Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt: Awakening the Healing Power of the Heart

PRAISE FOR SHAMANIC MYSTERIES OF EGYPT

"Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf have brilliantly mapped out the step by step initiations we all go through in life. Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt is very profound and I think will provide help to all during these changing times."

SANDRA INGERMAN, AUTHOR OF

SOUL RETRIEVAL AND MEDICINE FOR THE EARTH

"Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt opens a new and magical window into the eternal world of pharaonic Egypt and its gods. Its special quality lies in the fact that it is written with an open heart and a searching soul, very much in the manner of an initiated scribe of this ancient land."

ROBERT G. BAUVAL, AUTHOR OF

THE ORION MYSTERY AND THE EGYPT CODE

Scully and Star Wolf have tapped into the mythic field of ancient Egypt, cradle of civilization. I wholeheartedly recommend using this book as a guide for a most profound shamanic voyage up the Nile. It is an amazing adventure you won’t want to miss.

JUSTINE WILLIS TOMS AND MICHAEL TOMS, COFOUNDERS OF

NEW DIMENSIONS BROADCASTING NETWORK AND COAUTHORS OF

TRUE WORK: DOING WHAT YOU LOVE AND LOVING WHAT YOU DO

"Scully and Star Wolf know Egypt, and their book is a guide to the emotional, living experience of Egypt; what Egypt means and how to feel it. It’s scholarship of the heart, rather than of the mind. Very interesting! Useful, too."

JOHN ANTHONY WEST,

AUTHOR OF SERPENT IN THE SKY

"More than any other book, Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt answers why so many people, now and throughout the ages, have been called to Egypt. These journeys reach into the depths of your being to empower your unique soul purpose. Discover how the awakened heart-mind consciousness transmitted through these initiatory experiences is essential for the healing of our planet."

MARY K. GREER,

AUTHOR OF TAROT FOR YOUR SELF

"Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf are part of a movement we might call taking the Gods seriously. This book shows us how the neteru can be both the genuine deities of the Ancient Egyptians and a powerful force in our own lives."

RACHEL POLLACK, AUTHOR OF

SEVENTY-EIGHT DEGREES OF WISDOM

These refreshingly direct methods of meditation and ritual reveal where true magic and mystery meet, in the sacred chamber of the heart of the soul. Like Isis providing the missing piece to Osiris, this book brings back the heart to the process of understanding and exploring the mysteries of Egypt.

DETRACI REGULA, AUTHOR OF

THE MYSTERIES OF ISIS

"This brilliant integration of the Egyptian mysteries, Jungian individuation, and the Tarot causes the reader to be initiated by the neteru—all of the aspects of nature. Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt is a great book for those who are entirely new to these mysteries, and it is a deep pool of wisdom for those already familiar with them. This book unlocks the hidden keys of ancient wisdom for the modern world."

BARBARA HAND CLOW, AUTHOR OF

THE MIND CHRONICLES AND THE MAYAN CODE

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

THE INTREPID SHAMANIC SOULS WILLING TO ENTER INTO THESE MYSTERIES

IN ORDER TO AWAKEN THE HEALING POWER OF THEIR HEARTS.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE: THE ROADRUNNER AND WILY COYOTE

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

PART I THE FIRST GREAT ROUND

0  THE DOVE—INITIATE

Innocence/Trust

1  NEKHBET-MOTHER-MUT—ALCHEMIST

Wisdom Keeper/Grand Mother

2  NEPHTHYS—THE HIGH PRIESTESS

Intuition/Mystery

3  ISIS—HOLY QUEEN/MOTHER OF US ALL

Embodied Manifestation of Love

4  KHNUM—MASTER CRAFTSMAN

Creator of Form/Organizing Principle

5  THE SPHINX—DIVINE MESSENGER

Earth Altar/Cosmic Library

6  SOBEK AND HORUS—RECONCILIATION OF OPPOSITES

Forgiveness/Understanding

7  SEKHMET—TRANSFORMATION

Fierce Compassion/Healer

8  MA’AT—TRUTH

Radiance/Balance

9  THOTH—ILLUMINATION

Architect of Wisdom/Enlightened Communication

10  KHEPERA—CYCLES OF CHANGE

Planetary Guardian/Spiral Dancer

PART II THE SECOND GREAT ROUND

  INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND GREAT ROUND

11  BAST—HOLY LONGING (DESIRE)

Instinct/Sensuality

12  ANUBIS—SURRENDER

Shaman/Enlightened Heart

13  OSIRIS—REGENERATION

Transmutation/Beauty

14  HATHOR—MAGIC

Medicine Woman/Integration

15  SET—SHADOW

Adversarial Ally/Trickster

16  WADJET—LIFE-FORCE ENERGY

Purification/Divine Awakener

17  SOTHIS—STAR CONSCIOUSNESS

Generosity/Bodhisattva

18  KHONSU—LUNAR ENERGIES

Divine Timing/Blood Mysteries

19  AMUN-RA—SOLAR ENERGIES

Transfiguration/Alchemical Gold

20  PTAH—THE NEW AEON

Imagination/Visionary Prophet

21  NUT AND GEB—WHOLENESS

Creation of Sacred Purpose/Divine Parents

PART III THE ELEMENTS— TOOLS FOR MANIFESTATION

  INTRODUCTION TO THE ELEMENTS

22  THE NILE—SACRED ARCHETYPAL

ELEMENT OF WATER

23  THE PYRAMID—SACRED ARCHETYPAL

ELEMENT OF EARTH

24  THE DESERT—SACRED ARCHETYPAL

ELEMENT OF FIRE

25  THE CRESTED IBIS—SACRED ARCHETYPAL

ELEMENT OF AIR

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE—AWAKENING THE HEALING POWER OF THE HEART

GLOSSARY OF THE GODS: A GUIDE TO THE SACRED NETERU OF ANCIENT EGYPT

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

FOR FURTHER READING

FOOTNOTES

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ABOUT INNER TRADITIONS

BOOKS OF RELATED INTEREST

COPYRIGHT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THERE ARE MANY magical and generous kindred spirits in this realm and in the neter world who lovingly supported and guided us throughout the birthing of this book.

Thank you Anubis and Thoth, and all the neteru of Shamanic Egypt for your constant presence, both in vision and voice as you led us through unchartered waters into the depths of our souls, and the heart of Egypt. We have waited many lifetimes to come together at this perfect moment. Thank you for the resounding message, It’s Not Too Late!

We are deeply grateful to the wonderful staff at Inner Traditions • Bear & Company, especially Jeanie Levitan, Peri Champine, and our stellar project editor, Laura Schlivek, for your exquisite care and expertise that added so much to the clarity and quality of this book. Thanks also to Victoria Sant’Ambrogio for her perceptive and sensitive line edit of the manuscript. And thank you Kris Waldherr for magically translating our vision into the gorgeous illustrations that grace this book.

To Mohamed Nazmy for setting up the magic, Emil Shaker, our passionate and knowledgeable Egyptologist, and Hatem Ali and Akram Farouk for taking such good care of us all—thank you for being our faithful, caring guides on our shamanic journeys through our beloved Egypt. We honor and thank all the participants in the As One Egypt groups who came together this past year and contributed greatly in the birth of these sacred rites, and especially our co-leaders, Brad Collins and Anyaa McAndrew, and Imsara and Patricia Bowers.

We send special thanks to Normandi Ellis for your inspiration and wealth of wisdom, and the magical words of remembering in your exquisite book Awakening Osiris.

FROM NICKI

It took the support of a tremendous number of people to assist and hold space for me during the creation of this book. I send immeasurable gratitude to my husband, Mark Hallert, for the deep love that we share, your focused attention to this project, for watching my back, and for keeping the home fires burning. To Liisa Korpella for the numerous ways you’ve supported me both at home and in Egypt. For Linda Oliver who kept the office running smoothly in spite of my lengthy absences, both at home and abroad.

Gloria Taylor Brown and Charla Hermann, my soul sisters who, each in your time read every word and made your comments known—I am so grateful for your friendship and support. Thank you Anita Bermont and Steve Harter for your attention to detail and your endurance listening to and commenting on the final edit. To Tree for tending the garden and typing the bibliography. To Joan Porter for a soft place to land and keep it all together during hard times. To Robert and Michele Bauval for opening your home, your hearts, and your library to me in Egypt. To Marwan El-Azzouni for showing me the wonders of secrets hidden in the desert. For Sherry Littlefield for taking care of Mark (and me) when Mark’s knee was replaced during the pressure-filled editing rewrites. To Kaydee Hallert for filling in while I (and my office staff) journeyed to Egypt. To Mary Greer and deTraci Regula for reading and critiquing the first draft. And to all those who have helped me over the years to bring in the teachings and initiations that laid the foundation for the work in this book, thank you. You know who you are!

FROM STAR WOLF

Thank you to my beloved husband and best friend, Brad Collins, for holding the fort with our home and businesses, for rubbing my feet, feeding my body, making me laugh, loving me, believing in this work and encouraging me to open up to let my biggest self come forth into the world, and for helping me to not be afraid of being Too Much. To my grandmothers, Mammy Jones and Ovie Finley, and cousin Margaret Jean Moore for teaching me about dreams, magic, and Tarot. To my parents, Richard Finley and Sue Finley, for your loving support on all levels, for teaching me about Edgar Cayce, and for being proud of me. For my son, Casey Piscitelli, and his family, Shelley, Aidan, and Cian for their inspiration. And to Grandmother Twylah Nitsch for leading me back to my spirit clan, and inner voice and magic.

Deep gratitude to my friends: Windraven for holding space for me to ground after countless hours of visioning and channeling, and for the others on the healing team that kept me together in Egypt—Barb Westover, Kathy Paxson, and Brenda Todd. To Ruby for your unending support and keeping a vigilant, caring eye on our business and community affairs. To Kathy Morrison, Sarah Jane Fridy, and the rest of the Isis Cove community. To Kathy Paxson, Anne Kenan, Susahn Smith, and Buzz Gibbs for helping me to remember a very important part of my soul’s purpose. Thank you Anyaa McAndrew for believing in the work and me. Thank you to all my dedicated Venus Rising students and soul friends who have journeyed with me to awaken the "shaman within" over these many years.

We both wish to honor and thank the immense spirit of Egypt herself, her land and the generous spirited people who always embrace us with warmth and welcome us home. And finally we thank you, the readers, for choosing to join us on this spiritual adventure.

NICKI SCULLY (BLUE EAGLE)

AND

LINDA STAR WOLF

PREFACE

THE ROADRUNNER AND WILY COYOTE

WHEN THE CONCEPT of this book first came to us, Star Wolf and I reminded each other that if you want something done, give it to a busy person. We laughed heartily as we studied our calendars and tried to find the hours a day that would be needed to make it happen in the brief months we were promised. To set the context for our partnership, we traveled two similar yet very different roads that converged at the altar of the Egyptian Mysteries in the summer of 2002.

Star Wolf and I first met through email. We can’t remember who saw whose newsletter first, but we both knew we were destined to meet. She recalls that when she saw my newsletter she felt that she could have written it. I contacted her to see about using her Shamanic Center in Marin County, and it just so happened that Star Wolf and her husband Brad were teaching in Portland the following weekend. I invited them to stop by for the night. They thought I was either very gracious or a nutcase, but they decided to take a chance.

Smitten by our garden, they decided to check me out further by joining Normandi Ellis and me two weeks later for our seventh annual Egyptian Mysteries retreat. Our subject that year was Becoming the Oracle, a mind-bending, reality-stretching new map that carried us into some previously uncharted waters. The gifts of prophecy and the potential for oracular medicine poured through our tentative yet open minds, and into the participants. In Star Wolf’s case it was a set-up: the torrent of visions that burst through her prepared and open heart awakened her already committed soul to a new level of purpose, and she was able to claim the stellar gift of prophecy that had been awaiting the auspicious moment for its birth.

We each went on with our lives, and it was Star Wolf who felt the call to co-lead a group to Egypt with my company, Shamanic Journeys, Ltd., and me. As the founder and creator of the form, Shamanic Breath-work, she had a strong base to draw from; between us, forty-two participants came together in October, 2005, to become the As One group, one of the most deeply connected and joyful groups in either of our experience.

In 1978, I had traveled to Egypt with the rock band The Grateful Dead, when they played three concerts in front of the Sphinx under a full moon. Those two weeks of pure magic changed the course of my life, yet the gift of prophecy was not mine, and it has been an ongoing surprise as I discovered, mostly in retrospect, how deep my connection was and continues to be to that land and the pantheon that speaks through its enduring monuments. It would be years before I understood that it was the ancient voice of these ancestors that also spoke within my DNA.

Although my relationship with the pantheon and the Egyptian Mysteries deepened and expanded during the course of leading thirty-plus groups, the tour with Star Wolf catalyzed a major shift. On the flight to Cairo, I was reading Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts by Jeremy Naydler, and had the revelation that the Sed Festival rites described in these texts were returning, and that we would be presenting some version of these rites of renewal during our pilgrimage. When Star Wolf arrived in Cairo a couple of days later, she confirmed my insight when she told me of a dream she’d had a few nights before. Anubis came to her in the night and took her through an experience that I recognized as the first major initiation in the work, which was to happen at Sakkara where the Sed festivals had taken place during the Old Kingdom. This synchronistic magic was compounded when I discovered that my dear friend and mentor Mohamed Nazmy, the Egyptian land agent who makes all our dreams come true, had already planned a special private entry for us into the step pyramid at Sakkara, a rare (almost unheard of) privilege that would allow us to perform this rite in a manner that would add considerably to its potency.

Star Wolf became ill almost as soon as she arrived in Cairo. In spite of her growing difficulty breathing, and at my urging, we soon discovered that she had a direct and clear channel to Thoth, my primary teacher and the architect of this and my previous work. Although Star Wolf was physically impaired throughout the trip, our co-leaders Anyaa McAndrew and Brad Collins (Star Wolf’s husband) were tireless in their support; thus, along with a number of participating priestess/healers, we managed to keep her together and get her to most of the temples as we traveled throughout Egypt. Each night we would meet and Star Wolf would download the next set of instructions and images, which because of my intimate relationship with Egypt, I was able to translate into the new/old instructions for the required rituals of initiation. While Star Wolf reclined on her bed in a semitrance state of meditation, we would enter into a place of the heart/mind and trust. There was always a deep space of reverence and a mixture of the sacred and profane while we moved ahead and trusted the process. Thoth, my teacher, the Egyptian god of wisdom and communication, became her oracle and spoke the powerful mystery teachings that we soon realized were meant for us personally as well as for the world.

Although Star Wolf had channeled before, this was the first time she gave herself over fully to the process without reservation. Her debilitation created an altered state of consciousness, so that while the sacred voice of Thoth spoke through her, and while she was engaged in the ceremonies and rituals at the temples, she felt no distress and could breathe easily; at those times the symptoms of her illness magically disappeared. It was not until a few days after we returned home from Egypt that she actually emerged from the mysterious illness.

As a consequence of her shamanic death, Star Wolf experienced the rebirth that prepared her vessel for the even deeper work of bringing in this book—for which our journey to Egypt became a preview of the coming attraction. Through the birth of the ancient sacred heart rituals in Egypt, a connection was forged between Star Wolf and myself that included the Egyptian pantheon. With the sacred trust that resulted from this powerful heart/mind bond, I was able to place my faith in the truth of her ability to bring in something altogether new and magical. I went with my inner knowing and released my attachment to all previously conceived dogma and rituals from my past experience and knowledge of Egypt. Although Star Wolf’s familiarity with Egypt’s myths and pantheon was quite limited when we began this work, she perceived with absolute clarity and conveyed with meticulous articulation detailed descriptions of instructions, symbols, and even attire that she had never seen before. It was my heartfelt joy to translate her vision into this book that is the map to these Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt.

One night on the Nile when the co-leaders and I were especially concerned for Star Wolf, the four of us snuggled together on her bed to bolster her while preparing for the next day’s ritual. Through our large cabin window, we could clearly view the ageless beauty along the river’s edge as we drifted past. A loud and persistent message suddenly burst through Star Wolf with absolute clarity: "It’s not too late! There is still hope, there is still time." As the tears flowed from us, our doubts and pessimism for the tragic situations of the world were washed away in the knowing that we are not too late. That message has sustained us, and has continued to uphold us as we created space for this work to enter in its fullness.

By February, it was clear that Thoth wanted us to write a small book in order to awaken these rites more fully into human consciousness. I was already engaged in writing two other books, and did not see how I could include another major project. Thoth promised that it would be mercurially quick, and assured us that although it would streak through our lives like a comet, what we would learn would assist in everything else that we were doing. That this book would be an expression from the heart of Anubis added further incentive, and we agreed to go for it.

We began the work on Valentine’s Day and once again I was amazed at the clarity and precision with which Star Wolf perceived complex Egyptian cosmology and theology, along with details such as the shapes of crowns and symbols to which she had no previous exposure. This unique talent continued throughout our collaboration. The first round was completed on Easter Sunday. In between, we spent two to three hours most mornings on the phone, Star Wolf visioning and I scribing at the computer. I held the space for her to birth these heart/mind mystery teachings as the true shaman she is. Then I wrote, crafted, and added context to her visions with my research, knowledge, and experience until the manuscript was completed.

It was apparent from the beginning of our collaboration that Star Wolf, in part due to her long-time connection to the Wolf Clan, is identified with Anubis (Jackal deity) energy, while I have always had a strong connection with Thoth (Ibis deity). While experiencing my own journey through these rites in Egypt I received my ren—my sacred spirit name— Blue Eagle. We knew we were the bird and the canine, and sometimes during the chaotic birthing of our work we felt like a Roadrunner cartoon, especially during the bringing in of the second round.

While the first round was accomplished over the phone, the second round transpired while at least one of us was in motion—one or both of us in a car, or on a boat, or in the air, or even out walking. We started working on it while she was home in North Carolina and I was on our cruise ship on the Nile. After I returned from Egypt, we planned to spend four days together so that we could make some quick progress. We thought it was a bit peculiar that we were directed to use the only time we had together during the entire process to drive all the way to California to visit friends. For me it was not a new concept, as my husband Mark Hallert and I have always done our best visioning work while he drives and I scribe. Because it was the first time Star Wolf attempted to drive and vision at the same time, Thoth explained how the movement through the element air enhanced and sped up the visioning process.… During our return trip, with only a few pages left in the entire book, we were winding our way past Mount Shasta and up the Siskyou Pass into Oregon. As we were told to journey our readers to the highest point in their area, be it a rooftop or a mountain, we crested the pass where a sign read, "Highest Point on I-5." We barely had time to giggle and complete the final instruction when we passed a bright yellow eighteen wheeler, on the side of which was painted a red crested roadrunner wearing a smirking grin and dragging wily coyote in chains, his tongue lolling from his mouth. We had just been told that the exercise ended with a sound, and our laughter rang throughout both Oregon and California!

It is our hope that the joy and passion, the pathos and humor, and the depth of our commitment infuse these pages and inspire the growth, excitement, and transformation that has so deeply touched and enriched our lives. We offer it to you at this time with heartfelt devotion and gratitude to Anubis, Thoth, and the entire family of Egyptian neteru. May these journeys unite your heart, mind, soul, and spirit so that we can all achieve our destiny as divine humans.

NICKI SCULLY

(BLUE EAGLE)

INTRODUCTION

AS WE TRANSIT from the age of Piscean energy to the Aquarian age, we can already discern the advent of fundamental paradigm shifts. During the last several thousand years, mainstream traditions have required intercession with most all forms of expressed divinity, or God. Most people have looked outside of themselves for the savior, the teacher, the messiah, and even for their own personal well-being. We are entering a time when people are searching for a way to stretch the envelope. Many of the fundamental traditions are splintering and disintegrating from within, as institutionalized power structures age and fall. The old ways are not working, and we are being driven to find what is real and true, and what will carry us forward. An inevitable result of this search for solutions will bring us into the intrinsic power of our time: we will become aware of our own divine nature, and the authority and power that are the essence of all awake and aware beings.

The renewal of the healing power of the heart is the result of the sacred marriage between the heart and the mind. This renewal is the reflection of the evolution of divinity as it mirrors the awakening of consciousness in humans. The purpose of this book is to return certain of the ancient mysteries of Egypt to today’s world to help human beings embrace and step into their divine nature.

As a species, we are but adolescents in the human experiment, and in the changeable way of all adolescence, we try to remain children at the same time we are striving to become adults in our young, godlike evolvement. We are the young gods. The gods of Egypt are the old gods.

In Egypt, the gods are called neteru; neter is the male word for god, netert the female. The origins of the word moved from the Coptic Christian netjer to the Greek netcher and into English as nature.¹ True to