Founding Initiate enrollment is open — the Outer Court is now receiving petitions.
An Ancient Order · Kemet · Waset · The Hidden Light
The Craft of Amen Ra restores the initiatic path of the Nile Valley — the Mystery System of Kemet (ancient Egypt) from which the world's Craft descends — as taught by Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan and carried by his initiates.
The Arc of the Craft
The Source
The temple schools of Waset (Thebes), Men-nefer (Memphis), Annu (Heliopolis) and Abdu (Abydos) were the first lodges. Instruction was graded, oath-bound, and given only to those prepared to receive it.
Ptah was honored as the Great Craftsman. Imhotep, who raised the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, stands as the first Grand Architect. Before every temple stood two pylons — the first two pillars.
The Journey
Greek students came to the temples of Kemet (ancient Egypt) to study. Rome inherited what Greece carried. The builders' guilds of Europe kept the geometry and the grades long after the temples were closed.
London, 1717: the Craft is organized as speculative Masonry. In 1784, Prince Hall and African Lodge No. 459 return the Craft to African hands in the Americas.
The Return
Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan spent decades teaching the Nile Valley origins of civilization and leading study tours into Kemet, placing his students inside the temples themselves.
The Craft of Amen Ra restores that path at its source. Today the Order receives Brothers and Sisters who will study, live by Ma'at, and build.
Wisdom · Strength · Beauty
Tehuti (Thoth)
Wisdom is the Word measured before it is spoken. Tehuti gives the initiate speech, number, and the discipline of exact thought.
Heru (Horus)
Strength is the will that restores what was broken. Heru, son of the widow Auset (Isis), teaches the initiate to contend without becoming what he contends against.
Het-Heru (Hathor)
Beauty is proportion made visible. Het-Heru teaches that a life, like a temple, is judged by its harmony and not by its scale.
Three Grades · Three Courts
The Entered Seeker · Outer Court
The 42 Declarations of Ma'at, the Ten Virtues, the history of the Nile Valley Mystery System, and the discipline of silence.
Fellow of the Craft · Hypostyle Hall
The Seven Liberal Arts, the sacred geometry of the pyramid, Tehuti and the Word, the working tools, and a work of service.
Master of the Hidden Sun · Sanctuary
The Ausarian rite of death and rising, the Widow's Son, the Eye restored, the capstone, and custody of the teaching.
Study Before You Petition
Shu is the breath between sky and earth — the Neter who lifts the heavens so light can travel. The House of Shu is the Order's open study circle: a free weekly online gathering where seekers read Dr. Ben together, sit with the 42 Declarations of Ma'at, and prepare to petition. No experience required. Come and study.
The 42 Declarations
I honor what is not mine.
I speak what is true.
I bring comfort where I go.
I govern my temper with reason.
I practice the discipline of silence.
I keep my heart light and true.
1918 – 2015
Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan — known to his students as Dr. Ben — was an Egyptologist and historian who taught at Cornell University's Africana Studies and Research Center. He authored 49 books and led decades of study tours into Kemet, teaching inside the temples themselves.
He taught that Africa is Alkebu-lan and that the Mystery System of the Nile Valley is the source of the Craft. He carried the Craft of Amen Ra from the Nile Valley temples to America.
[Quote to be supplied]
In Memoriam
July 14, 1954 – January 25, 2026
Keeper of the Kemetic flame. Teacher of the Widow Sons of Ra. His instruction to every craftsman: Orient yourself within yourself. Orient yourself in the world.
Honor the LineageThe Grand Master
Grand Master of the Craft of Amen Ra, initiated in the line of Dr. Ben. He is a Vajra Master, an Ajarn of the Chok Lap Thai Forest tradition, and an Oluwo of Ifá.
He is the founder of Buddha Digital Temple, Buddha University, Orisha University, and Shiva University. He presides over the Order's temples, degrees, and study cycles.
Read the StatementBefore You Knock
Petition when you are ready. Until then, study with us — the House of Shu costs nothing but your attention.