Category Archives: transformation

Isis & the Soul

What is your concept of the soul?

It’s one of those things that we often talk about, but we don’t have a firm definition of what—exactly—it is. Is it the divine part of ourselves? Is it the immortal part that survives after death? Is it some kind of “essence” of ourselves? Is it our inner life, our thoughts, feelings, passions? Do only human beings have one, or do other beings and things have one, too? Is it what animates us, what makes us alive? In Latin, the word for soul is anima and modern languages like French and Spanish have words for soul (âme and alma) that come directly from Latin.

The English word derives from Old English sawol and is related to a number of similar old-European words. Psychology, the study of the psyche—Greek for soul—thus involves the study (or literally, “speaking about,” –ology) the soul. So psychologists and psychotherapists are concerned with healing the soul.

Most people, throughout the world, have some sort of concept of something like the soul. Yes, of course, the ancient Egyptians did, too. And yes, of course, Our Lady Isis has an intimate concern with souls.

Those of you who have been reading this blog probably already know that the ancient Egyptians did things a little differently. And you may already know that they had a broader concept of what goes into making up the full nature of the human being. These are words like ka, ba, akh, khat, ren, ib, and shadow. We find these terms numbering from about five on the low end to about sixteen on the high end. Often, you will see them referred to as “components” or “parts” of the human being, both in life and afterlife. That’s not quite right, so more-modern scholars will call them “aspects” of the human being. This is much closer.

The ba-bird and the shadow of the deceased

But I just learned today, that there is an Egyptian word that is not only appropriate and which at least some learned Egyptians seem to have used as the collective term for these aspects. The word is kheperu.* It means “forms, transformations, manifestations” and oh-so-much more. It is found in the name of the Sun Scarab God, Khepri or Khepera. As a verb, it means “changing, transforming, becoming.” The root also has to do with creation, birth, and rebirth.

What I learned is that in some examples of the funerary literature, you will see a list of the familiar aspects of the human being, but with the word kheperu at the end. Scholars think that the word kheperu—transformations—at the end was meant to sum up all the preceding aspects. Why is this important? Because it confirms that the kheperu of a person should not be understood as discreet or disjointed “parts” of the human being. But rather that the ancients understood them to be forms or ways of being that the human being could transform into during different aspects of their life/afterlife journey.

Today, I’d like to focus on just one of these kheperu: the ba.

The ba hovers over the body of its deceased

We have come to use the word “soul” to translate ba because way back in the 4th century CE, a writer name Horapollo (a perfect Egypto-Greek name if ever there was one) so translated it. Horapollo was a Greco-Egyptian intellectual who wrote a book, in Greek, on the meanings of the hieroglyphs. In addition to giving us the ba = psyche equation, Horapollo also connected the ba with the heart, for, he said, the Egyptians say that the soul resides in the heart.

Here’s Horapollo’s entry on The Soul:

That the hawk is a symbol for the soul is clear from the interpretation of its name. For the hawk is called by the Egyptians Baieth. If this name is divided, it means “soul” and “heart.” For Bai is the soul and Eth is the heart. And the heart, according to the Egyptians, contains the soul. Hence the interpretation of the combined name is the “soul in the heart.” Wherefore the hawk, since it has the same character as the soul, never drinks water, but blood, on which the soul is nourished.

The Hierogliphics, Book I, entry on The Soul

We may also note that in Book II of Horapollo, the symbol for the human soul is a star—as well as a symbol for a Deity, twilight, night, and time, all of which is true enough. Remember that by the 4th century CE, a lot of the traditional knowledge about the sacred writing had been lost. So it’s likely that what Horapollo reports is what was current in his day.

The ba of Shu fills the sail of the deceased with the breath of life

Ba is an extremely complicated concept in ancient Egypt (and don’t get me started on ka!) Like so many other things, it too, changed over the millennia. Scholars are still trying to figure out precisely what it meant. But happily, we do know some things, so we’re not completely in the dark.

In the earliest Egyptian texts, the ba appears to be a Divine force. The word seems to refer to a manifested spirit, usually the manifestation of a Deity. The ba of a Deity could appear as a natural force—the wind is the ba of Shu—or in the form of a sacred animal. For instance, the Apis bull of Memphis was considered the ba of, first Ptah, then Osiris; the Hesis cow, mother of the Apis, was considered the ba of Isis. What’s more, one Deity could be the ba of another. Osiris and Heka are bas of Re; Sothis is the ba of Isis. By the end of the Old Kingdom, the concept of the ba was understood more broadly. Everybody—and some things as well—had one. Post Amarna, every Deity and everything could be considered a ba of Amun/Amun-Re.

The ba of the deceased perched on a papyrus plant; Ptolemaic era

When it comes to human beings, generally, the ba was thought to be a non-physical aspect of a person that comprised their personality or character. The impression one makes on others is because of the nature of one’s ba. The ba is also a form or manifestation—a kheper—of the human being in the spiritual realm. After death, a human being’s ba could take on super-human power; not as powerful as a Deity’s, but powerful.

In tombs, the ba of the deceased person is usually shown as a human-headed bird, often a hawk like Horapollo says. Sometimes the ba-bird also has human arms and hands. With it’s human face, it is linked to the individual human being and reflects the personality or character of the person. Yet its birdform gives it the ability to move between the worlds. And because it can enter into the spirit world, it knows things beyond normal human knowledge. Thus it can also serve as a counselor to human beings while we are still alive. We have a piece of ancient literature in which a man is in a dispute with his ba over whether or not he should commit suicide. Egyptian wisdom literature also advised people to do good in life in order to feed their bas.

A man and his ba greet and mirror each other in the underworld

Well. I see that this post has gotten a bit long and I haven’t even brought in Isis, She Who “guides my soul on the paths of the Netherworld.” So we’ll continue this soulful discussion next time and learn the may ways that Isis is connected with the powerful ba.

* In Isis Magic, I use the term Kheperu for the various forms of the Deities as well as the magical technique of “Taking on the God/dessform.”

Big Magic for Hard Times

Isis with the sistrum from Abydos
“I am Isis”

The Key to Egyptian Magic, Part 1

I admire the blogging work of John Beckett on Patheos. His recent post talks about the period of disruption we are in right now, which he (and some of his compatriots, I gather) call Tower Time, after the tarot card.

In this particular post, I was struck by his recommendation to magic workers to “take your magic up a notch” in response to current times. I do agree. As I said a couple weeks ago, this time of change, this time of flux, is precisely when magic can have an outsized effect.

So today I’m going to start a series on what I believe is THE key to Egyptian magic. It has no known Egyptian name, but you find it everywhere throughout Egyptian sacred written materials. It freaked out the Greeks when they learned about it from Egypt. And it still freaks out some modern magic workers.

Here, let me demonstrate it:

I am Isis. I have gone forth from my house and my boat is at the mooring rope… O you who travel in the sky, I will row him with you, I will travel as Isis.

My name is Isis in the Sealed Place; I am in my name and my name is a god; I will not forget it, this name of mine.

I am Isis when she was in Chemmis, and I will listen like him who was deaf and who stared.

Go behind me for I am Isis!

These excerpts from the ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts show the technique precisely. Of course, those texts can often be a bit obscure. Here’s another example of the technique in a modern Neo-Pagan/Witchcraft/Wiccan context:

Cool moonlight streams into the Circle, falls upon the altar, glitters the silver jewelry upon the breast of the High Priestess. Her eyes are closed. Her arms and legs are flung wide—as if she would abandon her body by sheer human desire. She feels her heart radically alive. She breathes softly and deeply, praying in silence for the Goddess to come, to come.

Before her, the High Priest kneels, “I invoke Thee and call Thee, Mighty Mother of us all, By seed and root, by bud and stem, by leaf and flower and fruit, by life and love do I invoke Thee to descend upon this Thy servant and Priestess!”

The witches begin a low humming as the High Priest continues to invoke the Moon Goddess by Her many names, asking Her, praying Her to descend—now! now!—into the body of Her Priestess.

Thessalian witches Drawing Down the Moon

Then a sharp intake of breath. The High Priestess’ breathing has become ragged. Moonlight catches in her hair, illuminates her body. An electric thrill runs up her spine. The nape of her neck prickles with spirit fire. Her hair stands on end. Her dark eyes snap open, staring strangely. The atmosphere within the Circle is changed. Every one of us feels it. Excitement in the pit of the stomach. Anticipation. Truth.

The High Priestess looks into our eyes, into our hearts, and begins to speak the Charge of the Goddess, “Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month, and better it be when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place to adore the spirit of Me, Who am Queen of all the Witches…”

We have Drawn Down the Moon. The woman who was our High Priestess is—for this brief and sacred moment—the Goddess incarnate. And She gives us Her blessings.

A beautiful modern rendition of Drawing Down the Moon by Jake Baddeley. You can purchase a copy here.
A beautiful modern rendition of Drawing Down the Moon by Jake Baddeley. You can learn more and purchase a copy here.

Drawing Down the Moon

The name of the modern ritual practice of Drawing Down the Moon comes to us from ancient Greece, when it was a known practice of the famous Thessalian witches. The ritual was well known in even the highest intellectual circles of Greek and Roman society. Plato mentions it as do Lucan and Horace.

We have no evidence that the ancient practice was similar to the modern one. The scant clues we do have suggest that it was not. Nonetheless, the modern rite is not without ancient precedent. It is simply to be found somewhere else—in texts, some of which, are roughly contemporary with the height of the activities of the Thessalian witches: the Greco-Egyptian Magical Papyri. This collection of ancient magical workings is usually known as the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) because they are written largely in Greek. Nonetheless, scholars are generally agreed that much of the magical technique to be found in them is Egyptian. (Yes, I’m finally getting to Egypt.)

As I said, we don’t have a sure Egyptian name for this powerful magical technique. I have called it Kheperu, “Transformations” or “Forms.” The Egyptian root of the word means “to be, to exist, to form, to create, to bring into being, to take the form of someone or something, and to transform oneself.”

Recognizing Kheperu

It’s relatively easy to tell when we are witnessing the technique of Kheperu. Most simply, whenever we find the deceased, the priestess, or the magician claim TO BE a particular Goddess or God and speaks in the first person, we are likely to be witnessing Kheperu. It is the voluntary taking on of the astral or imaginal form of a Deity that enables the ritualist to share, albeit briefly, in the powers and Divine energy of that Deity, usually for the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of a ritual or for deep communion with that Deity.

A clear example comes from a Coffin Text about the Goddess Hathor. The deceased says:

I am in the retinue of Hathor, the most august of the Gods, and She gives me power over my foes who are in the Island of Fire. I have put on the cloak of the Great Lady, and I am the Great Lady. I am not inert, I am not destroyed, and nothing evil will come to pass against me.

The deceased “puts on the cloak”—the imaginal or astral form—of Hathor and becomes Hathor. Doing so enables him to use Her power to protect himself in the Land of the Dead.

The Egyptian Concept Behind Kheperu

An artistic representation of Kheperu by Steffi Grant
An artistic representation of Kheperu by Steffi Grant; more on this in the next post

There is a basic idea that must exist in a culture to make it possible for the idea of Kheperu to develop—and that is that human beings are not divorced from the Divine and that they have the ability to become even closer to the Divine.

And indeed, the idea that a human being could be god-like is found throughout Egyptian literature. In the Instruction for Merikare, wisdom literature from the First Intermediate Period, it is said that the deceased is “like a god” in the beyond and refers to humanity as the “likeness of God.” A human being with great knowledge is also said to be a likeness of God.

Deities are inherently godlike, but human beings who wish to partake of godlike powers have to make an extra effort—through ritual actions and by being in accord with Ma’et, “Rightness” or “Truth.” By proper words, deeds, and personal rightness, human beings may participate with the Divine.

Using Kheperu

The technique of Kheperu is a defining characteristic of Egyptian and Egyptian-derived magic. There are reasons to believe that it was more than a mere invocatory convention to the Egyptians and that a genuine connection with the Deity invoked was both intended and achieved. Kheperu was one of the key ways the ancient Egyptians empowered their spirituality—and it is one of the most important ways we can empower our own spirituality and our relationship with Isis, today.

Next time, we’ll look at some more background on this technique, then follow that up with some ways we can use it in our relationship with Isis and take our magic up a notch.

Tap Into Your Highest by Being of Service

It is the invitation of the Universe that you full receive your gifts and then cultivate them in ways that you can offer them in skillful ways of service so that you can be a being that spreads more joy to the planet.

The secret to inner transformation is to orient yourself in unfamiliar ways. If you are always thinking only of yourself, life gets narrow and your energy can get easily get blocked. You may be operating along grooves that don’t serve you in the highest way.

How do you make a change that will propel you to expand your energies and ultimately allow you to feel a deep sense of contentment and even joy? Shift your orientation to how you can be of service to something other than just yourself.

If you feel, however, that you are being compelled to be of service and that the motivation is externally driven, then it can actually drain your energy and diminish you. For example, if you are stuck in a service-related job and you are only doing it for the money and not because of any natural enthusiasm for the nature of the work or the desire to help your customers, you will be looking at the clock the entire time. Time will seem to be going very slowly and at the end of the work day you will feel drained. At the worst if you are forced into service and you resist its call, it could actually humiliate you.

On the other hand, when you shift your attitude and truly dedicate yourself and your efforts to being of service, there is a magical expansion of your energies. Instead of feeling diminished, all parts of you are called into action when your align with your heart’s intention. By changing your vision to a higher intention, the veils of limitation clear and you can harness those deeper resources within you. By tapping into this wellspring of energy in response to the call to service, not only do you have a powerful capacity to help others, but also, you can sustain your energy and not “burn out”.

Take time in your life to pause and reflect on where you can be of most service. Everyone has been gifted with natural talents. It is the invitation of the Universe that you full receive your gifts and then cultivate them in ways that you can offer them in skillful ways of service so that you can be a being that spreads more joy to the planet. It is this pulsation of being receptive of what life has to offer and then giving back that is so simple and profound.

When you orient yourself to nature by giving back through service, you will find that you are no longer depleted and empty. Rather, when you act from your heart in skillful ways, the Universe will fill you up so much that you will feel completely full. When you feel so abundant, then you will feel content and no longer will there be the vibration of desiring something outside of you. This is the paradox of life, the more you give, the more that you will feel complete.

ABOUT AUTHOR AND ARTIST PAMELA WELLS

Pamela Wells has been working as a fine artist, commercial illustrator and graphic web designer for over 20 years and specializes in creative work that leads to greater understanding and awareness. Her goddess art incorporates her interest in the study of transpersonal psychology, integral transformative spiritual practice and the evolution of human consciousness. She cares deeply about both men and women and also about the ecological preservation of the planet which benefits all living things. To order a copy of Pamela’s most recent book and card set, Affirmations for the Everyday Goddess, www.ArtmagicPublishing.com.

All articles may be republished or printed providing author credit (above) and a a link is provided back to the website http://www.artmagicpublishing.com.