Daughter of Isis by Lilian Nirupa (book recommendations .TXT) 📕

represents the soul, in its most brilliant manifestation. Its presence reveals the glories of the sky and land, flowers and stocks, food, play, drink, pleasure and all the delights that our beloved father lavishes us with.”
Swami wasn’t a monk, but he was a Brahmin, a dedicated Indian scholar. Lizla noticed that he never lost an opportunity to remind his privileged audience about the trappings of a life of luxury.
Today, Swami Suryananda continued. “The sun will pass through a period of quiet darkening, conceding to the white Gods of quiet meditation, the center stage. It is a special opportunity for all of us. There, in the quiet power of our inner silence, we can pray for the protection of the King and the future of your beloved land.”
And again he turned his burning eyes to the whole royal audience and other members of the court and the gifted temple priests that constituted his audience. His manners were quite independent and almost fearless as he quietly withdrew behind the hanging wall chart.
The musicians arranged the center stage to prepare for the morning chant.
An eclipse, Lizla thought, war and defeat... trouble in the South! And this Indian Master expects us to go into quiet meditation? Does he not know any fear? Maybe a traveling monk has lost all feeling of home and country. How does he dare to speak like this to our princess?
The musicians started the soothing rhythm created by lyres and vinas and a mysterious Indian drum that he called “tabla,” which had almost a hypnotic effect on Lizla’s consciousness.
The chant was done in Sanskrit, a language that Lizla wanted very much to learn, because she was so interested in Vedic astrology. She made a note to ask Ra-Ta about that, when he finished his mysterious isolation.
The leading chanters started with a hymn to the Sun, which started with slow tones deep in reverent feelings, which Lizla found strangely reassuring, in spite of the foreign language. The priests of the Sun, whether Indian or Egyptian, were always her teachers, she thought as the beloved face of Ra-Ta, her master and Egyptian guru, passed before her inner eyes.
In many ways, Ra-Ta, with his impeccable Egyptians manners, was very different from the flamboyant Indian master. But a fire in their eyes, she recognized, came in both cases from Ra himself. Maybe that is why they were both destined to be preceptors of Kings and Princes. “Who could tell the ways of heaven? Ah! but that is what they try to interpret, isn't it? Not me,” – she thought. “I'd rather help people, and at least I know what I’m doing.”
Lizla joined fervently in the religious chant. They came right up to fever pitch after a slow crescendo. The Sun was high in the horizon, but it was still pitch black inside the Hall of Stars. Only the tiny butter lamps and the glow of the incense sticks were visible. But Lizla did not see them any longer, as she was submerged in the sweetness of the chant with its velvety softness that now numbed her senses and caressed her mind into a state of total stillness.
She felt she was going into deep meditation when all of a sudden a vivid scene appeared in her mind’s eye. She was a standing by a well fetching a pail of water and drinking in the sun caresses of the early morning. All of a sudden, a huge rider on a huge black horse approached from the Southwestern horizon. He was galloping towards her at full speed and seemed closer and closer by the minute. Lizla stood up – in her vision – her heart beating furiously with a mixture of fear and excitement. Friend or foe? Was she safe? Somehow she felt she knew him, but before he could get close enough to see his face, the chimes pronouncing the end of the chant sounded, announcing the opening of the huge doors of the Hall of Stars and the glorious glow of the desert sunlight interrupted her dream.
Almost irritated, Lizla stood up, put her papyrus in order, and followed the line of students to the dining hall where refreshments were being served. “Eat lightly, but full. If possible avoid lunch meals. It is no good to eat heavily at eclipse time. You may want to keep a light stomach for the noonday meditation. Today it can be especially powerful. “ Those where parting instructions from the swami’s secretary as they abandoned the Hall of Stars Auditorium.

Chapter 7 – The Solar Eclipse
Lizla sat quietly in her meditation room after a light early lunch that was allowed during the eclipse. Following the quiet breathing exercises that have the power to bring her into the inner chambers of her soul, she thought of Ketu. Swami had told them a strange story about Ketu. It was an old Indian legend. It went like this:
Many hundreds of years ago, the Gods and the demons had a big fight for the supremacy of the three worlds. The Gods were not yet immortal at that time, but they were wholly satvic or pure souls that were always championing the ways of heaven. The demons were rebellious souls (the Indians called them Rakshakas). They were both mischievous and irresponsible. They could be fierce in battle, but cruel in victory with their enemies as well as with innocent or weak bystanders. They liked to live in forests.
Lizla wondered how that would be so bad, because here in the desert the trees were scarce and deeply revered.
But the legend said those demons could attack innocent people that walked through the woods, particularly children. The worst of them ate young children, but they all had the tendency to scare them away from their parents and terrify them with noises and ghostly shadows.
In that fight, the Lord of the Word, Vishnu, was the Hindu sustainer of the universe. He was the upholder of Dharma or righteousness. Dharma was the equivalent of “ma’at,” the Egyptian word for universal order. Yes, the heavens and the earth were supported by ma’at and Amon-Ra shined among them. But Amon-Ra was not in that Indian story.
The God of Love, another title for Vishnu, decried that the struggle would be decided by a single contest. Both gods and demons would churn the ocean of milk which was in a celestial container that rotated around a central pole that Vishnu was holding. Vishnu, himself, held the central pole acting like the final and supreme arbiter of the contest.
The Gods and the demons churned the ocean of milk furiously, until it became solid like butter. Just before the ocean solidified, a beautifully dressed Goddess covered with jewels emerged from it.
Behind her, was the God of Medicine, carrying with him the nectar of immortality, which the Indians called: Amrit.
Lizla thought about Isis and her power as a healer. She wondered if the Goddess arising from the ocean of milk was the Indian version of Isis. She had asked Suryananda about this, but Suryananda declined to comment and answered cryptically: “We call her Lakshmi, the Goddess of Abundance.”
After, the Gods and demons jumped out the now solid ocean, they were asked to form a line to drink from the Amrit that the God of Medicine was distributing. The arrangement had been made between Vishnu and the Gods that the Gods would be first in the line, to ensure they would become immortal, while Vishnu would make sure that the demons did not enter the line. The planets were considered Gods, so they also joined the line. But a very clever demon, called Rahu, sneaked into the line among the Gods. Suddenly the sun and the moon, which are the brightest among the planets, noticed the intrusion and told Vishnu about it. The God Vishnu was very angry at the demon and picking up his sword, he cut the demon in two. Unfortunately, the demon Rahu had already drunk of the nectar, so it did not die but instead, it split in two. The head portion became Rahu and the tail portion became Ketu.
The rest of the strange legend relates how Ketu, drunk with both victory and confusion (a common state of mind for most demons) fell over the roof of one of the houses over which he was jumping around, in his frenzied dancing. As he fell down from the roof he landed in a flower pot owned by a very pious Brahmin wife. Ketu blessed the plant that provided him with a refuge from the fury of Vishnu. That year the plant yielded its most beautiful flowers. The pious woman blessed the flowerpot and its new inhabitant grew into a sage in his next lifetime.
Thus Ketu became the symbol of the preservation of knowledge and wisdom, and protector of sages and scholars. The legend finalizes in that both Ketu and Rahu made a lifelong vow to punish the Sun and the Moon, for having denounced them to Vishnu. They persecuted the Sun and the Moon all the time and true to their demonic nature, when they encountered and devoured either one of them, an eclipse was formed.
The demonic nature of both Rahu and Ketu which were the symbolic names of the North and South nodes of the moon, explained the presence of eclipses, as well as the disruptive influence they had in the life of people. For in the areas where their presence was found in human astrological charts, and in their cycles of life as well as in planetary aspects, they tended to create peculiar effects.
Lizla thought about all of this, as she continued the breathing exercises that preceded the afternoon meditation.
The whole temple had been closed and dedicated to inner practices due to the eclipse. It was an eerie feeling, but after some quiet chanting Lizla experienced a very deep peace. This time, however, the feeling of peace was not accompanied with contentment and trust as she was accustomed in her orderly and well protected life. In its place, a heavy feeling was over her shoulders and suddenly her third eye opened like a window where clear images displayed followed by periods of foggy anxiety.
She saw a multitude of boats approaching the armies that her uncle Ramses IX was leading and they were the "sea people" swarming over the Delta of the Nile. Unfortunately they were killing men and burning and sacking villages. They took the women alive and killed soldiers and older people. Lizla’s heart was pumping fast with anxiety. She saw her uncle fighting valiantly, but eventually the Egyptians retreated into the Tanis palace. She also saw the old priests at Thebes celebrating a victory secretly outside the temple. Particularly a young man called Iutus, who had a party at the home of a Libyan General. Earlier in the afternoon, they had had another meeting in the outskirts of the Amon-Ra Temple.
Lizla did not want to see any more. She wondered if Ketu was playing tricks on her mind. Demons do that sometimes. But at that moment she was interrupted by a sudden vision of her mentor Ra-Ta: “Lizla please remember that there is a full moon over your natal rising sign where Ketu is and for that reason you are having these visions. They are a gift from the Gods showing you some signs of things to come. Pray for Isis’s protection; Ketu is with you, as he is blessed by your Guru planet that aspects it, never forget that.”
Lizla quietly initiated the Isis invocation and the images disappeared. Soon the familiar rosy glow covered her heart as she felt the soft pressure of a gentle hand on her eyebrows. She quickly fell asleep.

Chapter 8 – Rumors of War
Three hours passed. Suddenly the trumpets that heralded the triumph of the Sun-Ra from the shadows woke