Cicero - Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition_Part 01

308 SELF-INITIATION INTO lHE GoLDEN DAWN 'TRAomoN
The twin guards step back. Anubis of the East with lantern and staff,turns to
enter the cave. Yougive the Signs of the Neophyte and follow himin
Just inside the entrance is a small antechamber with a black and white
tiled floor. Four large winged statues stare at you without emotion. All have
humanbodies, butwith different heads. One has the head of lion. Another has the
head of an eagle. There is also a bull, and finally the winged form of a man. You
pass by these silent sentinels holding the cross high above you.
The light from outside of the cave soon fades as you descend deeper and
deeper into the cave. Anubis leads silently on as the darkness closes in. The floor
of the cave is rough, and you must feel the ground carefully with your feet to keep
from stumbling. The ceiling presses in and you are forced to crouch at times. The
path twists from one side to the other. At times you feel like you are climbing
toward the surface again, only to follow your guide on another quick descent.
Your sense of direction is gone-you quicken your pace to catch up to Anubis so
that you won't get hopelessly lost. The light from his lantern makes strange and
sinister shadows appear on the cavern walls. Voicesfrom your past come to taunt
you on this journey: school children calling you names, adults reprimanding you,
peers telling you of your limitations. All the voices try to dissuade you from going
deeper into the cave. "Go Back!" they warn. "You can't make it!" "It's too dangerous!"
"You're too weak!" You know that the voices are merely echoes-ghostsarchetypes
from your own mind that are uneasy at the prospect of being found
out. You ignore them and press onward. The dark journey through the twisted
rock seems to take forever.
Finally, a dim light ahead is a welcome sight. Your guide leads you into a
large chamber where the smell of burning oil from torches fills the room. The
walls and floor are plain and seem to have been cut completely out of solid rock
with simple tools. From a great dark hole in one wall of the room, a slow-moving
streamof water fills a gutter carved out of the floor and flows to the opposite wall.
There it flows under a huge stone door. Asmall number of beings are in the room
with you. Apes with jeweled collars hold the ropes that are attached to the two
sides of the great door. Many celestial beings with both human and animal heads
can be seen bearing all kinds of food, incense, weapons, staffs, jewels, jars of perfume
and more. There are also a few men and women in all manner of Egyptian
dress-some in fine silken clothes-others in simple tunics. Everyone in the room
appears to be waiting for something.
"This is the Arrit," Anubis tells you," the antechamber of the Tuat-the
Underworld. This is where I guide the Souls of the dead. This too, is where the
dead Sun-god RA enters the Underworld from the West-for he is a dead god
when the darkness of Night rules the sky.This is also Amenet, the Hidden Place. All
assembled here wait for the coming of Ra. The Souls of the dead hope to be permitted
to enter the Sektet Boat of Ra-to travel in safety through the terrors of the
Tuat-and finally be reborn with him at the Dawning Light of the Eastern sky.
Behold, it is time!"
The anticipation of the assembly grows and is rewarded by the sight of
two long lines of priests pulling heavy ropes. Finally the long prow of a boat