The Eye of Horus

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The Eye of Horus

The eye of Horus
is an ancient Egyptian symbol
of protection


The Egyptian word
for this symbol is wedjat
pronounced ud jat

The eye of Horus
is pictured as a falcon
and it represents spiritual abilities
as it is the eye
that perceives the light




Horus' right eye was white
and signified the sun
His left eye was black
to represent the moon

Horus, also known as Ra,
lost his left eye
in a battle with Seth
his evil brother
The broken eye was reassembled
by Thoth
and that his why
we see the moon in parts

The Egyptians used the eye
as a funerary amulet
for protection against evil
and rebirth
in the underworld



The amulets were made of Lapis Lazuli
or from a stone called mak



The all seeing Eye of Horus
was also worn as jewellery
for protection





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Ma'at

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Ma'at
Partner of  Thoth,
whom I adopted as
God of Blogging

Ma'at
pronounced Ma aht
means Truth

Ma'at
the Egyptian Goddess
represented truth,
order, justice
and balance
It was Ma'at's task
to prevent the world
from falling into chaos

Ma'at also helped Ra,
the sun God,
steer his boat
across the sky each day
guiding his direction

Ma'at is depicted as a woman
with a white ostrich feather
on her head
She carries a sceptre
in one hand
and an ankh
in the other

In the Hall of Judgement
Ma' at weighs the hearts of the dead
against her feather
If the heart weighs heavier
it is thrown
to the crocodile headed Ammut
to devour
If the heart weighs lighter
than the feather
the soul may cross
into the kingdom of Osiris,
into paradise



Notice in the image above
Thoth
on the right
recording his observations



Illustrations such as this
were common
in the Egyptian
Books of the Dead

The Book of the Dead
such as that of the Scribe Ani
written in 1240 BC,
which is called the Papyrus of Ani,
was a document
written for a particular person,
composed to assist the newly deceased
to negotiate the afterlife


These books included hymns
spells and instructions


It was common to also
include a list behaviours,
a code of ethics,
or commandments


sometimes called
Going Forth by Day

42 Negative Confessions from the Papyrus of Ani

1. I have not committed sin.
2. I have not committed robbery with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have not slain men and women.
5. I have not stolen grain.
6. I have not purloined offerings.
7. I have not stolen the property of the god.
8. I have not uttered lies.
9. I have not carried away food.
10. I have not uttered curses.
11. I have not committed adultery, I have not lain with men.
12. I have made none to weep.
13. I have not eaten the heart [i.e I have not grieved uselessly, or felt remorse].
14. I have not attacked any man.
15. I am not a man of deceit.
16. I have not stolen cultivated land.
17. I have not been an eavesdropper.
18. I have slandered [no man].
19. I have not been angry without just cause
20. I have not debauched the wife of any man.
21. I have not debauched the wife of any man.
22. I have not polluted myself.
23. I have terrorised none.
24. I have not transgressed [the Law].
25. I have not been wroth.
26. I have not shut my ears to the words of truth.
27. I have not blasphemed.
28. I am not a man of violence.
29. I am not a stirrer up of strife (or a disturber of the peace).
30. I have not acted (or judged) with undue haste.
31. I have not pried into matters.
32. I have not multiplied my words in speaking.
33. I have wronged none, I have done no evil.
34. I have not worked witchcraft against the King (or blasphemed against the King).
35. I have never stopped [the flow of] water.
36. I have never raised my voice (spoken arrogantly, or in anger).
37. I have not cursed (or blasphemed) God.
38. I have not acted with arrogance
39. I have not stolen the bread of the gods.
40. I have not carried away the khenfu cakes from the Spirits of the dead.
41. I have not snatched away the bread of the child, nor treated with contempt the god of my city.
42. I have not slayed the cattle belonging to the god.

It is interesting to read
this code of conduct
which precedes
the 12 Commandments
of Moses
by over a thousand years,
and to see which values
we maintain
as important guides
in our lives today...




I like # 26

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Song Lines

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Song Lines

Out looking for whales

this morning

I thought about

Song Lines

Song Lines

are an ancient

cultural concept and motif

of the Australian Aboriginals

 

which are perpetuated through

oral lore

singing

and story telling modalities

such as dance and painting

 

The song lines are an intricate series

of song cycles

that identify landmarks -

a subtle tracking mechanism

for navigation

 

 Our eye followed

the arc of white wash

across the bay

 

to where it ended

at the yacht

in the distance

 

and as we looked

an enormous tail fluke

rose out of the water

hallelujah

 

To the Aboriginals

all land is sacred and alive

the ancestors gave them singing

gave them life through song

and dwell in the land still

 

the song must be continually sung

to keep the land alive

 

the singing preserves the land

the story

the dreaming of their ancestors

and recreates it

in their oneness

of past

present

and future

 

song lines were used

to navigate vast distances

through the deserts

of the Australian interior,

over hundreds of kilometres

of varied terrain

and lands of many different

tribal groups

with different languages

and cultural traditions

 

song lines often followed ridge lines

and that is where

much of the sacred Aboriginal art is located

Sometimes they followed valleys

where water is more easily found

 

We leave the bay

to sit in the coffee shop

overlooking this beautiful tree

 

which may be a crepe myrtle

 

then fortified

we make our way back

and low and behold

Look...

 

a group

 

a family of travellers

resting in the calm waters

of the bay

 

before

making their way southwards

down the coast

of Queensland

to New South Wales

and beyond...

 

 look how close

the family group is

to the boat

 

 In 1987 Bruce Chatwin

wrote a book

entitled Song Lines

which tells very beautifully

of these ancient sung

highways and byways

of the Australian continent

 

 Satisfied

with whale sightings

we walk up the road

to my friend's home

 

Bruce Chatwin says:

The labyrinth of individual pathways

which meander all over Australia

are known to Europeans

as dreaming tracks or Song Lines

-to the Aboriginals

as the Footprints of the Ancestors

or the Way of the Law...

The Whales,

I have learned,

seem to have their own

heritage of song lines

that are sung

from one pole to another

and heard over great distances

connecting

the whale communities

and maintaining group identities...

Wonders

of time

of place

of the land

of peoples

and

of the oceans

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Thoth

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Thoth

Thoth
pronounced Tee hoo tee
was a lunar deity
in the religion
of ancient Egypt










Thoth was the god of writing,
magic and learning
He is also credited
with the creation of language

Thoth is commonly depicted
as an ibis headed
divine male figure









and also appears as a baboon


At times he can be seen wearing
the lunar crescent
on his head,
as in the top picture

In drawings Thoth,
(Tee hoo tee)
is seen
holding a scribe's palette
and a stylus


In his role
as scribe to the Gods,
recording divine utterances,
words and judgments,
Thoth keeps a great library
of scrolls

Another of Thoth's tasks
was to record the deeds of the living
which were later recounted
in the Halls of Judgement
where the weighing of souls
took place after death

As the patron of scribes,
the God of wisdom
and of writing,
and the creator of magic
I suggest
that we could do no better
than to adopt Thoth
as the God of Blogging

What do you think...




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Much more than a colourful truck...

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When I went for a walk
in the National park yesterday
I noticed this colourful truck in the car park.

On closer inspection it appears to be:

'a message stick vehicle' ...


I took some shots of it thinking that it would be
a good talking point and open a discussion on
Aboriginal myths and folklore.

But when I opened this morning's local paper
I found a picture of Ian Thorpe -
he of big feet and Olympic swimming records,
adding his hand print to the truck.

I learned that Ian was in Noosa to give support
to a fund raising event to aid Aboriginal communities
and others in South Africa.

Ian Thorpe's Foundation for Youth
is a charitable organization started in 2000,
which seeks to help alleviate poverty
in Aboriginal communities.

This truck is used by a small group of people
to visit aboriginal communities
to learn of the indigenous culture,
to foster the preservation of that rich cultural history
and to build bridges

Ian provided a stunning piece of information:

for every year of education you add to an Aboriginal mother,
you add four years to the life expectancy of her child.

Many of the health problems in the indigenous
population can be attributed to lack of nutrition
and education.

The large snake on the side of the truck
in the photo above is the mythical Rainbow Snake.
A snake of enormous size he lives at the bottom of the deepest
water holes. He is descended from the dark streak in the
milky way and reveals himself as a rainbow as he moves
through water and rain.

A relative of Murray adorns this section of the truck.
Above the dingo footprint is
Evonne Goolagong Cawley's name.



Evonne Goolagong, an indigenous Australian
was a world #1 tennis player winning Wimbledon,
four Australian Opens and
one French Open, in the 1970s and 80s.
She is now an advocate for Aboriginal youth
and runs tennis camps in my area.

In one Aboriginal story Bingingerra, a giant
fresh water turtle,
was chosen to lead the land creatures in battle
against the sea creatures.

The Wandjina are rain and cloud spirits
in Aboriginal mythology.
The spirits are depicted in rock paintings
in human form but without mouths.
It is said that if the spirits were to have mouths
the rain would never cease.

The Wandjina made the sea, the earth and
all of their inhabitants.
If offended these spirits can cause lightning
and flooding.
Their special powers are depicted in the feathers
and lightning shown around their heads.

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At the feet of the Wandjina you can see the name :
David Ngoombujarra of the Yamatji people.
David Ngoombujarra more commonly known as Ernie Dingo
starred with Paul Hogan in the movie Crocodile Dundee.

I have since learned about The Message Stick Vehicle from

http://www.myspace.com/michaelabutler

and here http://www.sacredoz.com.au/Message_Stick.html



In the words of the film makers:

This extraordinary journey began in a 1961 Ex-Army Ambulance dubbed ‘The Message Stick’ that was first built for WAR, now rebuilt for PEACE.
After 10 years in the harsh third world communities in the Australian Outback, Michael Butler, Samantha Martin and Michelle White discover their own awareness in promoting the positive aspects of Aboriginal Australia.


They drove out of Sydney heading North with only $300 dollars in their pockets, a digital camera and a passion to learn about the Aboriginal cultures.
‘The Message Stick’ 4WD vehicle became their home and production vehicle, giving them access into the remote communities in the outback.

The vehicle is re-enacting a 50,000 year-old story of traditional message sticks that traveled around Australia on foot by young Aboriginal warriors, this form of communication was used to pass on important news and messages to different language groups. It identifies the bearer and welcomes them on strange land, but instead of a stick this modern day motorized Message Stick vehicle becomes the canvas for Peace and Reconciliation around the World sharing and gathering important messages of the preservation of an Ancient culture.

To watch an inspiring utube clip of the message stick vehicle go here:
http://www.sacredoz.com.au/Message_Stick.html

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The painted truck that I noticed in the car park
is certainly much more than just a colourful truck.

It is an emissary of hope.

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