"Filling of the Eye,"
Full Moon observance Figure 34-Lunar Phenomena
I&\
I
TepyRenpet
Beginning of the Lunar year
Wag
Festival celebrated on the first day of the Lunar New Year
I �0
Anep
Third Quarter or 20-Day observance
94 Cosmic Resonance
II. The Solar Rhythm
The principle of the Solar circuit through the sky had great significance to the Egyptians. The daily rhythm of sunrise, the Sun's culmination overhead, and sun
set presented another reality to the ancient Egyptians that spoke of the ascent and descent of divine light that was in a continual flux with the
Duat
("invisible sky" or "shadow world"). The Solar passage through the sky was especially important in the funerary literature, namely
The Book of Gates, The Spell of the Twelve Caves,
andThe Books of the Sky
(also known asThe Book of Day
andThe Book of Night).
In these works, the Solar journey through each of the hours of night and day is depicted as critical to the continuous renewal of life for the sojourning soul.
With the Lunar cycle that varied through the seasons, the Egyptians also in
stituted a civil calendar of
360
days based on the three seasons brought by the Nile. This calendar was closely associated with the Solar cycle of equinoxes ("equal night and day"), when the Earth's equator and the Sun's path coincide, and with the solstices ("Sun standing still"), when the Sun is farthest north or south on the horizon. Like the Lunar calendar, the Egyptian Solar calendar was comprised of twelve months, but each consisted of thirty days, with three weeks of ten days' duration in each month. To this was added the
epagomenae
(Greek: "added"), five days dedicated to the birth of the five Solar deities of Asar, Set, Heru Ur, Auset, and Nebt-Het. This calendar resulted in a total of365
days, approximating the length of the tropical year(365.25
days exactly), the time between two successive spring equinoxes.The Civil calendar was used to record events pertaining to the Royal House and acts of government, an appropriate protocol as kingship is governed by the Sun. It had some religious significance in the observation of the quarterly periods that called for the great festivals celebrated throughout the Two Lands, such as the Feast of Sokar, the N eter of latent vitality, held at the winter solstice (our De
cember
22).
The summer solstice (our June21)
was most important, as it coincided with the inundation of the Nile in ancient times.
The Egyptian Solar Calendar of Three Seasons
I. Akhet, "Inundation" -Nile Floods
1 Thoth
2 Phaophi
-3 Athys
8
4 Choiach
II. Pert, "Going Forth" -Sowing Tybi
5
[OJ 1&\\
6 Menchir
7 Phamenoth
8
8 Pharmuthi
<:>
III. Shemut, "Deficiency•• -Harvest
9 Pachons
10 Paoni
-11 Epipi
:a 8
12 Me sore JNitiM.
IY. Hru Renpet, "Epagomenae" -Creation
1 Asar Am-Fire
2 Set Ta-Earth
3 Heru-Ur Sa-Quintessence
4 Auset As-Air
5 Nebt-Het Nu-Water
Table 1o-The Solar Calendar
96 Cosmic Resonance
@·$'?,
. ... . . .���
Sep Tepi
The first occasion, primeval time
�}.8
HruDay
��
Seshem Shu Sun at dawn, oneof the deities of the Duat
NekHekh Winter solstice Sun,
Ra as an old man
Figure 35-Solar Phenomena
�IT
GerehNight
���� i
IhySun as a child on New Year's Day.
Also, the name of Horus at Edfu
f �
<:> II
HruiRenpet
Festivals of the epagomenae
Heru is essentially the incarnate Sun, descendant of the powers of light brought by the cosmic gods, hence his fourfold exalted name Ra Atum Harakhte Khepri, representing the four divisions of day in ancient times (dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight). As mender of discord, he subjugates the powers of Set in a series of battles and makes conscious the dark, unconscious side of human experience with his victory over "the adversary" (the shadow).
Heru assumes the pulse of the Solar principle in nature as restorer of order in the temporal world and the power of fusion in spiritual realms. As principle of ascension, he makes possible the constitution of a body of light through his func
tion of mastery. This is the vehicle that is entered by the initiate in order to mi
grate to the realm of the gods on the stellar journey that begins when the exi
gencies of Earthly life are fulfilled.
The Horian principle of order is also regulated by the goddess Maat, who is depicted in a seat at the prow of the Sun barque. It is she who ensures that the course of the Sun follows the celestial path of vitality and truth, bringing illumi
nation to all below. Other Solar deities include Heru Ur "the elder" of the He
liopolitan Ennead, who represents the latent powers of human experience that are awakened by the initiatory journey through the constellational year; and Ra, the source of light from the beginning of time.
In the temple, the Solar principle is honored through the observance of Iru ("festivals of the sky" or cosmic events, also called Hebu nu pet). These are cele
brated as the Sun passes into new sectors of the celestial vault through the year, evoking the powers of cosmic beings whose "seasons" become active while the Sun is stationed in their constellational signs. The Iru also include the Mesen (founda
tion) ceremonies of establishing the four quarters and five elemental powers of the temple.
98 Cosmic Resonance