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Ankhesenamun |
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Ankhesenamun |
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(1) How could we know any of this through our own efforts? Why would the Netjeru be explaining such things to us, unless they intended us to rise to such a stature that our knowledge of them had a practical significance. It won't suffice to say that the deceased needs to know these things in order to pass some tests in the afterlife, because those tests exist by the choice of the netjeru; one merely begs the question through such a non-answer. Click here to return.
(2) See previous note. The sales pitch for Leah's point of view continues; here we see the traditional moment of feigned wide eyed surprise. "Why, Dr. Grabbucks, are you telling me that your Magic Egyptian Elixir cures leprosy, rheumatism and athlete's foot?" (Crowd murmurs, wanting to hear more). Click here to return.
(3) ... and, continuing the sterotypical snake oil salesman pitch, here is where the assistant 'gets over his surprise'. "But you know, Dr. Grabbucks, I suppose that Ancient Egyptian magical elixirs have long been know for their miraculous healing properties ..." Imhotep was deified in the minds of the people for his accomplishments, not for his ability to memorize some occultist's vain theories. As for the deification of the family of Wesir, the historicity of any of these figures is, at best, hypothetical, and how much would even be known about the historical Wesir, anyway. Vague guesses about the undocumented lives of prototypes for mythological figures is a slender thread to hang a theology on.
(4) Ah, the ultimate reward for the endless effort of so many to rise above man's fundamental nature - existential despair. One walking down this road will endlessly search for the answer to this question, never finding it, because it isn't there to be found. What is the purpose of life? By what means would it be established, and by whom, and on what authority? That of God? But this answers nothing, because it only postpones the question. The response to that answer would then be, what is God's reason for being? If He lacks one, and our reason for being is defined in terms of something which would not be but for the Lord's then meaningless existence, then how meaningful could our existences really be?
From the moment that one lets some 'holy man' or 'seer' convince one to ignore one's own instincts, and pretend that one's own animal nature doesn't exist, and that the pleasures of life are unimportant, one has already started down to road to nihilism, and ultimate madness if convention fails to obstruct one's progress toward this fatal enlightenment. The answer is to stop struggling against the reality that it is in one's nature to struggle and to submit to the will of one's creator, by embracing the reality of one's own fundamental core nature, that which makes one human, which will include the ability to think about how that nature might best be expressed.
Focus on living well in this life, and helping others to do likewise, and that means fully, with one's eyes wide open, knowing that pleasures will soon pall, when not shared with others, and that pleasures can be intellectual or spiritual, as well as sensual. If one does that, the need to find some sort of Occult significance to the fact of one's birth won't seem so necessary any more. Should one fail to do so, one will be left with the unanswerable question, why does one prefer life to death, existence over nonexistence, either for oneself,or for others. To reject that which makes us alive, as so many will counsel us to do, is to cease to live.
Does Ankhesenamun want an answer? Let her go out drinking and with her friends, eat a hearty meal, spend time with her family, read a few good books, laugh at a play, write a little poetry ... and when she has forgotten that she ever asked that question, her forgetfulness will be its best answer, the only one it should ever have needed.
(5) ... and the sales pitch is complete. "Gosh, you're right Ramessu", as Ankhesenamun 'admits' that which she wished to promote all along, being a member of Leah's organization, as she does.
(6) Why this assumption that the gods are not finite beings? Judging from the myths, they would seem to have problems of their own, in an all-too-human way.
(7) This would seem to be a little overdramatic, as atheists have been living with such a thought for years.
(8) And yet Ankhesenamun continues to argue it.
Before we jump on her for this, though, let's appreciate what she seems to be saying. What she has been taking issue with is the line of criticism heard from Ramessu. What she is arguing about, is not what one might call, one's theological axioms (is Bast there, and is she answering my prayers), but the implications of those axioms, which is what the criticism of a theological view will focus on.
(9) Ever notice how the concerns of Neopagans (and, sorry, folks, but the House is culturally Neopagan) rarely seem to be about other human beings? You never hear one of them giving an example concerning a troubled child, or an ailing parent; always, we hear about their housepets. What does it say about where somebody's heart or life is, when he can't see any greater depth in his relationship with his family than he can with his cat? Maybe that the former has barely developed at all?
The clergy in a real religion would be worried by this. Neopagans, however, don't seem to give it any thought at all, again raising the question of whether Kemeticism in specific, or Neopaganism in general, is helping those participating in it to grow as people, or assisting them in developing a willful obliviousness to the fact that they're not growing at all, and maybe diminishing in spirit.
(10) Click here for Ramessu's response. How very interesting, again, that while Ramessu, as we shall see in a later post, feels that it would be inappropriate to ask God to concern Himself with the well-being of a thirteen year old girl (Ann Frank) and her family, as they hide from the Nazis, he sees nothing odd with asking for divine intervention on behalf of a few cats. Where are our priorities, Ramessu?
At our current level (the level of
animals/human beings)
we are not as powerful as the netjeru- even though some people
sometimes fancy themselves to be so. That was my point, and I did not
mean to imply that we were either completely powerless or that we had
no control over our lives. As for eventually elevating ourselves to
the status of the netjeru, I must admit that it's not something I've
really thought about. (