Kemetic Terms- The "Ka"/Personal Soul

[Rainbow Mage]

The Egyptian view of the soul was very unique and complex compared to many of it's neighbors. The Egyptians believed there were many kinds of souls that a person had, and many kinds that animal and plant life had.


The most well-known of these concepts is the ka, the Egyptian word for the "personal, fleeting soul". By Kemetic view, this is the soul of the personality, the self or ego. This soul is not usually viewed as being an eternal soul.


The Egyptians believed that the ka could attain a sort of afterlife realm through devotion to the gods, but that not every person would. The myth said that if a ka failed to attain the afterlife it simply ceased to exist. There was another type of soul, a non-personal soul, that never dies and is more on the level of energy or god-essence.


Several modern Kemetic views have spun out of the tail end of this myth. Some Kemetics believe in reincarnation, some in the ancient afterlife idea, and some aren't sure. The ka is a lesser type of soul, while the ba is a greater type.

 

[Erebus]

Ok I have a question, this is something that I never understood.

From what I remember (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) the Egyptians believed that the heart was responsible for emotions. Now if the heart is devoured by Ammut, but the person has multiple souls, does this mean that they are obliterated completely or do they continue to exist without emotions?

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Shak that's a good question. The heart was meant by the ka, and not necessarily literal heart as in the organ. If the ka was devoured there were several theories.

One was that the person became a sort of non-being who wonders the netherworld for eternity. Another was that they simply ceased to exist and eventually their names were forgotten. The one I think most likely is the one that a type of rebirth takes place, but it wasn't exactly reincarnation. They didn't believe the ka/person reincarnated, or that one could reincarnate into an animal, since animals and humans have different types of souls.

 

[Erebus]

Hmm interesting. The wandering the netherworld eternally might actually be something I use in a story sometime, I quite like it

Cheers for the answer