The Craft of Amen Ra · The House of Shu
The Foundations Cycle
Twelve weeks. One reading and one question each week. Free and open to all.
Order of Study
- Orientation to the East — Stand, face east, three breaths — Shu is breath.
- One Declaration of Ma'at — Read aloud, then held in silence for a moment.
- The reading and discussion — The week's assigned text, opened by a Keeper and discussed by the circle.
- The Building — One practical work carried into the week.
- Closing — “Orient yourself within yourself. Orient yourself in the world.”
The Twelve Weeks
Week 1 — Orientation: What is the Craft of Amen Ra? Alkebu-lan and Kemet.
Reading: Introductory notes from the Order; Dr. Ben on the name Alkebu-lan.
What did you believe about ancient Egypt before this week, and where did that belief come from?
Week 2 — Ta-Seti to Waset: the Nile Valley origins.
Reading: Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Black Man of the Nile and His Family.
Why does the direction the Nile flows change how the story is usually told?
Week 3 — Ma'at I: Declarations 1–21.
Reading: Spell 125, Papyrus of Ani (Declarations 1–21).
Which of the first twenty-one is hardest for you to say honestly this week?
Week 4 — Ma'at II: Declarations 22–42 and the Seven Principles.
Reading: Spell 125, Papyrus of Ani (Declarations 22–42).
Where in your daily work do reciprocity and propriety actually cost you something?
Week 5 — The Neteru: Amen Ra, Ptah, Tehuti, Ausar, Auset, Heru.
Reading: Selected passages on the Neteru from Dr. Ben's works.
What is lost when a Neter is translated as a “god” in the European sense?
Week 6 — Imhotep and the Per Ankh: the temple as the first school.
Reading: Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Abu Simbel to Ghizeh.
What did the Per Ankh teach that a modern school does not?
Week 7 — The Ten Virtues of the Mystery System.
Reading: George G. M. James, Stolen Legacy.
Which virtue would your closest associates say you already practice?
Week 8 — The Seven Liberal Arts in Kemet.
Reading: Selected readings on the temple curriculum.
Which of the seven have you neglected, and what would repairing it require?
Week 9 — The Grand Lodge of Luxor and the Greek students.
Reading: Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, Africa: Mother of Western Civilization.
What is the difference between inheriting a teaching and claiming it?
Week 10 — From Karnak to Prince Hall: how the Craft traveled.
Reading: Order notes on the transmission; readings on African Lodge No. 459.
What was preserved in the journey, and what was lost?
Week 11 — Dr. Ben: his life, his 49 books, his study tours to Kemet.
Reading: Selected lectures and the bibliography of Dr. Ben.
Why did he insist that students see the walls for themselves?
Week 12 — Preparing to petition: the Oath of Ma'at, the discipline of silence, next steps.
Reading: Review of the 42 Declarations; the Order's petition guidance.
Are you ready to be held to what you have read? Say why.
“Orient yourself within yourself. Orient yourself in the world.”