If left alone, most people would succumb to these forces and lose consciousness. The entire after-death state, completely karmic in nature, would thereby be passed in a dreamlike swoon and rebirth would take place with the past life totally forgotten. But they also believed that the deceased need not undergo these processes alone. The objective, which is fully attainable only by the most advanced, is to maintain continuity of consciousness throughout the process and to be reborn with clear memory of the past life. Although few of us today worry about meeting deities or monsters, perhaps the teachings of the Egyptians are not as outdated as they may first appear.
Ancient tradition holds that sleep and death are brothers.
If so, then the meeting with Amemit has its counterpart in the phenomenon of the nightmare, and the weighing process of Anubis has its counterpart in the nightly workings of the human conscience, where Thoth assumes the form of our memory and the Ape of Thoth appears as our rationalizations. According to the Egyptians, the only way to pass safely through these awesome processes is to prepare oneself for them during life. Initiations such as that described for Ani were an essential part of Egyptian culture and the insights gained contributed to the longevity of that nation. These insights were not mere accumulations of external data, but rather the bringing forth into conscious expression of the aspirant's divine potential. Initiation is not to be undertaken lightly, for it requires long years, usually lifetimes, of preparation before one can successfully undergo even the preliminary trials.