Legendary Icons by a Celebrated Master
In early September of 2001 Brent and I founded The Nuhati Temple Fellowship, a non-profit religious organization committed to the devotional practice of ancient Egyptian spirituality. The vision we had for our fellowship was that of a ritualistic, mystical, and symbolist approach to the Gods and traditional beliefs of the Egyptians. Contrary to the opinions expressed by some critics of our work, The Nuhati Temple Fellowship never claimed to be the authentic embodiment of the ancient Egyptian religion, nor was our goal to take a fundamentalist or reconstructionist approach. Our inspiration was to approach ancient Egyptian religious texts, rituals, and temple traditions in what I would now define as an almost Gnostic perspective, a path of personal communion and inspiration with the Netjeru or Gods of Egypt. Instead of literally reconstructing the Egyptian religion based solely on the texts published by mainstream Egyptology (as was the case with a number of online groups at the time), The Nuhati Temple Fellowship would embrace the ideal of living gods who continued to reveal themselves and their messages to humankind, speaking directly to their devotees, and using such tools as spiritual ecstasy, trance, and meditative realizations in order to do it.
The front cover of the first printed edition of the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata from 2007
The Nuhati Temple Fellowship also emerged from my years of experiences with the teachings of Lady Olivia Robertson and her liturgies represented in The Fellowship of Isis. Lady Olivia has had a considerable influence on my life as a spiritual seeker and practitioner, inspiring me to rely much more on intuition, devotion, and psychism than on being a slave to the ideas or dogmas of others. It was through Olivia's work in The Fellowship of Isis that I was first introduced to the concepts of psychism, religious ecstasy, and direct communion with the Divine forces of creation. It was not by way of hardline doctrines or preaching that humankind could come close to the Sacred, but by cultivating our joy in the spiritual nature within our existence, and connecting with the Divine powers that activated all living things. These were the values made clear to me in the liturgies of The Fellowship of Isis, and in the example set by Olivia herself. She was a guiding hand to me, and part of the voice of my spiritual conscience that compelled me to anoint The Nuhati Temple Fellowship into existence.
On Full Moon day, September 2, 2001, as Brent and I were preparing for the launch of our first website for The Nuhati Temple Fellowship, I entered into an intense state of religious ecstasy that would last for a period of three consecutive days, during which I feverishly recorded the teachings and devotional hymns that would become Djosar Ma Nahah Nata: The Holy Foundation of the Eternal Law, a volume comprised of some four hundred pages, which would act as the inspirational cornerstone for The Nuhati Temple Fellowship's philosophy and mission. The Djosar Ma Nahah Nata is an entirely devotional work consecrated to the personal experience of Egypt's ancient Gods, not merely as archetypes or abstract philosophical principles, but rather as living gods whose presences could be accessed directly by humankind. Laid out completely in these sacred texts are the ideals and ethics for what Brent and I called the Nuhati (or Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru) spiritual lifestyle.
Seated beside Lady Olivia after she consecrated me as the spiritual head of the Nuhati Faith, October 2004
From the forward to the first edition of the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata
(original spellings retained)
We are, all of us, messengers of the Gods. There is not one living heart incapable of receiving directly the blessing of the Sacred, or of handing down that blessing to others. We are not separate from the source of creation, nor removed from the fountain of the Mysteries from which the seeds of life, transformation, and wisdom flow forth. Our human frailties have not severed our innate ability to commune intimately with the sacred manifestations of creation known to the Ancients as the Nutjeru, the Divine Ones, the eternal Gods. Our human nature is not far removed from the Nature that shaped everything that has come into being, the Nature interpenetrating the living world, its wonders, creatures, terrors, and phenomena.
It is ever our destiny to link back to that First Occasion when the world lived in attunement with the Nutjeru Who gave birth to it, Who sustain it, Who bequeathed Their gifts and wisdom to humankind.
If these things are so, then why do we not know them or remember them? Why have we forgotten our sacred nature, which at one time was experienced so directly by the Ancients of many lands? If we are divine if we do possess a direct link with the source of life itself, then why is it that we can no longer experience it or utilize it? The answer is actually quite simple. We have isolated ourselves from the living experience of the Sacred Mysteries that were, in very ancient times, an immediate and inseparable aspect of the daily lives of human beings. The ancient Egyptians were painstakingly aware of the spiritual reality interwoven with their surroundings and saw in every facet of their tangible world another world, a dimension of the Spirit that was as tangible to them as the black, silty soil, red mountains of the desert, or the fiery lights of the stars above.
To these people, the earth, sky, and entirety of creation were composed of a spiritual (and one may rightly say metaphysical) reality, and this reality was embodied in the presences of the Nutjeru, the God-Beings Whose powers could be summoned, channeled, and even embodied directly by human beings. For this reason the lives of the Egyptians were imbued with a confirmation of the Sacred that sustained them not only emotionally and psychologically, but socially and materially as well. The state of Khemat, of ancient Egypt was a theocratic one, unified by the institution of the Par-aa or 'Great House', the Pharaoh who embodied the universal laws of the Gods upon which creation had been founded. This man, a priest-king and an incarnation of the Gods on earth was, in the eyes of his people, a living link between the heavens and earth, possessing the ability to bridge the realms of mortal and divine. This concept of a bridge between heaven and earth permeated every aspect of ancient Egyptian civilization, giving birth to the splendid monuments and achievements that are impossible and wondrous in the eyes of contemporary people.
This intimate connection, this bridge between heaven and earth, is sorely lacking in the mentality of today's western societies, who, although advanced materially to a tremendous capacity, are experiencing an emotional and spiritual crisis, and one that is compelling many to search beyond the confines of their familial religions for the wisdom and practices of the East. The West has inherited the Judeo-Christian traditions and with it the biblical attitude separating man from God. Humankind, having sinned and been exiled from God's paradise, must ever accept its fall from grace, experiencing God as the divine judge dwelling beyond the human condition. The trend of thinking defining many sects of contemporary evangelical Christianity is apocalyptic, envisioning these as the end of days, ushering in the cataclysmic fall of humankind and the end of the earth as we know it.
This thinking coincides with an attitude of inevitability concerning the destruction of the world and humankind's inability to do anything about it. Why try to save or change a world that is doomed to divine retribution?
Such apocalyptic certainties are greatly absent from the philosophical writings of the ancient Egyptians, whose view of the world, of creation and humankind's place in it, was much less certain. To the Egyptians, the state of the world (and of the universe itself) was in a perpetual flux, ever within the turbulent influences of the infinite struggle between order and chaos. In this view creation was never completed, but was an ongoing process of divine manifestation, struggling against the primordial chaos surrounding the boundaries of the ordered universe. The Egyptian world view is one in which humankind, the Gods, the Creator, and all living things maintain a share of the responsibility for the maintenance of the cosmic order, which is established in the embodiment of the universal laws of Ma'at.
Ma'at is often translated as 'truth' or 'justice', and within the human social sphere is experienced as moral uprightness and orderly human conduct. However, the concept of Ma'at far exceeds mere human behavior or codes of proper conduct. Ma'at is, in fact, the metaphysical structure of creation itself, the interdependent threads connecting all created things, all beings, thoughts, actions, and behaviors. Without constant vigilance and communion with this universal structure of Ma'at, humankind will perish, and the world will revert back into the chaos from which it had emerged after the Creator's great struggle with the void.
An integral part of humankind's relationship with the universal order of Ma'at is its relationship to the Nutjeru, the active powers of creation through which the process of creation unfolds. The Nutjeru are the expressions or embodiments of the Divine Nature of Nutjer, permeating every facet of the created universe, and themselves responsible for the order and maintenance of the human and natural worlds. It was through their continuous celebration of the sacred Mysteries (called Shedauw or Shetau) that the Ancestors of Khemat kept the lines of spiritual communion open between the metaphysical reality of the Nutjeru and the human reality of the earth. This was accomplished in a great part by the sacerdotal activities of the Par-aa and his vast representatives in the priesthood, who maintained massive temple complexes where the sacred rites could be performed and the Nutjeru petitioned for Their guidance.
Central to all of this was the knowledge that humankind was as responsible for the continuance of its world as were the divine powers, and that these divine powers were intimately engaged with man in the preservation of the world order through which all living things existed. This relationship with the divine that existed in ancient Egypt was active, not passive. Human beings were not pitiful sinners banished from paradise, fearfully serving an angry and wrathful God, but were instead co-creators with the Gods, able to access the powers of life, creation, and rebirth for the sustenance of the world. This was a relationship in which human beings experienced their world as a living expression of divine power, and sought always to align every ingredient of life with the Nutjeru Who manifest the miracle of divine life through even the humblest forms.
This is the sacred relationship missing in the West today. We have concentrated our human genius on external, material development, elevating progress for the sake of progress as our national religion. We no longer celebrate the Mysteries through which ancient societies achieved attunement with their own divine nature, awaiting instead some cataclysmic end to be made to our species and world, or some divine war of attrition to deservedly annihilate our sinful condition.
Is it any wonder that some should seek the illumination of the East, turning to Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, New Age philosophies, or expressions of Paganism for answers to the heart? Within these philosophical traditions many Westerners are discovering a renewed sense of faith and humanity, and, even more significant, a renewed sense of communion with the spiritual nature of the world surrounding them.
Through an investigation and practice of the ancient religious traditions of humankind, practitioners of Neo-Paganism are experiencing a return to the sacred relationship achieved by the Ancients; namely, a relationship in which humankind and the Divine are united within every quality of life, where the living world is directly experienced as the dwelling place of the Gods, the Divine Natures (Nutjeru) of the Creator, where man and God are interrelated through the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. Thus have a vast number of contemporary spiritualists sought a connection with the religious systems and Mysteries of Khemat, which speak powerfully to the human heart of that First Occasion (Zap Tapi) when the Nutjeru lived intimately within the human condition, and human beings were able to achieve the seemingly impossible.
In the vast repertoire of spiritual literature recorded by the ancient Egyptians there exists bodies of sacred texts known to the Ancients as sa-a'akh or 'illumination-making' literature. Among these are works such as the renowned Proyat-Am-Hruw, known to popular culture by the pseudonym 'Book of the Dead'. This rich philosophical legacy gives us a clear view of a world ever bound to the destiny and powers of the Nutjeru, beings who have the ability to liberate humankind from eternal death, and from whom humankind is ultimately descended.
This 'illumination-making' tradition speaks to us of a pure, luminous, and indestructible intelligence existing within the corporeal body of living beings. Known as the khuw or a'akh, the 'illumined presence' or 'light-body', this spiritual entity is derived from the powers of the Nutjeru themselves and is ultimately the form assumed by all mortals once they have transcended the limited conditions of the human body and emerged into the spiritual reality of the Gods. All sacred texts of the ancient Egyptians sought to bestow the necessary threads of knowledge and techniques through which a human being could commune directly with her or his luminous khuw nature, and therefore transcend the fetters of physical death together with possible spiritual annihilation. Inseparable from this goal is the knowledge that man and the Nutjeru are derived from the same divine nature, the same source of creative and transformative power. In fact, it was the ardent wish of the Ancestors of Khemat to be transformed after death into the spiritual forms of the very gods they adored, becoming beings of infinite spiritual power, unlimited by the temporal certainty of physicality, suffering, decay, and death. For this to occur, a living person must have access to the presence of the Nutjeru through their specific names, forms, and qualities, and this was accomplished through the medium of the sacred texts embodying the knowledge of the Mysteries (Shedauw) of the Nutjeru.
I regard the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata as a manifestation of the sacred sa-a'akh 'illumination-making' tradition of the Nutjeru, for its essential aim is to provide its reader with the sacred knowledge inherent to the process of spiritualization, a'akhuw, the process of transforming the mundane intelligence of humankind into the divine intelligence in the heart, Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru. It is through speaking and absorbing the names and qualities of the Nutjeru in the heart that the devotee of the Gods attunes her or his consciousness to that of the Divinities, establishing a living link with the Powers of Creation that naturally awakens awareness of the divine embodiment already resident within the human condition. Central to this evolution in awareness is devotion to the Nutjeru or Divine Natures encompassing the Supreme Nature of Nutjer. This quality of devotion immediately gives rise to the other qualities by which human beings may arrive at spiritual wisdom and personal harmony; unconditional love, altruism or selfless service, and a peaceful, focused heart and mind. These are the supreme qualities promoted and described in the Holy Natas, which use the epic tales of the Gods and philosophical discussions as the framework for a spiritual awakening known to Nuhati practitioners as Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru, the 'Intelligence of the Heart arriving from the Divine Natures'.
How can we end suffering? How can we improve the quality of our lives? Why are we here? What is our destiny? Who are the Gods, and how can we achieve a personal relationship with them? How can we live forever? Like all spiritual teachings and religious scriptures, the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata reveals to us an understanding of the Divine Creator and intimate insight into our relationship with the realm of the Sacred. This relationship exists as the foundation of the divine creative process, which the Holy Natas tell us is shared by humankind. Man is not isolated from its Creator or fallen away from the divine powers in a subservient relationship composed of a sinner and vengeful god. The relationship between man and the Divine as described in the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata is one of co-Creation, one in which human beings have the blessing and responsibility of helping to direct the future of their world and even of Creation itself.
Through the understanding and mastery of the Universal Laws of Ma'at, the Laws of Harmony, a devotee of the Nutjeru understands that her or his thoughts, words, and actions are in fact constructing (or deconstructing) the very world we inhabit. Within this world move the powers of the living Nutjeru, Who actively engage with human beings in the sacred work of expanding Creation and maintaining the Mysteries of life. It is our destiny to realize the power of our human faculties to move the Divine Creation forward. Life and death, creation and destruction, suffering, and happiness. These are not random phenomena emerging suddenly without provocation, nor are they divine punishments or rewards. They are instead the outcome of humankind's own behaviors within the delicate balance of Ma'at, the Laws of the Universe governing all that exists.
The Djosar Ma Nahah Nata describes for us in detail these laws, their origins and functions, together with the repercussions propelled in Creation as a result of their violation. What is Truth? Why should we seek to live it? What are the benefits of serving the Divine Powers Nutjeru? How is a relationship with these ancient gods relevant to our contemporary lives? The Holy Natas are an answer to these questions, and are at the same time a deep repository of philosophical queries into our
human nature and history, provoking spiritual thought and speculation on the most profound mysteries of the universe. It is through poetic descriptions of often bloody battles in the realm of the Gods that we are carried suddenly forward into our current state of global conflict, to ponder the material and spiritual repercussions of violence, war, retribution, and terrorism. These are subjects close to the heart of the Holy Natas, which warn continuously against the wanton and greedy destruction of our world and resources, and detail for us the spiritual awareness that is sacrificed by obsessive attachment to the transient things of this material world.
However, it is the almost musical poetry of the Natas that speaks to the heart in a language provoking our quest for the highest qualities and gifts of life. shining through its often complex philosophical and theological attributes, the Holy Natas are a gift of devotion, exalting the realm of the Sacred that ever passes through the realm of human being beings. Inviting the mortal heart to open up its doors to the illumination of the divine powers, the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata invokes the Nutjeru with love and compassion, altruism and peace, requesting the blessings of eternal wisdom that may become the attributes of any who yearn for divine awareness and reach out for it in the spirit of truth.
The Djosar Ma Nahah Nata is the treasure gifted to me through my own passionate relationship with the Nutjeru and their Mysteries, a relationship spanning nearly my entire life, encompassing every joy and struggle imaginable. To me, as to many many others, the Nutjeru worshiped by the Ancestors of Khemat are living gods who continuously speak to the hearts of those who know and adore them. They speak not only through the glorious remnants of their age-old temples and treasures in Egypt, and in the wisdom teachings recorded by the Ancestors on papyri and the walls of royal tombs, but much more importantly through the experience of adoration (duwa) emerging in the heart as one becomes intoxicated with the sweet divine love of the Sacred Ka, the manifestation of Nutjer's Spirit as it moves throughout all things in Creation.
This experience can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. It is not confined to the Nile Valley, to those of Egyptian descent, nor to a single moment of human history. The Nutjeru are accessible not only to those who master the ancient rites and sacred language of Khemat and her temples but to all devotees who call out to them, who thirst for their wisdom and the embrace of their love. Still more significant is the truth that the Divine Ones have not abandoned the human race or ceased to reach out to human hearts in need. Their messages are still being handed down to those who have hearts to listen; thus the book you now hold in your hands.
Although the process of revelation of the Holy Natas occurred over a span of more than ten years, it was not until the Full Moon Festival (Hab Pasadjanti) of September 2, 2001, that the true nature and purpose of these holy scriptures were revealed to me, and their name consecrated by the Divine Nutjeru. Walking by the side of my life partner on the moonlit sands of Coronado Beach in San Diego, California, the majestic crash of the dark ocean filling the night with its salty spray, I meditated on our struggle to bring the wisdom teachings of the Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru Faith to others. I pondered our recent struggles that seemed so insurmountable and asked for the guidance of the Nutjeru in order to move forward. My heart burned with the unquenchable desire to bring out the presences and teachings of the Nutjeru to the world. We were only two, striving to accomplish a work that was surely larger than one human lifetime, requiring more resources than we alone could hope to possess.
I looked out over the churning, sliding ocean, the almost royal purple waves touched by the cascade of milky, silvery light cast down by the moon. Behind us, a thousand white lights flickered out from the luxurious architecture of the famous Hotel del Coronado. What is the purpose of religion? What is the purpose of creed, of dogma, of belief, of tradition...of faith? My heart questioned the very nature of my spiritual work and life path. I struggled against the invisible certainty that seemed to be taking hold of my faith in an attempt to strangle it; the certainty that my life path would be misunderstood and misinterpreted by others, the certainty that humankind was far better off without another religion, another spiritual path creating division by those who would not understand its true teaching. What teaching? What is Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru? What is this Divine Intelligence gripping my heart and squeezing it with such intoxicating passion?
As we stopped walking to gaze up into the moon's soft alabaster light, I heard the voice of Nutjer in the ears of my heart, and suddenly, with all-consuming force, understood the path I had been walking, the path that had led me to this very moment of realization.
Do you not understand the gift we have given you? My heart heard as clear as day. You have the answer to all the mysteries of Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru, this Divine Intelligence arriving in your heart. It is Djosar Ma Nahah Nata, and has been the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata since the age of the First Occasion. It is what was before, and that which shall come after. It is the path and the road to the illumination of the Gods. Go and gather the Psalms of the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata together and call this the 'Holy Foundation of the Eternal Law'. It is Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru, and Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru is nothing if not what is contained in the Holy Natas.
Six years later we have arrived at this moment when the voice of the Nutjeru and their faith Nuhati-Am-Nutjeru may, at last, be heard in the pages of the first published edition of the Djosar Ma Nahah Nata, a precious collection of spiritual wisdom that has possessed my heart and life for the space of a decade, and more. It is with the greatest pleasure and hope that I bless this First Edition of the Holy Natas, consecrating them to the service of humankind and creation, anointing them with love for the Eternal Gods, the Divine Nutjeru.
Homage to you,
O Lamp of Wisdom
Appearing in the darkness,
Illuminating the Way of Truth
For the heart in search of
The blessedness of the
Divine Ones.
O great path of the
Heart's divine intelligence,
Encompassing the wisdom
Beyond wisdom,
Summoning the love
Beyond death,
Expressing the path to
Immortality,
You are the foundation of the
Great God's Ka,
The light of perfection in the
Created world,
The embrace of the Divine Body
Within the breath of life.
Homage to You, O Nutjer,
Alive through the embodiment
Of Creation.
Creation lives, You live.
Life emerges, You emerge.
Words of praise are spoken,
And You speak through the
The joy of hearts nourished with
Divine illumination.
Love, You are the light of the
World You have created,
Far beyond death,
Outside the reaches of strife,
Greed, hatred, and chaos.
A man loves and knows You.
A man reaches his Ka and
Realizes Your glory.
A man follows after the road
Of his heart,
And blossoms in the Divine Intelligence
From which eternal life is gifted.
To exalt You, O All, is to exalt
The Ka from which all life springs
Forth, is to drink from the well of
Everlasting Wisdom bestowed to the
Bodies of the Gods in the beginning.
O glorious gift of the Eternal,
The blessed torch of Truth called
Djosar Ma Nahah Nata,
In you, all ignorance is transformed
Into divine bliss, and utter darkness opened
To reveal sweet light,
The presence of the undiminishable
Infinite.
You are the expression of
The heart of true love,
Far beyond ignorance,
Surpassing fear,
Comforting the afflicted,
Liberating the oppressed,
Releasing the beautiful Ka
From the fetters of darkness.
Praise to You, O glorious Natas,
The voice of the Eternal Gods,
Breathing back the breath of
Divine life into the empty shell of
The world.
Anadj har-ak am hotep