The explanation given by orthodox Egyptologists for the dark chambers found secluded at many notable monumental sites is that they were protective storage rooms for special objects. However, such a purpose does not warrant the extensive hieroglyphs and symbolic images found on the walls of some of them, and regular access by tourists is in many cases blocked. Rather, the rooms were places to meditate and experience profound mystical effects. These effects have been experienced by various visitors, including some who were not expecting them and others who were not thoroughly engrossed in the usual objective aspects emphasized by regular tour guides. The deep secret is that the living can enter and return from the realm of the afterlife without undergoing a reduction of ones hold on life. The Egyptian priesthood knew how to access the Far-World but did not record much information about such knowledge, probably due to their commitment to secrecy. Most Egyptologists have preferred direct scientific considerations and thus have not given due attention to the significance of messages involving matters not normally addressed by science. Some scholars and a few of the less rigid Egyptologists have done better. Iamblicus of Apamea promoted theurgy, interacting with the gods, rather than theology (all talk and no real interaction), and emphasized knowing/experiencing rather than belief. From the Pyramid Texts and coffins we get spell 76, and similarly in The Book of the Dead, originally The Book of Coming Forth by Day, there is the departure of the soul (Ba) ascending and becoming a being of light (Akh). Later versions cite transfiguration (sakhu), rejoining the luminous Source. These various sources were not meant to be used only in the contemplation of death, but also as a resource for the living. Plutarch was vaguely aware of the significance of the secret dark rooms being like chapels. Heliodorus of Emesa extended Plutarchs account of the Isis and Osiris story, adding that the secrets should not be given to the profane, although those qualified should give instructions privately in chapels by candle light. Egyptologist Walter Federn considered some spells in the Pyramid and Coffin texts to be appropriate for the living and sometimes amounting to initiation guides. The Amduat, The Book of What is in the Far World, originally Treatise of the Hidden Chambers, starting around 1470 BC, tells of the possible perils of the sun god Ras 12 hour nightly journey through the Far World. Presumably the text was intended as a guide for the departing pharaoh-soul, but it states that it is good for those still on earth, that the information always addresses the living and always enables them to enter and leave the netherworld. Speaking about the Amduat and The Book of Gates, Professor Edward Wente calls them practical theology aimed at the living more so than as funerary texts. Other scholars of the pharaoh cult suggest that power and balance was obtained by having the pharaoh periodically cross the threshold and experience death and renewal without dieing. The pyramids and other contributing monuments were part of a ritual every 30 years for bringing the physical and Far World into harmony for the benefit of the entire region. Those were times of a golden age, one that should inspire us to work towards the next golden age. Now, thousands of years later, some would say Thank You Jesus. Perhaps rightly so, in a way.
