01.27.11
Song for Heru-hekenu
Song for Heru-hekenu
© 2011 Natalie Baan
O mighty son of Bast!
In glory as You cross
the sky, You burn,
and like frost You glitter.
Fierce purity of fire,
You pierce us with desire,
wings outstretched in the gyre,
Heru-hekenu!
Swift arrow in its flight,
You dazzle every eye,
so brilliantly You dance
in Your bright heaven.
O falcon strewn with stars,
delighting every heart,
Lord of the perfume jar,
Heru-hekenu!
Lion adorned with praise,
with thunder in Your mane,
like the lotus of the sun
You blaze, You blaze!
You are Your mother’s knife,
embracing peace and strife,
all the sweetness of life,
Heru-hekenu!
The flower and the flame,
The feather and the blade,
You come rocking our world*
in Your name of Tem.
Ma’ahes when You roar,
Nefertem we adore,
like Ra forever soar,
Heru-hekenu!
O mighty son of Bast,
Heru-hekenu!
Notes: Written in the summer of 2009. Heru-hekenu (Heru of praises) was worshipped as Bast’s son at Per-Bast, as part of a triad with Her and Tem. He also syncretizes with Tem (and as Tem-Heru-hekenu is apparently a Name of Ra) and is identified with Bast’s other sons, Ma’ahes and Nefertem.
* If you’d refer a more traditional line, feel free to replace this with the alternative: “In beauty You appear”.