Heh, heh!  You don't really want to know about lil' ol' me, do you?

You do?

Oh well...

My on-line name is Ptah Aegyptus.  I first stumbled across Cybersix when it was playing on Fox Kids while they were trying to figure out what to do on Saturday mornings.  Of course, the name threw me, and I kept trying to look at the "woman in leather" as if it was a robot.  Only, the robot seemed so sweet and grateful for having a friend, that I had doubts.  I finally figured out Cybersix was a "real" woman during a re-run of "Mysterious Shadow" when the Fixed Ideas were chasing her on the roof.  She leaps up, and all but one falls off.  He's teetering on the edge as she comes down and kicks his leg out from under him.  The pretty pose she takes on, looking over her shoulder down at her handiwork, did the trick.  I was hooked.

I went on the Web and looked around.  Engine searches were pretty much useless, offering hits on Cybersex instead of Cybersix.  Finally, I found a website that led from one thing to another, and I wandered onto the unofficial Cybersix EZBoard message board and the Cybersix Webring.  I found the discussion so interesting and the members so pleasant, that I finally jumped in.  Despite being the eldest regular poster there, coming in at  two to three  times older than the majority of participants, I found a more ready acceptance than I had imagined.

Through the webring and the posts in the Arts and Lit forum, I discovered that I wasn't alone in my occasional passion to dabble in fan fiction.  I won't mention the Disney movie that first inspired me to write stories that I later discovered was called fan fiction, but I had abandoned the passion for an extended self-education in C++.  I felt kinda burned out as the last Millenium closed, only to be reignited by the intriguing vision of a bio-engineered woman trying to survive and find her place in the world.

I eventually made the connection with the comic by Carlos Trillo and Carlos Meglia, and ordered the first three volumes that were in French.  I discovered a comic character even deeper, more complex, more intriguing, and more endearing than the cartoon.  What treasures are locked away in the Spanish or Italian versions?  I don't know, and it saddens me that I may never know.

During this time, I've started working on my fanfiction.  Dr. Anthony Zacharias came first, and reflects me only dimly.

Umm, other than I'm a Christian, 46, married, living in Vidalia Georgia with one redhead, two boys, and three cats, I really don't want to say any more.  My EZBoard friends think I'm paranoid, but I believe that my place of employment was the true source inspiration for the concept of the Borg.  I like my passion for Cybersix, and don't care to be assimilated.  I've probably dropped enough clues on the board to be tracked, but they'll just have to dig a bit to find them and guess who I am.  If I suddenly disappear without warning for weeks, assume I was captured.

Ptah was one of the oldest gods of Ancient Egypt.  The yellow oval with the box, rising sun, and flax symbols is his "cartouche" or name box.  He was the Architect of the Universe, and built the world and all animals in it.  Lee, an EZBoard member, has mentioned that Ptah just THOUGHT the other gods into existence.  I doubted that at first until a random Google search turned up a better reference that indicated that he spoke everything into existence.  He was worshipped at Memphis, but I could not find any ancient Egyptian city that was named after him or was dedicated to him.  The following was drawn by 1istener, another EZBoard member and regular contributor to the Arts and Lits forum:

IN addition to creating the world, my later references indicated that he developed the ceremony of "The Opening of the Mouth":  This ceremony, performed after the worshipper was dead, supposedly freed the Ka from being trapped inside the body forever, and started it on its way to Paradise.

Outside of these references, Ptah is hardly mentioned, and I kinda liken him to a janitor, walking about the Universe and making sure everything is in working order.

One of the few places he is mentioned is in the Book of the Dead.  When the person died, his soul, or Ka, started on a long and dangerous journey to paradise in order to be judged, and either rewarded or punished.  The gods were of little help to the Ka of the person who had worshipped them so fervently on earth, and sometimes took on the roles of judges, punishers, or rewarders.  The Book of the Dead was a sort of guidebook for the Ka, and provided spells that would enable the Ka to take on different forms as the need arose.  It is interesting indeed to note that when the Ka got into really deep trouble, and needed some serious firepower to make it to paradise, the Book of the Dead outlined a spell that would turn the Ka into one of the Gods!  A powerful spell indeed, and when it was invoked, the Ka would turn into Ptah, the Opener of the Way.  (i.e. the way through the wall of enemies surrounding the Ka, either by stealth or by sheer exertion of the same power that created the universe.).

Not Isis, Osiris, Horus, Bastet, or Anubis, but Ptah.

At first, I did it out of deference to my Creationist beliefs:  Creator Gods usually get short shrift in most ancient mythologies and religions, with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam being the most notable exceptions.   I added the surname "Aegyptus" to evoke the antiquity and origin of this god.  Alas, as I have learned more and thought more about it, Ptah's role as the creator of the universe (by speaking it), as the creator of a ceremony that enabled the person to live on after death, and as the lender of his image to  wandering souls in need of his protection on their journey to Paradise, has led me to the uncomfortable conclusion that "Ptah" was the personal, national name that the Ancient Egyptians may have used when talking about Jesus Christ.  (That is, a perceptive apostle to Egypt, perhaps Paul, would have said, "Ptah became flesh and was called Jesus Christ.")

Oh boy.  If I had known this much at the beginning, I'm fairly sure I would have chosen some other name.  At one level, I fear I may have to answer for what may be interepreted as blasphemy.  But at another, I probably should feel at ease, for he who so graciously lent his image and power to the wandering soul in need would probably not begrudge me using it as protection while I wander cyberspace...