Post by Mysti on Jul 6, 2007 7:03:02 GMT -5
About the Rites
ach of the eight rites presented here is designed for a small
group working in a domestic environment. The rites therefore
do not require a great deal of space or any special
equipment which is not readily available. Each rite is designed for
four people: ideally, a priest and priestess, another man, and another
woman. (The part of the First Participant is written for a man, and
that of the Second Participant for a woman, but in some of the rites,
this gender distinction is not important.) With a few changes, they
could be adapted for two or three people.
In each rite, a god and goddess are invoked, in some cases the
emphasis being on the male, and in some cases on the female. The
Priest and Priestess roles are intended for those participants who
wish to assume the godforms of those deities being invoked. In
some rites, the other participants also have an opportunity to assume
godforms.
The ancient Egyptians would not have performed their rites
inside a magic circle, but modern Pagans who are used to working in
a circle may feel uneasy about working without. A circle may be cast
formally by drawing a line around the working area with a wand, and
visualizing the line as a barrier of light to keep out unwanted psychic
influences. This line is actually the circumference of a complete
sphere enclosing the participants and all their ritual equipment, and
should be visualized as such.
Pagans who are accustomed to working within a consecrated circle
may cast the circle in the usual way, but instead of summoning the
traditional Elemental Kings to guard the quarters, it is advisable to call
on the Four Sons of Horus, who are the Egyptian equivalent. There is
no consensus as to which of these deities corresponds to which element,
or to which quarter each should be assigned, but we have found
the following arrangement to be successful: Qebhsennuf (pronounced
'Kebsnoof'), the falcon, in the east, representing air; Duamutef, the
jackal, in the south, representing fire; Imsety, the man, in the west,
representing water; and Hapi (pronounced 'Haahpi'), the baboon or
dog-faced ape, in the north, representing earth. They should be visualized
with human mummiform bodies and the heads of the relevant
creatures. (Sometimes, Duamutef and Imsety were regarded as female.)
They should not be summoned and banished in the masterful way ~ .
that one usually addresses elementals, because the Sons of Horus are
demigods and deserve more respect; if you ask them politely to come
and guard the circle and witness the rites, and then thank them and
say goodbye at the end, they will behave in a dignified way and will
not play pranks, as some elementals are reputed to do. The Egyptian
priesthood did not cast a circle for religious rites, but they were working
inside consecrated temples; so you should do whatever you feel is
appropriate in your circumstances.
All the rites here open with the same two prayers - one for lighting
the candles and one for lighting the incense. The candle prayer,
which is a spell from the Book of the Dead for kindling a torch in the
underworld, identifies the flame with the shining Eye of Horus
which banishes spiritual darkness as well as physical darkness. This is
an act of psychic protection, ensuring that only benign entities will
attend the proceedings. The two sisters of Ra, referred to in this
prayer, are Isis and Nephthys, the sisters of Osiris, who is sometimes
identified with Ra.
The censing prayer, which is spoken as the incense is lit, is the only
text to which we have made significant alterations. The original form
was written in the first person singular: 'Your perfume comes to me ...
May my perfume come to you...' and so on. This has been altered to
take into account that four people are present, changing'!' to 'we', 'me'
to 'us' and 'my' to 'our', but is not indicated in the text itselfby marking
the substituted words with the customary square brackets, because ten
pairs of square brackets in one prayer would be very distracting to the
reader. For the original version of the prayer, please see Utterance 269
in The Andent Egyptian Pyramid Texts, translation by RO Faulkner (Aris
0&, and Phillips). Alterations of this nature in other texts have been
indicated with square brackets around the substituted wording, and
in places where we have omitted words, this is indicated with ellipses
(...). The words in italics between speeches aJ;e instructions, not to
be spoken.
In each rite, a place is allowed for ~editation after the invocations
are complete. The. participants should sit quietly, with eyes closed, and
try to allow their minds to be free of mundane thoughts. Ideas and
images stimulated by the invocations should then begin to arise in
the tranquil mind. It is at this point that the neteru themselves may
communicate, appearing as a vision in the mind's eye or speaking to
the mind's ear. If you have never tried this before, do not be discouraged
if nothing very striking happens on the first few occasions. At
first, one may experience only fleeting impressions, but with practice
this will improve. One may be inclined to think, is this not just
imagination? Yes, it is imagination, but the magician knows that
imagination is a very powerful faculty. In an altered state of
consciousness induced by ritual, the unconscious mind becomes
accessible, intuition and even psychic faculties may be awakened, and
the gods themselves may communicate by means of symbols in the
unconscious. Some people think that the neteru are no more than the
archetypes of the collective unconscious. Certainly they manifest by
means of the archetypes, but it may well be that there really is a
Divine Being behind these manifestations, so any messages or visions
received should not be dismissed as mere idle daydreams.
When performing the rites, it is helpful to have a sistrum (plural,
sistra). This is an ancient musical instrument sacred to the goddesses
Hathor and Isis, and consists of a number of metal discs strung on
wires across a ttame supported on a long handle. When it is shaken; it
makes a jangling, tinkling or clattering noise which was thought to
'. banish evil spirits and honour the gods. Sistra are quite rare, but are
.,.,. obtainable ttom some occult outlets. A tambourine, maracas, a rattle,
or even some small objects shaken inside a tin, would produce a similar
sound, so you could use these instead if you do not have a sistrum.
The Book of Egyptan Ritual Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon
ach of the eight rites presented here is designed for a small
group working in a domestic environment. The rites therefore
do not require a great deal of space or any special
equipment which is not readily available. Each rite is designed for
four people: ideally, a priest and priestess, another man, and another
woman. (The part of the First Participant is written for a man, and
that of the Second Participant for a woman, but in some of the rites,
this gender distinction is not important.) With a few changes, they
could be adapted for two or three people.
In each rite, a god and goddess are invoked, in some cases the
emphasis being on the male, and in some cases on the female. The
Priest and Priestess roles are intended for those participants who
wish to assume the godforms of those deities being invoked. In
some rites, the other participants also have an opportunity to assume
godforms.
The ancient Egyptians would not have performed their rites
inside a magic circle, but modern Pagans who are used to working in
a circle may feel uneasy about working without. A circle may be cast
formally by drawing a line around the working area with a wand, and
visualizing the line as a barrier of light to keep out unwanted psychic
influences. This line is actually the circumference of a complete
sphere enclosing the participants and all their ritual equipment, and
should be visualized as such.
Pagans who are accustomed to working within a consecrated circle
may cast the circle in the usual way, but instead of summoning the
traditional Elemental Kings to guard the quarters, it is advisable to call
on the Four Sons of Horus, who are the Egyptian equivalent. There is
no consensus as to which of these deities corresponds to which element,
or to which quarter each should be assigned, but we have found
the following arrangement to be successful: Qebhsennuf (pronounced
'Kebsnoof'), the falcon, in the east, representing air; Duamutef, the
jackal, in the south, representing fire; Imsety, the man, in the west,
representing water; and Hapi (pronounced 'Haahpi'), the baboon or
dog-faced ape, in the north, representing earth. They should be visualized
with human mummiform bodies and the heads of the relevant
creatures. (Sometimes, Duamutef and Imsety were regarded as female.)
They should not be summoned and banished in the masterful way ~ .
that one usually addresses elementals, because the Sons of Horus are
demigods and deserve more respect; if you ask them politely to come
and guard the circle and witness the rites, and then thank them and
say goodbye at the end, they will behave in a dignified way and will
not play pranks, as some elementals are reputed to do. The Egyptian
priesthood did not cast a circle for religious rites, but they were working
inside consecrated temples; so you should do whatever you feel is
appropriate in your circumstances.
All the rites here open with the same two prayers - one for lighting
the candles and one for lighting the incense. The candle prayer,
which is a spell from the Book of the Dead for kindling a torch in the
underworld, identifies the flame with the shining Eye of Horus
which banishes spiritual darkness as well as physical darkness. This is
an act of psychic protection, ensuring that only benign entities will
attend the proceedings. The two sisters of Ra, referred to in this
prayer, are Isis and Nephthys, the sisters of Osiris, who is sometimes
identified with Ra.
The censing prayer, which is spoken as the incense is lit, is the only
text to which we have made significant alterations. The original form
was written in the first person singular: 'Your perfume comes to me ...
May my perfume come to you...' and so on. This has been altered to
take into account that four people are present, changing'!' to 'we', 'me'
to 'us' and 'my' to 'our', but is not indicated in the text itselfby marking
the substituted words with the customary square brackets, because ten
pairs of square brackets in one prayer would be very distracting to the
reader. For the original version of the prayer, please see Utterance 269
in The Andent Egyptian Pyramid Texts, translation by RO Faulkner (Aris
0&, and Phillips). Alterations of this nature in other texts have been
indicated with square brackets around the substituted wording, and
in places where we have omitted words, this is indicated with ellipses
(...). The words in italics between speeches aJ;e instructions, not to
be spoken.
In each rite, a place is allowed for ~editation after the invocations
are complete. The. participants should sit quietly, with eyes closed, and
try to allow their minds to be free of mundane thoughts. Ideas and
images stimulated by the invocations should then begin to arise in
the tranquil mind. It is at this point that the neteru themselves may
communicate, appearing as a vision in the mind's eye or speaking to
the mind's ear. If you have never tried this before, do not be discouraged
if nothing very striking happens on the first few occasions. At
first, one may experience only fleeting impressions, but with practice
this will improve. One may be inclined to think, is this not just
imagination? Yes, it is imagination, but the magician knows that
imagination is a very powerful faculty. In an altered state of
consciousness induced by ritual, the unconscious mind becomes
accessible, intuition and even psychic faculties may be awakened, and
the gods themselves may communicate by means of symbols in the
unconscious. Some people think that the neteru are no more than the
archetypes of the collective unconscious. Certainly they manifest by
means of the archetypes, but it may well be that there really is a
Divine Being behind these manifestations, so any messages or visions
received should not be dismissed as mere idle daydreams.
When performing the rites, it is helpful to have a sistrum (plural,
sistra). This is an ancient musical instrument sacred to the goddesses
Hathor and Isis, and consists of a number of metal discs strung on
wires across a ttame supported on a long handle. When it is shaken; it
makes a jangling, tinkling or clattering noise which was thought to
'. banish evil spirits and honour the gods. Sistra are quite rare, but are
.,.,. obtainable ttom some occult outlets. A tambourine, maracas, a rattle,
or even some small objects shaken inside a tin, would produce a similar
sound, so you could use these instead if you do not have a sistrum.
The Book of Egyptan Ritual Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon