TYPE 4

Horus

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The great god Horus was one of the most popular gods of ancient

Egypt.

At least a 1,000 years before Egypt was unified a new group of

people entered Egypt called the Followers of Horus. Whether from

southern Africa, the Sahara are from the Red Sea area we don't know,

but they settled in Upper Egypt and opposed the Followers of Set in

the Delta. Eventually the Followers of Horus united Egypt and their

king, Narmer or Menes became the first king of Dynastic Egypt, and the Horus

name of the king started being used.

Who was Horus the Hawk or Falcon God? We are especially blessed

since the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the best preserved temple in

ancient Egypt, and on its walls contains such things as the different

forms and powers of Horus, the names of the books in the Temple lib-

rary, many rituals, hymns, and parts of the types of initiations.

First and foremost, perhaps, Horus was a sky god, whose right eye

was the Sun and whose left eye was the Moon, and where we came up with

the concept of the right side being solar, the left, lunar. Associated

with the hawk soaring over the land, and his eyes being the Sun and

Moon, came his attributes as "All-Seeing, All-Knowing", yet not inter-

fering unless he chooses to, or is summoned (like a Master of Falcons

summons his Hawk or Falcon).

Probably associated with the idea of a Falconer being protected

by his birds, Horus is one of the most popular gods of Protection.

Now remember that we have to speak in generalities, for Horus had

over 24 different forms with associated aspects.

Horus was also the patron god of martial arts, and a couple of

his temples, and their colleges taught military warfare, strategy,

tactics, and all sorts of fighting, the officer corps or military west

point of ancient Egypt. this is one of Egypt's tradition.

Another tradition in which Horus figures prominently is Alchemy.

Ptah, Horus, and Thoth were the leaders in the Egyptian school of

Alchemy.

Although Horus, during the New Kingdom and later was especially

popular as the Son of Isis, remember that that designation is only one

of his many forms.

His real consort was Hathor. and Hathor means House of Horus.

During one festival, the statue of Horus was removed from his sanc-

tuary and sailed down the Nile in all the pomp and circumstance re-

quired and was put into Hathor's temple at Denderah for a connubial

visit.

One of the most powerful forms of Protection Rituals in Ancient

Egypt was invoking the four Sons of Horus as the four directions, and

Horus as the Protector (and/or as the Avenger). In fact, the most

common form of invocation of the four directions was the 4 sons of

Horus; For women however, there are 2-3 sets of goddesses of the four

directions.

While the four sons are associated with various parts of the

human body, stomach, liver, etc., Horus himself is associated with the

Eyes (it figures, doesn't it?), but not the third eye (which is one or

both goddesses, Uatchet and Nekhibet). Sometimes used for astral

sight, there are actually two ways to get to his heaven, by turning

your astral body into a hawk, or a boat with a hawk on it.

BLESSED BE.