A Naked Child Before Adults (Her-Bak)

Her-Bak begins with a young boy seeking to find what is over a wall. Trying to see, he stops is donkey next to a tree so he can get a better view. From the top of the tree all he can see is more wall for it is very tall. Furthermore, upon his descent, he was shocked to find his donkey had wandered off.

He finds the donkey in the clutches of a big burly guard at the city gate. The guard torments the boy and takes the lad’s dayu or loin cloth. In the Egyptian culture a dayu is given to a boy as he enters puberty and is a sign of manhood. Her-Bak had his only one day. He’s moved from child to adult to child in two days.

Is this much different than what a seeker goes through in an initiatory order? He seeks what is hidden only to find his very seeking causes a loss of something important and long before he gains that back, he feels naked and exposed, a child among adults.

The brute is interesting too. While it appears the guard is completely external, is he really? Or does he simply expose the boy’s own doubt’s of his own manhood? It is interesting that during the confrontation, Her-Bak tosses salt into the man’s drinking water. To Her-Bak this is just. The brute thinks this act is a great affront perpetrated by an ungrateful whelp. How many times have I seen that scenario played out during occult studies? The act of being the occult brute does not go without repercussions comparatively minor though they are. Was Her-Bak so wrong for lashing back at the guard who by his actions is a thief for stealing Her-Baks beer and bread? In a Buddhist sense, the answer is yes. But in many other paths of life this is a natural, though often unbeneficial, thing to do. Those who lead can not afford that luxury.

He then meets his first guide. In a very brief time, the man points him toward his first task. The task appears to be a means to a far off end. Though, the boy does not appear to have a great understanding of this. The guide tells Her-Bak of something that will occur. When the event happens, Her-Bak is amazed with the guide’s abilities.

Is this so different than what happens in an initiatory order? Tasks are given, such as learning the Hebrew alphabet, which are means to a far off end that the student does not fully understand. As the teacher proves himself with this or that tidbit of knowledge or wisdom, students are amazed and propelled onward to further study.

The next post regarding Her-Bak will explore the duality of nature that Egyptians experienced and how that aligns with my current occult thought.

(Picture from: http://www.mambokings.org/July1Social/pages/Modesty.htm)

Her-Bak Horizon

The introduction to Her-Bak contained the following passage:

The Egyptian inscriptions express in various forms the idea that the Temple is the projection of Heaven upon Earth, that is the upon the world limited by the horizon; the horizon being the line joining Heaven to the world, whether this world be understood as our Earth, or the area contained within the walls of a temple or our own body.

The line that struck me was this, “horizon being the line joining Heaven to the world.” My lamen contains a horizon line. Initially, I thought that line was symbolic of ‘as above, so below’. Now, my understanding has grown. My relationship with my HGA is just this – the joining of Heaven to the world but what is the world?

The author, a well respected scholar, chose to capitalize Heaven but left world lower case. This appears to reflect the dualism rampant in the text and by extension the Egyptian cosmic view. Heaven is good/life-giving and the world is bad/dangerous or at least unworthy of an uppercase W.

My modern view disagrees. I believe the world is just as ‘good’ as Heaven. I think we get fooled by self-imposed dualism. We see beauty and assign to ourselves being egocentric or ethnocentric and see pollution and assign it the known or unknown other. The ‘other’ is always outside of ourselves and thus in the world. We then exaggerate that other to the world as a whole.

The line the joins Heaven to the world implies these two items have become one. If the world is ‘bad’ the joining would have to pollute or lessen the Heavens. Alternatively the Heavens could purify the world. I prefer to think the joining is the bonding of the best of the world (personally, the pure part of my personality) with Heaven (personally, my HGA). Though, the purification process is obvious as well.

I have asked if the horizon line in my lamen relates to the quoted lines. I was given a hasty yes and told to concentrate on my meditation. I will investigate this more. I do know that my HGA is really trying to explain some subtlety about the horizon that I can’t get. I can feel the communication take place but it doesn’t turn into words like it usually does. I don’t understand what is happening there.

(Picture from: http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/showphoto.php/photo/17085/si/Couple)

Writing Conundrum

I read the first six chapters of Her-Bak today. A tale of a young boy's initiatory journey through ancient Egypt. I've decided to analyze the text as how it relates to my journey. I am a Leo after all. But, instead of identifying with the hero of the tale, I am going to look at myself as each character, hero, villain and neutral and compare Chick-Pea's journey to mine. I am not sure how will navigate this odd path as a writing exercise as my life is obviously intertwined with others I have no wish to embarrass or expose. Things will become clear or there will have to be a public and private record.

I can see some parallels already with my initiatory path which is seldom referenced here. I have oaths that must be taken into account. I don't know how I am going to handle that either. For now, I will contemplate and likely write in Word, transferring what I can onto these pages.