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Thoth Introduces When It Rained in Egypt:
The Boat of Ra and the
Serpent of Chaos
Atum and the Tone of Creation
Ma'at, Neter of Truth
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(THOTH's opening narration begins in total darkness. MUSIC:
low sustained tone of D on crystal singing bowl; sound fades as
THOTH speaks.)
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THOTH:
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In the beginning of life in the realm of the Gods, before we
walked among you and taught humankind the arts of riding the time
of the river and living in the green of the Earth, before there
were birds and running beasts and fishes, the sole power who ruled
what you see was Ra, Lord of the Sun.
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(Faint yellow light appears at one edge of the space, gradually brightening into a suggestion of sunrise, then the light clarifies into a KHU image of RA in flight, followed by another image of RA standing in in the BOAT of HEAVEN with other Neters. As the boat moves RA's figure increases in size, and the other figures grow smaller. Crystal bowl tone shifts to E.)
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THOTH:
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This is how you have always seen Him: sailing each
night through the Land of Darkness, standing at the
front of the boat, blazing each day from His arc in
the sky, shedding His light, watching the river, yes,
like a hawk, for any new move or shadow, any sign of
change. You see the usual dignitaries on deck, the myth
of universal order. The real story was that like the
head of almost any organization, Lord Ra-- and all life,
honor and praise be unto Him -- was almighty, but not
quite all-happy. He was nervous about sharing His power,
and seemed to feel that any other Neter who grew healthy
and strong was out to cut His wings, or sink His boat,
or work some other wrong.
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I should know. I'm His younger brother. I had to fight at first for every breath, until I found more subtle ways to free my will. Fortunately for me, for all of us, Ra was mighty in vision but deliberate in action. He could be led into decisions that he might regret later by other minds that were less sweeping than his, but faster. This may sound strange. Can anything possibly be swifter than the rays of the sun? Yes. Only one thing. Thought is the only thing that is faster than light. My gift was quickness of mind.
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(THOTH KHU image, showing him in the form of a white crested ibis, fades in.)
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THOTH:
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My name is Djehuti. For our purposes in this story I go by the simpler name Thoth. I was the first royal official ever to be economical with the truth when talking with the King. Why did I have to do this, even at the risk that Ra would burn me black and hurl me all the way over the horizon, into the jaws of the Serpent? To tell you this, we have to start before the beginning, when there was no land or sky, when everything was in the coils of Apop, of Chaos.
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(SOUNDS of wind, rushing water, earthquake as THOTH KHU
vanishes. LIGHTS suggest a black, roiling ocean as THOTH Actor
enters the Space, wearing his Ibis mask at first, then removing
it to speak again. As he speaks the CHAOS SOUNDS intensify,
LIGHTS darken and accelerate roiling wave effect.)
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THOTH:
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This is one way we see the world: as an egg or
a delicate ball held in the coils of a great black Snake who loves
to eat. If we--that is, divine and human beings--live in truth,
the Serpent stays under the line where the Sky meets the Earth.
But if we violate truth, then Apop flexes his rage and the ground
shakes. The head rises, the jaws are huge, the black breath a whirlwind.
At the beginning, it was like this, everywhere, all the time. Then
the ideas of stillness and order, of safety and light, began to
form in the Creator's mind. He spoke the sound that first made peace,
and pinned the Serpent where he cannot break the world as long as
the Sun stays on his course through the Sky. The sound of Creation
is:
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ENSEMBLE:
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Om! (Repeat) Ah! (Repeat) Ah Om! (Repeat, then pause) Atum!
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(As ENSEMBLE chants the first Om, the wave effect of LIGHT
recedes and SOUNDS fade. As the Ah chant begins, LIGHTS fade
up, and ENSEMBLE walk through AUDIENCE, inviting them to join.
Chant accelerates again on Ah Om and becomes rhythmic, accentuated
by small bells. On Atum, there is a brilliant flash of light,
concentrating gradually into the ATUM KHU.)
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THOTH:
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| Atum was the first active, shaping energy to emerge from
Nun, the Abyss, the timeless mystery that could not issue
anything from itself, but could only wait for the creative
decision, the sound and the sweep of the hand to come from
another. The moment Atum took action--and his name is like
your word "atom" because he charged the dark broth
of matter to take action as myriad forms of life--all things
were defined and ready to be born. All the Neters, all things
that move, all the sea and teeming green could now appear
when their living space was ready. |
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The first divine idea to form in Atum's mind was Truth,
the goddess who would take form as my wife. It still amazes
me that Atum did not covet her for himself. I am eternally
happy that Atum felt so perfectly complete that I got to be
the first male ever to be amazed by his luck in love. |
| MA'AT: |
(OFF) Please! |
| THOTH: |
(To CELEBRANTS:) Would you like to meet my exquisite half, my -- (MA'AT KHU appears) -- ahhh. I thought so. |
| MA'AT: |
I am called Ma'at. All blessings to you, and all the lives you touch. I hope you enjoy the speech of my lover here, my beak of delight at the pink of dawn. |
| THOTH: |
How
is the story so far? |
| MA'AT: |
Accurate. Sincere. It could put on some speed. |
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| MA'AT KHU vanishes and MA'AT enters. She addresses the CELEBRANTS: |
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| You may have some questions. Why do I appear like this in the body of a woman while my husband wears the head of a bird, at least in public, and may even appear costumed as a baboon? Do the people who first envisioned us really worship cats and dogs, crocodiles and beetles? Not exactly. We see in all these beings the wing and the eye and the heart of the One Divine Spirit. This is how the world as we see it now began: |
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