WHO WERE THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS
TheAncientEgyptianreligion(ShetautNeter),languageandsymbolsprovidethefirst“historical”re-
cordofMysticalPhilosophyandReligiousliterature.EgyptianMysticismiswhathasbeencom-
monlyreferredtobyEgyptologistsasEgyptian“Religion”or“Mythology,”buttothinkofitasjust
anothersetofstoriesorallegoriesaboutalonglostcivilizationistocompletelymissthegreatest
secretofhumanexistence.Mysticalspirituality,inallofitsformsanddisciplinesofspiritualdevel-
opment,waspracticedinAncientEgypt(Kemet)earlierthananywhereelseinhistory.Thisunique
perspectivefromthehighestphilosophicalsystemwhichdevelopedinAfricaoverseventhousand
yearsagoprovidesanewwaytolookatlife,religion,thedisciplineofpsychologyandthewayto
spiritualdevelopmentleadingtospiritualEnlightenment.AncientEgyptianmythology,whenunder-
stoodasasystemofSmaiTawi,thatis,asystemwhichpromotestheunionoftheindividualsoul
withtheUniversalSoulorSupremeConsciousness,giveseveryindividualinsightintotheirowndi-
vine nature, and also a deeper insight into all religions, mystical and Yoga systems.
InChapter 445 andChapter 1746 ofanAncientEgyptianmysticaltext,thePrtmHru,TheAncient
EgyptianBookofEnlightenment,morecommonlyknownastheBookoftheDead,theterm“Smai
Tawi”isused.Itmeans“UnionofthetwolandsofEgypt.”Thetwolandsreferstothetwomaindis-
trictsofthecountry(NorthandSouth)and,inamysticalsensetheyrefertothegodsHeruandSet,
whoareelsewherereferredtoasthespiritualHigherSelfandlowerselfofahumanbeing,respect-
ively.Thus,thetermSmaiTawiiscompatiblewiththeIndianSanskritterm“Yoga,”whichalso
meansunionoftheHigherSelfandlowerselfaswellasotherterms(Enlightenment,Kingdomof
Heaven, Liberation, etc.) used by other systems of mystical spirituality.
DiodorusSiculus (Greek Historian) writes in the time of Augustus(first century B.C.):
“NowtheEthiopians,ashistoriansrelate,werethefirstofallmenandtheproofsof
thisstatement,theysay,aremanifest.Forthattheydidnotcomeintotheirlandas
immigrantsfromabroad,butwerethenativesofitandsojustlybearthenameof
autochthones(sprungfromthesoilitself),is,theymaintain,concededbypractically
all men...”
“TheyalsosaythattheEgyptiansarecolonistssentoutbytheEthiopians,Asar
havingbeentheleaderofthecolony.For,speakinggenerally,whatisnowEgypt,
theymaintain,wasnotland,butsea,wheninthebeginningtheuniversewasbeing
formed;afterwards,however,astheNileduringthetimesofitsinundationcarried
downthemudfromEthiopia,landwasgraduallybuiltupfromthedeposit...Andthe
largerpartsofthecustomsoftheEgyptiansare,theyhold,Ethiopian,thecolonists
stillpreservingtheirancientmanners.Forinstance,thebeliefthattheirkingsare
Gods,theveryspecialattentionwhichtheypaytotheirburials,andmanyother
mattersofasimilarnature,areEthiopianpractices,whiletheshapesoftheirstatues
andtheformsoftheirlettersareEthiopian;forofthetwokindsofwritingwhich
theEgyptianshave,thatwhichisknownaspopular(demotic)islearnedbyevery-
one,whilethatwhichiscalledsacred(hieratic),isunderstoodonlybythepriestsof
theEgyptians,wholearntitfromtheirFathersasoneofthethingswhicharenotdi-
vulged,butamongtheEthiopians,everyoneusestheseformsofletters.
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