The Liturgical Order: Source: Book: The Sacred magic of Ancient Egypt Author: Rosemary Clark Name, Hesi

Wehem Gasu Sekha Hekaut Mau Hotep Djefau Menu Rite The Hymn The Liteny The Anointings The Contemplation The Invocation The Meditation The Offering The Reversion of Offerings Dedication of the Temple Meaning - chants -repeatings -anointings -considering -magical speech -reflecting -offering -divine food -dedication -gods voice offering - mouth of the God -festivals - healing -completion

Pert Kheru Neter The Pronouncement Tep Ra Hebu Sa Seseneb Temau - Divination Special Observances - Transference of Sa Closing of the Ceremony

The four sons of Horus The four guardian Neteru, Qebhsennuf, Duamutef, Imsety and Hapi are called the Four Sons of Horus. You must remember that many Egyptians did not call on quarters, but worked inside consecrated temples.

It is your own choice to either call a sacred circle or to consecrate a room/space for religious rites or ceremonies when working with the Egyptian rite. They are important for they kept the insides of the Pharoah safe for his afterlife. They were guardians in the sense of the word and today new followers of this old faith use them as guardians of the corners of their temples or sacred spaces. In my research I have found that there are no consistancy on which corner or which element these four demi-gods should represent. Below you will find my conclusion after compiling all info:

Hapi Guardian of the lungs watched over by the goddess Nephthys protectress of the dead Ape shaped Keeper of the north representing the earth element

He was a baboon headed deity, who was shown as having a body wrapped up like a mummy. Hapy (Hapi) was believed to be the protector of the lungs, along with the goddess Nephthys. The lungs were placed in the canopic jar, near the sarcophagus, on the north cardinal point. His name probably means "Runner", and may be related to boating as the determinative in his name is used in words such as 'oar'. The original name probably meant "The Two Geese", which would suggest that there may have been two gods. Hans Bonnett believes that there was originally a male and a female deity, the female goddess disappeared, and left the male Hapy as the son of Horus. Again, others believe that the evidence for this is weak. SPEECH OF HAPY . I am Hapy, thy son, O Osiris Ani, whose word is truth. I come to protect thee. I bind together thy head and the members of thy body. I smite down for thee thine enemies under thee. I give unto thee thy head for ever and for ever, O Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, whose word is truth in peace. -- The book of the dead

Duamutef u Guardian of the stomach u watched over by the goddess Isis u Jackal shaped u Keeper of the East u represending the Air element

The jackal headed deity, Duamutef (Tuamutef), was shown as having a body wrapped up like a mummy. He was believed to protect the stomach, along with the goddess Nit, which was placed in the canopic jar, near the sarcophagus, on the east cardinal point. His name means "he who praises his mother" or "a star is his mother". The Egyptians seem to sometimes confuse the jackal headed god with the falcon headed god, and so there are some images and canopic jars showing Duamutef with a falcon head. SPEECH OF DUAMUTEF. Duamutef saith:- I am thy son Horus, who loveth thee. I come to avenge thee, O my father Osiris, upon him that did evil unto thee. I have set him under thy feet for ever and for ever, permanently, permanently, O Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, whose word is truth. -- The book of the Dead

Imsety n Guardian of the liver n watched over by the goddess Neith n Bearded man n Keeper of the South n representing the Fire element

He was a human headed god, who was depicted as having a body wrapped

up like a mummy. Imsety (Imseti, Imset, Amsit, Amset, Mesta) was thought to protect the liver, along with the goddess Isis, which was placed in the canopic jar, near the sarcophagus, on the south cardinal point. SPEECH OF IMSETY . I am Imsety, thy son, O Osiris Ani, whose word is truth. I come to protect thee. I will make thy house to flourish, permanently, even as Ptah hath commanded me, and as Ra himself hath commanded. -- The book of the Dead

Qebhsennuf l Guardian of the intestines l watched over by the goddess Serket l falcon-headed shaped l Keeper of the West l representing the Water element

The falcon headed god, Qebehsenuef (Qebsenuf, Kebehsenuef, Kebhsenuf, Kabexnuf), was depicted as having a body wrapped up like a mummy. He was thought to be protector of the intestines, along with the goddessSerqet. The intestines were placed in the canopic jar, near the sarcophagus, on the west cardinal point. His name means "he who refreshes [with water] his brothers". The Egyptians seem to sometimes confuse the jackal headed god with the falcon headed god, and so there are some images and canopic jars showing Qebehsenuef with a jackal head. SPEECH OF QEBEHSENUEF. Qebehsenuef saith:- I am thy son, O Osiris Ani, whose word is truth. I come to protect thee. I have collected thy bones and I have gathered together thy members. [I have brought thy heart, and I have placed it upon its throne within thy body. I make thy house to flourish after thee, O thou who livest for ever.] -- The book of the Dead

Invoking the Sons of Horus From: Rahotep Ancient Egyptian Temple School (SA) As The sons of Horus are the sacred elemental powers and part of my life and ritual I deemed the invoking knowledge very important. -----------------------------------------------------------

The four Sons of Horus

The four sons of Horus were invoked in ancient times to protect the organs of the deceased. In Ritual agick, the 4 Sons of Horus are invoked as guardians to guard and proitect the ritual space during magickal workings. Each son corresponded to a compass direction. During the mummification process the organs of the deceased was placed in four canoptic jars. The lids of the jars were in the shape of the heads of the four sons of Horus. Qebsenoof had the head of a falcon, Duamutef the head of a jackal, Imseti the head of a man and Hapi had the head of a baboon. When you invoke the four sons of Horus you can visualise each one as a mummified man with one of these heads respectively. See sketches below . Rite for Invoking the Four Sons of Horus STAND IN FRONT OF YOUR ALTAR AND STAND FEET WIDE APART AND ARMS THRUST INTO THE AIR AND SAY: FOUR SONS OF HORUS I INVOKE THEE TO COME IN STRENGTH AND MIGHT TO AID ME IN THIS RITE. THIS RITE FOR___________(STATE THE PURPOSE OF YOUR SPELL). NOW STAND IN THE EASTERN QUARTER OF THE CIRCLE FACING EAST WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE KA GESTURE AND SAY: Hail mighty QEBSNOOF, lord of the powers of air. Protect me during this rite.

When you sense the presence of Qebsnoof go to the SOUTHERN quarter of the circle facing SOUTH with your hands in the ka gesture and say :

Hail mighty DUAMUTEF, lord of the powers of FIRE. Protect me during this rite.

When you sense the presence of Duamutef go to the WESTERN quarter of the circle facing WEST with your hands in the ka gesture and say:

Hail mighty IMSETI, lord of the powers of WATER. Protect me during this rite.

When you sense the presence of Imseti go to the NORTHERN quarter of the circle facing NORTH with your hands in the ka gesture and say:

Hail mighty HAPI, lord of the powers of EARTH. Protect me during this rite.

Now walk from the NORTH clockwise around the circle till you are back in the NORTH again while saying:

As I do will it so mote it be!

Amset, Hepi, Duamutef and Qebehsenuf.

They were regarded from as early as the Old Kingdom as the Sons of Horus, meaning Haroeris in the Letopolitan tradition. Together with the Sons of

Khenti-irty, they form part of one of the Enneads of Heliopolis. Not much is known about the origins of the four gods. Some texts interpret them as stars; lists of stars from the New Kingdom contain their names and the Book of the Dead says that they are the ones who guard the constellation of Seth (the Great Bear, called the 'ox leg in the northern sky') for Osiris. In general, they take care of the deceased. In the Pyramid Texts from the Old Kingdom they assist the deceased on his journey to heaven. Other texts say that they guard the body during the wake. They were particularly responsible for protecting the internal organs, and as an extension of this had to prevent the deceased from suffering hunger or thirst. The internal organs, removed from the body during mummification, were stored in four so-called canopic jars. Each of them came under the protection of one of the Sons of Horus. From the late 18th Dynasty on, the lids of these jars were given the shape of the heads of these gods. In many instances the gods are linked with the four cardinal points, including on sarcophagi where they appear from the Middle Kingdom on, on or near the four corners. Representations of the gods, often made of faience, were sometimes placed between the mummy wrappings. In their turn, the gods were helped or protected by four goddesses, Isis, Nephthys, Neith and Selkis, respectively.

The Sons of Horus - Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef... by Caroline Seawright February 26, 2003

Here follows an extract of her writings:

The Sons of Horus - Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef...

The four mummiform Sons of Horus were believed to be the sons of Horus (either Horus of Khem (Letopolis), Horus the Son of Isis or Horus the Elder), deities who protected the canopic jars that held internal organs of the deceased. From the First Intermediate Period until the end of the 18th Dynasty, the stoppers of the canopic jars were shaped like the face of the deceased. After this time, the stoppers started to be depicted as the four Sons of Horus.

These four gods, Friends of the King - Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef, and Qebehsenuef, the children of Horus of Khem - they tie the rope-ladder for this King, they make firm the wooden ladder for this King, they cause the King to mount up to Khepera when he comes into being in the eastern side of the sky. -- Pyramid Text 2078 The four deities - Imsety, human headed protector of the liver, Hapy, baboon headed protector of the lungs, Duamutef, jackal headed protector of the stomach and Qebehsenuef, falcon headed protector of the intestines - were thought to have come out of a water lily that rose from the waters of Nun. The four mummiform gods were rescued by the crocodile god Sobek, by the orders of Ra, and Anubis gave them funerary duties. They also attend the judgement of the deceased in the Halls of Ma'ati where they stand before Osiris on a half opened blue water lily. Originally it was believed that the Canopic jars were found only in Canopus (known as Pikuat to the ancient Egyptians), and were attributed to a Greek hero, Canopus (Kanopos), who was thought to have been buried there. JeanFranois Champollion's experiment on one of the jars - he found that one held an internal organ; probably a heart, liver or spleen - proved that the jars were linked to the funerary cult of ancient Egypt, and not to worship of a god-hero, personified as these jars. Champollion was the first to conclude that the four heads on the Canopic jars were four symbolic spirits. He believed the stoppers to be the heads of a woman, a baboon, a hawk and a jackal. He was very close to the truth, despite not being able to read the hieroglyphs on the jars. The very earliest canopic equipment consisted of simple chests, or even a specially built cavity in the wall, where wrapped visceral bundles were placed. We find the first possible canopic installations at Saqqara in tombs of the 2nd Dynasty, but proven canopic burials date from the 4th dynasty reign of Senfru ... but by the end of the 4th Dynasty, organs were sometimes placed inside simple stone or pottery jars, with flat or domed lids. The earliest examples of canopic jars come from the 4th dynasty tomb of Queen Meresankh III at Giza, from the reign of Menkaura ... While the First Intermediate Period was a time of Chaos in Egyptian history, it was during this time that the lid of canopic jars started to take on the form of a human head instead of a flat or domed shape. Also, the wrapped bundles of viscera placed in the jars were now sometimes adorned with cartonnage masks with human faces. -- Canopic Chests and Jars, Taylor Ray Ellison

The four gods were also related to the sky, they were "behind the Constellation of the Thigh (the Great Bear), in the northern sky". The Children of Horus were related to the Decans (groups of stars from the night sky was divided.) The Decans related to them were Kher-Khept-Kenmut, Ha-tchat and Pehui-Tchat. It was also noted that the constellations of the Great and Little Bears resembled the 'adzes' used in portrayals of the ceremony of the 'Opening of the Mouth', performed on the mummy of the dead king to give it life ... The Great Bear (the Egyptian constellation of the 'Thigh') was associated with the Four Sons of Horus and the cardinal points, and seems in some way to have generated the force that turned the sky. -- Notes on Egyptian Religion and Astronomy They were part of the Seven Spirits (the other three being Maa-atef, Kheribeqef, and Heru-khenti-en-ariti) who made up a group appointed by Anubis. These Seven Spirits (or Seven Shining Ones) were believed to have protected the dead body of Osiris. The positioning for protection of the deceased (emulating the protection of the dead Osiris) was already well established by the Middle Kingdom.

Sources: 1. The Pharoah's oracle 2. http://www.aldokkan.com/religion/hapy.htm 3. http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/sonsofhorus.html 4. http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=358 5. Wikipedia 6. http://www.osirisnet.net/dieux/fils_horus/e_fils_horus.htm (very interesting page - plse visit) 7. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sonsofhorus.htm 8. http://www.egyptiandreams.co.uk/four-sons-of-horus.php 9. http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/religion/sons_of_horus.htm 10. http://www.zarad.com/Egypt/foursons.html