The region of the sky that Orion/Osiris guards is associated by the Egyptians with the Duat or Tuat, which is the gateway to such things as Immortality and the realms of the gods. It is believed that when the pharoh died and the rites of his passage and resurrection of the soul performed, that the dead pharoh travelled to this realm and became immortal. The new king was 'baptized' at the same time by accompanying the dead pharoh on the journey through the agency of an altered state of consciousness that is presumed to have been drug-induced. This is very similar to shamanic practices of 'astral travel and projection'. The effect of this journey for the new king was to witness the trials of the deceased pharoh in his journey to the Duat, so that he would know what awaited him when his turn came to be immortalized. The region of the Duat is said to be just above Orion's head...in the Milky Way, the Silver River of the night sky. So, we have here the idea of the baptism of the new pharoh in this celestial river.

At some point in time, these rites were lost. Many speculations have been made as to just how this happened. It is my own thought that these rites were lost when the Hyksos kings invaded Egypt and took over the kingship there. Although they adorned themselves and dressed like pharohs -- even taking Egyptian pharonic names, the Hyksos were never made privy to the secrets of these rites of passage. They were never divine kings, invested in their office by these holy rites and they were not of the royal blood lines of the Egyptian kings. Many scholars have concluded that the Hyksos were Canaanites or Syrians. Others have theorized that they were the Hebrews themselves, citing the interpretation of the word hyksos as meaning 'shepherd kings'. The "Hapiru" as the Egyptians called them were known nomads and keepers of flocks of animals. The word hapiru means 'foreigner'.

The fact that the Hyksos were said to have 'moved in' on Egypt in gradual waves, then gradually taking over, precludes any sort of invasion tactics. Not that the Hyksos did not do battle with the Egyptians - they most certainly did, but they were far better warriors than the peaceful Nile folk. This kind of infiltration seems more characteristic of the Hebrews, who often gave themselves into slavery in the houses of kings, or wealthy landowners and merchants wherever they went. This afforded them a better, more stable life and an opportunity to better learn the customs, languages and beliefs of these lands. However - in spite of what is written in Joshua and parts of Exodus, the Hebrews were not the mighty warriors that the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites and Syrians were. These people had chariots and horses. They were excellent archers, and expert horsemen who were without a doubt riding the fast, compact Arabian horse. Even to this day, the tribesmen of the desert race these horses. Sheikhs and kings own stables full of them and race them for sport. They are highly prized animals...animals that the Egyptians did not have. But the Egyptians soon learned, and eventually drove the Hyksos from Lower Egypt (the northern portion of Egypt, including the Nile Delta).

In their book "The Hiram Key", Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas make a case for the Hyksos being the Hebrews -- who so badly wanted the secrets of the rites of passage that they killed one of the last of the kings of Upper Egypt (Thebes), Seqenenre Tao II (Djehuti'o) in an attempt to get them. It is true, that the Hyksos were pushing their reign ever further southward toward Thebes during this time and had extended their lands down to the head of the Delta by the time they were routed from Egypt. But the Hyksos did not succeed in getting these secrets. The secrets died with Seqenenre Tao II. By the time the Hyksos left Egypt, these rites had been lost. New ones were fashioned in their place...but it was never the same. The true 'magic' was gone and kingship was no longer confired by divine appointments, but by very human rites that were pale imitations of the originals and oaths of office.

I tend to agree with Knight and Lomas's timing regarding the loss of the rites and the rites dying within the timeframe of Seqenenre Tao II's rule. He most definitely died a violent death, looking at his mumified skull. I can't totally go for the idea that the Hyksos were the Hebrews, simply because they were not the warriors that the aforementioned other peoples were. Modern archaeologists have proven that there was no 'battle of Jericho' as it is told in the Bible. Neither was there a battle at Ai, as is told in the Book of Joshua. For more information on this, I suggest reading the book "EXODUS - The True Story Behind the Biblical Account" by Ian Wilson (Harper & Row Publishers, 1985). You should be able to find this book at your local library. The Hebrews were sheep-herders, and according to their own tales, slaves who ran from the pharoh's pursuing armies to save themselves.

We are not told who was this pharoh who chased them out of Egypt. For many years, it was thought to be Ramses II, son of Seti I. Both of these pharohs were devotees of Set or Seth and red-haired. It is more commonly held these days that the Exodus...if there ever was one...took place during the coinciding reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. Thut-moses? Did the Hebrews take for the name of their 'hero' and deliverer the name of the very king who was said to have driven them out of the Delta? Did they commemorate one of only two female pharohs, Hatshepsut as the Queen of Sheba?

What is often not known about the Hysksos kings is that many of them were also devotees of Set and Apophis, the chthonic serpent deity of the Egyptians. Apophis is the serpent-devil of mist, darkness, storm, and night - seen as the enemy of the Sun. Apophis is said to live in the celestial Nile (again, the Milky Way), that flows through the vault of the heavens. He constantly attempts to thwart the progress of Ra as he travels across the sky each day in his sun-boat. When Apophis is successful, an eclipse occurs and we have the idea of a great serpent or dragon swallowing the sun. Because Apophis is considered the enemy of Ra and the light, he is often confused with and equated to Seth.

But what is really, truly intriguing about all this is that the latter Gnostics or Essenes (Nasoreans - "keepers of secret wisdoms") consider themselves as the children of Seth and revere writings known as the "Three Stellae of Seth". However, this is the third son of Adam and not the Egyptian god, Set. Or, is it?

In spite of their seeming animosity toward the Egyptians and their gods, I would say that the Hebrews envied them and their peaceful, established life. They wanted very much to be like them and to many reports (even biblical ones) imitated or moved themselves into the Egyptian way of life. They wanted grand temples and powerful priests like the Egyptians had. Priests who knew secret things and weilded great powers. Priests who had the ear of the gods and were able to manifest wondrous acts of magic. Why do I think this way? Because so much of what is written in the first five books of the Bible is heavily borrowed from the Egyptians. At the same time they envied them their rich, settled culture, the Hebrews also feared the Egyptians and their priests and gods. It is human nature to often identify one's self with that which we envy and/or that which we fear -- as if in some way to make it our own or conquer it. Wanting so much to be like the Egyptians, it seems that the Hebrews stole much from them -- put a new coat of paint on it and called it a different name, hoping to hide this fact. But the Egyptians weren't the only ones whose legends, deities and mysteries were appropriated by the Hebrews.

More on these topics to come....