He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

When we think of the word chaos we generally are referring to something like "orderless confusion" which is a usage from c.1600.

Meaning "utter confusion" is an extended sense from theological use of chaos in the Vulgate version of "Genesis" (1530s in English) for "the void at the beginning of creation, the confused, formless, elementary state of the universe." The Greek for "disorder" was tarakhe, but the use of chaos here was rooted in Hestoid ("Theogony"), who describes khaos as the primeval emptiness of the Universe, and Ovid ("Metamorphoses"), who opposes Khaos to Kosmos, the ordered Universe . . ." [OE]

Red Barron Pizza Box

We also have the mathematical branch of study called "Chaos theory" formalized c.1977, and famously referred to in the movie, Jurassic Park [based off the book by Michael Crichton]. 

Oh, it simply deals with predictability in complex systems. The shorthand is the butterfly effect. The butterfly can flap its wings in Peking and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine. -Dr. Malcolm

Chaos theory, in short, is the study of,

. . . dynamical systems whose apparently random states of disorder and irregularities are actually governed by underlying patterns and deterministic laws that are highly sensitive to initial conditions. Wikipedia, Chaos Theory

It is somewhat paradoxical in this sense[Chaos Theory] to use the word chaos to describe what is actually being governed, but the point is that it appears to be chaotic. Ah, what would we do without chaos in this sense? What a wonderfully boring world this would be. 

Chaos is from from Latin chaos, from the Greek khaos "any vast gulf or chasm, the nether abyss, empty space, the first state of the universe, from khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty from *khnwos, from PIE *ghieh- to yawn, gape, be wide open [OE]," or stem kha- to yawn, gape [OED]."

Kaw or caw, is the sound a crow makes. When a crow caws it opens its beak like a yawn or gape (kha-, *ghieh-). In fact the word crow is said to probably be imitative of the sound of the bird, as is raven ultimately. Raven which is from Old English hræven, initially a harsher more guttural sounding word, from the hypothesized PIE root *ker- "imitative of harsh sounds", also the source of Latin cornix "crow," corvis "raven," Greek korax, korōnē, koraki "raven, crow".

Cawing or Kha-ing Crow

Odin's ravens (Old Norse hrafn) Huginn "thought" and Muninn "memory, mind,"  made daily flights across the whole world and reported back to Odin everything they saw and heard. 

Huginn and Muninn

Perhaps the ravens also brought to mind that so called "chaos" at the beginning of the universe with their deep black pepla and fathomless black eyes. In Norse mythology this primordial abyss is known as Ginnungagap. It was the void or chaos which existed prior to the ordered universe or cosmos.

It was in the earliest times that Ymir dwelled. Neither sand nor sea, nor cold waves, nor earth were to be found. There was neither heaven above, nor grass anywhere, there was nothing but Ginnungagap. -Voluspa-Stanza 3, James Allen Chisholm translation

Ár var alda, pat er ekki var, vara sandr né sær né svalar unnar; jörd fannsk ævá né upphiminn, gap var ginnunga en gras hvergi. –Voluspa-Stanza 3 

In other translations gap var ginnunga is translated as "yawning gap," "yawning chaos," "chaotic chasm," "swallowing abyss," "abyss of chaos,"Yawning Chasm [chaos]," "Gaping Void," and "the great void," among others.

Yawn is from Old English ginian, gionian "open, the mouth wide, yawn, gape", from Proto-Germanic *gin-,  also PIE *ghieh-, like "chaos" from the same. 

Gap is taken directly from old Norse gap from PIE *ghieh-, as well. And Old Norse gina is "to yawn," old High German ginen "to be wide open," German gähnen "to yawn". So we see that the elements of the term Ginnungagap, however it is translated, has a double emphasis upon the concept of PIE *ghieh- to yawn, gape, be wide open [OE].The words chaos, chasm, gap and yawn are all said to come from the same hypothesized PIE root *ghieh- "to yawn, gape, be wide open".

How did this apparent nothingness or abyss then evolve into the meaning of what we think of as chaos today?

It is strange that we think of something being chaotic when it has myriad disorganized and/or random parts, and yet the primordial abyss is the original sense of chaos. The primordial chaos seems to be more nothingness than chaotic. But when you think about it, the abyss is not really nothing, it is rather a womb of infinite potential in a state of perfect entropy, inert uniformity, or stasis. Otherwise, how could anything have arisen out of this "nothingness"?  It seems the original sense of chaos was the chaos of the infinite undefined. It could be anything, and in that sense, it was nothing. In this sense chaos is truly terrifying and awesome, perhaps NOTHING is more terrifying. 

This primordial abyss is often thought of as a huge black void, but it can also be pictured as limitless whiteness. Like a white room, representing nothingness, with a creator standing in the middle, as in the movie The Matrix.

Orpheus and Neo in a Simulation of Primordial Chaos

Or, on a less grand scale, a writer, artist, architect, musician, etc. begins a work in a state of utter chaos, that is, with a blank paper or canvas, where anything is possible, and that unlimited possibility is precisely the problem. Some might argue that the white room is an even more terrifying metaphor for chaos than utter blackness. Take this example from Herman Melvile's, Moby Dick, The Whiteness of the Whale,

Aside from those more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm, there was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely overpowered all the rest; and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost despair of putting it in a comprehensible form. It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me. But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught . . . 

Is it that by its indefiniteness it shadows forth the heartless voids and immensities of the universe, and thus stabs us from behind with the thought of annihilation, when beholding the white depths of the milky way? Or is it, that as in essence whiteness is not so much a color as the visible absence of color; and at the same time the concrete of all colors; is it for these reasons that there is a dumb blankness, full of meaning, in a wide landscape of snows- a colorless, all-color of atheism from which we shrink . . . – ch. 42: The Whiteness of the Whale, Moby Dick

The Greeks personified chaos as the primordial goddess, Χαος Khaos (Chaos). She was also interestingly associated with air and the creation of birds, or what we might call "caw"ers. In Aristophanes', Birds, Khaos is winged like Eros, and is the mother of the birds, the birds whose "origin is very much older than that of the dwellers in Olympus."[702]

Winged Nyx, Personification of Night

Here the chorus of birds speak,

Firstly, black winged Night [Nyx] laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebus [darkness], and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang there graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos [Khaos], winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light. –[695-699] Aristophanes. Birds. Eugene O'Neil, Jr. 1938

Ancient Egypt also had certain stories associating the beginning of time and creation with a bird called the Benu bird. The name, Benu (transliterated from the hieroglyphics as bnn), is said to be related to the verb weben (wbn) "to rise in brilliance, to shine". 

As an aspect of Atum, the Benu bird was said to have flown over the waters of Nun before the original creation. According to this tradition, the bird came to rest on a rock from which its cry broke the primeval silence and this determined what was and was to to be unfolding creation. - touregypt.net

It is said that this bird began time and drove back chaos.

Benu Bird Perched on the Benben Stone (Primordial Mound), or Pyramidion, Papyrus of Nakht, 18-19th Dynasty

This imagery is similar to the story of creation given in Genesis where the Spirit of God, moves over or "hovers"(like a bird), over the waters [Nun].

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2

In certain time periods Atum and Ra, were combined because they illustrate different aspects or mythologies concerning the same archetype of creator god. This type of merging happened frequently with the different gods and goddess of ancient Egypt over long periods of time. Remember, the time span of what we call ancient Egypt covers about three thousands of years, beginning around 3100 BC. Atum was first worshiped in Heliopolis, in Lower Egypt, during this Predynastic Period, and Ra, came to be prominent by the fifth dynasty, between the 25th-24th centuries BC. 

So Ra, was also associated with the Benu bird, as was Atum. Ra or Rē (who's name was represented by the hieroglyph for "sun"), was the sun god, the light, like a "ray" perhaps, not unlike the Benu bird, the "shining"(wbn) one, who was, in fact said, to be the ba of Ra. The ba was an aspect of the soul represented as a birds. Birds were fitting representations for the soul because of their ability to fly and thus portray the mobility of the soul after death. 

Ba hovering over a dead man, from a Book of the Dead papyrus, British Museum

Apep or Apophis(Gk.), called "Lord of Chaos", was known as the enemy of Ra. He was pictured as a long snake. However Apep seems to be more a product of the original chaos, rather than the embodiment of that chaos itself. Or, we could say, Apep came to be as a consequence of creation which arose out of chaos.

The few descriptions of Apep's origin in myth usually demonstrate that it was born after Ra, usually from his umbilical cord. Combined with its absence from Egyptian creation myths, this has been interpreted as suggesting that Apep was not a primordial force in Egyptian theology, but a consequence of Ra's birth. . . Apep, wikipedia

It could be said that when Ra came to be, a duality or contrast also came to be. Whereas the primordial chaos had been a state of absolute equilibrium or "nothingness," once the light was created, the opposite of the light became darkness as opposed to light, and could then be labeled as evil. In ancient Egypt, Apep came to represent this concept called isfet (ízft), meaning "chaos, injustice, violence," or as a verb "to do evil." Isfet was opposed to ma'at "truth, order, harmony". Without the concept of light there is no judgment upon darkness as evil. Apep came to be after Ra, in this way. 

Set fending off Apep on the solar barque of Ra, 21st Dynasty, Book of the Dead, Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Creation started with a "caw," that is, with the cry or call of the Benu bird, but can end with a cough. Having a cough sometimes is a sign of sickness which can precede death and one's being placed in a coffin. 

Cough is from early 14c., coughen, from Proto-Germanic *kokh- which is onomatopoeic, or imitative, as is also the ultimate origins of the words caw, cry, squeal, howl, yell and call.

Coffin is derived from latin cophinus "basket hamper", from Greek kophinos "a basket" which is of uncertain origin. I'd venture to guess, then, given the origin being from a word meaning "basket", that rather than being from an imitative sound, like those other similar sounding words relating to chaos, coffin is related instead to the letter K, as in kaf / kaph, a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is thought to be derived from a pictogram of an outstretched hand. The word kaph in Hebrew is "the hollow of the hand, palm of the hand, sole of foot; hollow, socket (as in of a joint); pan." So it has to do with the shape being curved, bent or cupped. And indeed the shape of the letter is a cupped shape. 

Kaf / Kaph

Maybe we could say say that the palm is the "basket (kophinos) of the hand" because it can hold items as a basket holds items.

And in Egyptian hieroglyphics kefa / kepha was a closed fist and had the meaning "fist, grab, grasp, seize, grip [also of mental concepts and of emotions], it was also apparently used to refer to the vagina. 

Kefa / Kepha

Interestingly enough "basket" is also a euphemism for lady parts. So, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, kepha (vagina) to coffin, or out of the basket you came, to the casket/coffin you shall return. 

The ancient Egyptian god Khepra / Khepri / Khepera / Kheper, (ḫprj), derived from the verb ḫpr "develop, come into being, create," and symbolized by the scarab beetle, kheper (ḫprr), was associated with the morning sun, creation, rebirth and transformation, so, indeed, it would be beneficial to be held in the grasp of this god (in the kepha [grasp] of the kaph [palm] of Khepra [the creator]) upon one's death to hopefully be born to new life. So this is in-kefa or kefa-in (coffin).

A coffin is a container like a basket or a cup. It, in some ways, mimics or is symbolic of the womb or primordial abyss from which we came, and the primordial abyss is often described as waters, such as the ancient Egyptian god Nu / Nun, who's hieroglyph contains the three (representative of many) pots, or might we say "cups"?

Nu/Nun

Cup is from Latin cupa "tub, cask, tun, barrel" it is thought to be cognate with Sanskrit kupah "hollow, pit, cave." So, this is similar, to Hebrew kaph in its meaning of "hollow." Cupa, also is cognate with Greek kype "gap, hole." Ahhh, so here we are back again to gap. Gap var ginnunga, the yawning chaos before time, or might we say kype (gap) of Nun, or "cup"(tub) of Nun? Nun, the limitless container of none or nothingness before time began, the sea of infinite potential. How different is this in concept, then, to the primordial womb out of which creation was birthed, i.e., chaos? Thus, it seems we could say there is a certain connection between the words cough and coffin. 

When people cough, not only do they make a "kha / caw" sound, but they also make something resembling a cave or a gap, as people do also when they yawn.

Cave is from Latin cavea "hollow"(place), a noun use of the adjective cavus "hollow", so again this is like kaph "hollow," the shape of a cupped hand, and kupah "hollow, pit, cave." However, the OE says cavus is from PIE *keue- "to swell," also "vault, hole," as in the words cumulative and cumulus. I say, talk to the hand! 🙌

My great-grandfather, Frank Daywalt, was caught (past participle of catch from PIE *kap- "to grasp") in a cave in, in Cowenhoven Tunnel, Aspen, Colorado in 1921. I'm sure that must have been a chaotic scene. It did put him in a coffin and he probably died coughing, trying to cover his face with his kaph (cupped hand). As the report says, he was "caught by a run of fine dirt on the tunnel." Poor great-grandpappy! 

Frank Daywalt, May 9, 1876 - Nov. 9, 1921

And my grandmother was very young. What a dark time for her family! His absence must have created a huge void and a yawning gap in their hearts. But we won't call it evil, just very sad and unfortunate. We'd like to think that the creator has a plan, and what appears to be chaos is really ordered and purposeful. 

He's got the whole world in his hands. 

P.S. Serendipitously, my grandmother's father just happened to pop up in this etymological post which I just finished, and today is her birthday!! Born February 18, 1915. She died 35 years ago in February of 1986. So, I have to include a picture of her as well. Happy Birthday Bam [short for Bambi, her nickname]! RIP <3

né Catherine Yvonne Daywalt, [photo]Feb. 5, 1956

Baby You're a Firework

Patriot is from Middle French patriot, from Late Latin patriota, from Greek patriotes "fellow countryman [i.e., people residing within the same *father*land], from patrios "of one's fathers, patris "fatherland", from pater (genitive patros) "father".

People often show their patriotism by flying brightly colorful flags.

    Various Flying Flags, unites-states-flag.com

The flags or standards represent families, tribes and peoples. They may indicate a person's fatherland. In ancient Egypt the hieroglyph which was a flag on a pole was ntr, neter, netjer, netter, meaning "divine", and the netjer were the gods, the divine ones (who stand tall, are bright, free, and finely woven together like flags). They were the ones who resided in the land of the dead, the  Duat/Tuat, i.e., the "afterworld," or netherworld (neterworld).

    ntr hieroglyph

A parrot is a brightly colored flyer as well. The word parrot is thought to perhaps come from Middle French perrot, a variant of Pierre "Peter". The name Peter means "a rock, stone", which has connotations of being a secure foundation.

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalms 18:2

We call God our Father. But what is a father? A father is a begetter of his children. Our Father in this sense is our creator. Father is from Old English faeder, from Proto-Germanic *fader (Old Saxon fadar, Dutch vader [Darth Vader was Luke's father, but this is pronounced more like "father"], Old High German fater, German vater), from PIE *pǝter- (Sandskrit pitar, Greek pater, Latin pater, Old Persian pita). 

So this would remind us of ancient Egyptian god, Ptah / ptḥ (Pee-tah), one of the netjeru (divine ones). Ptah was a creator (begetter) god of ancient Egypt. Here Ptah is shown finely arrayed in a feathered tunic, or we might say, phainopepla φαϊνοπέπλα "shinning robe" in Greek, like a parrot or Phainopepla ("shining robe," a passerine bird, i.e., from the order Passeriformes, from Latin passer "sparrow"). Feather is from PIE *pet-ra-, from root *pet- (also *petǝ-) "to rush, fly." Ptah is a pet-ra(feather) god, or perhaps we could say pet "flying/rushing" + ra "mouth/word; spell"[ancient Egyptian], he who conceived of creation in his heart and spoke it from his mouth. 

Ptah is a father god who is associated with the winged god of the dawning sun, i.e., Khepra and also the primordial mound (i.e., the rock [petra in Greek, keph in Aramaic]), as Ptah-Tatenen (ta meaning "land / earth" in Egyptian) who came out of Nun; the primordial waters.

   Feathered Ptah with Earth / Dome Looking Cap(Keph), from Tomb of Tutankhamun, Gilded wood, faience and glass., 1321-1343 BC, 18th Dynasty, Valley of the Kings

Ptah is also similar in concept to the god Khnum/Chnum who was also associated with Tatanen, and were both thought to be aspects of Ra, the sun god. Khnum is thought to be from root khnum / ḫnm "to join, unite" and "build." Khnum was the divine potter (pater?) who was commonly depicted as a ram or a man with a ram's head. So Khnum also had a hard rocklike head (kephalé in Greek) like Ptah (Pee-tah, Peter = rock). Khnum was also associated with the "ba of Ra/Re". The ba was a part of the soul often depicted as a human headed bird near a mummy (not unlike a parrot), and ba was also the word for "ram". Khnum was the ram (ba) of Ra who helped him travel through the underworld each night on his Solar Bark. 

    The Sun God Ra as Khnum-Ra traveling on the Solar Bark[with paddles], from the House of Eternity of King Seti I, KV17, West Uaset, Diospolis Megale-Thebes 

Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, the patriarch, gave his favorite son, Joseph, a kethoneth (coat, garment, tunic) passim (literally the flat of the hand[palm] or foot[sole]), which can be translated in many ways, but in any case was some sort of long-sleeved (it reaches to the palm) ornate tunic of fine quality (maybe even befitting of a god, or like the shining bird robe, i.e., passer "sparrow" phainapepla "shining robe" of Ptah). When the father gave his son this "coat of many colors" it made Joseph's half bothers extremely jealous.

 
      The Coat of Many Colors, For Madox Brown, 1867

The flats(flaps?) of the hands and feet are extremities of the body like wings. Kanoph is "edge, extremity, wing" in Hebrew, but can also describe a corner or loose flowing end of a garment. It was also used to describe the appearance of the "wings" of cherubim and seraphim. So perhaps special garments such as the kethoneth passim (coat of many colors) were meant to emulate the beautiful otherworldly appearance of heavenly beings such as angels and the netjer "divine".

    The Palm or Flat(Flap, Wing) of the Hand, by Julie O. /chthonickore, the palm tells the whole truth/story of the body.

For upon his long robe the whole world was depicted… Wisdom of Solomon 18:24

Patriarch is from Greek patriarkhes "chief or head of family," from patria "family, clan," from pater "father" + arkhien "to rule"(arkhon "ruler," Latin archon), from PIE *arkhein- "to begin, rule, command." The patriarch is the strong protector and guide of the family, maybe a patrician, from Latin patricius "nobleman," the origin of the name Patrick. 

A nickname for Patrick is Paddy. Paddy is a lot like "paddle" and paddles/oars are used for power, direction, and protection of a boat (or bark, as above with Chnum[canoe?]) 

    Carlisle Paddle, Scout Canoe Paddle, North Shore Water Sports 

The bark (boat) is made curved like an arch in a bow/arc shape (and rocks back and forth like a rocking chair / rocker with have arc shaped bases) Arc is from Latin arcus "bow, arch", from PIE *arku- "bowed, curved" (same root as Old English earh, Old Norse or) So maybe like the primordial mound; the curved vault of the sky "air"[father sky] and the curved surface of the land/earth [mother earth]which is our (b)ark or ark (Old English earc) though space. The bark is primarily a place of refuge upon the waters. In Latin arca is "large box, chest", and that which is within the arca is arcanus "secret hidden, private, concealed," from arcere "close up, enclose, contain, from PIE *ark- " to hold, contain, guard"(cognate Greek arkos "defense," arkein "to ward off"). 

We might also say patriarch is "father (formost, first, primary) + ark." Arkhe is "rule, beginning" in Greek, and arch-  in English is "chief, principle"(as in archangel, archbishop, archenemy), a Latinized from the Greek prefix arkh-, arkhi, "first, chief, primeval." So a patriarch would be the first first, like Tatenen, the primordial earth, in this sense.

Staves are held by rulers and patriarchs as sign of their power.

Fireworks pack a lot of punch. They are the oldest form of rockets. Rockets look like a type of staff or javelin. Rockets are missiles, from Latin missilis "that may be thrown or hurled", from missus "a throwing, hurling." Late Latin missa, mass, "dismissal". 

   Coloring page, ActivityVillage.co.uk 

Rocket is from Itallian rocchetto "a rocket", literally a "bobbin", diminutive of rocca "distaff" (Old High German rocko "distaf," old Norse rokkr, Proto-Germanic *rukkon-, from PIE *rug- "fabric, spun yarn".

    Lace bobbin Dutch c. 17th century(reproductions), from ilaria.veltri.tripod.com

A racket or raquet is a "handled paddle," from Middle French rachette, requette "racket for hitting; palm of the hand." Rackets have a woven patterned hitting surface.

    Badminton Rackets(which look like paddles or even insect wings), c.1900, from the strong.org

Ratchet is from French rochet "bobbin, spindle." Wooden ratchets actually look like the netjer(divine, god) hieroglyph, or a flag. They make quite a racket as noise makers.

    Rosewood Ratchet, called from larkinam.com

A distaff, also called a rock, is a tool used in spinning, it is from Old English distaef (Middle Low Getman dise, Low German disse "a bunch of flax" [so it is a flaxstaff]) Disstaff is also used to describe the female side of the family, female authority in a family, and the female sex. So here again(as with mother earth our rock and rocker in space), rock is used to describe the feminine rather than the masculine.

    Russian Distaffs, Ferapontov Monestary, Wikimedia, 2009

Bedizen means "to dress, finely adorn" originally dizen "to dress (a distaff) for spinning", but maybe also finely adorn the distaff (as above) before it is dressed in its flax(linen). Linen is "cloth woven from flax". 

Flask is a "container, bottle", Germanic base *fleh-, corresponding to PIE *plek- "weave, plait." Latin plicare "to fold," which is the same root as flax. A flask actually looks like the shape of the Russian distaffs or a paddle.

   Whiskey Flask, Kentucky Historical Society, c.1865

Other distaffs have more of a staff, traditional scepter, or javelin shape to them, rather than paddle/oar shape.

  The Virgin And Child with a Cross-shapped Disstaff [and spindle], Luis de Morales, St.Petersberg 

   Tip of a Freestanding Hasndcarved Disstaff(like a traditional scepter), knitspot.com

    La Rochelle, Spinner with spindle and (bedizen) distaf, William-Adolfe Bougeuereou, 1825-1905

It just goes to show that women are equally arch creators(begetters) and protectors of their families. Think of Callisto the mama bear / bear-mother of the Archadians and her son Arcus, who now reside in the night sky as the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Women are generally the ones who do the work of spinning and weaving throughout history. Don't mess with the ladies. Ladies rock!

    Women, non bedizen, jousting with bedizen distaffs, Bibliotheque Arsenal, Li queste del S. Graal, French manuscript, 1381

In the Egyptian and Greek mythologies goddesses associated with weaving were also war goddesses, namely Neith (Nit) and Athena. It is not surprising then that many instruments of war are modeled and named after spinning and weaving instruments.

    Wooden kherep scepter(with broken staff), Petrie Museum

This is an ancient Egyptian kherep / ḫrp-scepter. It looks like a type of distaff. The hieroglyph with the same shape was used for three different types of scepters that were similar in appearance, the kherep / ḫrp-scepter, aba-scepter and the sekhem / sḫm-scepter. According to some the kherep-scepter was "the controller," the aba-scepter "the commander," and the sekhem-scepter "the powerful." As a hieroglyph it expressed "power." Perhaps these types of Egyptian scepters were also based off of weaving instruments like distaffs, paddles, and bows. 

    Sekhem Scepter is like a shinny Oar. Or/Ore/Owr in Hebrew is "shine, light, enlighten, become light, dawn", as in, "Let there be light(or)". In English ore is "a metal-bering mineral or rock".

The shape of the ḫrp might be representative of the bow shape of a vibrating harp string that produces a tone that has "control" over people's emotions. The aba scepter maybe like the powerful palm / hand / wing of an abba "father" who "commands," and the sekhem may be like the powerful energy produced from a vibrating plate made out of metal (ore). That kind of vibration can be a very penetrating energy and feel almost electric.

Osiris was called "The Great Sekhem." He had the power of regeneration and was Lord over death and resurrection. What would it feel like to come in contact with that kind of energy?

A woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years and had spent all her living on upon physicians and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; and immediately her flow of blood ceased. And Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" When all denied it, Peter said, "Master the multitudes surround you and press upon you!" But Jesus said, "Some one touched me; for I perceive that the power (dynamin) has gone forth from me." Luke 8:43-46

Dynomite! 

    Sekhmet in hieroglyphics-  Sḫm (sekhem scepter) + kh / ḫ (round sieve; placenta + t (bread loaf, feminine gender indication)+ Seated Goddess

Sekhmet/Sekhmet/Sakhmet/Sekhet/Sakhet (like a power socket?) was the lion headed warrior goddess of Upper Egypt closely associated with the Eye of Ra (Wadjet, the royal cobra [like the seraphim]). One of her symbols was red (desher in Egyptian, the color associated with the desert) linen, and she was sometimes called nesert "the flame," "Lady of flame."

    I've Got the Power, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

What is this that Lego Cleopatra is holding? It is an iPhone charger or power chord, however it looks a lot like the sekhem-scepter "the powerful." Power can  be frightening when it is being used against you, but it is comforting when it is used for good, or working for you. Most of the power on earth comes from the sun (Ra / Re). The rays of the sun are taken in by plants and converted(spun into) to energy. Sekhmet was also a goddess of healing, medicine(made from plants) and menstruation, and was wife of the creator god Ptah, the rock, and that would make her rock-et, wouldn't it? So maybe that would make their baby a firework. 

Nefertem ("beautiful"+ tem) was the offspring of Sekhment and Ptah, he represented the blue lotus at the creation of the world, which we might call the Big Bang. Charge!

    Nefertem with Egyptian Lotus/Lilly Crown(flowers are clothed with petals[paddles, wings])

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29

Fireworks usually make beautiful flowerlike shapes when they go off in the sky and they are a popular way of celebrating patriotism on Independence Day, the 4th of July, as well as flying flags.

    4th of July Fireworks, by Tom Schopper- flickr.com

Fireworks explode in the sky (pt in ancient Egyptian) when the wick is put to a flame (nesert). The h in Ptah/pth is the wick hieroglyph. Wicks are made out of twisted, woven, or braided fibers such as flax. 

Ptah- p(stool[i.e., a raised mat] or mat[woven]) + t(loaf of bread)+ h(wick)+ seated god

Here again the baby of Ptah (sky + wick) and Sekhert (flame) would be the firework. Fireworks shimmer and fade like standards of the night sky. Fireworks stand out during the night like waving billowing flags do during the day. A flag is also made out of woven cloth like a mat (p hieroglyph). So maybe that square shaped mat of Ptah is like a flag "square piece cut from turf or sod", i.e., a p (woven material, fabric, woven flax, linen) + ta "land, earth", or a flag rock, flagstone "a flat square piece of rock," and flying flags are symbols for the fatherland (Ptah), a flag (turf) is a piece of the fatherland, and is the place of one's lineage (the line is made from the flax that is woven into linen). One's lineage can be shown through the types of material and clothes they wear.

    Linen Cloth

It is interesting that nes is "banner, standard, ensign, signal, flag, pole" in biblical Hebrew and nsr / neser  is "flame" in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, by Paul Dickson [n + s + r + brazier hieroglyph determinative]

A waving banner has the look of a flickering flame on a candle(wick). The flag / banner hieroglyph means "divine," and God told Moses to put a seraph on a nes Numbers 21:8 to cure the sickness of the Israelites when they were bit by "fiery serpents" in the desert. Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a nes "pole" and the people were cured when they looked upon it. This would seem to undoubtedly be some sort of Sekhmet, who was called "Lady of Flame" nbt nsrt and "Eye of Ra" irt ra / Wadjet(the divine fiery serpent) ritual. Kind of strange to think; coming from a patriarch. God told Moses to make the fiery serpent on the pole(Goddess Sekhmet/Wadjet) to heal the people, but he had gotten supper pissed off when Aaron made a golden calf(the Goddess Hathor) for them to worship when they asked him to because they were worried that Moses was delayed on the mountain Exodus 32. When Moses came down he burned it up, grounded it into power, put it on the water and made the people drink it. One has to feel a little bit of sympathy for the poor idolatrous Israelites. 

    Adoration of the Golden Calf, by Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665

Idolatry is not necessarily as clear cut as it may seem. It is more a state of mind than a certain action, as are many sins. The bronze serpent ended up having to be destroyed as well, because the people were worshiping it too 2 Kings 18:4  Idolatry is a sneaky subtle(like a snake) trap. However, people want to point the finger and say, "There! That is an idol(clear cut) and therefore those people who 'worship' it are idolaters." But really an idol is simply a God who is idle(not vital), and an idolater is someone who is happy to worship an idle(lifeless) God. In other words, you have no real relationship with that God. It is a fiction / imagination and is one sided between you and your worthless god who is really no god(power). That God does not preform or do anything, not like the God of Elijah who set Elijah's sacrifice ablaze notwithstanding the three measures of water poured over it. Elijah's God was not an idol. He proved that, but it took great  faith on the part of Elijah. Elijah trusted that his God would prove himself not idle(not an idol).

    Elijah with his altar to YHWH(the LORD), and the Four hundred and fifty devoted(notice how they cut themselves) prophets of Ba'al(the Lord), 1 Kings 18:20-40

And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of YHWH; and the God who answers by fire, he is God . . .  1 Kings 18:24

We don't see many folk with that kind of patriotism these days. But those Old Testament stories are just "idol" tales in any case, aren't they? Why should we take it to heart? We are rational! And what is rational happens to be, "my side (God/father/flag) is right (not idolatrous), and your side (God/father/flag) is wrong (idoloty)".

Wanna fight? Ready, aim, fire … um, no I don't want to fight. The battle can be with words and ideas, and it can be a friendly sport rather than a war. Let's just watch the fireworks instead. We can discuss differences over beer and hotdogs.