INTIMATIONS OF SUFISM IN
ANCIENT EGYPT
There
is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.
—George Bernard Shaw
There has never been but one religion, nor has it ever been absent from the world since time began.
—St. Augustine
Introduction
According to
Islamic belief, many prophets have come to humanity throughout its history, and
all have preached the true religion of the One God. None of these preached
anything else, so that there can be no contradiction between their original
teachings. Due to either entropy or Murphy’s Law, however, these pure teachings
became corrupted with the passage of time, so every so often, a new prophet
appeared to correct the course. If we understand the word Islam in the sense of
“surrender to God,” or more generally of monotheism, there is nothing strange
in saying that Judaism was the Islam of Moses, Christianity was the Islam of
Jesus, and so on.
Again
according to Islamic belief, the repetitive appearance of prophets was not
simply a return to the original teaching, but an actual upgrade, the revelation
of something new. As humanity progressed from infancy toward emancipation, new
information was revealed—at a higher turn of the spiral. This was commensurate
with the ability of humankind to digest it, just as an infant is weaned away
from milk to other kinds of food as it grows up. Finally, with the emergence of
Islam, this growth process was complete, and there being nothing further to
add, that was the end of prophethood.
During the
long stretches of time when a prophet did not arrive, humanity frequently
regressed to a state of polytheism, if not outright atheism. Even then,
however, the monotheistic ideal was not entirely forgotten. People either
recognized one god as supreme, as Zeus (Theos)
was with the Greeks, or assigned supremacy to a different god at different
times and places, as was the case with the Egyptians.
Now every
religion has two components in general, with varying emphasis placed on each
according to the case being considered. One has to do with external
regulations, observations and worship: this is the exoteric component. The other involves inward experience,
psychological states and spiritual progress. This inner dimension is called esoteric. Note that the exoteric is
usually for the masses, while esotericism appeals to the few, the Elect. In
Islam, the esoteric component is known as Sufism. But if earlier religions were
earlier incarnations of Islam, it would follow that earlier esotericisms must
have been earlier incarnations of Sufism. And thus, even when people strayed
far from the ideal of monotheism, residues of true esotericism must have
survived. It then remains for us to identify and clarify these.
It is with
this in mind that I now propose to look at the polytheistic religion of ancient
Egypt, through the medium of its art. (There were 1400
deities according to one claim, “thousands” according to another. This excludes
the monotheistic “Amarna religion” of Akhenaten, which lasted about 20 years.) Of course, most people accept that ancient Egyptian
religion was nothing if not symbolic. But can we identify elements therein that
are also present in Sufism? Though we no longer need to refer to that wisdom,
it may be instructive to observe the continuity.
The ancient
Egyptians were preoccupied with the afterlife. Their entire culture bears
testimony to this fact. But if we recall the Sufi precept, “Die before you
die,” then the big picture takes on a whole new meaning. In that case, we
realize that not simply the deceased, but living adepts, may have been on their
minds. The elaborate rituals, invocations and prayers may have been intended,
at least in part, for inducing a death-rebirth experience in the living human
being.
The Base Self
The Base
Self (nafs al-ammara) is our inner
demon that lurks inside each of us, silently plotting our downfall. More
information on the Base Self is available elsewhere on this website (here), or here.
The Base
Self is depicted as a snake, monster or ass (among other things) in Sufism. But
not just there: in every tradition, whether wittingly or unwittingly, the Base
Self has that kind of depiction, all of it unsavory. Ancient Egypt was no exception.
In the four drawings (above left), we see a person in the act of fighting a
serpent, crocodile or donkey. Especially the ass is a dead giveaway, since the
characteristics of the Base Self have much in common with those of an ass.
(This picture could also be read as the devil pestering the Base Self.)
But how can
we be sure that the person is fighting the internal principle of evil (the Base
Self) and not the external principle of evil (Satan or some equivalent)? The
drawing on the right shows a snake with human legs and feet. Indeed, the
Egyptians depicted their deities with human bodies and animal heads, indicating
an awareness that human personalities could take on some of the characteristics
of these animals.
Customary Interpretation: The four pictures at left show Apep, a huge serpent (or crocodile), an
Egyptian monster living in perpetual darkness. Apep is the personification of
darkness, evil, and chaos, and thus opponent of light and Ma'at (order/truth). Ra was the solar deity, bringer of light, and thus the upholder of Ma'at.
Apep was given the title “Enemy of Ra.” (Wikipedia,
“Apep.”) The Greek equivalent of Ra was Apollo, from a-pollon: “not-many,” implying One.
The picture
at right shows a snake. Because they shed their skin, snakes were viewed as
symbols of death and rebirth and thus of regeneration. The deceased recites: “I
am a long-lived snake; I pass the night and am reborn everv day.” (Egyptian Book of the Dead, 87: Chapter
for being transformed into a snake.)
Stages of Selfhood
The Sufis
have traditionally considered that the Base Self is merely the basement level,
or starting point, of the evolution of the self. As I have elaborated elsewhere
(especially in The Station of No Station
(2001), Chapter 4), the Sufis consider that there are seven or nine levels of selfhood (nine, if the seventh is
“exploded” into three). These are: 1. the Base Self, 2. the Critical Self, 3.
the Inspired Self, 4. the Serene Self, 5. the Pleased Self, 6. the Pleasing
Self, 7. the Perfect(ed) Self.
Each of
these represents a higher level of purification of the self (nafs). The last, with the highest level
of purification, is difficult to conceive of in ordinary human terms. The others
are intermediate stages leading to that goal.
Do we find
representations of this concept among the ancient Egyptians? The figure below
shows a person in a position very similar to the prostration (sujud) posture in Muslim Prayer. In
Egyptian belief, the deceased were assimilated to Osiris if they passed the
Judgment (see below), so much so that they were addressed as “Osiris N(ame)” in
rituals. (Initially this was the privilege solely of
the pharaohs. With the democratization of religion, in time this was expanded
to include everyone.)
Under the
prostrating figure are depicted seven
different crowns. Each of these could well be conceived as the crown of a
different station of selfhood.
From a Sufi
perspective, the following drawing is even more interesting. It shows a person
on every one of nine steps. The
Egyptians also depicted a stairway of seven
steps (see examples given below).
A Sufi might read this picture as follows: at
every instant, one stands in judgment before God, as shown by the human figure
with scales (about which more below). As s/he is progressively purified of the
principle of evil—or Base-Selfhood—(shown by the pig in the boat being driven
away), s/he progresses to the next level, or station. In this case, the persons
on the stairs each represent a higher
stage of one’s own self-purification (and hence, self-development). They
depict, not different individuals, but different stages for the same person.
Customary Interpretation: The nine gods of the Ennead occupy the steps. Set or Seth is a god of the
desert, storms, and foreigners (thus, of fearful things) in ancient Egyptian
religion. In later myths he is also the god of darkness and chaos. He is
represented by the pig being driven away from the presence of Osiris.
The Judgment Scene (Psychostasis: Weighing of the Soul)
The weighing
of the soul represents the most critical stage in the progress of the deceased
in the Afterworld. Here, in self-defense, s/he engages in the famous Negative
Confession: “Not have I sinned, not have I wronged another…” and so on.
The
jackal-headed Anubis weighs the heart of the deceased (red pot) against the
feather of Truth (Ma’at, al-Haqq in
Sufism). The ibis-headed Thoth keeps record. The heart must be light as a
feather, free of any sins or excrement that weigh it down. If his heart exactly
equals the weight of the feather, the deceased is allowed to pass into the
afterlife. If it is heavier, he is eaten by the waiting chimeric devouring
creature Ammit, composed of the deadly crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus.
In Islam and
thus also in Sufism, scales again play a role. A person’s sins are placed in
one scale, his virtues or merits on the other, and weighed against one another.
If the virtues outweigh the sins, one is allowed to pass into Paradise.
Miraj (Ascension)
One of the
most important events in the Prophet’s life was the mystical journey he
embarked on circa 621 AD. He was
raised through the Seven Heavens to reach communion (if that is the right word)
with God. At each level, he was greeted and allowed entry by the guardian of
that level.
This was also the occasion on which Formal Prayer, one of
the Five Pillars of Islam, was bestowed on humanity as a gift, so that everyone
could experience their own personal Ascension. As the Prophet said: “Formal
Prayer is the Ascension of the faithful.” Even if one does not experience it in
the full clarity of consciousness, the ritual Prayer of Islam is the primary
method for drawing near to God. Those who continue this Prayer for a long time
are distinguished by their peacefulness and serenity.
There are
various claims as to the mode in which the Prophet’s Ascension occurred, and
also as to its repetition. Some say it happened both in body and spirit, some
say only in spirit. Again, there have been claims that the Prophet Ascended 33
times during his life, others say he was always at that level after the first
and famous Ascension. Concerning these we frame no hypothesis—all of them are
acceptable to us.
When we look
at the etymology of the word miʿraj,
we find that it is derived from uruj,
“elevation,” and that it means “ladder.” (In today’s terms, it would have meant
elevator or escalator.)
Moreover,
there is a chapter in the Koran titled Maʿarij,
“Ladders” (Chapter 70). This implies that there are more than one Ascensions.
As Master Ahmet Kayhan explained, “There has been no prophet without ritual
Prayer, nor without Ascension (miʿraj).
Many of them have ascended twice.” We also know of “Jacob’s Ladder” and the
“Stairway to Heaven.”
The ancient
Egptians believed that the soul of the dead ascended from earth to heaven on a
ladder, as depicted above right. They conceived of Paradise as having Seven Arits, or divisions of Sekhet-Aaru
(Elysian Fields, abode of perfect spirits) corresponding to the Seven Heavens.
Each Arit had its door, or gate, which was guarded by a gatekeeper, by a
watcher, who reported the arrival of every comer.
Various
images above show Ra’s magical boat (solar barque) with the flight of steps,
representing the primeval hill where Ra had been born. The seven steps found on
each would correspond to the seven levels of selfhood in Sufism, as well as to
the Seven Heavens. They also resemble the pulpits to be found in mosques, some
of which actually have seven steps. Of course, every such pulpit (minbar) is a symbol for the miʿraj: “the minbar’s symbolism…corresponds to the
ladder of the worlds… The fact that the [top]most level of the minbar, the throne sheltered by its
canopy, remains empty…represents…the unseen presence
of the Divine Messenger.” (Titus Burckhart, Art
of Islam, p96.) That would correspond to “the Station of Praise” (maqam al-mahmud).
What about
one who ascends the staircase spiritually? Of the prophet Enoch (Idris), God
says in the Koran: “We raised him to a high place” (19:57).
Master Kayhan elaborated that this was the sun: “We attached him (Idris) to the
sun.” (Tr. “Biz
onu güneþe raptettik.”)
Axis of the Universe
The first letter of God’s Name
of Majesty (Allah) is alif or aleph, A. In form, alif
also depicts the numeral 1 in various cultures, underlining the fact that God
is One.
As René
Guénon points out in Symbols of Sacred
Science, alif represents the
World Axis (p270n19)—the Axis of the Universe, also known variously as the
Tree of Life, the Cosmic Mountain, the Ray of Creation, etc. It is associated
with the Navel of the World (omphalos)
and with the concept of Pole (qutb).
It is the axis that 
connects Heaven and Earth. Martin Lings equates the alif with the erect human body when he
says that “the body stands for the Axis of the Universe which is none other
than the Tree of Life.” (What Is Sufism,
p84.) Indeed, in pictures of Islam’s Formal Prayer (salat / namaz), the standing position (qiyam posture) is depicted by the letter alif. Again according to Guénon, the “Straight Path” (es-sirâtul-mustaqim) in Islam is the
same thing as the vertical axis in the upward direction, since the root word denotes
verticality (qam, “to raise oneself”)
(The Symbolism of the Cross, p113).
In Kundalini
Yoga, the Axis of the Universe is the nadi
(etymologically “water path”) called the Sushumna
(its name in Taoism is Chong Mai).
This is the channel corresponding to the human spine in the Subtle Body. In
accordance with the Hermetic principle: “As above, so below,” it is thought
that the macrocosmos is mirrored in the microcosmos (namely, in Sufism, the
human being).
Others have
already remarked the parallels between Kundalini and the Djed (or Tet) column in
ancient Egypt (e.g. see Wikipedia entry for Djed). The Djed pillar is the spine
of the human being and of Osiris, god (I prefer the Jungian term “archetype”)
of the Underworld, death and resurrection. The Egyptian Book of the Dead identifies the pillar as both the
backbone of Osiris (Ch. 155) and the support of the
universe. It is indicative of stability. As the cosmic axis, the Djed is a
cylinder, a column of light. It is the seat of the “magic fluid,” and the Axis
of the Universe.
Interestingly,
scientists have recently found indications that the physical universe may also
have an axis. Regularities in the Cosmic Background Radiation, as well as a
study of 15 thousand galaxies, have led them to this view.
[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-universe-the-new-axis-of-evil-465199.html?printService=print
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2011/jul/25/was-the-universe-born-spinning
http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/13-07-2011/118468-universe_axis-0/?mode=print]
Conclusion
So: beneath
their all-too-obvious polytheism, did the ancient Egyptians hide a secret
system that spoke of perennial truths, that even today corresponds to valid
elements in Sufism, which only initiates were made privy to? Or was it
polytheism all the way down? I have presented some of the pictorial evidence.
You be the judge. Meanwhile, we have enjoyed an excursion into Sufi concepts, using material from ancient Egypt.
Certainly a thrilling ride!