The creation myth in which Thoth (whose Egyptian name was Tehuti or Djehuti) plays a major role is one of the most esoteric and oldest of the various stories. Thoth's myth deals directly with the creation of the Universe itself, with the Earth being produced as part of the orderly unfolding of the plan under Ma'at.

The form of the myth as I will tell it is my own, not a translation of any ancient text. This is one of the oldest of the ancient myths of Egypt, and has been told and retold until it is distorted out of form. The ancient meanings were long lost by the time they were written down. The interpretations are also my own, based on a synthesis of past knowledge, current scientific thought, and my own breed of mysticism.

In some contexts, Ma'at is seen as the female partner/aspect of Thoth. Thoth provides the plan and concept that initiates the creation, and Ma'at provides the stability and structure that allows all to unfold as it should.

Some Terms

There are some Egyptian terms that do not translate well into English, although the archaeologists typically assign them a "translation," and then go on translating. Some of these are important to the understanding of the myth, so I will try to give a deeper understanding of them here.

• Neter--This term is usually translated as "god," but actually refers to the divine beings who mediate between the God-essence of the universe and the needs of mankind on earth. They are not "angels," either, but the concept is similar. The feminine form of the word is "neteret." (Egyptian feminizes words by adding a "t" symbol to the base word.)
• Ma'at--This term is usually translated as "truth" or "justice", and refers both to the neteret Ma'at and the concept of ma'at. Ma'at as a concept actually refers to the natural order of things, the universal laws that structure matter and also social behavior.
• Hekau--This term is usually translated as "magic words," but actually is more of a "divine sonic." The concept is that all reality is based on the energies in flux in the universe, and knowing its essential vibration give total control of an object or person.
• Ogdoad--This term means "the Eight," and refers to a company of eight helpers that Thoth used in the creation effort. The Egyptian term is "tepi-aui-un."

The Myth

In the beginning, nothing existed. A formless sea of chaos, the sea of Nu, shifted and roiled without form or order. The neter Thoth asked the neter Nu (Night) to gather helpers to bring a new universe into existence, to shape the energy into an ordered form.

Nu consulted with his consort Nut (Night), and they gathered the Ogdoad together: Hehu and Hehut (Eternity), Kekiu and Kekiut (Obscurity), and Kerh and Kerhet (Secrecy). Thoth outlined his plan to them, and they began to work.

Nut linked with her husband, Nu, to begin shaping the watery energy of the sea into the form of a great egg. Hehu and Hehut linked to charge the egg with the fiery, creative life force that generates matter. Kekiu and Kekiut linked to charge the egg's nascent energy with the darkness that permits separation and individuation. Finally, Kerh and Kerhet linked to structure the energies provided by the others into the nascent hekau that would become everything that is.

When the great egg was ready, the divine Thoth uttered the Great Hekau, the shattering Word, the essential vibration that was the true name of Ma'at. The Great Hekau contained the vibratory essence of the Plan of the universe, and wakened the God-essence to enter into it and enliven it.

The great egg, so carefully crafted by the Ogdoad, burst open in a great flash of light. The nascent vibrations that had been shaped by the Ogdoad began to shimmer and stretch, and the stars and galaxies and planets and beings began to form. And the God-essence saw it, and was pleased.

Some of the Ogdoad chose to enter the nascent universe, to guide and shape the unfolding of its energies. Nut became the universe's "container," holding the contents of the egg within her body and cherishing them. Thoth entered the universe to continue guiding it, and called other neters to join him in the making.

The rest of the Ogdoad remained outside, apart from the burgeoning creation. Nu, the watery sea of essence remained wrapped around his partner, Nut. The other neters, Eternity, Obscurity, and Secrecy remained in their places as part of the mind of the God-essence, watching the unfolding in perfect unity.

Tehuti, the Ogdoad, and the Big Bang

It is unknown the precise knowledge that the ancient priesthood encoded within this myth. Many cultures around the world have similar "universal creation" myths explaining the time before there was anything else, e.g., when the universe itself came into being.

The myth has many elements that speak to our current theories and understandings of the universe and how it came into creation. Our current models of the Big Bang theory for the creation of the universe have much in common with this ancient story, and pressure/sound waves in the formless plasma that was generated by the blast have recently been detected.

Our cosmological theories make no assertions or assumptions about what "came before" the Big Bang; however, there are some theories that perhaps the universe is only one of many that oscillate in a creation/destruction sequence. And none of the scientific theories account for the reason why the universe exists.

The Holographic Universe

One of the more interesting theories in physics and psychology recently posits that the universe is actually frequency-based, and our senses interpret it to give us the sense of discrete physicality we perceive. (Michael Talbot gives a good layman's presentation of this theory in his book, The Holographic Universe.)

The basic theory contains the idea that the universe acts like a giant hologram, where each part connects with every other part through various frequencies. One aspect of this idea helps to explain the connection between seemingly unrelated events for which no physical means of communications is evident. Another aspect occurs by using the hologram as a paradigm--if you "break" it, each part continues to contain the whole. We see this with fractals, and have come to understand that much of the natural world has a fractal character.

Since Thoth both designed the universe, through the power of his words, and spoke the great "Word" that set the plan in motion, we can see that this myth speaks to this new concept of how the universe is structured. Thoth's primal frequencies resonate back and forth through time and space to connect all that exists. The great plan unfolds as it should in the mind of the God-essence.

Other Levels of Existence

Given the idea that the universe is a frequency-based hologram, it is not a great leap to the idea that there are more than one level of existence within the scope of the universe. We understand the concept of frequency bands, from radio and other communications technologies. The other levels of existence could easily penetrate the physical through the mechanism of overlapping frequency bands.

It would explain a great deal that science does not "handle" well. Psychologists, theologists, and mystics are well aware that there is more to reality than what is accessible through our physical senses. Even though we cannot measure the life essence or spirit, emotions, or mind, they are obviously present. But they can be reconciled through the interpenetrance of multiple frequency bands.

This would make sense within the context of Thoth's creation myth. Each of the four pairs within the Ogdoad represent a "layer" of being, symbolized by one of the four "elements". Jungian theory uses the elements to explain various forms of behavior in the mind, and layers of being; other mystical and religious paths have similar systems.

In essence, Nu-Nut represent the physical plane itself, with Nut becoming the extant physical universe through the vehicle of her own body. Hehu and Hehut represent the element of fire or causation, the plane through which an idea is first envisioned and the will is focused towards its manifestation. Kekiu and Kekiut represent the element of water, and what we call the ethereal or astral plane, where emotion and spirit meet and move through us. Finally, Kerh and Kerhet represent the element of air or thought, which orders and activates all the others. Through these beings, we each participate in the unfolding of the universe, having all these elements as parts of our own selves.

About the Author: Michael A. Starsheen is an ordained priest in the Temple of Isis and the Fellowship of Isis. Michael put up what is believed to be the first ever FOI related website on the internet in late 1994. The website was titled after his FOI centre “Lyceum of Isis of the Stars.” It was primarily a teaching site for his lyceum. By early 1995 there were several pages on the site devoted to the Fellowship of Isis, including a copy of the Manifesto and detailed information about the Star of Ishtar Tiamat Dragon Diagram. He did it the hard way, because this was during the period when everything had to be programmed by hand - one pixel at a time. Michael is a skilled poet, writer, teacher and artist. You may view a new version of his Isis of the Stars Lyceum website here: http://www.isisofthestars.org/  If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the art displayed with this article, it is available at Michael's storefront at lulu.com. His storefront contains a listing of his current books, "Mythic Voices" and "Universal Alchemy" and other pieces of his artwork. www.lulu.com/Starsheen