Amen!

Amen Ra was the king of Gods, other Gods were simply manifestations of him. Temples and statues were erected in his honour…A God for the common man, he would defend those who were weak from those who were strong, and uphold justice for all.

The all encompassing worship of Amen-Ra was relatively unchallenged until Pharaoh Akenhaten came to power, he spent his life demanding the worship of the sun (the sun disc Aten) forsaking Amun-Ra. He defaced the statues, pulled down temples and took away the power of the priests of Amun.

Upon the death of Akenhaten, the priests revived Amun-Ra worship, even persuading Akenhaten’s son to change his name from Tutankhaten, meaning “the living image of Aten” to Tutankhamun “the living image of Amun”.

Pharoah image by scarab777 on Photobucket

“Who hears the prayer, who comes at the cry of the poor and distressed…Beware of him! Repeat him to son and daughter, to great and small; relate him to generations of generations who have not yet come into being; relate him to fishes in the deep, to birds in heaven; repeat him to him who does not know him and to him who knows him…Though it may be that the servant is normal in doing wrong, yet the Lord is normal in being merciful. The Lord of Thebes does not spend an entire day angry. As for his anger – in the completion of a moment there is no remnant..As thy ka endures! thou wilt be merciful!”

Ka referenced in the above passage, is the life-force, spirit or soul of a person – that which makes us unique (often represented in Egyptian hieroglyphics as a double image – two people representing the physical and spiritual forms)

Greek mythology incorporated the God Amen within the identity of Zeus or Jupiter.

Is it a coincidence, or are we inadvertently worshipping, acknowledging and uttering our spiritual promises to an ancient, mysterious God?

MASONIC RITUAL

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In Masonic Ritual prayers are spoken during ceremony and ritual but the word Amen is not used at the end of prayers, they opt for the phrase “so mote it be”.

The Masons are not a religious organisation (although some Masonic sub-chapters are religious), despite all members having to state a belief in a God prior to initiation.

I find it interesting that a conscious decision has been made to exclude the word Amen from masonry, for reasons unknown…..what do they know that the rest of us don’t?

Conclusion

The Egyptian connection could be a pure co-incidence, however much research has been carried out which suggests that many modern religions or belief systems have their roots in ancient sun worship…..could this one word be the connection between modern and ancient spirituality? If so…. is the linguistic connection accidental, or by design? If by design, why, for what purpose? And more interestingly, does it perpetuate a spiritual truth or a monumental deception?
Words can be powerful, resonant, I for one am not comfortable uttering words that I do not fully understand, particularly when there is any hint of deception.