(42) Through the mystic passageways and chambers of the Great Pyramid passed the illumined of antiquity. They entered its portals as men; they came forth as gods. It was the place of the "second birth," the "womb of the Mysteries," and wisdom dwelt in it as God dwells in the hearts of men. Somewhere in the depths of its recesses there resided an unknown being who was called "The Initiator," or "The Illustrious One," robed in blue and gold and bearing in his hand the sevenfold key of Eternity. This was the lion-faced hierophant, the Holy One, the Master of Masters, who never left the House of Wisdom and whom no man ever saw save he who had passed through the gates of preparation and purification. It was in these chambers that Plato--he of the broad brow---came face to face with the wisdom of the ages personified in the Master of the Hidden House.

(41) W. Marsham Adams calls the Great Pyramid "the House of the Hidden Places"; such indeed it was, for it represented the inner sanctuary of pre-Egyptian wisdom. By the Egyptians the Great Pyramid was associated with Hermes, the god of wisdom and letters and the Divine Illuminator worshiped through the planet Mercury. Relating Hermes to the Pyramid emphasizes anew the fact that it was in reality the supreme temple of the Invisible and Supreme Deity. The Great Pyramid was not a lighthouse, an observatory, or a tomb, but the first temple of the Mysteries, the first structure erected as a repository for those secret truths which are the certain foundation of all arts and sciences. It was the perfect emblem of the microcosm and the macrocosm and, according to the secret teachings, the tomb of Osiris, the black god of the Nile. Osiris represents a certain manifestation of solar energy, and therefore his house or tomb is emblematic of the universe within which he is entombed and upon the cross of which he is crucified.

(22) May it not have been that these demigods of a fabulous age who, Esdras-like, came out of the sea were Atlantean priests? All that primitive man remembered of the Atlanteans was the glory of their golden ornaments, the transcendency of their wisdom, and the sanctity of their symbols--the cross and the serpent. That they came in ships was soon forgotten, for untutored minds considered even boats as supernatural. Wherever the Atlanteans proselyted they erected pyramids and temples patterned after the great sanctuary in the City of the Golden Gates. Such is the origin of the pyramids of Egypt, Mexico, and Central America. The mounds in Normandy and Britain, as well as those of the American Indians, are remnants of a similar culture. In the midst of the Atlantean program of world colonization and conversion, the cataclysms which sank Atlantis began. The Initiate-Priests of the Sacred Feather who promised to come back to their missionary settlements never returned; and after the lapse of centuries tradition preserved only a fantastic account of gods who came from a place where the sea now is.

(18) Biblical scholars have contributed a number of most extraordinary conceptions regarding the Great Pyramid. This ancient edifice has been identified by them as Joseph's granary (despite its hopelessly inadequate capacity); as the tomb prepared for the unfortunate Pharaoh of the Exodus who could not be buried there because his body was never recovered from the Red Sea; and finally as a perpetual confirmation of the infallibility of the numerous prophecies contained in the Authorized Version!

(43) Who was the Master dwelling in the mighty Pyramid, the many rooms of which signified the worlds in space; the Master whom none might behold save those who had been "born again"? He alone fully knew the secret of the Pyramid, but he has departed the way of the wise and the house is empty. The hymns of praise no longer echo in muffled tones through the chambers; the neophyte no longer passes through the elements and wanders among the seven stars; the candidate no longer receives the "Word of Life" from the lips of the Eternal One. Nothing now remains that the eye of man can see but an empty shell--the outer symbol of an inner truth--and men call the House of God a tomb!

(37) old accepted the pyramid form as the ideal symbol of both the secret doctrine and those institutions established for its dissemination. Both pyramids and mounds are antitypes of the Holy Mountain, or High Place of God, which was believed to stand in the "midst" of the earth. John P. Lundy relates the Great Pyramid to the fabled Olympus, further assuming that its subterranean passages correspond to the tortuous byways of Hades.

(48) The Dying God shall rise again! The secret room in the House of the Hidden Places shall be rediscovered. The Pyramid again shall stand as the ideal emblem of solidarity, inspiration, aspiration, resurrection, and regeneration. As the passing sands of time bury civilization upon civilization beneath their weight, the Pyramid shall remain as the Visible covenant between Eternal Wisdom and the world. The time may yet come when the chants of the illumined shall be heard once more in its ancient passageways and the Master of the Hidden House shall await in the Silent Place for the coming of that man who, casting aside the fallacies of dogma and tenet, seeks simply Truth and will be satisfied with neither substitute nor counterfeit.

(612) 1730 Further, to say: Let this thy going, king N., be like the going of Horus to his father, Osiris, 1730 that he may be a spiritualized one thereby, that he may be a soul thereby, that he may be an honoured one thereby, that he may be a mighty one thereby. 1731 Thy spirit is behind thee -------------------------- 1731 ---------------- king N. 1732 Collect thy bones; take to thee thy limbs; 1732 shake off this earth (dust of the earth) from thy flesh; 1733 take to thee these thy four nm.t-jars [filled at the divine-lake in Ntr.w], 1733 (and) [the wind of the great Isis, together with (which) the great Isis dried (him)] like Horus. 1734 Raise thyself towards the eye of R`; and according to this thy name so will the gods do 1734 to Horus of the D.t, even to Horus-kn, 1734 to Horus ------------------------------------ 1734 ------------------------------------ 1735 Raise thyself up, be seated on thy firm throne; 1735 thy finger-nails scratch the castle (-door?). 1735 Thou travellest over the regions of Horus; thou travellest over the regions of Set. 1735 -------------------------------------

(303) 464 To say: Gods of the West, gods of the East, gods of the South, gods of the North- 464 these four pure reed-floats, which ye placed for Osiris, 464 for his ascension to heaven, 465 that he might ferry over to b.w, while his son Horus was at hand (at his fingers), 465 (whom) he reared and whom he caused to dawn as a great god in b.w, 465 place them for N. 466 Art thou Horus, son of Osiris? Art thou, O N., the god, the eldest, son of Hathor? 466 Art thou the seed of Geb? 467 Osiris has ordained that N. dawn as a second Horus. 467 Those four souls (spirits), who are in Heliopolis, have written it 467 in the register of the two Great Gods who are in b.w.

(478) 971 To say: Greetings to thee, Ladder of god; 971 greetings to thee, Ladder of Set. 971 Stand up Ladder of god; 971 stand up Ladder of Set; stand up Ladder of Horus 971 which was made for Osiris, that he may ascend upon it to heaven and do service of courtier to R`. 972 Thou art come in search of thy brother, Osiris, 972 after his brother Set had cast him on his side, 972 on yonder side of G.ti. 973 Horus comes, his lion-helmet on his head; his face he turns towards his father, Geb. 973 N. is thy son, N. is Horus. 974 Thou hast conceived N. as thou hast conceived the god, lord of the ladder, 974 to whom thou hast given the ladder of the god, to whom thou hast given the ladder of Set, 974 that N. may ascend to heaven on it and do service of courtier to R`. 975 Let also the ladder of god be given to N., let the ladder of Set be given to N. 975 that N. may ascend to heaven on it, and do service of courtier to R`, 975 just like gods who are gone to their kas. 976 The eye of Horus glowers (?) on the wing of Thot, 976 on the left side of the ladder of the god. 976 O men, a uraeus-serpent (goes) to heaven. N. is the eye of Horus. 976 After its foot has been stopped at every place where it was, N. goes as the eye of Horus goes. 977 Be pleased that N. come among you, ye his brothers, the gods; 977 rejoice at the approach of N., ye his brothers, the gods, 977 as Horus rejoiced at the approach of his eye, 977 after his eye was given (back) to him in the presence of his father, Geb. 978 Every spirit, every god, who shall oppose his arm to N., 978 when he ascends to heaven on the ladder of the god, 978 the earth shall not be hoed for him, the wdn.t-offering shall not be made for him, 978 he shall not ferry over to the evening meal in Heliopolis, 978 he shall not ferry over to the morning meal in Heliopolis. 979 He shall guard himself, he has obligated himself, (he) who will see, (he) who will hear, 979 that he (the deceased) ascends to heaven on the ladder of the god, 979 appearing like the uraeus-serpent which was on the forehead of Set. 980 Every spirit, every god who shall open his arms to N. (will be) on the ladder of the god. 980 United for N. are his bones, assembled for him are his limbs; 980 N. has sprung up to heaven on the fingers of the god, lord of the ladder.

(39) The twelve signs of the zodiac, like the Governors' of the lower worlds, are symbolized by the twelve lines of the four triangles--the faces of the Pyramid. In the midst of each face is one of the beasts of Ezekiel, and the structure as a whole becomes the Cherubim. The three main chambers of the Pyramid are related to the heart, the brain, and the generative system--the spiritual centers of the human constitution. The triangular form of the Pyramid also is similar to the posture assumed by the body during the ancient meditative exercises. The Mysteries taught that the divine energies from the gods descended upon the top of the Pyramid, which was likened to an inverted tree with its branches below and its roots at the apex. From this inverted tree the divine wisdom is disseminated by streaming down the diverging sides and radiating throughout the world.

(3) While his account is extremely colorful, it is apparent that the Father of History, for reasons which he doubtless considered sufficient, concocted a fraudulent story to conceal the true origin and purpose of the Great Pyramid. This is but one of several instances in his writings which would lead the thoughtful reader to suspect that Herodotus himself was an initiate of the Sacred Schools and consequently obligated to preserve inviolate the secrets of the ancient orders. The theory advanced by Herodotus and now generally accepted that the Pyramid was the tomb of the Pharaoh Cheops cannot be substantiated. In fact, Manetho, Eratosthenes, and Diodorus Siculus all differ from Herodotus--as well as from each other--regarding the name of the builder of this supreme edifice. The sepulchral vault, which, according to the Lepsius Law of pyramid construction, should have been finished at the same time as the monument or sooner, was never completed. There is no proof that the building was erected by the Egyptians, for the elaborate carvings with which the burial chambers of Egyptian royalty are almost invariably ornamented are entirely lacking and it embodies none of the elements of their architecture or decoration, such as inscriptions, images, cartouches, paintings, and other distinctive features associated with dynastic mortuary art. The only hieroglyphics to be found within the Pyramid are a few builders' marks sealed up in the chambers of construction, first opened by Howard Vyse. These apparently were painted upon the stones before they were set in position, for in a number of instances the marks were either inverted or disfigured by the operation of fitting the blocks together. While Egyptologists have attempted to identify the crude dabs of paint as cartouches of Cheops, it is almost inconceivable that this ambitious ruler would have permitted his royal name to suffer such indignities. As the most eminent authorities on the subject are still uncertain as to the true meaning of these crude markings, whatever proof they might be that the building was erected during the fourth dynasty is certainly offset by the sea shells at the base of the Pyramid which Mr. Gab advances as evidence that it was erected before the Deluge--a theory substantiated by the much-abused Arabian traditions. One Arabian historian declared that the Pyramid was built by the Egyptian sages as a refuge against the Flood, while another proclaimed it to have been the treasure house of the powerful antediluvian king Sheddad Ben Ad. A panel of hieroglyphs over the entrance, which the casual observer might consider to afford a solution of the mystery, unfortunately dates back no further than A.D. 1843, having been cut at that time by Dr. Lepsius as a tribute to the King of Prussia.

(10) 8 Horus lives, living apparition of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, N., 8 (of the land of) the two goddesses, living apparition, N., 8 (of the land of) the two lords (of Ombos), N., 8 Osiris, lord of the D.t, N., 8 the beloved son of Geb, N., 8 son of Nut, opener of her body (womb), N., 8 endowed with life, endurance, joy, health, like R`, eternally.

(372) 651 To say: O Osiris N., awake. 651 Horus has caused Thot to bring thine enemy to thee; 651 he has placed thee upon his back, so that he dare not resist thee. 651 Sit down upon him. 652 Mount; sit upon him, so that he may not escape thee. 652 Dismount, for thou art mightier than he; do thou evil to him. 653 Horus has loosed the hips (legs) of thine enemies; 653 Horus has brought them to thee, cut up. 653 Horus has chased their ka from them. 653 (So then) thou mayest be powerful by means of that which thy heart will do to them, in thy name of "Powerful over the sea" (as bull god).

(61) 7. The Great Pyramid was supreme among the temples of the Mysteries. In order to be true to its astronomical symbolism, it must have been constructed about 70,000 years ago. It was the tomb of Osiris, and was believed to have been built by the gods themselves, and the architect may have been the immortal Hermes. It is the monument of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, and the universal symbol of wisdom and letters.

(690) 2092 To say: Wake up, Osiris; let the weary god awake. 2092 The god stands up; the god is powerful over his body. 2093 Wake up, N.; let the weary god awake. 2093 The god stands up; the god is powerful over his body. 2094 Horus stands up; he clothes N. with linen--him who came forth from him. 2094 N. is equipped as a god, standing in the pr.wr-palace, sitting with the Two Enneads. 2095 "O N., stand up, come in peace," says R` to thee; "messenger of the great god, 2095 thou goest to heaven; thou goest forth through the doors of the horizon; 2096 Geb sends thee; thou art a soul like a [god, respected like a god]; 2096 [thou art powerful] over thy body, like a god, 2096 like Ba, chief of the living, 2096 like m, chief of spirits." 2097 N. comes; he is equipped like a god; his bones are assembled like [Osiris]; 2097 [he comes behind his uraeus]. 2097 Thou hast come, O N., out of Heliopolis; thou art avenged; thy heart is placed in thy body; 2098 Thy face is like that of a jackal; thy flesh is like that of Atum; 2098 thy b is in thy body; thy m is behind thee; Isis is before thee; Nephthys is behind thee. 2099 Thou journeyest through the regions of Horus; thou travelest through the regions of Set. 2099 It is Shu and Tefnut who lead thee, when thou ascendest from Heliopolis. 2100 O N., Horus has woven his tent over thy head; 2100 Set has stretched out thy canopy; 2100 be enclosed, O father, by the divine tent; thou art brought there in thy beloved places. 2101 O N., Horus comes to thee provided with his souls, 2101 pi, Dw-mw.t.f, 'Im.ti, b-n.w.f. 2102 a. They bring to thee thy name of "Imperishable"; 2102 thou perishest not; thou diest not. 2103 O N., thy sister b.wt has purified [thee] 2103 in Rd-wr chief of the lakes. 2103 Thou appearest to them like a jackal, like Horus chief of the living, 2103 like Geb chief of the Ennead, like Osiris chief of spirits. 2104. Thou commandest spirits; thou leadest the [imperishable stars]. 2105 The evil of Osiris--the evil of N.--the evil of the bull of the Two Enneads-- 2105 the god is loosed (from it), N. has power over his body. 2105 N. is loosed (from it); N. has power over his body. 2106 O N., Horus, is standing, he glorifies thee; 2106 he conducts thee, when thou ascendest to heaven. 2107 Thy mother Nut receives thee; she lays hold of thine arm, 2107 that thou mayest not be in need, that thou mayest not moan (like a cedar), 2107 (but) that thou mayest live like the coleoptera (lives) and endure in [Mendes]. 2108 O N., thou art adorned like a god; thy face is like (that of) a jackal, as Osiris, 2108 that soul in Ndi.t, that mighty one in the great city. 2109. The sky trembles, the earth quakes before the god, before N. 2110 N. [is not enveloped] by the earth; 2110 'I.t-wt.t, thou art not enveloped by the earth. 2110 Thy fame is by day; thy fear is by night, as a god, lord of f ear. 2110 Thou commandest the gods like the mighty one, chief of the mighty. 2111. [O] Osiris, the overflow comes, the inundation hastens, Geb groans. 2112 I have pitied thee with pity; I have smitten him who acted with evil (intent) against thee; 2112 that thou mayest live, that thou mayest raise thyself up because of thy strength. 2113. O N., [the inundation comes 1, [the overflow hastens], Geb [groans]. 2114 Exult in the divine efflux which is in thee; let thy heart live; 214 thy divine limbs are in good condition; loosen thy bindings. 2115 Horus comes to thee, N.; he does for thee that which he did for his father Osiris, 2115 that thou mayest live like unto the life of those in heaven, and [that thou mayest come into being] more (truly) than those who are on earth. 2116 Raise thyself up because of thy strength; ascend thou to heaven. 2116 The sky bears thee like 3; thou hast power over thy body; 2116 thou defendest thyself against thine enemy. 2117. [O N.] [I have wept for thee], I have mourned for thee; 2118 I shall not forget thee; my heart will not weary to give thee offerings every day, 2118 at the (feast of the) month, at the (feast of the) half month, at the (feast of) covering the fire-pan, at the (feast of) Thot, at the wgfeast, 2118 at the (feast of) slaughtering, (at) the (feast of) thy years, (at) (the feast of) thy birth, at the beginnings of thy months, during which thou livest as a god. 2119. O N., may thy body be clothed, that thou mayest come to me. 58. TEXTS OF MISCELLANEOUS CONTENTS,

(240) 244 To say: The uraeus-serpent belongs to heaven; the centipede of Horus, belongs in the earth. 244 Horus was an ox-herd when he trod on (things). N. treads upon the walk (gliding-place) of Horus, 244 while N. knows not him who is not known. 245 A face is, upon thee, thou who art in his (thy) nw.t-bush; mayest thou be lain on thy back, thou who art in his (thy) hole. 245 Meat-cooker of Horus, escape into the earth. O let the beast, O desert, glide away.

(45) In the King's Chamber was enacted the drama of the "second death." Here the candidate, after being crucified upon the cross of the solstices and the equinoxes, was buried in the great coffer. There is a profound mystery to the atmosphere and temperature of the King's Chamber: it is of a peculiar deathlike cold which cuts to the marrow of the bone. This room was a doorway between the material world and the transcendental spheres of Nature. While his body lay in the coffer, the soul of the neophyte soared as a human-headed hawk through the celestial realms, there to discover first hand the eternity of Life, Light, and Truth, as well as the illusion of Death, Darkness, and Sin. Thus in one sense the Great Pyramid may be likened to a gate through which the ancient priests permitted a few to pass toward the attainment of individual completion. It is also to be noted incidentally that if the coffer in the King's Chamber be struck, the sound emitted has no counterpart in any known musical scale. This tonal value may have formed part of that combination of circumstances which rendered the King's Chamber an ideal setting for the conferment of the highest degree of the Mysteries.

(220) 194 The two doors of the horizon are open; its bolts slide. I 94 He has come to thee, N.t (Crown of Lower Egypt); he has come to thee, Nsr.t (Uraeus); 194 he has, come to thee, Great One; he has come to thee, Great-inmagic (Crown of Lower Egypt). 194 He is pure for thee; he is in awe of thee. 195 Mayest thou be satisfied with him; mayest thou be satisfied with his purity; 195 mayest thou be satisfied with his word, which he speaks to thee: 195 "How beautiful is thy face, when it is peaceful, new, young, for a god, father of the gods, has begotten thee!" 195 He has come to thee, Great-in-magic (Crown of Lower Egypt). 195 It is Horus, who has fought in protection of his eye, Great-inmagic.

(53) "Plato writes that it is needful for the philosopher to know how the seven circles beneath the first one are arranged according to the Egyptians. The first triad of fire denotes life; the second, water, over which rule the Ibimorphous divinities; and the third, air, ruled by Nephta. From the fire the heavens were created, from the water the earth, and air was the mediator between them. In the Sephira Yetzirah it is said that from the three originate the seven, i. e., the height, the depth, the East, the West, the North, and the South, and the Holy Temple in the center sustaining them all. Is not the Holy Temple in the center the great throne of the many-formed Spirit of Nature which is shown in the middle of the Tablet? What are the seven triads but the seven Powers that rule over the world? Psellus writes: 'The Egyptians worshipped the triad of faith, truth, and love; and the seven fountains: the Sun as ruler--the fountain of matter; then the fountain of the archangels; the fountain of the senses; of judgment; of lightning; of reflections; and of characters of unknown composition. They say that the highest material fountains are those of Apollo, Osiris, and Mercury--the fountains of the centers of the elements. 'Thus, they understood by the Sun as ruler the solar world; by the material archangelic, the lunar world; by the fountain of the senses, the world of Saturn; by judgment, Jupiter; by lightning, Mars; by that of the reflections, or mirrors, the world of Venus; by the fountain of characters, the world of Mercury. All these are shown by the figures in the center pane of the Tablet."