By Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson — An Extended Excerpt on Prayer:
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The reader who seeks a deeper understanding of [the primacy of Spirit over matter] can obtain it by putting these principles to the test. . . .
[Try] the following simple experiment. For forty days and forty nights, begin each day by invoking and praising the world in itself as an expression of the Egyptian deities. Recite at dawn:
I bless Ra, the fierce sun burning bright, I bless Isis-Luna in the night, I bless the air, the Horus-hawk, I bless the earth on which I walk.
Repeat at moonrise. Continue for the full forty days and forty nights. We say without any reservations that, at a minimum, you will feel happier and more at home in this part of the galaxy (and will also understand better Uncle John Feather’s attitude toward our planet); at maximum, you may find rewards beyond your expectations, and will be converted to using this mantra for the rest of your life. (If the results are exceptionally good, you just might start believing in ancient Egyptian gods.)
* EDITOR’S NOTE: While this quotation from The Illuminatus Trilogy strikes a rather discordant note in the context of Christian devotion, it is nonetheless insightful. Indeed, this suggestion, which is persuasive enough when applied to mere fragments of an extinct tradition, is all the more compelling when applied to an integral collection of prayers from a living tradition (the objections of Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud, notwithstanding). But make no mistake—this is not merely about being “happy” or “successful” (any more than it’s about escaping life). Rather, it’s about being partakers of the Divine nature, here and now.
Getting to Know Jesus in the 21st Century 