The Cult of Thoth Description The Cult of Thoth will survive among the Greeks as the Cult of Mercury

and eventually become the powerful order of Hermes. Its manifest destiny begins very early in Prehistory as a small priesthood of learned men who follow the Arch Mage Thoth Tehuti, the Ibis Magi. The Cult of Thoth were knowledgeable wielders of Language, they understood the power of names and words and built eternal truths with the mathematics of the Universe. Even those whom Ra had not awakened to the true glory of the stars could affect Hedge Magic with their words and the True magi could shape mountains into massive edifice in honour of Pharaoh and the Gods. The Hermetic Mages of today have continued to practice a watered down and bastardised version of the original craft of Khem's sorcerers with their sigils and rotes but it is paltry in comparison to the magic of the Mythic Age. And what of Thoth himself? The mysterious student of Isis has been credited with various parents, Ra, Osiris and Isis, Isis and Anubis, Osiris and Nephthys, Anubis and Nephthys. Whoever gave birth to him, it was Isis who shared his thirst for knowledge and together they helped Khem become a kingdom of magical prowess. Her Mother wit and his detailed and exacting formula helped create the advanced glories of Khem and each of them attracted a huge and loyal following. Practices of the Cult In Zep Tepi, the first times, only members of the Cult could be scribes and thus even the recording of Names and taxes was the domain of these wise priests. This monopoly based in the 'House of Life' stood for millennia its secrets survived the great deluge and is perhaps the only link between Egypt's two Golden era. Even into the Dynastic period it was the acolytes of Thoth who were responsible for the keeping of history, the design and placement of Tombs and monuments, and the creation of the art and hieroglyphs on them. Exacting ritual and ceremonies that took several months to complete were vital to the spiritual well being of the Egyptian kingdoms and the Cult of Thoth were indispensable because of their ability to conduct this offices. This monopoly stood for millennia until Sutekh decimated the priesthood. While menial tasks such as the appeasement of the Gods and the spirits was left to a lesser class of priests, the Cult of Thoth were second only to the Royalty. It was they who presided over the Kings ascension, passing on the secrets of state and ensuring that the Old king passed on his knowledge to his heir. The vast body of Law and the exacting need for correctly performed ritual lay in the hands of the Priesthood, and the most intelligent children were considered the property of the Cult almost without question. From the scribes and ministers, to great Mages like Imhotep himself, the Cult of Thoth was inseparable from the day-to-day existence of the Egyptian state. They controlled the House of Life, the central repository of sacred and profane knowledge, of the Astronomers and the fortunetellers. Pharaoh would consult the Cult of Thoth when seeking advice from the celestial bodies and from the Gods. Weighty questions about existence, the skills required to traverse the afterlife, the study of the Occult and the mapping of the Heavens all took up a great deal of time and energy and the Priesthood could reasonably expect to be housed, fed and protected by the rest of Egyptian society. Foremost in the philosophy of the Cult was the ongoing quest to define the interconnectedness of all things, the threads that held the Universe together. Sigils, patterns and Mathematics were all used to add intricate layers to each project and the result was an amalgam of knowledges and Lores not easily discernable by the untrained eye. The inclusion of Pi in the construction of the Pyramids, the positioning of the shafts within those structures and the placement of each and every monument and tomb, all these served to communicate a variety of different messages on different levels. To ask, "what is the Sphinx?" is foolish; by seeking a single defining answer the

modern mind has already shut itself off from the possibility of finding the answer. The Great Pyramid is at once a Tomb for a vain King, a mathematical model of the earth, a fixed point in space and time, a Doorway to the afterlife and tourist attraction. No land, no concept in life, has such a simple yet unmistakable icon than that shape, and yet there is nothing simple in its nature. The End for Enoch and Khem " [Thoth] succeeded in understanding the mysteries of the Heavens [and to have] revealed them by inscribing them in sacred books (places?) which he then hid on Earth, intending that they should be searched for by future generations, but found only by the worthy." Thoth and his priests saw the coming of a cataclysm in the celestial signs. Further investigation revealed the unlikelihood that Khem, or any of the great civilizations ruled by Enoch, would survive the coming disaster intact. The priesthood who held learning and knowledge as so vital were faced with the total obliteration of everything they had mastered, every secret revealed and every philosophy explored in the face of the unyielding chaos of capricious nature. The Cult withdrew from the secular life of Khem to concentrate on forestalling or circumventing their own destruction. The mastery of mathematics and masonry became their only hope and the Cult set about designing landmarks and structures that would withstand the misfortune and somehow communicate the secrets of the universe to later generations. It is still unclear as to whether or not they succeeded. Certainly some great thinkers have discerned the hidden secrets of the pyramids along with the crackpots and Conspiracy theorists, but the world isn't ready to listen. Remnants of the knowledge entrusted to the world by the Cult of Thoth survived when the later Pharaohs of Egypt placed their tombs and temples over the ruins of ancient Khem. Concepts such as Pi are represented in the construction of the Pyramids, and their alignment to the cardinal points and the exact adherence to right angles is unmatched even by modern abilities. The alignment of the Queens shaft with the pole star and the use of the Lion (remodelled into the Sphinx) is meant to fix a point in prehistory for the height of the kingdom of Khem of 14,000 years ago, long before accepted archaeology believes Egyptian society flourished. Only now with modern investigation techniques have we discovered hidden vaults and apertures on the Giza plain, perhaps one of these really will hold the secrets recorded by none other than Thoth himself. Thoth Tehuti, the Ibis magi never saw the completion of his work, in the final decades of Zep Tepi he made a terrible sacrifice in an attempt to preserve all he had uncovered about the hidden nature of creation. In concert with Isis, Thoth sought to record his knowledge upon a book even more enduring than rock and stone. For the Magi knew that the soul of man was capable of surviving beyond any catastrophe, even the complete annihilation of the planet Earth itself. Isis had been working fervently on magic's to restore her dead husband to life, or at least Unlife. This Spell, the Spell of life was a powerful reweaving of the laws of nature and if successful would allow a human to survive the trials and tribulations in the Duat and to return to its body. In a secret chamber deep beneath the dark sand of Khem, Isis and Nephthys prepared to create the first of the Reborn. Two lifelong friends had agreed to undergo the untested Spell of Life for their Queen and Thoth was not about to pass up this chance for an immortal student. As Anpw, the first of the men was being given the Ritual, Thoth was secretly altering the nature of his companion. By taken his own Avatar, the source of his power, Thoth made a book out of a boy. He etched the mysteries of the heavens, the secrets of his craft, upon the very soul of this boy and then sent him to be made immortal by the Spell of Life. If only that ritual had been completed our modern world would be a vastly altered place. Spheres The Gods of Khem and the Spheres of True Magic God AKA

Sphere Re or Ra The Sun God and Creator Prime Shu Dryness or Air Mind Tefnut Moisture Spirit Geb The earth Matter Nut The Sky Forces Osiris Auser, the sacrificial and ressurected God Correspondence Isis Auset, Goddess of life and Magic Life Set Sutekh, Seth, God of Chaos and Darkness Entropy Nephthys Nebt-Het, Goddess of Nature and Twilight Time