102 Transactions. 



when it chose to do so, and take its tiight to the other world, 

 where it joined the cortege of the god of hght and never returned 

 again to this world. It was not, however, yet free from trials, so 

 that it had to be instructed with all human wisdom, and furnished 

 with all the talismans necessary for surmounting supernatural 

 dangers. It had also to repeat the prayers and formulie of the 

 !)Ook of the Dead in order to obtain access to the various 

 mansions of the blest that had to be entered by their distinctive 

 doors, which were guarded by special deities. 



The Egyptian conceptior of the •• Ba " did not in the least 

 affect their continuing to believe in the existence of the '• Ka." 

 The '• Ka " or double continued to dwell in Egypt, or more 

 particularly where it used to reside when still in the body, and 

 made the tomb its re<^reat, where it ate, and drank, and rested, in 

 the Sahon or in portrait statues provided for it. ^Valls and doors 

 formed no obstacle to its movements ; but as it was not furnished 

 with wings, like the " Ba," it could not fly from this world, and so 

 had to be content to remain upon the earth. In the exoteric 

 teaching of the Egyptian priests concerning the " Ba " and the 

 " Ka," we can, without much difficulty, recognise that they had 

 some conception of the properties of the world of the fourth 

 dimension, the inhabitants of which are all mixed up and yet 

 distinct, and where neither space nor material obstacles form any 

 impediment to their movements that are flashed through space as 

 quick as thought. The Egyptian mind conceived the idea of the 

 human body having a '• Ka " and a " Ba " that occupied it, and 

 we may judge from the fact that the ancient Egyptians believed 

 that the '• Ba " alone went to another world ; the " Ka," or 

 spiritual Ijody, was considered a mere earthly appendage that 

 continued to dwell on the earth after its separation from the body. 

 The "Ka" was not considered innnortal, for it was subject to 

 a second death which was a definite annihilation, and this death 

 could be produced by the same means that caused the first death. 

 1 1 was subject to hunger, thirst, and fatigue ; and was in constant 

 danger of being killed by monstrous and venomous animals. 



In the Book of the Dead there are prayers and formulae 

 addressed to serpents, scorpions, &c., to appease them and induce 

 them not to do harm to the '• Ka." The prayers of the survivors 

 properly intoned had for effect to give food, a house, an equipage 

 of domestics and guardians, who would assist the " Ka " and 



