O King, you are this great star, the companion of Orion, who traverses the sky with Orion, who navigates the Duat with Osiris; you ascend from the East of the sky, being renewed at your due season... Pyramid Texts Utterance 466
The pyramids were a mirror image, the Earthly representation of the Belt of Orion, the destination of the dead King! The Egyptians were dualists -- everything they thought and believed was a duality. Everything had its counterpart, cause and effect, left and right, East and West, death and rebirth -- nothing was ever seen in isolation. They had constructed at Giza an exact replica of the Duat destination of the King. Far from being a tomb, the pyramid was the starting point of the King's journey back to the stars from whence he came, back to the First Time. Robert BauvalThe Pattern consists of seven extremely powerful artificial nodes linked to each other and the Nile (represented by the temple of Sothis/Sirius) by ley-lines, consecrated in the honour of Horus and in the shape of the constellation Orion. If completed, it would act as a kind of portal between all the worlds, enabling Horus to manifest his idea in the physical world (and at least in theory to manifest physically too, although this is unlikely). Incidentally, it would also strengthen the Kingdom of Reeds significantly.
The pyramids of the Pattern are the three of Gizeh: Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinos, the step-pyramid of Saqquara and the unfinished pyramid of Abu Ruwash. In addition two more pyramids need to be built: one in the desert northwest of Gizeh, one near the Nile in the small village Turah. The stars correspond to the stars in Orion:
Betelgeuse | Unfinished |
Bellatrix | Saqqara |
Alnitak | Cheops |
Alnilam | Chefren |
Mintaka | Mykerinos |
Saiph | Abu Ruwash |
Rigel | Unfinished |
The Pyramids are not arranged exactly as the stars of the constellation - the distances between them do not correspond exactly to the distances between the stars of Orion (the three central pyramids are much closer to each other than they should be if the distances were one-to-one). Instead, the distances correspond numerologically to each other according to the sizes of Pythagorean triangles. These are triangles with a right angle whose sides are integers (the simplest is the "Egyptian triangle" with sides 3,4 and 5). The Pattern consists of two major equilateral triangles meeting in the pyramid of Chefren, whose heights and sides form Pythagorean triangles.
One way to find out is to examine the desert, looking for clues. Unfortunately, the obelisk near Memphis marking the southern angle has long since been removed, and the northern angle was marked by a long, straight furrow now covered by sand. Another possibility is to try to correlate the angles with astronomy, but since the stars have moved this will not work either.
Beside this resonance, the pyramids can and should be linked using Correspondence magick to make sure they are truly in contact and mutually reinforcing. This is ideally part of the final consecration of the Pattern.
The Magician must build all that he has into his pyramid; and if that pyramid is to touch the stars, how broad must be the base! There is no knowledge and no power which is useless to the Magician. One might almost say there is no scrap of material in the whole Universe with which he can dispense. His ultimate enemy is the great Magician, the Magician who created the whole illusion of the Universe; and to meet him in battle, so that nothing is left either of him or of yourself, you must be exactly equal to him. Aleister CrowleyPyramids are the pinnacle of sacred architecture: simple, yet very powerful magickal buildings. Their power lies in their internal geometry, which enables them to express geometrical ratios which link strongly with very significant numbers in the high umbra and to bring their power into manifestation as an artificial node with a pre-determined resonance.
It is not absolutely necessary to build a pyramid in the shape of a classical pyramid; somebody skilled enough in sacred architecture could construct a building of another shape with the same effect. The same goes for material: steel and concrete could replace granite and limestone. What is important is the main consecrations and the structure.
One of the tricks used in the pyramids is the empty chambers; small chambers in the structure which both decrease the weight, introduce beneficial ratios and house stones specially consecrated to protect the structure. These chambers tend to "drift" into the Umbra once the pyramid is finished, making them very hard to find and ideal places to hide secrets.
The "capping ritual" completes the pyramid. Despite the myth, the pyramids never had any pyramidal capstones. Instead a small but perfect pattern of pure Quintessence was created at the apex, linking to the pyramid and completing its connection with the Tapestry. If done correctly, the pyramid's astral form would become self-reinforcing and awaken the internal node.
Today these secrets except for the consecration rituals are known by the Architects, although none have ever tried actually using them (the capping ritual still exists partially in the form of a Masonic roof-laying ceremony). The consecrations are discussed in De Pyramidis et Secretum Aegyptorum (Vol III) by Hartwright- Carter, and a competent team of hermetic mages who knew about the basics of sacred architecture could develop them again.
The next step is to lay the proper foundation, the stone that will act as the occult foundation. It has to be cut exactly right from the best possible stone, purified and sanctified, and when it has been placed in the right place, it has to be the altar of a sacrifice to bind it to the fields of Prime and Spirit.
During the building, daily consecrations and purifications should be done, mostly to keep the pyramid free from disruptive influences and bind it together as an occult whole. Prime is channelled into its pattern, spirits are bound to protect it and Matter/Entropy magick is used to reinforce it. Several larger ceremonies have to be celebrated at crucial points, such as the completion of the central chamber when a sacrifice has to be made. Of course, these purifications could be done in secret or camouflaged as other things.
Eventually, when the pyramid is physically completed it has to be given the final consecration. This was usually linked with the burial of the pharaoh. At first the priests cleanses and purifies the exterior, central chamber and apex. Then sacrifices are brought to the top, and the apex pattern is placed at the apex as Prime and Spirit magicks are woven to link it, the central chamber, the foundation stones and the world together. At this moment the pyramid truly becomes a pyramid, and will turn into an artificial node. Usually several protective spells are added to the ceremony, fuelled by the huge quintessence flows.
Consecration is the active dedication of a thing to a single purpose. Banishing prevents its use for any other purpose, but it remains inert until consecrated. Purification is performed by water, and banishing by air, whose weapon is the sword. Consecration is performed by fire, usually symbolised by the holy oil. Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and PracticeThis ritual is the ritual needed to purify the Pattern, connect the pyramids to each other, dedicate the Pattern to Horus and "awakening" it. The ritual begins when Orion rises. It consists of four necessary steps:
Purifying and Banishing of the Pattern: This step could be prepared and performed over a long time before the rest of the main ritual, perhaps combined with setting up wards and other protections. Disruptive influences must be banished from the pattern, both physically and spiritually. The first step is an elaborate purification of each pyramid, followed by purifications of the connecting ley- lines and then a purification of the whole pattern. Once the pattern is pure, a banishing ceremony is performed to keep out the influences of Set and other negative powers.
Bringing the Pyramids to Each Other: if they have been attuned, then this is just a Prime-Correspondence effect to link them together during the ritual and in the future. The ley-lines between them will awaken.
Dedication to Horus: the link between the Pattern and Horus is opened in a grand invocation, where the participating mages name the many secret names of the God and inscribe them into the Pattern. This is mainly a Prime-Spirit effect.
Opening of the Mouth: the final step is to make the Pattern "alive", to make it an active force of Horus (if this is not done, it is just an effigy of the god). This uses all spheres, seeking to allow the Pattern-Horus to use them all. This must be concluded when Orion reaches it's zenith (if this is to occur at midnight too, the ritual must be performed at December 13).
This ritual was never performed, and just something planned by the great mages behind the Pattern. Rediscovering it requires significant research; the purification and connection parts are fairly easy today, and an egyptologically knowledgeable hermetic mage could with some work develop the Opening of the Mouth section, but the Dedication requires a list of the Seven Secret Most Holy Names of Horus, which was hard to find even in the Old Kingdom. In addition, today a very elaborate "stealth effect" may be needed to protect the ritual and the participants from unwelcome attention.
It should be noted that most of the ritual will take place on top of the pyramids, giving the participants access to enormous amounts of quintessence (especially since this is the conclusion of the Pattern - they were built partially for this purpose, and their resonance will strongly help mages in this).