A Chapter in the Life of Thoth

Karmel reclined on a vermillion couch, her long, black tresses draped over the cushion and her unshod foot toying with a tassel on the footstool. Her appearance was of a woman in her early 20's, although her years were much greater than that. As a Sun Born, she enjoyed the privilege of eternal youthfulness. She could be confident that on her last day of life, no matter the longevity, she would appear no older than her mid-thirties. The youthful woman threw back her head and erupted in a delighted peal of laughter. Her eyes slitted playfully at her brother, Stephaan, who was indulging in mind games with her. Ever since they had been children together, she had always enjoyed his silent sense of humor. She seldom mind-spoke with anyone else except of course, with her eldest brother, Tiirna. Karmel never called him 'Raismes'. While she adored him, it made her uncomfortable to think that he was the Thoth. It was satisfying to her than her siblings were all together once again; and in her beloved Atlantis, the place she had always considered her true home. If only her parents lived here, everything would be perfect, but Usmonjhe would not leave his Icara for long periods of time, and Estara-Maia would not be without him. Yet the homecoming had been perfect, for her parents were with them to greet her brothers as they brought the Sacred An into the harbor of Pyrithea.

Raismes entered the room suddenly, interrupting the revelry. Estara-Maia stood to embrace him, and little Chiloie, Raseshet's daughter ran and buried herself in his arms. "How goes it, brother?" questioned Tatetat anxiously. Raismes took from his girdle a scroll cylinder, replying, "I have it here. This document gives me sanction from the Solar Legion to place the Sacred An in the Temple of the Dolphins at Kyrho." Raseshet frowned. He was a blonde giant of a man, with a slight beard and hawk-like light blue eyes. He was slightly shorter than Raismes, but stockier of build and heavy, muscled arms. Even so, he was no hulk. There was grace in his movements and the presence of a dancer about him. As a trainer of the sacred Atlantean horses, he was keenly attuned to animals and their sensitive nature. Karmel teased that he often resembled a prancing horse, tossing his mane to and fro in his exuberance for life. His wife, Eva sat next to him in the deep pillows on the floor. She was small and dark. Her large brown eyes were set wide apart in a nutmeg-colored face which was round and simple, yet with the beauty of deep, dark waters. "Speak, Raseshet," Thoth Raismes somberly yet gently prodded, "What would you have us know?" Raseshet rubbed his chin and tugged and his beard absentmindedly. "The Temple of the Dolphins is full of Komer spies, as is the whole city of Kyrho. Do you want the Sacred Ark of our Fathers despoiled by that plague of villains?" Raismes smiled a tired smile, walked to his seated brother, bent and clasped his shoulder. "Do you not share the faith of our Fathers, the Patriarchs of Old? It was they who gave the seal to Harkmaris, the Dolphinus<$F title of high priest within the Temple of Dolphins> , so that the Sacred An would come to rest for a while in the tabernacle by the sea. The Temple of Dolphins is one of the few remaining temples that has not been entered by the Komer. Spies may cluster like flies about Kyrho, but the Temple of Dolphins is safe for now." Raseshet was still unconvinced. Ignoring his brother's words about the Patriarchs, he asked fretfully, "How could the Solar Legion not wish to see the ark in its most sacred temple on Ruta? Surely this is where it belongs." Raismes said simply, "It is not the Solar Legion who decides these matters. They only grant formal approval. The Temple of the Dolphins was given as the site for the Sacred An through the Enochian Table." This cut Raseshet's argument like a knife. He knew he was beyond his depth, and decided to depart from his questioning on the matter as gracefully as possible.

The Komer were also known as the 'Black Magicians'. They were like mice nibbling bit-by-bit into the Religious and Governmental stations of Atlantis. They never sought to claim anything in the open, but instead employed others to work for them, always appealing to the discontent, the greedy and power-hungry. Only the Northern province of Atolia and the sacred Isle of Ruta were completely free of the influence and power of the Komer. The city of Kyrho was in the Eastern province of Kuwat. An increasing number of Komer agents held high office in both church and state in Kuwat. Only 85 years ago, Kyrho had been one of the most sacred cities of Atlantis, with its Dolphin Temple rising above the city, poised like a supplicant, outstretched hand upon a precipe overlooking the sea. Now, although Kyrho was still as beautiful to the eye, underneath its dazzling reflection swam creatures of the night. Raseshet was not being unreasonable to question the wisdom of placing such a sacred object in the 'fallen' city. Yet he did not understand the truth of the matter; and the Thoth chose not to tell him, for he was not yet ready to comprehend it. The Sacred An was not meant to be an object of veneration, surrounded only by the worshipful. It was a holy tool, which when set upon and within certain points of the Earth, would create a resonance with God, cleansing and empowering the grid of the planet. Thus, to place it in the midst of darkness was to set a lighted candle therein.
The family gathered in the large living room of Raismes' home. This house had been at one time, the dwelling of Toth-Mus-Zurud, afterward being placed in the guardianship of Cathspar, a high priest of the "Old Region', as Lemurian spiritual teachings were called. Cathspar held the house in trust for the return of the Thoth.

The dwelling of Thoth was built on the island of Athzia, in the inland sea. No one dwelt on Athzia but the Thoth, his principles and caretakers. The members of the Raset Ankhara were welcome to reside there at any time, and some did, while others chose separate locales on the greater islands.

He called this home 'the Harp' because of the many wind passages built within it that caused it to sound like the melodious plucked strings of an Atlantean harp. The house rested upon the earth like a serpent uncoiling in the sun. The building was circular as were most Atlantean homes. It sat atop a gently sloping hill, overlooking the inland sea. It was surrounded by gardens and landscaped very naturally, with small fountains and terraced waterfalls. All was more fairy-like than grand.
Set upon the top of the house was a room, large and open to the sunlight, with shutters that could be closed in inclement weather. This was Raismes' place of retreat. There were rooms more aligned to the sacred in his home than this one, but it was in this place where he could find integration with his human self. He called it the 'gull's nest'. It contained only a thick sleeping pad on the floor and a small, low table.

Only one other chamber in the house came as close to filling the requirement of retreat for him, and that was his master bedroom. It was constructed with a large bay window allowing a view into an alcove of large pianga trees, ancient relatives of the yew. The whole presence of this room bespoke nurturing and burrowing into the sweet scents and sounds of the earth. Raismes would often leave his windows open and chipmunks, squirrels and even small garter snakes would crawl into his room, often accompanied by a hummingbird or kangi, a small red and green bird with a shrill call. Raismes loved 'nature's blessed' as he referred to them, and they were always welcome in his abode.

On one wall of his bedroom was a large and beautifully crafted map of the world. There was a small altar with a statue of Daidaja, the Tungzhe Goddess of high places. Also there was the small golden ankh gifted him as a boy by the Egyptian priest Ponjah and a silken white scarf his mother had given to him that had been blessed by the Angel Matraiel. There was an assortment of tiny bird's eggs and several crystals lying scattered on the altar. In their midst was a necklace of polished star-ray stones, those rare, blue-green crystals that had come from the stars and sunk deep into the ocean, guardianed by the dolphins near the Isle of the White Dolphin. Despite its treasures, this was not the altar of a Master Illumanari, but an array of what was sacred to the heart of Tiirna.

The innermost room of the dwelling was large, with a sunken center containing a pit-fireplace. The floors were natural redwood, imported from what is now North America. There were beautifully woven rugs, pillows and tapestries throughout the room, and from the ceiling hung sheer chiffon-like fabric that moved in winged motion with the breezes vented through shafts in the ceiling behind it. There was little furniture, mostly large pillows and pallets on the floor. However, there was a large table made of petrified redwood, with several low, comfortable chairs around it. On one wall there hung a color portrait of Estara Maia in her youth, her lovely eyes gazing down upon her son whenever he was in the room, as if to shelter him in the warmth of her smile.
In the evenings, Raismes would often sit before the redwood table, his books and writing material spread out before him. Through the window he could see the far shore of Kashmir as the sun cast the waters a deep violet, the color of his mother's eyes. For many years after his return as the Thoth to Atlantis, a large white coumba, or arctic wolf would be stretched at his feet, his deep golden eyes reflecting the wilderness inside him. A king of a Hyperborean tribe of the North land had gifted Raismes with the pup when it had been but a small furry ball in his hands. Full grown the wolf weighed 218 pounds, yet it glided like padded lightening by Raismes' side as he took long, meditative walks through the forested island. Thoth Raismes name the wolf Nebacur, meaning the 'great one'. It was Nebacur who led him to Leta, whom he would marry after the completion of his second home in Egypt, but that is another story.

As Thoth Raismes walked with Nebacur in solitude upon the spiny ridge of the Isle of Athzia and gazed out over the inland sea, he felt very much alone. Yet this aloneness did not lay a heavy hand upon him, for he sought the company of immortals beyond the veil of earthly life. Instead, such times of isolation caused him to read the starry script of the heavens in which was written the testament of ages and his place in the grand design. In moments of rapture, he could see the burning face of the one hung upon the stake in the Earth, and smell the sweet scent of the woman standing at the foot of the cross, her tears shedding light into his soul. That vision from the dream long ago came to him again and again and he responded with a tender reverence for life and the beauty of its departure into the sunset.

Thoth's days in Atlantis were spent in preparation for the Great Deluge that he knew would soon send this continent into Her deep and watery tomb. His work with the ark was foremost, for it had the capacity to re-distribute energy along the ley lines of the planet, causing the coming cataclysm to be less violent than it would be otherwise.

Soon after he received the authority from the Solar Legion to move the ark into the Temple of the Dolphin at Kyrho, the Thoth journeyed with the Sacred An and his company to that temple by the sea.

From the unfinished manuscript, "JOURNEY OF THE BELOVED," on the life of Thoth, Raismes of Aphra
 

more pages of Thoth's story

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