Movers and Shakers

We are the music-makers, 

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams;

World-loosers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world forever, it seems.

-Ode, Arthur O'Shaunghnessy 1844-1881

When things move or are moved they are not at rest. They are disturbed. Move is ultimately from Latin movere "move, set in motion; remove;  disturb". The one who is doing the moving can be viewed positively, as in, the prime mover, creator of light and everything good, but often movers are given negative connotation because of the discomfort that often accompanies change and growth. Movement brings about darkness and discomfort. The experience of adversity seems evil rather than pleasant. However, it is the experience of adversity, which when experienced, often ends up bringing about a greater good than if it had not been experienced at all. It is like the dawn of a new day which only comes after the night.

 The night moves us. Difficulty can move us in the right direction.

I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law. . . . Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I keep your word. . . It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. Psalms 119:55, 67, 71

    Lilith, By LeOstrich

Lilith/Lillit is a Hebew name for the first wife of Adam in Jewish folklore, from the Hebrew layil/lel/laylah meaning "night", and possibly also connected to Akkadian lilitu meaning "of the night". The night, however, can seem to be a bringer of ill. Ill is from Old Norse illr "ill, bad"(of unknown origin) before the sense of "sick, unhealthy, unwell" which was first recorded in the mid 15c. Before that, from c.1200 it meant "morally evil", also "malevolent, hurtful, unfortunate, difficult." This is actually not too much unlike how the night and darkness is often described in the bible. Perhaps, then, it is not far fetched to suppose that the word illr might have come from a word meaning night, darkness or Lilith, even. 

  Lilith, John Collier, 1892, The Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, England

Witch is from Old English wicce "female magician, sorceress", feminine form of wicca "sorcerer, wizard, man who practices witchcraft or magic", from wiccian "to practice witchcraft"(Low German wikken, wicken "to use witchcraft," wikker, wicker "soothsayer")

Witches practice wicked witchcraft. And what is wicked? To cause movement? Witches are traditionally the ones shown stirring the cauldron. 

    Witch at Couldron, Gustaf Tenggren, 1937

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. - Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1, William Shakespeare

Is it the stirring of the pot that is the cause of the toil and trouble?

Sorcerer is from sorcer, from Old French sorcier, from Medieval Latin sortarius "a teller of fortunes by lot; sorcerer", literally "one who influences fate or fortune", from Latin sors(genitive sortis) "lot, fate, fortune, destiny", also the origin of sort, from sortem(nominative sors) with the additional meanings "share, portion; rank, category; sex, class, oracular response, prophesy." A sorcerer is one who sorts things out, looks at the signs, categorizes, and passes on the information of what is seen in the stars, the stones, glass, and lots. They don't let it alone. They stir the pot. 

    Sorcereing Sorting Hat at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft & Wizardy, Harry Potter

Wicca is Old English masculine noun meaning "male witch, wizard, sorcerer, soothsayer, astrologer, magician", from which we get the word witch, Old English feminine form of wicca being wicce. Its origin possibly being ultimately from PIE *weg- (2) "to be strong, be lively"(cognate with Latin vigil "watchful, awake" and vigere "to be lively, thrive", this would give it the same root as wake which is a merger of Old English wacan "to become awake, arise, be born, originate" and Old English wacian "to be or remain awake", both from Proto-Germanic *waken. So the wizards and witches would be the ones who are vigilant and awake, they are woke, perhaps to the signs and omens, or maybe also, ones who wake or call up the spirits.

    The Magic Circle, John Williams Waterhouse, 1886, London

In Hebrew nachash has the meaning "a serpent", a word naming the creature from its hiss. The snake is a hisser or whisperer(Old English hwisprian), as in this passage

Now the serpent(nachash, i.e., hisser) was more subtle(arum "crafty, shrewd, sensible") than any other wild creature that YHWH Elohim had made.  Genesis 3:1

Nachash also has the meaning "practice divination, divined, observe signs, enchanter, learn by experience, diligently observe", and also "omen, omens", from the same primitive root, to hiss, ie, whisper a spell.

So this particular word for snake in Hebrew is used for and associated with those who we would call sorcerers or witches. The two groups are both whisperers, and they are both associated with shrewd, cunning, or sly behavior as well. Furthermore, the work of the nachash brought about the eating of the fruit in the garden of Eden, and was the cause of movement, i.e. the fall, and the bringing of the night.

    Eve Tempted by the Serpent, William Blake, 1799-1800

Weird is from a Proto-Germanic root and words like the Old Norse urdr "fate", from PIE *wert-"to turn, to wind", from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend." Like those spinners of fate, the weird sisters, the three fates or, Norns, guardians of the Well of Urdr/Urd(Wyrd / Weird), Urdarbrunner, the Well of Fate. Urd is derived from the past tense of verda "to be"("that which became"). The three norns are Urdr, Verdandi present tense("that which is happening"), and Skuld is from skulla ("need/ought to be/shall be").

   A Golden Thread(detail), John Melhuish Strudwick, 1885

Wag is from Proto-Germanic *wag-, probably from PIE root *wegh "to move about". Related to weigh, which is from Old English wegan, past tense waeg "find the weight of, measure; have weight; lift, carry, support, sustain, bear; move". Wiggle is ultimately from the same root *wegh.

Someone who is awake or watching, i.e., lively(*weg-); a watcher, is someone who is either in motion, or ready to move(*wegh); someone with the weight/gravitas to set things in motion and accomplish, i.e., a mover. . . or a guardian.

Medusa from Greek Medousa, literally "guardian," has serpent(nachash) hair that wiggles. In certain traditions it is said that the poisonous snakes(vipers) of the desert sprung up from drops of her blood, and she was a guard at the West gate of Death.

    Medusa, Lynnette Shelley, 2012

Wadjet(also known as Uto/Buto, Greek) the "green/papyrus colored one"(from wadj "green"), who was the Egyptian goddess represented by the Uraeus(Gk.), iraret, jr't transliterated from Egyptian hieroglyphs, was the rearing cobra, "the raised up one / one who rears up". Ir is "eye" in Egyptian, so maybe we could say the goddess who was called the Eye of Ra, was a watcher, i.e., an eye, the opened or raised eye of Ra, or the witch/nachash/serpent of Ra.

   Nekhebet, Wadjet, Uraeus Pendant - National Geographic

Green is the color of growth and movement. The green skinned god of death and re-birth, Osiris, was also an agricultural god, as in a plant which dies, is harvested and broken on a threshing floor, and then the seed is planted, watered, and resurrected to new life, or transformed into spirits, as is associated with Bacchus / Dionysus, god of the harvest and wine making, and the Green Man and stories such as John Barleycorn of whom they sing, 

There was three kings into the east, Three kings both great and high, And they hae sworn a solemn oath John Barleycorn must die. -Robert Burns version, 1782

In Hebrew ir/irin is not "eye" as in Egyptian, but "watcher", from ur/uwr/oor "awake, rouse oneself, stir", called "holy ones" in the book of Daniel 4:13, 17. Still the connection is there however, eyes are watchers and when the watchers are open(raised) the person stirs.

Watch (v.) from Old English waeccan "keep watch, be awake", from Proto Germanic *wakjan from PIE *weg- (2) "be strong, lively", essentially the same  as Old English wacian "be or remain awake". So we might say a watcher is a raised/open eye associated with serpents(nachash) which are wriggling writhers, witches(wicce/wicca) stirrers of the pot, and Wadjet(eye of Ra).

One of the Hebrew words for "donkey" is chamor, from chamar "daub, befoul, be red, trouble". The troubled(chamar) person, is the person who is stirred, or agitated to the point of bubbling/boiling. This troubling is the kind of adversity that can make one turn away from harm as in the story of Balaam and his donkey. Donkeys(chamor) tend to anger, or make one red(chamar) in the face because of their stubbornness. 

Chamar is also "ferment, boil or foam up, leaven". The trouble causes brewing, bubbling, and agitation, or stirring of the pot. Like Balaam's donkey(athon "female donkey", probably from ethan "permanent, firm, enduring") who caused trouble for him and saved his life. Balaam, what an ass!

   Balaam and the Angel, Gustav Jaeger, 1836

But God's anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary(satan). Now he[Balaam] was riding on the donkey(athon), and his two servants with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get back on the road. . . 

Then the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey(athon), which you have always ridden to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No" he said. Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes[raised his eyes, like those who see and caused him to be awakened] and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword(chereb from "desolate, dry, waste") drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown. The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times?I have come here to oppose(satan) you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey(athon) saw me and turned away these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have let her live. Numbers 22:22-23, 31-33

Another Hebew word for donkey, ayir, like ir/irin, is related to ur "awake, rouse oneself, lifted, raise, stir"(supposedly from the notion of lifting/raising and carrying burdens). Donkeys are movers. They are even movers fit to be the vehicle or carrier(from PIE*wegh- "to go, transport in a vehicle", Old English wegan "to carry") of salvation. 

    Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey(chamor), on a colt(ayir) the foal(ben "son") of a donkey(athon). Zechariah 9:9

So Jesus enters humbly, riding on a donkey, but donkeys are movers, and movement often brings trouble, and Jesus was indeed trouble!

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace(eirene) to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34

Why not peace? First change brings about trouble and is uncomfortable. AFTER transformation comes peace. 

Fermentation(chamar[see above]) is the fifth(chamash, from chamesh "five") operation in the Alchemy of Transformation. It is the death(putrification) and rebirth(spiritualization) phase. For example, spirits are not made but through, first, the decomposition of certain organic material in the substance, i.e., the wine, barley, etc. With the change, and the bubbling fermentation, some things are lost, but something else new, and magical is created due to this loss.

    The Devil's Wine - Bubbles from Rose Champagne, by Gaetan Lee, wikipedia:champagne

There appear to be both holy watchers, and rebellious or fallen watchers traditionally  The holy/good ones we call angels, i.e., messengers, and the fallen angels we call demons, from Latin daemon "spirit", from Greek daimon "deity, divine power; lesser god; guiding spirit, tutelary deity". 

Egregoroi/Grigori "Watchers" in Greek(Ir/Iren in Aramaic), are guardians, from Greek gregoros "to be awake, watchful, alert, vigilant", from eger/egeiro "to waken, rise up, stir", from PIE root *ger "to be awake"(Sanskrit cognate jagarti "he is awake"). 

   Les Anges Dechus(The Fallen Angels), Francois B. Cibot, 1833

Perhaps this is related to the English word jog, from the 1540's meaning "to shake up and down", of uncertain origin they say. The German jager/yeager is "hunter, huntsman", from jagen "to hunt", From Old High German Old jagon, related to Old Norse jaga "to drive, to move to and fro". Hunters are definitely awake, alert and vigilant.

Guardians / Watchers of the sky are the four stars which bring the seasons, and the seasons mean movement and change, Alderbran(vernal equinox), Regulus(summer solstice), Antares(autumnal equinox), Fomalhaut(winter solstice). Antares is the alpha star in Scorpio, "watcher of the west"[like Medusa?]. The movement to autumn is the cause of the Fall, and the change from light to darkness. 

Fomalhaut is the bright watcher(ir) that appears at the winter solstice, in the darkness of the night. . . and it actually looks like an eye/ir(jrt[eye] in Ancient Egyptian). Erie, huh?

   Fomalhaut debris ring, NASA/Hubble Telescope

Therefore keep watch(gregorite) because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back-- whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. Mark 13:35

Don't be afraid of movement, the night, or darkness. Salvation comes riding in upon trouble. Don't deny him out fear like Peter. He will see you through. . . 

"This will feel a little weird." -Morpheus, The Matrix, 1999

In the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but some things are unequivocally beautiful, like rainbows.

    Arco Iris, "Rainbow" in Spanish -photo by JulieO. /chthonickore

The Greek goddess Iris was the messenger of the gods personified as the rainbow. Hermes was also called "messenger of the gods"(Angelus Athanaton). Both Hermes and Iris were shown in art with the common symbol of a staff called a kerykeion or caduceus. 

    Iris Goddess with Caduceus and Ewer of Water from River Styx, Attic Red-figure pottery, c. 480 BC

If we call Hermes the messenger of the gods, as in the "ear"(ancient Egyptian mesedjer), then Iris can be said to be the "eye"(ancient Egyptian ir) of the gods.  But even here we can see a connection between Iris and Hermes in the English. The "Ir", in Iris can be pronounced like "eye" or "ear." And we hear with our ears (Hear-mes). We are given information by way of our ears and eyes. They are our messengers.

An iris is a part of an eye.

The word iris comes from Greek and "was used of any bright circle [OE]," even the eye-like markings on peacock feathers.

    Eyespots on Peacock Feathers - Irides[Iri-days] or Irises

And remember any rainbow in the sky is actually a circle so it is an iris, i.e., a bright circle, however we usually see just part of the circle so we see a bow or an arc.

The Hebrew letter ayin (eye-yeen),

    Found this Ayin on my Driveway, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

was derived from the Proto-Semitic ayin. It is a letter of the Phoenician alphabet as well, but has a circular "eye" or "O" shape.  It was derived "perhaps" from the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph ir / iri / irt, jr- "eye". This eye hieroglyph / pictograph was used as a determinative (it represented the word) for certain verbs such as "see, make, watch, create, beget, construct, do, act". These meanings are not too far off then in concept to the verb "go," in Latin which is ire "to go" and eo "I go". 

Eye Hieroglyph - ir / iri / irt "eye";  mAa "make"; mAA "see"; rs "watch, be awake"; schp "to be blind", image by Julie O.                    

The Hebrew word aiyn is "eye; to see", but as in ancient Egyptian and other languages, it is a complex word and has many extended meanings including that of "spring"(of water). In English, for example, we say that the spots on potatoes are "eyes," or "eye" can refer to someone's opinion, "How does this seem in your eyes?"or a certain ability, "She has a good eye for fashion." And we say, "I see what you mean," when we understand.

Uraeus from Greek ouraîos ούραiος "on its tail", was the name given by the Greeks to the symbol for the ancient Egyptian snake goddess Wadjet (Wadjat / Uadjet / Uadjat), from wadj, "papyrus / green," whom they called Buto (from the name of her city), in her depiction as a rearing cobra. So maybe we could say Uraeus is ouraîos "on its tail," as in "raised up," or even "tail-ed"so to speak, from Greek ourá  ουρά "tail," not as in having a tail, but tailed up, or up "on its tail".

Uraeus is the Greek name for the ancient Egyptian symbol transliterated [in English] as iaret / iyret, j'r.t, with the meaning, "rearing cobra, risen one," in ancient Egyptian. We can see that iaret is similar to the word ir "eye" with the feminine ending "-et" added, like eye-et. The eye is in fact the "risen one", that is, when the eye opens one is awake and alive, or conscious, and the dawn is the rising of the eye in the sky. So there is a very complex and mystical connotation to the notion of an open eye.

Iaret (rearing cobra) is a symbol for the snake goddess, and a rearing cobra does have visual similarities with an eye or eyes.

    Egyptian Cobra (Rearing Cobra or Eye of God?)

The hieroglyphic symbols known as the "Eye of Horus"and "Eye of Ra" were adorned painted eyes with particular markings underneath. The personified Eye of Horus was also called wadjet / udjat (the name of the snake goddess "green / papyrus [one]"). Like many important symbols in ancient Egypt these eyes were often used as protective amulets.

    Eye of Ra/Solar Eye/Wadjet - Right Eye

Sometimes the markings on the wadjet, the Eye of Horus, are said to come from the face markings of a falcon. Horus and Ra are both portrayed with the head of a falcon in ancient Egyptian artistic representations. Falcons are known for having keen eyesight.

    Lanner Falcon

The right eye is often said to be associated with the sun, and called the Solar Eye, and Eye of Ra, and the left eye with Horus, or other times, the Lunar god Thoth, and the moon. However, there seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the exact distinctions. The lack of clarity seems to illustrates how the varying ancient traditions, in an attempt to explain the complex mythology through many different, but similar stories, often overlap. And so there is a lot of mingling of ideas from one concept, or god / goddess, to the next, as well as the influence that changing cultures and power structures have over the expression, understanding and practice of the religion over long periods of time. 

    Eye of Horus/Eye of Thoth/Lunar Eye/Wadjet - Left Eye

     A Left Ir "eye", Wadj "green" Colored Eye, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

Some people say the markings are reminiscent of the eye markings on a cheetah as well. Cheetah is from chitakra, Sanskrit "hunting leopard, tiger," with the literal meaning of "speckled," from chitra-s "distinctly marked, variegated, many-colored, bright, clear", from proposed PIE *kit-ro, root (s)kai- "bright, shining," like the sky.  So we might say a rainbow is chitra "colored, bright" and irises are chitra and a rainbow is found in the sky (skai- "bright, shining"). 

The goddess Iris also traveled swiftly, like a cheetah, in the sky where we can see her rainbow.

Cheetah skin in ancient Egypt was thought to represent the stars, the night sky and eternity. Cheetah or Leopard skins, or painted cloths representations skins were worn by lumutef-priests in ancient Egypt.

"Leopard-skin" robe of the priest, Harnedjitef, probably 1st century A.D., Roman Period, The Met

Chaya from Sanskrit means "shadow; brilliance, luster" in Greek skia means "shade".

A meaning of both brilliance, luster and shadow? The pattern of shade that leaves make under a tree can be variegated light and dark and might look like cheetah skin, the pattern which can also be likened to the stars in night sky. The night sky which is "brilliant" and "lustrous".

  Cheetah- Vicky Potts, Earthwatch

The Egyptian goddess Seshet / Seshat, sSt meaning "scribe, record keeper" with "-et " feminine ending, was the goddess of knowledge, wisdom and writing, also reading, arithmetic and architecture, building, surveying, astronomy, astrology. She was shown wearing a cheetah or leopard hide in art. Seshet was the female counterpart of Thoth, sometimes called his daughter or at other times, his wife.

    Seshet (with cheetah skin garment) at Amun Temple, Luxor c. 1250 BCE

Sesh, sS means "scribe," and also "chord" as in, a mason's line which is used for measuring and aligning foundations for buildings. So the chord (sesh) was a string with a record or memory of a certain length.  

In music, a chord or string on an instrument vibrates in a bow shape. And when you play a certain chord you get a certain sound. So its memory is present to us in the name of the cord. A composer then scrivens (as a scribe) the chords on a paper, musicians read and play the music, and it can then be audibly recorded.

Seshet has an interesting symbol on her head dress or crown. What does it mean? 


   Seshet 

There are many ideas about the meaning of the symbol, which is also the hieroglyph for her name. Some people say that the dome (bow, arc) or "umbrella"(from Latin umbra "shade, shadow") is a pair of downturned horns, which were maybe originally a crescent, linking Seshet to Thoth the moon god. And some people say that the seven point object is maybe a papyrus plant, i.e., wadj, linking to her role as inventor of writing, and as mistress of the library. One of her titles is translated as "Mistress of the house of books." Some people even claim that it is a cannabis plant and that Seshat is the goddess of cannabis (maybe her title would be Meri ("beloved" Egyptian) - juana, and her association with rolled "paper" couldn't hurt either). There may be truth to some or all of these, but something is still missing. 

The whole symbol actually reminds me of the enchanted rose in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." The enchanted rose is protected under a glass case that has a bell or dome shape. The prince, who was turned into a beast by an enchantress, was required to learn to love before the last petal fell from his rose, in order for the spell to be broken. Also, the reason why Belle has to go live with the beast, in the first place, is because the only present she wanted from her father was a rose, and he takes a rose from the beast's garden for her. In the classic story, when the teardrops (dew) from Beauty / Belle's eyes fall (rain) on the beast, after she returns to him when he is at the point of death, the beast turns back into handsome prince.

  The Enchanted Rose (or "Dew"?), from Disney's Beauty and the Beast,Protected by a Glass Bell (Belle?)

It is true that a rose does not look like the kind of "flower" that is in the Seshet hieroglyph, however, there would undoubtedly be some merging and morphing between words and symbols in myths and fairy tales over thousands of years of time.

Rosa is "rose" in Latin and Ros is "dew." One of the epithets of Iris was Roscida "dewey" in Latin. So we could say that the goddess might be represented by a rose, when originally she was represented by ros "dew". 

       Dew Dops on a Rose, photo by Ailis O'Reilly

In ancient Egyptian id / idt / iad had the meaning "to cense", "pour out a libation", and as a noun "incense", "incense offering," "dew." This connection between incense and dew makes sense perhaps if we think of incense as being made from drops of resin from trees like myrrh and frankincense, and the scent then rains down or "dews" upon burning it. Also, water, is often ritually sprinkled, and sometimes together with the incense being burned, so they would both rain down or "dew" together. 

This passage here talks about a "sprinkling" ritual that was supposed to be carried out every morning in Heliopolis,

The washing or sprinkling of the living and the dead king seems to have been a feature of the sun-cult of Heliopolis. The sun-god Rē -Atum was supposed to wash or be washed every morning before he appeared above the eastern horizon. As a result of his daily matutinal ablutions, at which, according to one conception, Horus and Thōth acted as his bath-attendants, the sun-god was thought to be reborn. Some Notes on the Ancient Egyptian Practice of Washing of the Dead, by Aylward M. Blackman, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr., 1918, p 117

And isn't this reminiscent of the "ritual" which nature preforms each day at dawn, before the rising of the sun. Perhaps we could say the rising sun is bathed or sprinkled with dew each morning, and the evaporation of this dew steam often looks smoke-like in the sunlight. Interestingly enough the word for "dawn" in ancient Egyptian was andu, anDw [from Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Paul Dickson] 

In Coptic (the ancient Egyptian language converted to the Greek alphabet) eiote means "dew, mist, vapor, rain-storm, moisture and exudation." The Greek letter iota was derived from the Phonecian yod and corresponds to the Hebrew letter yod/yud as well.

"Amen, I say to you, till heaven [ouranos] and earth [gé] pass away, not an ióta, not a keraia (small stroke), will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18

So is that eiote "dew" like the drop or dot on an "i", like the yod, the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, written hanging up in the air?

    Yod He Waw He -read right to left

The dome on the headdress of Seshet could represent the dome of the heavens and the "dew" which rains down upon the earth from heaven. And the "flower" could represent the goddess.

In cuneiform the ideogram an meaning "sky, heaven"[also the supreme god An] is represented by a similar symbol to the seven point object on Seshat's headdress and resembles a star or a flower. It was used also  as a determinative [like an emoji] for deity [called dinger] and precedes the name of the goddess Inanna, who was called "Queen / Lady of Heaven / Sky," she came to be equated with the goddess Ishtar / Astarte. The earliest form of the symbol looks an eight pointed star similar to an asterix ("little star") *. 

    Dingir, "Sky/God", Archaic Cuneiform c. 2400 BC, image by Julie O.

Inanna represented the planet Venus and her symbol was an eight point star.

    Inanna/Ishtar Star

It is true that Seshat's symbol is said to have only seven points, however that is not counting the final arm on the symbol which connects the headdress with her head. We shouldn't necessarily discount that one.

In this representation of the symbol, on the Amun Temple at Luxor, there is even another five or six (whether you count the bottom or not) pointed star at the center. Both five and six pointed stars are used at various times to represent feminine divinities as well. The five pointed star is also associated with the planet Venus. 

    Seshet, Amun Temple, Luxor

Furthermore, the wedge mark of the cuneiform stylus (which were often made from cut reeds) resembles a papyrus (wadj) hieroglyph.


   Papyrus Stem Hieroglyph, Wadj, image by Julie O.

  Simple Cuneiform

So, the symbol could have connections to papyrus, a star, heaven, and the goddess at the same time.

Perhaps, then, Seshat's symbol could be representative of the goddess(of knowledge and wisdom) that comes down like the "dew" (ros)? The Holy Spirit (Ghost / Shade / Umbra / Skia) or Wisdom bringing knowledge to the world. The bright morning star. The light-bringer. The wisdom that rains from heaven like the manna in the desert, "When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it."[Numbers 11:9]

You are indeed Holy, oh Lord, the font of all holiness. Make holy, therefore, these gifts[bread and wine] we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall [spiritus rore (from ros) tui, literally "by the dew of your spirit"], so that they may become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Catholic Eucharistic Prayer II

The Hebrew word translated as rainbow in Genesis is qesheth "bow." According to Strong's Concordence it is "from qashah in the original sense (of qowsh) of bending: a bow, for shooting (hence, figuratively, strength) or the iris . . . " Qashah is "to be hard, severe, fierce" in the sense of qowsh "bend, be harsh," so, like a bow that is strung. For something that is a beautiful sign of hope it also carries with it the association of something that is bent or stressed. Like the light from the sun that is refracted and reflected in the water droplets. Maybe also, like God was "bowed" to become man.

Another word with a similar sounding first element, qaddish means "holy one, saint" as in qodesh "sacred, holy",  from qadash "to be set apart, consecrated". The watchers in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23,  are called "holy ones" qaddish.

"I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven." Daniel 4:13

Watcher is a translation of the Aramaic er / iyr / ir (s.) erin / iyrin / irin (pl.) "waking, wakeful one." Maybe having "eyes open"? Ir is from a root corresponding to ur "awake"[the word ur also has the meaning of "bare, exposed", root of arom "naked"] The qaddish (holy one) may be perceived as qowsh (harsh) at times, think of the root of the words "ire, irate". The irin "watchers," holy ones, may quash the enemies of the Most High.

The class of angels known as "The Watcher's" are called Grigori from egregoroi  έγρήγοροι "wakeful," in biblical Greek egeiró έγείρω / egeiran ήγειραν "to awaken, arise." 

    A Variegated Watcher/Grigori in Shadow 

Jesus says to his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane (meaning "oil press"), on the Mount of Olives, 

My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death; remain here and watch with me [in Greek, "meinate hode kai gregoreite γρηγορεϊτε "] Mt 26:38 

But none of them could keep their dang eyes open and be an angel for him in his hour of need, for Christ's sake! 

    A Watcher / Ir - an Eye, photo by Julie O. /chthonickore

The English word, ire "wrath" is said to be etymologically connected (by the same root) to the Greek hieros "filled with the divine, holy". Those irin "watchers" can be wrathful if it is what God chooses. Perhaps someday they'll have their day . . . of wrath, dies irae.

So, the ir "watcher" is an "eye" ir of God.

As the saying goes, "The eyes are the windows to the soul." But now with computer programs like Windows, windows are the eyes to the soul of the world. And in fact, the word "window" comes from Old Norse vindauga, vinder "wind" + auga "eye", which replaced the Old English eagpyrl "eye-hole", and eagduru "eye -door". So, windows are "doors" for the eyes. Eyes are the "wind eyes" or "spirit eyes" to the soul. Or, we could say eyes are gadgets / widgets (wadjets?) for seeing into the soul.