The Story of "Egypta: Myth, Magic, Mystery"
Original Concept by Laurel Victoria Gray
Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, and 2009 by Laurel Victoria Gray


1. Prologue: the Prophecy of Thoth

Did you know that Egypt is a map of the heavens?
That Egypt is a map of the Cosmos?
As above, so below.

This land,
A spiritual teacher to all humanity
Who loved the Gods with such devotion
that They deigned to sojourn here on earth

But men will forget this and the Gods will abandon this land,
O, Egypt!
Nothing will remain of your religion
But an empty tale
Which even your own children will not believe
Nothing will be left to tell of your wisdom
But old graven stones

So I, Thoth, have inscribed the secrets of the Gods
In sacred symbols and holy hieroglyphs on these stone tablets
Which I have concealed for a future world
That may seek our wisdom

Wise Words!
Remain impenetrable through Time!
Be unseen and undiscovered
By all those who will come and go
Be hidden!
Until an older heaven births human beings
Who are worthy of your wisdom

2. Gift of the Nile
According to one creation myth, life began in the form of a lotus blossoming forth from the primeval waters. The Nile was revered as a god "who waters the plains and valleys which Ra has created to nourish all life...Creator, sustainer who brings richness to the earth." So central was the river to the life of the people that the Greek historian Herodotus said that "Egypta is the gift of the Nile."

I saw in thought
Limitless power with the Light
To form an infinite yet ordered world
I saw in the darkness of the deep
Chaotic water without form
Permeated with a subtle intelligent breath
Of divine power
THE WORD fell on the fertile waters
Making the pregnant with all forms.
The Hermetica

3. Priestess of the Snake Goddess Renenutet
An early Egyptian deity, the snake goddess Renenutet was responsible for the fertility of crops, humans, and animals. A guardian of the Pharaoh, as well as of the granaries and fields, Renenutet was often depicted as a woman with a cobra's head. "Her gaze is said to vanquish all enemies" but "this same intense emanation from her eyes causes things to grow."

4. On the Land
Peasant women enact the labors of planting and harvesting while giving thanks for an abundant harvest. Horus, the Falcon, carries the Solar Disk across the Heavens, assuring growth and life.

5. The Goddess Nuit and the Dance of the Cosmos
Each day at sunset, Nut swallows the solar disk, giving birth to it again at dawn. Her starry body contains the Cosmos; the stars rotate around her, enacting the unending cycle of birth and death, death and rebirth.

The present issues from the past,
and the future from the present.
Everything is made one by this continuity.
Time is like a circle,
Where all the points are so linked
That you cannot say
Where it begins or ends,
For all points precede
And follow one another for ever.
The Hermetica

6. Pyramids
In spite of numerous theories, scholars still cannot agree on how the ancient Egyptian pyramids were built. The mystical power of these monuments has inspired this choreography.

disk.

7. In the Temple of Isis
A loving wife and mother, the Goddess Isis was known for her magical powers. Hymns praised her as "she who made light with her feathers and wind with her wings."

8. Invasion of the Foreigners

When the Hyksos invaded Egypt, they visited suffering and destruction upon the people and disrupted the Divine Order.

9. Isis Mourns, Egypt Mourns

For Ancient Egyptians, there were two streams ot Time -- one mortal and one immortal. Thus the story of Goddess Isis mourning and search for her husband's body mirrors the mourning of the Egyptian people after foreign invasion.

10. Wrath of Sekhmet
Enraged by humanity's blasphemous disregard for all the gifts of the Creator, the Goddess Sekhmet assumes her from as a lioness. She steals the solar disk, the Eye of Ra the sun God, and turns the powerful rays upon the human race, burning and destroying then. Knowing that Sekhmet loves to drink blood, the gods color beer with red dye and pour it upon the desert floor. Deceived, Sekhmet laps up the beer, and falls into a drunken stupor, releasing her hold on the solar disk

11. Royal Linen
Under the gaze of the overseer, weavers labor to create the fine, delicate linen destined for royalty. But when their stern mistress departs, the women sing and dance. They enjoy a moment of gaiety, imitating the aristocratic ladies who will wear garments fashioned from the fabric the weavers have created.

This scene was inspired by an artifact in the Cairo Museum. It is a scale model of a weavers. The article was intended as a magical funerary object; the weavers would create cloth for the deceased in the afterlife. One woman stands on one leg and she spins thread.

12. The Seven Hathors
Hathor, Goddess of Love and Dance, sometimes manifested herself in a seven sacred forms. The Seven Hathors determined the fate of an infant at birth and where often called upon in magical spells.

Hymn to Hathor
Let me worship the Golden One
Let me honor her Majesty and exalt the Lady of Heaven;
Let me give adoration to Hathor and songs of joy to my heavenly Mistress!
I beg her to hear my petitions that she send me my Beloved now!
Let me consecrate breath to my Goddess
that she give me Love as a gift!

13. Procession
Joyous processions were an integral component of the numerous religious festivals celebrated in Ancient Egypt. The rhythms used in this piece is the complex Nagrishad, a Nubian 48 beat cycle used in processions.

14. Banquet Dance
Inspired by tomb paintings of a banquet scene, this lively and energetic dance incorporates high kicks, jumps, and percussive elements. The dancers use sistrum, musical instruments used in ancient Egypt to make sounds pleasing to the Goddess Hathor.

15. Cleopatra
Brilliant leader, conversant in numerous foreign languages, Cleopatra was also the mother of four children. She was the last of Egyptian rulers to speak Demotic, the language of the people, and follow the traditional religion. With her death, Egypt fell under foreign, Roman, rule.

16. Death of Egypt
The deceased is embraced by the Goddess Isis and prepared for eternity by Anubis. In the Hall of Judgment, Maat, the Goddess of Truth, weighs the heart against the feather of truth to determine the soul's worthiness of eternal life.