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Ankh
Ankh
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"A translation of the name might be close to the following: Ankh is both a tool and a
symbol meaning 'new life.' eternal life The line af is always part of another word that
provides force strength. The word, na is generally used as a preposition, such as 'to,
for, belonging to, through, or for the reason that.' Khonsu was the adopted son of Amun
and Mut from the Theban triad. His name comes from a word meaning, 'to cross over' or
'wanderer' or 'he who traverses.' So, his entire name may be translated as 'the truth that
has crossed over.'
It says:
"...has left the multitudes and retorts those who are in the light, he has opened the
dwelling place of the stars; now then, the deceased, Ankh-af-na-khonsu has gone forth
by day in order to do everything that pleased him upon earth, among the living."
Nuit frames the curved top. She is the Goddess of the Night Sky.
Hadit, the winged solar disc, with the inscription, the great god, Lord of the sky.
Horus, the hawk-headed solar god, sits on his throne. The inscription reads, Ra-hoor-
khuit, chief of the gods.
Ankh-af-na-khonsu stands prior to Horus. His inscription reads, The deceased, priest
of Mentu, Lord of Thebes, the justified one for whom the doors of the sky are opened in
Karnack, Ankh-f-n-khonsu.
The Altar, which contains offerings, shows bread, beer, cattle and fowl.
The words spoken by the Osiris (i.e. the deceased), the priest of Monthu, Lord of
Thebes, the one who opens the doors of the sky in Karnack, the justified Ankh-f-n-
Khonsu
"O High One, may He be praised, the Great One of power, the spirit of great dignity,
who brings fear of himself to the gods, who shines forth upon his throne
Make open the way for my soul, my spirit, and my shadow, for I am equipped so that I
might shine forth as an equipped one, make open the way for me to the place where Ra,
Atum, Kheper, and Hathor are."
The deceased, priest of Monthu, Lord of Thebes, the justified Ankh-f-n-Khonsu, the son
of the man with the same titles, Bes-en-mut, and the son of the musician of Amun-Re,
the mistress of the house Taneshi."
The reverse side, which is covered with hieroglyphs, is the following prayer:
Words are spoken by the Osiris, priest of Monthu, Lord of Thebes, the justified Ankh-
ef-en-Khonsu.
"O my heart of my mother (two times), O my heart while I am upon earth, do not rise up
against meas my witness, do not oppose me in the tribunal, do not be hostile against
me in the presence of the Great God, Lord of the West.
Although I have joined myself to the earth in the great western side of the sky, may I
endure upon earth."
Words spoken by the Osiris, the priest of Thebes, the justified Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu
"O Unique One, who shines as the moon, may the deceased, Ankh-ef-en-Khonsu, go
forth among your multitide (this to the outside)O deliverer of those who are in the
sunshine, open for him the Netherworld (the Daat)indeed the Osiris, Ankh-ef-en-
Khonsu, shall go forth by day to do that which he wills upon the earth and among the
living."
TheSteleofAnkhefenKhonsui(alsoknownastheSteleofRevealing)isapainted,
woodenofferingstele,discoveredin1858atthemortuarytempleofHatshepsutatDayr
alBahribyFranoisAugusteFerdinandMariette.ItwasoriginallymadefortheMontu
priest AnkhefenKhonsu, and was discovered near his coffin ensemble of two
sarcophagiandtwoanthropomorphicinnercoffins.Itdatestocirca680/70BCE,the
periodofthelateDynasty25/earlyDynasty26.OriginallylocatedintheformerBulaq
Museumunderinventorynumber666,thestelewasmovedaround1902tothenewly
opened Egyptian Museum of Cairo where it remains today.
ThePhilosophyofThelema
Thelema draws its principal gods and goddesses from Ancient Egyptian religion.
The highest deity in the cosmology of Thelema is in fact a goddess, Nuit (see
left).
She is the night sky arched over the Earth symbolized in the form of a naked
woman.
She is conceived as the Great Mother, the ultimate source of all things.
The second principal deity of Thelema is the god Hadit (see right), conceived as
the infinitely small point within a circle, complement and consort of Nuit.
Hadit symbolizes manifestation, motion, and time.
He identifies himself as the point in the center of the circle, the axle of the
wheel, the cube in the circle, "the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in
the core of every star," and the worshiper's own inner self.
Hadit has been interpreted as the inner spirit of man, the Elixir Vitae.
When juxtaposed with Nuit in 'The Book of the Law', Hadit represents each
unique point-experience.
These point-experiences in aggregate comprise the sum of all possible
experience, Nuith.
Hadit, "the Great God, the lord of the sky," is depicted on the Stele of Revealing
in the form of the winged disk of the Sun, Horus of Behdet (also known as the
Behdeti).
However, while the ancient Egyptians treated the Sun and the other stars as
separate, Thelema connects the sun-god Hadit with every individual star.
His symbols are our Sun, the serpent, the Fire Snake, the star Sothis, the planet
Pluto, the Will, the winged globe and the hidden flame.
helema's theology posits that all manifested existence arises from the interaction of two
cosmic principles: the infinitely extended and omnipresent space-time and the atomic
Principles individually expressed from Life and Wisdom. The interaction of these two
gives rise to the principle of the consciousness that governs existence. In the book of
law, divine principles are embodied by a trinity of ancient Egyptian divinities: Nuit, the
goddess of infinite space; Hadit, the winged serpent of light; And Ra-Hoor-Khuit
(Horus), the Solar Lord, Hawk Head of the Cosmos.
The Theemic system uses the divinities of diverse cultures and religions as divine,
specific and archetypal personifications of the cosmic forces. The "Thelemic Doctrine"
holds that all the various religions of mankind are based on universal truths; And the
study of comparative religion is an important task for many thelemites.
With respect to the concepts of the individual soul, Thelema follows the traditional
hermeticism in the doctrine that each person possesses a soul or "Body of Light" that is
arranged in "layers" or "envelopes" that surround that physical body. Thelema considers
that each individual also has its own personal "Augoeides" or "Holy Guardian Angel";
Which can be considered both as the "higher self," and as an independent, sensitive,
divine being. With regard to the concepts of the other life, life itself is considered as an
ongoing process, with death as an integral part of the whole. The mortal life dies in
order that the mortal life may continue. The Augoeides, however, are immortal and not
subject to life or death.
According to Thelmica doctrine, the expression of the Divine Law in the Aeon of
Horus is "Do your will". This "Law of Thelema" should not be construed as a license to
indulge every passing whim, but as the divine mandate to discover one's True Will or
true purpose in life, and to achieve it; Let others do the same in their own way. The
"acceptance" of the Law of Thelema is what defines a thelemite; And the discovery and
realization of the True Will is the fundamental concern of all the Thelemites. Achieving
"Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel" is considered an integral
part of this process.
Aratos' term poikilos, applied to the Dog (constellaton), is equally appropriate to Sirius
now in the sense of many-colored or changeful, and is an admirable characterization, as
one realizes when watching this magnificent object coming up from the horizon on a
winter evening. Tennyson, who is always correct as well as poetical in his astronomical
allusions, says in The Princess:
this, of course, being largely due to its marked scintillation; and Arago gave Barakish
as an Arabic designation for Sirius, meaning Of a Thousand {Page 128} Colors; and
said that as many as thirty changes of hue in a second had been observed in it.
[Montigny's scintillometer has marked as many as seventy-eight changes in a second in
various white stars standing 30 above the horizon, though a somewhat less number in
those of other colors.]
Sirius was worshiped, too, as Sihor, the Nile Star, and, even more
commonly, as Sothi and Sothis, its popular Graeco-Egyptian name,
the Brightly Radiating One, the Fair Star of the Waters; but in
the vernacular was Sept, Sepet, Sopet, and Sopdit; Sed,1
[According to Mueller, this Sed, or Shed, of the hieroglyphic
inscriptions appeared in Hebrew as El Shaddar.] and Sot, the Seph
of Vettius Valens. El Shaddai, I am God all-sufficient; from shadah, to
shed, to pour out. I am that God who pours out blessings, who gives
them richly, abundantly, continually.