The romantic and metaphysical images of Egypt have for a long time been invoked by Freemasonry and by Western Culture in general. Every century since at least the 1600s has seen at least one wave of interest in Egypt with often significant impact upon architecture, visual arts, literature, and music. Quite often, this has also had an impact on the spiritual arts, and even on social discourse.
One example of the latter is a fascinating book written by Scott Trafton, entitled Egypt Land: Egypt Land: Race and Nineteenth-Century American Egyptomania. It is noted that "drawing on literary and cultural studies, art and architectural history, political history, religious history, and the histories of archaeology and ethnology, Trafton illuminates anxieties related to race in different manifestations of nineteenth-century American Egyptomania, including the development of American Egyptology, the rise of racialized science, the narrative and literary tradition of the imperialist adventure tale, the cultural politics of the architectural Egyptian Revival, and the dynamics of African American Ethiopianism. He demonstrates how debates over what the United States was and what it could become returned again and again to ancient Egypt. From visions of Cleopatra to the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, from the works of Pauline Hopkins to the construction of the Washington Monument, from the measuring of slaves’ skulls to the singing of slave spirituals—claims about and representations of ancient Egypt served as linchpins for discussions about nineteenth-century American racial and national identity."
A quite different perspective is offered by Keith Moore, in Freemasonry, Greek Philosophy, The Prince Hall Fraternity and the Egyptian (African) World Connection. While some views expressed in this title may be controversial, it also attempts to address the issues of the universe of African-American Masonic organizations from the early 18th century to the 20th century ranging from the origins of Prince Hall Freemasonry to Black Nationalism and esoteric religious sects like the Moorish Science Temple of America, the UNIA and several other offshoots. This subject deserves a lot more attention, and from a variety of academic perspectives. Of course, it is reasonable to ask how Freeasmonry, The Memphis Misraim Rite, and Prince Hall Freemasonry reflected this discourse. Now, there's a research topic for someone.
In other areas, the interest in Egyptian metaphysics remains alive and well, as demonstrated by modern energetic healing systems based upon ancient Egyptian religion, such as Sekhem Heka. Sekhem Heka, a Reiki/Skhm energy system created by Storm Constantine, was inspired by an Order founded in Ireland by Lady Olivia Robertson and her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson. The FOI was founded at Huntingdon Castle (Clonegal) in 1976. I first became aware of them while living in Ireland and visited them at Clonegal Castle numerous times between 1982 and 1985. The FOI is estimated to have over 24,000 members worldwide.
The French author, Freemason, and very amiable scholar, Gérard Galtier, has written a number of works on related topics. I think probably his best on this topic is La Maçonnerie Égyptienne: Rose Crois et Néo-Chevalerie. In this book, Galtier covers the history of Memphis-Mizraim, the FUDOSI, Rosicrucian and Martinist movements, making this is a key book on the topic. Historically seriously which is rare in this area. Along with Roger Dachez and Serge Caillet, Gérard Galtier is one of the key authors of the three Rites of Memphis and Mizraim. This last item points to the fact that while North American Freemasons largely surround themselves with dusty tomes dating back to before the age of automobiles and airplanes, those in the French and Spanish speaking world are blessed with an embarrassment of riches.
Hail Anubis,
Guardian of the Duat, Keeper of the Dead,
the Divine Lawyer, Weigher of Hearts, Master of Ammit,
Beloved son of Osiris, leader of the souls to the light,
Protector of the Living, patron of hounds, I honor you.
O Anpu, Anubis, Divine Sem or Kheri-Heb,
He who establishes the column of the Djed pillar,
Physician of Osiris on his bed,
You who restores life to the lifeless, hear me.
Fulfill whatever I ask of you,
For it shall not be evil or time consuming, within reason.
I ask of this in the name of the benevolent Kheri-Heb Master, everliving and justified.
Dreams That Matter:
Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination
Amira Mittermaier
University of Califormia Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
2011
There are some books which deal directly with Freemasonry and yet are peripheral to Freemasonry's essence, and there are some which do not touch on the subject of Freemasonry directly, but could not be more central to them. Dreams That Matter Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination by Amira Mittermaier
The official description that the publishers offer states that
"Dreams that Matter explores the social and material life of dreams in contemporary Cairo. Amira Mittermaier guides the reader through landscapes of the imagination that feature Muslim dream interpreters who draw on Freud, reformists who dismiss all forms of divination as superstition, a Sufi devotional group that keeps a diary of dreams related to its shaykh, and ordinary believers who speak of moving encounters with the Prophet Muhammad. In close dialogue with her Egyptian interlocutors, Islamic textual traditions, and Western theorists, Mittermaier teases out the dream's ethical, political, and religious implications. Her book is a provocative examination of how present-day Muslims encounter and engage the Divine that offers a different perspective on the Islamic Revival. Dreams That Matter opens up new spaces for an anthropology of the imagination, inviting us to rethink both the imagined and the real. "
Mittermaier writes an interesting and connected account of her research on contemporary oneriology* and anthropology in Cairo. The obligatory academic self-insertion in the discourse is in this case sufficiently muted. What does such a text have to do with Freemasonry? Well, it is concerned with dreams in Egyptian society. In spite of centuries of Islamic control, Egypt, is a country with profoundly old cultural roots. Pre-Islamic traditions permeate Egyptian society, from the Coptic language and church to pre-Islamic folk practices including spirit possession.
Masons who are intrigued by the links to Egypt and Hermeticism must want to learn more about the spiritual traditions of the realm of the Gods on the Nile. Hermeticism, in its current form, modern esoteric orders not withstanding, is essentially a tradition of personal and self exploration. Techniques of self exploration utilizing dreams is foreign neither to modern society, islamic traditions, nor to African traditions. Lest westerners try to forget, Egypt is an African nation.
While her focus is largely on dreams of Jihadist inspiration, she none the less gives a fascinating glimpse into the spiritual and religious interaction in the realm of dream and dream symbolism in contemporary Egyptian culture. Although her focus is rooted in Islamic traditions, it must be emphasized that nothing in Egyptian culture is solely Islamic in character. When we speak specifically of spirituality as opposed to religion, we find the geography is less well marked than we expect. Islam and Christianity exchange traditions and behind the mask of contemporary folk and popular practices, we may find ancient Egyptian mysticism in a modern form.
Vincent Crapanzano remarked about Amira Mittermaier's book that it is a"sensitive, intellectually challenging, indeed a courageous, investigation of the psychological, ontological, and ethical assumptions that lie behind dreams, visions, and dream-visitations in contemporary Egypt-where the dream is a vibrant site of political, religious, and interpretive contest."
Anyone interested in dreams, visions, psychoanalysis, meditation, or Hermetic sciences, will find this book a worthy and thought provoking addition to their library.
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