Thoth/Djehuty
The Egyptian God Thoth (or Djehuty) is our first great teacher. He embodied all the skills and understandings a great teacher must have, and for the Ancient Egyptians was the prototype for all teachers, writers, record keepers and measurers of time to emulate.
Thoth, (Djehuty), the god who is said to have invented writing, the measuring of time, music, magic, art, medicine, mathematics and astronomy. In early times shown as an ibis, the sign of the 15th Lower Egyptian nome, so he might have originated there. His main cult center was later Hermopolis in Middle Egypt, where he assumed the shape of a baboon. He took over the role of the eight creator gods of Hermopolis and became a creator god himself. He was considered the lord of the moon and in the late period he was called the "silver Aten". Another name was "lord of time" and "reckoner of years", his attributes being a writing palette or a palm leaf. He was the protector of scribes and was sometimes considered the tongue or heart of Ra. He was also the protector of Osiris and as such he became the helper of the dead. This is part of his story:
In the days before Ra had left the land, before he had begun to grow old, his great wisdom told him that if the goddess Nut bore children, one of them would end his reign among men. So Ra laid a curse upon Nut - that she should not be able to bear any child upon any day in the year.
Full of sorrow, Nut went for help to Thoth, the thrice-great god of wisdom and magic and learning, Ra's son, who loved her.
Thoth knew that the curse of Ra, once spoken, could never be recalled, but in his wisdom he found a way of escape. He went to Khensu, the Moon-god, and challenged him to a contest at draughts. Game after game they played and always Thoth won. The stakes grew higher and higher, but Khensu wagered the most, for it was some of his own light that he risked and lost.
At last Khensu would play no more. Then Thoth the thrice-great in wisdom gathered up the light which he had won and made it into five extra days which for ever after were set between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. The year was of three hundred and sixty days before this, but the five days which were added, which were not days of any year, were ever afterwards held as days of festival in old Skondia.
But, since his match with Thoth, Khensu the moon has not had enough light to shine throughout the month, but dwindles into darkness and then grows to his full glory again; for he had lost the light needed to make five whole days.
On the first of these days Osiris,
the eldest son of Nut, was born, and the second day was set aside to be the birthday of Horus.
On the third day the second son of Nut was born, dark Set, the lord of evil.
On the fourth her daughter Isis first saw the light, and her second daughter Nephthys on the fifth.
Prior to Thoth's gift, each of the twelvemonths of the Egyptian calendar had 30 days, resulting in a 360-day year. Thoth's act of kindness reconciled the Egyptian calendar with the earth's actual 365-day cycle.
Thoth had many roles. In addition to being the god of the moon, the god of wisdom, and the measurer of time, he was scribe, moralist, messenger, and supreme magician. The ancient Egyptians credited him with inventing writing, the measuring of time, music, magic, art, medicine, mathematics and astronomy. He was the patron god of all arts, sciences, and intellectual pursuits. Ancient Egyptians believed that before the dead could enter the Afterworld, their hearts were weighed against a feather of truth to determine whether they had led good and honest lives.
In his role as scribe, Thoth recorded the results of each judgment. Thoth was often depicted holding scrolls and a pen with which he recorded all things. He was the author of the Book of theDead, and was the vizier and scribeof the afterlife.
With his wife Ma'at, Thoth had eight children, including the god Amen. Thoth was a self-created god. Associated with the moon, Thoth rose after sunset to vanquish darkness. Thoth was present at the judgment of souls and sat on top of the scale that weighed the hearts of the dead against the feather of Ma'at. When passing judgment on the deceased, the baboon Thoth told the ibis-headed Thoth when the scales were balanced. The ibis-headed Thoth related his findings to the other gods who were present at the judgment.
Thoth was credited with having written with his own hand forty two books containing all the wisdom of the world, which he had hidden in a crypt or tomb and which his followers boasted they had access to.
He was the world's first Magician and Priest, creator of the magical books, containing the secret formulas, which if deciphered, could command all the forces of nature and subdue the Gods themselves.
Thoth was a God with infinite powers, which gave Him the name "Thoth, three times very great". He acts on the behalf of the Gods in the hall of judgment. Thoth taught Isis who then taught the world. Regarded as scrupulously honest, He is the scribe of the Hall of Two Truths, recording the deeds and accounts of each soul facing judgment, as well as taking a hand in judging.
Thoth is most often depicted as wearing an ibis mask, with the head of an ibis, a large bird of the Nile. Egyptians associated the ibis's long curved beak with the moon. The ibis was regarded as one of Thoth's Earthly representatives.
Thoth was depicted with a symbol combining the Sun's disk and the Moon's crescent upon his head, and - in words reminiscent of the biblical adoration of the Celestial Lord - the Egyptian inscriptions and legends said of Thoth that his knowledge and powers of calculating measured out the heavens and planned the Earth.
Thoth has a female counterpart who is also an immortal scribe. Seshat is the Goddess of Libraries, all forms of Writing and the Measurement of Time. The Egyptians believed that Seshat invented writing, while Thoth taught writing to mankind. She was known as 'Mistress of the House of Books', indicating that she also took care of Thoth's library of spells and scrolls.
The Immortal Scribe, The Queen of Feminine Spirits, Seshat is the Goddess of Libraries, all forms of Writing and the Measurement of Time. She was an architect building by the measurements of sacred geometry. The name Sashet, Seshet or Sesheta means 'The Female Scribe','Sesh" meaning scribe.
Seshat is the Record Keeper. It is she who writes the names and deeds of all on the sacred leaves of the sycamore tree. She was the personal god of the King. She was an accountant, as pictures of her on tomb walls recording war trophies and agricultural tallies can attest. This is about the geometry of the program!
It was as 'Mistress of the House of Architects' that she helped the pharaoh set the foundations of temples with indication that she set the axis by the aid of the stars.
From the Second Dynasty onwards, She helped ritualized laying of the foundations of temples and the ceremony known as the stretching of the cord referring to the mason's line used to measure out the limits of the building. It is She who remembers everything, even the smallest details that most would forget.
In that sense, she can be considered a name involved with both destiny and time, for while Djehuty - Thoth is their creator and Lord, it is Seshat who ministers to each and ensures that everything in synchronicity. It is She who takes care of the details, when most would overlook them.
She was known as 'Mistress of the House of Books', indicating that she also tookcare of Thoth's library of spells and scrolls.
Seshat was the only female that has been found (so far) actually writing. Other women have been found holding a scribe's writing brush and palette - showing that they could read and write - but these women were never shown in the act of writing itself.
Seshat has no temples that have been found, though she did have a priesthood in early times. Along with her priestess', there were a few priest sinthe order - the Slab Stela of Prince Wep-em-nefret, from the Fourth Dynasty, gives him the title of Overseer of the Royal Scribes, Priest of Seshat. It was ata later time that the priests of Thoth took over the priesthood of Seshat.
There are other legends about Thoth. A fairly prominent legend is that Thoth is an immortal being from Atlantis. He was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, erroneously attributed to Cheops. In it he incorporated his knowledge of the ancient wisdom and also securely secreted records and instruments of ancient Atlantis.
For some 16,000years, he ruled the ancient race of Egypt, from approximately 52,000 B.C. to 36,000 B.C. At that time, the ancient barbarous race among which he and his followers had settled had been raised to a high degree of civilization.
Thoth was an immortal, that is, he had conquered death, passing only when he willed and even hen not through death. His vast wisdom made him ruler over the various Atlantean colonies, including the ones in South and Central America.
When the time came for him to leave Egypt, he erected the Great Pyramid over the entrance to the Great Halls of Amenti, placed in it his records, and appointed guards for his secrets from among the highest of his people.
In later times, the descendants of these guards became the pyramid priests, by which Thoth was deified as the God of Wisdom, The Recorder, by those in the age of darkness which followed his passing. In legend, the Halls of Amenti became the underworld, the Halls of the gods, where the soul passed after death for judgment.
During later ages, the ego of Thoth passed into the bodies of men in the manner described in the tablets. As such, he incarnated three times, in his last being known as Hermes Trismegistus, the thrice-born.The following verses are derived from the “Emerald Tablets” which are a centerpiece of this legend:
I, THOTH, the Atlantean, master of mysteries,
keeper of records, mighty king, magician,
living from generation to generation,
being about to pass into the halls of Amenti,
set down for the guidance of
those that are to come after,
these records of the mighty wisdom of Great Atlantis.
In the great city of KEOR on the island of UNDAL,
in a time far past, I began this incarnation.
Not as the little men of the present age did
the mighty ones of Atlantis live and die,
but rather from aeon to aeon did they renew
their life in the Halls of Amenti where the river of life
flows eternally onward.
A hundred times ten
have I descended the dark way that led into light,
and as many times have I ascended from the
darkness into the light my strength and power renewed.
Now for a time I descend,
and the men of KHEM (Khem is ancient Egypt)
shall know me no more.
But in a time yet unborn will I rise again,
mighty and potent, requiring an accounting
of those left behind me.
Then beware, O men of KHEM,
if ye have falsely betrayed my teaching,
for I shall cast ye down from your high estate
into the darkness of the caves from whence ye came.
Betray not my secrets
to the men of the North
or the men of the South
lest my curse fall upon ye.
Remember and heed my words,
for surely will I return again
and require of thee that which ye guard.
Aye, even from beyond time and
from beyond death will I return,
rewarding or punishing
as ye have requited your truest.
Great were my people in the ancient days,
great beyond the conception of the
little people now around me;
knowing the wisdom of old,
seeking far within the heart of infinity
knowledge that belonged to Earth's youth.
Wise were we with the wisdom
of the Children of Light who dwelt among us.
Strong were we with the power drawn
from the eternal fire.
And of all these, greatest among the
children of men was my father, THOTME,
keeper of the great temple,
link between the Children of Light
who dwelt within the temple and the
races of men who inhabited the ten islands.
Mouthpiece, after the Three,
of the Dweller of UNAL,
speaking to the Kings
with the voice that must be obeyed.
Grew I there from a child into manhood,
being taught by my father the elder mysteries,
until in time there grew within the fire of wisdom,
until it burst into a consuming flame.
Naught desired I but the attainment of wisdom.
Until on a great day the command came from the
Dweller of the Temple that I be brought before him.
Few there were among the children of men
who had looked upon that mighty face and lived,
for not as the sons of men are the
Children of Light when they are not incarnate
in a physical body.
Chosen was I from the sons of men,
taught by the Dweller so that his
purposes might be fulfilled,
purposes yet unborn in the womb of time.
Long ages I dwelt in the Temple,
learning ever and yet ever more wisdom,
until I, too, approached the light emitted
from the great fire.
Taught me he, the path to Amenti,
the underworld where the great king sits
upon his throne of might.
Deep I bowed in homage before the Lords of Life
and the Lords of Death,
receiving as my gift the Key of Life.
Free was I of the Halls of Amenti,
bound not be death to the circle of life.
Far to the stars I journeyed until
space and time became as naught.
Then having drunk deep of the cup of wisdom,
I looked into the hearts of men and there found I
greater mysteries and was glad.
For only in the Search for Truth could my Soul
be stilled and the flame within bequenched.
Down through the ages I lived,
seeing those around me taste of the cup
of death and return again in the light of life.
Gradually from the Kingdoms of Atlantis passed waves
of consciousness that had been one with me,
only to be replaced by spawn of a lower star.
In obedience to the law,
the word of the Master grew into flower.
Downward into the darkness turned the
thoughts of the Atlanteans,
Until at last in this wrath arose from his AGWANTI,
the Dweller, (this word has no English equivalent;
it means a state of detachment)
speaking The Word, calling the power.
Deep in Earth's heart, the sons of Amenti heard,
and hearing, directing the changing of the flower of fire
that burns eternally, changing and shifting, using the LOGOS,
until that great fire changed its direction.
Over the world then broke the great waters,
drowning and sinking,
changing Earth's balance
until only the Temple of Light was left
standing on the great mountain on UNDAL
still rising out of the water;
some there were who were living,
saved from the rush of the fountains.
Called to me then the Master, saying:
Gather ye together my people.
Take them by the arts ye have learned of far across the waters,
until ye reach the land of the hairy barbarians,
dwelling in caves of the desert.
Follow there the plan that yet know of.
Gathered I then my people and
entered the great ship of the Master.
Upward we rose into the morning.
Dark beneath us lay the Temple.
Suddenly over it rose the waters.
Vanished from Earth,
until the time appointed,
was the great Temple.
Fast we fled toward the sun of the morning,
until beneath us lay the land of the children of KHEM.
Raging, they came with cudgels and spears,
lifted in anger seeking to slay and utterly destroy the Sons of Atlantis.
Then raised I my staff and directed arrayof vibration,
striking them still in their tracks as fragments
of stone of the mountain.
Then spoke I to them in words calm and peaceful,
telling them of the might of Atlantis,
saying we were children of the Sun and its messengers.
Cowed I them by my display of magic-science,
until at my feet they groveled, when I released them.
Long dwelt we in the land of KHEM,
long and yet long again.
Until obeying the commands of the Master,
who while sleeping yet lives eternally,
I sent from me the Sons of Atlantis,
sent them in many directions,
that from the womb of time wisdom
might rise again in her children.
Long time dwelt I in the land of KHEM,
doing great works by the wisdom within me.
Upward grew into the light of knowledge
the children of KHEM,
watered by the rains of my wisdom.
Blasted I then a path to Amenti so
that I might retain my powers,
living from age to age a Sun of Atlantis,
keeping the wisdom, preserving the records.
Great few the sons of KHEM,
conquering the people around them,
growing slowly upwards in Soul force.
Now for a time I go from among them into
the dark halls of Amenti,
deep in the halls of the Earth,
before the Lords of the powers,
face to face once again with the Dweller.
Raised I high over the entrance, a doorway, a gateway
leading down to Amenti.
Few there would be with courage to dare it,
few pass the portal to dark Amenti.
Raised over the passage, I, a mighty pyramid
using the power that overcomes Earth force (gravity).
Deep and yet deeper place I a force-house or chamber;
from it carved I a circular passage
reaching almost to the great summit.
There in the apex, set I the crystal,
sending the ray into the"Time-Space,"
drawing the force from out of the ether
concentrating upon the gateway to Amenti.
Other chambers I built and left vacant to all seeming,
yet hidden within them are the keys to Amenti.
He who in courage would dare the dark realms,
let him be purified first by long fasting.
Lie in the sarcophagus of stone in my chamber.
Then reveal I to him the great mysteries.
Soon shall he follow to where I shall meet him,
even in the darkness of Earth shall I meet him, I,
Thoth, Lord of Wisdom, meet him and hold him
and dwell with him always.
Builded I the Great Pyramid,
patterned after the pyramid of Earth force,
burning eternally so that it, too,
might remain through the ages.
In it, I builded my knowledge of "Magic-Science"
so that I might be here when again I return from Amenti,
Aye, while I sleep in the Halls of Amenti,
my Soul roaming free will incarnate,
dwell among men in this form or another. (Hermes, thrice-born.)
Emissary on Earth am I of the Dweller,
fulfilling his commands so many might be lifted.
Now return I to the halls of Amenti,
leaving behind me some of my wisdom.
Preserve ye and keep ye the command of the Dweller:
Lift ever upwards your eyes toward the light.
Surely in time, ye are one with the Master,
surely by right ye are one with the Master,
surely by right yet are one with the ALL.
Now, I depart from ye.
Know my commandments,
keep them and be them,
and I will be with you,
helping and guiding you into the Light.
Now before me opens the portal.
Go I down in the darkness of night.
Accounts culled from
http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald.html