Come in for a Spell

We create our reality with our stories, both individually and collectively. What we give our attention to influences what we feel and how we feel, what we do, and what we say. We tell ourselves good stories, or bad stories. In fact our reality is largely influenced by our history, our collective stories, i.e., our his-stories and her-stories that we have written in history books, and / or told by word of mouth, even what we tell ourselves, i.e., my-stories. However these stories can change, and do change. 

The history of the world, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

The stories we tell ourselves can be either limiting or inspirational. Is it simply a mystery what makes up one's reality? When we tell stories we are doing something very powerful. We are spelling out, informing (telling) our present, that place where we are . . .  and where we are influences our future. Whatever the future holds, we are writing that story right now, but people often don't respect what powerful creators we are. 

Spell has a complex history and has evolved different common usages over time. Generally when we think of "spell" we mean, spell (v.1), early 14c."read by letter, write or say the letters of," the meaning of which seems to have come by way of (according to the online etymology dictionary) a French word, espeller, rather than the Old English spellian "to tell, speak, discourse, talk", espeller, meaning "mean, signify, explain, interpret," also, "spell out letters, pronounce, recite", both said to come from the same  Germanic root, *spellam "to tell", from PIE *spel-(2) "to say aloud, recite." 


A spell (n.1) is a "story, saying, tale, history, narrative, fable; discourse, command," from Old English spell, as in gospel (good + spell), the good news. Good stories are inspirational and have the power to change the world in seemingly magical ways. We have magic at our fingertips and enchantments spilling from our lips every time we write, or speak. 

A good spell written by my sister at the beginning of a blank book, now full of other spells.

Yet how many people believe this? Many have the idea that history is solid objective reality. History is something that simply happens to us. What we think, what we do, what we concentrate upon, or let into our lives, isn't really important. It is out of our hands. 

Is this a bad boy? What's the story? 

And in a way this is true if you hand over your power to "his" story, and don't think for yourself. But, history is largely made up of people's stories, and these "tellings" (spells) are creative. They have the power to create positively, or negatively which impacts both personal reality and the reality of the world. 

Even if you just think of it on this simple level . . . have you ever walked into a room of angry or sad people and felt it? How did it make you feel? Inspired? Did it give you energy, or did it bring you down? I think we all know this, we would rather walk into a room with people who were happy, or hopeful. What we experience influences our actions, how much energy we have, and a whole host of other things. 

Why are people more likely to finish their race when people are rooting for them? Why is it harder when people are telling you that they expect you to fail and you're a looser? What is in our environment, and therefore too, what we choose to bring into our environments influences us, changes our histories, changes our worlds. So, you are in fact a powerful creator when you are conscious of this, when you are a conscious creator. We are the movers and shakers.

A phoenix, related to the benu bird of ancient Egypt who cried out (spoke the spell, the word) and creation came into existence

Spell didn't come into usage as a term for magic spells, a "set of words with supposed magical or occult powers, incantation, charm" until the 1570's, but undoubtedly the notion was still there before this time. When a person preforms / casts a spell they are trying to affect reality. They want to change the story in a take charge kind of way. Whatever you say about these magicians, they know that they are responsible in very significant ways for what "reality" they experience. 

In biblical Hebrew kashaph means, "to practice sorcery, sorcerer, sorceress", from a primitive root meaning properly "to whisper a spell". 

Pharaoh then summoned wise men [chakam] and sorcerers [kashaph], and the Egyptian magicians[chartom] also did the same things by their secret arts [lahat]. Exodus 7:11

The Children's Bible, Western Publishing Company, Inc. pp 108-109, photo by Julie O.

What else is this word kashaph (sorcerer) / whisperer reminiscent off? It is like the snake in the Garden of Eden, the nachash, the word nachash coming from the sound a snake makes. A snake is a "hisser (kshhhh, chash)." Nachash also has the meaning of "practice divination, enchanter." In this case the snake was an enchanter / bewitcher / speller. The snake cunningly whispered to Eve hiss story and changed the history of mankind, i.e., the human / man (ha adam), the people whom God had created.

For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil  Genesis 3:5

Lahat, above [Exodus 7:11], is translated as "magic arts", or "enchantments," and has the literal meaning of "a flame, flaming" It is interestingly the same word used to describe the "flaming whirling sword", the haphak [to turn] cherub [sword] which was used to guard the way to the tree of life along with the kerub [cherubim], after Adam and Eve were cast out.

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:24

Shaddowscapes Tarot Deck, Two of Swords: stalemate, an impasse, difficult decisions, avoidance, weighing options

So, these cherubim, i.e., "swords [cherub] of God (?)," "messengers [angels] who are like swords [cherub], or who smite down [charab] for God (?)," they guard the way to the tree of life with a flaming [lahat], i.e., "enchanted" turning sword. And the kapash [spell whispers, sorcerers] of Egypt, also did their magic by certain "flaming [lahat]," enchantments, when they copied the tricks Aaron was preforming by the power of YHWH, who was finally the greater / better speller. 

They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.  Exodus 7:12

And notice this, chartom is translated as "magician," but actually means "engraver, writer". How interesting, the engravers, i.e., carvers of the hieroglyphs were thought of as magicians. They must have been pretty good spellers too.

Hieroglyphics is the name given to the writings of the ancient Egyptians by the Greeks, from hieros "sacred, filled with the divine, holy" + glyphe "carving".  The Egyptians themselves called their writing mdju netjer "words of the gods."

The ancient Egyptians believed that writing was invented by the god Thoth, and called their hieroglyphic script "mdju netjer" ("words of the gods"). The word hieroglyph comes from the Greek hieros (sacred) plus glypho (inscriptions) and was first used by Clement of Alexandria. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm

Weighing of the Heart Ceremony [detail], Thoth "Lord of Divine Words", i.e., writing, recording the outcome

Its most important function was to provide a means by which certain concepts or events could be brought into existence. The Egyptians believed that if something were committed to writing it could be repeatedly "made to happen" by means of magic. Egyptologist Rosalie David https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ancient.eu/amp/1-15434/ 

So, for the Egyptians their writings were literally spells. And the hieroglyphic system lended itself well to this kind of spelling. It was a more holistic type of written communication than written English, or maybe we could say, it incorporated more right-brained (nonverbal, feelings, intuition, visualization) features along with the left-brained (verbal, logical, linear) than English does. For one thing, English uses the Roman alphabet which is more evolved and, therefore, removed from the pictorial meanings behind the letters, or the pictograms they evolved from. The letters we use in English can seem to be arbitrary in shape. We learn the names and sounds of the letters and construct words, and the words can then create pictures in our minds, but the symbols themselves are not usually associated with objects or animals. They are simply letters that represent different sounds of the spoken language [however there is a great amount of history written / encoded etymologically in English which is very magical, and with our black mirrors (smartphones), it's never been easier to access this magic].

Mdju netjer (hieroglyphic writing) was both pictorial (a picture says a thousand words) and phonetic. Phonograms, logograms, and ideograms made up the basis for hieroglyphic script. 

Sometimes the symbols / pictures were used to represent one, two or even three letter combinations (phonograms). In English, th, ch, sh are examples of phonograms. Other times certain symbols were used to represent a whole word or phrase (logogram), such as how we use the Arabic number symbols (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9). We say "nine" when we see the symbol "9". We can read this logographic sentence, 👁🧡 U, or the same phrase in one symbol, 🤟. 
Sometimes the symbols were meant to represent a concept (ideograms) and were used as determinatives which were not spoken, but rather gave certain extra context, or meaning to the sentence, not unlike how we use certain emojis 😀. 
Determinatives were also used to distinguish homophones (words having the same pronunciation but different meanings), such as fly [the insect 🦟] and fly [the verb 🛩], and they could also serve as word dividers (in English we often just use a blank / white space). 

Hieroglyphic script could also be written either left to right →, right to left 
←, or vertically in columns ↓, and there was a certain amount of artistic license for how the characters were arranged. 

So think about this, even when the symbols were being used to represent phonetic sounds and put together to represent spoken words (left-brained), their visual connection to certain concepts (right-brained) could not be lost. An eye looks like an eye, even if it is being used as a letter. Am👁r👁te? 

 Steele of Mennahkt, c. 1321 B.C. - Wikimedia

While the evolved scripts we have today maybe allow for greater amounts of logical precision and ease of writing, they accomplish this by sacrificing a certain depth of meaning and a more expansive intuitive type of transference of information and ideas. 

The ability to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs was lost for much of modern history, from the late 4th century A.D., until the (fortunate) discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 A.D., which eventually enabled for its possible reconstruction (. . . or at least that's the popular story, maybe other people figured it out sooner or kept the knowledge alive in secret 🤷‍♀️). Those who pondered the carvings during those years did not understand its phonetic complexity. 

It is arguable whether the ancient Greeks or Romans understood hieroglyphics. The Greeks almost certainly did not, since from their viewpoint, hieroglyphics were not phonetic signs but symbols of a more abstruse and allegorical nature. The humanist revival of the European Middle Age, although it produced a set of Italian-designed hieroglyphics, gave no further insight into the original Egyptian. https://www.britannica.com/topic/hieroglyph

Which is kind of a strange development considering many of the most renowned Greek philosophers, studied at Egyptian mystery schools. However, it is also not strange given that certain ideas taken from the Egyptians were probably not appreciated, or were considered to be threatening by the powers that were. It is an interesting question as to how much of a factor this was. Certain people suggest that persecution was present.

It is clear then that Socrates offended the Athenian government simply because he pursued the study of astronomy and probably that of geology; and that the other philosophers were persecuted for the same reason. But the study of science was a required condition to membership in the Egyptian Mystery Systems, and its purpose was the liberation of the Soul from the ten bodily fetters, and if the Greek philosophers studied the sciences, then they were fulfilling a required condition to membership in the Egyptian Mystery System. Stolen Legacy, by George G. M. James[1954], ch.3 http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/stle/stle07.htm

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David(1787)

It is also the case that the reign of the pharaohs came to an end in 30 BC which would have contributed to the loss of the Egyptian priesthood and customs.  

The final straw, however, came when Cleopatra lost to Rome in the battle of Actium in 30BC. She was Egypt's last pharaoh and Egypt became a mere province of Rome.   

The use of hieroglyphics struggled on for several centuries, but it dwindled away to be replaced by the  Roman alphabet. Eventually, it fell into complete disuse and became a total mystery to humans. https://www.egyptabout.com/2017/01/when-did-hieroglyphics-stop.html

 And,

After the Emperor Theodsius I ordered the closure of all pagan temples throughout the Roman empire in the late 4th century AD, knowledge of the hieroglyphic script was lost https://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian.htm

So, it was not necessarily a complete accident, even if it was just through lack of respect for the wisdom of ancient Egypt (and unfortunate happenings such as the burning of the Library of Alexandria in Egypt in 48 BC), that the understanding of hieroglyphic writing was lost . . . for a time.

Luckily artifacts from the past are recovered through archeological study and other fortunate discoveries from time to time, and attempts to rewrite history are not always entirely successful. 

This same sort of thing occured with the Mayan codices in Mesoamerica. Only a few codices were saved from destruction, and then turned up in Europe, such as the Dresden Codex. 

The Mayans had a pictorial script as well. 

Mayan Codex written on Mesoamerican bark paper.

Their books were intentionally destroyed by the conquering Spanish, the biggest offender, Diego de Landa Caldéron, Catholic bishop of the Archdioceses of Yucatán. This was done in order to erase their history, and body of “heretical” knowledge and practices, in an attempt to control and change the story, and affect the future. 

Mural by Juan O’Gorman, Biblioteca Central de la UNAM, Mexico City 

We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they (the Maya) regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_de_Landa - Clendinnen

Oh how odd, who would have thought? 🤨 🙄

People attempt to change history by limiting or changing what we see. The word history comes from Old French estoire "story; chronicle, history," from Latin historia "narrative of past events, account, tale, story," from Greek historia "a learning or knowing by inquiry, an account of one's inquiries, history, record, narrative," from historein "inquire," from histōr “wise man, judge,” from PIE *wid-tor-, from root *weid- “to see.” [OE] 

So the word "history" can be traced back to the concept of the things seen and related by those wise and discerning. The seers (wid-tor-ians) of the things, tell the tales, or spell the spells. The most honest of these weid-tors (seers) being weeders of false history, but not weeders of information. It is against the spirit of inquiry (historia) to destroy people's histories. The most deceptive of the histōrs (wise men) are hissers (snakes) who use their spells in attempts to rewrite, or confuse history, and enslave the masses.

Snake in the Grass, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoon, March 24,1942

If writing is from the gods then it is no surprise that these things would resurface despite the best efforts of men to wipe them out.
Things once forbidden pop up time and again miraculously, like also, the Nag Hammadi library, a collection of of early Christian and Gnostic texts dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, that were discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. However, the many of texts, found were significantly damaged and have missing words and sections.  

The ancient Egyptians themselves were not innocent of rewriting, or leaving out information in their histories as well. After the death of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, monuments were dismantled, or hidden, and statues destroyed, and his name was even excluded from the king lists. 

These lists were often condensed, with some rulers (such as the contentious and disruptive Akhenaten, and even entire dynasties omitted from the record; they are not truly history, rather they are a form of ancestor worship, a celebration of the consistency of kingship of which the current ruler was a part. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/ancient-mediterranean-ap/ancient-egypt-ap/a/ancient-egypt-an-introduction

The ancient Egyptians were so serious about their carvings and the power of the written word that they placed names inside of protective shen rings. The shen ring was a stylized loop of a rope. Shen meaning "encircle", and it represented eternal protection.

Shen

Cartouche, from French cartouche "a full charge for a pistol" (originally wrapped in paper thus resembling the shape of the cartouche), is the name given to these oblong shen rings that enclose names. 

Why should the name be treated this way? Perhaps because writing is a form of magic, or a magical formula, and it’s not wise to just write a name, spell it, put it out there unprotected. Names have power. A name defines a person. When a name is wrapped in the shen it is a name defined, loaded and locked for protection. 

Cartouche of Ramses II at Tanis, 3655 BC

There is a tradition of the names of gods /the divine, and /or demons not being named, or their names not being spoken, and also of knowers of names having certain powers over others [The Name of Ra]. Words are spells. Sometimes the spell is broken by not spelling it out even though it is known who is being referred to. Such as in the Old Testament The Name of God is written with the letters Yōd Hē Vov Hē, YHVH, or YHWH, But we don’t have the pronunciation, it was lost from history by the 3rd century BC. It is often assumed to be Yahweh, but is usually translated as The LORD, i.e., Adonai. And sometimes, simply, HaShem "The Name"(Interesting how in ancient Egypt names were written in shen rings, and as a hieroglyph were used for the word "name", and in Hebrew shem means name).

There is the idea that there are certain dangers, problems or powers associated with the writing and speaking of names. So, in both the spelling (writing out), and spelling (telling) of names. Perhaps this is due, in part, to the fact that what proceeds out of a person’s mouth, or how they read a word imposes their subjective understanding upon that person or concept. So it could be disrespectful for a uneducated or unenlightened individual to dare to define a divine being. They would be imposing their own history / herstory. Or, who would want to accidentally summon a demon by speaking its name? How dare a mere mortal speak The Name? Who knows if they are a good speller? 

Rabbinical Judaism teaches that the name [Yōd Hē Vov Hē] is forbidden to all except the High Priest, who should only speak it in the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism#YHWH

If anyone is a good speller it is the God of the universe, the most powerful magician of all. Magician is ultimately from Old Persian magush, which is possibly from PIE *mahg- "to be able; have power,"

The effectiveness of spell is based upon the powers of the magician. There is the magic of an illusionist, black magic, white magic, supernatural magic, alchemical magic, etc. However the proof is in the results. Without ability that produces real results, the "magician" is only a charlatan, i.e., a babbler, a quack. Just like a god that doesn’t produce any actual results is an idol due to this idleness, i.e., idol-ness.

The God of the universe was not idle. A most powerful spell was spoken and the whole of creation came into being, the One thing. Word. Logos. Om. Tao. Ma'at. Asha . . .

Painting by Catherine O. / photo Julie O. / chthonickore

The rest is history.

Lord of Flies

Sometimes things are named after what they look like. Such as the color orange is named after the fruit, the orange, the name of the fruit which is derived from Sanskrit nāranga "orange tree", and not used as a name for the color until the 1540s.

Fly on Orange, pencil and marker drawing by Julie O. /chthonickore

Sometimes things are named after what they do as well. Like the insect, the fly, originally from Proto-Germanic *fleugon "flying insect", literally "the flying (insect)". 

Beelzebub or Beelzebul, referred to as Lord of Flies, is derived from the Philistine god known as Ba'al Zevûv or Ba'al Zebub, Baal of Flies, literally Lord (Ba'al) of Flies (Zebub). 

"Beelzebub and them that are with him shoot arrows" from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince (ruler) of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."  Matthew 12:24

Lord of Hosts is one of the names of God as translated from the Old Testament. "Hosts" meaning organized body of angels. A transliteration to English being YHWH Sabaoth. 

However, Satan or Beelzebub, is Lord of the hosts as well, i.e., the army of demons, which could be called his nasty "flies". Flies in this sense is meant to be derogatory showing that this host is made up of demons and not angels of God. They are a host of flyers, metaphorically a swarm of flies. Swarm, in Hebrew is arob "swarm, swarm of flies". It is used to describe the fourth plague inflicted upon Egypt in the book of Exodus, known as The Plague of Flies. 

And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by flies [arob].  Exodus 8:24

Because the kings of Israel were said to have fallen away from true worship of the one God, YHWH / YHVH (Yahweh), God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, and to have fallen into idolatry and were leading the people astray, their LORD, Ba'al Zebub, Beelzebub (also associated with the Canaanite god, Ba'al as well), came to be bosheth "shameful thing", and their "LORD" labeled as a major demon associated with Satan. Whereas, YHWH is often translated as LORD. Ba'al, which also means Lord, is left as Ba'al, not translated. So the more complex context is lost in English because not many people know that Ba'al simply means "Lord" in a different language.

The stele of Baal with Thunderbolt found in the Ruins of Ugarit

It is clear from this translation, below, of a passage from Hosea, how this word Ba'al was at times even used to refer to YHWH (the Tetragrammaton often translated as the LORD [Hebrew "Adonai"], instead of the supposed transliteration Yahweh). 

"And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' Hosea 2:16, ESV

It is a confusing passage to translate because the words translated here as "My Husband" ish (man), and "My Baal" bali (my master), have similar definitions. So why is it that YHWH is making a distinction between the two nouns? 

It is true that ish sometimes translated as "husband" as in Genesis, Adam is ish "man, male, husband", and Eve (isha)"woman, wife, female", however these words are differentiated from THE ADAM "man, mankind, all men and women", the creature that God (Elohim) made having two sides, i.e., ish-masculine and isha-feminine, out of the dust or from adamah (f.) "the ground, earth, red earth, blood of the earth".

      Adam and Eve, Lucas The Elder Cranach, 1533

                             

And Baal, also, can be translated as "husband, master, lord, owner". So, rather than it being important so much how the words are are translated into English, it seems that the connotation of meaning behind the words is important. Maybe the passage is meant to distance YHWH from erroneous concepts which sprang up around the use of the title Baal, meaning LORD. Baal having a harsher ownership, i.e., master to slave understanding, than ish, the complimentary masculine half of an intimate partnership, i.e., husband of Israel? So, YHWH is talking about a free partnership [love], not owneship [dominance].

But back to Beelzebub . . .
Ahaziah, son of Ahab and Jezabel, followed after his parents in the worship of Ba'al Zebub, and when Ahaziah was injured in an accident and sought to consult this god, the Angel of YHWH then sent Elijah to condemn Ahaziah and tell him he would die.

Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice [sebakah] of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." 

But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 2 Kings 1:2-3

This passage states that Ahaziah fell through the lattice. In Hebrew the word used is sebakah "lattice-work, network" the feminine form of sobek "lattice, network of boughs, nets of network, networks, webbing."  Lattices are built for shade, and privacy. They can also oppositely be used for peering, lurking, and spying. 

The Who / Tommy album cover, 1969

Sobek can even be a trap or snare as in the case of Absolam, son of King David, who was entagled in the branches of a tree and was then easy prey for Joab, comander of the king's army.

Now Absalom happened to meet David's men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches [sobek] of a large oak, Absalom's hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding kept going. 2 Samuel 18:9

It is interesting then that Sobek, Sbk is also the name of an Ancient Egyptian deity / god [nTr] associated with the Nile crocodile. Sobek was often depicted with the head of a crocodile. Crocodile skin has a definite lattice [sobek] print to it. 

Hermès Graphite Shiny Porosus Crocodile Birkin 35 PHW

Sobek is also a Lord of Hosts, associated with pharaonic sovereign power, military prowess, patron of armies / hosts, and additionally a protective deity. He symbolized raw strength, known as "The Rager", a formidable patron for the army. He also was seen as an assister of the just dead, and associated with the fertility, known as "The Lord of the Waters".

... many scholars believe that the name Sobek, Sbk, is derived from s-bAk, "to impregnate", others postulate that it is a participle form of the verb sbq, an alternative writing of sAq, "to unite", thereby meaning Sbk could roughly translate to "he who unites (the dismembered limbs of Osiris)." Sobek: Character and Surrounding Mythologies 

Alex Grey’s Cardiovascular System: Painting 1980, Oil on Linen

Our bodies are joined together by many systems or networks, like the lattice (sobek) of the cardiovascular system. It may be fitting then that Sobek helped to united the body of Osiris. Sobek was at certain times considered to be an aspect of Horus taking the form of a crocodile to retrieve the parts of Osiris' body lost in the Nile after being murdered by his brother Set / Seth, in this way helping the healer, Isis, in her quest to restore her husband's, Osiris', body (knit it back together). So in this way, he IS Sobek "he who unites", or it could also be translated perhaps as he who "collects, pulls together". This uniting may not be unlike the tangled collection or network [lattice] of branches in a river jumbled together along the shore which make an excellent place for an ambush predator, like a crocodile, to hide. 

Since their speed and agility on land is rather outmatched by most terrestrial animals, they must use obscuring vegetation or terrain to have a chance of succeeding during land-based hunts. wikipedia, Nile Crocodile

Whether on land or in the water, crocodiles rely on stealth to surprise and capture their prey. Grass, reeds, sticks, and branches serve as a lattice or network which the crocodile can silently peer through waiting for the right moment to strike. Think of those crocodile eyes just above the surface of the water as it waits patiently, then suddenly erupts, the rager!

A crocodile lurks amid the rushes along the Nile at Murchison Falls in Uganda.

ERNST HAAS/ERNST HAAS/GETTY IMAGES

There is a kind of sewing together or knitting involved with this lattice like uniting. Nit, Neith, Net is the primordial goddess of war and mother goddess of Ancient Egypt, and the mother of Sobek. She is the network (lattice) of the universe, the mother of all the gods who wove the universe (matrix) on her loom (some more neat things about Neith in this post). 

Neith, From the Tomb of Khaemwaset, Valley of the Queens, Luxor

And interesting! Her son is named Sobek, which has the meaning of "network," in Hebrew, and his skin, in his association with the crocodile displays his very name. 

Perhaps it is even possible that this Hebrew word was somehow influenced by the name of the Egyptian god. Not unlike how the color name "orange" was influenced by the orange (fruit). The Israelites spent a long and intimate time in Egypt. Think of the high positions of Joseph, second only to Pharaoh Genesis 41:40, and Moses who grew up in the house of Pharaoh. They would have seen Sobek depicted as a crocodile, and crocodiles sport lattice print hides, therefore it is possible that the name Sobek could come to be associated with the look of the crocodile skin, i.e., lattice patterned skin, or Sobek-like.

Sobek in his crocodile form, 12th Dynasty. Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich. Photo:Einsamer Schütze

Sobek did not have the title "Lord of Flies", however swarms of flies generally would be associated with the marshy areas along the Nile where crocodiles live, so in that sense Sobek would be Lord of Flies. He was somewhat a chaotic god, both protective, but also fearful.

Scene in the Nile Marshes, Louvre Museum, Paris

Another creature that might be found along the Nile are snakes, such as the Egyptian cobra, a deadly venomous snake, definitely to be respected, as much as the Nile crocodile. The Ancient Egyptian goddess Wadjet was a snake goddess. Wadjet was synonymous with the Eye of Horus or Eye of Ra, she is the risen (like a cobra) one, the open eye, like the Sun, Ra, opening his eye in the morning at the break of day, from darkness then suddenly the world is illuminated. She is this mysterious, mystical, powerful, enlightening, searing, penetrating, fearful / awesome energy. She has certain similarities with the concepts of Kundalini, from Sanskrit, meaning "coiled (snake) one", and the third eye, and / or Ajna chakra. In fact Wadjet, depicted as a cobra (Uraeus) is often seen at the third eye point on the crowns of the Pharaohs. She sat as "the raised / risen one" on their brows denoting protection, wisdom, and right of rulership.

                                                Uraeus(Wadjet) on the Crown of burial mask of Tutankhamen

                                             The Eye of Horus (AKA Wadjet) Bracelet, c 890 BC- Cairo Museum

Winged Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

Bronze Uraeus(Wadjet) with Sun Disk

With an understanding of this snake goddess symbolism, the story of the Israelites and the bronze snake in the wilderness Numbers 21:9  takes on new meaning and makes a lot more sense. What kind of sense does it make for God to command Moses to put a serpent on a pole?

When the people speak against God, YHWH sends nachash ("serpents") seraph (fiery serpents") Num. 21:6, generally translated as "venomous snakes", and they nashak ("bite") the people. Then when the people speak to Moses about the serpents Num. 21:7, they refer to the snakes simply as nachash ("serpents"), then YHWH tells Moses Num. 21:8 to make a seraph (?) and to put the seraph on a pole . . . so then what does Moses do? Moses makes a nachash ("serpent") nechosheth ("bronze") and puts it on a pole! So this seraph is represented by a bronze snake? Just as Wadjet is often represented in bronze and gold as the Uraeus? [The Israelites were out of gold probably because of the golden calf incidence, amirite?] And was not Wadjet a seraph ("fiery serpent"), one of her title's being "Lady of Flame"? Basically Moses makes something that resembles Uraei and puts it on a pole . . . and these people have just recently left their home in Egypt.

Then when you look at all the extended meanings of these words related in Hebrew, having to do with nachash and seraph things get even more interesting.

Nachash: phonetic spelling (naw-khawsh') "serpent, serpents, snake"

Nachash: (naw-khash') "to practice, divination, observe signs”

Nachash:  (nakh'-ash) "divination, enchantment, omen"

Nechash:  (nekh-awsh') "copper, bronze”

Seraph: (saw-raf') “to burn”

Seraph: (saw-rawf') "fiery serpent, seraph"

From saraph; burning, i.e. (figuratively) poisonous (serpent); specifically, a saraph or symbolical creature (from their copper color) -- fiery (serpent), seraph - Strong’s Concordance 

Seraph / Seraphim: in Isaiah chapter 6, six-winged, fear inducing, heavenly beings flying around with hot coal 

Serappim: (sar-af') “disquieting thoughts, anxious thoughts”

Whatever you want to say about it, there is definitely more to the story than people simply being bitten by venomous snakes. I'm not saying that the people in the story were necessarily not being bitten by literal snakes, but then again, is the story something that necessarily literally took place? What else could this story be alluding to possibly? When you look at the connotation of serpents having to do with divining, enchantment, cunning (as the serpent in the garden of Eden), and, then, these serpents being the cause of certain, mental distress, falling into darkness, or anxiety, it begins to look a lot like a testing or a dark night of the soul. 

They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! Revelation 6:16

". . . he drove out the man (the adam) . . . And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24

According to this understanding, just as Jesus went out into the wilderness to be tested and had all sorts of "hallucinations" of demons and angels, so too, the Israelites were tested in the wilderness when they spoke against God. Intense stuff! That bites! 

Jesus and the Devil (Beelzebul [?]), The Children's Bible, copyright 1965, Western Publishing Co., photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

Perhaps this is why Jesus says, "Lead us not to the test (or temptation, Gk. peirasmos/perasmon), but deliver us from evil (or the evil one)" Mt. 6:13. It is because it is fearful and not just anyone can survive it, and you certainly DO NOT want to bring it upon yourself by speaking against God like the Israelites did. 

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. Numbers 21:6

So after God sends the Israelites this "punishment" (at least it was perceived as punishment because they were guilty of sin), or could we say this "teaching moment", he then gives to the people the seraph, as a sign of hope, a savior of sorts, for, " . . . anyone who is bitten can look at it and live" Numbers 21:8. It had to be something they could believe would have power to save them, a savior with a face so to speak. However, YHWH was wanting them to understand that the power to heal from this seraph came from him. 

For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents, your anger endured not to the end.

But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.

For he who turned to it was saved, not by what was seen, but by you, the savior of all. Wisdom 16:5-7

If we are to suppose that this punishment / consequence of unbearably disturbing, anxious thoughts, searing, was brought upon the Israelites because of their grumblings, who do we say is the author of these thoughts, these biting snakes? Are the fiery serpents the devil, Satan "the accuser", Lord of Lies, Beelzebub? Are they the goddess Wadjet, Lady of flame, the risen eye of Ra? Are the biting serpents Seraphim, the fiery Angels of God? Or is the difference only in your mind? 

In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eye will see strange sights and your mind will imagine confusing things.  Proverbs 23:32-33

Neo stops the flying bullets, Lord of Fliers, The Matrix