Lion Power

The connection between Sirius and the feline genus may seem a strange one at first glance, and yet, if one looks into the history and customs of ancient Egypt, even at the purely surface level, the emphasis placed upon the cat and the lion families is blatantly obvious. It was not until I became directly involved with Siriun magic that I discovered the reason for this, and any further proof I needed was there for me to read in The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Pyramid Texts and other ancient messages that have filtered down to us from antiquity. Nor is the lion theme limited to the Egyptian ethos; as mentioned earlier, the fourth incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu was as the Man Lion or Tawny One, while lions also featured in the religion and beliefs of other long-lost cultures as far back as 35,000 BC. All these references carry Siriun overtones, for it was not only the strength or courage of the lion that caused the ancients to pay so much attention to the leonine archetype, especially at its more esoteric level.

The importance of this archetype, as far as we earthlings are concerned, does not depend upon whether or not we subscribe to the idea that a race of leonids exists or existed in the Siriun complex in some other time frame. There are deeper implications which resonate with the genes we have inherited from our Siriun forebears who were responsible for the growth and development of the solar system in which we live. If there is anything in Professor Hoyle's panspermia theory, there are probably other stellar influences on Earth which manifest via the personal, group or racial genetic codes, but for those of us who carry the Siriun gene, the cat-lion-crystal call will be the strongest.

The Egypt of old gives us a few potent clues regarding the significance of the leonine archetype and the specific ways in which it influences our planet, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the personality and functions of the goddess Sekhmet. The fact that the Sekhmet archetype is slowly percolating through to the collective unconscious may be evidenced in the way that people hitherto unconnected with symbology or studies of this nature are becoming aware of her mysteries. Dr Robert Masters, the famous American psychologist, known mainly for his pioneering work as a sexologist, contributed substantially to the Sekhmet ethos with his book The Goddess Sekhmet, published in 1988. In his introduction Masters writes:

Over the last fifteen years I have enabled a great many persons to have, in varying degrees, experiences of what they apprehended as the Goddess Sekhmet. The Goddess has taught, and healed and protected and otherwise rewarded and punished. Some of the phenomena associated with and arising out of this work have been discussed with, and often been taken quite seriously by, Egyptologists, archaeologists, anthropologists, parapsychologists, open-minded psychiatrists and psychologists, philosophers, authorities on magic, myth and religion, and persons of many other backgrounds. Many lives have been changed - sometimes drastically transformed - by the contemporary manifestations of Sekhmet. I acknowledge, without including a roster of names, all of those persons just referred to, but especially the ones who have actively and immediately shared with me the more intense and prolonged experiences of the Goddess Sekhmet's worlds.

I might add that I summarised one such collaboration in the book Psychic Exploration, published in 1974 and edited by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, explorer of both outer and inner space - and the sixth man on the moon. That particular shared experience of Sekhmet, as well as others that occurred over the years, was of great interest to another friend, the late anthropologist Margaret Mead, who developed her own strong affinity for Sekhmet.

Masters' further Sekhmetian (or Siriun) association may be evidenced in his opening paragraph:

... I believe, as Rameses II believed it of himself, that I was 'born out of Sekhmet'. That, for an ancient Egyptian, was a quite different statement from the one often routinely made about being 'born of' this or that Deity. To be 'bom out of' in this case asserts a literal fact and reality existing in spiritual dimensions. It would require a spiritual autobiography to make my case - and one day I may write one, detailing adequately (at least for me) just why I hold to such a belief.

No, Dr Masters, you and your friends in the goddess are by no means alone. There are others amongst us who also carry the Siriun gene, and are 'born out of Sekhmet'. When I first saw the set of four statues of Sekhmet at the British Museum they had been moved to a stairwell landing while their normal place of residence was being refurbished. I recall ascending the wide staircase and there they were, standing before me in all their glory An ancient memory stirred and I was deeply moved.

Like everything else Egyptian, however, Sekhmet's energies may be translated or used at many levels. As the Warrior Goddess of Destruction and Regeneration, she is seen as an element essential to the continual cosmic cycle of birth and rebirth - the dissolution of energies into chaos for reforming at a different frequency whereas her refining fires may also be applied to subjective spiritual development. Her transformative powers would appear to carry some rather interesting connotations, especially when applied to nuclear energy The nuclear process taking place on our sun, which provides the light and warmth we so gladly welcome, is caused by fusion rather than fission, the nuclei of the light hydrogen atoms being fused together by unimaginable pressure and temperature to make helium, thus commencing the chain which eventually produces the carbon and other elements, of which the cells of all living things are made. This process applies to all stars throughout the universe, which also pass through a series of transformations in much the same way that we do as individuals. Mythology offers no evidence to the effect that Sekhmet, the fiery one, belongs exclusively to our sun, in fact she could be seen to represent a cosmic principle which is valid at many more levels than we with our present limited understanding could comprehend. Strangely enough, this connection between Sekhmet and nuclear energy has other connotations at the more personal level. Some people appear to exhibit a greater tolerance to radioactivity than others, which would seem to be in some way connected with: (a) their particular molecular structure; (b) their personal sonic; or (c) the extent to which they are able to speed up their personal frequencies or, as Masters would probably say, negotiate their subtle bodies.

During my many years as a metaphysicist I have noticed that people either respond enthusiastically to my personal energies or the wavebands upon which I tend to work, or are greatly distressed by them, likewise when one accelerates a frequency, moving it into another, perhaps less familiar waveband, a practice which in my youth was referred to as 'taking the vibrations up'. Mind you, I am not sure where 'up' was meant to be, and assumed the term to relate to more subtle levels. I have since learned from bitter experience that one can move away from the comfort of more familiar wavebands in many directions, not all of which are 'up' in the spiritually accepted sense of the word. Some frequencies, especially those related to the elemental kingdoms, are decidedly more radioactive than others, and it was these, in particular, which I found affected some seekers.

Two people with whom I was once obliged to work experienced considerable distress when exposed to Siriun energies. As is the case with all of us insecure mortals, instead of acknowledging and accepting our own limitations when things fail to respond to our wishes, we seek someone upon whom to lay the blame. In matters magical the tendency is to point the accusing finger at another member of the group, or even some innocent party who is in no way connected with the situation, the usual magical rocks of derision being haphazardly fired from the slings of fear, and the unfortunate scapegoat despatched to the 'wilderness'!

As with all feline or leonine energies, the Sekhmet frequency has a fiery quality about it which can either prove disconcerting, or exert a fragmentary effect on certain people. This does not, or should not, evoke from the individual a sense of being either right or wrong, but simply different. There are several qualities of energy that I find extremely difficult to handle; perhaps `unfamiliar with' would be a better way of describing it. None of us is perfect and none of us knows it all. It is simply a matter of self-discovery and finding the particular cosmic slot into which one can slide with spiritual ease.

Not all the leonine deities of Egypt were of such a fiery character, however, Tefnut, twin of the sky-god Shu, was a gentle divinity associated with the dew, soft rain and the rainbow, while the cat goddess, Bast, originally believed to have been a leonine entity, was a joyful deity of healing, music, and joy and happiness. The oldest known lion god was Aker, who was seen as guarding the gate of the dawn through which the sun-god passed each morning. From the Pyramid Texts it is clear that this deity's role and attributes were clearly defined in the Early Empire. In later dynasties it was believed that during the night the sun passed through a kind of tunnel (wormhole?) which existed in some nether region, each end of which was guarded by a lion-god, the two deities being called Akeru (or Akerui). These same leonine divinities later emerged in Theban times as the Twin Lion gods, seated back to back, with the sun's disc supported between them. Their names were Sef and Tuau - 'yesterday' and 'today' respectively Ra was often referred to as 'Ra of the Two Horizons' the term 'horizon' being seen by some scholars in this context as a mathematical term denoting a system of dimensions or frame of reference. These were the Light Horizon and the Life Horizon, representing the material and spiritual worlds respectively Ra of the Life Horizon was betokened by a flattened circle or solar disc mounted on the hindquarters of the Twin Lion gods.

There are several interpretations of the meaning of this picture. Some see the two lions as exemplifying the two primordial forces of life - desire and fear, while to others they are simply the past and the present united by the sun of the Eternal Now; in other words, the power of time. Their back-to-back position can therefore be interpreted as: (a) the masculine 'desire' force, and the feminine 'fear' force pulling in different directions (chaos?), while the weight of the Ra disc (reason and self-control) holds them in check; or (b) in the `time' context , where the disc can be seen as the solar force that holds our planet in its orbital path and thus creates night and day - the time on our clocks - inner time. Should one or both of those lions move their position, even slightly, then the orb of Ra would adjust accordingly and we would see the sun from a different angle than we do today. The irony of this philosophy, however, lies in the idea that if desire and fear do get the better of us, the energies emitted world-wide could cause Shu and Tefnut to rise and dislodge the disc of Ra. To think of it another way, it is the thoughts and deeds of the denizens of Earth that decide whether the poles will shift, the axis will tilt and calamity will befall us all, as was the case in the latter days of Atlantis.

The universality of this symbology may also be evidenced in the fact that the Hopi Indians also had a similar legend of twin gods, named Poqanghoya and Palongawhoya, guardians of the north and south axes of the Earth respectively, whose task it was to keep the planet rotating properly They were, however, ordered by Sotuknang, nephew of the Creator, to leave their posts so that the 'second world' could be destroyed because its people had become evil. Then the world, with no one to control it, teetered off balance, spun around crazily, then rolled over twice. Mountains plunged into the sea with a great splash, seas and lakes sloshed over the land; and as the world spun through cold and lifeless space it froze into solid ice The Hopi also insist that their 'first world' was destroyed by fire and their 'third world' by water.

While on the subject of the Hopi Indians, it bears mentioning they share with the ancient Egyptians a knowledge of Sirius, which they know as 'Blue Star Kachina'. An age-old belief that exists in their tribe tells of how beings from the Siriun system came to earth 250,000 years ago and deposited time capsules, some of which are due to be triggered off prior to or immediately following the advent of the next millennium.

The 'twin' principle is decidedly Siriun and, as we have already discussed, the Law of Polarity operating strongly throughout all things carrying the Siriun influence. Lion power is active, fiery and extrovert; its colours are any of those flame shades that contain a sufficient element of gold to cool the overactivating hues of the red spectrum (strong reds being essentially Set's colours) with the yellow of reason. Its energies, which are of a transmutatory nature, function by effecting external change.

Crystal power is passive, airy and introvert; its colours are blue and green and combinations thereof, and it refines energies via the process of absorption and crystalisation, through which it effects internal change. Together, these comprise those aspects of the Siriun energy output which directly concern our solar system, manifesting within a broad spectrum of frequencies, the nature of which are essential to cosmic evolution and quantum leaps in particular, since the objectivity of one accommodates the external aspects, while the other is more concerned with the the inner or subjective mode. In other cosmic time-zones, although the principles are constant the rules and applications are somewhat different, since the path taken by different evolutionary streams varies from galaxy to galaxy. Confirmation of the dual nature of these energies may be seen in the following stanza from one of two hymns quoted by Brugsch and cited by Budge:

O Amen-Ra, the gods have gone forth from thee. What flowed forth from thee became Shu, and that which was emitted by thee became Tefnut; thou didst create the nine gods at the beginning of all things, and thou wast the Lion-god of the Twin lion-gods. .

The goddess Sekhmet is always portrayed wearing the solar disk, surmounted by the Uraeus, or right Eye of Ra, on her head, which symbols immediately connect her with both the Twin Lion gods and their disc, and therefore the balance and evolution of this planet. In her role as Divine Warrior, she wages war against the enemies of Ra, just as her feline brothers and sisters did against the evil of Apep. Masters writes of the war in Heaven [sic] which is 'intruding ever more fully and terribly upon this earth'. It is this intrusion, he tells us:

... which has given rise to the re-entry into human time and space of the Great Mother, in these Mysteries manifesting as Sekhmet. To Chaos She brings terror and a swathe of destruction. By means of Love She comes to re-establish those conditions which alone can preserve the human race and provide for the harmonious development and fulfilment of human beings as individuals, but also as parts of the Great Cosmic Whole that The War in Heaven is about - the eventual outcome: either Being or Nothingness.'

A sobering thought, but then that is surely what the Siriun message is all about - giving Geb or Gaia, as the case may be, a hand to control those of his or her errant brood who are holding back the others, or alternatively packing them all off to a remand planet in some distant galaxy where they can cool their heels among souls of their own spiritual age and kind, and work out their violence, greed, hatred and other chaotic characteristics together.

Notice that Masters says `to Chaos She brings terror'. In other words, she is the enemy of Set, since Set is nothing more than chaos personalised! Sekhmet's transformatory powers, harsh as the myths would have us believe them to be, should not therefore be seen in the same destructive context as those of Set, since the initiation of the refiner's fire is essential to rid us of the dross of our baser natures or the destructive element of chaos that lurks within us all. Initiation by fire also serves to purify our non-local components, thus bringing us into closer contact with the Divine Spark within us, and cementing our bond with the Infinite. Chaotic energies, on the other hand, are by nature fragmenting and dispersive.

From the aforegoing, it may be seen that the leonine archetype assumed great significance in all Egyptian thinking, from the cosmological to the everyday Lion gods and spirits were therefore looked upon as the guardians of all places and property, and the heads were often carved to represent members of the family, priests, priestesses, or Pharaohs and their wives. The Greeks called these 'sphinxes'. One of the names of the Egyptian Sphinx was Hu, 'the protector'; another was Hor-em-akhet or 'Horus of the Horizon' which immediately connects its erection with those enigmatical 'Sons (or Followers) of Horus' the Shemsu-Hor.

Curiously enough, the name 'Hu' also occurs in the Celtic myth of Hu Gadarn, an Atlantean person from the sea who guided a band of settlers to the prehistoric shores of Wales. There is also an uncanny similarity of sound between the names Hu Gadarn and the Tuatha de Danaans (pronounced Tuar-de-Danans), those strange fairy people with magical powers who, according to legend, landed on the shores of prehistoric Ireland.

One question that is bound to arise concerning the employment of these twin lion and crystal powers is, does Siriun magic involve the same occult distinctions between medium and magus as certain schools of the Western tradition? The answer must be 'No'. Siriun mind magic can be worked in a group or solitarily As it combines essentially the employment of the two brain hernispheres, both the rationale and intuitive aspects of the personality are brought into play, or should be, in equal proportions, neither dominating, but each complementing the other. Thus, the practitioner must supply his or her own protection and assume responsibility for his or her actions in both inner time and non-locality The aspirant's psychic faculties, therefore, need to be well-trained and tested, thus avoiding the downward spiral of self-delusion. As Jung wrote:

We are that pair of Dioscuri, one of whom is mortal and the other immortal, and who, though always together, can never be made completely one. The transformation processes strive to approximate them to one another, but our consciousness is aware of resistances, because the other person seems strange and uncanny, and because we cannot get accustomed to the idea that we are not absolute master in our own house. If you cast your mind back to the Dogon's Siriun philosophy, you will find it easy to relate the twin complex of Sirius A and Sirius B to this aspect of human psychology that Jung has outlined so clearly; the twinning implications relating at a higher octave to the process of individuation or balancing of the anima and animus, which is a sine qua non to the spiritual advancement of the soul. He or she must therefore have the courage of the lion when faced with strange or unfamiliar adversaries or unrecognisable abstract energies, and the mental clarity of the crystal so that that which is learned is duly assimilated, refined, and translated into the parlance of today's world. For what use knowledge if it cannot be communicated to those who need it?

Siriun Heritage

It is to G. R. S. Mead that we owe much of the information that has filtered through from ancient Egyptian times concerning the more exalted mysteries of Egyptian and Siriun magic. His Thrice Greatest Hermes is culled from fragments of writings spanning a wide period of time, which he meticulously catalogued and incorporated in three volumes. Much of this ancient Egyptian philosophy was also to influence both Judaism and early Christianity, although the more potent factors were conveniently dismissed during those power struggles that inevitably scarred the infanthood of the Christian Church. Many of the old truths, however, found their way into the teachings of the Gnostics and post-resurrection gospels, such as the Pistis Sophia, which have also been made available to us through the scholarship of Mead.

Another work which serves to fortify the Hermes literature is The Egyptian Mysteries, a superlative work by Iamblichos, translated from the Greek by Alexander Wilder, MD, FAS, and first published in 1911. It consists of a series of dialogues between Porphyry, distinguished scholar and foremost writer in the later Platonic period, and one Anebo. Porphyry, (c. AD 232-304) was a native of Tyre and his name Molech, or King, was rendered by Longinus into 'Porphurios', denoting the royal purple as a proper equivalent. He was a disciple of Plotinus who later broadened his philosophical interests to include other beliefs. In his personal life he followed the Pythagorean discipline, and was a severe critic of the Gnostic beliefs then current, including with them the newly popularised Christian faith. Being essentially a mystic, Porphyry regarded the ceremonial rites of the Egyptian theurgy with mistrust, favouring Mithraism, while Iamblichos followed the cult of Serapis, which was then the state religion in Egypt. The scribe, Iamblichos, is said to have lived c. AD 255-330, although these dates are unverifiable. Of Anebo we know little; he is referred to as an Egyptian priest, his name indicating that he was probably in the service of Anubis. Porphyry addressed him as `prophet' or servant of divinity and expounder of the sacred oracles, and it is in this capacity that the philosopher sought his explanations regarding the Egyptian theological doctrines, religions beliefs and sacred rites. These dialogues display the outwardly marked differences between logical Greek thinking and the more mystical approach of the Egyptians, although the irony lies in the fact that beneath the ethotic facade there is basically little difference, if any.

But let us first cast our attention to the Hermes Trismegistus, which could be seen to constitute the Bible or main book of reference for the modern student of Egyptian philosophy, being considered as a more accurate assessment of the inner teachings of ancient Egypt than The Book of the Dead and other early texts directly related to the Egyptian ethos. This reasoning is based on the belief in an oral tradition which, like that of Celtic Druidism, cloaked its deeper mysteries in a language recognisable only to the Initiate or Adept. Its writings, like the fabled Emerald Tables, are believed to have been inspired by Thoth/Tehuti himself.

The title 'Thrice Greatest' often evokes questions. According to some authorities the term is of late use, although the fact that it was known in Roman times may be evidenced in the famous epigrammatist Martial (AD 40-104?) who in singing the praises of one Hermes, a famous gladiator, brings his paean to a climax with the line: Hermes omnia solus et ter unus!' Mead opines , however, that the term was in evidence long before Roman times and cites the trilingual inscription on the Rosetta Stone, extolling the virtues of Ptolemy Epiphanes (210-181 Bc), which refers to Hermes as the 'Great-and-Great'.

Using Manetho as his reference, Mead concludes that the first Hermes mentioned therein alludes to the first priesthood among the Egyptians, who used a sacred language, the knowledge of which was long since forgotten by the time of the second Hermes, which we may presume to be a much later priesthood, the members of which were probably a cross between the Shemsu Hor and the indigenous population of those parts. He tells us:

The two successions of priests and prophets were separated by a 'flood'. This `flood' was presumably connected with, if not the origin of, the flood of which Solon heard from the priests of Sais ... of which we have considerable information given us in the Timaeus and Critias of Plato. The Good Angel is the same as the Mind, as we learn from the Trismegistic literature, and was regarded as the father of Hermes Trismegistus. This seems to be a figurative way of saying that the archaic civilisation of Egypt before the flood, which presumably swept over the country when the Atlantic Island went down, was regarded as one of great excellence. It was the time of the Gods or Divine Kings or Demi-Gods, whose wisdom was handed on in mystic tradition, or revived into some semblance of its former greatness, by the lesser descendants of that race who returned from exile, or reincarnated on earth, to take charge of the new populations who had gradually returned to the lower Nile planes after the flood had subsided.

Thus we have three epochs of tradition of the Egyptian mystery cults:

(1) The first Thoth or Agathodaimon, the original tradition preserved in the sacred language and character in the stone monuments of the Seriadic land, presumably the Egypt prior to the Atlantic flood;

(2) the second Thoth, the Thrice-Greatest, the mystery-school after the period of the great inundation, whose records and doctrines were preserved not only in transcriptions but also in MSS, still written in the sacred character, but in the Egyptian tongue as it was spoken after the people reoccupied the country; and (=FCi) Tat, the priesthood of Manetho's day, and presumably of some centuries prior to his time, who spoke a yet later form of Egyptian, and from whose demotic translations further translations or paraphrases were made in Greek.

In more recent times the 'Thrice Greatest' appellation has been ascribed a number of more metaphysical meanings, such as the Law of Three Requests, body, mind and spirit, instinctive, rational, intuitive, conscious, unconscious and super-conscious and so forth. The numerological associations of the number three have also been read into the title and I do not doubt that there is something in this. Siriun enthusiasts would doubtless add the three stars of the Siriun system, but since there is some doubt concerning one of these which could possibly be a large planet and not a star at all, I would rather reserve judgement until more proof is forthcoming.

The Trismegistus represents part of a collection of ancient Egyptian occult teachings which are distinguished from the 'Hermes Prayers' of Egyptian magic and the Hermetic alchemical literature. In fact, they stand alone. They comprise:

(a) The Corpus Hermiticum (body of the teachings), which includes the Poimandres, a collection of fourteen sermons, and the Definitions of Asclepius involving instructions from Hermes to Apollo's son, later deified as the Greek god of medicine.

(b) The Perfect Sermon, also known as the Asclepius, as it is addressed to a character of that name. This exists only in the old Latin version, the Greek now being extinct.

(c) The Excerpts from Stobaeus. There are twenty-seven of these excerpts from otherwise lost sermons that were 'discovered' and translated by one John Stobaeus, a pagan scholar from the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries. Stobaeus collected extracts, some of which are very long, notably the collection entitled The Virgin of the World, from the Greek authors and occult schools of his day.

This appears in the form of a series of instructions and accompanying dialogues between Isis and her son Horus, which are concerned with the magical and mystical teachings of ancient Egypt, and is considered by many magical authorities to be the most interesting by far.

(d) References and fragments from the early Christian fathers. The early Christian scholars and Church doctors frequently saw fit to comment on the Hermes Trismegistus and there are twenty-five short fragments of note that have come down to us. Because of the heretical nature of the Hermetic doctrine, these writers tended to speak out against it, which very act has, in fact, helped to keep it alive. It is interesting to observe that in spite of their opposition on dogmatic grounds, they convey an underlying acknowledgement of, if not an actual respect for, the Trismegistic power and philosophy.

(e) References and fragments from the early philosophers, not necessarily of Christian persuasion. From Zosimus, Fulgentius and Iamblichos we have three fragments, and from Julian, the emperor-philosopher (irreverently labelled 'the apostate' by his Christian contemporaries), there are a number of valuable references and acknowledgements.

The testimony afforded by these historical passages accords with much of what has come down to us via oral tradition, mystical inspiration and those Egyptological scholarly studies which have endeavoured to concentrate more on the spiritual or hidden mystery aspects of that discipline. Errors have obviously crept in, with translators tending to reinterpret the texts in the light of their own experiences, particular magical leanings, or the current trends of occultism fashionable at the time. These fragments are but scant remains of what must once have been a fountain of information, largely reserved for the dedicated student or Initiate, much of which would have been entirely lost were it not for the diligent efforts of one Hermetic apologist selecting some of the sermons to exemplify the loyal nature of the Hermes Trismegistus with respect to the position of kings!

The fact that these fragmentary odds and ends have somehow managed to straddle the centuries, in spite of severe mutilation suffered during the process of translation and retranslation, is truly a miracle. At times, when persecution was rife, they existed purely as secret works, carefully concealed by those faithful adherents to the old wisdom; at other periods they remained safely in the possession of private collectors, those sons and daughters of Thoth who are the 'guardians' of the word. But, in spite of all the opposition from the minions of Chaos, both incarnate and discarnate, a few gems of the old truths have managed to filter through to us.

An index of full references would occupy too much space and is not really relevant to our subject matter at this point. However, for the benefit of the dedicated researcher who prefers to check his or her facts, here are a few verifiable sources. Embodying the Hellenic and Orphic tradition as related to Hermes Trismegistus, there is the Bibliotheca Graeca of Joannes Albertus Fabricius (fourth and last edition, Leipzig, 1790). From alchemical and medieval literature we have the works of M. P E. Berthelot, namely, Collection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs (Paris,1888) and La Chimie au Moyen Age (Paris, 1893). Arabic writings include Beausobre's Histoire Critique de Manichee et du Manicheisme (Amsterdam, 1734) (i.) 326; also H. L. Fleischer, Hermes Trismegistus an die menschliche Seele, Arabisch und Deutsch (Leipzig,1870); O. Bardenhewer, Hermetis Trismegisti qui apud Arabes fertur de Castigatione Animae Liber (Bonn,1873); and R. Pietschmann, the pupil of Georg Ebers, who devoted the fourth part of his treatise, entitled Hermes Trismegistus nach agyptischen und orientalischen Llberlieferungen (Leipzig,1875), to a consideration of the Hermes tradition, 'Bei Syrern und Araben'.  Another single manuscript was found in the eleventh century in sad condition. Whole quires and single leaves were missing when it came into the hands of Michael Psellus, a gentleman greatly involved in the revival of Platonic studies at Byzantium. Sadly, though, large chunks of the Psellus translation were torn out because they sought directly to justify polytheism or 'heathendom , so once again the serious student was cheated.

Reitzenstein, the Theosophical scholar did as much as he could to piece together the fragments of truth, and Mead highly applauds his efforts.

Much of the trismegistic literature is taken from the original Greek texts, although three influences were later superimposed on the early Greek, Hebrew and Egyptian originals. The Jewish influence was Essenic or Therapeutic (the word Essene is, Mead tells us, Greek and not Hebrew). The Trismegistus then came under the influence of the early Christian Gnostics, many of whom adopted large chunks of it in defence of their beliefs which were subsequently labelled 'heresies'. The most notable of these was Basilides, whom Carl Jung believed to be either a fragment of his own group soul, who guided him through the Seven Sermons of the Dead, or himself in a former life. The Valentinian Gnosis was also strongly Hermetical. The trismegistic literature therefore carries a distinctly Gnostic flavour in places, so the student is advised to strip away these Christo-Gnostic overleaves in order to effect a closer contact with the Egyptian original.

The whole series which comprises the Trismegistus is attributed to the direct inspiration of Thoth/Tehuti, who is referred to therein as 'the master of wisdom and teacher of mankind'. Thoth, the texts inform us, 'ordained measure, number and order in the universe'; was master architect, and his consort was Nehemaut, known to the Gnostics as Sophia, and as Maat to the Egyptians. Maat's symbol was a white feather (sometimes also associated with Thoth himself in his judicial capacity).

According to the Hermes Trismegistus there were three grades of the Egyptian Mysteries of Thoth:

Mortals - those who were instructed but who had not yet gained inner vision.

Intelligences - those whose vision enabled them to tune into other life-forms within the universe.

Beings of Light - those who had become one with the Light.

The Gnostics later labelled these as hyle, psyche and pneuma, and added the following distinctions which are outlined by Mead: '

(a) the lowest, or hylics, were those who were so entirely dead to spiritual things that they were as the hyle or unperceptive matter of the world;

(b) the intermediate class were called psychics, for though believers in things spiritual, they were believers simply, and required miracles and signs to strengthen their faith; (c) whereas the pneumatics or spiritual, the highest class, were those capable of knowledge of spiritual matters, those who could receive the Gnosis.' Mead also adds a further commentary which serves to qualify the question of equality:

It is somewhat the custom in our days in extreme circles to claim that all men are 'equal'. The modern theologian wisely qualifies this claim by the adverb 'morally'. Thus stated the idea is by no means a peculiarly Christian view for the doctrine is common to all great religions, seeing that it simply asserts the great principle of justice as one of the manifestations of the Deity. The Gnostic view, however, is far clearer, and more in accord with the facts of evolution; it admits the 'morally equal', but it further asserts difference of degree, not only in body and soul, but also in spirit, in order to make the morality proportional, and so to carry out the inner meaning of the parable of the talents.

In Gnostic literature, Thoth is the tutor to both Isis and Osiris and is one of the sacred eight, four pairs of divinities, each a syzygy or male and female power, active and passive, which is the oldest example of the Gnostic Ogdoad. Thoth's job, the Trismegistus informs us, is to keep perfect equipoise; hence his main symbol, the Caduceus. Note the emphasis on the number eight, which is but one pointer in the Siriun direction in this exciting work. There are others, as we shall see.

Amongst the wealth of knowledge contained in the trismegistic writings there are certain salient points that are relevant to both ancient Egyptian and Siriun studies. References to a land of enlightened people that existed before the Flood, and to the fact that Thoth/Hermes and the other 'gods' came from such a country, are numerous and leave little doubt in any open mind as to where the Egyptians obtained their occult knowledge. It is interesting to note that the old truths were translated from the tongue of the mother country into the native Egyptian and doubtless suffered not only in translation in those early times, but in subsequent analysis by later generations of scholars to whom the whole pre-Flood story was little more than a fable.

Regarding the Manetho quote concerning the Seriadic land, Mead answers those who claim there is no historical record of any such land or country, with the following statement:

In the astronomical science of the Egyptians, the most conspicuous solar system near to our own, represented in the heavens by the brilliant Sirius, was of supreme interest. Cycles of immense importance were determined by it, and it entered into the highest mysticism of Egyptian initiation.

It is surely logical to assume that Egypt was Manetho's Seriadic land (from Seirios - Sothis, according to the Greek translation).

Mead refers to Nile records in ancient times being self-registered by pyramids, obelisks, and temples, while in later times nearly all monuments were built according to the type of the masonic instruments of the Egyptian astrogeological science. This science, he continues, was studied in more recent times by an Egyptian, and the results of his researches printed for 'private circulation' and a copy of them is to be found in the British Museum. Mead states that in the preface the author writes:

The astrogeological science gave birth to a monumental system, by means of which the fruits of the accumulated observations and experiences of the human race have been preserved, outliving writings, inscriptions, traditions, and nationalities. The principal monuments had imparted to them the essential property of being autochronous landmarks of a geochronological nature. Many of them recorded, hydromathematically, the knowledge in astronomy, in geography, and in the dimension and figure of the earth obtained in their respective epochs. They were Siriadic monuments, because their magistral lines were projected to the scale of the revolutions of the star Sirius [sic in terms of the standard astrogeological cubit.

Here we may read of an Egyptian scholar confirming the strong Siriun influence on the evolution and development of his land in archaic times. I have so far been unable to obtain further information regarding this document, but anyone with more time to spare, and a greater aptitude for persistence, might well meet with success.

In antiquity there were constant references to the 'pillars of Hermes' or 'Mercurii columnae', from which many of the ancient writers claim to have gleaned their information concerning prehistoric times, several of which I have already cited in Chapter 1, Endnote 8, notably the quote from Ammianus Marcellinus, friend of the Emperor Julian.

A highly significant passage from the Hermetic texts appears in the writings of Sanchuniathon, who is described by Philo as 'a man of great learning and a busy searcher (after knowledge) who especially desired to know the first principles from which all things are derived.' Philo continues to inform us that Sanchuniathon:

...most carefully examined the books of Taaut, for he knew that Taaut was the first of all under the sun who discovered the use of letters and the writing of records. So he started from him, making him as it were his foundation - from the Logos whom the Egyptians called Thouth, the Alexandrians Thoth, but whom the Greeks have tumed into Hermes.

The paragraphs relating to the creation are of particular interest and far removed from the primitive thinking normally associated with other indigenous peoples of the African conti- nent. I feel they are worthy of detailed quotation:

He (Thoth) supposes the beginning of all things to consist of a Dark Mist of a spiritual nature, or as it were a Breath of dark mist, and of a turbid Chaos black as Erebus; that these were boundless, and for many an age remained without a bound. 'But when,' he says, 'the Spirit fell in love with his own principles, and they were inter-blended, that interweaving was called Love; and this Love was the origin of the creation of all things. But [Chaos) did not know its own creation. From its embrace with Spirit Mot was born. From her [Mot, the Great Mother) it was that every seed of the creation came, the birth of all the cosmic bodies. ' [First of all] there were [Great] Lives devoid of sensation, and out of these came subsequently [Great] Lives possessed of intelligence.

The latter were called Zophasemin (that is to say, "Overseers of the Heavens"). The latter were fashioned in the form of eggs, and shone forth as Mot, the Sun and Moon, the Stars and the great Planetary Spheres.

'Now as the [original] nebula began to lighten, through its heat mists and clouds of sea and earth were produced, and gigantic downpours and torrents of the waters in the firmaments. Even after they were separated, they were still carried from their proper places by the heat of the sun, and all the [watery and earthy elements] met together again in the nebula one with the other, and dashed together, amid thunder and lightning; and over the crash of the thunderings the [Great] Rational Lives before-mentioned watched, while on the land and sea male and female cowered at their echo and were dismayed."o Strip this statement of its obvious overlays and we find a knowledge of cosmology which is more in keeping with modern scientific thought than what is commonly accepted as 'magic'.

We have, in fact, the 'opposition' to thank for some of the information that has managed to side-step the branding irons of persecution and make its tortuous way to our present age, Hippolytus' Philosophumena; or Refutation of all Heresies being a classic example. In 1842, Minoides Mynas, a learned Greek who was sent on a mission by the French Government, discovered in one of the monasteries on Mount Athos the only surviving manuscript of this very valuable document, which has been ascribed to the fourteenth century It originally consisted of ten books, but, unfortunately, the first three and the beginning of the fourth are missing. The first book had been previously ascribed to Origen and was already known, and the missing volumes dealt respectively with the doctrines and mysteries of the Egyptians and Chaldeans." Hippolytus claimed to have divulged all these so-called mysteries, as well as those beliefs adhered to by the Christian mystics of his time, whom he labelled 'heretics'.

One cannot help wondering why the Egyptian and Chaldean mysteries were obliterated, and we can only surmise that the information they contained was too powerful for this early Church father to handle. Either that, or he was afraid they might set his flock a-thinking! Those people who had a hand in the suppression of cosmic knowledge that has produced such a devastating affect on our planet must, one would think, have a lot to answer for, plus a karmic debt beyond our conception.

The trismegistic literature is a study in itself and to cover all the points salient to the Egyptian or Siriun theme would prove too lengthy a process. However, there are some interesting contributions from such classical stalwarts as Philo, Plutarch and Plato. Philo of Alexandria (born sometime between 30 and 20 Bc and died about AD 45), a Jewish Hellenistic scholar, was an apologist for the Therapeuts, a healing branch of the Essenes, and it is to him that we owe much of the information available concerning the mystical activities of that order. His comments include the concepts of an active and a passive causation principle at the god-source, the logos being the son of this father/mother god responsible for our solar system and all movements therein, via the agency of the physical sun: the Isis/Osiris/Horus story, in other words.

Plutarch the Greek, who lived in the second half of the first century AD chose the Egyptian theme of Isis and Osiris as his subject. As a priest of the order of Apollo and Dionysus, he was well versed in the magical procedures of both systems and their attendant mysteries, as well as possessing a deep knowledge of the Egyptian tradition, which he no doubt culled from fragments now extinct. The Greeks endeavoured to equate their own deities with those of the Egyptian pantheon and Plutarch, writing on the Eleusinia and Orphic rites, effects some interesting correspondences: Dionysus with Osiris, Horus and Bast with Apollo and Artemis being examples. His Siriun connection comes via the sistrum, about which he wrote:

The sistrum (Epov) also shows that existent things must be shaken up and never have cessation from impulse, but as it were be wakened up and agitated when they fall asleep and die away. For they say they turn aside and beat off Typhon [Set] with sistra, signifying that when corruption binds nature fast and brings her to a stand, [then] generation frees her and raises her from death by means of motion. Now the sistrum has a curved top, and its arch contains the four [things] that are shaken. For the part of the cosmos which is subject to generation and corruption, is circumscribed to the sphere of the moon, and all [things] in it are moved and changed by the four elements - fire and earth and water and air. And on the arch of the sistrum, at the top, they put the metal figure of a cat with a human face, and at the bottom, below the shaken things, the face sometimes of Isis and sometimes of  ephthys, - symbolising by the faces generation and consummation (for these are the changes and motions of the elements). ...'

Personally, I find this comment of Plutarch's exciting for several reasons. Note the allusion to the Double Fire of Isis and Nephthys, also the evolutionary role played by the four Elements: 'when corruption binds nature fast and brings her to a stand'. In other words, when one evolutionary epoch has reached a standstill, and a quantum leap becomes necessary, the leonine or feline energies of Sirius are brought into force for, as we have already discussed, Sekhmet is the enemy of Chaos, and Chaos can manifest just as strongly through inertia as through ill-judged movement. Stagnant water, for example, provides a breeding ground for impurities, and as Heracles (Hercules) judged during the execution of his sixth labour, the power of fast-flowing water was needed to cleanse the accumulated filth of the Augean stables! Taking these things alone into consideration, it is little wonder that the sistrum is one of the most important pieces of impedimenta in the magical arsenal of the Siriun practitioner, as there are inevitably times when we, like the Egyptian priests of old, will need to conquer Set.

If we strive to illuminate those dark corners of cosmic ignorance that have not been visited by the broom of knowledge for centuries, the odds are that we will also disturb the 'creepy-crawlies' that have made their nest in the stygian gloom and, as a wise old occultist once said to me in my youth: 'If you pull the devil's tail he will squeak.' Not that he believed in a personalised Satan, but being a psychologist he realised that ignorance seldom likes its comfort shaken by the appearance of knowledge. I think it was Emerson who made a statement to the effect that God offers to every man the choice between Truth and Repose -take which you will, you may never have both! So speaketh the sistrum!

The final section in Book 1 of the Trismegistus is entitled The Shepherd of Hermas. Purportedly an ancient Egyptian script, it was circulated among the Gnostics and Essenes who espoused many of its teachings. There is a little too much vague Gnosticism in it to render it of interest to the Siriun student, however, although the Aeon doctrine presents some interesting ideas on evolution.

Book 2 of the Hermes Trismegistus is entitled the Corpus Hermeticum, or body of the literature, and it features the works of one Poimandres, whose origin and existence are suspect, since in Egyptian the name simply means 'a witness'. Poimandres, it is explained, underwent an altered state of consciousness, or psychic experience, during which he received his instruction directly from Hermes (Thoth), which suggests either a channelling situation or Samyama. For all this, there is some interesting information to be found under the title The Shepherd of Men. The masculine-feminine nature of the Godhead or Creator, for example: the Sophia or Wisdom, and the Christos or Will, which carry strong Gnostic overtones, but are nevertheless compatible with the Isis-Osiris teachings. From the observations recorded, it would seem that whoever received this instruction was as convinced about the divine source of his or her revelations as Christians are about the holy spirit hovering perfunctorily over them when they translate or endeavour to interpret the scriptures.

Some of these so-termed Egyptian teachings, which are reminiscent of the writings of the late Rudolf Steiner, did not strike me as being at all compatible with the old Egypto-Siriun teachings, especially those referring to the pattern of evolution. The authenticity of this particular fragment is highly questionable, however, as it would appear to carry strong Christo-Gnostic overtones, in addition to the influence of the times in which it was purportedly written. Any conjectures are therefore purely academic, and only hidden meanings should be sought for and extracted.

Our next incursion into the trismegistic literature introduces us to Stobaeus, his first contribution taking the form of a dialogue between Hermes and Asclepius, in which the master instructs the pupil in the mysteries of the cosmos and the spiritual development and progression of the soul. This section contains some interesting information concerning the Egyptian priesthood and its attitude towards celibacy, and is certainly worth perusal. Throughout this work we have the continuing theme of the Flood, the master race that existed before it occurred, and hints of a knowledge of science and astronomy comparable to a standard only attainable via the aid of an advanced technology.

Titillating pieces of information in the Corpus Hermeticum include the stellar nature of the Deity; the imperishability of the psyche or spirit, the etheric body, the reincarnation process, the fact that animals and people are of separate evolutionary streams, overcoming karma by will, energy and matter; the race of logos or devas and, probably the most interesting of all from the Siriun standpoint, the dual nature of the soul. Hermes tells us that only one fragment of our spirit actually enters the earthly time circuits, while the other part remains in timelessness (non-locality/shades of the particle/wave packet of modern quantum theory, no?). This concept could possibly be seen as giving birth to the doctrine of the higher or transpersonal self, which seems to have misled many people into thinking that theirs is the only 'higher self' in the universe, the idea that it might possibly engage in dialogue with the 'higher selves' of others never having occurred to them.

By far the most interesting of the three Trismegistic volumes is undoubtedly number three, which includes The Virgin of the World and The Sermon of Isis to Horus. The philosophical and magical concepts rendered here are highly advanced and decidedly prophetic. Here are some examples:

1. The complete equality of the sexes, the teaching indicating that the spirit may select a body of either sex according to its evolutionary needs.

2. Certain branches of the animal kingdom, notably lions and dolphins, being of a higher evolutionary grade than others (or of some members of Homo sapiens, for that matter). Although the specific references could be seen to relate to life on Earth, reading between the lines serves to open the concept to a more cosmic interpretation, and it is my opinion that this was how it was originally presented to the Egyptians.

3. Man's pollution of this planet, resulting in a revolt by the four Elements.

4. The 'Old ones' whose origins were not of this world and from whom, according to his mother Isis, Horus and his divine family sprang (remember the ancient Pyramid Text - Horus who is in Sirius?).

5. How wise spirits were originally ordained to occupy places of power and responsibility, but their power was usurped by younger and less experienced souls who gained their position by the employment of force (the Osiris-Set drama enacted at the material level by mankind?)

6. The nature of males and females; the elements predominant in each sex and how these should rightly manifest according to Cosmic Law.

7. 'The chakras of the planet Earth.

8. Our planet as a body, subject to imbalances and disease but also curable (the Gaia Hypothesis).

9. The connection between illness and the elemental balance within the human system.

10. The etheric world that precedes and is mirrored by its physical counterpart.

11. The 'gods' who descended from 'heaven' to teach mankind and then returned to their original home in the stars.

12. Books translated from some 'sacred language' into the tongue in use prior to the first Egyptian dynasty (the old Atlantean language).

13. Evidence that the mathematical nature of the universe was well understood by the ancient Egyptians and those who taught them.

14. 'The wheel of karma.

15. The folly of intellectual nit-picking.

16. The nature of Cosmic Law.

17. The zodiac.

18. The family of devic spirits or archangels from 'another solar' system.

19. The nature of disease.

These are but a few of the exciting and spiritually stimulating teachings to be found in this extraordinary work. It would seem logical to suppose that in accordance with normal Egyptian magical procedures the instructress (Isis) assumes the role of the goddess in addressing her son, Horus, (the student), so we are, in fact, dealing with the remnants of an extremely ancient and sound metaphysical tradition. The final references in the Hermes literature, Volume 3, are concerned with comments offered by various classical writers and merit mention if only to confirm just how much of the truth we have been deprived of over the ensuing centuries.

Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-220) tells us that the gods Hermes, Ptah and Imhotep once lived amongst men in Egypt, to which they came from a land before the Flood. Hermes, the learned father informs us, brought from those lands certain books of a medical nature that were absolutely indispensable. These numbered forty-two, thirty-six of which contained the whole wisdom discipline of the Egyptians which the priests were required to learn by heart, the remaining six applying to the healing arts of the 'shrine-bearers' (physicians).

Tertullian (AD 160-230) states that Hermes taught Plato and that the doctrine of reincarnation dated back to a civilisation that existed before the flood.

Lactantius (fourth century AD) says of Hermes that the month of September was sacred to him, and that he ruled the sign of Virgo jointly with Isis. References are also made in this fragment to the elemental kingdoms and the dual nature of good and evil.

Zosimus (third/fourth century AD) refers to Hermes as being of the kingdom of devas or archangels, a being who instructed men in all matters medical far in advance of primitive understanding. Reference is also made here of a 'counterfeit daimon' who leads men astray, but who Hermes or Thoth knew how to combat.

Julian, the Emperor, (reigned AD 360-363) claimed that Hermes was a guide from the higher planes of spirit and not a man at all. He also opined that Hermes may teach at any age in the history of man through the inspiration of a medium or channeller.

From the aforegoing it must be obvious to the student that a wealth of ancient wisdom lies hidden beneath the Trismegistic cloak, knowledge that is essentially cosmic and transcendental, and minus those tribal or parochial limitations so often imposed by certain currently favoured metaphysical traditions. It has been postulated that no knowledge is ever lost; but rather forgotten, to be relearned at some time appropriate to its replacement in and relevancy to the history and evolution of this planet.

Let us now leave the Hermes Trismegistus and refer to the Egyptian Mysteries according to Iamblichos, as translated by Wilder. This enlightening and fascinating dialogue commences with the words of Porphyry:

I will begin this friendly correspondence with thee with a view to leaming what is believed in respect to the gods and good daimons and likewise the various philosophic speculations in regard to them.

Many things have been set forth concerning these subjects by the (Grecian) philosophers, but they for the most part have derived the substance of their belief from conjecture.'

The learned man then proceeded to list his queries which, as one might imagine, contained a goodly share of Greek logic, and in essence questioned the wisdom and efficacy of a system that was magically based and orientated. The reply to Porphyry's letter to Anebo was handled by Abammon, the teacher, who was obviously charged with the apology and who opens his answering epistle with the following words:

Hermes, the patron of literature, was rightly considered of old to be a god common to all the priests and the one presiding over the genuine learning relating to the gods, one and the same among all. Hence, our predecessors were wont to ascribe to him their discoveries in wisdom and to name all their respective works Books of Hermes."

The priests referred to in these dialogues consisted of many orders, including the performers of rites, prophets (seers?), the learned professions, philosophers, poets, authors, physicians, master mechanics and so forth. In fact the Egyptian priesthood, like its Atlantean predecessor, embraced all forms of learning and was by no means limited to the performance of matters religious or magical.

It would be impossible to do justice to even a section of this work, so I shall endeavour to extract briefly some of those teachings that I feel to be most relevant to our enquiry Leaving aside the Hellenistic semantics, the information compares with that of the earliest recension of The Book of the Dead. There are descriptions of the gods, devas, spirits of the elements, heroes, and a host of other invisible forces that occupy the universal space between mankind and the Infinite, so often seen by orthodox religion in terms of a void or vacuum. Nor did they conceive of the human body containing the soul or spirit, but rather the other way round, which confirms the relationship between the spirit and the subtle, non-local force fields which surround and encase the physical body.

Egyptian astrology, we are told, was more of a philosophic than a predictive nature, although its overall affect on the evolution of the planet was fully understood and observed in rite and prayer. Nor were any of the planets considered to be malignant in the accepted astrological meaning of the word, one appropriate example being that a man suffering from scurvy who sits in the heat of the sun will increase his sufferings, but it is the scurvy (imbalance) in the man, and not the sun, that causes his discomfort. Likewise with Saturn, the Teacher; should we feel distressed by his influences, it is because we, like the slack pupil, have neglected to heed his lessons and therefore need to be brought firmly into line. It is also the nature of all things that until they attain to the Ultimate or Creative Centre, they are partial or incomplete as far as their evolutionary development is concerned and therefore need to undergo constant refining and change. As this process inevitably involves decomposition, the intelligences or energies involved therewith are frequently viewed as negative, which should not be since they are simply the servants of natural law, each doing its duty without fear or favour, and not the agents of some personalised evil force.

Our one connecting link with God, and the universe as a whole is, we are told, the mind. There exists within each individual the potential to reach forth and link with the universal consciousness and, through channels thus opened, draw upon the forces of life and light. How such energies are employed, however, will rest according to the soul-age (field bandwidth) of the seeker, and his or her basic intention, the objective behind their manipulation determining their 'colour'. In other words, this ancient philosophy, as outlined by the Egyptian priests, accords with much of what is known and understood concerning the ethics of magic generally.

Divination, channelling, and other such popularly accepted manifestations of the psi factor are also dealt with in this work. It seems the ancient Egyptians were none too happy about employing mediumship in their magical practices, however, being rather particular about whom they allowed to be channels for their god-forces. They were also well aware of the fact that there are just as many imposters in other dimensions as there are here on Earth, the chaotic factor manifesting throughout all wave-bands or frequencies short of the Ultimate or Creative Source.

Intelligences from the 'higher spheres', they tell us, are not given to producing phenomena; mirrors, crystals and other such psychic aids are, according to these ancient priesthoods, a constant source of error and deception. Emblems (symbols), however, are safe since they are often used as vehicles of divine power.

Perhaps those who complain that they do not obtain the answers they wish from psychic sources should take note of the comments made by Anebo when he was questioned by Porphyry regarding the oft-times unco-operative nature of the oracles. It is sometimes necessary for us to live our lives for ourselves and refrain from leaning too heavily on external sources who, after all, have other things to do as well as acting the parent to our spiritual immaturity Should the gods in their wisdom see fit to deny us access to outer time, then it is usually because of some decision made by our own free will or psyche, prior to entering our body.

A clear line of demarcation is effected between what the Egyptian priest refers to as 'other parts of the soul' such as the 'higher self', and those who guard, guide or watch over us. Too many people seem only too happy to ascribe all forms of inspiration to some exalted aspect of their own spiritual or psychological economy, so care should be taken to identify these differences and observe them.

Sacred rites are dealt with in some detail and Porphyry, who was obviously not impressed by a surfeit of occult paraphernalia, questions Anebo as to why all that kind of thing was essential. Surely, he postulates, if the gods are what they claim to be, they do not need to disturb water in bowls, project bizarre objects onto magical mirrors, or appear as insubstantial phantasms guaranteed to frighten the life out of the average person.

Of course, the old Egyptian magi knew that the 'bumps in the night', or what they referred to as the 'instability of spectral figures' was not the real thing, and therefore took appropriate precautions to avoid it. Since physical phenomena of this kind usually manifest in the lower wavebands, this is effected by the simple action of speeding up the frequencies, as any occultist worthy of his or her salt knows.

Perhaps a quick reference to the hyle, psyche and pneuma of the trismegistic literature will serve to show us which level of spiritual comprehension is catered for by manifestations of the 'bumps in the night' variety! The Egyptians were also against ritually-induced overt states of ecstasy (or frenzy, as the case may be). While the necessity for some to imbibe the atmosphere of overt devotionalism was accepted, any outward display or resulting abreaction was considered purely in the therapeutic context and not truly relevant to magic proper in its `controlled' form. The validity of the Egyptian approach may be evidenced in modern studies of the clinical and psychological effects of certain rites and psychic practices, which subject I have dealt with in some detail in my book The Psychology of Ritual.

Free will and how it operates is commented upon in the Porphyry-Anebo dialogues, as well as the fact that the choice of the earthly condition is effected by the soul itself, the divinity being without blame in the issue. After the choice has been made, the 'daimon' or guardian angel is allotted. Our tendency to judge higher powers in terms of human emotion is faulty in the extreme. Earthly emotions do not necessarily bear any relationship to Cosmic Laws or the way things are in the universe beyond the confines of our early environs. Anebo was also generous in his comments concerning the power of healing, which he considered to be an individual gift and not attributable to powers transmitted via a medium from some guide or discarnate entity.

Blood sacrifices were not favoured at certain levels within the Egyptian priesthood, and those who followed the Inner Path conceived of the animal soul being able to ascend the evolutionary ladder within its own kind on other planets, if not on Earth. Therefore, in keeping with the shamans, they had no difficulty in accepting the idea of animal spirit communicators.

There is so much more one could relate from this interesting and enlightening book, but space is at a premium so this is as good a point as any to take our leave of these erudite scholars and priests, and hope that those who have found some'solace and wisdom in their teachings will see fit to pursue the matter further, and study the work in its entirety.

A word of warning - playing around with Egypto/Siriun energies such as those experiments involving abstract shape-shifting and multidimensional awareness and time travel can prove highly perilous to all but the advanced student, the dangers involved proving both physically and psychologically harmful.

What kind of harm, you may ask? Well, let us look at it this way: many of today's illnesses are blamed on the holes in the Earth's ozone layer caused by the misuse of chemicals and other destructive influences wrought against Gaia, resulting in corresponding breaks in her aura. This has allowed access to entities alien to our earth bodies, which our immune systems have not, so far, been programmed to deal with. Therefore, at the purely physical level, if you choose to go wandering about in outer time you may well bring back with you entities which, having attached themselves to your aura, will naturally seek an avenue of manifestation once submitted to the frequencies of matter. And what better one than your physical body, or that of someone near and dear to you? Science fiction? Hardly! One needs only to take a look around - the evidence is there already After all, Professor Fred Hoyle's panspermia carriers (believed to be comets) might not necessarily be selective in the passengers to whom they choose to offer a lift. It is now known that many diseases, as well as the chemicals in our bodies, are affected by such things as sunspots and lunations, so why not other parts of the universe? As to the mental hazards, aside from returning 'in one piece', the dangers of psychological fragmentation cannot be sufficiently emphasised. Of course, it could be argued that a combination of the limitations of the seeker's own 'field band-width' or soul-age plus the 'ring-pass-not' will prevent him or her from overstepping the mark which is as maybe in some cases, but not in all, as those involved in the healing arts will be only too well aware.

Endnotes:

1 G. R. S. Mead, Thrice Greatest Hermes, Vol.1, page 116.

2 Ibid.,page 117.

3 Ibid., pages 106-7.

4 Ibid., pages 3-4.

5 Ibid., page 5.

6 G. R. S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, page 139-40.

7 Mead, Thrice Greatest Hermes, Vol. l, page 110.

8 Mead, Op. cit., pages 111-12.

9 Mead, Op. cit., page 124.

10 Mead, Op. cit., pages 125-6.

11 Mead, Op. cit., page 140.

12 Mead, Op. cit., page 344.

13 Iamblichos, The Egyptian Mysteries, page 10.

14 Ibid., page 25.

NOTE: The source of this material is unknown. It was passed through e-mails from person to person with no original source on it. If anyone knows the source, please e-mail Dee777@aol.com

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