TYPE 4
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ASTRAL HEAVENS
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ASTRAL HEAVEN(S)
Ancient Egypt had more than one heaven, and most of their heavens were
subdivided into sections or parts akin to, and probably best equated with the
astral plane.
As the astral plane has many different levels, the lowest next to the earthly
plane, and highest sections up to and pass most of earth's religions concept
of heaven, the astral plane is like a onion with the material world in the
center, and the layers going outward (or inward, or higher, or whatever). As
most religions heavens are manifested in the astral plane, they are also
separate from each other.
This is also true in Egyptian heavens of the astral plane. The Book of the
Dead (a misnomer as the Egyptians never called it that), lists the sections
of the Heaven of Osiris. As you read the book, you also see that there is a
specific way to get to the heaven and through it.
There is an ancient Egyptian writing from a scribe that says, in effect: "If
you don't use the specific directions to get to a particular heaven, you
won't get there but to a false heaven."
As most of us are aware, the astral plane is composed and made up of the
thoughtforms of mankind and of the gods, hence, there is an Egyptian heaven
that was formed by the thousands of people who have conceptualized it since
the beginning of the 1800's, made stronger through the Rosecrucians and
Blavatsky's, and into the modern metaphysical movement. But it is NOT the
ancient Egyptian heaven. Hence, you can't simply just astrally project in
order to get to a real Egyptian heaven.
You have to follow the directions by the ancient Egyptians in order to make
it to one of their specific heavens.
You may even have to change your astral form to conform to a certain type in
order to enter. For example, one of the ways to get to the Horus heaven is to
have project to the Nile, and do certain things in order for a boat with a
hawk on it to come over to the bank and pick you up to take you to the Horus
Heaven.
One of the things you have to do, and not the only thing, in order to get
into the Heaven of Isis is to change your astral body into the shape of a
bird, a Swallow!
So if someone, no matter how much you respect them, tells you that they
dreamed or astrally projected to astral Egypt, they are wrong, unless they
know the specific ways to do it. The Egyptians then, have a sort of astral
lock on the proverbial doors to the entrance of their heavens, and you can't
just blindingly end up there without the right keys to get there. I can
probably safely say that no more than a couple of dozen people in the last
century have been able to enter these heavens, and no one who has written a
book about Egyptian metaphysics has (including Eliz. Hatch who wrote
Initiation; who knows nothing about Ptahhotep).
The teachers are still pretty much in the Egyptian heavens, waiting to
teach the student who is able to get there.
Although the ancient Egyptians had the wherewithal to go into drug induced
states (they had mandrake and poppies for medicine), I have yet to find one
example of them using them for magic or astral projection.
Astral sight was taught before astral projection, using techniques that we
still use today.
Several techniques that are used today in astral projection today were also
used in astral projection then, but usually, a priest led the student in the
first several experiences in order for the student to get used to the
experience and feelings associated with projection to a particular heaven.
Therefore the guided trips were first used. Usually the first trips were done
in the temples (easier to do with all of the power already resident in the
temples). Some, like the priests of Horus were also done by the Nile's edge,
the student going into a sleep, the priest astrally projecting and drawing
the students astral body and consciousness out doing what is necessary for
the Horus boat to arrive on the astral Nile, then going on the trip through
the Horus heaven.
Sometimes it was done out in the desert.
When a teacher died, such as Imhotep, he went to the appropriate heaven and
taught from there (according to the ancient Egyptians, who said that at that
point their teachers on earth would astrally project to the heaven to be
taught by him). At that point, all priest/esses called him Master, or another
appropriate remark. Since apparently there was much connections between the
two worlds, the priest/esses knew when Imhotep finally left the astral heaven
to ascend beyond and into the world of the god/desses. At that point Imhotep
on earth was called a God (this process is found in a papyrus fragment
translated courtesy of the French Institute of Archeology of Cairo).
Hence, if you know when Imhotep or some other lived, and know that after
death he was called a master, then the earliest time that he, or she, started
being called a God was the time he moved out of the astral plane.
Some other traditions use the symbology of ladders as an analogy of the
ascent to their astral plane. Each rung represents a god or goddess to
invoke, the ladder is always held by two gods, which symbolize the type of
path being used. In some other traditions, there was a way to ascend through
the astral plane and into the spiritual realm, reserved for the higher
priests who have passed the Guardian of the Threshold. These traditions can
be found when you go to Egypt for in some of the temples the staircase to the
roof will have a god/dess for each step, symbolizing those that you will need
to ascend to the spiritual plane.
Certain god/desses and spiritual beings can assist or deter you from your
astral trip.
THE HELPERS: Anubis is one of the best. Hathor is also great, for she
gives you magical power during your astral projection. The god Seb supplies
all a person needs to astrally travel in many places. The god Seb, Shu, the
goddesses Nut and Tefnut defend people during their journeys.
There was also the Souls of the West, Souls of the East; Lady of the Evening,
Calf of the Goddess (Morning Star), Souls of several different cities for
their special heavens; The Catcher of Gods, the Divine Being who Examines
Gods for Men, the God who Binds Gods.
THOSE THAT YOU WANT TO AVOID: The Unmentionable Terrible Serpent (with
Lovecraftian powers and would be great in his novels, like Chuthulu or Hastor
the Unspeakable, occasionally used in Black Magic, which apparently was very
uncommon in Egypt) I won't give you his name.
There is of course, Apep, Apophis, and a few specific to each of the
heavens, but are usually particular to the Osirian heaven (Reading the Book
of the Dead will give you a great idea about them).
A zoomorphic projection is when you astrally project then change your astral
body into a zoomorphic figure in order to get to specific Egyptian astral
heavens. An example is turning your astral body into a swallow to get to
Isis's heaven, or into a hawk to get to one of Horus's heavens.
Following the Eastern Tradition of the astral plane, the Egyptians have an
almost exact duplicate of the concept. Basically it says that there is a
plane of existence between the realm of the high gods and earth, called the
astral plane, which has layers like an onion.
The astral plane is made up of the mind stuff of heaven and earth dwellers
alike and is as real as both. To the Eastern people, all the heavens of all
the religions are there. To both Egyptian and Easterners, to get there you
astrally project or out of body experience.
Although the Egyptians had a more elaborate version.
The Egyptians, therefore, which had several religious traditions, of which
Isis plays in a couple) had several heavens. These were usually conceived of
in layers or parts, corresponding to the layers of the astral plane. In
Heliopolis there were 12 layers or planes to their heaven.
Each tradition had a different heaven and a different way of getting there.
The temples trained the people how to do it at home, at the temple, or
elsewhere.
Sometimes more than just the astral body took the trip, there was also a
spiritual body, the soul, the spirit and other forms.
According to ancient Egyptian practices, you can project your astral body,
soul, spirit, or spiritual body. However, there is no ritual to do all at
once, probably because it would kill the person.
Of course the sa is considered the spiritual power of a person and the
animating force of the body. As long as you have the sa and one of the three
(soul, spirit or spiritual body) you're body can still live during the
projections.
The Egyptians are the only ones that I am aware of (other than a very few
Native American tribes) that even project the spirit or the spiritual body or
the soul.
Altered state of consciousness was used in Egypt, usually by NOT using
drugs, although they did have mandrake, poppies and hemp (used in medicine as
an anaesthetic). What was taught differed by tradition, and what kind of
altered state differed also. For example: A scribe of Anubis: Does he want to
become a doctor/priest, a mummification priest, or a priest/guide to the
astral plane? If the latter, then he is taught the basics of the Egyptian
astral planes and how each one differs, and how each tradition of Egypt has a
different path to their own. He is taught how to astrally project, and then
his teacher will project and take him on a guided tour. Eventually he will
astrally project to the Anubis temple in the astral plane and receive higher
knowledge from their teachers. Eventually he will teach others to project,
and lead them on journeys. The form you take, the route you take, what you
see determines if you will get there, and if you don't know these things,
according to the Egyptians you will not reach the plane.
BLESSED BE.