This slightly altered image of our colored lights as they shine through our hanging Eye of Horus strand illustrates something we were discussing on my ShemsuSet list: The two Egyptian deities Set and Horus are two sides of the same coin. Horus is the external manifestation of the spirit of being while Set is the hidden god of the internal, representing Energy and Force. Also, regarding the Set-Horus union, I read in the IInd Dynasty, ''When the Two Lands were unified, both symbols of Kingship, Horus and Set, became part of the attributes of the King. Set then became the strength or power of the King, as Horus became the vision or sight of the King.''(Vincent Bridges) "On one of Seti I's reliefs, it shows Set and Horus offering the symbol of life to the pharaoh, with Set saying "I establish the crown upon thy head, even like the Disk on the head of Amen-Ra, and I will give thee all life, strength and health." (Caroline Seawright) Not only that, the two oldest of the Egyptian priesthoods were devoted to these two dieties. The author of the Sangraal webpage takes the later Osirian viewpoint in which Set ''was always seen as the god of power corrupted to its own ends, given to random, chaotic eruptions of pure violence, with no purpose save its own glorification.'' But even he shows this view came about because of the political struggles at that time. Set wasn't 'always' seen that way. "Crowner of pharaohs and leader of warriors", Set also has a role in the afterlife. In the Pyramid Texts, Set has "joined together my neck and my back strongly, and they are even as they were in the time that is past; may nothing happen to break them apart." To have strength is to have 'the backbone of Set'. Friend to the dead, he is also friend of the newly born. As a small proof of this, I found an image of a 12th Dynasty amulet devoted to protection of women during childbirth, that features Set front and center. The creator and users of this amulet clearly wanted the One 'Great of Strength' on their team. He would not have been chosen for such a task were he regarded in any way as evil. Go to All Such a Delicate Balance Go to Archive - May 2003 to April 2004 Go to INDEX of Markings Of My Path © JAL: