had the greatest power. The value of pronouncing the magical phrases, the litanies and formulas faithfully were imperative. The Egyptians often regulated the administration of remedies and recitation of spells by the laws of magic numbers; 3, 4, and 7 being predominate.

As far as the ritual itself a combination of adjuncts were utilized. The gestures produced the greatest results; for often simulated actions and real drama were performed in order to bring about the desired results. Holy Nile water, special oils, wine, strong perfumes, and a great amount of incense were used. Amulets and talismans were worn, carried and utilized during the rituals for a variety of reasons. They gained their potency from their fashioning, inscribing of sacred names on them and numbers.

An assortment of ritual tools, were used depending upon the nature of the rite. If it was a burial rite, the Osirian emblems of the crook and flail were used by the High Priest. The crook served as the tool that cut open the slit at the mouth so that the spirit of the man could depart. The ankh, symbol of new life, is also seen over the body and at the mouth. The ankh is depicted as being carried by many Gods and Goddesses and was used in ritual for blessing, healing, consecrating and as a grounding tool. Incense was used almost continuously throughout any rite, especially cleansing rites. The offering table was always laden with its offerings of oil, honey, flower, fruit and fowl. There were musical instruments of various pipes and drums, and strings. Sistra were played to accompany chants and hymns to appease the Gods or they were shaken loudly to wake up the Gods.

Manifestations of Power

There are four different manifestations of power that the Egyptians recognized and worked with. There is Divine Power. The Gods and Goddesses, are an expression of the principles and functions of divine power manifesting in nature. Mer is magnetic power. The Egyptians called the pyramid a structure with mer power. Sa is an invisible mysterious fluid that flows throughout statues of Gods and Goddesses. A man, who wishes to acquire this Sa, kneels with his back to the statue and the statues hand must touch the upper spine to transfer this energy. It is only temporary and frequent renewal is needed. Sa power is pulled from the pond of Sa, which is located in the northern heavens. It preserves vigor and age. It is said that if enough were held long enough the flesh would turn to gold, the bones to silver and the hair to lapis lazuli. This is the highest power attainable. Sekem is the forth power. It is the “vital force,” the “ruling power,” the “essential power for creation.” It is the power that animates the sahu, or spiritual body. It is the power for forms and names, and lives in the astral heaven. It is the easiest to work with and is often called mana.

Translations from the XII & XIII dynasties concerning celestial God powers and their dominions, brings us a very diversified description. The souls of the west came to be ruled by Temu. The lord of the Mount of sunrise was Sobek. The Lady of the evening was Hathor. The souls of the East were ruled by Heru Khuti. The calf of the Goddess or morning star was Khera. The souls of the city of Pe were ruled by Horus, Mestha and Hapi. The souls of the Nekhen district were ruled by Horus, Tuamutef, and Qebh-sennuf. The souls of Heliopolis were ruled by Ra, Shu, Tefnut, and the souls of Hermopolis came to be ruled by Thoth, Sa, and Tem.

The celestial Gods and Goddesses have their duties too. They must organize and separate the “One who makes Himself into millions.” Some are assigned to direct the affairs of the world. Others must operate the heavens and direct all things astronomical. In the Land of the Light, when an initiate arrives, he is formed into light and he eats on light. His food is supplied by the eye of Horus. The initiates existence is supported by the rays that fall from the ultimate God, and anyone who enters becomes a part of the light. They all arrive from the celestial lake of Sekhet-hetep. The celestial foods eaten are all made up of light. They form the light of wheat, red barley, heavenly figs, wine, and of the bread of eternity, which is shed from an olive tree. With these he is sustained until he is called again to the earth plane.