Symbolica

The Heart symbol was an important aspect of the soul to the Ancient Egyptians. It was regarded as the seat of the power of life as well as the source of both good and evil thoughts.

The most important of rituals upon death was the afterlife judgement of weighing of the Heart against the feather of truth (Maat).

The shape of the ancient Heart symbol, being more realistic than our modern depiction of the heart, is reminiscent of a container or vessel, (and was often employed as such).Rather than representing love, it represents the ‘holding’ of a person’s life. Therefore it was very important for the Heart to be well protected in life and death, just as it is today.If you use a Heart amulet, look after it. Regard it seriously and do not give it away. You may request to be buried with it or if it is of sufficient size it could be the used as the urn for your ashes!Use it as a vessel to speak your life dreams and desires to, you could even write these down and place them inside (better if the inside is hollow) . When seeking answers of life direction and purpose, use your heart amulet.

Make sure though that you do not fill your Heart with misery or bad thoughts about yourself or others. This is not the place. It is the place for words of prayer and love spoken with care.

The Ka was thought to be the LIFE FORCE or SPIRIT aspect of the soul. It existed independently from the bodily self.

The Ancient Egyptians referred to ‘returning to one’s Ka’ or ‘travelling in the company of one’s Ka’ upon death.

Imagine today the Ka being present as an ally. The Spirit guide that stands by your side, connecting you to the source of life and remaining by your side upon death.

A comforting thought when contemplating our own death or the death of a loved one.

This symbol is a most powerful symbol to include in our funeral rites.

To hide death in the background is bad for man.

Text of the Pyramids,1439

When death comes, it embraces the old like a child in the arms of its mother.

Papyrus of Ani

To the Ancient Egyptians, the Ba, (often depicted as a hawk with a human head), represented the individual’s soul and specific personality. It takes flight from the body upon death, but would also revisit the body and reanimate it and converse with it . It was regarded as eternal and yet could slip into decay if not properly nourished ie : offerings from the living.

It was as important to the ancient Egyptians to care for their Ba as it is for us today to nurture all aspects of ourselves. The way we care for ourselves has a bearing on how we feel and how we are perceived within our communities. If you believe in any kind of life after this one then to feed your Ba with love and wisdom today may benefit your existence beyond death.

Take this image and idea and make it your own. Make your own Ba. Create a version of the symbol that represents ‘You’. An ally who knows you completely because it is the essence of you. It represents the part of you that people think of when you are not physically in their presence. It represents the part of you that’s imbued in the things that you create and the part of you that lives on after you die. Feed it well. Look after it. Be familiar with it. Send it out into the world as your ambassador. It is one of the most powerful symbols you can have on your side.

Your Faculty of movement or Ba will live forever,
Like Orion set in the navel of the Goddess of Heaven.
You will become as gold,
You will shine brilliantly.
In the constellations of the stars you will fulfil a royal function.
Your name will be great in the West.

Ritual of Embalming

The above text is taken from The Living Wisdom of Ancient Egypt

I’ve uploaded a simple black and white version of the above design to my Cafepress store.

I’m currently in the process of setting up my own Symbolica shop at Cafe Press to sell some of my art work and generate some income. For the sake of simplicity I’m starting with ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and symbols (my favourite era by far). I am choosing glyphs that look interesting as well as say something appealing or have a symbolic purpose.

As well as t-shirts there are lots of other items you can buy through Cafe Press. I just love the simplicity of the concept of having someone else provide the products and service to the customer whilst I concentrate on my art work and design. What I also love is that anyone can use this type of service to create their own products, for themselves or for gifts for friends.

I realise that many people out there have been aware of this concept for a long time. I am a bit slow, but I am ready to embrace the process heartily because one of the major stumbling blocks for me as an artist and craftsperson has been the amount of money I’ve needed to outlay in order to make a living, especially as a jeweller.

With regards to my jewellery, I also discovered Ponoko . The concept is basically the same, you set up a shop and upload your designs but instead of having them printed on t-shirts your designs are laser cut into timber of acrylic. People can order your product and buy directly from the Ponoko site as well.

I read an article on Ponoko’s Blog – (small excerpt below) about ‘Generation C’ (which means Content created digitally) that really inspired me to get moving down this path.

I think the Make-It-Yourself movement is very much linked with other shifts towards sustainable design and consumption, a return to crafts and appreciation for uniqueness and individualization, and filling the needs of many long-tail consumers. I think this trend will most definitely prevail beyond 2008 and become a major part of the status quo.

I will work on setting up shop on Ponoko next once my shop at Cafe Press is up and running smoothly. I’ll keep you all posted with both.

My first Cafe Press design is actually one I illustrated a number of years ago for a t-shirt for my friend’s child. The illustration was influenced by a photo I took when I was in Egypt in ’82. The character carved into the huge stone block lying on the ground before me was incredibly striking and very different to anything I had seen before.

He was the God Bes and was regarded by the Egyptians as protector of families, especially women and children. I’ve always loved his playful, if somewhat menacing figure. I like the idea of him protecting me and my family from any lurking evil spirits out there, and as I say in the blurb next to the t-shirts for sale- If your kids wear this symbol they’re sure to frighten off any bullies in the sandpit or playground!

If anyone has a symbol design or product request please let me know and I will do my best to oblige.