Prophecy in Ancient Egypt

The Egyptian Empire was established about 6,000 years ago. From its very beginning it was famous as a centre of knowledge and to this day scientists with the assistance of dedicated Egyptologists are still trying to unravel some of the most baffling of the mysteries that surround this ancient land. It was a civilization that was steeped in a religion of a lofty spiritual nature with heavy emphasis on prophecy, magic and the occult arts. It is essential to remember that ancient Egyptian magic originally had nothing to do with sorcery and demonology into which it later degenerated. The ancient priests of Egypt were reputed to have limitless powers which included clairvoyance and the ability to predict the future.

Ancient Egypt gave the world the horoscope. It was from there that the Indians and the Persians acquired their knowledge of astrology and the same is true of the Chaldeans who were so famous for their skills in the science of foretelling the future. But who taught the Egyptians their knowledge of divination?

Unfortunately, it is as difficult to know this for sure as it is to say without any shadow of doubt whether the ancient Egyptians were black, brown or yellow. Some even think they were fair-skinned. Their real origins are shrouded in the same aura of mystery. Some are of the opinion that they were a totally autochthonous race and certainly the most ancient of all civilizations of the globe. According to others who subscribe to Plato's theory, Egypt was colonized by the survivors of the mysterious continent of Atlantis that was submerged in a a legendary cataclysm 800,000 years ago. There are ethnological, botanical, geological and archeological clues that make such a seemingly preposterous theory quite plausible. At any rate, it would help explain how there appeared in the Nile Valley, inhabited in the Stone Age by primitive, totally ignorant illiterates, a full-fledged civilization with an extremely sophisticated people with all the necessary trappings of an advanced culture: art forms, philosophy, an elaborate religion that involved the most powerful and integrated system of magic.

To the ancient Egyptians, magic was synonymous with religion. It follows from this that the Egyptian priest was also a magician who had supernatural powers. He could levitate, walk on air, survive under water for long periods, suffer mutilation without ill effect, remain insensitive to fire, dematerialize, travel astrally, read thoughts and interpret Akashic records and predict future events.

Those who taught the magical arts were known as Rehk-et-Amon. Not all of their pupils were exclusively priests; some were initiates of the Mysteries, who had developed their innate powers through prolonged training, meditation and fasting. According to the magical tradition of Ancient Egypt, the practitioner was required to focus all his attention on some object in order to acquire divinatory powers, of which a special type of cup was the most common. Other divinatory objects like blunted arrowpoints, trees, birds, clouds, etc. were also used.

There were numerous oracles in the land of the pyramids who achieved great fame and were even recognized by the early Christian Fathers like Clement of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, Justin Martyr, Origen, St. Jerome, St. Cyprian, Tertulian, Tatian and St. Augustine. The oracle was seen as the voice of the god; it spoke through the medium of fully trained priestesses from the adytum of the temple. It prophesied the future, had clairvoyant and telepathic powers and at times even communicated with departed spirits.

In those days, many people lived in the fear of evil spirits and they needed some form of protection against negative forces in their lives. That is why they resorted to exorcism and propitiation according to the ancient formulas of the priests. The priests performed the rites and cured the sick of their ailments, rid many of evil possessions, and generally did things that seemed like miracles even though many of their supernatural skills might today be more easily explained. Still, some of the extraordinary feats by these ancient masters of the occult arts, if re-enacted today, would not fail to amaze and cause a lot of wonder. Speaking of them, Professor Lenormant, a renowned Egyptologist, has this to day:

The Ancient Egyptians were very familiar with many of the so-called modern "discoveries". For example, they knew that the plague was spread by rats When Sennacherib's armies laid siege to Thebes, the inhabitants erected a large golden image of a rat on top of the city's walls after the priests had endowed it with magical power through their secret incantations. According to historical records, a terrible epidemic of plague soon afterward swept through and decimated the invading forces.

Many are of the belief that the founder of Magism, Thoth, named Hermes Trismegistus by the Greeks, imparted to the Egyptians of old their knowledge of magic and the exalted doctrines of their religion. All the books written by Trismegistus, the thrice great, were destroyed in a certain revolution with the exception of some fragments. In one of these, the Poemandre, he defines God as being an all-powerful, immortal being who symbolises eternity, active intelligence and absolute wisdom. He highly recommended the study of astrology for through a sound knowledge of the stars as well as a correct interpretation of the signs of the times, man can avoid many misfortunes or at least minimize their impact on his life. He also predicted the demise of the great Egyptian religion with these words:

"O Egypt, a time shall come when instead of a pure religion and an intelligent cult, you shall have nothing left but ridiculous fables that posterity will find incredible, and there shall nothing remain to you but words graven upon stone, almost indecipherable monuments to your ancient piety." Time has shown that Thoth was right and all came to pass as he had foretold.

Apart from relying on the official priesthood for prophecies about the future, the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt also used the services of other temple prophets as well. These prophets were trained in a special school where they graduated into first, second or third seers according to their capabilities. The epistulae, or temple superintendent, was the top priest in charge of finances, but any graduate from the school who could interpret dreams were held in high esteem for the ancient Egyptians believed very strongly in their divine guidance and inspiration.

Over and over again we see ancient prophecies being fulfilled, sometimes against impossible odds. There were times when the gods bypassed the priest altogether and addressed the person or nation directly, as when Isis, Nephthys, and Meskhent went to the house of Re-user. Meskhent had helped deliver his wife, Red-edet, of three boys. As each child was born, Meskhent said, "He shall be a king who shall have dominion over the whole land." The children being triplets, such a prophecy seemed most unlikely but as history proved each of Re-user's sons became a king of the Fifth Dynasty.

There is also the case of Thutmose II (about 1500 B.C.) who received advice from Amon that put him on the road to kingship. He was still a child when once he watched the procession of Amon around the hypostyle hall of his temple. Amon noticed him and as the boy prostrated himself in front of the god he was asked to rise and follow him inside the temple where Amon recognized him publicly as king.

Amon also came to the help of Thutmose's sister, Queen Hatshepsut, when she asked him how Egypt's prosperity could be expanded. The god advised her in these words: "The ways of Punt should be searched out and the roads to the myrrh terraces opened." The Queen carried out the god's command and travelled to Punt on an expedition that is still to be seen as portrayed on the walls of her tomb. The god's instructions obviously bore fruit for soon afterward spices and incense and new plants and trees were brought to Egypt, and the resulting increase in trade made Egypt richer and more powerful.

Very few rulers would initaite war or embark on any other serious enterprise without consulting the oracle or the god directly. The gods were so powerful in Ancient Egypt that they practically ruled the land and every aspect of Egyptian life. The oracle of Amon-Re at Thebes even chose the next king, when, after the old monarch died in the sixth century B.C., confusion arose as to which of his sons should rightfully take his place. The oracle selected Aspelta, predicting a successful and prosperous reign for him. It was also foretold that he would rebuilt all the temples of Egypt. All came to pass as foretold.

To this day we often use the expression: "Let me sleep on it," when we want more time to consider a problem of a serious nature. It probably stems from the ancient Egyptian practice of spending a night in the temple, during which the god sent prophetic dreams or visions and provide guidance on how to solve complex issues. This happened to Mehitousket, a woman who had been married for many years but could not bear any child. Feeling desperate, she came to the temple of Imhotep for advice. Imhotep, the great healer, came to her in a dream, saying:"Tomorrow go to the fountain of Satni, with your husband. You will find a root of colocasia sprouting there ... pull it up with its leaves; make a remedy with it, which you will give to your husband. Then you will lie next to him, and you will conceive of him that same night." Mehitousket carried out the god's instructions to the letter and in due course gave birth to a child.

The history of Ancient Egypt is one of innumerable triumphs and victories over other nations which she had outstripped in occult knowledge and also practical science. She had indeed all the trappings of an enlightened civilization. Her glorious achievements have secured her a greatness as colossal as her pyramids and as everlasting as the sand itself.

If one could have seen the splendid temple of Karnak, one might better understand what the Egyptians had in mind. Karnak symbolized the wide sweep of the Pharaohs' vision, the grand scale on which the ancient monuments were designed and erected and the unshakeable belief of those profoundly religious people in the afterlife. So immense were the columns of Karnak that six men with arms outsretched fingertip to fingertip could hardly span their shafts and they rose to such lofty heights that their capitals, carved like a full-blown lotus, seemed to reach the stars. The Egyptians seemed to have spent their entire lives with the hope of one day reaching distant galaxies, and it would appear that the dream is still alive today with so many spacecrafts whirtling around the earth and probes being sent to faraway planets. Scientists now believe that the Cheops Pyramid was built for astronomical purposes and that the Egyptians were particularly interested in the star Orion. More and more scientists are looking into the most recent archaeological discoveries and before long the riddles of the past might be solved thanks to modern advances in computer technology.

No-Amon (the house of Amon), the Egyptian name of Thebes, the ancient capital, measured nearly two miles in circumference. Its walls were twenty-four feet thick and forty-five cubits high. It was built in around 2000 B.C. Thebes, which had known such a glorious history and witnessed so many important events, began to lose much of her splendour by the time when Cambyses invaded Egypt in about 525 B.C., sacking and destroying this capital city. Memphis became the new capital and Thebes was destined never to regain her former prestige. In this context, it might interest those who dabble in the art of divination to know that the fall of Thebes was foretold in the Bible. In Ezekiel 30:14-16, one reads: "And ... I will execute judgments in No ... and I will cut off the multitude of No ... and No shall be rent asunder." This prophecy came to pass in the year 89 B.C., when Thebes was leveled to the ground. Strabo, who went there in 25 B.C. saw none of the ancient majesty of Thebes and even Diodorus Siculus who visited the site in 50 B.C. was reported to have seen but ruins. The Bible mentioned yet another prophecy in Ezekiel 29-30 foretelling that Egypt would fall into captivity and the land left desolate for forty years. The country would lose its greatness forever and its foundations would be broken down as well as its pride.

Memphis, the new capital, was known to the Egyptians by the name of Noph. Its founder was Menes, first king of what Egyptologists refer to as the First Dynasty of pharaohs. Second to Alexandria in size, extending a day's journey in every direction, it acquired a great reputation for its beautiful temple statuary. Memphis too seemed to have been singled out for punishment and destruction for in

Ezekiel 30:13 it is written: "I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph." Those who doubt the word of the Bible would be well advised to reflect on what happened to Memphis. Today, there lies face-down in a muddy pool, a broken colossus of Rameses the Great, next to a few other fragments of interest only to archaeologists. There is no trace whatsoever of the past splendour of what must have been a truly majestic capital. The pylons, obelisks, avenues of sphinxes are all gone - the sad fate of all human monuments, however famous, however colossal!"

Memphis too had a few magicians of her own, of whom the most famous was Nectanebo, the last of her kings. He was also a prophet and skilled astrologer, so skilled, in fact, that he managed to escape death on several occasions by circumventing the plots of his enemies. Before waging war, Nectanebo made small wax replicas of the opponents which he set out on a huge table. He then performed ancient rites casting spells on the enemy and propitiating the gods to give victory to his own soldiers. He literally visualized the outcome of the battles and surprisingly Nectanebo contrived in this way to win victory after victory according to his own blueprint. But all good things must finally end and Nectanebo eventually had to leave Egypt for reasons that are not too clear. He probably had incurred the wrath of the gods who no longer granted him favours in his magical practices. He turned up later in Macedonia, giving out that he was an incarnation of Amon, and achieved a measure of fame as an astrologer there. He was proud to number the King and Queen among those who consulted him about the future. And of course he will always be associated with the birth of Alexander the Great for he was in attendance in his capacity of astrologer when Olympias was in labour. He had made all the necessary calculations for the most appropriate time for the child to be born and insisted that Olympias held on until the exact configuration of stars could be observed. It was reported by eyewitnesses that when Alexander was born, there was an earthquake, lightning in the sky and thunder like drums beating to welcome the birth of a great man. Nectanebo predicted Alexander would one day rule the world.

And as everyone knows, Alexander the Great did conquer most of the civilized world and would have accomplished even greater feats if the gods had granted him a longer life.

In this succinct account of divination in ancient Egypt, I have tried to arouse the interest of my readers in an ancient civilization that has yet to reveal some of the most fascinating mysteries of the world. The Pyramids are a constant reminder of the greatness of this mysterious land and people. They point to the stars where we originally came from and to which we return when we give up our soul. The Ancient Egyptians knew that life was not as important as what followed it; that is why they went through so much trouble preparing for the journey into eternity. These ancient magicians knew more than the secret formula of mummification; they were also great astronomers, medical practitioners and mathematicians, although they were not aware of the concept of zero, discovered later by the Indians. It is to be expected that the twenty-first century will have more than a handful of surprises for all those interested in the occult as well as in scientific matters. The Pyramids hold the key to the future of mankind and soon they will unlock the door to Eternity.