A Chapter In The Life Of Thoth
Thoth Raismes is presented to the people as one who takes his rightful place among the 'Sun Born'...
On the platform seated in a semi-circle behind the Priest-Seer and Raismes, were twelve members of the Solar Legion. They remained silent during the proceedings, but their mere presence was enough to substantiate the Priest Seer Abba's words. The Priest-Seer addressed the people:
"You who have been gathered to witness this day shall look upon he who has been sent to us once again - who has returned as he so promised the Atlantean masters of Old. Behold, for you see in this man, the being who was Toth-Mus-Zurud. Now in this body he is to be known forever more as the One who Bears the Three Crowns, the Thrice Great Thoth. Throughout his life among us he shall join the Three Kingdoms within One Realm: the Kingdom of Mind, the Kingdom of Heart and the Kingdom of Spirit. He brings us the fire in Orion's Girdle; those three stars which radiate the Three Kingdoms within us. While as Toth-Mus-Zurud, he was one who came to as from afar; now as Thoth Raismes of Aphra, he is our Brother, our Son, our Friend and Mentor. Let us pull away the veils from our eyes and see him who takes upon the mantle of service as the true Thoth."
The people jostled in expectation as Raismes stepped forward. He wore a white linen robe, edged in purple. Around his waist was the girdle of Toth-Mus-Zurud. The talisman of the Solar Legion was about his neck, and a band of golden weave encircled his forehead, covering the three red dots of his birth mark. He wore his hair long, with a braid down the left side, the rest of his locks flowing just below the shoulders. His eyes were piercing yet infinitely kind. The mass of people gasped as one body. He was beautiful to behold. His whole presence bespoke unquestioned authority and regal grace. The people before him became silent, awestruck by what they saw and experienced. They had been among the Sun Born before, yet this man was a being apart. In those moments of silence, the descending sun settled about the shoulders of Thoth as a dove would rest its wings on the yoke of an anointed host. The smoke of rose-colored clouds turned lavender and then violet, as a gentle breeze blew. It was a moment all wished to remember unto eternity. Among the crowd were Raismes' family, including Astara Maia and Lhasa. These women who loved him as son and brother felt their hearts break into many small, exquisitely shaped pieces, each reflecting the sunset behind their Beloved. Every scent and sign of the encroaching evening they savored in their breast, as a testament to the instant in eternity which now overcame their souls with wonder. Just then, a voice called out from among the people. It was a small, almost whining voice, which grated upon the ear. "You who stand there in your fine robes and jewels," croaked the gnome-shapen man attached to the accusing utterance, "you are an imposter! I have seen the Great and Mighty Thoth. You are an imposter, I say! For he who is Thoth is already among us. We have no need of a lesser god, when the greater is at our stead!"
Heads turned, some in shock and others in foreboding, to see a small man with toadish features. He was slightly humped in the shoulders and he now squinted as if he preferred darkened places to the light of day. All that could be heard by a few was his wheezing, tense breathing. He suddenly realized that he was in possession of an audience, and at first this gave him pause. Then he took on the persona of one who had waited all his life for just such a moment. He drew a deep, ragged breath and proceeded. "I, Huskholi, have met both men and I say that the Thoth dwells not in this one. He is great within Babbet el Hafharen, who is of the Suden country (Syria). He works glorious miracles and is a fierce fire brand of spirit and might. It is he to whom you must turn, for he is the savior of this world which has begotten us so poorly. Thoth Babbet promises all who come to him, a better reward."
All the while Huskholi was rasping his feverish speech, Thoth Raismes was as still as a marbled column of the temple. His countenance remained brilliant, his eyes two vessels of golden-blue light. Huskholi's fierce projections paled before Thoth's simple grace. He was both the Lion and the Lamb. They were at peace within him, and no tirade of words could impale him upon the sword; for he was the sword from out of the mouth of the gentled beast.
There was no more to be said. Huskholi suddenly looked as if he had swallowed a fish bone. He clamped his jaws shut, moved his eyes nervously from side to side, and decided that his retreat would be imminent. All faces turned toward the Thoth as if the small toad-like man had never been. Raismes bent his head ever so slightly for just a moment, and raised one hand to his chin, as if he wished to catch a falling tear. But no tears were visible. When he lifted his head once again, all watched as his eyes became crystal with an inner resolve. He parted his lips to speak, then smiled faintly, and looked to the heavens, now lit with the many stellar spheres of the firmament. A shooting star grazed the edge of the sky. It shimmered as a stone cast upon water, racing into the depths of the cosmic sea. In that instant, those present saw a veil of light surround the Thoth in azure blue. It then departed as swiftly as the falling star of the Eternal Way. Thoth Raismes looked back upon the people. His ensuing words bore fruit upon their weighty limbs, and the assembled knew the ripeness of his soul was their's to harvest.
He said unto them, "I know thee who art among thy dwelling, who visits the secret places of the soul and who longs for the company of angels. I know the one within who stands at the gate while others pass through and burns with a fire ravaging all things undone in this world. I witness thee who art taken down into the depths of the craven tangle where fear lies in wait and scavenges upon the bones of less hearty pilgrims.
"I am beside thee who climbs with diligent step to the heights of mountains and finds there only the frozen thoughts of men who have ascended before thee. I am thee; and I say unto thee now, there is no place that ye may seek out the Flame but in thine own sanctuary. All else is but a trivial aside to the golden moment of truth within. Know this, and ye shall find thy masters and savants at the feet of the indwelling spirit that resides in all souls and in all universes of Divinity."
And thus that day of revelation came to a masterful closing. It expired upon the lips of a mortal world as it chanted the song of angels; and Thoth Raismes of Aphra became a single note lifting in perfect melody on the winds of an eventide long ago.
From the unfinished manuscript, "JOURNEY OF THE BELOVED," on the life of Thoth, Raismes of Aphra
more pages of Thoth's story