New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
"To speak the name of the dead is to make them live again."—Ancient Egyptian inscription Many of us keenly feel the absence of ritual in modern life and recognize the emptiness that results from daily routines lacking in color or meaning. It seems to us that in past times, life was often punctuated by rituals and ceremonies that filled that void and provided a close familiarity with nature and divine life. This was a sentiment often expressed to me by students in astrological and meditation groups I conducted over the years as we sought to relearn some of the sacred languages of the past. Those ancient mythologies, religions, and occult sciences beckoned to us with a deep ...
Mysterious, beckoning, filled with shadows and whispers of ancient magic, Egypt plays an unusual role in the Western psyche. It is both a real place with a historical penchant for magic and mysticism as well as a symbolic place upon which we impose fantastical histories. Egypt gives us knowledge and inspiration. Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised to learn that many divination tools and tarot decks utilize Egyptian themes, styles, and mythology. Although I want to tell you about several items, one in particular continues to intrigue me. In the Egyptian Scarab Oracle, creator deTraci Regula gives us not only a marvelous divination tool, but an opportunity to share the dream that lead to ...
The tomb of Tutankhamun lay undisturbed in Upper Egypt's Valley of the Kings through many centuries, from the end of the 18th Dynasty (BCE 1572-1315) to the twentieth century, when it was uncovered by the British excavator Howard Carter, under the patronage of the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon. When the Earl died unexpectedly within weeks after the discovery, stories spread quickly that an ancient curse had been unleashed as a consequence of disturbing the royal burial. The rumors grew extravagantly as time passed and more than twenty key persons connected to the discovery or its excavation died under untimely circumstances. The alleged curse, purportedly written near the entry to the tomb, ...
When the late Billie John and I wrote our Inner Guide to Egypt, we used the notion of "Egypt" as a stratum of consciousness within the psyche, rather than as a geo-political landmass with lots and lots of history slapped on top of it. We also did it with the help of an entity from the inner planes known as Kha'm-uas. This is not our invention; He really did exist three thousand years ago. In the timeless realm he so comfortably inhabits, he still exists "now." Using the terminology of the Western Magical Tradition he is what might be termed one of the "Inner Plane Adeptii." And—believe me—the last thing he wants is any kind of veneration, worship, or obeisance. In fact I ...
