By Jay Weidner

In Egypt, this sacred science of the afterlife was focused upon two things. One was the halting of the reincarnation process of the BA The second was the termination of the fantastic, dream-like states of the kA This science attempted, it appears, to reunite the essence of the kA and the BA at the moment of death in a way so that they would not separate.

But there is more. This nearly immortal being also becomes the preserver and cultivator of the earthly spiritual realm. He or she becomes a being that now has a capacity to influence events and situations here on Earth, to assist in bringing all beings into a higher spiritual awareness.

In order accomplish this sacred task, the manner in which an individual lived his or her life was of vital importance. Thus, the ancient Egyptians believed that every interaction, judgment and impulse that occurred in one's life had a small part of one's kA involved. Since they believed that existence is eternal and that development continues even after death of the body, they knew that whatever happened here would mirror itself in the afterlife. This is a concept very close to the eastern philosophy of karma. And so, the Egyptians were very careful with whom they interacted, became friends with, had sex, and made business deals. The point was to live lives of virtue and integrity, not allowing their own personal kA to get stained with negative experiences in this life. Hours of quiet meditation and contemplation upon the fundamental meaning of existence and relationship to the world around them would seem to have been the pattern of their lives. For it was understood that this type of lifestyle would lead to the development and genuine experience of the higher spiritual attributes of truth, insight, clarity, wisdom and compassion.

The Egyptians believed that human beings were the 'seeds' for stars. It was believed that human beings were walking, talking, thinking, conscious 'starstuff'. And indeed that is what we are. Our bodies are made from interstellar dust which is the remains of ancient dead stars, cosmic debris and galactic particles. Throughout the course of our history on this planet, dust and water miraculously created animated star matter.

Therefore, the navigation of the many realms in the after life was another essential component of the rituals and practices of the ancient Egyptian priests/scientists. They discovered that even when all of the proper care and rituals were performed, there was still much confusion at the moment of death on the part of the separated and disconnected kA and BA The BA, freed from the cycle of incarnation, still did not know the way through the many faceted, and difficult to understand, realms of the after life. The astral playground was too complex and confusing to comprehend without some kind of map, without some kind of guide that one could learn during their conscious existence as a human being.

Using meditations, shamanic substances and sacred rituals, these ancient priests/scientists traveled the shamanic pathways that exist in the higher realms that surround us like an invisible net. Achieving a state of what is now called a 'near death experience', these ancient shamans pierced through the misty curtain of the astral realm. They began to create a hygiene, or a proper set of rituals, that allowed them to navigate the infinite worlds of the after life.

As these many shamanic voyages were catalogued and compared, a system began to be built that would allow the shaman, and the person experiencing death, to better understand what was happening and where to go in the afterlife. They called their map the 'Tree of Life'. The purpose of this tree was to help the kA and BA, now united at death, to be able to travel the astral highways. The profound significance this symbolic map will be explored in Part II of this article.

In addition, this science may be what is behind the many ancient 'ley' lines that mark the surface of our planet. These lines have been recorded all over the planet. From England and Ireland, to the Steppes. Ley lines have been found running over the tops of 18000-foot mountains in the Andes. They are usually perfectly straight. Their significance has been unknown for many years. It has been speculated that they are runways for UFO's. Or that they are ancient highways. According to the work of Paul Devereuax, they are actually ancient shamanic pathways. These are shamanic spirit paths that allow fully realized soulspirits to take off and land, so to speak, into the other realms. This is why the shamans of old always were buried on the ley lines. In this way, their kA was preserved in a sacred spot. In Europe, the shamanic tradition called for the kings and priests to be buried under flowing creeks and rivers. They would dam the river and create a water by pass. Then they would bury the body in the flow of the water and release the flow again. This preserved the body so that it would not be found and it was preserved in a natural 'ley' line, which is what rivers and streams are in this tradition. Like Indra's net from the Hindu tradition, the ley lines were reflected in the night sky as the paths between the many stars. For those who could read the sacred language which linked the microcosm with the macrocosm, the earth with the larger universe, outcroppings of rock, groves of trees, creeks and streams all became the earthly representations of the stars and planets. For these adepts, when one walked the earth they were not only tracing the psychic waves and patterns of the land, but also transcending this realm and walking among the stars. The aborigines in Australia believed that the stones sang the song of the stars themselves. If one listened closely they could hear the music of the spheres.