I think a lot of mystically inclined Dharmics and Pagans would enjoy these books. The 'main' one, the most well-known, 'Book of the Dead' will be the least useful here but I would recommend reading it anyway. The ones I'd like to talk about here are the Amduat and the Book of Gates. These are mystical texts from the New Kingdom (Ramesses and other well-known pharaohs lived during this period), but based, as is the Book of the Dead, on the ancient Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom.
The texts are a kind of guided meditation through the Underworld (the Duat) through 12 gates (representing the 12 hours of night), where Ra, the Sun-God, journeys to meet Osiris, who rejuvenates the weakening Sun-God, allowing Him to rise as Khepri (the sacred scarab) at dawn. Throughout the journey Ra encounters and has to battle demons, for lack of a better word, who try stopping him.
In the Duat there also reside the souls of the deceased who have not finished the journey. Some may return on earth to reincarnate and try again. Some are having their memories burned away because they had too much attachment to the world they lived in, their bodies, their possessions etc. and cannot move on until these attachments have been let go. These souls live in almost every hour of the Duat in different states of enlightenment.
I think you get the idea.
The Book of Gates by Josephine McCarthy is the best to start with as it's guided and has commentary; the Amduat is a bit harder and the writer is foreign and sometimes the grammar is off, but she does a stellar job nonetheless (Diana Kreikamp).
I think these books are invaluable tools for mystical Pagans and sadly highly overlooked.
There are many versions of the Book of the Dead but I strongly recommend Faulkner or other newer editions (the Papyrus of Sobekmose is also good - the main codex used for the BTD is the Papyrus of Ani). Budge is outdated but cheap. I wouldn't recommend his translations as they are about 50-70 years out of date. This as well as the Book of the Dead is highly interpretive, very difficult to understand and not in any particular order. It is still very rewarding though.
The Amduat by Kreikamp also has a very thorough introduction.
Here are pictures from the First Hour in the Amduat,
@JustGeorge @The Hammer @Viker @Quintessence @SalixIncendium @Aštra’el
The texts are a kind of guided meditation through the Underworld (the Duat) through 12 gates (representing the 12 hours of night), where Ra, the Sun-God, journeys to meet Osiris, who rejuvenates the weakening Sun-God, allowing Him to rise as Khepri (the sacred scarab) at dawn. Throughout the journey Ra encounters and has to battle demons, for lack of a better word, who try stopping him.
In the Duat there also reside the souls of the deceased who have not finished the journey. Some may return on earth to reincarnate and try again. Some are having their memories burned away because they had too much attachment to the world they lived in, their bodies, their possessions etc. and cannot move on until these attachments have been let go. These souls live in almost every hour of the Duat in different states of enlightenment.
I think you get the idea.
The Book of Gates by Josephine McCarthy is the best to start with as it's guided and has commentary; the Amduat is a bit harder and the writer is foreign and sometimes the grammar is off, but she does a stellar job nonetheless (Diana Kreikamp).
I think these books are invaluable tools for mystical Pagans and sadly highly overlooked.
There are many versions of the Book of the Dead but I strongly recommend Faulkner or other newer editions (the Papyrus of Sobekmose is also good - the main codex used for the BTD is the Papyrus of Ani). Budge is outdated but cheap. I wouldn't recommend his translations as they are about 50-70 years out of date. This as well as the Book of the Dead is highly interpretive, very difficult to understand and not in any particular order. It is still very rewarding though.
The Amduat by Kreikamp also has a very thorough introduction.
Here are pictures from the First Hour in the Amduat,
@JustGeorge @The Hammer @Viker @Quintessence @SalixIncendium @Aštra’el
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