- Talk delivered at the 2nd Isian Assembly on the 15th September 1996
 I greet you in the name of the House of Life which has drawn us here together, though we may not even know it. For the House of Life magnetises the soul and imprints its image deep in memory and imagination. Egyptologists would of course not wax lyrical about a vague and poorly understood institution. While there can be no doubt about the existence of the per ankh, Egyptologists are unclear about its purpose. Was it a merely the place where scribes were trained? Was it a priestly training college? Was it a university for higher learning, a library where archives were maintained or was it a scriptorium where texts were copied generation to generation?
While Egyptologists and academics continue to look into the past through the mindset of the present, misinterpretation is inevitable. Refreshingly, the Egyptologist Bleeker is well aware of this trap and he writes, 'The only useful guiding principle in Egyptology is: one must learn to think Egyptian to be able to penetrate the religion of ancient Egypt.'
If we wish to penetrate the nature of the House of Life, we must learn to think in an Egyptian manner. Unless we can share something of the Egyptian mentality, we will continue to simply miss the point. The West has produced nothing comparable with the Per Ankh, so we must stop searching for comparisons and let The House of Life speak for itself.
First let us make that leap towards the Egyptian mindset. It is abundantly clear that the Egyptians did not use the mind as we do. The process of current education produces and prizes very specific type of rationality. Arthur Versluis reminds us that, 'the gulf between modernity and antiquity is not temporal but mental.' We cannot approach the Mysteries of Egypt while retaining the intellectual method so prized by educators. Schwaller de Lubicz also reminds us of this frequently. He is very clear about the limitations of a purely intellectual approach. He states that, 'Our own confusion is the consequence of a mistaken way of seeking, which is the path taken by rationalism.' Those of us who have already found the way into a different type of higher education system, know that only a symbolic mentation has the power to birth the greater mind. Symbolic connection opens the mind to wide association, rich ideas and deep connections. This is clearly the key to the Egyptian mindset. Pythagoras knew this and took this for his cornerstone. Iamblicus records that, 'The method of teaching he wished to introduce was the symbolical one, in a manner similar to that which he had been instructed in Egypt.' Pythagoras also introduced specific techniques which may have a familiar ring. He encouraged students to train the memory and develop a state of inner serenity.
Pythagoras established a metaphysical philosophy, a doctrine of unity which encompassed the spiritual and the physical, the heavens and the earth. He integrated psychology with political philosophy, astronomy with ethics, music with piety, geometry with divinity. He taught metaphysics and mathematics. Pythagoras shows us the face of the Egyptian initiate, we remember Pythagoras but we easily forget who taught him.
Though we here recognise the importance of the symbolique, I suspect that we still find it hard to recapture the real power of this as a sustained and continuous mode of thinking. We are too immersed in the reductionist, the short hand and the minimalist which is the mindset of the present. By contrast, the Egyptians were able to sustain the symbolique through a holistic fabric woven throughout language, arts and science. Egyptian written language still stands as a sacred code which expands the mind through every hieroglyph. The Egyptians created a richly evocative and poetic language which is mysterious and magical. The Egyptians employed a name with great deliberation. A name had both significance and power, it was never random or meaningless. The symbol was never far from the surface.
The House of Life, the per ankh, combines two powerful symbols into its title. The house is a place of residence, a habitation, a container. The pharaoh is called the twofold great house, the per aa. The familiar ankh is the key of life and the key to the mysteries. It is held by the gods and extended to confer the blessings of life immortal. It is sometimes extended towards the nose, the most subtle of the sensory organs to imbue the recipient with an imperceptible quality. In the lustration of the pharaoh, we see the ankh portrayed as living water. So the House of Life is the dwelling place of the key to the mysteries, the residence of the numinous life giving powers, and the place where the key to life is to be found. Few Egyptologist would accept such a fancy notion. It has to be said that Alan Gardiner comes close to an important realisation when he notes that the name given to the institution, the House of Life, referred to the vivifying power of divinely inspired writings. I believe that this is the key which will enable us to unlock the Egyptian perception of the per ankh.
In our secular society, words and books hold no numinous power. To the Egyptians however a sacred book was an emanation or 'soul of Re.' The scribes who wrote in the House of Life were described as followers or servants of Re. Books were also called 'god's words.' Inscriptions in temples and tombs undoubtedly served a vivifying purpose. If we cannot share the centrality of the creative word, we would do well to well not to forget it in this context. It is perhaps this act of creation which separates the House of Life from a mere House of Scribes. There is something truly magical about inspiration which strikes with a dynamism and power all of its own. Something new comes into being, an act of creation takes place. The power to create mirrors the creative powers of the gods themselves. A papyrus describes Horus as 'master of words, of exalted rank in the House of Life, a creator in the library.' He is also described as 'a prince of books and a co-author with Thoth in the creation of a magical work.'
In our current mindset, medicine and magic are irreconcilable enemies. To the Egyptians each was a direct expression of the principle of renewal, the vivifying power of the numinous. We should not underestimate the significance of this single theme in a mindset quite unlike our own. Bleeker reminds us that, 'The aim of all cultic rites is the renewal of the life of the world, of the community and of the individual.' The many Egyptian festivals were each expressions of this principle. A festival enacts and enshrines particular symbols, usually symbols of mythic power. In mythic enactment the story as essence of primal creation is recaptured, its repetition makes the wheel turn again. Recently Bauval and Hancock have drawn our attention to idea of The First Time as a primal divine blueprint. If we look at The House of Life through this perspective, we may see the it as a mirror of creative cosmic powers .
The hard evidence for the House of Life is somewhat spartan; the historical record is somewhat vague. The Egyptians themselves were reticent when it came to speaking about the House of Life. It needed no public justification. It required no acclaim. It worked silently and unobtrusively. However the sense of the arcane is never absent. Recorded references are few until the reign of Ramesses 1V who expressed a particular interest in all things literary, archaeological and esoteric. According to one inscription, he is described as investigating, 'the annals of Thoth who is in the House of Life.' Elsewhere he is described as being 'excellent of understanding like Thoth.' It is said that he 'penetrated into the annals like the maker thereof', having 'examined the writings of the House of Life.' Sadly the remains of only one site have been discovered. At El Amarna two small buildings were discovered on a temple site. The bricks were individually stamped to read per ankh. We know that temples at Memphis, Abydos, Akhmim, Coptos, Esna and Edfu had a House of Life as part of their extensive complex. It is highly probable that there were such places were attached to the major temples in every city of importance.
Though remarkably few sites have been found, the tombs of a number of servants from the House of Life have been identified. A Nineteenth Dynasty tomb at Thebes dating from the reign of Ramesses 11 belongs to Amenwahsu who is described as 'scribe of the sacred books in the house of Amun, wab priest in the House of Amun, conducting the festivals of all the gods at their seasonal feasts, scribe who wrote the annals of the gods and goddesses in the House of Life.' His son Khaemope who carried the same title is described as 'one who wrote the annals of all the gods in the House of Life.' One, Amenmose is called 'scribe of the sacred books, scribe of the House of Life of the Lord of the Two lands.' The prince Mentjuhotep is called 'Master of the Secrets of the House of Life.' At El-Bershah, we find the tomb of Iha who is described as 'one who propitiates the gods, an overseer of writings in the House of Life, to whom all private matters are revealed.' In the Thirtieth Dynasty, a chief lector priest is described as 'leader of the masters of magic in the House of Life.' A relief from Bubastis depicting the Sd festival shows a priestly procession described as, 'friends and masters of magic.' Two persons present are described as, 'magician protectors of the King of Lower Egypt.'
These brief inscriptions link the House of Life to the festivals and stories of the gods, to an arcane tradition, to magic, to the great festivals of state and to the person of the pharaoh himself.
We have relatively few lengthy inscriptions which relate to the House of Life. One notable exception relates directly to restoration undertaken by the chief physician, Udjehorressnet. It reads as follows. 'His Majesty king Darius commanded me to return to Egypt in order to restore the department(s) of the House(s) of Life.........after they had fallen into decay. I did as His Majesty commanded me; I furnished them with all their staffs consisting of persons of rank, not a poor man's son among them. I placed them in charge of every learned man (in order to teach them) all their crafts. His Majesty commanded them to be given all (manner of) good things that they might exercise all their crafts. I equipped them with all their ability and their apparatus which was on record in accordance with their former condition. This His Majesty did because he knew the virtue of this art to revive all that are sick and to commemorate for ever the name(s) of all the gods, their temples, their offerings and the conduct of their festivals.'
This text affirms the view that The House of Life was strongly connected with the practice of medicine. However another text is far less clear in intent. The Egyptologist Gardiner wonders whether the picture so painted is 'pure theological fantasy, or whether it had some practical magical purpose.' We too cannot help but wonder. The inscription reads as follows:
'As for the House of Life, it shall be in Abydos. Build it in four bodies, the inner body being of covered reeds. As for the four 'houses' and the four presences of Life, as for the living one, He is Osiris, and as for the four they are Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Thoth, Isis being on one side and Nephthys on the other; Horus on one side and Thoth on the other. These are the four sides. Geb is its ground and Nut its heaven. The hidden one who rests within it is the Great God. The four outer bodies consist of a stone that contains two wings, and its lower part, its floor is sand, and its outside has severally four doors, one south, one north, one west and one east. It shall be hidden and very large. It shall not be known nor shall it be seen; but the sun shall look upon its mystery. The people who enter into it are the staff of Re and the scribes of the House of Life. The people who are in it, the fkty-priest is Shu, the slaughterer is Horus who slays the rebels for his father Osiris, and the scribe of the sacred books is Thoth, and it is he who will recite the ritual glorifications in the course of every day unseen, unheard. Hale of mouths and secret of body and mouths. They are far removed from sudden cutting of. No Asiatic shall enter into it, he shall not see it thou art very far removed. The books that are in it are the emanations of Re wherewith to keep alive this god and to overthrow his enemies. As for the staff of the House of Life who are in it, they are the followers of Re protecting his son Osiris every day.'
This mysterious model takes us straight to the numinous, in it we recognise an archetypal construction much like a mandala or magic circle with Osiris the god of resurrection at its centre. In the Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, we find a reference to the dwelling place of Osiris as the soul awaits admission into the presence. "You shall announce me to him whose roof is fire, whose walls are living uraei, the floor of whose house is water.'
"Who is He?''
"He is Osiris."
"Proceed; behold you are announced." Like all mandalas and magic circles, this particular model can be internalised as a map for the psyche. Yet the mundane is never far away either for these gods bring practical gifts to Egypt. Thoth, the self created, is the inventor of astronomy, astrology, the science of numbers and mathematics, geometry, land surveying, medicine and botany. He established the worship of the gods and laid down the rules concerning the times and nature of offerings. He composed hymns and prayers by which the gods should be addressed and drew up liturgical works. He invented the letters of the alphabet, the arts of reading and the skill of oratory. He was the author behind every work branch of knowledge whether human or divine The Books of Thoth numbered 42. As scribe of the gods, Thoth was the god of scribes and the great unseen mind behind the House of Life itself. Isis and Osiris as the rulers of Egypt bestowed the civilising forces of law and established the mysteries.
Apart from these divinities, other gods also had special connections with the Per Ankh. Seshat was called The Lady of Plans and the Lady of Writings in the House of Life. Khnum the builder god par excellence was a protector to the House of Life and was called Lord of the House of Life. But the divinity we should never forget in relation to the House of Life is Sekhmet, the Mistress of Transformation. The Greeks called the powers of the gods numen. The Egyptians called it sekhem which simply means 'the powers.' This is the force behind all magic, the raison d'etre of The House of Life. Thus is Sekhmet rightly called the Great Lady of the House of Life.
The nature and qualities of Sekhmet perhaps above any other single deity provide insight into the nature of the House of Life. Her leonine nature, wild and fierce made her the ideal figurehead for the activity of the slaughterhouse and the work of butchers. But this same power also made her the aegis for surgical and medical practice. Yet if we describe Sekhmet as the patron goddess of medical practice, we miss the essential unifying function of her presence and we have failed to touch the Egyptian mind.
Sekhmet unifies the arts and science, the mundane and the metaphysical, the medical and the magical. All of these are extensions and expressions of the one life constantly transformed. She is the Lady of Transformation. The application of medicine brings transformation. The application of magic brings transformation. The application of metaphysical knowledge brings transformation. The application of knowledge itself brings transformation. Would it be too forceful to say that transformation is the key principle underlying The House of Life. It is enshrined at the heart by Osiris himself as the principle of renewal. Transformation is of course the key to initiation, the renewing function of festival and myth, and all esoteric strategies.
More than this, Sekhmet herself is truly the active power of transformation, for she is as Shakti. To worship Sekhmet is to actively court transformation. She is Kundalini, the raised serpent on the brow of her father. As Shakti is to Shiva, so Sekhmet is to Ptah. As Shiva lies beneath Shakti as a corpse, so Ptah is the bound mummiform awaiting the fertilising power of the feminine. Ptah is conceived of as the creator of the physical world but he does not act without the life giving fire of Sekhmet. Like Shakti, Sekhmet is the awakener. As the rising Kundalini, she is fire, the gleaming one. As the burner away of the old, she is the destroyer. As the risen Kundalini, she is the bringer of enlightenment. Hear the path of transformation through her titles.
Sekhmet, Great One of magic
Lady of Transformations
The Source
Awakener
Opener of Ways
Flaming One
Sparkling One
Gleaming One
Destroyer by Fire
Giver of Ecstasies
Ruler of Serpents
Sublime One
Enlightened
Great Serpent on the Head of her Father
Lady of all Powers.
Beloved Sekhmet According to Robert Masters, it was at Memphis where the magico-religious system of Sekhmet, Ptah and Nefer-tum was taught. In this triad we find the same enduring themes of Egyptian sacred life. Through the fertilising power of Sekhmet, Ptah brings forth mathematics, philosophy, the sciences, literature, painting, sculpture and music. Nefer-tum brings medicine. Sekhmet herself brings a systemized knowledge of higher states of consciousness and the interrelationship between the subtle bodies and the physical form. Masters himself has been able to restore a working system which unites and integrates the five bodies into a composite centre of active consciousness. As Masters himself is the first to state there is much more to bring through, for more has been lost than found.
The Egyptians understood the relationship between the creative powers and the world itself. Like a stone dropped into water, the impact of the causal Neter created ripple upon ripple in the world of effects. Medicine, the veterinary sciences, astronomy, the arts, the sciences, music, dance and more besides all flow from a single source and centre. They are not separated but the gifts of single blessing. In our fragmented world, knowledge and wisdom have been split asunder, knowledge itself has become fragmented. Mathematics, architecture, astronomy, music, philosophy, art, medicine are seen to be separate and quite distinct. Mathematicians do not mix with medical men, architects do not mix with astronomers. They have little to give each other. Above all, the spiritual and the material have been prised apart. Arthur Versluis understands this well. He writes that, 'In a very real sense our modern age represents an anomaly, a discontinuity, and a time of dissolution, in which by making contact with the ancient past, we also contact the future, serving very much thereby as a means of continuity for the perennial truth, the realisation of the transcendent. Whether we know it or not, this is the single most important function one could perform in this, or any other age. For indeed contact with the primordial is that for which one exists, and initiation is the 'turning about in the consciousness' which signifies this very change in the direction of one's life, turning from the dispersed to the concentrated, from the irreal to the Primordial.'
The House of Life is rightly named. It is no simple training school for the scribal arts but the House of the Mysteries of Life. At its heart we find Osiris, lord of all cycles of renewal. In the typically labyrinthine complexities of Egyptian theology, Ptah and Osiris merged as Ptah-Seker-Asar, the triune god of resurrection, the architect and builder of the world, self begotten, self born, the giver of everlasting life, perhaps a fitting mystery in the House of the Greatest Mysteries.
In our current struggle for holism, The House of Life presents a powerful model. The House of Life does not belong to the past but to the eternal present. The House of Life lives, its magic lives, its vivifying centre lives, the deities live.
Let me close by addressing you with the words of one Petearpokrates, king’s scribe and prophet of Mehyt in Abydos. 'O all you priests who penetrate into the words of god and are skilled in writings, you who are enlightened in the House of Life and have discovered the ways of the gods, who have penetrated into the archives of the library and can interpret the mysteries of the emanations of Re, who are skilled in the work of the ancestors and who open up the heart of what is upon the wall, you who carve the tombs and interpret the mysteries, who shall come to Rostau and if you all shall, approach the sacred land.'
Let us indeed approach the sacred land.
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