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To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick.order,alt.mythology,alt.pagan.magick,alt.pagan,talk.religion.misc,talk.religion.newage
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Subject: MNuttall: Horus
Date: 30 Jun 1997 17:57:15 -0700

[from thelema93-l@hollyfeld.org: Mark Nuttall ]

93
I found this while looking for something else. Perhaps it'll be of interest
to some of you folks. - Mark
93 93/93

From http://users.aol.com/hetnetjer/private/netjer.html

Heru (Har, Hor; G/R Horus)
--------------------------

"High, Above" A collective term for a number of Names depicted either as
hawk-headed men or as full hawks, Heru symbolizes leadership of all sorts and
specifically the leadership demonstrated in the position of Ruler of the Two
Lands. Heru is known even before the advent of hieroglyphic writing from
depictions on Predynastic pottery and walls, of hawks and standards with the
hawk sitting atop them; Predynastic and early Dynastic kings wrote their names
within a serekh, which is a drawing of a palace with a hawk sitting upon its
roof. The Kemetic observed in the hawk theophany the quickness, intelligence,
alertness and staying power of a just ruler; nothing escaped the watchful eye
of the true Heru, and no wrongdoer escaped His claws. Earlier forms of Heru
depict Him as an abstract sky-god, with the sun and moon His two eyes; later
ones depict Him as anything from victory personified to the son of the Lord of
the Dead, Heru-sa-Aset, who would become the most popular form of Heru in the
later periods.

Ra - "Sun"
----------

Embodied in the golden sun which is His Symbol, Ra is Netjer of light, life,
and heat, and the power inherent in the sun which warms our planet. In several
forms, Ra has been venerated as the central Name of Netjer of the Kemetic
faith for its entire history, considered both Father and the King of All
Netjeru, the Great One Who both creates and destroys. Ra rose to prominence as
the early dynasties of the Old Kingdom, who venerated Him as their family
patron, began to call themselves "sons of Ra" in their official titularies and
constructed great sun-temples and pyramids (considered a special symbol of Ra
via their connection to the Ben-ben, a pyramidal-shaped stone from which Ra as
a Bennu (a white heron, called "Phoenix" by the Greeks) rose from Nun and sang
the song of creation) in His honor. Ra's popularity, as immanent as sunlight
itself, continued throughout Kemetic history; even great Names as Amen and
Ptah had to "share the spotlight" with Ra, and in Amen's case, a composite
Name, Amen-Ra, King of Netjeru, was created to avoid slighting either cult,
which by New Kingdom times had power and wealth to rival even the royal
house. Ra "lives" within the actual physical disk of sun, mythologically
described as the "Boat of Millions of Years" which rises and sets each day,
riding from horizon to horizon on the back (or belly) of Nut, and traversing
during the hours of darkness the netherworlds where the enemies of Ma'at
reside. Even in modern Egypt, the sun is often referred to as Ra, especially
on bright summer days.


Heru-pa-khered (G/R Harpocrates) - "Heru the Child"
---------------------------------------------------

A specific form of Heru-sa-Aset as a youngster, written about profusely during
the Greco-Roman periods, Heru-pa-Khered is depicted as a child holding one
finger to his mouth (a direct copy of the hieroglyph for "child," not
necessarily being related to the modern meaning of "silence" we see in that
gesture). Stele with depictions of Heru-pa-Khered standing on the back of a
crocodile and holding snakes in his outstretched hands were erected in temple
courtyards, where they would be immersed or bathed in water; the water was
then used for blessing and healing purposes as the Name was attributed with
many protective and healing powers. It is perhaps ironic in this light that
late myths describe Heru-pa-Khered as being both physically weak and incapable
of protecting himself, relying upon the power of His mother Aset to protect
Him until His manhood.


Ra-Heru-akhety (G/R Ra-Horakthy) - "Ra-Heru of Two Horizons"
------------------------------------------------------------

 A specialized early form of Ra, composite with Heru the predynastic Name of
the sky, Ra-Heru-akhety came to symbolize the inherent majesty of the sun
itself and is the patron of the ruling class as well as of the institution of
kingship.  Ra-Heru-akhety is the most common form of Ra venerated after the
Middle Kingdom, with His hawk-headed image surmounted by a red sun-disk and a
full cobra wrapped around it. He is sometimes more simply referred to as
Heru-akhety. The phrase "two horizons" notes the eternal quality of the Name
(from sunrise to sunset, and back again).




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