Shadow of the Sun (The Shadow Saga) (35 page)

Her eyes blazed yet again, igniting her temper to be denied anything.

“Then perhaps we can indulge ourselves in other ways. Let us enjoy the steam baths and a massage.”

My father paid no heed to her advances; instead he replied, “It is the will of Aten for our daughter to receive her next initiation inside the Per Neter. Pentu has read the stars and tonight a lunar eclipse will darken the night. It is fortuitous for her to receive the first stage of the Osirian ceremony.”

“You choose an initiation over the chance to take pleasure with me? It has been so long. Surely I could soothe you in ways we have not yet explored,” she said. Then she took a sip of red wine and allowed a drop to spill down the side of her mouth and dribble onto her exposed copperskinned breast. Orange flames ignited her nethers.

My mother’s sexual intonation held me spellbound. I had learned of this mystery between men and women through the chatter of the court.

“My Heart,” said Father in a kind way, “I have dedicated my body and soul to the Aten. I am not a man who takes interest in worldly or physical pleasures except to procreate. I hear the Servants of Isis will perform the purified Heka rites tonight, followed by a reading of the sacred papyri. Perhaps this will bring you pleasure.”

Meti snarled, “I do not need you to direct me in taking pleasure, my Heart. If you choose to perform yet another initiation instead of joining with me, then so be it. I shall not stand in your way. Please do not stand in mine.” With that, she stomped away.

“Merit-Aten, it pains me to have disrupted the harmony of this evening.” Netri patted his lap and, with gratitude, I took refuge within the harbor of his arms. “Would you do me the honor of joining us tonight for a ceremonial service?”

“Yes, Netri, I will,” I said.

Even though sleep dulled my senses, Meti had left me no choice. Had she reached out with open arms to bring me, the lost lamb back into her flock, I would have trotted after her baying my rejoices. I would have heralded the moment of return and remained her indebted babe in arms for all eternity. In the moment of a fly’s landing, I lost the innocence of childhood and stepped into the role of responsibility and duty to the crown. It seemed a paradox.

“I shall join you for this initiation,” I said as we walked hand in hand toward my destiny.

We arrived at a door set into the white limestone blocks of the Per Neter. My father knocked three times.

“Who goes there?” said a frightening voice.

“The protector of the Neophyte, Merit-Aten,” replied Netri in a thunderous voice.

“I am the guardian of the Threshold of Osiris,” answered the voice.

“What is the password?”

My father knew the answer and called it out three times, yet only silence ensued. I shuffled, feeling impatient, wondering if he’d given the wrong word. Then the door slid aside without effort. Two priestesses met us in silence and removed my elaborate clothing, replacing it with a simple yellow sheath. One stood behind me and touched the base of my spine.

The other lithe woman with clear green eyes stood before me and chanted a sacred prayer with her palms up. I felt the energy pour like a river from her hands into my body, sending warm rushes up and down my backbone. It made me wish it would never end.

The woman in the yellow sheath escorted me along a long winding flight of stairs that led downward in a dizzying spiral, deep into the womb of the Per Neter. On and on we walked, our way lit only by flaming torches upon the cavernous wall. Although my father didn’t accompany me, I could feel his presence. Finally, when we reached the last step, a grand hallway was revealed, decorated with colorful murals. There before us stood a Djed Pillar of Osiris.

Nervous grasshoppers jumped in my stomach. I felt invisible in the magnificence of this stupendous sight. The craftsmen of Khemit created one awe-inspiring work after another, yet I never took for granted the mystery or majesty of my heritage.

“Welcome to
Skhet-Aaru
; you have entered into the realm of Supreme Peace, the abode of Osiris,” said a thin priest with an angular face. “Is this candidate worthy?” He looked at the priestess.

She nodded.

“Who will represent her?”

Silence. The priestess looked at the ground.

I gulped.

“I will represent this candidate,” replied my father, who stepped from a dark corner. “She has been judged worthy to receive her second initiation into the mysteries of
Osiris
.”

The frail priest spread his palms. “Then I shall receive her into the order of
Osiris
. Merit-Aten,
Akh
of the Aten, hear these words. ‘
Osiris
, whose word is spoken in the truth of
Ma’at
, says: I have come unto you to experience your harmony. My hands extend in joyous welcoming. I have come from the heavenly realms. I abide where the cedar tree cannot subsist, where the acacia tree does not extend roots, and where the earth will not produce plants or vegetation. Entering into the realm of hidden things, I am in opposition to the Deity Set. Osiris has come into the abode, and he has viewed the hidden and secret things. Do you stand before us in truth?’

“Yes, I am a begotten daughter of
Ma’at
,” I replied, remembering the line from the sacred texts.

“Daughter, what is the meaning of the place where the cedar tree cannot subsist?”

I hesitated, not quite sure of the meaning, then the answer resounded within my head. I heard a silent voice reveal all. “The place where nothing grows is the place of absolute stillness. Where the celestial waters from whence creation arose.”

“As the progeny of Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Khemit, Lord of the Two Lands, by right of birth you will bear witness to the
Akheru Shentiu
, the Art of Divine Celestial Utterance.”

Before me, the High Priest of Osiris lifted up his arms and closed his eyes. In praise to the creator of the Divine Order, he emitted a sound that pierced the all-encompassing darkness with its clarity. A single ray of bright light inexplicably penetrated the Per Neter and slowly descended to the ground before me. The rhythmic pulse of the cosmic universe beat like my heart, loud and strong, harmonizing like one pulse. The High Priest puffed his breath out, aligning his eternal body to the resonance of the crystalline mirrors in the temple.

“When we breathe out, we give life and utterance to the tone. Breathing in the pulse. Breathing out the pulse,” he explained.

A form materialized: first feet, then legs, then more until a full being towered over me. A man of gargantuan proportions, with skin the color of deepest green, stood clothed in a sparkling golden sheath. My heart pounded in my ears. I nearly swooned. He looked as if he’d stepped off the mural on the wall. Osiris wore the elongated crown that symbolized the primordial light, with the two golden ostrich plumes on each side signifying the truth of Ma’at. The gold cobra,
Shemtiu Ma’ati
, represented the alignment of the adornment of the rays of the Garment of Light.

“Osiris,” I said and with a humble gesture I dropped to my knees, my head touching the floor and my hands outstretched in submission to this apparition. Before me stood the Deity who’d been imprisoned in a sarcophagus by his brother Set.

“Arise,” replied the Osiris in a voice not of this earth. “You may proceed to the Djedu and kneel.”

I had to concentrate so that the shock of this vision didn’t throw me off course. Instead, I walked with head tall, steps regal, breath controlled, and kneeled before the great black basalt Djedu pillar that glinted in the light of the twin flames.

“What is the meaning of the Djedu?” asked Osiris.

Grand Djed Amunhotep symbolized the trunk of the tree from which all branches of our family grew. His lineage had been the backbone of our dynasty. Again, my inner voice gave me clarity. “The Duat or the underworld and the abode of Osiris. You are the pillar symbolizing the awakened human soul. And when your brother Set locked you in a sarcophagus, one day a tree grew from your body to represent that life is renewed.”

“Why are you here?”

“I am here to learn the
Shenti
,” I said with conviction. “The Spiritual Mysteries are the path of understanding of the Trinity and the nature of the creation of the universe.”

The priest held up a stone table. “Read this stelae.”

“I came from the divine soul, one deity three,” I replied.

“Name a trinity of deities,” Osiris ordered and stared at me with intensity. My hands trembled. My heart pounded.

“Osiris, Isis, and Horus,” I answered.

“Where do my clothes symbolize the Shenti?” asked the High Priest.

Netri once told me the meaning of the Shenti. I couldn’t remember. Not his crown, nor his robes. His sandals? No. Again, that voice within my head spoke:
the tie
. “Your belt?”

The High Priest and my father wore the same linen belt with the Apis bull tail of Amentii hanging down behind.

“Now, I shall reveal the true meaning of the tail,” replied the High Priest. “The Apis bull represents the constellation of Taurus. In that constellation resides the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades, or, the seven Hathor cows which were begat by me, Osiris. The same as the seven temples of Light into which you will become first a Neophyte, next an Adept, then finally an Initiate.”

“I give thanks for this teaching,” I said, awed.

“You are deemed worthy to receive the first Osirian initiation,” replied the High Priest.

“You may proceed,” said the Deity Osiris.

My father presented me with a rough hewn stone. “Beloved One, accept this as a representation of one who seeks the wisdom but has not yet been chiseled to perfection.” Pentu stepped from the shadows on my right, and they marched me along to the North-West corner of the room and motioned me to deposit my stone upon a pile of other stones from Neophytes of ages past. We turned in a sharp right angle near the edge of the room and made our exit in silence.

* * *

F
ull of light, I emerged renewed from the Per Neter. I wanted to float away and touch the heavens because I couldn’t contain my ecstasy. First, I walked with reverence as I imagined a dignified Neophyte should, but my feet had a dance of their own. I skipped, letting my hands float upon the moist breeze. The path of palm trees bowed to me, offering drom dates as their gift. The thick air was now scented with acacia flowers and Gray-winged black birds cackled their conciliatory greetings like little servants at my beck and call. I am one with you birds of the air. I am one with you fish of the sea.
I am one with you every rock, flower, and tree. There isn’t a part of me that isn’t of you.
Lost in my own world, I skipped through gardens that were radiant in the light of the full moon. Every breath divine.
I am alive.