The Many of Heru (Horus)

[Zephyrstorm]

Hotep!

RainInanna in the Gods and Goddesses thread suggested the start of a thread to one of our fellows that discusses the different Gods named Heru.
As our friend isn't here now, and as the topic is of interest to me personally, I thought I'd go ahead and start it off.

Heru-Behdety: "Heru of the City of Behdet" He is the Winged Sun Disc, victory personified. He protects the kings against Set in one story. Also associated closely with HetHert :hahugh: http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru-behdety.html

Let's see how many of Them we can post, guys. :)

As an aside, one of the tattoos that I'm planning on getting is of Heru-Behdety. :bouncybob:

Neheti

[instinct]

yay!

Heru-wer / Horus the Elder
Heru in His most abstract, "original" form is known as a hawk, primarily a divinity of sky, even on Predynastic pottery and other objects. The hawk of Her-wer came to be associated with the kingship and was depicted seated atop the ruler's name in the original "serekh" (palace facade) style of hieroglyphic rendering. Her-wer is viewed as a brother, rather than son, of Wesir; His main opposite being Set, the Lord of the Red Land, and the storms in Her-wer's placid blue sky.
http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru-ur.html

my own personal experiences with him:
He's very much a war god and is older and rowdier than the younger Heru. Heru-wer never does anything without his sword.
He also has a wicked sense of humor and is generally quite a handful.

for those who know what I'm talking about, he's completely hilarious in Saq. Running around lighting swords on fire, drinking all the alcohol he can.. and trying to get everyone else drunk.
I love love love love LOVE Heru-wer! :T

[Ahautenites]

Thank you for this thread. We definitely need some clarification on just how many Heru/Horus Names there are. Oh, and while I'm here, I found an image of the Bawy. See the attachment. It's the dude on the right. Not sure why the image says "Nubti", but then again, this is from a clipart book that labeled a picture of Taweret as "Isist". I mean, it's *clearly* a Taweret picture --hippo head, pendulous breasts, alligator on Her back -- but yet they say She's Isis, and then they don't even spell Isis correctly. But I digress....

[Temwa]

Don't forget about Heru-sa-Aset / Horus the Younger, son of Isis! ;) Stuff (http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru-sa-aset.html) and more stuff (http://kemet.misguidedangel.nu/shrines/herusaaset).

On another note, I always imagine Heru-wer as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean. *grin* "Why is the rum gone?!"

[Zephyrstorm]

LOL I can so see Heru-Wer saying that Temwa. :)

Padjai has accused me of having Heru-Wer lurking in my background somewhere, since I adore spicy food, fire, and swords. ;) I'm sure we can get more going... hmm...

Heru-em-Akhet Horus in the Horizon: http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru-em-akhet.html
The "Great Sphinx."

[Temwa]

Heru-Dunanwy - or "Heru of the Shredding Claws," a form of Heru associated with protection (a form of Heru-wer).

[Temwa]

Hey now, lets not forget about this thread. Heru needs some more love. *grin*

Heru-sema-tawy - "Heru, Uniter of the Two Lands". Obviously, this form of Heru is a reuniter of Upper and Lower Egypt. :)

[RainInanna]

*blink* I just happened to check Paths and saw there was a Heru thread here ;)

Ok, I got a bit into Kemeticism but never worked with Heru. *Why* are there different forms of Heru? Are they different deities, different manifestations, or..? Help?

[akewa]

Hello all,

I have a question about the Heru personifcation and Het Hwert story. Is the elder Heru the husband of Het Hwert and the why Her name translates to House of Heru? Or is the elder and younger the same but changed with time? I know many think the later but I have picked up more of the former. That she is married to the elder and nurse maid for the younger. Whay are your thoughts?

Goddess Bless
Akewa

[Temwa]

RainInanna - gods know why there are so many. ;) From my point of view, They are all different manifestations of Netjer, but deities in Their own right. At the same time, I think that all the different Herus are pretty abstract, with the exception of Heru-wer and Heru-sa-Aset, whom I can see as more tangible, considering They have pretty seperate history. The rest of the Herus are just a mess to me, which could be forms of either the elder or the younger Heru. But that's a personal take on it. :)

Akewa - Yes, it's my belief that the elder (Heru-wer) is Hethert's husband, and that the younger (Heru-sa-Aset) is another Heru, the son of Wesir and Aset (Osiris and Isis). To me, They are different.

[instinct]

I believe Hemet (AUS) said once that "Heru" should be looked at more like a surname than anything..

they're different gods :)

[Temwa]

That's actually a very neat way to look at it, Gemyt. :)

[Ahautenites]

In three words: Location, Location, Location. :)

My thoughts on why there are so many Heru-named gods. To me. Heru was a very prominent god. He was a bright shining superstar who was a model of all that the men of Kemet wanted to be: strong, noble, rich, powerful... a man's man. The women loved Him, too. They thought He was all the ideal man should be.

So His renown grew over the ages and word of this great and wondrous God among Gods spread over the whole region. But just like when we tell a story to someone, and they go somewhere else to tell it to someone else in another city, and they tell someone else in another state.... the story gets changed, and the aspects of the god that are most important to one group of people get emphasized, while other characteristics get diminished. And maybe along the way, the tales of Heru's greatness get embellished or tweaked a bit for greater story-telling effect.

By the time a millenium or two (or five) has passed and everyone has heard of Heru, He's no longer quite the same god in all areas. So in one area, He's the Protector. In another, He's the Victorious Warrior. In still another, He's the Consort of a Locally Important Goddess. It's all still Heru... but yet it isn't. It's rather like Aset is Isis.... but yet She also isn't.

And to make matters more confusing, you not only have Horus the Elder (Heru-wer in all of His diverse names and descriptions), you also have Horus the Younger (Heru-sa-Aset), who is indeed a separate entity with His own mythology that is completely different from the older Heru even though They are both part of Netjer, in much the same way that my life as a Jennifer is completely different from Jen who is Canyon Wren and Jen who is Avalon and Jenne who is JackieDanielz, even though we have all been (or are) members of Mystic Wicks.

I haven't studied Heru in depth enough to know if there are other Names who are named Heru but who have completely separate stories from either Horus the Elder (the many-aspected older one) and Horus the Younger (Heru-sa-Aset).

Another thing I like to think of is that Heru-wer is like Superman. We have Christopher Reeve as Superman in the movies... we have some other guys who have played Superman in shows, another completely different guy who played the voice for Superman in the cartoon, and still others who have played Superboy or Young Superman or Clark Kent. They're all still Superman, but they all view him in completely different ways, emphasizing what is most important to tellers of the tale and their audience at that time in TV history.

[Temwa]

I figure we might as well mention Ra-Heru-akhety here, aka Ra-Horakthy. "A specialized early form of Ra, composite with Heru the predynastic Name of the sky, Ra-Heru-akhety came to symbolize the inherent majesty of the sun itself and is the patron of the ruling class as well as of the institution of kingship. Ra-Heru-akhety is the most common form of Ra venerated after the Middle Kingdom, with His hawk-headed image surmounted by a red sun-disk and a full cobra wrapped around it. He is sometimes more simply referred to as Heru-akhety."

[Zephyrstorm]

There's also Heru-nedj-it-ef "Heru, Savior of His Father" - the form of Heru-sa-Aset that avenges the death of Wesir.

And Heru-pa-khered, "Heru the Child" - another form of Heru-sa-Aset as a kid. :)

And Heru-sema-tawy "Heru, Uniter of the Two Lands" - who reunites the Lands of Upper and Lower Kemet. :)

[Temwa]

Think we've covered most of them by now? *lol*

[Zephyrstorm]

I'm not sure, sis.
hmmm... Maybe. heh *s*

[gracesong]

yay!

Heru-wer / Horus the Elder
Heru in His most abstract, "original" form is known as a hawk, primarily a divinity of sky, even on Predynastic pottery and other objects. The hawk of Her-wer came to be associated with the kingship and was depicted seated atop the ruler's name in the original "serekh" (palace facade) style of hieroglyphic rendering. Her-wer is viewed as a brother, rather than son, of Wesir; His main opposite being Set, the Lord of the Red Land, and the storms in Her-wer's placid blue sky.
http://www.kemet.org/glossary/heru-ur.html

my own personal experiences with him:
He's very much a war god and is older and rowdier than the younger Heru. Heru-wer never does anything without his sword.
He also has a wicked sense of humor and is generally quite a handful.

for those who know what I'm talking about, he's completely hilarious in Saq. Running around lighting swords on fire, drinking all the alcohol he can.. and trying to get everyone else drunk.
I love love love love LOVE Heru-wer! :T
Have you ever worked with Horus the Younger, Heru-sa-Aset?
How is his temperament different from that of the elder? After reading the myths, I would have assumed that Heru-Sa-Aset would be the rowdy one. lol :D

[Moonrise]

In Ceremonial Magic, Horus the Younger is Harparkrat. The God of Silence. He sits in a lotus flower with his left forefinger to his lips.

Although I do Hermetic/CM work, I am still incorporating Kemetic/Egyptian elements into our Witchcraft. We started as Gardnerian, started in with CM, and now as well as doing that, for celebratory workings, Kemetic Wicca is quite rewarding. I have no direct workings with Harparkrat however.

[NefertSatSekhmet]

I just sort of skimmed the thread, so I apologize if this is a duplicate...

Harpocrates, from Egyptian Har-pa-khered or Heru-pa-khered (meaning "Heru, the Child").