Tag Archives: Thoth
Practical Gnosis – Hermeticism
We realize from our study of and, more importantly, our encounter with the figure of Hermes Trismegistus that the most difficult task we have as moderns who wish to pursue a spiritual path is that we cannot simply learn new information and fit it into our pre-existing World View, but we must learn a new World View, a new framework in which to fit the Hermetic knowledge. We are handicapped at every turn by the preconceptions we share of Reality, which are part of the Modern World View. The emphasis on the historical truth of Hermeticism, rather than its spiritual truth is but one trap. The attraction to endlessly “study” the area without actually engaging with the material or practicing the Hermetic arts is another. We do not follow this path because we wish to write a thesis or out of idle or abstract interest. Hermeticism is a means to an end and that end is union with the Divine.
So what is the method? Our first step is to learn and actually practice one or more of the Hermetic arts of astrology, magic and alchemy. At the same time we should study and meditate on the Hermetic philosophy that underlies these arts. We must constantly oscillate between theory and practice.
Practice without theory leaves us blindly following our sources and our limited experience. Practice alone also tempts us to focus on the results of our work, often material, leading us astray with the prospect of wealth, influence and power from our ultimate goal.
Theory without practice is essentially an endless series of mental games. By actually working with the Hermetic arts and obtaining results we can assure ourselves of the efficacy and correspondence to Reality of these arts and the philosophy that underlies them.
In choosing to follow the traditional methods of practicing astrology, magic and alchemy, that is those methods used before 1700, we can do our best to avoid the simplifications typical of “New Age” spirituality and the distortions induced by the Modern World View. We do not accept the traditional Hermetic teachings merely because they are ancient, but because they are true.
As interesting and useful as it is to predict the future with astrology, to summon spirits with magic and to create the philosopher’s stone with alchemy, we find the true value in these arts is the transmutation that their successful mastery causes in our World View. This is not to say that these are purely psychological changes. No, astrology, magic and alchemy most assuredly do work and do causes changes of both a material and spiritual nature. Rather, by observing these changes and recognizing our ability to cause these results, we can know, by experience and for ourselves, that materialism and atheism are false and that the title of agnostic, literally one without knowledge, i.e. the ignorant, is properly bestowed on most moderns.
After having learned this knowledge intellectually, a slow process of assimilation takes place and we begin to internalize and to embody this knowledge. If astrology, magic and alchemy work, it can only be because the Cosmos is indeed one great unified Being bound together by myriad chains of spiritual sympathy and interconnection. Once we truly know this, once we have actually experienced the reality of this, then we have truly begun the process of Hermetic gnosis.
Source: Sacred Texts
The Legendary Emerald Tablet | Ancient Origins
The origins of Western alchemy can be traced back to Hellenistic Egypt, in particular to the city of Alexandria.
The OCCULTED HISTORY of AKHENATEN and SECRET MYSTERY SCHOOL TEACHINGS of the ROSICRUCIAN ORDER
ABYDOS, EGYPT – Inside the temple of Seti I, a list of the names of seventy-six kings of Ancient Egypt are found on a wall. This list omits the names of many earlier pharaohs, that Egyptologists will tell us were considered illegitimate — such as Hatshepsut, Tutankhamen, and the highly controversial Pharaoh Amenhotep IV who was later in his life changed his name to AKHENATEN.
Akhenaten is venerated by the ANCIENT and MYSTICAL ORDER ROSAE CRUCIS (AMORC)…
Harvey Spencer Lewis is the noted Rosicrucian AUTHOR, OCCULTIST, and MYSTIC, who established the order in the USA and served as the first Imperator of AMORC, from 1915 until 1939.
One of the SECRET doctrines maintained by the Rosicrucians, teaches that when H. Spencer Lewis was initiated in France, he was given the PROPHECY that he was the REINCARNATED SOUL of AKHENATEN and that it was HE who was to go to “THE LAND WHERE THE EAGLE SPREADS IT’S WINGS” aka AMERICA and establish the Rosicrucian Order, A.M.O.R.C. which was first founded in Florida but later relocated to San Jose, CA where you’ll now find the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and park.
Inside the Park you’ll notice a Sphinx…
If one looks close at the sphinx at the Rosicrucian Park, they will notice the FACE OF A MODERN MAN unlike the face of the Sphinx that sits by the Giza Pyramids of Egypt, in which when you examine closely appears to be a SUBSAHARAN WOMAN’S FACE. The indigenous oral tradition of Khemit (Egypt) tells us it is the face of the AFRICAN QUEEN, TEFNUT.
To the un-initiated eye the Sphinx at Rosicrucian Park in San Jose, with it’s modern man’s facial features may appear a bit awkward but adepts know this is the face of AMORC’s first imperator H. Spencer Lewis on the body of the sphinx – the reincarnated Akhenaten. The Rosicrucian Imperators are supposed to manifest Akhenaten.
Prior to their very first initiation ritual, Rosicrucians are given the story of the light, where they are taught about Akhenaten being one of the sparks of light in our history. He was indeed a revolutionary figure and even sparked an art revolution in Egypt. Akhenaten was an early proponent of monotheism, teaching that the pantheon of Egyptian Gods (or Neters) were not Gods, but instead represented principles or aspects of one universal source.
Akhenaten is considered to be the first GRAND MASTER of the Rosicrucian Order but it taught that it was his GREAT GRAND FATHER, Thutmose III, (whom Egyptologists accept as a Great King/Warrior and expansionist of empires as evidenced by the war campaigns found on the walls at Karnak) that is at the root of the Mystery School traditions. This is NOT KNOWN IN EGYPTOLOGY but kept hidden in occult circles and taught to Rosicrucians that later in his life, Thutmose III gave up warfare and had a SPIRITUAL REFORMATION. It was his teachings that became the foundation and degrees that lead to the Rosicrucian order.
He’s considered the FOUNDER of the Rosicrucian order.
His cartouche is called Menkheperre or rather Men Kheper Ra which is the symbol of the Rosicrucian order.
So mote it be and Peace Profound,
the wisdom is passed down …
Could it be that #Akhenaten learned from and carried on tradition established by Great Grand Father Thutmosis III ?
The Emerald Tablet (Tabula Smaragdina)
1) It is true without untruth, certain and most true:
2) that which is below is like that which is on high, and that which is on high is like that
which is below; by these things are made the miracles of one thing.
3) And as all things are, and come from One, by the mediation of One, So all things are born
from this unique thing by adaption.
4) The Sun is the father and the Moon the mother.
5) The wind carries it in its stomach. The earth is its nourisher and its receptacle.
6 The Father of all the Theleme of the universal world is here. Its force, or power, remains entire,
7) You separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, gently with great industry.
8) It climbs from the earth and descends from the sky, and receives the force of things
superior and things inferior.
9) You will have by this way, the glory of the world and all obscurity will flee from you.
10) It is the power strong with all power, for it will defeat every subtle thing and penetrate
every solid thing
11) In this way the world was created.
12) From it are born wonderful adaptations, of which the way here is given.
13) That is why I have been called Hermes Tristmegistus, having the three parts of the
universal philosophy.
14) This, that I have called the solar Work, is complete.
Thoth Hermes Trismegistus and his Ancient School of Mysteries
Thoth Hermes Trismegistus is portrayed by the Egyptians as the moon god with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. His symbol was the winged serpent staff. He was the god of wisdom, letters, and time. But he was not only known to the Egyptians. To the Sumerians he was Ningizzida; he may have been Enoch to the Jews, Odin to the Scandinavians, Wotan to the Teutons, and some even suggest Buddha.
Thoth Hermes Trismegistus is portrayed by the Egyptians as the moon god with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. His symbol was the winged serpent staff. He was the god of wisdom, letters, and time. But he was not only known to the Egyptians. To the Sumerians he was Ningizzida; he may have been Enoch to the Jews, Odin to the Scandinavians, Wotan to the Teutons, and some even suggest Buddha.
Before he was revered as a god, he was the first great Egyptian philosopher and founder of the Ancient Mystery Schools, receiving his wisdom while in meditative trances, writing over 40 books including (allegedly) the Emerald Tablet, The Book of Thoth and The Divine Pymander, with the Book of Thoth only being given to his enlightened initiates of the Mysteries.
A reconstruction of what the Emerald Tablet is believed to have looked like by the International Alchemy Guild. (Image source).
The topics he covered ranged from medicine, chemistry, law, art, music, rhetoric, magic, philosophy, geography, mathematics, anatomy, and oratory. To the Egyptians, his knowledge was so vast and all-encompassing that they first began to credit him as the communicator with the gods, eventually inducting him into the Egyptian pantheon.
Whether or not one agrees his is the hand that penned the books attributed to him, a quick perusal or in-depth study resounds in most readers, due to the similarity with Buddhism and Christianity. Perhaps the clearest examples are his teachings on reincarnation and the creation of the world.
Thoth, the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, depicted with the body of a man, head of an ibis, and a crescent moon over his head. (Vladimiraz / Dreamstime.com)
Nothing is for certain about the Book of Thoth other than the fact that it was written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics. It was kept in a golden box in the inner sanctuary of the temple and only the highest initiate of the Hermetic Arcanum Mystery School had the key to it. It is said the book described the Key to Immortality, the process achieved through awakening certain areas of the brain, similar to the Buddhist monks’ practices. Gardner and other authors claimed the awakening of the brain was achieved through meditation, the use of a white powder, and the priestesses’ sacred essence.
The most powerful of the Mystery Schools was known as the Royal School of the Master Craftsmen at Karnak, founded by Pharaoh Thuthmosis III, though as with all the Mystery Schools, it is commonly believed that the true founders resided in Sumeria, emigrating to Egypt, which ties in to Sitchin’s claims that Enki and his sons (including Ningizzida) had Magan (Egypt) as their domain.
This school was also known as the Great White Brotherhood due to the members choice of raiment (white robes) and their dedication to producing the white powder known to the Mesopotamians as Shem-an-na, the High-Ward Fire Stone, or ‘white bread’ to the Egyptians. Pictures of it show it being offered to the Pharaohs, in the shape of a cone.
Man holding the Shem-an-na, white powder (subtleenergies.com)
Petrie discovered on the top of Mount Sinai, an Egyptian Temple which contained a bewildering discovery: laying some inches deep beneath heavy flagstones in a storeroom was a considerable supply of the finest pure white, unadulterated powder. Copper smelting and animal sacrifice were quickly ruled out.
Some of the mysterious powder was taken back to Britain for analysis and examination, but no results were ever published. The rest was left open to the elements after 3000 years to become a victim of the desert winds. What has become apparent, however, is that this powder was seemingly identical to the ancient Mesopotamian fire-stone or shem-an-na – the substance that was made into bread-cakes and used to feed the Babylonian kings and the pharaohs of Egypt. This, of course, explains the temple inscriptions denoting the importance of bread and light, while the white powder (the shem-an-na) has been identified with the sacred manna that Aaron placed in the Ark of the Covenant.
Petrie discovered a large quantity of pure white powder in a temple on top of Mount Sinai. ‘Ascent of the lower ranges of Mount Sinai’. Coloured lithograph by Louis Haghe after David Roberts, 1849. (Wikimedia Commons)
Eventually the Mystery Schools went into decline as new Dynasties emerged. The initiates left Egypt and brought the Book of Thoth to another land. Where it is now, no one knows, though supposedly the chain of succession of Grand Master since Thoth, has remained unbroken. The Rosicrucians are said to be descended from his school while the Freemasons are descended from the school founded by Solomon.
As for Thoth? He has remained revered by philosophers, occultists, alchemists and healers through the ages, though many of the texts accredited to him were lost in the Great Fire of the Library of Alexandria. Who know how different history might have been had the knowledge contained in that library not been lost?
Hermes Trismegistus (Thoth). Floor inlay in the Cathedral of Siena Russian, 1480s (Wikimedia Commons)
Featured image: A figure of Thoth carved on the back of the throne of the seated statue of Rameses II. (Wikimedia Commons)
References:
Ancient Mystic Order of Noble Knowledge – AncientMonks.com. Available from: http://www.ancientmonks.com/
Genesis of The Grail Kings – Laurence Gardner. Available from: http://www.graal.co.uk/genesis_lecture_full_5.php
The Great White Brotherhood – Wes Penre. Available from: http://www.illuminati-news.com/great-white-brotherhood.htm
By Katrina Sisowath, Author of the Dragon Court series.
Read more: http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/thoth-hermes-trismegistus-and-his-ancient-school-mysteries-002676#ixzz3e5EkMudx
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