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, 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.

Salt of the Earth

Everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. Mark 9:49-50

  Salted with Fire, janrichardsonimages.com, The Painted Prayerbook

What does this mean, to "be salted with fire"? 

To be salted can mean "to be seasoned". Maybe it makes sense to think of it like that, every one will be "seasoned" with fire. Season(v.) is from Old French assaisoner "to ripen, season". So if a person is salted it might mean he or she is ripened or brought to full potential. To be brought to full potential with fire is a kind of testing or trial which purifies (pyro-fies) like clay pots put in a kiln and precious metals in a fire.

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. . . Zachariah 13:9

In Greek hala αλα, halas αλας is "salt".

Is one who is salted or seasoned with hala (salt) holy? Holy is from Old English halig "holy, consecrated, sacred, godly". From Proto-Germanic *hailaga. We are called to be holy and we are also called to be the salt of the earth.

   Madonna and Child. A Holy Salty Pair.

You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Mt. 5:13

Salt is used to preserve and flavor food. It is also often used in ritual.

You are to offer them before the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burt offering to the LORD. Ezekiel 43:24

Does the  hala (salt) help to make the food halig (holy)? 

Salt preserves food and helps to make it complete in taste, make present the whole flavor, and in that sense, it is fit for royalty. It might even be considered to be angelic, holy, transformed, compared to bland unsalted (unholy, or un-hala) food.

    Fish in Salt

It is interesting that certain words used for greeting are similar to words for salt.

Hail (compare with hala[salt], hello) as "salutation in greeting" is from Old Norse heill "health, prosperity, good luck". If those who are salty are those who have been purified, then wouldn't this mean that they were healthy (hala-thy)?

Those who are healthy are those who are whole, or perhaps whole-y.

Health is from Old English hælp "wholeness, a being whole, sound or well." From Proto-Germanic *hailitho, from Pie *kailo- "whole, uninjured, of good omen".  Cognate Old English hal "hale, whole", Old English halig, Old English hælan "to heal".

Helen in Greek is Helene, probably the feminine form of helenos meaning "the bright one". Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. She must have been quite healthy, and since she was beautiful would have been considered to be, perhaps, tasty . . . so was she salty?

  Helen on the Trojan Ramparts,Gustave Moreau, 1826- 1898. - Helen of Troy - beautiful and bright, like an angel.

Was this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Illium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss. Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies! -- Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again. Here will I dwell, for heaven is in these lips, and all is dross that is not Helena. -Christopher Marlow, Doctor Faustus, The Harvard Classics, Scene XIII, ln. 88-94

Bright can mean intelligent, it can also mean something very shiny like the angels who are bright, holy, and whole which makes them salty (and probably intelligent).

    Angelic Energy, ashtarcommand crew.net

Salutations is ultimately from Latin salutationem "a greeting, saluting".

Perhaps we might say when greeting someone, "Salt!", or "Salt-utations!", or "salute-tations ", as well, since it is a good thing to be salty.

In Hebrew "salt" is melach, "angel" is malak," king" is melek, and "to become king or queen, to reign" malak. So again there is a similarity in the word for salt and also words meaning the kind of people who might be salty, whole or holy, namely angels, royalty, or the gods.

  Pala dei Linaioli(detail), by Fra Angelico

The English word natron is a French cognate from the Spanish natrón , from the Greek nitron. This, in turn, is from the Ancient Egyptian ntry "natrón". Natron was taken from dry lake beds in Ancient Egypt. It was used as a cleaning product domestically and for the body, in burial rituals and mummification. It was also used for fish and meat preservation, among other uses. 

It is interesting that the Ancient Egyptian word for gods / divine was very similar, ntr (neter). The gods (neter) were the royalty of the underworld / afterworld / neterworld. They would be the salty ones, would they not?

   Osiris, Lord/King of the Dead, God of Re-birth. One of the ntr

So, perhaps salt was named with the intent of meaning something "divine" or "of / like the gods". 

We might take salt for granted because it is so readily available to us, but try to imagine life without salt . . . it would be pretty bland. Life would also be pretty bland without salty people, but they are readily available to us as well. In fact you can be one yourself. You ARE the salt of the earth! Don't become tasteless. God is in you and all around you. Don't take that for granted. Act accordingly.

Om Nama Shivaya 

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.