I am pleased to offer this new site dedicated to the path of Atenism, an ancient
Egyptian philosophy that was the first historical rise to pure Monotheism, before the founding of Judaism.
The infamous Pharoah Akhenaten, during the Amarna period (1353-1335 BC) gave rise
to the cult with his beautiful wife Nefertiti as an intellectual and universal philosophy divinely expressed to the world
through their spiritual awakening.
Atenism represents sacred reverence for the Universal God or Spirit who's divine
manifestation is the embodiment of the Aten, the fiery Sun disk in the heavens. Aten enlivens the world with his rays of light
and fills the entire creation with warmth and energy.
The unseen all-encompassing Spirit of the Universe that no title, no name, gender,
nor phrase can describe in detail, directly expresses his presence by revealing his love, his power, and his light in the
form of the Aten.
The Sun we see floating graciously through the skies is the Spirit of God incarnate
in the physical realm and is the object of our worship and reverence to the unseen God who exists through the essence of Light
itself.
Though the Aten be far off in the distant rosy dawn, his rays shoot out into the
far corners of the earth, bringing life and light to all creation. The brilliant rays represent the omnipotence and closeness
of God, who's loving-kindness endures into eternity.
Though the Great Spirit be infinately transcendant to us, as God arose from primordial
darkness to order the Cosmos at his delight, he chose to be present as the lovely Sun for all creation to behold.
When creatures die, be they young or old, man or beast, a bird of the sky, a fish
of the sea; their souls shall ascend into the deep blue sky and dwell in the presence of the Shining God in eternal bliss.
The multiplicity of anthropomorphic gods and their mythical stories have been
abandoned in favor of a universal, naturalistic God who reveals himself through the life-giving energies of the Sun. Atenism
is an ancient form of Deism, meaning that God reveals himself through Nature and Reason instead of Revealed Religion. This
is the centerpiece of understanding Atenist philosophy, that it is not a religion which bases itself on revelation, rituals,
myths, special rules and regulations, and holy books. In this case Atenism may be classified as Solar Deism, where God especially
reveals himself through the life-giving Sun.
And so with this nice little introduction, I welcome everyone to Akhenaten's philosophy
of Light. Atenism is a very ethical system of compassion and care for all life, because that is the nature of God within the
nurturing Sun.
Aten is our caretaker, our protector, and our guide. All the people, the animals,
the trees and nature are his beloved children. We also, as disciples of Aten seek to fulfill our purpose of being caretakers
and protectors, and guides to our brothers and sisters. We believe our reverence with the Aten creates a sacred bond between
man and God, the very essence of this love fills our hearts and minds with his light.
Aten was always seen as a protective nurturing God, and never as a punisher or
judge over his creation. The ceremonies of Aten were celebrated with lovely hymns and prayers, with sweet tasting offerings
of cakes, flowers, and fruits but never blood. There were no formal rituals or festivals within Aten worship, it was a joyous
occasion and a free for all system. The older, traditional Egyptian worship and festivals were abandoned by the new Pharoah
in favor of ethical concerns like loving one another and advancing civilization towards utopia. This was our Pharoah's precious
dream, where all mankind could be at peace with one another.
Atenism is being revived today by a small group of faithful adherants from all
over the world. May the glorious Aten preserve and protect us in good times and in bad. Glory be to the Eternal One of Peace
forever and ever!
