comparison of religious ideas and symbols, and what they mean help
us learn more about our own usages of the symbolisms at our disposal in
Freemasonry. They give us a different view, a contrasting perspective, and an
intellectually stimulating inclusive comprehension of not only ancient symbols
and their meanings and use, but of our own.
“The Eye of Horus was multivalent. It represented life; it
also represented order. It was the eye snatched away by Seth, tore apart in the
battle, restored to wholeness by Thoth, and returned to Horus (who then offered
it to Osiris); it was reestablished order, sound and perfect again.”[4] Hans
Bonnet indicated that it represented a symbol of triumph over any attack, which
meant the power of the Eye, the light of God, was a healer, a sign of salvation
(heilszeichen).[5]
Bonnet also describes how it repels evil “als Amulett der Befriedung es bricht auch die Macht des bosen Blickes,”
– “as a charm of pacification, it breaks the power of the evil look.”[6] Eberhard Otto
“maintains that it is a symbol of ‘physical health,’ and ‘the beautiful
connection between God and man through light.’”[7] There it is again, the theme
of light, as well as power, order, including healing, salvation, health, etc.,
everything good in other words. Freemasonry is congenial with all of these concepts.
The “All-Seeing Eye of Justice” was associated with Ma’at,
the Egyptian concept of order, regulation, law, etc. The eye imposes order and
reverence on the world.[8] One of its functions is combining with the oil of
healing which revives a smitten hero (usually the king). As a food substance,
it is “the power of the bread which fills, revives, and strengthens the
king.”[9] This reminds us of the wages of a Freemason, of the corn, oil, and
wine and their functions, all done under the “All-Seeing Eye.” It is really
instructive to grasp that it was the “corn measure” used in Egypt for their
mathematical fractions, that represented the various parts of the Wedjat Eye,
which when all added together, give the eye its wholeness, health, and makes it
the perfect eye, “the sound eye.” This is the “filling,” and “completing” the
eye.[10] In Freemasonry, corn represents “all the nutritious fruits of the
earth; the emblem of wine, implying all that nature affords to gladden the
heart, and the emblem of oil… represents nature’s bounties, the wages of
practical labor.”[11]
We even learn “it was for the Egyptians the creative eye
that gives form and hence existence to things: ‘I am Shu, the image of Re,
seated in the interior of the Eye of his Father. The eye creates and nourishes…
to inspire love in the soul. In the Memphite theology… the tongue (word) and
the heart (mind) of the God Ptah are the source of creation. But the Eye itself
has creative power. ‘My Eye meditated upon the divine tear which I shed on myself,
and men and women came into being from it.’”[12]
The theme of the eye tied with the sun cycle is also
interesting to Freemasonry from a purely informative point of view. The
Egyptian shen ring was a symbol of the solar cycle (Sonnenzyklus), and Horus, as the
Sungod, enters the soil of the earth in the west at sunset, in order to renew
his Eye, (sein
Auge zu erneuern) and is regenerated with new life as he rises as the
sun in the east.[13] Any Freemason will have in mind the lodge as aligned from
the east to the west, and the movement and meaning of the sun through the day
from sunrise, to the meridian point of the day, to sunset in the west, and who
symbolizes the three stations of the sun in the lodge, all underneath the
“All-Seeing Eye” as Lodge business is conducted. W. Kirk MacNulty showed the
idea of the direction in Freemasonry signifying that “they traveled East in
search of instruction, and West to propagate the knowledge they had gained.”
The real dynamism however is realized when the “journey from west to east is
represented, symbolically, by the progress through the Masonic degrees; and it
is, in fact, the ascent up Jacob’s Ladder…” [14]
“The all-seeing eye” also represents the sun in the Scottish
Rite, since it is, from our earthly perspective, the sun which gives the light
and life here on earth. Without it, life is simply impossible on our oblate
spheroid.[15]
In his Doctoral Dissertation, T. G. Allen also demonstrated
how the Eye of Horus represented the sun. It connects with the deceased king’s
own person identified with Horus, and further “became identified likewise with
the magic Horus-eye.”[16] The eye is labeled as “large,” “great of honor,”
“powerful,” “sound,” “sweet,” “flourishing,” etc. Everything good, true,
beautiful, and noble is associated with the Egyptian eye, heal, strength, and
life is the overall theme.[17] It is an offering to the King associated with
oil, wine, fruit, meat, barley, incense, food, and nourishment.[18] Perhaps
because the eye represented the sun, we understand the description “The gods of
East and West are satisfied with the great thing which came to pass in the
embrace of the offspring of the god (msw.t.ntr).[19] The symbolism and myth of
the sun as it encircles the earth, and how we imitate its journey in the lodge
is important. We incorporate ourselves into the cosmological dramatic myth. “A
myth always contains a religious truth…from the waters of chaos the primeval
hill arose. The sungod ascended the hill, repressed the forces of chaos and
initiated world order called Ma’at and in this way the first king assumed the
government of the world.”[20] It is a government of order which is established,
imitating the kingdom of the sun here on earth, hence the ancient king’s
circumambulations around the altars, and even their own cities, imitating the
sun.
The Egyptian “shen” ring as a circle representing the sun
and its obit, “guarantees the eternal life [ewige Leben] of the people as a
symbol of eternity [symbole der Ewigkeit].”[21] This order from chaos, this ruling
in love, order, and justice (Ma’at), is precisely the basis of the governance
of our Masonic lodges. Hence the Worshipful Masters is in the East, while the
Junior Warden is in the South, and Senior Warden is in the West, following the
daily path of the sun. In fact, the Egyptologist Westendorf added that when the
King possessed the name “S3HEW-RE,” this name surrounded the supports of
heaven, the signs for heaven, and the underworld, as well as the borders of the
world, which were all inscribed on the ring the King wore. The shen ring was
the symbol for “all that the sun orbits” (was die Sonne umkreist).[22] The ring
itself with the name on it, simultaneously represent the king as the go-between
(Mittler) of heaven and earth, and protects him by virture of its borders.[23]
As in Freemasonry, whereas we identify with Hiram Abiff in
our ceremonies, with the all-seeing eyes above us, the kings of Egypt
identified with Horus, once they received the all-seeing eye of Horus.[24] The
theme is ascending, in major stages, which ties in with a resurrection, and
life in the Hereafter, conjoined with the eternal Lunar and Solar cosmological Cycles.[25]
This is one reason why the Horus eye can have multiple meanings, in some
contexts, representing the sun, in other contexts, representing the moon, and
in many instances, representing both.[26] Hence the reason the Egyptians
connected the Horus eye with the snake, the djet Uraeus serpent found on the
Pharaohs crowns, since it was also a representation of eternity.[27] This
cyclical ascension by stages were performed in ceremonies, mystery plays
(Mysterienspiele) by masked actors, re-enacting the nature myth of the
difficulties of life and how to overcome them.[28] This is why Osiris was
identified with Horus, who upon ingesting and digesting the eye, was able, like
the sun, to be reborn again on the horizon at the new day.[29] When they reach
the end of their destination, they embrace (umarmung) each other because they
are the symbolic representation of the overcoming and uniting of all opposites,
day and night, light and darkness, yesterday and today, death and life. It is
all the opposites which the sungod embraces through the eternal life of
circumambulation in the eternities, living orderly, justly, and eternally in the
heavens.[30] The all-seeing eye, which is the representation of the sun, which
is imitated here on earth with its revolutions, and eternal orbit, is a very
good meditation for Freemasons.
The philosophy of the symbolism is that of granting one its
properties so one can behold or see the light. At Heliopolis, the sun city
itself, the eye was filled, which imitated the moon in its cycle of waxing and
waning, dying and being reborn, exactly as the sun was seen doing from forever
and forever.[31] It was Thoth [Mercury, Enoch, and Hermes Trismegistus] who
filled the eye, which symbolized a cyclic completion of both cosmos and
man.[32] This was done on the 6th day, once again, showing that each
part of the eye corresponded to a day of the week, i.e., a cosmic cycle which
man is a part of and certainly included in the life and time cycles.[33] Thus,
time as well as eternity is symbolized by the eye, as it relates to
(symbolizes) not only temporal cycles, but heavenly cycles also bringing all
things (parts) together both in heaven and on earth, dead and alive, into one
vast unity of reality. That reality is one of eternal life as Osiris is said to
fly to heaven being reborn like the Phoenix, (er fliegt empor als Phoenix und
nimmt am Himmel Platz), which, we are told, goes back to an astronomical
observation (bestimmte astronomische Beobachtung zurueck).[34]
The eye is for all, as it is presented as a gift for being
able to “see” (Dir hat Horus sein Auge gegeben, dass du damit
siehst.)[35] In the Theban Recension of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, chapter
80, we read “I have rescued the Eye from its nonexistence before the festival
of the fifteenth day had come…I have come to lighten the darkness, and it is
bright. I have lightened the darkness…”[36] In the Coffin Texts, the eye is
said to be flame.[37] And why not? Not only is the eye considered to be the
sungod Re, it is also the winged sundisk Horus, which also marks the Summer
Solstice, the midpoint of the sun’s path through the sky.[38] We mark the
midpoint of the sun’s journey in our lodges also. It was a prime prerequisite
to mark the northern most and southern most points of the sun in the cycle,
which was imitated by the Pharaoh-kings (Zur zyklischen Gliederung
pharaonischer Regierungszeiten liefert der Horusmythos ein kosmisch gottliches
Paradigma), and gave the meaning to the Horus myth with the eye.[39] The Eye of
Horus in the Coffin Texts is also anointed onto the person’s brow, so it will
uplift him.[40] The two eyes of Horus not only protect the person, they guide
him through the heavens as well, and even expand his heart. It is eternal
water, a protection, a garment which guides one on the path, strengthens all
the members of the body, actually having the power to “combine your flesh, and
pull together your members, ward off foes, and cause one not to be forsaken. All
of this is meant to be, as one travels on the celestial path, equipment meant
to “equip you as a god.”[41] One travels in the sacred sunboat of the god Re,
which circles the heavens, and in which mortals desire to enter.[42]
From one possible
Freemason point of view, Thoms Milton Stewart has pointed out that the light
shining in the darkness (he points us to John 1:5 – “and the light shineth in
the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not”) the question Stewart asks
is, “Is there a light that shineth in the darkness? Of Thoth it is said: ‘Thou
hast given light and life to mortals, intelligences and creatures of light, and
how does this help to answer our question?
1. Mortals – those instructed in the doctrine but who
had not realized the inner vision, who live in worldly things. For them the orb
of light is I the darkness.
2. Intelligences – those who had realized the inner
vision, and had become men; that is lived in their minds. For such the orb is
brought to light.
3. Creatures of the light – those who had become one
with the light of the inner and spiritual world. These latter are the sons of
Light and Mind; having the conscious self identity of their own individuality,
independent of their physical body. They have opened the Eye of Horus and the light
shineth in the darkness. The inner nature is illuminated.”[43]
The eye is a
representation of the sun “as it makes its appearance… of the sun… as an
assurance of a cyclical renewal of life, the beginning of a new day.”[44] This
cosmic background is one of those things that is just good to understand for
Freemasons with our symbol of the All-Seeing Eye.
Endnotes
1. John
Sherer, “The Masonic Ladder or the Nine Steps to Ancient Freemasonry,” The
Masonic Book Club, Vol. 28, a facsimile reprint of the first edition by R. W.
Carroll and Co. Publishers in 1827, Reprint in 1997: quote on page 94.
2. Sir
Lionel Brett, “The Vocabulary of the Ceremonies,” in “Ars Quatuor Coronatorum,”
Vol. 101 (1988): 4.
3. Hans
Biedermann, “Knaurs Lexicon der Symbole,” translated into English by James
Hulbert, “Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind
Them,” Meridian Books, 1992: 123.
4. Byron
Shafer, editor, “Temples of Ancient Egypt,” Cornell University Press, 1997: 24.
5. Hans
Bonnet, “Reallexikon der Aegyptischen Religionsgeschichte,” Walter De Gruyter,
1952: 854.
6. Bonnet,
“Ibid.,” p. 855.
7. Eberhard
Otto, “Gott und Mensch: Nach den aegyptischen Tempelinschriften der
griechisch-roemischen Zeit, eine Untersuchung zur Phraseologie der
Tempelinschriften,” p. 85, as quoted in Hugh Nibley, “One Eternal Round,”
Deseret Book/Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2010: 315.
8. Nibley,
“Ibid.,” p. 319.
9. Nibley,
“Ibid.,” p. 320.
10. Sir Alan Gardiner, “Egyptian Grammar,”
Griffith Institute, Oxford University Press, 3rd Revised edition,
1994: 197-198.
11. John Sherer, “The Masonic Ladder or the
Nine Steps to Ancient Freemasonry,” The Masonic Book Club, Vol. 28, a facsimile
reprint of the first edition by R. W. Carroll and Co. Publishers in 1827,
Reprint in 1997: quote on page 68.
12. Nibley, “Ibid.,” p. 204-205.
13. Winfried
Barta, “Der Koenigsring als Symbol zyklischer Wiederkehr,” in “Zeitschrift fuer
Aegyptische Sprache,” (Hereafter cited as ZAS), 98 (1970): 15.
14. W. Kirk MacNulty, “A Philosophical
Background for Masonic Symbolism,” in “Heredom: The Transactions of the
Scottish Rite Research Society,” Vol. 5 (1996): 26.
15. Rex R. Hutchens, “A Bridge To Light,”
The Supreme Council, 33°
1733 16th Street N. W., Washington D. C., 2006: 18.
16. Thomas
George Allen, “Horus in the Pyramid Texts: A Dissertation,” University of
Chicago Libraries, 1916: 13.
17. Allen, “Ibid.,” p. 48.
18. Allen, “Ibid.,” p. 59-60.
19. Allen, “Ibid.,” p. 69.
20. C. J. Bleeker, “The Pattern of the
Ancient Egyptian Culture,” in “Numen,” #11, 1964: 78.
21. Barta, “Ibid.,” p. 12.
22. Barta, “Ibid.,” p. 12.
23. Barta, “Ibid.,: p. 13.
24. Joachim Spiegel, “Die
religionsgeschichtliche Stellung der Pyramidtexte,” in “Orientalia,” 1953: 142,
note 1.
25. Whitney M. Davis, “The Ascension Myth in
the Pyramid Texts,” in “Journal of Near Eastern Studies,” Vol. 36/3, 1977: 162.
26. Hermann Kees, “Zu den Aegyptischen Mondsagen,”
in “ZAS,” 60, 1925: 3-4.
27. Rudolf Anthes, “Das Sonnenauge in den
Pyramidentexten,” in “ZAS,” 86, 1961: 1-21.
28. Wilhelm Spiegelberg, “Der Aegyptischen
Mythus vom Sonnenauge in einem Demotischen Papyrus der Roemischen Kaiserzeit,”
Sitzungsberichte per Koeniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1915:
890.
29. Winfried Barta, “Zum Wesen des Gottes
Osiris nach Zeugnissen der Aelteren Totenliteratur,” in “ZAS,” 117, 1990:
89-93.
30. Barta, “Ibid.,” p. 93.
31. Hermann Kees, “Die Feuerinsel in den
Sargetexten und im Totenbuch,” in “ZAS,” 78, 1942: 47.
32. Georg Moeller, “Die Zeichen fuer die
Bruchteile des Hohlmasses und das Uzatauge,” in “ZAS,” 48, 1910: 100-101.
33. Hermann Junker, “Die Sechs Teile des
Horusauges und der ‘Sechste Tag,’” in “ZAS,” 48, 1910: 101-106.
34. Junker, “Ibid.,” p. 104 for Phoenix
comment, and 106 for astronomical idea.
35. Kees, “Die Feuerinsel,” p. 52.
36. Raymold O. Faulkner, “The Egyptian Book
of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth By Day, Being the Papyrus of Ani,”
Chronicle Books, 1994: plate 28.
37. Raymond O. Faulkner, “The Ancient
Egyptian Coffin Texts,” Aris & Phillips, re-issued, 1994, 3 Vols., quote in
Vol. 1, Spell 313, p. 234.
38. Dieter Kurth, “Der Kosmische Hintergrund
des Grossen Horusmythos von Edfu,” in “Revue d’Egyptologie,” 1983: 73. For
Horus as winged sundisk, see also Carl Wilke, “Bemerkungen zu einer spaeten
Bezeichnung des Sonnengottes (b3-nb-hj),” in “ZAS,” 76, 1940: 97-98. He brings
in the winged scarabus beetle and falcon as well.
39. Kuth, “Ibid.,” p. 74.
40. Faulkner, “Coffin Texts,” Vol. 3: Spell
845, pp. 30-31.
41. Faulkner, “Coffin Texts,” Vol. 3: Spell
845, pp. 36-41.
42. Jan Assman, “Der Koenig als
Sonnenpriester,” J. J. Augustin, 1970: 14.
43. Thomas Milton Stewart, “The Symbolism of
the Gods of the Egyptian and the Light They Thrown on Freemasonry,” Baskerville
Press, 1927: 81.
44. Hans Goedicke, “The Bright Eye of Horus:
Pyr. Spell 204,” in “Gegengabe Festschrift fur Emma Brunner-Traut,” Verlag
Tubingen, 1992: 102.
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