Inner Knowledge and The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Dogma and myth are vehicles the religions use for bridging the vast gap between “inner knowledge” and the commoner’s comprehension. For example, the very ancient Egyptian religion used stories and rituals using “spells” to reveal this inner knowledge to both the living and newly deceased.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead – Connecting Inner Knowledge to Commoner Comprehension
by Arthur Telling
Inner Knowledge the Foundation of Religion
Inner knowledge, recognized by the discipline we call “Metaphysical Science,” is generally pertinent to past and present world religions, often couched in myths and stories for the untrained mind to better understand and grow a Church by promising easy access to happiness and eternal life. The Egyptians were no exception, with their 7000+-year-old religion documented in a compilation of texts called “The Book of the Dead.” Yet, unlike Judeo-Christians, inner knowledge was forefront and supportive of the rituals and dogmas embraced by the typical Egyptian worshipper.
Rituals thus served the deeper purpose of bringing this inner knowledge into the subject’s awareness. He progresses in learning to manipulate his inner world to better his physical reality and more easily transition to a less physical spirit world at death.
The Dead Cross into Spirit Using “Spells”
The Egyptians utilized “spells” recorded in The Book of the Dead for helping the living and newly departed recognize and manipulate the inner world. Likewise, the science of metaphysics sees our physical world and all worlds as symbolic images, sounds, and sensations for communicating and exploring the nature of all that exists—the symbols created by the mind and shared as a language, similarly as we create and share words.
A spell can somewhat be seen as a mini trance giving a person imprisoned in a world a vehicle for a smooth transition into the spirit world.
The Magical Power of “Spells”
For Egyptians, a spell had the magical power for building these bridges between worlds. And they held that speech and written words have the same magical power containing the full force of the spell, just as identifying something by name made it more real and gave the person power over it. This is because speech and written words are synonymous with action.
Spells were used for helping a living, or deceased person leave his body and negotiate safely through demonic worlds and protect him from harm. The following paragraph is the beginning part of a spell on the theme “Coming forth by day,” randomly chosen to show the typical flow and structure of spells:
“Homage to you, O ye lords of kas, ye lords of right and truth, infallible, who shall endure forever and shall exist through countless ages, grant that I may enter into your [presence]. Even I am pure and holy, and I have gotten power over the spells which are mine. Judgment hath been passed upon me in my glorified form. Therefore, deliver ye me from the crocodile in the place of the lords of right and truth. Grant ye unto me my mouth that I may speak in addition to that. May offerings be made unto me in your presence, for I know you and I know your names, and I know the great god’s name. Grant ye abundance of food for his nostrils.” — “Book of the Dead,” published 1895 by E. A. Wallis Budge.
Spells are loaded with terms the Egyptians would have been familiar with and interpreted as symbols. “Kas” was the order of the deities that the deceased would wish to find favor with. The “crocodile” is an emblem of the darkness of death which has been overcome, the spell instructing the newly departed that he appeals to the kas and the great god. The crocodile was sometimes a positive symbol of the life force and renewal and is a common symbol in the Book of the Dead.
The speaking of these spells as a person was leaving the body was for keeping his mind positive as he was put into a trance so that he more easily crosses and adjusts to the new world with confidence in his new, less physically substantive spiritual world.
The inner knowledge is the same regardless of era, culture, or civilization. We create our reality through thought and imagination. We can learn to identify and more easily cross between and function within the created worlds through verbal and written instruction from those with this higher understanding. The high priests of Egypt administered the spells for this purpose. Modern present-day sources for instruction are plentiful in the metaphysical discipline.
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About the Author
Arthur Telling has written numerous stories and articles on religion, philosophy, and metaphysics. His article, “A Different Jesus Message,” appeared in the Nov. 2011 AMORC Rosicrucian Digest. Telling is the author of nine books and a new story, “Cleopatra in Ixtlan,” on Amazon’s new Vella platform. Readers may read Telling’s published episodes as new episodes are being written. His website: www.arthurtelling.com and Facebook page “Philosophy for a Modern Era: www.facebook.com/philo30
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