In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, there was a belief that a lot was known about ancient Egypt. A comprehensive image was formed of an infantile civilization with a typical slave-based system, fanatically inhumane religiousness that favored totemism, worshiped animals, and glorified death.
Many generations of children were raised with such beliefs that applied to other ancient civilizations as well. In the meantime, “heretics” of science dedicated their lives to studying the rich cultural heritage of Egyptian civilization.
In the second half of the 20th century, the prevailing positivist claims softened in the face of their own weapons – evidence. On the other hand, the negative consequences of scientific and technological progress, which today represent a global ecological problem, are increasingly being felt. New spaces for researching the history of mankind and a complete picture of humanity are being opened. The need for security is growing and there is a desire for what is commonly referred to as naturalness. Modern man instinctively directs his gaze towards Searching for inspiration and criteria for building their immediate future, they delve into the past.
Today, there are two conflicting scientific truths about ancient Egypt. One, practically dead, recorded in many books, is no longer advocated by any serious scientist. The other, younger and at the same time far older than the previous one, respects ancient Egypt as one of the impressive civilizations with invaluable cultural treasures.
The ancient Egyptian understanding of human beings is based on civilizational achievements that the ancient Greeks and Romans failed to fully comprehend. It is therefore understandable that modern scientific thinking does not have access to Egyptian philosophy and religion.
The Egyptian perception of humans is essentially the same as that of any pre-Hellenic civilization. This means that they did not possess any special knowledge and beliefs, as they are often attributed to them. Their specificity is evident in the highly practical application of knowledge from a distant, forgotten time, about which very little is known today. Let’s go.
Egyptian philosophical thought depicts the entire universe as a unique organism composed of countless living parts. Each part is in harmonious relationship with the other parts and the whole. In this world view, Egyptian gods are symbols of different principles and effective forces of the living universal nature. For example, stars are material phenomena of cosmic gods.
In such a vision of the living universe, humans are one link in the chain of existence. Therefore, their evolution takes place in dynamic interaction with the unique laws and forces of the universe, of which they are a part.
The ancient Egyptians had a complex theological system. They developed many relationships between gods and humans. Their understanding of the visible and invisible, transient and eternal, life and death was closely related to the meaning of naturalness and truthfulness.
In the principles of the Kybalion, we glimpse the laws by which the universe is made. They explain the correspondences between the visible and the invisible:
1. The universe is m 1. It’s all about the mind.
2. What is above is comparable to what is below; what is below is comparable to what is above.
3. Nothing is static. Everything is vibration.
4. Everything is dual. Everything has two poles, everything has its opposite.
5. Everything has a tide and ebb. Everything has its periods of progress and retreat. Everything rises and falls. Everything moves like a pendulum. Its right deviation is equal to its left deviation. Rhythm is compensation (balancing).
6. Every cause has its effect. Everything happens in accordance with the Law. Chance is nothing but a projection of a Law that we do not know.
7. Birth exists everywhere. Everything has its principle of the masculine gender and its principle of the feminine gender.
These seven principles teach us that the elimination of opposites allows unity. Man is in this world of change and duality of life and death, pleasure and pain, stretched in the space of his consciousness and seeks to know himself. The purpose of his existence and evolutionary path represents his own. a transformation. For the ancient Egyptians, humans participated in the world with sekhem, the life force that brings the entire universe to life. It is essential for them to know their ren, their name that preserves their identity. Ren is a unique being, a person defined by their reality and their actions.
According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, a person is composed of multiple levels or shells (ranging from 7 to 9), similar to the divine ennead. Consciousness and will allow them to connect these parts and create a harmonious and dynamic whole – a complete human being.
sustav svijesti, razuma i volje. To je individualna duša koja preživljava fizičku smrt i prolazi kroz proces reinkarnacije.
4. BA, ptica s ljudskom glavom koja leti iznad tijela. Ba je duša koja se odvaja od fizičkog tijela i putuje u duhovni svijet nakon smrti. Ona zadržava sjećanja, osobnost i iskustva svog prethodnog života.
5. SEKHEM, dlan sa ispruženim prstima okrenutim prema dolje. Sekhem je vitalna energija koja se koristi za iscjeljenje i duhovni razvoj. Ona se može usmjeriti i kontrolirati kroz praksu meditacije i energetskih tehnika.
6. REN, kruna ili aureola iznad glave. Ren je duhovno ime ili identitet osobe. To je ime koje osoba nosi kroz različite živote i odražava njezinu individualnost i duhovni napredak.
7. AKH, zvijezda ili sunce iznad glave. Akh je najviši aspekt čovjeka, njegova božanska priroda ili duša koja je suočena s Bogom. To je stanje prosvjetljenja ili jedinstva s božanskim.
The stack of the spiritual aspect and the manifestation plan that gives shape to the physical body is shown in motion, symbolizing the ability to distance oneself from the Man himself, of which it is an integral part.
The 4th and 5th AB and BA, like twin sisters, represent two parts of the human mind. They are usually depicted as female figures, naked and dressed, or one in very modest clothing and the other in extravagant attire. AB is the part of the mind that relates to desires, the mind bound to different emotions and passions. It is the seat of reason or the subjective mind turned inward, towards the world of its own illusions. This aspect is now referred to as the conscious self by modern psychology. On the other hand, BA is the seat of pure ideas. It is a word whose meaning is close to sublime or noble and represents a selfless mind, independent of all desires, passions, and subjectivities. BA is the awareness of individual existence.
6. AKHU or CHEYBI is the spiritual resurrection depicted as a bird with a human head. It symbolizes the intuition of the sacred. In one form of representation, it is depicted as a As for the aspect, it is the immortal soul, or the brilliant spiritual part within a person. Because of its “bird-like” nature, it is located on the roof of concrete things and has the ability to soar towards the heights of the “other world”, Amenti or the Great House of Amon.
ATMU or SAHU, the great figure of a man on the left side of the scale. This is the spiritual cause of a person, or the aspect within them that can regain their lost status of a God-Man. It is the part of a person that resides outside of changes. That is why it is situated outside of the space being weighed, as an observer. It is also the highest part of human nature, the divine spark within a person that connects them to their heavenly origin.
This sevenfold constitution depicts the Egyptian view of a human being, which originated in the city of Thebes. It is just one of the various ways in which the ancient Egyptians explained a person with pedagogical clarity.
The pictorial symbols used in this papyrus do not have unambiguous and definitive explanations. In other sources, where they are conceived differently, different meanings are expressed. And here come the other aspects of their layered meaning. That is why ancient Egypt remains an inexhaustible source of inspiration for all those who want to learn more about Life, just as it was for Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, and many others who drew inspiration from the banks of the Nile for millennia.