H is for Horus

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

If you’d rather check out my book review for today, go here.

With everyone making such a fuss about him, having him replace his father as king of Egypt and his grandfather (Ra) as the sun god and the king of the gods, it feels a bit like he’s the coddled chosen one, doesn’t it?

Folklore

Book of the Dead: Becoming a God in Ancient Egypt [Ancient Egyptian text]

An incarnation of the god Horus in life, the king is directly addressed or otherwise equated with Osiris in death.

Osiris and Isis’s son Horus is very often invoked as well in the spells and represented in the vignettes in his fully animal falcon form or as an anthropoid god with falcon head.

Ancient Egypt: A Captivating Guide to Egyptian History, Ancient Pyramids, Temples, Egyptian Mythology, and Pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and Cleopatra by Captivating History

Osiris, the mythical ruler of Egypt, is killed by his brother Seth. Osiris’s sisters, Isis and Nephthys, are trying to find his damaged body. Isis finds the body and revives Osiris in order to conceive a son, Horus. The body of Osiris is mummified and protected from Seth’s assaults. Isis, the divine mother, gives birth to Horus in the marshes. The creatures of chaos poison the baby Horus, but he is healed. Horus and Seth fight against each other for the right to rule. Seth ends up with wounded testicles. Horus loses an eye, or both eyes, but another god (usually Thoth) restores the damaged eye(s). Horus avenges the death of Osiris. Seth is overpowered. Horus, as a result, becomes king of the living. Osiris becomes ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead.

The three main gods in ancient Egyptian religion are Osiris, Horus, and Seth. Horus, the god of order, is Osiris’s and Isis’s son. The king of Egypt held the attributes of this deity. In fact, the Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was an incarnation of Horus on Earth. This god is usually depicted as a man with a hawk head.

*More can be read in the book.

Egyptian Gods: Discover the Ancient Gods of Egyptian Mythology by Stephan Weaver

Horus is a falcon god, and he can be a challenge to understand; there were many sky gods and hawk gods in Ancient Egypt. Horus represents the best elements of them all… After avenging his father, Horus became king of Egypt. Horus and Set always oppose each other in Egyptian mythology. Horus was the patron god of young men, duty, service, and loyalty. Early Egyptian pharaohs represented themselves as Horus reborn and thus a complete incarnation of Horus. Horus was the also the god of light and the daytime sky. Horus appeared as having a falcon’s head crowned with a red and white pschent (crown).

*More can be read in the book.

Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch

HORUS (HOR) Horus was the celestial falcon and the embodiment of kingship. The conflict between Horus and Seth, the Two Lords, was an enduring theme in Egyptian myth. The name Horus probably means the “Distant One.” Two main forms of Horus appear in the sources. These are sometimes regarded as separate gods, belonging to different epochs, and sometimes as aspects of the same deity. Horus the Great or Horus the Elder (Harwer/Haroeris) was a primeval being who initiated creation. As Lord of the Sky, his wings spanned the heavens, and his eyes were the sun and the moon. This Horus is the son of a sky goddess, either Nut or Hathor. Horus the Younger was the son of Isis who grew up to avenge his murdered father, Osiris, and take his place as ruler of Egypt. He was usually shown as a falcon-headed man. Each king of Egypt was acclaimed as a “living Horus.”

Egypt’s earliest kings were shown as hawks preying on their enemies. Many Egyptian deities could be represented by birds of the hawk family. The cults of some of these gods, such as Nekheny of Hierakonpolis and Khenty-Khety of Athribis, were gradually assimilated with that of Horus. One of the earliest divine images known from Egypt is that of a falcon in a barque. This probably represents Horus as a star or planet crossing the Winding Waterway of the sky. Later texts paint a dazzling picture of the One of Dappled Plumage who opened his eyes to dispel darkness and chaos.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Horus: The Curious Egyptian God of the Sky
• Eye of Horus
• Horus
• Horus
• Horus
• Horus

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

If you ignore that Ra exists, then Horus is the god of kingship, protection, healing, the sun and the sky. There are various gods named Horus, but this is about the son of Isis and Osiris. He was conceived on the reanimated Osiris after Set had killed him. Once grown, Horus went for vengeance and defeated his uncle, Set. He was then known as “Horus the Great” because he restored order to the land.

The ruling gods, the ennead, had first ruled that Horus couldn’t take Osiris’ throne as he was too young to rule and that Set, despite having killed his brother, was better equipped for the role. Isis pleaded or used magic, and it was decided that the winner of a competition or fight (sometimes said to have lasted 80 years) would be the new king. In many of these contests, Isis cheated so her son would win. Is he then really better than his uncle?

Horus was depicted as a falcon or a man with a falcon’s head. His right eye was the sun or morning star and his left eye the moon or evening star. His eyes also represented healing and power. Egyptian rulers called on him during times of war, relying on him during battle.

In Ancient Egypt, the ruling pharaoh was said to be Horus (the king of the living) and when the pharaoh died, he became Osiris (king of the dead). Clearly the ancient pharaohs had a thing about being gods and ruling forever.

His symbols are the falcon and the Eye of Horus, the wedjat. This eye is connected to when Set ripped out one of Horus’ eyes during their battle – it was later restored by Thoth. The injury and restoration of his eye is also linked to the waxing and waning of the moon. The wedjat is believed to have protective powers and can be seen on a lot of ancient Egyptian art.

Horus in Modern Culture

Marvel Comic Books

Horus is a member of the Heliopolitan race of gods, and resides in Celestial Heliopolis. He is the son of Osiris and Isis. Horus is the Egyptian god of justice and retribution.

Learn more here.

Gods of Egypt movie

Horus was born to Osiris and Isis, the rulers of all Egypt. He was worshipped by the mortals as the Lord of the Air.

Transformation: Like all the gods, Horus is able to transform into an man-beast hybrid with metal instead of flesh. In Horus’ case, his form is humanoid with the head and wings of a falcon, coloured gold and silver, with plasma blue colored eyes. The transformation can be full or minus the head and wings, leaving his normal head visible, but when fully transformed, he makes the sound of a falcon instead of speech. When he is with only one eye, Horus believes that he cannot transform into his godly form, however it was later discovered that he could do so regardless of his missing eye once he realised his true journey in life was to protect his people, and steered himself back on track by choosing to try and save Bek over retrieving his other eye. There seems to be no difference in his power with one or two eyes once he is following his true path again.

Learn more here.

Kane Chronicles book series by Rick Riordan

Horus is the Egyptian god of war, the sky and kingship. Originally, he was the son of Geb and Nut, born on the second Demon Day. Later, he was reborn to Osiris and Isis. Horus was the god who took Carter Kane as a host.

When Julius Kane summons the mighty Osiris using the Rosetta Stone, he also unleashes Osiris’ current and former siblings. Horus quickly takes Julius’ son, Carter as his host by using his amulet as a medium. 

Learn more here.

SMITE video game

Heavy lies the head that wears the crown. If such an adage holds true, then surely the heads that seek to wear it must as well. Born of Osiris, and destined to ascend to the throne of the Egyptian Pantheon as its divine ruler, Horus is an entity of great power, whose formidable strength is mirrored by his innate desire for balance and justice.

And yet, these grand attributes are not what has come to define Horus amongst the divine beings who walk the earth. Rather, it is strife, division and conflict that cling to him like a shadow. A shadow that has taken the form of his uncle, Set.

Set stands in opposition to Horus’ ascension to rule, challenging so that he might be the one to take the throne and hold the destiny of their pantheon, lands and mortal worshippers in the palm of his hand. Thus has begun a path of chaos and destruction that has claimed countless lives, including that of venerable Osiris himself. Reeling from the cold-blooded murder of his father by his own uncle, Horus swore an oath to all creation, on pain of his own death, to set right the horrific deeds that had been perpetrated, and restore order, peace and justice to the land.

For Horus, this conflict will see his kingdom restored to its full former glory, first among equals of all the Pantheons in creation, or should he fail, see all he knows and loves cast into darkness, corruption and ruin. He has become inextricably linked with Set, a shining reflection of his uncle’s brooding darkness. Horus knows in his heart that Set will stop at nothing to achieve his aims, and so he must do the same. For the fate of all, he must prevail, no matter the cost.

Learn more here.

Horus in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Horus

Horus can transform into a falcon. He enjoys war. He believes himself superior to others and refuse to take their counsel. It’s how he was raised, after all. One eye is the sun and the other the moon. He’s king of the sky. He’s called “Horus the Great”. With all of this, it’s no wonder he struts around like he owns the world. A self-important, self-involved deity, he rarely takes time to notice what’s going on in the lives of others – including his parents. Only Ra seems to have any influence over him (usually because he uses some of his power to scare Horus witless).

He is so full of himself… (The song is better without the weird music video.)

See this immortal in action in my writing:

Morrígan Unleashed (Irascible Immortals #8)

A loud caw went up and the crows of the area flew up into the red sky. Morrígan looked around. A falcon. She sniffed. Horus. She rolled her eyes.

‘Stop trying to sneak up on me – it’s not going to work.’

He flew down and landed as a man.

‘I’ve always had a problem with your arrogance, Morrígan.’

‘You’re one to talk.’

He was visibly controlling his temper. Morrígan smirked.

Morrígan Unleashed, Irascible Immortals #8, Ronel Janse van Vuuren

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