With a little time and patience, any neophyte can unravel all
the mysteries of the cosmos. Unfortunately, we neophytes are not given a
little time, we are given an infinitesimally small pittance in the wealth
of cosmic time. To overcome this limitation, we are also given the power
of intuitive perception. Intuitive perception gives birth to the concepts
of up and down, as the cosmos begins its journey into rationality. Who is
it that separates the mundane from the ideal? It is Shu. Not the name, the
object, the path of the planets and the sun and moon, the ecliptic. This
is how the wandering stars got to be above or below the great sea of the
galaxy. She, the galaxy, is the companion of the ecliptic by the name of
Tefnut, or Neith, from which all life springs like a fountain of youth.
Under the arms of Neith is the abyss of existence for which
definitions cease and are not yet reborn. But they can be brought back to
life by rational translation of intuitive perception, whether masculine or
feminine, for Neith has a chin beard. She is standing below the horizon,
which tells us that she is love and understanding.
Under the right arm of Shu is a vulture and an empty feather. Under his left arm is an eagle, or hawk, clutching a full feather. This is the definition of the works of Shu, the ecliptic. The ecliptic tells time and defines the rational understanding of the intuitive perception. It is rational behavior that gives birth to the ideal and mundane concepts embodied in up and down, Nut and Geb. Without a rational escort, the universe remains an abyss to the neophyte. This is the meaning of the scientific method. It is not discovery without purpose. Discovery is its self created purpose, for the sake of love and understanding.
Hidden behind the objects of these four heavenly spirits are the universal objectives which they give definition to, air, water, earth, fire. Shu, being rational, is the product of utterances, air. Neith, being intuitive, is the product of emotion, water. Geb, being mundane, is the product of material existence, earth. Nut, being ideal, is the product of inspiration, fire.
Beyond
the rationalizations of Shu and the sweep of the planets, a barque sails
across the sky. The sailors on the Barque are Ra, the captain, Maat, the
emissary, and Thoth, the helmsman. These four are the echo of cognition before
it is conceived; earth, fire, water, air. As the barque rises out of the
abysmal night, Thoth is slouched over the helm as if he is weathering a great
storm of wind and sea. Maat has upon her knee a small ankh which is a revelation
of the larger ankh on the knee of Ra. She gets the message. The skipper has
the goal of life! If only she could tell Thoth where the barque is going,
then Thoth would not be so burdened. But that is precisely why she is there.
She reads the mind of the Creator, and by intuitive perception, she comes
to know the destiny of the great cosmic ship.
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When
the barque crosses over the sky, represented by Nut, which is the object,
Virgo, and the subject of cosmic analysis, she gives the full feather to
Thoth. Thoth places her feather at the helm, and leans back with an ankh
and the scepter of flint on his knee. In his lap he has a stylus, for he
had learned by experience that the emissary of intuitive perception of the
Creator surrenders to truth, and he is her scribe.
Thoth is satisfied with his knowledge and wears his crown proudly. All three of the companions carry an ankh of nearly equal proportions, as they journey on to the net of Neith. But the creator, Ra, has been transformed by this adventure. His ankh is smaller because of his sharing. And his crown has changed. What was once a great light within the body of a simple serpent, has become the differentiated spirit of the solar disk within the acknowledged body of enlightenment. This is the scientific method, applied to every being within the disk which contains the sun. That disk is the body of Neith, it is the galaxy itself. The sun disc, its enlightenment, comes with experience, and the serpent is the intuition which can see with the "eye of Ra." Any being possessing the "eye of Ra" can see the future, for it is the gift of prophecy.
Since the gift of prophecy is tied into the gift of reason, we are all born of the Virgin. But, this is not a Freudian sexual fantasy, it is the pathway to reality. Of the six billion people alive on the planet Earth, and of all the uncountable forms of living organisms, not a single one came into this world with rational understanding. The archetype of rational understanding which is the process defined by Shu, and the ecliptic, is acquired when we give up our virginity to experience life as it was meant to be. This is a story of rational creation. A story found in the heavens between the flower in the fields of the upper heavens and the scepter of flint in the cauldron of the lower heavens. These are the Two Lands. Egypt was founded for the specific purpose of joining the Two Lands in the dreams of her people; indeed all the people of the Earth.
