Ur Heka

Sometimes, magickal words are written by magickal people and they say just the right things at the right time and are just what you needed to read.

And so it is the case with Don Webb – an author I have mentioned on this blog before – with his words of introduction to a work by another author, Judith Page (also mentioned on this blog previously) on the release in hardback of her collection of poems, “Song of Set”.

Loved and Hated 

by Don Webb

Ur Heka, He was called – the Elder Magician. Perhaps even the first magician. Set for most of Egypt’s history was the most hated god. He killed his brother Osiris, the most popular god, by a dirty trick. He is the reason for storms, for nightmares, for abortions – heck even for foreigners. Let’s get rid of this guy.

Except. He saves the world. Oh I didn’t write “saved” as in Atum Created the world, or Isis raised her son. Set saves the world every single night. About 4:30 every morning, Re’s boat gets stuck on a sand bar, and a 7-headed worm made literally of broken dreams called Apep hypnotizes Re, and Heka (magic himself), and Sia (perception himself) and Hu (command likewise personified). The universe is doomed, the King of the gods and the three most powerful forces in the universe combined can’t stop this guy. But Set does. Every night.

In His “Green Deeds” He is called on frequently in the medical papyri. He gives the Scepter of Breathing to the Dead. His Seven Stars, which we call the Big Dipper, gave him his name of “Stabilizer.” He alone of the gods will not die. He stabilizes Himself. He is the pattern of immortality. Among the wise he is beloved. 

So how can I find this guy, loved by seekers of immortality, savior of the universe? Well if you are in the Northern Hemisphere do as the Egyptians do. Greet the sun in the morning. Face Khepera in his boat and then point with your left hand – and you will be pointing at the Seven Stars, the Constellation of the Thigh. His is (for them and for us) the Left Hand Path. This is one way.

Or you may look for his image, as my friend Joan Lansberry did in her book Images of Set and see how this god changed from symbol of sovereignty to symbol of evil, symbol of mystery to bringer of confusion. And then it hits you, “This guy can be anything, except ordinary. This guy is the Mind refusing to fit in.”

Or you can read the lovely words in this book by my friend Judith Page. Set no longer roams Egypt. Maybe it was Crowleythat set him free by seeing Him as the emblem of the “Fire and Force” ShT. Or maybe it was my fellow Texan Robert E. Howard who used as a symbol of all things dark and mysterious that Conan fought against. Or maybe it was Kenneth Grant and Gregorious in 1955 who declared that Set-Typhon was the God of the Age. Or maybe it was Anton LaVey who said the Children of Set shall see a certain dark sun in the sky. Or maybe it was Michael A. Aquino who Received the word of Self-Creation Xeper from Set in 1975.

Anyway He’s back. And He is hated by the stupid death-worshippers that hated Him before and He is Beloved by the Wise. He is the God of magicians and mad artists and (rather clearly in this slim book) great poets. If you have known Him long, you will love this book. If you have never met Him – I suspect you may have some interesting dreams soon.

One may enjoy this book as you would any other book of poems. But if you really want to taste it – read it by candlelight on the night of the dark Moon. You may be surprised at Who comes to Visit after you blow out your candle and see the starlight streaming in your window. Oh I’ve said too much. Forget that last part.

Treated detail of sketch from work in progress, "Infernal" by Setken