The Horakhty Heresy
The Horakhty Heresy is known as the Great Heresy of the Lightbringers, the Horakhty texts portray a very different story for the divinities and history of Helca. Everywhere its proponents and adherents make themselves known, they are hunted and eradicated as enemies of the faith of both the Lightbringers and Dark Trinity. It is said the names come from an ancient manuscript, held in secret by the keepers and now lost to time.
Overview
A Lightbringer sect that says the sun is Horakhty, there is only one source of light and it shines pure truth, casting darkness and shadow down in its path. The celestials and Lightbringers are ‘children’, and its manifestation – not true original divine beings themselves. The local [ancient] celestial of Helca are actual portions of Horakhty’s soul and manifest as part of the plan – the story manifesting as the journey – reflected in the journey of the sun from east to west as “Ra-Heru-akhety”; The journey of becoming for the Perfect Creature. The Perfect Creature is the ideal that the demiurges of Ra/Osiris is making manifest through its will. These are a merging of celestial, nature and humanoid – the Merovin were the first incarnations of this, but were not worthy or incompletely made (so the texts say). These creatures are born rarely on Helca, and are watched for and over by adherents. They are eventually made aware of their nature and recruited to become a seeker, and make the journey to seek out the next of the 9 sacred texts and lead all free folk to Ascend to a higher order. There were 9 sacred texts, reflecting the Pesedjets. Each was secreted in a sacred location, and together they revealed the mystery that would allow the Perfect Creature to transcend. Each sacred place was associated with emeralds, with the emerald being a seal to the chambers.
The seeking of each is a trial which only the worthy will survive. Eventually one of the Perfect Creatures will succeed, and lead the people of this world to an eon of prosperity in which they will teach all the meanings of the sacred texts and to ascend to a higher order of the divine. A great crusade to spread these teachings will scatter throughout the cosmos, allowing all to transcend and begin a new age of perfect harmony. Some of its roots lie in a deep seated belief in the fundamentals of the great primeval duality expressed by many esoteric traditions of Helca.
- Amenti Epyp: The Amenti-Epyp (Serpent Folk of the Steel Realms) were the original ‘favored ones’ of the southern desert, the keepers of sacred wisdom of Horakhty. They were corrupted by the world eventually.
- Atum: Sacred [giant] Crocodiles – The Atum, the end consumes all, the crocodiles would swallow even the sun. These symbolized the limits of the world that the perfect creature was to transcend.
- Khepri: Sacred [giant] Cobras – wrapped about the head is a symbol of the sacred knowledge “contained” therein. The Khepri were caretakers and those that foster the perfect creature, and offspring of the Amenti-Epyp.
- The Sacred Hawk – the far strider when he crosses the sky; he who aids the seeker. This is a sacred idea without name or definitive presentation in the few texts that are known to exist.
The Fall of Truth
At some point, the Houses of Hell will spill open, and the flaws of the past will corrupt the perfect world, and it will come crashing down, and the entire cycle will repeat itself endlessly. It is the journey. Some say eventually one worthy come, and close the 14 doors to the hells and 14 doors to the heavens of the underworld – leaving only 1 door to a heaven that will become the perfect reality of truth and happiness forever and ever. The Amenti – the river of separation and punishment, will dry up as everything becomes as one and perfection is achieved.
Creation/Origin
In the beginning, there was nothing (Nun). A cloud of stars rose from Nun and amidst the chaos the original Perfect Creature (Ptah) created himself. He did not want to be alone so he made himself with child and gave birth to the lesser material creatures.
Akraka and the First Children
At first, his ego gave way to creating a mate/partner a being named “Akraka”. It took the sign of female, but was both male and female, and it gave birth to the first generation of ‘children’ – the Children of Akraka; shapeshifters… doppelgangers with no conscience or scruples. Ptah, having manifested more fully wiped his first creation clean (though some say some of the children survived and fled into the far regions of the cosmos) and began again.
No creature had fear or pleasure, all was static and so Ptah created the cosmic river, Amenti, and separated earth and sky. Between these Ptah himself gave birth to The First Children. The first children to cross the river were such creatures as Geb, Osiris, Re, Horus the elder, Set, Isis and Nephthys and others. These creatures were bound to Amenti, and so could never die. When they die, they will re-manifest. Unto these is the sacred duty of demonstrating elements of Maat.
Connections to Other Faiths
This is a heresy of the lightbringers and celestials. The dark trinity is “the adversary” – they manifested from the void and purposefully sought out the perfect light to destroy the world of Helca on which the plan was to manifest the Perfect Creatures.
The divinity Delleth (Guide of the Seekers) is seen as a guide along the path of the nine sacred texts. Said to have once been a Perfect Creature, like a modern Budha, instead of following the path to the end, Delleth choose to remain in the world, and aid those that come after.
In Rempheros (dead faith of the Bronzemen), the cosmic Ishar is often associated with the ideas of the Amenti and/or the path that arcs the journey of the path of the perfect creature. Some whispers speak of the Bronzemen themselves as the blood descendants of a perfect creature of truth.
History
Adherents preach that 3 or 4 of these have been discovered.