TOA Lesson 3
What is Medu Neter? How is it different from other writing systems, especially the western writing system?
Hieroglyph comes from the Greek hieros ( sacred) and glyphos (inscriptions). The Ancient Egyptians through whom the Greeks got their language called their own language Medu Neter meaning divine words or speech. The signs or images used in the hieroglyph language are called “tats.” Modern linguists have placed hieroglyphs into several categories such as man, woman, animals, fish,vessels, etc. The forms take shape of objects extracting figurative meanings of these object to convey a higher concept. Per Diodorus, a Greek historian, the Egyptians paid attention to the significance inherent in each object. The earlies dated hieroglyhs goes back to 3400 BCE and used until around 400 AD. There are however two types: ideograms including pictographs and determinatives and phonetics broken down into uniphonic, bihonic and triphonic. These are not to be mistaken for primitive picture writing which does not express the high mythical or mystical philosophy although earlier hieroglyphs were found in the Napa Playa area writing on wood before being later chiseled in stone in the old kingdom era.
There are different forms of the Ancient Egyptian language;
Formal HIeroglyphs were used in the old kingdom for scriptures on temples, coffins and tombs
Hieratic- were used in everyday writing in the old to new kingdom and directly correlates to hieroglyphs
Cursive hieroglyphs- everyday use and used on papyrus
Demotic- used in the late period and began to change from hieroglyphs
Meroitic- used by the Ethiopians after being cut off by the Greeks from Egypt 300 BCE to 400 AD
Coptic- alphabetic system used by gnostic christians in the coptic church in the late period and still used today.
Alphabetic system is more left brain, more literal. If one is to use it in a right brain way one would have to add more descriptive language and imagination. In hieroglyph you get all of the above at once
LIst the important topics covered in the book readings about Ancient Egyptian writing system; Medu Neter. Why are they important for understanding Ancient Egyptian writing as well as the philosophy contained in it?
Medu is pictured a s a walking stick or crutch, Neter means to exist. This means the Neter uses sound and images from the mind to hold itself up. Medu uses the tat to create the speech, to exist in time and space. Words are a crutch for the mind to cognize Neter, for Neter to exist through the mind. This requires capacity. All languages have their own concepts and thoughts. The more vocabulary one has the more intellectual capacity. Learning other languages also decreases egoism and attachment to one way of thinking and increases the capacity to receive higher philosophy by being introduced to other higher concepts.Rituals bring the mind into the feeling of the myth
Medu Neter is unlike the alphabetic languages in that while it is also a literal language it is also an avenue for concepts and teachings beyond the astral plane to come into existence on paper. The concepts in the mind become the images. Like Djehuty using the inkpot. The images later take on sound. These scriptures become useful when chanted . When the Medu Neter is mastered one is able to move beyond the crutch and make the words effective and is able to live them in an ethical way that leads to purification in truth. Hidden in the word is truth which purifies you.So anken- do not stop. Sebai used an example of going back to one’s homeland and having to relearn or acclimate to the language again. Language has within it certain nuances of the culture. since Ancient Egyptian culture is a mystical culture the language has nuances layered in mystical philosophy containing the truth about the nature of human existence.
Nebedjer gave the teachings to the Creator, The Creatori gave it to the cosmic mind where it was codified to lead humanity to higher consciousness. Through the secret rituals of the gods and the energy of exactness presided over the ability for them to be written with accuracy. In other words the truth emerged from non form into form into writing intact. That is a tat- a perfected idealized image, projecting a concept from the divine source. The divine is hidden everywhere, even in the tat. The creator comes into time and space through the Medu Neter, the crutch. We can likewise connect with the Medu Neter as a vehicle to enter into the realm of the divine.
What are the main takeaways from the introduction to Hieroglyphs video, the important teachings to remember about the Medu Neter and how it works in principle?
An impactful moment I had with the teaching was during the hieroglyph webinar Sebai did in 2016 where he deciphered the name Pert M Heru. The focus was on the M. He showed how it was interpreted by others as “in” “through” and into, and other technically accurate literal interpretations. They all carried the idea that you are here the light is there and you are going into it.. The profound moment came when Sebai revealed the meaning as “as” meaning you are the light. It showed how living the culture is significant in expanding the capacity necessary to understand the shetaut in the teaching.
Another was the explanation of how the early Egyptologist observed hieroglyphs such as the hetep slab but was not able to understand its function until traveling further south to the people who were either still using it or remember its physical use as a ritual tool merging the male and female aspect of oneself. This was not realized because the hetep slab along with other tool pictured in hieroglyph was elevated to a mental practice.
There is a direct understanding that is able to be obtained by reading Medu Neter that bypasses the steps in translation promoting spiritual emancipation.Writing Medu Neter develops the mind and leads to higher consciousness. Through writing you harmonize the opposites-hetep and align the psycho spiritual energy centers- djedu.
House of wisdom and transformative power , pillar of Asar and the creative force, Khnum, open the floodgate to subtle Nile, the flow of serpent power.
Scribe of the spirit ascribe meaning to writing through living the myth, philosophy. Everything you can name is a manifestation of Ra. Ra itself is a name. Intuition went beyond and names and concepts to know the true essence
olapeju
