The Jubilation of the Baboons

The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra made a nightly trip to the underworld on a large boat, accompanied by his allies, this was symbolic of the night encompassing the world, the loss of the sun, the sun was the boat and the journey took 12 hours. During the first hour, it was entitled the Jubilation of the Baboons, and it was imperative that this journey be successful so the sun would rise each morning. When the sun went down on the horizons in ancient Egypt, the baboons would be in a stated of excitation, almost reverence for the change from day to night, or it could have been a state of excited nervousness that they were displaying. During this Journey, as Ra was cheered on by the Baboons, his (sun)boat sinking over the horizon to the west, he would need to travel this underworld to be rejuvenated, he would face scores of adversaries and the most evil among them was Apopsis, Apopsis was kept at bay from Ra, he was at he edge of the great evil that was Apopsis.

    As humans we must look to see from this first hour of the nightly journey of Ra, that rejuvenation can only occur at the edge of darkness or evil. It is a paradox that only the "magical" happens outside the level of our comfort. It is only with this "dance with darkness" does anything majestic ever happen, it seems that the "dark" can be the catalyst for something alchemical to happen or for something to transmute into something else in our lives. In order for magical change to occur we must dance with the darkness in our lives, and it is only after that dance that we are reborn into something we weren't before. Ra's journey into the underworld and his rebirth every morning gives us hope that when we face something dark in our lives we too shall be born anew after the journey through our darkness.

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