3.
5 The Ka of his Mother
I am the fertile seed,
Engendered by the great Heavenly Bull,
I am the firstborn of An.
(Enki and the World Order 61-80)
3.5.1 – The Ka and the Totem of the
Bull
The Pharaoh Micerinos or Menkaure is
Mn.Kau.Ra . It is to this Pharaoh
that the third and smallest of the great pyramids in
Giza is dedicated to, and he has a name with the
symbolism of the Ka in plural form as Kau (
). The link here is of the Ka (in a plurality) to Ra: in
other words, it is relating the Spiritual Body or Ka to
the Spiritual Light in the realm of spirits or Akhet.
Ra is the Light of God, and then there is the
substance of that Light of God which is Wisdom
(Toth). Hence, when we speak of the ‘Kas of Ra’,
under the name of Pharaoh as Mn.Kau.Ra, we are
again drawn to the esoteric science of the
Pharaonic priests which is a secret language of
initiation.
The identification of Pharaoh as Cosmic
Man (Osiris) is deeply related to the Ka . It is
described in the Pyramid Texts as the spiritual body
which Pharaoh acquires in the journey of his
spiritualization, and this “new body” is related to
the Supreme God Atum.
Oh Ra, your dawning is in the sky,
You arise for this Unas, [as] Lord of
everything
As all things to your body belong,
So all things belong to the Ka of this Unas
And all things belong to his body.1
(…)
Your arms are those of Atum,
Your shoulders are those of Atum,
Your torso is that of Atum,
Your back is that of Atum
Your throne is that of Atum,
Your legs are those of Atum,
1
Pyramid Texts, utterance 50.
Your face is that of Anubis.2
The latter utterance 213 from the Pyramid
Texts is the first on the southern wall in the
sarcophagus chamber, while the former utterance
50 is set upon the northern wall. It is also on this
northern wall that we find utterance 25, the one
which describes the Ka of Pharaoh as a composition
of many divine parts gathered into one:
Someone has been reunited with his Ka
Horus has been reunited with his Ka
Seth has been reunited with his Ka
Toth has been reunited with his Ka
Dun-Anuy has been reunited with his Ka
Osiris has been reunited with his Ka
Jenti-Irti has been reunited with his Ka
And you also have been reunited with your
Ka.3
The name of Mn.Kau.Ra, the Pharaoh of the
third pyramid of Giza, is evoking the Kas of Ra
through Min. As we just read, In utterance 25, the
Ka of Pharaoh is described as composition of the of
the neteru or ‘gods’. In having acquired this Ka of
Atum-Ra, Pharaoh is reliving the primordial cosmic
process and having his subtle body or Ka
transformed into a cosmic body whose parts are the
neters or “gods” themselves.
This is the meaning of Khaf.Ra or “He
appears like Ra” which is the name of the
preceding Pharaoh in the King List of 4th Dynasty
monarchs, and it is described in utterance 50 of the
Pyramid Texts when we read “Oh Ra, your dawning
is in the sky”. The reunion of the divine fragments
are all condensed into the Supreme God Atum: the
primordial seed of all things in the Heliopolitan
cosmogony. It is Atum which contains all potential
manifestations in the universe, so in one word,
Pharaoh is experiencing a transformation into
wholeness or Unity and is thus experiencing a state
of consciousness which is entire (holistic) and
undivided. This experience of unity is associated to
2
Ibid., 213.
3
Ibid., 25. We will come back to this utterance 25 of the
Ka as it is repeated in the passage into the Akhet in the
Pyramid of Unas.
1
the Supreme God of gods, the One from which Ra
emerges: Atum.
Now, the journey into the Light of Ra –
which means becoming like Ra– is explained in
Egyptian religion through the symbolism of the Min.
The Mn in the name of Pharaoh as Mn.Kau.Ra is
inevitably reminiscent of Min: the deity
representing the kamutef principle of Pharaonic
philosophy.
The Procession of Min from Medinet Habu, Temple of Ramses III. Pharaoh makes an offering
of water and incense to Min.
The kamutef is Ka.Mut.f and
literally means “Ka of His Mother”, but the esoteric
or spiritual meaning needs to be revealed. This
Kamutef principle is important to understand in the
journey of Pharaoh into the realm of the Akhet, the
spirit world, as the kamutef is a symbol of the
spiritual transformation of Man.
The Mother (Mut ) of the Divine Child as
Horus is of course Isis, but she is also Hathor as
the “Mansion of Horus”. However, the concept of
the Divine Mother, as Mut and symbolized by the
vulture leads us to the Theban mysteries of the
south, to the city that the Romans knew as Diospolis
Magna, the Wastet or City of the Scepter in
Egyptian language. Although the Cosmic Mother has
many names and symbolic depictions, we are to
understand that these apparently different
‘godesses’ (Isis, Mut, Hathor, Maat, etc.,) are but
the functions or aspects of the one and only one
2
Great Mother archetype. As Schwaller de Lubicz
explains:
Symbolism distinguishes Isis from
Maat, Hathor from Mut. There is only a
single femininity, but it acts differently in
different environments.4
Throughout this work, we have pointed out
that the Great Mother archetype in ancient
mythology is a symbol of the soul, psyche, or anima.
It should thus be understood that the “Ka of his
Mother” is a symbolism describing the
spiritualization of the soul, or, in other words, the
Ba finding or acquiring the Ka.
In the Pyramid Texts, this kamutef is
presented on the east wall and gable of the
sarcophagus chamber of Unas’ pyramid, and on the
east wall spiritualization is most emphatic and the
most notable symbols evoked are Fire, the Fiery Red
Crown, and the Uraeus serpent that is seen
portrayed on the brow of Pharaoh.
Of this we will speak a bit further on, but for
now we will concentrate on the symbolism behind
the Min:
The phallus is placed at the
location of the navel, the material
attachment [Mut]. A natural birth is
denied, but receptive femininity is
replaced by active, seminal masculinity.
This is the adamic hermaphrodite, the first
living being who must necessarily contain
in itself two natures: yes and no, good and
bad, high and low.
(…) Now, our kamutef is
represented as Min, Min is the effect of
Ptah, the celestial power fallen that is,
coagulated, in earth.5
This Min and kamutef principle is best
understood by its totemic imagery in Pharaonic art.
The hieroglyph of the Ka as the raised arms is
cleverly linked to the bull ‘Ka’ and to the horns
of the bull . In utterance 214, for example, as in
4 7
R.A. Scwaller de Lubicz, The Temple of Man, p.835.
5
Ibid.
many others, the ‘Ka’ is evoked as , but through
the hieroglyphs, we read:
The messengers of your Ka come
for you.6
The ‘messengers’ of the Ka here
are also ‘the messengers of Ra’, and thus they are
the neters or “gods”. But why are these
‘messengers’ evoked with the horns of the ox or
bull?
A deeper insight of the matter reveals that
the Ka is indeed linked to the bull, as the ‘Ka’ is also
written in other texts of Ancient Egypt. For
example, in Chapter 63 in the Book of Coming Forth
by Day,7 the Bull of Amentet is written
and it actually says ‘Ka’ ( ) of
Amentet ( ). The Ka has then at least 3
figurations: as the raised arms (a symbol of the
bull’s horns but referring to the human being), the
bull , and the phallus in the act of ejaculation
. All these are pronounced ‘Ka’.
Here we are speaking of a totem which is
the bull and it’s ‘powers’ (the cosmic functions
which the bovine creature exalts in the natural
world). The kamutef or ‘Ka of his Mother’ is a
principle implying that Pharaoh absorbs or
spiritually integrates the functions of the Cosmic
Mother, the Cow goddess Hathor of the
Heliopolitan mysteries. Or the Mut of Thebes
As Scwhaller de Lubicz points out, the
kamutef principle relates to a seminal power, and
thus the Ka as is directing our attention to the
seminal power of the bull. Min has the phallus
placed in the location of the navel, and the navel
represents a feminine function of nurture through
the link to the mother by the umbilical chord. In the
Min we find this feminine principle fused with a
masculine function of ejaculation. The name of the
2nd Dynasty Pharaoh Ka.Kau is in
6
Pyramid Texts, Utterance 214.
‘Chapter of drinking water and not being burned by
fire’.
3
accordance with this line of associations, but the re-membered after its Sethian dismemberment
meaning behind this is not yet apparent. which is incarnation.

The Procession of Min from Medinet Habu, Temple of Ramses III.

In the Ptolemaic era, there was a cult to According to Aelian (De Nat.
Serapis: a form of Osiris that was known in earlier Animal, xi, 10), Hapi or Apis was held in
days as ‘Hapi’ or ‘Apis’: the sacred Bull. Let us the greatest honor in the times of Mena
mention that the function of the Ka is to animate [Min], the first historical [actually mythic]
and move: to provide movement as the first seminal king of Egypt, but Manetho says that it
seed of all creation does. The Ka’s power makes was under Kaiekhos, i.e., Ka Kau
Osiris (the psychic substance which is akin to
Number 5)8 to repossess or gain its original energy , a king of the IInd Dynasty, that
as the walking Bull (Serapis), and this is possible Apis was appointed to be a god.9
because Osiris (the psychic aspect of Man) has been
Here we are not confronted with literal
history, but with a mythology regarding the ‘first
pharaoh’ Min (or Menes) in relation to the sacred
8
See section 1.3 The Great Ennead where we associate
Numbers to the gods or neteru according to the
9
Heliopolitan tradition. Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, p.346.
4
bull Apis and our Ka.Kau of the 2nd Dynasty. When
Aelian says “in the times of Min” he is speaking of
Pharaonic mysteries which describe phases or
stages of initiation, not to a historical moment.
The fact that we are immersed here in the
mysteries of Ancient Egypt is very clear in these
words from Wallis Budge which come only a few
pages later:
Among the Egyptians, another
sacred bull was that of Hermonthis
[Hr.Mn]. (Strabo, XVII, 1, 47) which
according to Macrobius (Saturn. I, 26) was
called Bacchis (or Bacis, or Basis, or Pacis),
and according to Aelian (xii. 11) Onuphis,
the latter name is probably a corruption of
some Egyptian name of Osiris Un Nefer.
This bull was black in color, and its
hair turned to a contrary way from that of
all other animals, (…) it was said to change
its color every hour of the day, and was
regarded as an image of the sun [Ra]
shining in the other side of the world, i.e.
the underworld [actually, the Akhet].
The Egyptian equivalent of the
name Bacis, or Bacchis, is Bakha,
,10 and this bull is styled the “living
soul of Ra,” , and the “Bull of
the Mountain of Sunrise (Bakhau), and the
lion of the Mountain of Sunset.” He wears
between his horns [i.e. in his Ka] a disk,
from which rise plumes and a uraeus; over
his hindquarters is the sacred symbol of
the vulture [Mut] with outspread wings.11
We will notice how the idea of the “living
soul of Ra” here alluded as Bakha is quite
reminiscent of what was said about the Heka in the
Book of the Cow: “I am his Soul, and I am Heka”.12
The mystery cults of Bacchus in Greece are
obviously derived from ancient cultures like the
Mycenean, Minoan, and/or Egyptian cults of the
very first dynasties. The relation to Bacchic and
Orphic cults of Greece to the Egyptian mysteries has
10
The Bull here has a disk between his horns which does
not appear in our rendering.
11
Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, p.352.
12
See section 3.2 – The Book of the Cow.
already been observed by W.C.K. Guthrie in a
mention to Herodotus.13 The cult to the Bull and the
Auroch is perceived as early as the Second Dynasty
(2925-2700 BC) in ancient Egypt.
In its astrological parallel, the sacred bull –
whose color is black– has the astrological totem of
the celestial bull of the Taurus constellation. When
the pyramid of Unas was constructed (c. 2300 BC)
the final years of the Age of Taurus were passing on,
and the shift to the Age of Aries, the ram, whose
deity was Zeus-Ammon was ready to set in.14
It is in the Old Kingdom, in the late Age of
Taurus that we find an extensive cult of the bull,
especially in the earliest dynasties of Pharaonic
history. Mastaba 3504, attributed to a noble by
name Sekhem.Ka, (Power/Image of the Ka) is one of
the largest mastabas of the 1st Dynasty, and seems
to correspond to the reign of Pharaoh Djet (c. 3008–
2975 BC). This tomb or cenotaph contained as much
as 346 bull heads made of clay and is the most
obvious example of an early-dynastic “bull cult”.15
This ‘bull worship’ in the archeological
record belongs to the late Age of Taurus, the
astronomical epoch when the vernal equinox
(astronomical east) was located right between the
bull’s horns in the celestial sphere. Is it not possible
that the imagery of Hathor and Isis, in particular,
with the horns embracing the solar disk is originally
copied from the heavens and is an astrologically
significant image?
13
In Guthrie’s Orpheus and Greek Religion: “Herodotus
(2.81) says the Egyptians do not introduce in their
temples articles of whool, or are buried with them. In
this coincide the so called orphics or bacchics that are
actually Egyptian and Pythagorean”. (our translation
from the Spanish version Orfeo y la Religion Griega,
p.201).
14
We can find images of Zeus-Ammon (an obvious
Greco-roman syncretism) as a human being with rams
horns. This fits a cosmology where different ages fit
different mentalities of Cosmic Man: what is known as
Zitgeist or “Spirit of the Age” in German.
15
This is inevitably reminiscent of Cathal Huyuk (7500-
5200 BC) in Anatolia which is famous for its bull or
auroch heads. The number 346 is the amount of days in
the Eclipse Year or Draconitic Cycle, where the Sun
returns to the position of the same lunar node. The
number is significant as far as it is an eclipse or luni-solar
number.
5

Vase from Greece showing a scene from the
mysteries. The bald man carries a Herma and on
the wall we find ox or bull horns.
Isis, during the Age of Pisces wears a veil as
Mary. The true identity of the Great Mother is
presented differently across the 12 Zodiac Ages,
and this is a reflection of the phases of the Cosmic
Psyche. It is affected by different powers, and the
astronomical images are only its masks or veils. The
initiatory mystery behind the Cosmic Cow-Godess
and Bull archetypes express a psychic condition: in
particular, they are related to the concept of divine
insemination and conception. Archetypes are
“behind the stars”, they belong to the spirit world
or Akhet (horizon), and they are contemplated
beyond the sensorial extension in space, and behind
the mental limit of time.
Later in Pharaonic history, at the time of the
5th Dynasty (2494-2345 BC) where the Pyramid
Texts appear, the Vernal Equinox point had shifted
so as to match the location of the Pleyades, the
bull’s thigh. Utterance 207 on the east gable of
Unas’ sarcophagus chamber mentions the ‘roasting
of the thigh’, while utterance 246 describes Min
(the symbol of the kamutef) as “he whose arm is
raised in the east of the procession”. The
astrological symbolism is also attested in the
Pyramid of Unas when utterance 227 of the west
gable mentions the scorpion deity Xsr.nir.det.: the
Scorpio constellation being directly opposite in the
heavens to that of Taurus and marked by the
Autumnal Equinox (astronomical west).
These are not simply ‘fertility cults’ or ‘solar
cults’ and neither are the Pyramid Texts composed
of ‘magic spells’. This juggling of concepts disguises
an uncertainty about the truly religious significance
of these symbols.
Astronomy and astrology is a fundamental
motive of initiatory symbolism, but they need to be
understood as metaphors of a psycho-spiritual
process. The initiation into the science of the
heavens and the understanding of its mechanics
means the capability of the adept to read his own
soul. Reading astronomical phenomena demands an
understanding the way “Heaven” works; but in the
religious and mysteric language, the logos in astro-
logy means an understaning of the way the human
psyche works.
The Ka is the spiritual body: it is attained,
like in most initiatory ceremonies and experiences,
by replacing the mortal body with an eternal one.
The Pyramid Texts describe this when Pharaoh
assumes the body of Atum, the Primordial God. The
explanation of this power is assumed with a totemic
image of the Bull, and immediately we are faced
with the image of the Great Mother: Mut. We know
thus that we are speaking of a divine conception,
the psyche or soul of Man is being spiritualized:
inseminated or receiving the seed. This is the basic
significance of the Kamutef or “Ka of His Mother”
symbolism, although Pharaonic art is very specific
and detailed.
It is important to notice that Min is a form
of Amun: the masculine form of the Supreme God.
In the Theban tradition, the Supreme God is Amun:
“Hidden”. However, God’s primordial manifestation
is a Trinity: Great Father (Amun), Great Mother
(Mut), and Great Son (Khonsu).16
3.5.2 - Parallels to Hindu
mysticism
The Min or kamutef symbolism is analogous
to certain mystical fundaments of Hinduism. The
navel –which has a geometric focus as φ– is the
location in the body for the nourishment of the
Cosmic Mother Mut/Hathor. In the Min, the navel
as a feminine “place” is fused with the ejaculating
16
We will recall from the first chapter of this work that
Number 3 expresses the primordial intellect or Nous.
6
phallus (Ka): a masculine power. This is the most
explicit symbol of the Min: the phallus in the navel,
and this symbolism in itself communicates the
fundamental meaning of the Min.
This region of the human subtle body or ‘Ka’
locates the Manipura chakra of Hindu Tantra.
The teaching of Tantra, although it is commonly
associated to sexual postures, in reality describes a
mystic union of “inner” feminine and masculine
powers called Shakti and Shiva respectively. Swami
Satyananda has written several books about hindu
mysticism and yoga, and in Kundalini Tantra, he
speaks of Manipura Chakra which is the vital center
located in the area of the navel.
Manipura chakra is located
directly behind the navel on the inner wall
of the spinal column. The kshetram
[contact center or trigger point for the
chakra located in the front of the body] is
situated right at the navel. This chakra is
anatomically related to the solar plexus,
which controls the digestive fire and heat
regulation in the body.
(…) In the yoguic scriptures it is
said that the moon at bindu secretes
nectar which falls down to manipura and
is consumed by the sun. This results in the
ongoing process of degeneration which
leads to old age, disease, and death. This
process can be reversed in the human
body by adopting certain yoguic practices
which send the pranic forces in manipura
chakra back up to the brain. Otherwise
the vitality is quickly dissipated and lost in
the mundane affairs of life.
It is said that meditation on the
manipura chakra leads to knowledge of
the entire physical system. When this
center is purified and awakened, the body
becomes disease free and luminous, and
the yogui’s consciousness does not fall
back into the lower states.
(…) When the consciousness
evolves into manipura, the sadhka
[student of spiritual practices] acquires a
spiritual perspective and he gets a
glimpse of the higher lokas or planes of
existence. (…) Only when the sadhka
reaches manipura is he able to visualize
the infinite state of consciousness which
is no longer gross and empirical. (…) the
personal prejudices, complexes and
biases drop away as the endless beauty
and perfection of higher worlds dawn
within the consciousness. 17
This description from Hindu Tantra and its
chakra system seems fit with the experience of
Pharaoh described in the Pyramid Texts. Pharaoh is
described in the spiritual realm of the Akhet as the
Cosmic Bull, the kamutef or “Ka of his Mother” and
there is an allusion to Min. The phallus in this region
of the navel –where Manipura chakra is located– is
symbolic of a spiritual and psychic unity, a reality
that is very ‘explicitly’ shown by the “penetration of
the navel” by a phallus.18 This masculine and
seminal power symbolizes the infusion of the
Spirit’s fiery and solar power into the feminine
Psyche in order to generate a state of consciousness
which means the abandonment of “personal
prejudice, complexes and biases” conjoined or
caused by “a glimpse of the higher lokas or planes
of existence”.
This same description given by the Hindu
“Tantra” is also given in the Pyramid Texts when
Pharaoh absorbs the powers of the Red Crown
Desheret . This occurs when Pharaoh is in the
east of the sarcophagus chamber, before the doors
and passage into the Akhet or “spirit world”. While
those doors open before Pharaoh, Unas is acquiring
the fiery powers of the Ka, and this is accomplished
because the fiery serpent of the Uraeus has
elevated itself to the brow. The Red Crown
Desheret represents this accomplishment which
is very clearly described in Kundalini yoga.
It is at this location in the sarcophagus
chamber of Unas where one reads utterances 221-
222 describing the opening of the spriit world or
Akhet and the gaining of the Red Crown with the
Uraeus, the person reading the texts encounters a
short passage into the next room with texts
inscribed. In that passage there is once again the
17
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kundalini Tantra, p. 157-
158: 160.
18
It is interesting to observe the reaction of Victorian age
women covering the phallus of Min in order to
photograph themselves with the “idol”.
7
affirmation of Utterance 25 which is the Fire
Utterance related to the Ka followed by Utterance
200 which is of incense.19 In front of these in the
passage is Utternace 246 which describes the
assimilation of Min. Swami Satyananda writes of the
solar plexus –which is the location of the phallus in
Min– saying that: “it controls the digestive fire and
heat regulation in the body.”
Pharaoh is being nurtured by the ‘mother’s
Ka’ whose milk is the holy or celestial substance of
the stars.20 It is the spirit of virtue, the Holy Spirit of
Christianity which this celestial milk describes in its
symbolism: a capacity to act according to the
Dharma or Ma’at is what nourishes the inner horian
child.
The Mut (Mother) is symbolized with
the hieroglyph of a vulture. As Nekhbet it is a
vulture holding the nekhakha which, as we have
said, is symbolic of the tripartite nature of Man: the
Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas of Hinduism.21 The vulture
Nekhbet usually dominates the head and is seen to
embrace Isis at the location of the skullcap. Nekhbet
is also prominently depicted as carrying the shnw
symbol that becomes the cartouche containing the
name of Pharaoh. In fact, this shnw symbol
represents the womb of the Great Mother, the
womb in which the spiritual child is conceived.
The vulture was not only observed as an
excellent mother, but as an animal which can feed
on the rotten carcass.22 It is the creature which can
digest what is in a state of putrefaction like the
jackal. However, in the case of Mut, whose totem is
the vulture, the digested putrefaction is
regurgitated as nourishment: as the meal given to
her young children. The vulture speaks of an ability
to feed on what is dead which ultimately signifies
an ability to transform the decaying and dead into
the living and nourishing. According to the
mysteries expressed in this language, we are
speaking of psychological phenomena, because it is
the Psyche that becomes impregnated by the Spirit.
19
In Utterance 25, Pharaoh adopts the Kas of the gods or
unifies them into a single and greater Ka.
20
Let us be reminded that Hathor is depicted as a Cosmic
Cow whose body is the firmament. Mary, the mother of
Jesus, is usually dressed in a blue robe with stars.
21
See section 2.4 of this work.
22
This is also true for the jackal (Anubis).
No symbol is ambiguous in Pharaonic
culture; the totemic or zodiacal ideograms belong
to the prehistoric and archaic age of philosophy
speak an esoteric language. The animals are always
the cosmic functions or neters, aspects of Man
insomuch as aspects of Nature. The animals are
read in the natural living symbols of creation: in
their virgin form of Nature, the mineral, vegetable,
and animal kingdoms are contemplated without the
artifices of the modern-civilized mentality and
industry, and without the alienation of Nature of
experienced in modern metropoli.
The origin of scripture seems like the
archaic intent to conserve this prehistoric
philosophy of cosmosis: to bring order from chaos.
All Pharaonic art is a testament to a prehistoric
science of the soul which learned in the observation
of Nature’s virgin gestures, and written in a
symbolic fashion that shaped the hieroglyph: the
sacred or holy script.
The Mut’s ability to bring a spiritual re-
generation from what is rotten or putrid depends
on that “digestive solar fire” of manipura chakra,
and this function is identified in the phallus of Min
located in the navel of the body. The navel, as the
feminine and receptive entrance of the spiritual
substance is fused with a masculine and inceptive23
semen of the cosmic bull, the Apis, the Bakha, the
“living soul of Ra”.
R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz notes an important
principle of Egyptian art in relation to the navel:
It is important to note that the
figures created by the divine verb [Hu]
and not procreated through woman do
not have navels. For example, Tum, who
comes forth from the primordial ocean
and who is said to have been self-created,
has no navel, and the kamutef not only
does not have a navel, but the phallus
often occupies its place.24
Wallis Budge, in commenting on Mut
quotes an Egyptian formula: “Mut, who gives birth,
but was herself not born of any”.25 The idea of the
23
Inceptive: from the Latin caleo: ‘to be hot’ (calesco), ‘to
become hot’.
24
R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple of Man, p.970.
25
Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, p.30.
8
Great Mother archetype is quite explicit in this description of Pharaoh’s spiritualization in th east
sentence. wall of Unas’ sarcophagus chamber is described
Above all, we are dealing with a spiritual with the acquisition of the Ka and the fiery power of
function that, despite its apparent feminine and the Red Crown Desheret and its fiery serpent. The
masculine traits, is indeed androgynous. The Fire Utterance 25 of the Pyramid Texts that
phallus in the navel is a fusion of Great Father and describes the acquisition of the Ka through the gods
Great Mother into androgynous Unity. This, we has an offering of incense at the end, and incense or
may recall, is attested by the Pharaoh adopting the ‘shnir’ is easy to relate phonetically to the ‘shni’ .
parts of Atum which made for a new cosmic body,
the Ka. This accomplishment is accompanied with
the protection of the person which is an encircling
power of protection, the Heka.
Let us consider with closer attention the
symbols of Min as the symbol of the kamutef
principle. Min wears the ‘shni’ symbol in red
which literally means “to
encircle/embrace/protect”. In utterances 221 on
the east wall, and utt. 215 on the south wall of the
sarcophagus chamber of Unas’ pyramid, we read
how Atum “embraces/encircles” Pharaoh in
order that he may become a living spirit or Akh.

Oh Unas, your messengers go forth.

Your heralds run towards your Father,
towards Atum.
Oh Atum, rise forth towards yourself,
Embrace [ ] him in your arms.26
(…)
Oh Atum, may this Unas come close to you,
Elevate him, embrace [ ] him with your
arms.
For he is your son, son of your body,
For all Eternity.27
(…)
Unas has become a spirit [akh] for them
Unas has turned cool for them
In the arms [ ] of his Father,
In the arms [ ] of Atum.28
Also, ‘sn.nir’ means “brother of the god”
There is a very subtle gesture in this
(literally “double” of the god, from ‘sn’ which
symbolism that is worth observing. The word for
means ‘two/double’).29 The shni symbol is also
the symbol that is used in the Pyramid Texts to
describe the embrace of the Supreme God Atum is associated to the shnw symbol which will
pronounced ‘shni’, while ‘incense’ is ‘shnir’. The
29
This play of words is found in Utterance 200 on the
26
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 215. north wall of the passage. “Greetings to you, Incense!
27
Ibid., Utterance 222. [snir] Greetings to you, Double of the God! [sn nir] …”.
28
Ibid. Utterance 216. Mercer has “Divine Brother”.
9
“encircle” (shni) the name of Pharaoh in the well
known ‘cartouche’ (shen) which is a
determinative for shnw (“circuit”/”ring”).30
What is being evoked here is a function of
protection, a function of “encircling” the name of
Pharaoh which means that a certain process of
spiritualization has been assured or made complete.
Let us recall that the Book of the Cow ends with a
description of the person being protected or
“encircled”.
This is the first spiritual process: the one
that is symbolized by the ascent of the 7 worlds out
of a total of 10.31
Let us remember here that the famous
Ankh is commonly misinterpreted as a cross,
when in fact it is a string looped around and held
together with a horizontal bar. The Ankh symbol is
related to the ‘Tyet’ the so-called Knot of Isis, and
these are related in turn to the ‘shnw’ and
cartouche which “embraces” [ ] the name of
Pharaoh. As we will see in the following section, the
name of the person has a sacred meaning relating
to spiritual conception and birth.
This entire symbolism, we must remember,
is related to Mut, the Great Mother in the act of
being spiritualized and thus inseminated with the
Spiritual Child. Here, in the Theban initiation of
Pharaonic tradition, the Spiritual Child archetype is
represented by Khonsu, a figure representing the
Horian power in Man that is “born” by the spiritual
Unity of reciprocals.
3.5.3 –Khonsu and the Bindu
In order to continue our study of the
symbolism behind the kamutef and Min, we will
turn again to the mysticism of Hindu Tantra,
30
We can notice this element around the neck of the
sacred bull in the procession of Min from the temple of
Ramses III in Medinet Habu which is pictured before
walking in front of the king with the red crown.
31
Let us recall that the Heliopolitan Mystery describes 10
phases in its cosmology. In the Jeweish Kabbalah, the 7
lower sephirot refer to the first initiation which is
psychic, while the trinity at the head, containing the
sephirots of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Crown.
because our Min from Pharaonic Egypt also has a
connection to this esoteric knowledge of India.
The Min, who wears the Red Crown or
Desheret , always has a curious tubular
extension protruding from the back of the head
which leads to the platform upon which the figure
stands. This distinctive trait is also seen in the
Supreme God Amun, and its significance is quite
important.
The Hindu mystic science of Tantra reveals
valuable information concerning this particular
symbolism of the Pharaonic Min according to its
location at the head:
There are two higher centers in
the brain which are commonly referred to
in kundalini yoga: Bindu and Sahasrara.
Bindu is located at the top back
of the head, where hindu brahmanas
keep a tuff of hair. This is the point
where one first divides itself into many.
Bindu feeds the whole optic system and
is also the seat of nectar or amrit.
Sahasrara is supreme; it is the final
culmination of kundalini shakti. It is the
seat of higher awareness. Sahasrara is
situated at the top of the head and is
psychically correlated to the pituitary
gland, which controls each and every
gland and system of the body.32
It is worth noticing that in Pharaonic culture
we also meet a symbolic tuff of hair, the so-called
‘sidelock of youth’
which is left to grow on
the right hemisphere of
the head, the
hemisphere associated
to holistic and religious
thoughtIt is actually a
braid, which is the
interlocking or fusion
of two polarities.
The most
important aspects of
our Min symbolism
regarding this hindu
Khonsu, the Divine Child
parallel are found
of Theban tradition.
32
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kundalini Tantra, p. 25.
10
ahead in relation to the Bindu and its fiery quality
related to the Red Crown or Desheret which is
summoned in the Pyramid Texts as a ‘fiery serpent’
(utt. 221) and associated to the Ka in the ‘Fire
Utterance’ number 25.33
Swami Satyananda says in Kundalini Tantra:
The seat of Bindu is at the top
back of the head, exactly at the spot
where hindu Brahmans leave a tuff of hair
growing. Although this custom is still
being followed today, its original purpose
has been completely forgotten. In Sanskrit
that tuff of hair is called shikha, which
means ‘the flame of fire’. Here, the word
‘flame’ stands for the flame of vasanas or
the hidden karmas belonging to the
previous life.
(…) In the tantric scriptures, the
symbol of bindu is a crescent moon on a
moonlit night. This symbol is very rich in
meaning. The crescent moon indicates
that bindu is closely related to the kalas
(phases) of the moon, as are the
endocrine, emotional, and mental
fluctuations of human beings.
(…) The symbol of Om [the
creative verb, as Hu in Pharaonic culture]
also contains the representation of bindu
in its uppermost part, which is a small
point above a crescent moon. In fact, all
the chakras are symbolized within the
body of the Om symbol, as are the three
gunas or qualities of the created world:
Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva. [This is the
symbolism of the nekhakha held by
Min’s raised arm]. These chakras exist in
the realm of prakrti [Nature/Mut] and its
gunas. In the Om symbol, bindu,
however, is placed separately from the
main body to indicate that it is
transcendental and beyond the fetters of
nature.
33
It is difficult not to remember the Serpent of Fire of the
Aztec tradition known as Xiucoatl. The Red Crown is
associated to the fiery serpent of the Uraeus while the
White Crown is associated to the vulture.
Bindu visarga belongs to the
seventh or highest loka of satyam, the
plane of truth [Ma’at], and it also belongs
to the causal body, or anandamaya kosha
[i.e., the Ka]. It is said that when bindu
visarga awakens, the cosmic sound of Om
is heard and one realizes the source of all
creation [Tum], emanating from the bindu
point and crescent moon above the
symbol of Om.34
(…)The red and white bindu –The
bindu is the cosmic seed from which all
things manifest and grow [Tum]. It is often
related to male sperm [ Ka] because
from the tiny bindu of a single
spermatozoon, joined with the female
ovum, a new life grows. The act of
conception is a perfect symbol of the
principle of the bindu. In fact, bindu is
explained in these terms in many of the
texts of tantric kundalini yoga.
In the Yogachudamani Upanishad
(verse 60) it says: “The bindu is of two
types, white and red. The white is shukla
(sperm) and the red is maharaj
(menses).”
Here the white bindu symbolizes
Shiva, purusha or consciousness [the
masculine principle, the ejaculating Tum],
and the red bindu symbolizes Shakti,
prakrti [Mut] or the power of
manifestation. The white bindu lies in the
bindu visarga [at the top back of the head]
and the red bindu is seated in muladhara
[the lowest chakra that is the root to
earth]. The purpose of Tantra Yoga is to
unite these two principles so that Shiva
and Shakti become one.
The text continues (verse 61):
“The red bindu is established in the sun;
the white bindu in the moon. Their union
is difficult.” The sun represents pingala
nadi and the moon represents ida. The
two bindus symbolize the merging of the
world of opposites, in terms of male and
female. Out of their union results the
ascent of kundalini. Again the text
34
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kundalini Tantra, p.181-
182.
11
 continues (verse 63): “When the red
bindu (Shakti) moves upwards (the ascent
of kundalini) by control of prana, it mixes
with the white bindu (Shiva) and becomes
divine.”
All the systems of yoga control the
prana in one way or another to bring
about this union. In some cases it is
through direct control, as in pranayama
[control of breath], while in other cases it
is less direct. Nevertheless, the meaning
of these two polarities, Shiva and Shakti,
leads to superconsciousness. Verse 64
states: “He who realizes the essential
oneness of the two bindus, when the red
bindu merges with the white bindu,
alone knows yoga.”35
This sacred science of the Upanishads is no
different than that of Pharaonic Egypt. It is
expressing a religious reality: a union or yoga of the
inner duality. It is the universal teaching of Man’s
spiritualization, Man’s original religion.36
Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, the Theban Trinity.
The symbols are similar enough to perceive
the fact that we are speaking of a reality and not
one that may have its origins or foundations in
human culture. On the contrary, human culture
(which is the cult) is seen to develop from this the
35
Ibid., p.187-188. Comments in square brackets and
hieroglyphs have been added by us.
36
We stress here that re-ligo is “to bind/unite/link”. The
same meaning as the sankrit yukta and yoga.
very religious essence and sense of the sacred as
Mircea Eliade has shown in his works.
The idea of the Red and White bindu in
Hindu Tantra is inevitably linked to the Pharaonic
symbolism of the red and white crowns, the
“Desheret” and “Hedjet” , and the union of
these functions is clearly contemplated with the
symbolism of both crowns as one in the ‘Pschent’
. Traditionally, these crowns have been
interpreted as symbols declaring the political unity
of “Upper” and “Lower” Egypt meaning that it is
supposedly a political symbol. In reality, all
Pharaonic symbols have an original religious
meaning and the “union of the two lands” is far
from being a literal description of geographic
locations unified through political authority.37
Toth giving Ankh to Pharaoh in the Temple of Seti I at
Abydos. We notice the two staffs, one of papyrus and
the other a lotus with a bulb. The staffs have serpents
entwined around them, each of which in turn wear
the white and red crowns. The link to the red and
white bindu of Kundalini Tantra in India is quite
obvious.
A general shortsightedness about these
esoteric meanings is developed because of our
general ignorance regarding the mystic traditions of
religion. This archaic tradition of mystery
philosophy and religion is especially complex in the
Pharaonic tradition.
37
This does not mean that they cannot be interpreted in
this manner. We are quite sure that even in ancient days
people perceived the white and red crowns (or any other
of Pharaoh for that manner) as political symbols. The
meaning of the symbol is always mirroring the state of
consciousness “projected” upon it.
12
 These red and white crowns are not ‘royal
emblems’ and their original meaning is not political,
but religious. These are spiritual symbols which
speak in the language of an initiatory and Sacred
Science. As the Upanishad states, the red “bindu”
which is the feminine energy ascends to the crown
of the head, and this is exactly what is expressed in
the images of Min and Amun when we see a red
pole connecting the base under the feet with the
crown. The red and white colors that dominate the
image of Min, as well as the feminine and masculine
powers combined as a phallus at the navel also
speak the esoteric language of Tantra yoga wherein
the disciple is made to reconcile or fuse the
fenemine and masculine aspects of self (Shiva and
Shakti).
The reconciliation of opposite or reciprocal
vision is a cognitive faculty awarded by Ma’at. It has
a totemic or zoomorphic (psychic) symbolism
captured in the totems of the serpent and vulture
which protrude from the forehead or brow of
Pharaoh.38 The brow is the location of Ajna Chakra
in Tantra which is the vital location of mind: the
“place” where duality begins and ends.
The Crowns, Red and White, represent our
hemispheres of thought. All thought requires a
duality, and opposition, a polarity. This is usually
found as Great Father and Great Mother myths: Sky
and Earth, Male and Female, North and South,
“Upper or Lower Egypt”, etc, etc. Pharaonic culture
portrayed this as a “battle between Horus and Set”:
one that could only be settled by the power of Toth:
the divine Intelligence.
Fiery serpents, like the one associated to
the Red Crown, and like the Xiucoatl of the Aztecs
are also mentioned in the Bible. In Numbers 21:4-9,
the people of Israel “murmur” against Moses and
Yahweh, and so Yahweh sends “serpents of fire”
against the people of Israel. The venom of these
mythic creatures can only be cured by a serpent
“made” by Moses under Yahweh’s command:
“Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole: and it shall come to
38
Many times this symbolism is simply portrayed by two
serpents, but it is also frequently seen as a vulture
representing the white crown and a serpent representing
the red crown. A clear example is found on the mask of
Tutankhamun.
pass, that everyone that is bitten, when
he looketh upon it shall live.”39
Moses, we may recall, also possessed a staff
which could produce water from a rock, part the
seas, and transform into a serpent.40 The Christian
tradition is more explicit about the esoteric
meaning of this symbolism. In the Gospel of John
we read:
As Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of
man be lifted up.41
The serpent that must be “lifted up” is
associated to the Red Crown in Pharaonic
mysticism, the south and “Upper Egypt” related to
Seth. This is the symbolism refers to a “reptilian”
quality, the dark or “sethian” aspect of Man. It is
associated to the titanic nature of Man: always
symbolized by the serpent.42 In the image of Toth
with two staffs entwined by serpents, we can also
see the idea represented with a vegetable (spiritual)
symbolism through the papyrus and lotus bulb
plants.43
How to “lift up” this serpent has been
explained in Chapter 2 of this work. We discussed a
“reciprocal vision”, the shadow in Man, and the
original concept of ‘Satan’ in Judeo-Christian
tradition. We spoke of how important it is for the
initiate to find a harmonic reconciliation with the
“shadow”, and this because it is important to
achieve the Virtue of Justice or Ma’at.
To set free the divine Word, to
deliver the living Fire from its terrestrial
prison where it is incarnated and
corporified, such is the aim proposed by
all spiritual revelations; myth illustrates
the initiation to this end.44
39
Numbers 21:8.
40
Exodus 4:1-4.
41
The Gospel of John 3:14.
42
Seth was naturally associated by the Greeks to
Typhoon, the chthonic archenemy of Zeus whose totem
is the Eagle.
43
This symbolism is repeated in the Temple of Ramses III
in Medinet Habu.
44
R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, Sacred Science, p.196.
13
 Now, it is interesting to find that the
crescent moon45 is described as a notable symbol of
the mystic seed “bindu” in Hindu mysticism because
it identifies Khonsu in Pharaonic art. We would like
to repeat the quote o the crescent moon from
Satyananda on Tantra mysticism in order to quote
immediately from Wallis Budge on the Khonsu of
Egypt:
(…) In the tantric scriptures, the
symbol of bindu is a crescent moon on a
moonlit night. This symbol is very rich in
meaning. The crescent moon indicates
that bindu is closely related to the kalas
(phases) of the moon, as are the
endocrine, emotional, and mental
fluctuations of human beings.46
Now Wallis Budge on the Khonsu:
From a series extracts quoted by
Dr. Brugsh (Dict. Geog., p.600) from the
inscriptions on the Temple of Khonsu at
Thebes we find that he was the “Lord of
Ma’at,” like Ptah, and the “Moon by
Night;” as the New Moon he is linked to a
mighty, or fiery bull, and as the Full
Moon he is said to resemble an
emasculated bull. As Khonsu-Pa-Khart he
caused to shine upon the earth the
beautiful light of the crescent moon, and
through his agency women conceived,
cattle became fertile, the germ grew in
the egg, and all the nostrils and throats
were filled with fresh air. He was the
second great light in the heavens, and was
the “first great [son[ of Amun,” the
“beautiful youth, who maketh himself
young in Thebes in the form of Ra…”
(…) As a Horus god he became the
son of Osiris, the “Bull of his Mother,”
, he was identified with
Amsu-Ra [Min-Ra] , and
45
One also finds the crescent moon as the horns of the
Cosmic Bull in Pharaonic art.
46
Swami Satyananda Saraswati, Kundalini Tantra, p.181-
182.
was regarded as the brother of the Bull
Osiris.
(…) The phase of Khonsu which
appears to have been of greatest interest
to the Egyptians was that which was
deified under the name of Khonsu Nefer-
Hetep [Khonsu Harmony-Peace]. This god
not only ruled the month, but he was also
supposed to possess absolute power over
the evil spirits which infested the earth,
air, sea, and sky, and which made
themselves hostile to man and attacked
his body under the forms of pains,
sickness, and diseases, and produced
decay, and madness, and death. He it
was, moreover, who made plants to
grow, and fruit to ripen, and animals to
conceive, and to men and women he was
the god of love.47
Although we cannot enter into an in-depth
discussion about the Khonsu and the Theban triad
including Mut and Amun, it is important to notice
that the crescent moon symbolism is related to
gestation. Wallis Budge comments on the Khonsu
saying “through his agency women conceived”.48
Let us remember the lesson of the Eye of
Horus from section 2.1 wherein we spoke of
perceiving the inner meaning referring to oneself.
The Great Mother is the soul of Man, the psyche.
She is inseminated with the seed (bindu) of
Amun, the Supreme God. This seed is of course
spiritual, a fiery seed which gives insight and
wisdom in Man. Khonsu here is represented with
the Moon: the luminary of Toth. This vital function
is associated to the left eye, the missing Eye of
Horus that Toth recomposes once the reconciliation
of opposites occurs. We are speaking of a vital
function associated to the right hemisphere of the
brain, the side from which extends the sidelock of
youth depicted on the Khonsu.
The Khonsu is a human figure, so it
represents Man in possession of certain divine
powers. The symbol of the crescent moon and the
solar disk on the head represents the moment of
solar eclipse, the moment of New Moon when the
47
Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, p.35;36;37.
48
Recall what we have seen with Socrates and the
symbolism of midwifery in section 3.5.
14
solar and lunar powers come into conjunction every
month. It is interesting that Wallis Budge observes
that the might of the bull is expressed during New
Moon, while its lack of fertility or sterility is linked
to the Full Moon.
The Khonsu holds in his hands a variety of
symbols. There is the Heq Scepter , and the
Nekhekha Scepter which we spoke of in section
2.4. There we mentioned that the latter represents
the tripartite nature of the psyche, while the Heq is
the item which represents the gathering together of
those three aspects. The Djed pillar represents the 4
cardinal virtues spoken of in section 2.5, and there
is an Ankh on top that is related to the shni and
‘shnw’ symbols. And there is also the was
scepter that represents divine lineage.49
Despite the numerous symbols, and the
reality that we cannot discuss them all at once, we
must be aware that Khonsu is symbolizing the Holy
Child: the result of the harmonic fusion between
Mut and Amun. The Khonsu, with all its attributes
has the power to dispel all evil and hostile forces
and even death. This is a description of a spiritual
quality in Man, the “Horus” of a person.
The Kamutef or “Ka of his Mother” is an
interesting and complex symbolism of Pharaonic
religion which is obviously mystic and thus
impossible to understand or even begin to
comprehend with a secular mentality. With the
Kamutef symbolism we are invited into the
Pharaonic explanation of the Immaculate
Conception. This is the spiritual insemination of the
psyche or soul of Man by God, better said, by a
power of God who is Gabri’el (“Power of God”) in
Abrahamic traditions, while here it is Khnum: a
“god” that we will speak of later on.
For now we would like to end this section
with a quote from the Pyramid Texts where Khonsu
is named. This utterance is the so-called “cannibal
hymn” we have already spoken of in section 3.5. As
we saw then, the sky and earth trembling announce
the birth of the Divine Child who has power over all
evil forces.
49
See R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, Sacred Science: The King
of Pharaonic Theocracy p.146. The original meaning of
the was scepter as the branch of a tree is observed
among the canes and scepters of Tutankhamon’s tomb.
The sky is overcast,
The stars are darkened.
The celestial expansions quiver,
The bones of the earth gods tremble.
The planets stand still,
After they have seen Unas dawning as a Ba,
As a divinity who lives by his Father,
And [who] is nurtured by his Mother
Unas is Lord of Wisdom.
His name is unknown by his Mother.50
The glory of Unas is in heaven,
His might is in the Spirit World [Akhet],
Like his father Atum, who begat him,
He has begotten him mightier than he.
The Kas of Unas are behind him,
His maid-servants are under his feet,
His gods are above him,
His uraeus-serpents are upon his brow;
The guiding serpent of Unas is on his
forehead,
She who perceives the soul (of the enemy),
(As) a diadem, a flame of fire.
The neck of Unas is on his trunk.
Unas is the bull of heaven,
Who conquers and wills in his heart
To live on the being of every god,
He eats their entrails
And their bellies are full of Heka
From the Isle of Flame.
Unas is equipped: he has incorporated his
spirits.
Unas dawns as the Great One [Ra],
Lord of those with helpful hands.
He sits in the place of Geb (the earth).
It is Unas who judges with him whose name
is hidden,
(On) this day of slaying the eldest (gods).
50
The Pyramid Texts, Utterance 273, based on Mercer
393a-394b and Naydler, J., Shamanic Wisdom in the
Pyramid Texts, p.284.
15
 Unas is the lord of offerings [Toth],
Who knots the cord,
Who himself prepares his meal.
Unas is he who eats men and lives on gods,
(He is the) Lord of messengers,
Who distributes orders [or messages].

It is "Grasper-of-the-top-knot",
Who is in Kehau [?] who lassoes them for
Unas
It is "The serpent with the raised head "
Who watches them (the gods) for Unas,
Who retains them for him.
It is "He who is upon the redness"
Who binds them for Unas

It is "Khonsu who slaughters the lords

(gods),"
In that he beheads them for Unas,
And takes out for him what is in their
body.
He (Khonsu) is the messenger
Whom he sends forth to punish.51

51
The Pyramid Texts, Utt. 273-274.
16
 Toth in the Temple of Seti I, Abydos

Hermes depicted on Greek vase The Roman Mercury

17