sirmainlyhopkins thedevilzmindsky!

sirmainlyhopkins thedevilzmindsky!
THE DARK HISTORY OF THEDEVILZMINDSKY!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Thedevilzmindsky �� TOKiMONSTA (made with Spreaker)

i gotta say this is defenitely one of my favourite verses right,now.. it's hella sick!! oh,shit while you at it you can also download it off of my soundcloud page:[soundcloud.com/thedevilzmindsky]/ or checkout my podcast radio: [spreaker.com/user/3616316]/ [untitled humanoid rekordingzs]/murderchannel digitalradio.

sirmainlyhopkins- alien transmutation of souls. (+playlist)

"what do you know about the transmutation of souls?"

Sirmainlyhopkins thedevilzmindsky dolce vita beat tape freestyle shit.

Sirmainlyhopkins Thedevilzmindsky~ "Blu skiez&Smurfs" --(incantation syl...

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Many Shameless Evil Faces of Thedevilzmindsky!/ 2014 Untitled Humanoid Rekordingzs Re-Releases!!

The Devilzmindsky has released quite a number of incongruously ‘evil’ records and countless compositions of demonically inspired musical incantations and intellectual topical syllable arguments into the centerfold of esoteric occult rap..
A glimpse into the deepest recesses of Thedevilzmindsky’s dark lit corners of his sadistically warped,twisted,hellish dimensions in Reality’s wicked built box.

These may also be testimonial to his many multifaceted fractured personalities and shit..
His journey has led him to timeless encounters with other wondering mystics in the underworld..
This circle of FIRE has proven detrimental to most careless eplorers of this hidden dimension: A place of endless peril and danger,intuitive certainty and scientific magick.
These shall remain sacred signs and the most well guarded secret keys to one’s inner-sanctuary and heavenly hell’s gates: 

Elevated ThirdEyE intellectual visual states and other Experimental Pineal Gland Portals of one’s infinite Mind..
These tools only serve as a catalyst to openning one’s inert self to your higher spiritual abode and exalted 
‘sub-conscious’ self. 
Let go of all mundane earthly inhibitions and don't be afraid to be different. 
Rhymes and distorted Digital Mind Rhythms and Symbiotically linked Universal Astral Outerbody 
Experiences,explicitly explained lyrically to FREE EmcEES from a rigid tormented world that seeks to make slaves of people and rob them off their creative power to act and think independently!
These records also share part of a forgotten post-modern deconstructed futurist’s past..
An Old New Age of irrational logical reasoning,A Newly Rediscovered World of possibilities and adventures!!
Cover+Art Designs by:
sirmainlyhopkins 
thedevilzmindsky 
These will be digitally re-released and put out again through limitless audio digital data hosting sites..
From sirmainlyhopkins’ 2006 debut project--- “Dead Monkey Village” and “Evil Monkey Corporation [2009]” Mixtape to the final prequel----
“Temple of the Golden Mknkey Mystic”
(Detail Edition 2010),to all the other auxiliary side projects like... Multiplex:
‘Anthology of Occult Experiments’ with Basement skyNET and previously unreleased material from LifeForcez;
Caveman Ninjaz;AlienCity;Human Robot Experiment,and other unreleased Untitled Humaniod Rekordingzs...
FUCK CO-SIGNS AND SHIT:
2010 marked the beginning and abrupt end of a destructively creative Era,
seeing the gods at work and tirelessly putting out mixtapes almost every month!
from.. “The Scary Truemann Show”/
“The Misadventures of Charlie Skillz&George Looney”/
“Gnostic Circle Cypher Manuscripts”/
“Future Legends Mixtape” and other countless records with other underground artists as well.
Most of these records were also quietly released,smuggled and put out through other various online outlets overseas as well as home..
YOU CAN SURELY FIND MORE INFO AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PROGRESS AND GROWTH---SIRMAINLYHOPKINS THEDEVILZMINDSKY’S TAKEN AND OTHER AVENUES AND WORLDY VENTURES ABOUT HIS MUSIC,IDEAS AND CONCEPTS ON FACEBOOK AND/OR ON TWITTER: @Devilzmindsky

THNX,
DCLXVI.

Monday, September 2, 2013

The Radiant indigo-child: Basquiat.. [Life&Death in Art].

Jean-Michel Basquiat, born in Brooklyn, New York, was the second of four children of Matilda Andrades (July 28, 1934 – November 17, 2008),and Gerard Basquiat (born 1930). He had two younger sisters: Lisane, born in 1964, and Jeanine, born in 1967. His father, Gerard Basquiat, was born in Port-au- Prince, Haiti, and his mother, Matilde Basquiat, of Afro-Puerto Rican descent, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Matilde instilled a love for art in her young
son by taking him to art museums in Manhattan and
enrolling him as a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  Basquiat was a precocious child who learned how to read and write by age four and
was a gifted artist. His teachers noticed his artistic
abilities, and his mother encouraged her son's artistic
talent. By the age of 11, Basquiat could fluently
speak, read and write French, Spanish, and English. In September 1968, when Basquiat was about 8, he
was hit by a car while playing in the street. His arm
was broken and he suffered several internal injuries, and he eventually underwent a splenectomy. While he was recuperating from his injuries, his mother brought him the Gray's Anatomy book to keep him occupied. This book would prove to be influential in
his future artistic outlook. His parents separated that
year and he and his sisters were raised by their father. The family resided in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, for five years, then moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1974. After two years, they returned to New York City. When he was 11, his mother was committed to a
mental institution and thereafter spent time in and out of institutions. At 15, Basquiat ran away from home. He slept on park benches in Washington Square Park, and was arrested and returned to the care of his father within a week. Basquiat dropped out of Edward R. Murrow High School in the tenth grade. His father banished him from the household and Basquiat stayed with friends
in Brooklyn. He supported himself by selling T-shirts
and homemade post cards. He also worked at the
Unique Clothing Warehouse in West Broadway, Manhattan.

In 1976, Basquiat and friend Al Diaz began spray-
painting graffiti on buildings in Lower Manhattan, working under the pseudonym SAMO. The designs featured inscribed messages such as “Plush safe he
think.. SAMO” and “SAMO as an escape clause.” On December 11, 1978, the Village Voice published an article about the graffiti. When Basquiat & Diaz ended their friendship, The SAMO project ended with
the epitaph “SAMO IS DEAD,” inscribed on the walls of SoHo buildings in 1979. In 1979, Basquiat appeared on the live public-access television cable TV show TV Party hosted by Glenn O'Brien, and the two started a friendship. Basquiat made regular appearances on the show over the next
few years. That same year, Basquiat formed the noise rock band Test Pattern – which was later renamed Gray – which played at Arleen Schloss´s open space, “Wednesdays at A`s”,where in October 1979 Basquiat showed, among others, his SAMO color
Xerox work. Gray also consisted of Shannon Dawson, Michael Holman, Nick Taylor, Wayne Clifford and Vincent Gallo, and the band performed at nightclubs such as Max's Kansas City, CBGB, Hurrah, and the Mudd Club. In 1980, Basquiat starred in O'Brien's independent film Downtown 81, originally titled New York Beat. That same year, Basquiat met Andy Warhol, at a restaurant. Basquiat presented to Warhol samples of his work, and Warhol was stunned by
Basquiat's genius and allure. The men later collaborated. Downtown 81 featured some of Gray's recordings on its soundtrack. Basquiat also appeared in the Blondie music video “Rapture” as a nightclub disc jockey. In June 1980, Basquiat participated in The Times Square Show, a multi-artist exhibition sponsored by Collaborative Projects Incorporated (Colab) and Fashion Moda. In 1981, Rene Ricard published “The Radiant Child” in Artforum magazine,which brought Basquiat to the attention of the art world. From November 1982, Basquiat worked from the
ground-floor display and studio space Larry Gagosian had built below his Venice home and commenced a series of paintings for a 1983 show, his second at Gagosian Gallery, then in West Hollywood. During this time he took considerable interest in the work
that Robert Rauschenberg was producing at Gemini G.E.L. in West Hollywood, visiting him on several occasions and finding inspiration in the accomplishments of the painter. In 1982, Basquiat also worked briefly with musician and artist David Bowie. In 1983, Basquiat produced a 12" rap single featuring hip-hop artists, Rammellzee and K-Rob. Billed as Rammellzee vs. K-Rob, the single contained two
versions of the same track: “Beat Bop” on side one
with vocals and “Beat Bop” on side two as an instrumental. The single was pressed in limited quantities on the one-off Tartown Record Company
label. The single's cover featured Basquiat's artwork,
making the pressing highly desirable among both
record and art collectors. At the suggestion of Swiss dealer Bruno Bischofberger, Warhol and Basquiat worked on a series of collaborative paintings between 1983 and 1985. In the case of Olympic Rings (1985), Warhol made several variations of the Olympic five-ring
symbol, rendered in the original primary colors.
Basquiat responded to the abstract, stylized logos with his oppositional graffiti style. Basquiat often painted in expensive Armani suits and would even appear in public in the same paint- splattered suits. By 1986, Basquiat had left the Annina Nosei gallery,
and was showing in the famous Mary Boone gallery in SoHo. On February 10, 1985, he appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in a feature entitled “New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist”. He was a successful artist in this period, but his growing heroin addiction began to
interfere with his personal relationships. When Andy Warhol died on February 22, 1987, Basquiat became increasingly isolated, and his heroin addiction and depression grew more severe. Despite an attempt at sobriety during a trip to Maui, Hawaii, Basquiat died on August 12, 1988, of a heroin overdose at his art studio in Great Jones Street in New York City's NoHo neighborhood. He was 27. Basquiat was interred in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

Fred Hoffman hypothesizes that underlying
Basquiat’s sense of himself as an artist was his
“innate capacity to function as something like an oracle, distilling his perceptions of the outside world down to their essence and, in turn, projecting them outward through his creative acts.” Additionally, continuing his activities as a graffiti artist, Basquiat
often incorporated words into his paintings. Before
his career as a painter began, he produced punk-
inspired postcards for sale on the street, and became
known for the political–poetical graffiti under the
name of SAMO. On one occasion Basquiat painted his girlfriend's dress with the words “Little Shit
Brown”. He would often draw on random objects and
surfaces, including other people's property. The
conjunction of various media is an integral element of
Basquiat's art. His paintings are typically covered with
text and codes of all kinds: words, letters, numerals, pictograms, logos, map symbols, diagrams and more. A middle period from late 1982 to 1985 featured
multi-panel paintings and individual canvases with
exposed stretcher bars, the surface dense with
writing, collage and imagery. The years 1984–85 were
also the main period of the Basquiat–Warhol
collaborations, even if, in general, they weren't very well received by the critics. A major reference source used by Basquiat throughout his career was the book Gray's Anatomy, which his mother gave to him while he was in the
hospital at age seven. It remained influential in his
depictions of internal human anatomy, and in its
mixture of image and text. Other major sources were
Henry Dreyfuss Symbol Sourcebook, Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, and Brentjes African Rock Art. Basquiat doodled often and some of his later pieces exhibited this; they were often colored pencil on paper
with a loose, spontaneous, and dirty style much like
his paintings. His work across all mediums displays a childlike fascination with the process of creating.

In 1991, poet Kevin Young produced a book, To Repel Ghosts, a compendium of 117 poems relating to Basquiat's life, individual paintings, and social
themes found in the artist's work. He published a “remix” of the book in 2005. In 2005, poet M.K. Asante, Jr. published the poem “SAMO,” dedicated to Basquiat, in his book Beautiful. And Ugly Too. In film Basquiat starred in Downtown 81, a verité movie that was written by Glenn O’Brien and shot by Edo Bertoglio in 1981, but not released until 1998. In 1996, seven years after the artist's death, a biographical film titled Basquiat was released, directed by Julian Schnabel, with actor Jeffrey Wright playing Basquiat. David Bowie played the part of Andy
Warhol. Schnabel was interviewed during the film's
script development as a personal acquaintance of
Basquiat. Schnabell then purchased the rights to the project, realizing that he could make a better film. A 2009 documentary film, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, directed by Tamra Davis, was first screened as part of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was shown on the PBS series Independent Lens in 2011. Basquiat, a Life, a film by Jean Michel Vecchiet, in 2010

Basquiat sold his first painting in 1981, and by 1982,
spurred by the Neo-Expressionist art boom, his work
was in great demand. In 1985, he was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in connection with an article on the newly exuberant
international art market; this was unprecedented for an African-American artist, and for one so young. Since Basquiat's death in 1988, his market has
developed steadily – in line with overall art market
trends – with a dramatic peak in 2007 when, at the
height of the art market boom, the global auction
volume for his work was over $115m. Brett Gorvy,
deputy chairman of Christie's, is quoted describing Basquiat's market as “two-tiered. [...] The most
coveted material is rare, generally dating from the best period, 1981–83.” Until 2002, the highest money paid for an original
work of Basquiat's was US$3,302,500, set on
November 12, 1998 at Christie's. In 2002, Basquiat's Profit I (1982), a large piece measuring 86.5"/220 cm by 157.5"/400 cm, was set for auction again at
Christie's by drummer Lars Ulrich of the heavy metal band Metallica. It sold for US$5,509,500. The proceedings of the auction are documented in the film Some Kind of Monster. In 2008, at another auction at Christie's, Ulrich sold a 1982 Basquiat piece, Untitled (Boxer), for US $13,522,500 to an anonymous telephone bidder.
Another record price for a Basquiat painting was
made on in 2007, when an untitled Basquiat work
from 1981 sold at Sotheby's in New York for US $14.6 million. In 2012, for the second year running, Basquiat was the most coveted
contemporary (i.e. born after 1945) artist at auction, with €80m in overall sales. That year, his Untitled (1981), a painting of a haloed, black-headed man with
a bright red skeletal body, depicted amid the artist's
signature scrawls, was sold by Robert Lehrman for
$16.3 million, well above its $12 million high estimate. A similar untitled piece, also undertaken in 1981 and formerly owned by the Israel Museum, sold for £12.92 million at Christie's London, setting a world auction record for Basquiat's work.

Also looking at the contemporary music scene and other auxiliary facets of post-modernist deconstruction sub-culture art scene,his influence and overall impact has been noticeably commandable and awe-inspiring.

Shouts out to Basquiat..
BigUps&Thnx.

In our daily struggles to comprehend the totality and complex simplicity of our solitudinal dualistic multi-dimensional mental world,we constantly experience Death and are so ressurected in our everyday evolution and insightful re-invention of the self~ Life is Art and I am also another
Jean-Michel Basquiat.





Thursday, August 15, 2013

#RealTalk: Cathartic Hopkins Blog Therapy

Umm.. It's been a while since,umm??
It doesn't really matter that much.. I guess but umm.. Just some stuff is still hella weird..thinking about and being a part of.
There isn't a lot of exploration going on that much as far as HipHop goes and just music in general,I think people carelessly throw terms like ‘experimental’;‘alternative’;
‘progressive’ rather quite candidly without doing anything excitingly challenging without pop culture references and stuff. I've become weary and tired and  umm.. BORED!

I don't even think people listen to music anymore or even read books or anything for that matter. This vapidly insipid age of information anarchy and revisited pastimes offers nothing stimulating nor challenging or exciting but we definitely living in boring exciting times though considering the evolution of hiphop/rap indie/DIY aesthetic ethics and what has dubiously earned the insouciant term~ ‘COOL’ from insulated cubical television defined ‘Swagged-Out’ test-tube babies in feminine tight pants and questionable colourful 80s gear.

I think whatever lacks a sense of History about its own traditions and growth desperately needs to call into question its own sense of being and progression as a people and creative unit but then now we are dealing with an insatiable monster of trend consumerism and homo-erotic jiggyfication and sensual fixations with liberal politeness and fake vaginal soft smiley poker face responses to Satan’s mutinous rebellion against the World.

Fuck being nolstagic about shit too..
Fuck the past,we could always learn from it but then when it has such a hold on us that it even holds us back from growth and progression and embracing the future or any other way of doing things besides the traditional dogmatic pattern,it becomes burdensome and BORING!

Umm.. My name is Sirmainlyhopkins Thedevilzmindsky and I don't give a fuck about the World nor do I think any differently about you and you and you and all of you. Your World seeks to make slaves off its inhabitants and that shit is fucked up! I am Thedevilzmindsky and I don't give a FUCK!!! 

[FUCK RAPPING IN SOME LITTLE TEEN GIRL’S VOICE LIKE THAT SEEMS TO BE THE IN-THING NOW! THERE’S NO HARD SMART SHIT ACCEPT FOR THIS WATERED DOWN GENERIC BULLSHIT RAP GIMMICK RnB HYPE MTV APPROVED ANNOYING INDUSTRY POLITICS SHIT..
THE AGE OF AQUARIUS IS LITERALY A FEMININE BLIND BITCH WITH A PITCHER OF WATER,SPILLING BLOOD ON THESE SLAUGHTERED 
DEMONS LIVING HERE!!].

*FUUUUUUCCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!*


Sunday, June 30, 2013

Instagram:
@sirmainlyhopkins

I DIG WICCA EMO METAL PUNK ROCK CHICKS.. THEY ARE FUCKING HOT,BROER. 

HAIL SHAYTAN..
AVE SATANAS.

“I LOVE ART AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS AND OTHER ARTIFACTS OF AN ARTISTIC NATURE...”
DCLXVI.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

HeavyWords..

He is a man of many names, beyond that he is a man of interesting Tales. He is commonly known as Sir Mainly Hopkins but others know him as The MultipleXXX(multiplex), he has many other stage aliases 
(like.. Jonathan Asmodeus Wolfgang; Charlie Skillz; 
George Looney; Scary Truemann; Dr.Jigsaw;The Evilman Monstah; Thedevilzmindsky!),but that is for when he takes on the stage. He was born in South Africa but made his international mark in 
Australia,[and other scattered parts of Europe and desert lands of the Americas and Japan]. Sir Mainly Hopkins is an Occult Nerd Hip Hop artist, his journey of the south has him infusing international music taste to feed the ear of about anyone whose purpose is to hear.  
 
Occult Nerd Hip Hop artists are mainly confused to being in the secret society due to their information used in their tracks. Mainly these artists chose this path in order to inform the public of what they thought they knew, beyond the fact that the artists promoting the genre are mostly unsigned, Sir Mainly Hopkins signed himself into Murder Channel Musik also known as [Untitled]Humanoid Rekordingsz. His focus is mainly on the sciences of the world, from voodoo to the simply [complex] kabbala.  He is also a proud admirer of the 666 movement and the story of Baphomet, though one cannot say he’s a devil worshipper.  
 
Having worked with producers like Vou,Madlib [..MF D00m,
el-p,aesop rock 
(of DefJux),BiggJus(aka Company Flow’s Justoleum),C-plex(J23),
(K00L KEITh),K.NINE,zebb.i.maxx (aka Joseph Mangla),and [Rayczar] just to name a few, he sure is looking on making sure Occult Nerd Hip Hop gets its spot in this choosy world we live in. In most cases, Occult Nerd Hip Hop artists aren’t in it for the fame or the money. It is like a scientist researching for a cure, Occult Nerd Hip Hop artists are in it to inform the world, to teach the world through music and to make sure that the word hears their tales.
 
With intriguing art work, unmatchable knowledge and a love for his work, Sir Mainly Hopkins has set the stage for more artists to come, and he is always going to be the leader and maker of the new school of Occult Nerd Hip Hop. He hasn’t released a solid project yet[?],but his music is currently scattered on the net, from audiomack, reverbnation to soundcloud and other online music stores, make sure to find him and tie down yourself to the imminence and radient sounds of the Occult Nerd Hip Hop prince of darkness..
sirmainlyhopkins, thedevilzmindsky!

Thabo-Vincent Mathata
Raphahlelo-Mafela.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

"Hail Shaytan!"

"Silence alone is great;all else is feebleness..
Perform with all your heart your long and heavy task...
Then as do I,say naught,
but suffer and die."
~Alfred de Vigny.

"I LOVE THE MAJESTY OF HUMAN SUFFERING..."

666.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Instagram:
@sirmainlyhopkins

Twitter:
@Devilzmindsky

Advocate4Activism.


Thelemic Mysticism

Within the modern system of Thelema, developed by occultist Aleister Crowley in the first half of the 20th century, Thelemic mysticism is a complex mystical path designed to do two interrelated
things: to learn one's unique True Will and to achieve union with the All. The set of techniques
for doing so falls under Crowley's term Magick, which draws upon various existing disciplines and
mystical models, including Yoga, Western ceremonial ritual (especially invocations and eucharistic ceremony), the Qabalah, and several divination systems, especially the tarot and astrology. The path to mystical attainment or enlightenment was initially developed by Crowley largely based on
the meditation/mystical techniques found in Buddhism and also the Tree of Life, especially as it was examined by Eliphas Levi in the 19th century and later by various members in the occult society, the Golden Dawn. In 1904, Crowley claimed to have transcribed, via "direct-voice transmission"
from a "praeternatural intelligence" named Aiwass, The Book of the Law, which he eventually called the central sacred text of Thelema, heralding a new Aeon for mankind. Between 1907 and 1911, Crowley wrote a series of
other small texts which he considered to be "inspired" in that they were written through him rather than by him, which were afterwards collected together and termed the Holy Books. The final text added to the list was The Vision and the Voice, a vivid account of Crowley's astral travels through the thirty Enochian Aethyrs. These texts formed the final mystical backbone of Crowley's system. Essential practices Within the system that Crowley developed, the core
task for the adept is the discovery and
manifestation of Will, defined at times as a grand destiny and at other times as a moment to moment
path of action that operates in perfect harmony
with Nature. This Will does not spring from
conscious intent, but from the interplay between
the deepest Self and the entire Universe. Therefore,
the enlightened Thelemite is one who is able to eliminate or bypass the consciousness-created
desires, conflicts, and habits, and tap directly into
the Self/Universe nexus. Theoretically, at this point,
the Thelemite acts in alignment with Nature, just as
the stream flows downhill, with neither resistance
nor "lust of result." The ability to accomplish this Great Work requires a great deal of preparation and effort, according to
Crowley's system. The programme consists of
several key elements, including a thorough
knowledge of the Hermetic Qabalah (especially the Tree of Life), disciplined concentration (i.e. meditation), the development of one's Body of Light (or astral body) (in order to experience other spiritual realms) and the consistent and regular
invocation of certain deities or spiritual beings. Learning the Tree of Life The Tree of Life is a tool used to categorize and organize various mystical concepts. At its most
simple level it is composed of ten spheres, or
emanations, called sephiroth (sing. "sephira") which are connected by twenty-two paths. The
sephiroth are represented by the planets and the
paths by the characters of the Hebrew alphabet, which are subdivided by the five elements, the
seven classical planets, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Within the western magical tradition, the Tree is
used as a kind of conceptual filing cabinet. Each
sephira and path is assigned various ideas, such as
gods, cards of the Tarot, astrological planets and
signs, elements, etc. Within Thelema, the seminal
book which defines all these correspondences is Crowley's Liber 777, although there have been other influential writers on the topic, including Israel Regardie and Eliphas Levi. The path of attainment is largely defined by the
Tree of Life. The aspirant begins in Malkuth, which is the everyday material world of phenomena, with
the ultimate goal being at Kether, the sphere of Unity with the All. Through various exercises and
practices, he or she attains certain spiritual and
mental states that are characterized by the various
sephiroth that ascend the Tree. Crowley considered
a deep understanding of the Qabalah to be
essential to the Thelemite:
“ The Tree of Life has got to be learnt by heart;
you must know it backwards, forwards,
sideways, and upside down; it must become
the automatic background of all your thinking.
You must keep on hanging everything that comes your way upon its proper bough.”
and "The art of using it consists principally in
referring all our ideas to it, discovering thus
the common nature of certain things and the
essential differences between others, so that
ultimately one obtains a simple view of the
incalculably vast complexity of the Universe. The whole subject must be studied in the
Book 777, and the main attributions
committed to memory: then when by constant
use the system is at last understood — as
opposed to being merely memorised — the
student will find fresh light break in on him at every turn as he continues to measure every
item of new knowledge that he attains by this
Standard. For to him the Universe will then
begin to appear as a coherent and a necessary Whole.”
Part of the reason why the Qabalah is so important
is that it is the key to understanding the Holy
Books. Most of them, including The Book of the Law, are written in abstract, poetic, and often obscure language. Through the use of the Qabalah,
and especially the function of gematria (a form of numerology), the normally opaque meaning of the
texts can be made clear. Thelemites can also make
use of gematria to link words and concepts and to
validate revelations given to them in magical
operations, such as astral travel. Concentration Another key element to Thelemic mysticism is the
ability to concentrate. This skill has two modalities:
the first is the rapid, accurate, and efficient
movement of thought (which is the realm of
magick) and the other is the stopping of thought
altogether (which is accomplished in Yoga). In the first, it is the manipulation of all ideas into one idea,
and in the second is the taking of that one thought
and reducing it to nothing. Of this skill, Crowley
writes:“ For concentration does indeed unlock all
doors; it lies at the heart of every practice as it
is of the essence of all theory; and almost all
the various rules and regulations are aimed at
securing adeptship in this matter. All the
subsidiary work — awareness, one- pointedness, mindfulness and the rest — is intended to train you to this.”
[Concentration is essentially the prerequisite for all
sustained success, not only in spiritual practices,
but in day-to-day life as well. The general program
for developing concentration is borrowed almost
completely from the practice of Yoga within the Hindu and Buddhist systems. Crowley gives a general overview of the techniques in two books: Eight Lectures on Yoga and in the section called "Mysticism" in his opus, Magick (Book 4).]*

Body of Light and astral travel-

The Body of Light — Crowley's term for the subtle body — is the theoretical aspect of self that can leave the corporeal body and carry one's senses
and consciousness during astral travels. Crowley writes of it in Book 4: "The work of the Body of Light—with the technique of Yoga—is the foundation of Magick."
“ The Body of Light must be developed and
trained with exactly the same rigid discipline
as the brain in the case of mysticism. The
essence of the technique of Magick is the
development of the Body of Light, which
must be extended to include all members of the organism, and indeed of the cosmos [...]
The object is to possess a Body which is
capable of doing easily any particular task that
may lie before it. There must be no selection
of special experience which appeals to one's
immediate desire. One must go steadily through all possible pylons.”
Crowley explains that the most important practices
for developing the Body of Light are: 1. The fortification of the Body of Light by the constant use of rituals, by the assumption of god-
forms, and by the right use of the Eucharist.
2. The purification and consecration and exaltation of that Body by the use of rituals of
invocation.
3. The education of that Body by experience. It must learn to travel on every plane; to break down
every obstacle which may confront it.
The benefit of astral travel is essentially one of
education...it is akin to exploring one's own
spiritual universe ("Every Magician possesses an Astral Universe peculiar to himself"[5]) and understanding the fundamental components, so
that the adept can eventually master it. The general
object is the "control of the Astral Plane, the ability
to find one's way about it, to penetrate such
sanctuaries as are guarded from the profane, [and]
to make such relations with its inhabitants as may avail to acquire knowledge and power, or to command service".[5] Also, "one's apprehension of the Astral Plane must be accurate, for Angels,
Archangels, and Gods are derived therefrom by
analysis. One must have pure materials if one wishes to brew pure beer."[5] It is vital to understand that all this must be in service to the Great Work of discovering one's True Will:
“ Let the Magician therefore adventure himself
upon the Astral Plane with the declared
design to penetrate to a sanctuary of
discarnate Beings such as are able to instruct
and fortify him, also to prove their identity by
testimony beyond rebuttal. All explanations other than these are of value only as
extending and equilibrating Knowledge, or
possibly as supplying Energy to such
Magicians as may have found their way to the
Sources of Strength. In all cases, naught is
worth an obol save as it serve to help the One Great Work ”
Crowley was also willing to admit that what was
experienced during "astral travel" was not relevant
in terms of what is "real" or "unreal." Ultimately, the
only value to this practice is in the utility it provides to the adept.
“ The 'reality' or 'objectivity' of these symbols is
not pertinent to the discussion. [...] The
Magician must not accept [my] account of the
Astral Plane, [my] Qabalistic discoveries, [my]
instructions in Magick. They may be correct in
the main for most men; yet they cannot be wholly true for any save [myself], even as no
two artists can make identical pictures of the
same subject [...] What one sees and hears is
'real' in its way, whether it be itself, or
distorted by one's desires, or created by one's
personality [...] The true, the final test, of the Truth of one's visions is their Value. The most
glorious experience on the Astral plane, let it
dazzle and thrill as it may, is not necessarily in
accordance with the True Will of the seer; if
not, though it be never so true objectively, it is
not true for him, because not useful for him.”
“ In Magick, on the contrary, one passes
through the veil of the exterior world (which,
as in Yoga, but in another sense, becomes
"unreal" by comparison as one passes
beyond) one creates a subtle body (instrument
is a better term) called the Body of Light; this one develops and controls; it gains new
powers as one progresses, usually by means
of what is called 'initiation': finally, one carries
on almost one's whole life in this Body of
Light, and achieves in its own way the mastery of the Universe.”
Magick ritual Main article: Magick (Aleister Crowley) According to Crowley, there is only one ethical
purpose for ritual magick: to achieve Union with
God through "the uniting of the Microcosm with
the Macrocosm." [2] Since this process is so arduous, it is also acceptable to use magick to
develop the self (i.e. one's Body of Light) or to
create ideal circumstances for the Work (e.g. having
access to a place in which to do ritual undisturbed).
There are many kinds of magick, but the categories
of ritual that are recommended by Crowley include (all quotes are from Book 4):
1. Banishing—the elimination of unwanted forces. "The Magician must therefore take the utmost care
in the matter of purification, firstly, of himself,
secondly, of his instruments, thirdly, of the place of
working."
2. Invocation, where the magician identifies with the Deity invoked. There are three methods: Devotion —where "identity with the God is attained by love and by surrender, by giving up
or suppressing all irrelevant (and illusionary)
parts of yourself." (e.g. Liber Astarte ) Calling forth—where "identity is attained by paying special attention to the desired part of
yourself: positive, as the first method is
negative." (e.g. assumption of god-forms) Drama—where "identity is attained by sympathy. It is very difficult for the ordinary man
to lose himself completely in the subject of a
play or of a novel; but for those who can do so,
this method is unquestionably the best." (e.g.
many initiations and the Gnostic Mass)
3. Evocation—which is bringing a spiritual being before, not into, the magician (e.g. Goetia)
4. Eucharistic ritual—which "consists in taking common things, transmuting them into things
divine, and consuming them." (e.g. The Mass of the
Phoenix )
5. Consecration—"the active dedication of a thing to a single purpose."
6. Divinations—such as the use of the Tarot or other tools used to gather information.

Mystical milestones within the
A.A. System-

Crowley often wrote that every adept's path will be
unique. He also wrote that two major milestones
are fundamental to Thelemic mysticism, which he
called the knowledge of and conversation with
one's Holy Guardian Angel and the crossing of the Abyss. Crowley wrote, "the two crises—the Angel and the Abyss—are necessary features in every
career. The other tasks are not always accomplished in [any given order]".

The Holy Guardian Angel~

Holy Guardian Angels,
Even though the Holy Guardian Angel,
(or HGA) is,
in a sense, the “higher self”, it is often experienced
as a separate being, independent from the adept.
In the system of the A.A. magical order, the single
most important goal is to consciously connect with
one’s HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, the magician becomes
fully aware of his own True Will. For Crowley, this event was the single most important goal of any
adept:
“ It should never be forgotten for a single
moment that the central and essential work of
the Magician is the attainment of the
Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy
Guardian Angel. Once he has achieved this he
must of course be left entirely in the hands of that Angel, who can be invariably and
inevitably relied upon to lead him to the
further great step—crossing of the Abyss and
the attainment of the grade of Master of the Temple.”
In most of his writings, Crowley described the Holy
Guardian Angel as one's "Silent Self", at times
equitable with one's deepest unconscious. In later
writings, he insisted that the HGA is an entirely
separate and objective being. Whichever position is
taken, the object remains the same—to gain an intimate spiritual connection so that one's True Will
can become fully known and manifested. When
using the Tree of Life as a guide, this event occurs
in the Sphere of Tiphareth. Crowley wrote Liber Samekh [5] as an example of a ritual designed specifically for attaining the
Knowledge and Conversation with one’s HGA. In
his notes to this ritual, Crowley sums up the key to
success: “INVOKE OFTEN.” Another detailed description of the general operation is given in The Vision and the Voice, Aethyr 8. Crossing the Abyss:
(Thelema) After one attains Knowledge and Conversation
with the Holy Guardian Angel, the adept may
choose to then reach the next major milestone: the
crossing of the Abyss, the great gulf or void
between the phenomenal world of manifestation
and its noumenal source, that great spiritual wilderness which must be crossed by the adept to
attain mastery.
“ This doctrine is extremely difficult to explain;
but it corresponds more or less to the gap in
thought between the Real, which is ideal, and
the Unreal, which is actual. In the Abyss all things exist, indeed, at least in posse, but are without any possible meaning; for they lack
the substratum of spiritual Reality. They are appearances without Law. They are thus
Insane Delusions.”
Choronzon is the Dweller in the Abyss; he is there as the final obstruction. If he is met with the proper
preparation, then he is there to destroy the ego,
which allows the adept to move beyond the Abyss.
If unprepared, then the unfortunate traveller will be
utterly dispersed into annihilation. Both
Choronzon and the Abyss are discussed in Crowley's Confessions (ch. 66):
“ The name of the Dweller in the Abyss is
Choronzon, but he is not really an individual.
The Abyss is empty of being; it is filled with all
possible forms, each equally inane, each
therefore evil in the only true sense of the
word—that is, meaningless but malignant, in so far as it craves to become real. These forms
swirl senselessly into haphazard heaps like
dust devils, and each such chance
aggregation asserts itself to be an individual
and shrieks, "I am I!" though aware all the time
that its elements have no true bond; so that the slightest disturbance dissipates the
delusion just as a horseman, meeting a dust
devil, brings it in showers of sand to the earth.”
However, just on the other side of the Abyss awaits Babalon. She calls the adept to surrender completely, so that he or she may cross over. Babalon, the City of the Pyramids,
and the Night of Pan.

Babalon and Night of Pan~
Choronzon is the dweller within the Abyss, and his
purpose is to trap the traveller in a meaningless
world of illusion. However Babalon is just on the other side, beckoning (in the sphere of Binah on the Tree of Life).
If the adept gives himself to her—
the symbol of this act is the pouring of the adept’s
blood into her graal—he becomes impregnated in her (a state called "Babe of the Abyss"), then he is
reborn as a Master and a Saint that dwells in the
City of the Pyramids.
The City of the Pyramids is the home to those adepts that have crossed the great Abyss, having spilled all their blood in the Graal of Babalon.
They have destroyed their earthly ego-identities,becoming nothing more than piles of dust (i.e. the remaining aspects of their True Selves without the
self-sense of "I"). Within, they take on the name or title of Saint or Nemo (Latin for No-Man). In the system of A.'.A.'. they are called Masters of the Temple. It is a step along the path of spiritual
purification, and a spiritual resting place for those
who have successfully shed their attachments to
the mundane world. Of these adepts, it is written in The Vision and the Voice (Aethyr 14): The City exists under the Night of Pan, or N.O.X. The playful and lecherous Pan is the Greek god of nature, lust, and the masculine generative power. The Greek word Pan also translates as All, and so he is “a symbol of the Universal, a personification
of Nature; both Pangenetor, "all-begetter," and
Panphage, "all-devourer" (Sabazius, 1995).
Therefore, Pan is both the giver and the taker of
life, and his Night is that time of symbolic death
where the adept experiences unification with the All through the ecstatic destruction of the ego-self. In
a less poetic symbolic sense, this is the state where
one transcends all limitations and experiences
oneness with the universe.

Magus and Ipsissimus:
Only a few reach the final two stages, The
penultimate is the becoming of a Magus
(symbolized by entering Chokmah on the Tree of Life), whose essential duty is to communicate a
new Truth to mankind. Of the Magi, Crowley writes: The state of being a Magus is described in Crowley's Liber B vel Magi.
[8] Elsewhere, he admits the possibility of someone reaching this
rank without uttering a new magick Word. Such a
Magus, he says, would identify himself or herself
with the Word of the current Aeon and work to establish it. In Magick Without Tears, Crowley suggests (without actually saying so) that the
Secret Chiefs of the A∴A∴ have reached at least the rank of Magus, in some sense. [9] The state of Ipsissimus is the very highest possible
(symbolized by the sphere of Kether on the Tree of Life). Relatively little is openly written of this state
of enlightenment...




The Greater Ritual of the Pentagram











Monday, April 1, 2013

The Sun-God Aten:

Amenhotep III was an 18th dynasty king who ruled at a time when Egypt was at the peak of her glory. He lived a life of pleasure, building huge temples and statues, but unlike his predecessors, encouraged realism in art.
One of Amenhotep's greatest surviving achievements is the Temple of Luxor on the east bank of the river. Unfortunately, his mortuary temple on the west bank, the largest of its kind ever built, was destroyed. His son Akhenaten was an even more unusual character. He was an intellectual and philosophical revolutionary who had the power and wealth to indulge his ideas. He tried to change the Egyptian people to a concept of godhead which was both monotheistic and abstract. He worshiped the sun (Aten) as the one true god and it is possible that the Hebrew prophets' concept of a universal God was derived in part from this cult.
However, the ancient Egyptians were a deeply religious people who loved their ancient traditions and were not ready to embrace such radical changes. It would not be until the Christian era that the Egyptians would finally reject the old gods in favour of a single universal deity.
Akhenaten came to the throne of Egypt around 1353 BC. The reign of his father, Amenhotep III, had been long and prosperous with international diplomacy largely replacing the relentless military campaigning of his predecessors. The reign culminated in a series of magnificent jubilee pageants celebrated in Thebes (modern Luxor), the religious capital of Egypt at the time and home to the state god Amun-Re. The new king was crowned as Amenhotep IV (meaning 'Amun is content') and temple construction and decoration projects began immediately in the name of the new king. The earliest work of his reign is stylistically similar to the art of his predecessors, but within a year or two he was building temples to the Aten or divinised sun-disk at Karnak in a very different artistic style and had changed his name to Akhenaten in honour of this god. The Egyptians had traditionally worshipped a whole pantheon of gods who were represented in human or animal form or as animal-headed humans. Some gods were specific to particular towns or places; others had broader appeal. From early periods solar gods such as Re had played an important role in Egyptian state religion because the distant but universal power of the sun fitted well with prevailing ideas of the supreme power of the king both within Egypt and beyond its borders.
In the New Kingdom, solar gods again became prominent, among them the Aten, the visible sun-disk which can be seen traversing the sky each day. Akhenaten raised the Aten to the position of 'sole god', represented as a disk with rays of light terminating in hands which reach out to the royal family, sometimes offering the hieroglyphic sign for life. Akhenaten and his family are frequently shown worshipping the Aten or simply indulging in everyday activities beneath the disk. Everywhere the close ties between the king and god are stressed through art and text. A number of hymns to the Aten were composed during Akhenaten's reign and these provide a glimpse of what has been described as the 'natural philosophy' of Akhenaten's religion. The wonders of the natural world are described to extol the universal power of the sun. The most important surviving document of the new religion is the Aton Hymn, which was inscribed in several versions in the tombs of Akhetaton. Like some other hymns of its period, the text focuses on the world of nature and the god's beneficent provision for it. The hymn opens with the rising of the sun: "Men had slept like the dead; now they lift their arms in praise, birds fly, fish leap, plants bloom, and work begins. Aton creates the son in the mother's womb, the seed in men, and has generated all life. He has distinguished the races, their natures, tongues, and skins, and fulfills the needs of all. Aton made the Nile in Egypt and rain, like a heavenly Nile, in foreign countries. He has a million forms according to the time of day and from where he is seen; yet he is always the same." The only people who know and comprehend the god fully are said to be Akhenaton together with his wife, Nefertiti. The hymn to the Aton has been compared in imagery to Psalm 104 ('Bless the Lord, O my soul'). Akhenaten decided that the worship of the Aten required a location uncontaminated by the cults of traditional gods and to this end chose a site in Middle Egypt for a new capital city which he called Akhetaten, 'Horizon of the Aten'. It is a desert site surrounded on three sides by cliffs and to the west by the Nile and is known today as el-Amarna. In the cliffs around the boundaries of the city the king left a series of monumental inscriptions in which he outlined his reasons for the move and his architectural intentions for the city in the form of lists of buildings. On the plain near the river massive temples to the Aten were constructed: these were open to the sky and the rays of the sun and were probably influenced by the design of much earlier solar temples dedicated to the cult of Re. Akhenaten died in his seventeenth year on the throne and his reforms did not survive for long in his absence. The throne passed to a child, Tutankhamun (originally Tutankhaten) who was the son of Akhenaten. Over time, the process of restoration of traditional cults turned to whole-scale obliteration of all things associated with Akhenaten. His image and names were removed from monuments. His temples were dismantled and the stone reused in the foundations of other more orthodox royal building projects. The city of Akhetaten gradually crumbled back into the desert. His name and those of his immediate successors were omitted from official king-lists so that they remained virtually unknown until the archaeological discoveries at Akhetaten and in the tomb of Tutankhamun made these kings amongst the most famous of all rulers of ancient Egypt.
The word Aten or Athen is a very old word for the "disk" or "face of the sun," and Atenism was beyond doubt an old form of worship of the sun. But there were many forms of sun-worship older than the cult of Aten, and several solar gods were worshipped in Egypt, many centuries before Aten was regarded as a special form of the great solar god at all.
One of the oldest forms of the Sun-god worshipped in Egypt was HER (Horus), who in the earliest times seems to have represented the "height" or "face" of heaven by day.
He was symbolized by the sparrow hawk, the right eye of the bird representing the sun and his left the moon. The oldest seat of the cult of the Sun-god was the famous city of Anu the On of the Bible, and the Heliopolis of Greek and Latin writers. Gods of death and resurrection are often gods of the solar cycle and the most important Christian dates in the year mirror it.
Since the beginning of human existence, civilisations have established religious beliefs that involved the Sun's significance to some extent or other. As new civilisations developed many spiritual beliefs were based on those from the past so that there has been an evolution of the sun's significance throughout cultural development.
In different religions solar supreme deities carry different names and are associated with different aspects of the cultural universe of the society, but for the most part its raw image remains identical. The sun is vital to our existence, to producing our crops, lighting our way (spiritually and practically), they regulate our tides, even our own inner tides, hormones, blood and chemicals etc as we are so much water ourselves. Although we comprehend in some ways the scientific side of it and what the Sun is, really and truly there's a lot about how the Sun and Moon affect us inside that we still have much to learn. We all know that without the sun as we know it there would be no life on earth..... The sun isn't just a big ball of gas........it also has a spiritual counterpart just as the earth does and just as us humans do..... sun worship back in the day was not just about the physical sun, it was about the energetic sun. it was about absorbing the energy of the sun in a way which feeds our subtle energy systems. Using the chakra system. The energy of the sun was breathed into certain energy centres which then fed the physical body..... .....actually breathe in its energy through your 'solar' plexus.... For certain there is an allegory in the sun as the light of consciousness. It's an allegory to spiritual enlightenment. Solar Significance The Sun has affected human cultures since mankind first walked on the earth and has played an enormous role in the shaping of ancient civilisations dating as far back as the Sumerian's five thousand years ago. It has thus played a significant role in the shaping of the human race we are all a part of today.
We have seen the influence of the sun on our lives in the context of scientific discovery. However, it has also had a significant influence on our cultural pursuits including art, music, literature and dance. One of the Sun's greatest influences has been on religious or spiritual culture. The Earth, our continents, oceans, in fact every living thing depends on light to be able to exist. Ancient Egyptian healer Priests knew that light is in fact emitted by every cell in our bodies. We live in a sea of energy where colour is working within us. It shines with in our divine self, and radiates upon us from the sun.
It has a presence on Earth through the power of its rays, which not only pervade our environment but also touch our very hearts. By the Sun, meaning does not simply refer to the outer luminary, the central star of our solar system. It means the principle of light and consciousness on a universal level, of which the Mind(Sun) is our radiant representative.



Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Speaking of the Vatican and The cult of Aton

To satisfy the desire to discover the present whereabouts of theCult of Aton, we need look no further than the Vatican, in Rome. It is from Popes (White and Black) and from their hired lieutenants that the
insidious lies of history come... If we have concocted history, faked biography, spurious gospel accounts,
rivaling factions (all professing uniqueness), massacred nations, looted lands, immolated martyrs,
condemned free-thinkers, tortured rebels, and an indoctrinated mass of people unaware of the sick
theological lies they, and their forefathers, have been ingesting, we should know, at least, from what vile
spring they emanate. We must endeavor to expose this corruption while inquiring into its strange origins. We must also waste no time arming ourselves with knowledge to fend off the insidious affects of
this inhuman leviathan which grows ever more powerful from our ignorance and compliance. The story of the Roman Church is quite different and not a pleasant one to dwell upon. She made her
advance through the medium of intrigue, war, fire and sword, persecution, torture, confiscations, and
death, the exemplification of force and intolerance. By such means she gained control and increase in
power and the Irish Church missionaries were gradually forced to withdraw from the continent. It was
only by such forcible means that she could make gains against the Irish Church whose representatives
surpassed hers in every field of peaceful endeavor...in learning, the sciences, philosophy and spiritual culture - Conor MacDari (The Bible: An Irish Book) The centralization of Papal power culminated under Pope Innocent IV, who held the Papal reins from
1243 until 1254. Innocent IV, attempted to turn the Papacy into the world's highest political authority by
proclaiming that the Pope was the "Vicar" (earthly representative) of the Creator to whom every human
creature is subjected. It was under Innocent IV that the Inquisition was made an official institution of the
Roman Catholic Church - William Bramley (Gods of Eden) ...there exists…another class of adepts belonging to a brotherhood also and mightier than any other they
have to be ranked with the adepts of the Black Art. These are our Roman Catholic “Fathers” and clergy…
A hundred times more learned in secret symbology and the old religion than our Orientalists will ever
be... There are more profoundly learned Kabalists in Rome and throughout Europe and America than is
generally suspected... Thus are the “Brotherhoods” of “Black” adepts more powerful and dangerous…
than any host of Eastern Occultists - Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (The Secret Doctrine, vol 3) The Roman Catholic Church is, as we have been asserting, theoffshoot and continuation of the ancient Egyptian Solar Cult of Aton. Its Popes are styled not on the person of Jesus (which is patently obvious), but on Akhenaton, the first minister for the god of light. The god venerated by Catholicism is not the volcano god Jehovah, but Aton, or Adon, thesun god of the broken kings of old, cast out of their country which they brought to the brink of ruin. The Vatican, and
the Church it has erected, is founded on the same Solar Theocracy as was common on the banks of the
Nile; as that conveyed in secret at Heliopolis, Giza, Amarna, Avaris and Alexandria. One of the main titles
of a Pope is suggestively: Servus Servorum Dei - "Servant of the Servants of God." This organization has spent a great deal of time and money hiring apologists and "historians" to ensure
that people do not find out about these facts. This organization's adversaries were not, and are not, so-
called Jews or barbarian hordes, but free and intelligent men who use their wits to uncover and expose
the roots of their sick, anti-human brand of religion, and who seek to release themselves from its ruthless
power. The fear that lurks within the hearts of its echelon is directed at those whistle-blowers and
renegades from within its own body, whose repulsion at what they see, and do, finally compels them to scream bloody murder. Their fears extend to this and to the idea that the world's men and women may
finally wake up and escape the dire webs of delusion and evil that have been spun about their brains. The word Vaticanmeans "Place of Divination" or "Place of Sorcery." Along
with its Royalist allies, this Atonist ... front
has subjugated the world. The Vatican is on
7 hills and so is Jerusalem where the Vatican
is to be moved to shortly. Israelis are in
favor of the Pope's plans. America it is the prototype for the New
World Order "all nationalities with all their
religions living together side be side
peacefully. "Capitol Hill" is a clone of the
Vatican being much older. The US Presidents
are mere lieutenants of the Vatican elite and of the Royal Dynasties of Europe. President
Reagan was a Knight of Malta as were and
are many others.. It should never be forgotten that the power of the priest rests solely on the credence of the people. The
people cry out for a savior, for certainty of heaven, for an exemption from the terrors of hell. Hence
Priestcraft can neither do without hell nor purgatory. Take away both, or either, and its power is gone -
M. F. Cusack (The Black Pope: A History of the Jesuits) A religion which sedulously opposes its own improvement can do nothing essential toward improving
anything else... On the contrary, it must check the growth of everything it touches with its palsied hands -
Kersey Graves (The Bible of Bibles) Its First Vile Breath The Christian Church has left a legacy, a world view, that permeates every aspect of Western society,
both secular and religious. It is a legacy that fosters sexism, racism, the intolerance of difference, and the
desecration of the natural environment… Christianity has helped to create a society in which people are
alienated not only from each other but also from the divine - Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of Christian
History) It was at Rome that early Christian pilgrims would gather; at the place where their Saint Peter was said to
have been martyred and interred. Of course, there is not a shred of proof to support the proposition that
a man called Peter either visited Rome to spread Christ's message or that he was subsequently crucified
there by enemies. That was all concoction and remains unsubstantiated to this day. It was, however, the
barrage of visitors to Peter's final resting place that profited the churches and Christian colleges which
soon became established in the area. Before one inquires as to whether there is an ounce of physical proof for a Jesus or a Paul, one can inquire into the evidence for the rise of Rome over the shrine of a
martyr who also most probably never existed. Upon a few insignificant archaeologically suspect bones,
found beneath the Basilica of St. Peter, stands the mighty and eternal Church of Rome. The wealthiest people in the world were among those who wished to absorb the heady and holy
atmosphere created for their edification. And they were most welcome. This is what the self-appointed
Bishops and clergy of Rome had been hoping for. It was their contributions of gold and silver that bought
the bricks. The spires of Vatican City rose not due to god but to tourism. Emperor Valentinian III was just
one of the many dignitaries who ensured the success of Rome through his generous contributions of land
and money. And when such as he were offered remission for their earthly sins for a price (known as the “Sale of Indulgences”), the contributions came in thick and fast from all over the world. This kind of
circus side-show brought in untold prosperity from the guilt-ridden of every corner of the globe. It was
soon supplemented by an even more shameless trade in “holy” relics. Once it became known that the relics of St. Peter, when combined with the spiritual power of his
successors, could remit sins, it was natural that most of the Christians throughout Christendom longed to
go to the tomb and this partake of Peter's and the pope's spiritual treasures. The latter invariably
involved earthly treasures of money, silver and gold, or deeds of real estate - Avro Manhattan (Vatican
Billions) Significantly, it was not Jews who were flocking into Rome to gawk. They were not the ones sustaining
this insidious exploitation. It was primarily Anglo-Saxons, those recently converted from paganism who
were primarily involved. Some Anglo-Saxon kings abdicated their thrones in order to live the remainder
of their lives at the tomb of St. Peter, their ticket to salvation. ... thanks mostly to the cult of the Blessed Peter, Roman Catholicism, which had collected vast amounts
of temporal wealth prior to Pepin, now crowned her earthly possessions with additional territorial
dominions - Avro Manhattan ... only 300 years after Constantine. Roman Catholicism had already turned herself into one of the
largest land owners of the West - Avro Manhattan The Donation of Constantine About a generation after the Papacy had divorced itself from the empire, a certain papal official,
Christophorous by name, completed a task of forgery which neatly transferred the temporal crown from
the emperor to the pope - E. R. Chamberlin (Bad Popes) In his excellent book detailing the rise to power of the Vatican, controversial scholar Avro Manhattan
writes of the fraudulence of popes and of their manipulation of kings to expand their territories and
appropriate colossal wealth in the name of their patron Saint Peter - the "Rock," - man's "Turnkey" to
heaven, who had appointed Popes to officiate in his name, as he had done for the Christ. Manhattan
draws our attention specifically to the forgery known as the "Donation of Constantine," the document
that, once added to the Church's despicable "Canon Law," ratified and secured the reputation and status, both terrestrially and spiritually, of the Roman Church. The Donation of Constantine…is a forged Roman imperial edict devised probably between 750 and 850.
Its precise purpose is not entirely certain, but it was clearly a defense of papal interests, perhaps against
the claims of either the Byzantine Empire, or the Frankish king Charlemagne, who had assumed the
former imperial dignity in the West and with it the title "Emperor of the Romans"…the Donation grants
Pope Sylvester I and his successors, as inheritors of St Peter, the dominion over the city of Rome, Italy,
and the entire Western Roman Empire, while Constantine would retain imperial authority in the Eastern Roman Empire from his new imperial capital of Constantinople...This document was used by medieval
popes to bolster their claims for territorial and secular power in Italy. It was widely accepted, though the
Emperor Otto III denounced the document as a forgery - (Online Encyclopedia Wikipedia.org) Not content with the Papal States and the new regions acquired, the popes now wanted even more...They
set themselves to expand even further their ownership of additional territories. They concluded that the
newly born Papal States, although of considerable size, were too small for the pope, the representative of
the Blessed Peter. These territories had to be extended to match Peter's spiritual imperium. Something
incontrovertible by which the popes would be unequivocally granted the ownership of whole kingdoms
and empires had, therefore, become a necessity. At this point this most spectacular of all forgeries makes its official appearance: the Donation of Constantine. Purporting to have been written by the Emperor
Constantine himself, it emerged from nowhere. The document with one master stroke put the popes
above kings, emperors and nations, made them legal heirs to the territory of the Roman Empire, which it
granted to them lock, stock and barrel, and gave to St. Peter...all lands to the West and beyond, indeed,
all the lands of the planet - (Vatican Billions) The Emperor Constantine lived between 208 to 337 AD. After his vision he went on to issue the Edict of
Milan, in 313 AD, which legalized Christianity throughout the Empire. Shortly, thereafter, it became the
fastest spreading religion. Constantine’s conversion to Christianity is still shrouded in mystery and led to
the most famous forgery in European history, that which became known as the Donation of Constantine.
This document purports to be a signed document by Constantine and its principal feature is to grant the
bishop of Rome - the Pope - temporal authority over the city of Rome and the entire Roman Empire. Although there are many glaring factual errors in the text of the document, which by themselves shows
the document to be a forgery, the Donation of Constantine was accepted as genuine until the 15th
Century, and was used by the Catholic Church to claim political power in not only the Roman Empire but
also, ultimately, in all nominally Christian lands. Eventually, the Donation of Constantine was rejected as
false - but by then the Church had established itself in almost all of Europe, its power founded on a
forgery - Arthur Kemp (March of the Titans) No monarch ruling today and no government under the monarch or instituted in their name would enjoy
their position if the Church, empowered by the Donation of Constantine, had not given them permission
to rule in the first place…the Donation of Constantine is a complete and utter fraud. The Church was
never given any temporal powers at all, let alone the right to found dynasties, crown kings or instituted
governments. The Donation of Constantine was a lie from beginning to end and has been known to be a
fake since Lorenzo Valla applied the methods of historical criticism during the Renaissance - Prince Nicholas de Vere von Drakenberg (The Thousand-Year Elven Holocaust)
The rights and privileges which this masterly forgery brought to this cabal of bishops in Rome was to see
them rise to the heights that they enjoy to this day. The "Donation of Constantine" emphatically insisted
that the Church of Rome had global reign and had complete power in both secular and ecclesiastical life.
There was to be no distinction. Within the nine proclamations of political and sacerdotal authority, there
were two that gave to the Church legal sovereignty. From the documents acceptance, the clergy, bishops, cardinals and popes were to be regarded legally as above state law. Their judge was god, not man. The Chair of Peter shall have supreme authority over all churches in the world...It shall be judge in all
that concerns the service of God and the Christian faith... - (Donation of Constantine, excerpts) The result was that the Roman Church obtained important privileges, among them immunity from the
operation of secular law, which put her out of reach of the jurisdiction of all secular tribunals...thanks to
a series of fabrications, forgeries, and distortions, carried out through several centuries and of which the
Donation of Constantine was the most spectacular, the popes not only obtained a vantage ground of
incalculable value from which to extend their spiritual and temporal power, but rendered themselves
practically independent of all secular authority. Even more, they saw to it that the statutes of emperors and kings, no less than the civil law of nations, be undermined, greatly weakened and indeed obliterated
by their newly acquired omnipotence - Avro Manhattan The clergy were also exempt from taxation: In the 319 AD Constantine decided that the clergy was to be
free from all taxes, and soon after, in 355 AD, they were also placed above the law and could not be
brought to a state court to face any kind of trial. After the scheming Gregory VII, Pope Urban II took over and under the pretext of "saving" Christ's tomb
in the east, he sought to appropriate the lands and holdings of several other Christian churches and
outposts, namely, Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople. To this end, he gathered together
a vast "holy" army and initiated an acquisitive and murderous craze which became known as the "First
Crusade." It was the first of seven, and the only one which succeeded. In 1099, the "Crusaders" of god
overran Jerusalem and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Hysterical men, women and children participated, in the name of Christ and the Church. Cursed be the man who holds back his sword from shedding blood - Pope Gregory VII (from The Decline
of the Roman Church, by Malachi Martin) Back home the nobles had mortgaged their estates to finance their part in the crusade. Since usury was a
capital crime to Christians, the Church used the infidel Jews to do what they could not do - lend the
needed money at usury - Richard Kelley Hoskins (In the Beginning) Wonderful things were to be seen. Numbers of the Saracens were beheaded...Others were shot with
arrows, or forced to jump from the towers; others were tortured for several days, then burned with
flames. In the streets were seen piles of heads and hands and feet. One rode about everywhere amid the
corpses of men and horses...It was a just and marvelous judgment of God, that this place should be filled
with the blood of unbelievers - Raymond of Aguilers (from Holy Horrors, by James A. Haught) By the end of his (Innocent II's) reign...the Vatican had become the temporal ruler of Naples, of the
islands of Sicily and Sardinia, of almost all the States of the Iberian peninsula such as Castile, Leon,
Aragon, and Portugal, all of the Scandinavian lands, of the Kingdom of Hungary, of the Slav State of
Bohemia, of Serbia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Poland...He also became the true de facto and de jure
sovereign of England - Avro Manhattan The Donation of Constantine's forged clauses were interpreted to give Rome dominion over every island
of the world. It was this edict that allowed Ireland to fall legally into the hands of Pope Hadrian IV (also
known as Adrian IV) in the twelfth century. Using the ambitious English king Henry II (who coveted
Ireland as a means of gaining dominion over France) the Pope seized the ancient land of Ireland which
had a Christian church of its own and which did not acknowledge the authority of Rome. Adrian IV during his reign issued a papal bull, Laudabiliter, granting dominion over Ireland to the
English monarch, Henry II. The bull made Ireland a feudal possession of the King of England under the
nominal overlordship of the papacy. The title the English King was to hold over Ireland was "Lord of
Ireland". The pope had the right to grant sovereignty over islands in Europe to different monarchs
because of a document called the Donation of Constantine - (Online Encyclopedia Wikipedia.org) It is not doubted, and you know it, that Ireland and all those islands which have received the faith, belong
to the Church in Rome; if you wish to enter that Island, to drive vice out of it, to cause law to be obeyed
and St. Peter’s Pence to be paid by every house, it will please us to assign it to you - Pope Adrian IV
(Letter of permission to English king Henry II, for the invasion of Ireland) ...there are three letters from Alexander III...being transcribed into the Black Book of the Exchequer. In
them, the pope expresses his warm approval of Henry's conquest of Ireland, calling his expedition a
missionary enterprise, praising him as a champion of the Church, and particularly of St. Peter and of his
rights, which rights St. Peter had passed onto the popes. Especially significant is the fact that the rights
claimed by the popes under the Donation of Constantine, over all islands, are here asserted...Hadrian
had declared that Ireland and all the islands belonged to the special jurisdiction of St. Peter...When in 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America, his finding...opened up to Spain and Portugal
tremendous vistas of territorial, economic and political expansion...The Donation of Constantine,
therefore, was fraught with incalculable consequences, not only for Italy, France, Germany, England,
Ireland and practically the whole of Europe, but also for the Americans and for the Near and Middle East
- Avro Manhattan The utter ignorance and credulity of the people during these ages was the key factor in the rise of the
monster of corruption that still preys over the world to this very day. This monstrosity used the
Donation and other forgeries to cement its vast holdings and power, to reward favorites and benefactors,
and to crush rivals. One may lament, when they study history, the dark ages and the periods of death,
decay and superstition that once existed. One may also acknowledge that these times did come into
existence of their own accord. They were not a natural phenomena. They were bought, paid for, and delivered upon humanity. Witches did not immolate themselves and great oracles did not demolish
themselves. Civilizations and nations did not terminate of their own accord, and men of wisdom did not
incarcerate themselves in dungeons nor hang, draw and quarter themselves in city squares. No! These
heinous atrocities, perpetrated by sadists such as Bernard of Clairvaux and Friar Tomas de Torquemada,
assisted the Church of Rome to remove those men and women who dared to stand up against their
oppressive dominance throughout their land. The campaign to ruthlessly condemn so-called "heretics," (especially wealthy ones) and the establishment of the famous "Inquisition" occurred for this
exact purpose. Kings bowed to the great power of Rome not merely from awe and allegiance, but from
fear. They knew what their fate would eventually be had they decided to contradict or obstruct the way of
the Church. They knew they were open to excommunication for not persecuting the "heretics" (Pelagians,
Donatists, Cathars, Manicheans, Fraticelli, etc,) that were reported to them. That man's fear of the Pope
and of Rome was synonymous with fear of god, was just one more cunning and brilliant stroke in the artifice of this house of lies and corruption whose power extends to the minds of men as well as to their
laws. The possessions of heretics are to be confiscated. In the Church's territories they are to go to the
Church's treasury...In 1228, Blache of Castille ordered that any person who had been excommunicated
"shall be forced to seek absolution by the seizure of all this property - The Corpus Juris (the official law
book of the Papacy) The Inquisition would claim all the money and property of alleged heretics...Unlike Roman law that
reserved a portion of property for the convicted's nearest heirs, canon and Inquisitional law left nothing.
Pope Innocent III had explained that God punished children for the sins of their parents. So unless
children had come forth spontaneously to denounce their parents, they were left penniless. Inquisitors
even accused the dead of heresy, sometimes as much as seventy years after their death. They exhumed an
burned the alleged heretic's bones and then confiscated all property from the heirs - Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of Christian History) Furthermore, it is the ignorance and credulity of the world's masses that perpetuate the life of the
monster. It is this ignorance, born from inner guilt and impressionability, that must end if we are to see
an end to the bestial edifice of Vatican City, which now literally owns the world of men, and which
controls every facet of life on planet earth. Yet, all we see in the world around us is complicity and folly,
stupidity and false allegiance, crimes perpetrated in the name of god, and failure of the system to bring
justice to those who sponsor and commit the worst crimes against humanity. The executive within the Church had, and still have, a vested interest in maintaining ignorance and conflict. Their very existence
depends upon it. Suppression and Control The Church burned enormous amounts of literature. In 391 Christians burned down one of the world's
greatest libraries in Alexandria, said to have housed 700,000 rolls. All the books of the Gnostic Basilides,
Porphyry's 36 volumes, papyrus rolls of 27 schools of the Mysteries, and 270,000 ancient documents
gathered by Ptolemy Philadelphus were burned. Ancient academies of learning were closed. Education
for anyone outside of the Church came to an end - Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of Christian History) The abysmal living standards of the so-called "Dark Ages" were brought into being intentionally. They
were created at the behest of the sorcerers of Rome. The wealth of the world was slowly siphoned off,
and learning was forbidden to everyone except the clergy. Bibles were chained to altars so that no one
but the priest could refer to them, and Church Fathers even found themselves persecuted for challenging
the status quo. The third century Church Father, philosopher and author Origin found himself
excommunicated for merely theorizing that man, as well as the Church, had a role in his own salvation. The Church knew that its own dominance was threatened by thinking men. Therefore, it not only
incinerated the works of earlier nations, such as the Irish, but made sure that the world would be kept in
ignorance. The educated, the literate, and the keepers of texts would be themselves, the Church of Rome.
Those persons flaunting ecclesiastical edict and seeking to educate themselves, or own taboo books, were
considered heretics and would be made examples of. They would often suffer imprisonment, torture and
execution. Gregory the great...condemned education for all but the clergy as folly and wickedness. He forbade
laymen to read even the Bible. He had the library of the Palatine Apollo burned "lest its secular literature
distract the faithful from contemplation of heaven - Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of Christian History) After Christians had spent years destroying books and libraries, St. John Chrysostom, the pre-eminent
Greek Father of the Church, proudly declared, "Every trace of the old philosophy and literature of the
ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth - ibid Technology disappeared as the Church became the most cohesive power in Western society. The
extensive aqueducts and plumbing systems vanished. Orthodox Christians taught that all aspects of the
flesh should be reviled and therefore discouraged washing as much as possible. Disease became
commonplace as sanitation and hygiene deteriorated. For hundreds of years, towns and villages were
decimated by epidemics. Roman central heating were also abandoned - ibid Another key tactic of the Pope and his bishops, ensuring control over the human mind, was the
insinuation that the sexual instincts of men were not of god but the devil. The bishops knew that the man
divided is the man submissive and controlled. At the beginning of Christianity there was no such taboo
against sexuality, but by the time of Augustine of Hippo the body was seen as an encumbrance keeping
man from pure meditations and direct contact with god. The body and its needs dragged man to worldly
life and to sin. As Saint Jerome preached: Regard everything as poison which bears within it the seed of sensual pleasure Follow our Lord's example, and hate your body; if you love it, strive to lose it; says Holy Scripture, in
order to save it; if you wish to make peace with it; always go armed, always wage war against it; treat it
like a slave, or soon your yourself shall be its unhappy slave - (Words of an Augustinian Priest to the King
of Poland. From Delumeau's Sin and Fear) Sex as an act that empowers the individual threatens a religion intent upon controlling society. As
Clement said, "lust is not easy to restrain, being devoid of fear..." - Helen Ellerbe (The Dark Side of
Christian History) We must remember that the main purpose of the trial and execution is not to save the soul of the accused
but to achieve the public good and put fear into others - Francisco Pena (Inquisitor, 1578) Yes, the man in fear, who considers himself a dire sinner against god for following his own body's
instincts is doomed to a life of masochism and self-hatred. He repudiates his own body, regards himself
as recalcitrant, and accepts instruction from on high that his soul, the only part of him that matters,
might be saved from perdition[?].

The mythology of the Aten,
the radiant disk of the sun, is not only unique in Egyptian history, but is also one of the most complex and controversial aspects of Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian term for the disk of the sun was Aten, which is first evidenced during the Middle Kingdom, though of course solar worship begins much earlier in Egyptian history. It should be noted however that this term initially could be applied to any disk, including even the surface of a mirror or the moon. The term was used in the Coffin Texts to denote the sun disk, but in the 'Story of Sinuhe' dating from the Middle Kingdom, the word is used with the determinative for god (Papyrus Berlin 10499). In that story, Amenemhat I is described as soaring into the sky and uniting with Aten his creator. Text written during the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty frequently use the term to mean "throne" or "place" of the sun god. The word Aten was written using the hieroglyphic sign for "god" because the Egyptians tended to personify certain expressions. Eventually, the Aten was conceived as a direct manifestation of the sun god. Though the Aten became particularly important during the New Kingdom reigns of Tuthmosis IV and Amenhotep III, mostly sole credit for the actual origin of the deity Aten must be credited to Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten). Even at the beginning of the New Kingdom, it's founder, Ahmose, is flattered on a stela by being likened to "Aten when he shines". His successor, Amenhotep I, becomes in death "united with Aten, coalescing with the one from whom he had come". Tuthmosis I was portrayed in his temple at Tombos in Nubia wearing the sun disk and followed by the hieroglyphic sign for 'god'. Hatshepsut used the term on her standing obelisk in the temple of Karnak to denote the astronomical concept of the disk, though it was actually during the reign of Amenhotep II that the earliest iconography of Aten appears on a monument at Giza as a winged sun disk (though this was a manifestation of Re) with outstretched arms grasping the cartouche of the pharaoh. Later, Tuthmosis IV issues a commemorative scarab on which the Aten functions as a god of war (a role usually reserved for Amun) protecting the pharaoh. Amenhotep III seems to have actively encouraged the worship of Aten, stressing solar worship in many of his extensive building works. In fact, one of that king's epithets was Tjekhen-Aten, or 'radiance of Aten', a term which was also used in several other contexts during his reign. During the reign of Amenhotep III, there is evidence for a priesthood of Aten at Heliopolis, which was the traditional center for the worship of the sun god Re, and he also incorporated references to the Aten in the names he gave to his palace at Malkata (known as 'splendor of Aten'), a division of his army and even to a pleasure boat called 'Aten glitters'. Also, several officials of his reign bore titles connecting them with the Aten cult, such as Hatiay, who was 'scribe of the two granaries of the Temple of Aten in Memphis. and a certain Ramose (not the vizier) who was 'steward of the mansion of the Aten'. The latter was even depicted with his wife going to view the sun disk. Prior to Amenhotep IV, the sun disk could be a symbol in which major gods appear and so we find such phrases as "Atum who is in his disk ('aten'). However, from there it is only a small leap for the disk itself to become a god. It was Amenhotep IV who first initiated the appearance of the true god, Aten, by formulating a didactic name for him. Hence, in the early years of Amenhotep IV's reign, the sun god Re-Horakhty, traditionally depicted with a hawk's head, became identical to Aten, who was now worshipped as a god, rather than as an object associated with the sun god. Hence, prior to Akhenaten, we speak of The Aten, while afterwards it is the god Aten. Initially, Aten's relationship with other gods was very complex and it should even be mentioned that some Egyptologists have suggested that Amenhotep IV may have equated Aten to his own father, Amenhotep III. Others have suggested that, rather than true monotheism, the cult of Aten was a form of henotheism, in which one god was effectively elevated above many others, though this certainly does not seem to be the case later during the Amarna period. To honor his new god, Amenhotep IV constructed an enormous temple east of the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak during the third year of his reign. The temple included pillared courts with striking colossal statues of the king and at least three sanctuaries, one of which was called the Hwt-benben ('mansion of the Benben'). This emphasized the relationship between Aten and the sun cult of Heliopolis. The Benben symbolized the primeval mound on which the sun god emerged from Nun to create the universe. One section of the temple appears to have been the domain of Nefertiti, Amenhotep IV's principal wife and in one scene, she is pictured together with two daughters, but excluding her husband, worshipping below the sun disk. Artistically, this temple at Karnak was even decorated in a novel "expressionistic" style that broke with previous tradition and would soon influence the representation of all figures. Perhaps nowhere is this artistic style more evident then in the tomb Amenhotep IV's vizier, Ramose. Most of the tomb's decoration consists of fine low reliefs carved during the last years of Amenhotep III reign in a congenital Theban style, but on the rear wall of the pillared tomb is a mixture of traditional design and the startling developments in art made by Akhenaten. This new artistic style was to usher in to Egypt considerable religious upheaval. Amenhotep IV, who would change his name to Akhenaten to reflect Aten's importance, first replaced the state god Amun with his newly interpreted god. The hawk-headed figure of Re-Horakhty-Aten was then abandoned in favor of the iconography of the solar disk, which was now depicted as an orb with a uraeus at its base emitting rays that ended in human hands either left open or holding ankh signs that gave "life" to the nose of both the king and the Great Royal Wife, Nefertiti. It should however be noted that this iconography actually predates Amenhotep IV with some examples from the reign of Amenhotep II, though now it became the sole manner in which Aten was depicted. Left: Akhenaten in an exaggerated form; Right: Nefertiti in a form less attractive then her Berlin Bust Both are receiving "life" from the Aten Aten was now considered the sole, ruling deity and thus received a royal titulary, inscribed like royal names in two oval cartouches. As such, Aten now celebrated its own royal jubilees (Sed-festivals). Thus, the ideology of kingship and the realm of religious cult were blurred. The Aten's didactic name became "the living One, Re-Harakhty who rejoices on the horizon, in his name (identity) which is Illumination ('Shu, god of the space between earth and sky and of the light that fills that space') which is from the solar orb." This designation changes everything theologically in Egypt. The traditions Egyptians had adopted since the earliest times no longer applied. According to Akhenaten, Re and the sun gods Khepri, Horakhty and Atum could no longer be accepted as manifestations of the sun. The concept of the new god was not so much the sun disk, but rather the life giving illumination of the sun. To make this distinction, his name would be more correctly pronounced, "Yati(n)". Aten was now the king of kings, needing no goddess as a companion and having no enemies who could threaten him. In effect, this worship of Aten was not a sudden innovation on the part of one king, but the climax of a religious quest among Egyptians for a benign god limitless in power and manifest in all countries and natural phenomena. After Aten ascended to the top of the pantheon, most of the old gods retained their positions at first, though that would soon change as well. Gods of the dead such as Osiris and Soker were several of the first to vanish from the Egyptian religious front. In fact, step by step, Amenhotep IV perused his new found religious reformation in what Egyptologists have more and more seen as a rational plan. In year six of his reign, Amenhotep IV became weary of Thebes and the old powerful Amun priesthood, and thus founded a new capital city in the desert valley area we now call el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten) somewhat north of the old capital in Middle Egypt. Amenhotep IV mentions on two stelae that the priests were saying more evil things about him than they did about his father and grandfather, so from this we learn that there must have been a conflict that dated back at least to the reign of Tuthmosis IV. Luckily for the king, however, the priesthood was apparently not strong enough to curb a pharaoh's inclinations at this point in time. There, in his new capital of Akhetaten ('horizon of Aten'), Aten could be worshipped without any consideration of other deities. Thus he built both a Great Aten temple in the city as well as a smaller royal temple that could have likely also been his mortuary temple. Both were unique, having a novel architectural plan emphasizing open access to the sun rather than the traditional darkness of Egyptian shrines. Outside of Akhetaten, there appears to have also been temples dedicated to Aten at Memphis, at Sesebi in Nubia, and perhaps elsewhere during at least part of Akhenaten's reign. Around the time Akhetaten was founded, Amenhotep IV changed his own royal titulary to reflect the Aten's reign, but perhaps more remarkably, he actually changed his own birth name from Amenhotep, which may be translated as "Amun is content", to Akhenaten, meaning "he who is beneficial to the Aten" or "illuminated manifestation of Aten". Afterwards, the king proceeded to emphasize Aten's singular nature above all other gods through excessively preferential treatment. Ultimately, he suppressed all other deities. However, it is interesting that Akhenaten retained in his new titulary all references to the sun god Re. In his prenomen there is 'Neferkheprure' (Beautiful are the manifestations of Re) and 'Waenre' (Sole one of Re). George Hart in his Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddess tells us that Aten was: "..really the god Re absorbed under the iconography of the sun disk. The eminence of Aten is a renewal of the kingship of Re as it had been during its apogee over a thousand years earlier under the monarchs of the 5th Dynasty." However, it is really doubtful that such a simple statement can be made, for in reality, Aten took on many characteristics alien to Re. Re did not function in a vacuum of gods and goddesses. Yet there remained cloudy associations with Re even as Akhenaten moved into his new capital. There, accommodations were made for the burial of a Mnevisl, which was the sacred bull of Re. Furthermore, the king's last two daughters were named Nefernefrure and Setepenre, both incorporating Re into their names. But indeed, Akhenaten's new creed could be summed up by the formula, "There is no god but Aten, and Akhenaten is his prophet". The hymn known as the "Sun Hymn of Akhetaten" offers some theological insight into this newly evolved god. We find this hymn, which may have been composed by the king himself, in the tomb of the courtier Ay, who later succeeded King Tutankhamun. Scholars have noted a similarity between the hymn and Biblical Psalm 104, although the distinct parallels between the two are usually interpreted simply as indications of the common literary heritage of Egypt and Israel. Inscribed in thirteen long lines, the essential part of the poem is a hymn of praise for Aten as the creator and preserver of the world. Within it, there are no allusions to traditional mythical concepts, since the names of other gods are absent. In this hymn, no longer are night and death the realm of gods such as Osiris and various other deities, as in traditional Egyptian religion, but are rather briefly dealt with as the absence of Aten. Hence, it should be noted that, unlike other supreme gods of Egypt, Aten did not always absorb the attributes of other gods. His nature was entirely different. The hymn abounds with descriptions of nature and with the position of the king in the new religion. Irregardless of the existence of a priesthood devoted to Aten, only to Akhenaten had the god revealed itself, and only the king could know the demands and commandments of Aten, a god who remained distant and incomprehensible to the general populace. In fact, the priesthood may not have served so much Aten as they did Akhenaten. The high priest of the Aten was actually called the priest of Akhenaten, indicating not only the elevated position of the king in this theology, but also the effective barrier that he formed between even his priests and the god Aten. However, while the hymn seems to provide exclusive rights to the Aten only to the king, his family appears to have been included within this inner circle. The new myths of the religion were filled with the ruler's family history and it is not surprising that the faithful of the Amarna period prayed in front of private cult stelae that depicted the royal "holy" family. Yet, Aten was not a god of the people during the reign of Akhenaten. Far from it, in fact, considering that Egyptian religion had become more democratized around the god, Osiris. Aten had to be forced on the Egyptian people, and outside of Akhetaten (and really even there) and the official state religion, Aten never replaced all the traditional Egyptian gods. In effect, among the common Egyptians, if anything, the situation created a religious vacuum which was unstable from the beginning. And while it is clear that the elite of Akhetaten certainly paid respect to Aten, there is no real evidence for personal individual worship of the god on the part of the ordinary Egyptians whose only access to the god was through the medium of the king. On the contrary, at even the workers village in eastern Amarna, there has been unearthed numerous amulets of traditional gods, as well as some small private chapels probably dedicated to ancestor worship but showing no traces of the official religion. Around the ninth year of of Akhenaten's reign, the name of the god Aten was once more changed. Now, all mention of Horakhty and Shu disappeared. Horakhty was replaced by the phrase, "Ruler of the Horizon". No longer was the hawk form of the god acceptable and this image was definitively replaced with new iconography and a purer form of monotheism was introduced. Now, Aten became "the Living One, Sun, Ruler of the Horizon, who rejoices on the horizon in his name, which is Sunlight, which comes from the disk".