May 31, 2010
Memorial Day 2010
This morning I got up at the crack of dawn to do a small ritual for Memorial Day (as I’d mentioned previously). Out on the front lawn, I set up a little shrine with offerings and read the following prayer out loud at sunrise:
A Memorial Day Prayer for Heru-hekenu and the Akhu
Dua Heru-hekenu! O Son of Bast,
You Who travel with Ra through the Duat,
You Who journey on the night barque through the land of Wesir,
You Who preserve the body and protect the soul,
may You preserve and protect all those who have died in service:
our soldiers, our police and rescue workers, our heroes.
May You bring light for their eyes.
May You bring breath for their nostrils.
May You bring fragrant unguents for their bodies and their kas
and every good thing so that they might live.
Great solider, Master of Protection,
may You spread Your wings out above the living as well,
may You bless the ones who put themselves in danger,
fighting to protect all that they love.
May their bodies be strengthened,
may their hearts be pure,
and may they return home safely at the end of their service,
until the day when all the lands are forever at peace.
May there be rest and healing for all the veterans
and great glory for the courage that they have shown.
An offering which the King gives to Heru-hekenu, Son of Bast, at the shrine of Saut-sen Iryt Ra: a thousand of bread, a thousand of barbecue, incense, flame, and cool water for the honored dead of this nation, true of voice. Dua Akhu! May you give your protection and guidance to those who fight today and to all the veterans who have served in the past. May you be remembered for as long as the stars shine in the sky. And may you live.
Dua Heru-hekenu! Dua Akhu! Nekhtet!
Afterward I sang “Taps” and then sat in meditation until the incense had burned down.
It was unusual for me, because I don’t usually do anything to celebrate Memorial Day. But this year it seemed right and necessary, as a sort of follow-on to the celebrations of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. And it was a lovely moment, sitting outside in the early morning, in the cool air touched by the scent of sandalwood incense, feeling a sense of things in harmony, of ma’at in this kind of remembrance.
Heru-hekenu may seem an odd (and obscure!) choice of deity to petition in a ritual like this. It was an intuitive jump at first, but upon further thought it made reasonable sense. As mentioned in the prayer, Heru-hekenu does sail on the night barque with Ra. (In the picture at the head of this page, Heru-hekenu is the hawk-headed figure standing directly behind the ram-headed Ra.) The journey of the sun into darkness and ultimately to regeneration and renewal is also the journey of the deceased; thus Heru-hekenu could be seen in the role of a funerary protector and assistant. According to the Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen, He lights the way for the ba of the dead, and He does actually receive offerings in a hotep di Nisut formula (although I’ve written my own here, not having tracked down the original yet). His name is also another indicator — Heru-hekenu can mean “Heru of the unguent” as well as “Heru of praises.” Just as oils and lotions were used to protect the living body against the ravages of a hot, harsh climate, so they were also used to protect the body of the deceased, preparing it for the tomb and its former inhabitant for the journey through the afterworld. Thus Heru-hekenu would be a protector of both the living and the dead.
So He seems to have a somewhat more liminal nature than some of the other forms of Heru. Yet he also has that warrior quality, as well as a very primal-seeming raptorial nature, which fits in well with one associated with battle and soldiers. It seemed appropriate, in the end, to call upon Him in remembrance of those who have fought and died for their country, and to ask Him to guard our living heroes as well.
A close-up of the statue I’m currently using for Heru-hekenu. The double crown is appropriate — He appears with it in reliefs from per-Bast — and the pots are about as close as one’s likely to find to perfume jars. The necklace draped around Him is one that I made for Him, and the red tissue-paper poppy came from a veterans’ organization.
Dua Heru-hekenu! Nekhtet!