by John Van Auken
The gods of ancient Egypt are metaphors for key aspects of the origin and destiny of humanity. According to Edgar Cayce's discourses, the average citizen of ancient Egypt understood the hidden message better than we do today. Cayce further states that the characters and imagery in the Book of Revelation were also metaphors for hidden messages, and some disciples knew that and understood the Revelation better than we do today. Here are brief insights into the hidden meaning of several key Egyptian gods (part 1).
RA, the Sun
The Sun is the source and sustainer of life, penetrator of the darkness, warmer of the cold, nurturer of the seed deep in the soil. Its rays reach out through the darkness of space and night, and give warmth, light, and life to all they touch. This is Ra (originally pronounced, âœrayâ). Ra is the most high God. Out of the great "Ray" came countless little rays, known as the sons and daughters of Ra. They are godlings from the one God, created in its image and destined to fill all the cosmos with light and life.
HERMES, the Moon
As the rays or godlings went forth, some lost their connectedness to the great Ra. They moved too far into darkness. Their light dimmed. The darkness overcame them. Their faces turned away from the original light. All they saw were the shadows of life. They needed help. Some power needed to help them recall the original light, the original way, the original purpose. This was the power of the moon god Thoth, or Hermes in Greek. This power reflects the light to all things that have turned away from the direct light.
Hermes is most often depicted as a powerful god with an ibis head. The ibis is a bird who lives on the shore between the two worlds of the deep water and the land. The two worlds are emblems of the subconscious and conscious minds. The power to live between these two is seen as important to living the true life. Another little characteristic of the ibis is that it is one of the few birds that can eat the serpent. Again, an important metaphor for the developing godlings to recognize the need to control their lower, self-seeking urges if they are to reunite with the creator and the original purpose.The ancient Egyptian is not speaking of the form and function of the sun and moon in the third dimension. He is speaking of their meaning in dimensions of mind and spirit. In dimensions beyond the third, the sun and moon are emblems of deeper powers.
For the ancient Egyptian, light is consciousness - a knowing, understanding consciousness. Darkness is unconsciousness. Living in moonlight is semi-consciousness, or self-consciousness with no sense of oneness or connectedness with the source of light. This teaching is expanded by the hidden message behind the outward passage of the Sun. The rising sun represents the beginning: light dawned in the still, silent darkness - exactly as the sun rises in the morning. This dawning light penetrated the darkness and continued to its zenith, exactly as the sun rises through the morning to noon. Throughout this period all faces are turned toward the sun, receiving warmth, light, and life. The creator's power penetrates everything.
Then, something changes. The created, the godlings in Ra's image, move away from the creator in order to know themselves, find themselves. The earth and the created move toward dusk. Shadows begin to fall and lengthen. The created are left to themselves. Darkness falls. Through the night souls deal with their innermost urges, while danger nips at their heels, like a little serpent. In Egyptian lore this little serpent is Apep, who nips at the heels of Ra as he traverses the underworld of night and death, seeking the horizon of resurrection and rebirth. There are many temptations, many pitfalls. But, if the godlings hold in their hearts the lightness of hope, trust, and selflessness, then they will become light of heart and as a result they will glide above the serpents bite and find the new horizon. The sun will break through the night reclaiming all who are still looking, still believing. Throughout the dark night of the souls, the moon helps remind them of the continual existence of the true light. Despite the darkness, the sun has never moved. We have moved. If one looks at the moon and intuits the source of its light, then one knows the sun still exists, the creator still exists, and will look to the returning dawn.
Life Technology
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