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126 Figure 37 the king, receiving the blessings of or being bid good-bye by the goddesses Isis and Nephtys, being led to a winged Ded (the symbol of Everlastingness, Fig. 37). Equipped as a god, the king is now assisted by two god- desses "who seize the cables" to enter the "Eye" of the celestial boat, the command module of the Ascender. He takes his seat between two gods; the seat is called "Truth which makes alive." The king attaches himself to a _protrud- ing contraption, and all is ready for takeoff: "Pepi is arrayed in the apparel of Horus" (the commander of the Falcon-gods) "and in the dress of Thoth" (the Divine Recordskeeper); "the Opener of the Ways has opened the way for him; the gods of An" (Heliopolis) "let him ascend the Stairway, set him before the Firmament of Heaven; Nut" (the sky goddess) "extends her hand to him." The king now offers a prayer to the Double Gates—the "Door of Earth" and the "Door to Heaven'"—that they may open. The hour is now daybreak; and suddenly "the aperture of the celestial window" opens up, and "the steps of light are revealed!" Inside the Ascender's "Eye" "the command of the gods is heard." Outside, the "radiance that lifts" is strengthened so that "the king may be lifted up to heaven." A "might that no one can withstand" can be felt inside the "Eye," the command chamber. There are sound and fury, roaring and quaking: "The Heaven speaks, the Earth quakes, the Earth trembles .. . The ground is come apart . .. The king ascends to Heaven!" "The Roaring Tempest drives him . .. The DIVINE ENCOUNTERS