Sunday, December 16, 2012

Song to Seshat: The Song of Didiu


This song seems to be similar to what is done when beginning meditation. Calling one's body parts to relax, or sleep. Eckart Tolle describes this process as important in meditation. This process can take ones attention away from thinking. Can I feel the energy inside my hands, can I tell they are there without touching them. After a while most people can tell. That is an enormous step, states Tolle. This causes thinking to slow down. Can you incorporate your whole body. There is no anchor for presence. the inner body is a wonderful anchor for the stage of presence but you have to actively go through the process, not just say I am going to stop thinking about an unpleasant experience and it be turned into a pleasant experience. The mind will do little when really in the body there is not much thinking anymore, asserts  Tolle. These states from Tolle are similar to statements you will find from anyone who does meditation in modern times. But what about in Africa? What were the ancients speaking of or doing when they called their body parts during prayer. Seshat was certainly a part of this process. As was her star symbol. Provided are some snippets are of ancient Egyptian text for you to ponder.

From http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/antefoqer/e_antefoqer_04.htm
The song of Didiu is a long sequence of dark and obscure references, within which is often found a word translated as "Ninen"
"Heaven is pregnant with the Seshat-star, heaven brings forth the Seshat-star. The Seshat-star is to her mother. Ninen belongs to health, .... belongs to health. The vizier Antefoqer, born of Senet, belongs to health, Ninen belongs to life. The Seshat-star .... 0 Seshat(?), make yourself for Ninen(?) .... Ninen [belongs to] life, the vizier [Antefoqer] belongs to health .... I sleep, I make my own body, these my breasts, these my ...., these my ...., these my fingers, these [vertebrae] of my back. These my .... have not given you to .... Night approaches, it breaks(?), ...., it divides(?) its cup, it pours evil(?) The Seshat-star is to her mother.".
I am interested to know why this piece is called a "song". I have seen this process before in the Book of Coming Forth by Day in which separate body parts are mentioned individually. Taking into consideration that these words are a translation and not exactly what was said the process could have conceivably flowed similar to the meditation process we know of today. For instance, I sleep could mean I am in a relaxed state of rest then proceeding to acknowledge and calling attention to the different parts of the body. Not all are listed here because of the missing parts of the papyrus. Cosmic energy and the Seshat-star concept are very similar in the context of transcendental states. More specifically I am thinking about the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony and its connection between humans and the cosmos.

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