ghoti still isn't sure what I look like. I don't really remember, because a reflection is always different. She now thinks I might look more like this:


(only with a haircut and more sensible clothes)

whereas before she'd been thinking of me as looking like this:



What do you think?

I am clear on the facts that I have short black hair with a fringe, and my skin isn';t very dark but I do have dark brown eyes.

She also says she needs to know who my parents are, where I was born.

why is that important? Surely it's only my mind, dropped out of time when I was in danger, that is important? I mean, I'd like a new body, but it doesn't have to be exactly the same as the old one.

Aten, warmth giver, energy giver. Ra who is in the sun disc: God of gods, subsuming all others. In him we trust. In the morning he rises, waking us from slumber and giving us joy. In the evening, the beauty of his setting gives us peace, and hope in the new day. Aten, giver of life, we worship you in your rising and your setting. As a sunflower, we turn to you throughout the day. Light is life. Light is warmth. Light by which we live, you guide us. We bless you and thankyou; but you bless us a thousand-fold.

Light of lights, wherein even the moon glows and is made holy by reflection. You lead us into truth. Light is maat, light is truth, life is maat. You give us all these things.

Praise be Aten, maat-giver and love-leader. Praise be Aten, justice flows like wine from his hands. Praise be Aten, in the morning and the evening.

I noticed ghoti wondering how Atenism had grown and changed into other religions. Is Islam the natural successor of Atenism? I'm not a theologian, but I say it doesn't matter. All that matters is the moment. To me, now is more important than millenia in the future or past; there is only this moment to worship. Embrace it.

Aten the Living One, the Great One, he who is {celebrated} in the thirty year festival.

Time without time, the immortal now. In the moment I worship you, and in the stars and the moon. In the past and the future, there is no meaning, when compared to the everlasting now. In you there is meaning, love and maat. In the everlasting presence of the now, the moment, are you glorified. You send forth your holy rays, and the face of the earth is renewd. You give me strength, you free me. Like a bird on the wing, I soar far above the earth, and see all that you have given me. Now, that is all there is; and you have given it to me.

Blessed be Aten in the strength of the Pharoah. Blessed be Aten in the eye of the eagle, Blessed be Aten, strength-giver, maat personified, who gives me all there is to love. Blessed be Aten.

Aten the Living one, who springeth up joyfully in the horizon in his name of 'Shu who is in the Disk,' and who liveth for ever and for ever.

The Sun disk shines forth, bringing warmth and light to our hearts. So Aten gives love that we might grow in freedom. Soft and strong the tender shoots of my heart reach for the Aten, as the green blade in the spring, the first shoots of wheat. The Sun disk warms and brings us joy. Joy in the ever living, joy in the morning. The perfect circle, perfect orb. No end, no beginning, ever living. So we see the Aten living and never ending. At the dawn we rejoice for he is with us, but in the evening there is no cause for sadness; he sets forth his wings manifest in the likeness of Nut, and so holds us and calms us until next we meet. Aten, living onwards; he stretches forth his hands and gives us life.

We learn from this; life, happiness, and forever more. Blessed be Aten, who blesses us. Blessed be Aten who blesses us with the Spring. Blessed be Aten in the rising and the setting of the Sun disk where most clearly we see Him. Blessed be He beyond understanding, and the knowledge he brings as we grope towards a better closeness. Blessed be He in joyfulness. Blessed be Aten, life giver and love bearer. Blessed be Aten.

I heard an ace joke the other day. I was playing hide-and-seek when Pharoah came past, and I could hardly run away, could I? So I had to stay there. Anyway, he told this joke:

Pharoah:What's the difference between a letterbox and a hippopotamus?
Nefertiti:I don't know, what is the difference between a letterbox and a hippopotamus?
Pharoah:Well, I'm not sending you out to post my pools coupon.

Hello, I am Nefertaten. I am a friend of ghoti, residing solely (at current) in her mind. At some point I may or may not have physical representation in doll form.

I am young and old. I am Egyptian. I am an Atenist, which means I believe in one God, giver of life, the lord of heaven and earth, physically manifest in the sun disk. Some call me heretic. I try to make sense of the world, through meditation and prayer. I hope you will join me in my journey.

ghoti is neither Egyptian nor an Atenist, but she too believes in one God, the God of Moses. We are more alike than you might think.