The question
came over the transom, curt and direct, like an urging: What do you mean when
Neruamun “sees” with his Eye of Râ
(Heart Eye, or Eye of the Sun)? The proper urging behind an excellent question...
Then it hit me!
I know what I mean by it, but obviously not everyone does. Not everyone “sees”
even when they have their eyes open. Naturally, this use of the verb “to see”
leads to confusion and I apologize beforehand. The kind of “seeing” Neruamun is
doing is not going on through the organ of his eyes. In other words, it’s not
light that’s passing through the lens and hitting the retina, etc., and from
there an “image” of what’s being observed emerges. (If one believes in these
kinds of things. Personally, I don’t think sight actually works that way. The
eyes were formed from light itself, the light of the Sun, but it’s in the
“mechanics” we have it wrong).
Doctors,
scientists, and the vast majority of people attribute to themselves the Five
Senses (sight, hearing, smell, feeling/touch, and taste -- I usually put this
last one first!). This works out, somehow, because we only have five visible
organs on our face. Touch arguably we do through the skin, with our limbs, but
we can also touch with our faces. Not to get too far off the beaten path, the
“scientific” idea relates senses only to some physical organ, which is capable
of “sensing.” This gets us into the “chicken and egg” conundrum, but let us put
that aside for the time being. Whether we have a “sixth sense” is something
science can’t say much about one way or another because they can’t identify an
organ which does the “sensing” for this sixth sense.
In other words,
where’s the organ to sense ESP experiences? Where are the “eyes” of
“clairvoyance”? In more mundane realms, what’s the organ that “senses” magnetic
fields, as birds and other animals seem to respond to (again the problem is not
a question of what animal species has the capacity, but rather what physical
organ does the “work”). Without a physiological explanation there is no
explanation. That’s how far our science can go and no further.
Some ancient
traditions tell us that there are 12 senses; some claim 14, others 21 (there
are some neurologists who believe in as many as 21 senses at our disposal). If
you ask me, that’s a bundle of unused senses! What and where are these senses?
I don’t know! Yet, it doesn’t seem to be as far-fetched as it sounds.
For example...
what if “balance” were a sense? How is it possible that we maintain a “sense of
balance” (we even say it in words!). What keeps us upright? Unfortunately,
while our science chases after chromosome “immortality,” life-extending drugs,
and genetic engineering, these more important questions are left behind and
ignored. One area being disregarded altogether is where is “common” sense
amongst our organs and sinew?
In “The Horizon Keeper,” I portray this
special “sight” in the realms beyond the five senses. I relied on the idea of
“organs,” which make it possible to have “perception” in the Dwat, as if they were physical, when
they’re most likely supra-physical (or beyond the physical plane).
When Neruamun “sees,”
either in union with Set, his Crow Aide, or on his own, he’s taking advantage
of one of his “extra” senses -- the ones beyond the general range of “sensory”
perception. In Ancient Egypt the Eye of Râ
was considered such an “organ.” Clearly, they did not intend to imply that
it was a physical organ made of flesh, blood, sinew, etc. The idea, not unlike
the Hindu idea (and Buddhist) was that these “organs” were like flowers growing
along the Djet Pillar (the
traditional Hindu Chakras along the spine). These “Lotus Flowers,” as I call
them, were developed by the adept or initiate through initiation, meditation,
and esoteric exercises.
In order to awaken these dormant “organs” so they could “see” the Hekai magician (the Pure One) also had to act in a special way. Thus, the idea that the Hekai follows the “Way of Ma’at,” which is not unlike the Eastern ideal of the Tao -- and, in fact, may well be the very same thing! This path, this way of acting, is what gives the Hekai “magical powers.” Having to follow this path (also known as the “Path of Beauty”) leads us to the moral imperative that creates conflict in many of the scenes. In other words to “do the Good” one must also “act in Truth,” which is an antithesis to “the end justifies the means.” Something to ponder in our own daily lives, wouldn’t you say?
In order to awaken these dormant “organs” so they could “see” the Hekai magician (the Pure One) also had to act in a special way. Thus, the idea that the Hekai follows the “Way of Ma’at,” which is not unlike the Eastern ideal of the Tao -- and, in fact, may well be the very same thing! This path, this way of acting, is what gives the Hekai “magical powers.” Having to follow this path (also known as the “Path of Beauty”) leads us to the moral imperative that creates conflict in many of the scenes. In other words to “do the Good” one must also “act in Truth,” which is an antithesis to “the end justifies the means.” Something to ponder in our own daily lives, wouldn’t you say?
Why did the
Black People have such a high regard for the Eye of Râ? Who can say? This symbol appeared everywhere in the Black Land,
in the North and in the South, and in all epochs of their civilization. We can
speculate about why this was the case. But it seems to me that it’s not
far-fetched to understand the importance of the Eye of Râ in light of the Black People’s Sacred Science (i.e., the
compendium of knowledge they possessed and which spoke to their Sun Heart -- instead
of their abstract intellect -- illuminating every facet of their Cosmology or
“worldview.”). Needless to say, their Sacred Science was a super-set of what
has come down to us as Hermetic Wisdom, Astrology, Alchemy, etc., and was the
“mother” of all these “sciences.”
The Eye of Râ was an important piece of the puzzle,
since it commanded an important place not only in the Heka tradition (magical tradition of the Temple) but also in the
Black People’s Sacred Science. Therefore there is likely more to it, especially
when it comes to Ancient Egyptian Mythology and Legend.
To begin with
the Eye of Râ was a “composite” as
many things were in the eyes of the Black People (nothing was entirely what it
appeared to be on the surface). The Eye of Râ
contained “within it” the Eye of Heru
and the Eye of Djehuti (as I explain
in the book), the Sun Eye and the Moon Eye respectively. As a result, one story
which fascinated me was, of course, one that explained that one Came Forth By
Day, the Westerner “n-Wasir” did so
through the Eye of the Eye of Râ --
through the Earth, Sun, and Moon.
