I think some have noticed my change of religious label. I'd been contemplating this for a while but wanted to be sure.
Firstly, 'heka' is the closest word the AEs had to a name for their religious practice/s. While usually it is translated 'magic' and associated with this God, Heka is much more than this.
Heka was seen as the primary force that helped create the world (along with Sia - Perception, Intelligence; Hu - Divine Speech; and Ma'at - Order and Justice). In Kemetic thought these are both Gods/Manifestations and also abstract concepts, which I think is worth noting - so when the AEs referred to their practice as 'Heka', they weren't referring to the God of that name.
Heka, to go more in depth,
Egyptologists have always attempted to fit ḥeka within the conceptual space of what modern scholars understand as “magic.” But ḥeka does not neatly fit into this category. Ḥeka is not the sorcerer’s malevolent power that can be used and put to the side. It is instead a force that created and propelled the universe, but could also be manipulated by the actions, words, objects and images to bring about a desired result.
This is a good opener.
The word has the 'ka' ending - ka being the Kemetic term for what most westerners would associate with the spirit, the vivifying source within creatures. The H is a twisted rope hieroglyph, with rope generally but not exclusively being associated with magic (via power and control etc.).
Heka was thought to have been present at creation and was the generative power the gods drew upon in order to create life.
In the Coffin Texts (written c. 2134-2040 BCE) the god speaks to this directly, saying, "To me belonged the universe before you gods came into being. You have come afterwards because I am Heka" (Spell, 261). Heka, therefore, had no parents, no origin; he had always existed. To human beings, he finds expression in the heart and the tongue, represented by two other gods, Sia and Hu. Heka, Sia, and Hu were responsible for creation as well as for maintenance of the world and the regulation of human birth, life, and death.
I was going to type what I read in a book but it was easier to take pics of the relevant portions, lol,
"For Heka is the all-pervasive power that underpins everything that exists, whether spiritually or materially."
"Heka is the power by which the spiritual becomes manifest, for he is the connecting link between the Godhead, Atum, and all that comes forth from Atum."
"In order to understand Heka, therefore, we have to think of these two related aspects: Heka as the divine power that underpins and pervades all that exists in the spiritual and material world; and Heka as the means by which the different spiritual and material levels connect with each other and can flow into each other."
Firstly, 'heka' is the closest word the AEs had to a name for their religious practice/s. While usually it is translated 'magic' and associated with this God, Heka is much more than this.
Heka was seen as the primary force that helped create the world (along with Sia - Perception, Intelligence; Hu - Divine Speech; and Ma'at - Order and Justice). In Kemetic thought these are both Gods/Manifestations and also abstract concepts, which I think is worth noting - so when the AEs referred to their practice as 'Heka', they weren't referring to the God of that name.
Heka, to go more in depth,
Egyptologists have always attempted to fit ḥeka within the conceptual space of what modern scholars understand as “magic.” But ḥeka does not neatly fit into this category. Ḥeka is not the sorcerer’s malevolent power that can be used and put to the side. It is instead a force that created and propelled the universe, but could also be manipulated by the actions, words, objects and images to bring about a desired result.
This is a good opener.
The word has the 'ka' ending - ka being the Kemetic term for what most westerners would associate with the spirit, the vivifying source within creatures. The H is a twisted rope hieroglyph, with rope generally but not exclusively being associated with magic (via power and control etc.).
Heka was thought to have been present at creation and was the generative power the gods drew upon in order to create life.
In the Coffin Texts (written c. 2134-2040 BCE) the god speaks to this directly, saying, "To me belonged the universe before you gods came into being. You have come afterwards because I am Heka" (Spell, 261). Heka, therefore, had no parents, no origin; he had always existed. To human beings, he finds expression in the heart and the tongue, represented by two other gods, Sia and Hu. Heka, Sia, and Hu were responsible for creation as well as for maintenance of the world and the regulation of human birth, life, and death.
I was going to type what I read in a book but it was easier to take pics of the relevant portions, lol,
"For Heka is the all-pervasive power that underpins everything that exists, whether spiritually or materially."
"Heka is the power by which the spiritual becomes manifest, for he is the connecting link between the Godhead, Atum, and all that comes forth from Atum."
"In order to understand Heka, therefore, we have to think of these two related aspects: Heka as the divine power that underpins and pervades all that exists in the spiritual and material world; and Heka as the means by which the different spiritual and material levels connect with each other and can flow into each other."
Last edited: