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PERHAPS THE BEST KNOWN VIGNETTE<br />
from The Book of the Dead, the Weighing of the Heart depicts the setting of the after-death<br />
judgment of Ani's soul. As Ani and Tutu look on, Anubis, the God of Embalming,<br />
adjusts the scale to balance Ani's heart against the feather ofMaat, the goddess of Truth and<br />
Balance. Thoth, the God of Writing, records the result. Ammit, the crocodile-headed<br />
monster, waits to consume those who are judged impure.<br />
TWENTY- ONE YEARS AGO, I WENT<br />
to work for Samuel Weiser's Occult<br />
Bookstore in New York City. My lunch<br />
hours were dedicated to exploring the<br />
basement, which was legendary for its<br />
collection of rare volumes amassed over so years by<br />
the world's leading specialists in metaphysical books.<br />
21<br />
Among the many stacks was an 1890 facsimile edition<br />
of the Papyrus ofAni, one of the funerary scrolls<br />
known as The Egyptian Book of the Dead. Holding<br />
the delicate, oversized volume, I was overwhelmed<br />
by the intensity and brilliance of its 35oo-year-old<br />
color images and was filled with a passion that has<br />
never waned.
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