About Us

Kephra Design had its first beginnings in 1995 as a non-registered concern to design, edit and typeset the first issue of "The Waratah" for Ordo Templi Orientis Australia.

In late 1996 Kephra Design completed the first iteration of the Ordo Templi Orientis Australia web site (http://www.otoaustralia.org.au).

Between the years 1996 and 1999 Kephra Design completed many print and multimedia jobs as volunteer and non-paid work. A portfolio and a style grew and matured, and we explored more adventurous areas of design.

In August of 1999 Kephra Design was officially registered as a business with the Australian Tax Department and gained clients in Australia and New Zealand.

Kephra Design specialise in the supply of Internets and Intranets to Non-Profit Organisations and Web Accessibility for the Disabled and Visually Impaired.

Andrew McKiernan, is the Owner and Director of Kephra Design. He has been involved in Graphic Design and Web Development for the past 10 years and has worked for a number of Commercial and Non-Profit Organisations including WorldCom/UUNET as Snr.Web Developer, Ordo Templi Orientis Australia, the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, SPIKE Australia and the Sydney University Student Guild.

Who is Kephra?

Kephra is an aspect of the ancient Egyptian Sun god Ra, usually depicted in the form of the scarab or dung beetle (scarabaeus sacer), sometimes winged but more often carrying the disk of the sun.

The scarab beetle is common in Egypt and would have been observed busily rolling small balls of dung across the ground. These balls were deposited by the dung beetle into shallow holes where they were warmed by the rays of the sun.

Appearing spontaneously and miraculously, or so it seemed, a new scarab would emerge from the dung ball and scurry away to seemingly repeat the cycle endlessly.

The ancient egyptians saw in the dung rolling of the scarab an explanation for the daily motion of the Sun across the heavens. Furthermore, dung had always been spiritually associated with death and the process of putrification.

Death was the responsibility of the Underworld, and so Kephra was responsible, for safely navigating the Sun as it sank each evening behind the Mountains of Manu and through the darkness of the Duat. The great fear of the people was that the Sun would not survive this journey, but Kephra ensured its safety.