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It was l981 when I first lowered myself through a once secret opening in the ancient stone floor, down into an archaic subterranean netherworld-and an experience that was to set me questing for many years for the answer to an ancient mystery. Carefully easing down a ladder and squeezing awkwardly backwards into a low, narrow passage, I entered the cool but confining darkness of an underground corridor. Within the dusty silence of the ancient space, I explored deeper into the passage until an extremely dim, shaded lamp pierced the darkness, indicating a low step into a long, rectangular crypt. Within this chamber, moving shadows cast by my flashlight drew from the blackness fleeting glimpses of the high relief contours of inscriptions, mysterious images, and life-sized figures lining the walls. As the pale beam played over the reliefs, an astonishing tableau was slowly illuminated that was so powerfully mysterious, so awesomely enigmatic, that it was unlike anything I had previously experienced. I could only gaze in rapt silence, vaguely aware of the intensity of my heartbeat, and the recognition that I was in the presence of deep mystery. Deep Mystery, indeed... As one other researcher of that unique tableau has written, "Just to unravel the mystery behind one stone wall's tale would be worth the searching of a lifetime..." I agree. This article is an expression of one such quest, during which I have come to believe that the scene I beheld in the ancient crypt-located beneath the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Hathor at Denderah, Egypt-represents one of the two most profound cosmological mysteries of the entire ancient world. Because Hathor was the goddess of love and joy, and "the beloved of the gods," it is not surprising that her temple on the edge of the Western desert is the most beautiful of all the remaining temples. Being built between 54 BC and 60 AD makes it late Ptolemaic/early Roman-which is OK by me, because those later non-Egyptian rulers appear to have taken very seriously the Egyptian legacy and the high office of Pharaoh, without which, it was believed, the world could not be maintained. Some of the most profoundly esoteric knowledge of antiquity is preserved within the late period temples: Denderah, Edfu, Philae, Esna. But it was within the crypts that the most sacred mysteries were usually preserved and, presumably, enacted. TALES OF THE CRYPT Egyptian temple crypts had both practical and esoteric functions. Some crypts were used for storing equipment and archives, while others contained magical emblems for the temple's protection. The Denderah crypts are decorated throughout with religious imagery and inscriptions that include a description of the festivals that were held there. They also state that their entrance and place are hidden, so it is assumed the crypts were of a cultic nature, and not for storage. At Denderah there are ten crypts, seven of which are located about ten meters beneath the temple within the foundations of its Eastern wall. The crypt described above is the only one now open to visitors, but its mysterious images appear in at least two other crypts in the complex, as well as in an upper register, just below the ceiling of room #7, at the rear of the temple. WHEN IS A LIGHT BULB NOT A LIGHT BULB? Since my own research conclusions about the "serpent crypts" at Denderah are quite different to current popular opinion, the reader should first know that a loose consensus seems to exist amongst researchers, primarily with an electronics background, that the Denderah "serpent crypts" show a type of ancient energy technology being demonstrated in operation that involves an electrical or electronic light device system. An article to this effect appeared in Atlantis Rising #5, as one of the "Top 10 Out of Place Artifacts" by Dr. Joseph Jochmans (with whom I was, in fact, journeying when I first visited the Denderah crypt). Widespread speculation abounds among aficionados about large bulb-like objects being early electron tubes or archaic light bulbs. Could the serpents within the bulbs be a type of electron beam? The long cables attached to the bulbs have been interpreted as bundles of conducting electrical wires. The pillar with the four cross-struts (an Egyptian "Djed") has been seen as some kind of high voltage insulator, and so on. (For biblio and more info. check out http://members.aa.net/~mwm/phoenix/library/djedjeffer2.html.) Persuasive as such hypotheses are, I do believe that if the whole context of this unique tableau is taken into consideration one might, indeed, discover what it was for the ancient Egyptians themselves. By examining the mythic aspects of the scene, the inscriptions, and the nature of the deities involved, the images begin to speak for themselves, revealing their own meaning and unfolding, like the sacred lotus itself, the marvelous mystery they conceal. It is known that temples were, predominantly, constructed upon the foundations of older ones, and that important data were reincorporated into the new building to preserve knowledge of the mythic and historic past and to provide continuity of magical energies. I believe this to be the case at Denderah because although the temple is of an early first century AD provenance, its crypt complex contains Old Kingdom texts and reliefs of King Pepi II (6th dynasty, c. 2175 BC). AÁnd there is evidence that Khufu (4th dynasty c. 2675 BC) and Thothmose III (18th dynasty, c.1480 BC), also built there. The temple's necropolis even includes tombs from the earliest dynastic times (3100-2890 BC). So we know the temple has a deep enough connection with the past to commemorate with authority a primary mystery of the first-magnitude. IN THE BEGINNING To learn more about the meaning of the crypt tableau, we can check the identities and references of the entities involved. Presiding over the scene is the frog goddess Heqet, on the far right. Heqet's cult was amongst the very oldest. She and her ram-headed consort, Khnum, (shown life-size, on the wall of the parallel "companion" crypt) were "the first gods who were at the beginning, who built men and made the gods. It is significant to our inquiry that it was Heqet who imparted the spark of life into the embryo of the unborn-the body of whom her consort Khnum, in his role of demiurge- had fashioned on his potter's wheel. He also created the pharaoh's "Ka" (etheric double) prior to birth. The etymology of Heqet's name is quite fascinating, telling us more about her function. "He" is rooted in "heh"-eons of time and eternity; the hieroglyph for "qet" is the pointed knife, two of which this goddess holds before her-to cut the umbilicus of the newborn, and to defend the home. Probing deeper into the clever subtleties of Egyptian symbolism, we notice that each of the pointed knives Heqet holds is, in fact, the actual hieroglyph for "qet."-which translates as, "qualities, dispositions, abilities, virtues. In other words, attributes of spirit that express through the physical body. Even the posture she assumes, as she holds the knives before her, forms the hieroglyph that means "uniter of attributes. ILLUMINATING THE MYSTERY Next to be considered is the puzzling imagery of the serpent element within the bulb-like objects. While the underworld serpent was everyone's worst nightmare, threatening world order by scheming to prevent the sun from rising, the Egyptians regarded the glorius solar serpent as the symbol of elemental fire. The solar serpent was portrayed draped over the sun disk, or rearing up as the fire-spitting Uraeus serpent who graced the king's forehead as his living diadem. But as the radiant core of its own fire element the solar serpent resided vertically within the solar disk as the resplendent center of the center, it's essence-the Ka of the Sun. Above the large snake-containing bulbs the inscription reads, "Gold Ka." We know that disclosure refers to Horus the divine solar hawk because he is magnificently etched on the wall, off to the right. The cosmologies of both Heliopolis and Hermopolis explain and unify the major elements of our mysterious crypt scene: The "Island of Flames" (traditional birthplace of the sun) lay at the center of the sacred "Lake of the Two Knives" (hence Heqet's two emblematic knives and her involvement with the birth of the sun). At the center of this island was the sacred lotus containing the cosmic egg. The world became manifest at the beginning of time when the sacred lotus opened and the cosmic egg within it hatched the luminous god. Inscriptions elsewhere in the Temple show the king performing the "Offering the Lotus" to Horus. "I offer thee the flower, which was in the beginning, the glorious lotus of the great water. Thou camest forth from the midst of its petals . . . and did lighten the Earth, which was still wrapped in darkness. This was also said of Re-and, as a sidebar-many texts affirm that Re is not the sun himself, but the principle of light that causes the solar radiance. One of his epithets is Nekhbu-ur Re ("Re, the Great Lotus.). He also is referred to as "That great god who is within the lotus bud of gold." And that is what the hieroglyphs directly above the lotus bulbs read, "Gold Ka." As if that were not convincing enough, Rundle Clark writes, "Hence, what rises from the opening flower is the world soul which is the light, [and] life ...of the sun" and that the pictorial symbolism the lotus "opens to reveal the head of the emerging soul, the Divine Child." The Pharaoh was traditionally portrayed as a young child within the lotus flower. And in later times, lay people too, aspired to the same ideal. The god who personifies attributes of the newly born sun is Nefer-Tem. He wears the long-stemmed lotus upon his head. So, too, are the heads of most mummy sarcophagi guilded with a golden lotus. Although it is not within the scope of this article to get into it here, many other world traditions revere the lotus and associate it with birth and death mysteries. Also, the crown chakra at the top of the head, as described in the yogic system, is none other than the thousand petaled lotus which confers transcendent consciousness. So we learn that from the lotus womb of light the divine is birthed into matter, and from the crown of the head one enters the lotus of light for rebirth into the next world! ENCRYPTED IN THE CRYPT Although three lotus bulbs are displayed in the crypt reliefs, the tableau is actually a representation of the One archetypal lotus of creation in three separate phases of embryonic development. On the left is Atum-Ra (creative principle of heaven and Earth) supporting the lotus from below. On the right is the next growth phase where the bulb is being supported by the Djed (symbol of stability), whose upraised arms form the ideogram "Ka," thus emphasizing the contents of the bud as the solar "Ka." At the far right of the crypt the third-phase bud is supported by everyone-Atum-Ra, the Djed, the two seated figures, plus an unidentified female. Confirming this view, one set of hieroglyph reads, roughly, "Golden Lord of the Sky, exalted (raised up?), three lunar months." The other set of hieroglyphs specify "four lunar months." It does not say how old the third bud is. The two large figures behind the lotus buds each stand upon a rectangular block (symbolizing a body of water out of which the lotus grows). There are slight differences between the size and height of each body of water, suggesting separate stages of the divine bud's development. Since the lotus is a flower that opens up towards the light at dawn it is likely that the fully mature lotus bud is depicted in its mature vertical attribute in one of the other crypts. One researcher has in fact referred to two additional panels showing the lotus bulb containing the serpent in an independent upright position, minus the supporting attendant figures and connecting "cable" (i.e., stem), but identified no location. "AS ABOVE, SO BELOW" To set the record straight, then, the huge bulb-shaped objects are lotus bulbs-not electron tubes. Yet, strangely, they are each in their own way "light" bulbs-sources of radiance. The serpents within the bulbs are the Ka of Horus-not an electron beam or electric current. Yet, strangely, the Ka may have its own type of radiation. Emanating from the bud bulbs are the long graceful stems of the lotus that are rooted in mud below the water level of marshes, rivers, or the mythic primeval waters. (Brahma, the Hindu creator god, also rests within a lotus that arises on a lengthy stalk out of the abyss of creation.) Strangely, both stem and wire do conduct energy to each of their bulbs. The stems connect to rectangular blocks (artistic rendering of "bodies of water")-not power generator boxes. Yet, strangely, both "rectangles" source their own kind of energy for stem or cable. The Djed pillar supporting the lotus bulb is the symbol of "stability"-not a high-voltage insulator. And beneath the lotus bud where everyone is helping to support it, two of the figures use their heads as supports, easing the burden by means of a circular pad. They are not receiving energy rays from the bulb through their heads. Solving a great mystery is almost always bitter-sweet, with a tinge of let-down. But an authentically powerful mystery such as this engages us at a deep, archetypal, level-energizing, inspiring, and drawing us on, touching a part of our deepest yearning for the gnosis-which is very much what ancient Egyptian sacred science was/is about. So as a kicker to this article there is an equally intriguing post-script. Electron magnification of a real chick embryo blastoderm, with a serpent-like feature at its center, bears a surprising resemblance to the embryonic lotus bulb containing the serpent Ka of Horus, the gestating chick! The side-view of the chick embryo is equally serpentine. Stranger than fiction? How could the ancient Egyptian initiates know what an embryo looks at such a degree of magnification? But, that's another mystery. Perhaps it is symptomatic of our materialistic culture that we tend to project the artificial upon the natural, the technology onto the simplicity, the "fundamentalizing" the sacred? The real mystery and wonder of the crypt tableau is that its symbols are pure and powerful archetypes. Nested within such profound images are infinite permutations of their function and form. As sublime patterns of meaning, archetypes emanate from Spirit, organizing energy, evolving the universe, the forces of nature, and the patterns of life. They speak within us to our deepest Self. They unwind and simplify us into harmony. They are our core lotus essence. And they birth us into Light. The initiation of the "Serpent Crypts" is alive, available, and potential within us all. Yes, worth the searching of a lifetime. Deep mystery, indeed! MoiRa Timms, author of "Beyond Prophecies & Predictions" is an "archaic-futurist" and researcher whose work encompasses a deep understanding of ancient Egyptian sacred science, (its symbolism, mythology, and mysteries) Jungian psychology, and prophecy. To travel with MoiRa to Egypt for Spring Equinox '99 please call Joy Travel at 1-800-569-5010 or Fax to 760-944--0015. |
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