What is Heka?

( Extract from the book - "Heka - The Practices of Ancient Egyptian
Ritual & Magic by David Rankinewww.heka.co. uk

The word heka can mean several things, each contributing to our
understanding of the complexities of ancient Egyptian magic. The
function of heka is described in the Instruction for Merikara, the
Middle Kingdom teaching of the Pharaoh Amenemhet I (c. 2000 BCE):
"He [Re] gave them [mankind] the heka as a weapon in order to ward off
the effect of dangerous events."
Heka was seen as a gift from the sun god Re to mankind (his
offspring), a manifestation of his creative energy as an embodiment of
his Ba (his soul). It empowered man to create using words and actions,
mirroring the sun god's creation of the universe. Heka can be seen as
the creative force or life-giving energy connecting the objects, links
and symbols of life with the universe, like a subtle tapestry of
energy, which the magician must learn to read if s/he is to
effectively work magic.
Heka is also the inherent magical energy (mana or personal power)
found within living beings. Different creatures were perceived as
possessing different amounts of heka. The gods had the most heka. The
pharaoh (as a channel for the divine energy) also had a lot of heka,
as did people who were considered unusual, such as dwarfs and people
with birth defects. Red hair was considered a sign of having much
heka, due to the magical associations with that colour. And of course
the other class of being with a lot of heka was the dead, hence the
use of spells calling on the dead to assist with performing rites.
Today the practice of heka is open to anyone who wishes to pursue it.
Although we do not have the worldview of the ancient Egyptians and
much of their material has been lost, we do have some major advantages
that make heka more accessible.
For a start literacy and numeracy are the norm, rather than being
restricted to the rich and priestly castes, as was the case in Egypt.
Technology has made the power of the written and spoken words, so
vital to Egyptian magic, available to all of us. For this reason you
do not need to have a university education or have studied Egyptology
or classics to appreciate Egyptian magic. Freedom of information has
brought truth to the statement that magic is for all, or rather meant
that is accessible to all who have the desire and dedication to pursue
a magical life.
As well as being the term for magic, Heka was a god, indeed he was the
god of magic. Or perhaps it would be more correct to say he was magic,
being the divine personification of magic. He is sometimes shown in
images as appearing among the crew of the solar barque. He was
depicted as a bearded man wearing a lion nemes headdress.
Another definition of heka is given in funerary spell 261 of the
Coffin Texts, from a Middle Kingdom sarcophagus. The spell is entitled
"To become the god Heka", and reads:
"I am he whom the Lord of all made before duality had yet come into
being … the son of him who gave birth to the universe … I am the
protection of that which the Lord of all has ordained … I am he who
gave life to the Ennead of the gods … come to take my position that I
may receive my dignity. Because to me belonged the universe before you
gods had come into being. You have come afterwards because I am Heka."
The hieroglyph used from 1000 BCE to write his name was
interchangeable with the concepts of god and power. Visually the
hieroglyph depicted the hindquarters of a lion, and may well be linked
with his attribution as one of the sons of the lion-headed goddess
Sekhmet. In this form he was shown as a young child with a solar disk
on his head.
With Sekhmet's son Nefertem (purity) being considered to be an avatar
of the Sun God Re, it is possible that Heka may also have been seen in
this light. This presents a line of apostolic succession of power,
from Re to his daughter Sekhmet, and hence to her sons Heka and
Nefertem, who also embody the qualities of Re between them.
One of the titles of the god Heka was The one who consecrates imagery,
referring to the ability of the god to empower creative thoughts and
actions and translate them into their physical equivalents in the
physical world. So Heka was also perceived as the animating and
manifesting force of every ritual act. In this context heka is thus
both intent and action: the cause, the act and the effect.
From the point of view of Sau (the magical use of amulets), this title
is extremely suggestive, as any amulet or talisman is ultimately an
image that is given form and then consecrated with the power of Heka.
So not only is Heka the god who consecrates the image, but it is his
power that is relied upon to create the image.
Another title of the god Heka was Lord of Ka's, referring to the soul.
This is a significant title, as all mankind and even the gods have
ka's. In the Middle to Late Kingdom Heka becomes seen as the ka of Re,
with Re declaring, "Heka is my ka." From this perspective Heka can be
seen as being as significant as Maat as part of the underlying force
and flow behind the whole of the cosmos.
Coffin Text spell 648 stresses not only the role of Heka as Lord of
Ka's, but also as the power the gods used, and the inherent magic of
the word:
"His powers put fear into the gods who came into being after him, his
myriad of spirits is within his mouth. It was Heka who came into being
of himself, at seeing whom the gods rejoiced, and through the sweet
savour of whom the gods live, who created the mountains and knit the
firmament together."
In conjunction with Sia (Perception) and Hu (Creative logos), Heka was
involved in the creation of the first time and the separation of
heaven and earth. This is one of the reasons why these deities are
shown in the solar barque of Re, as they are all part of the process
of first creation, which the magician returns to by creating a sacred
space and performing magic (heka).
This is also why he is "Heka who opens his two eyes that the two lands
might see", for he is the agent of Re, whose perception (Sia) and
utterance (Hu) empowered by magic (Heka) ensures the continuances of
the cycle of daily creation.
Heka is also referred to as the Elder Magician, emphasising his primal
nature as the first child of Atum-Re, and distinguishing him from
younger deities of magic who draw ultimately on his power, like Isis.
As has already been mentioned, Re declares that Heka is his ba, and
this is stated unequivocally in The Book of the Heavenly Cow, where Re
declares:
"I am the one who made heaven and who established it in order to
places the ba's of the gods within it. I shall be with them for
eternity which time begets. My ba is Heka. It is older than it [time]
… the ba of Re is in Heka throughout the entire land."
The association between Heka and Maat is indicated in one of the
Vienna Papyri, where Heka is described as "Controller of the House of
Natural Law". Natural law is the function of Maat, so this implies the
function of magic as part of the normal functioning of the universe,
within the balance of Maat.
The title Wer-Hekau, meaning Mighty of Magic, is derived from heka.
This title was used by several of the major deities, all of whom were
particularly linked with magical powers, specifically Anubis, Isis and
Thoth.
Originally Weret-Hekau (the Great of Magic) was a cobra goddess, whose
form may have survived into serpent wands, but she was assimilated
into other deities like Isis at a very early stage. She also had a
lioness form, thus possessing the qualities of the two most common
powerful creatures amongst the deities.
Heka needs to be distinguished from other forms of magic to appreciate
its usage in ancient Egypt. As well as heka there was akhu, the spells
or enchantments practised by the dead; and sau, which was amuletic magic.
It should be stressed that heka was largely used as a preventative
form of magic, a sort of ancient crisis management, to help deal with
events like animal attacks, infectious diseases, disasters, and of
course the perils of childbirth. Anti-social magic (i.e. cursing) did
not really form a part of heka until the Roman influence in the latter
days of ancient Egypt. As such heka is ideal for anyone wishing to
develop themselves through pursuing a positive magical and spiritual path.
The one example of heka being used as black magic comes from the 19th
Dynasty. The Harim Conspiracy involved several functionaries using
written magical spells, wax figurines and potions to attempt to kill
Ramesses III. The conspirators of this failed attempt at regicide
received the death sentence and also the ultimate punishment given to
traitors and enemies of the state. All traces of their names were
removed from existence, as if they had never existed, so that their
being was annihilated.
The major instance of heka being used in a manner that would be seen
today as black magic was the practice of cursing against enemies of
the state by the Pharaoh, such as enemy armies. Details of such
techniques are recorded in the so-called Execration Texts, which are
not covered in the current volume as they are not relevant to the
personal practice of Heka. This however was not seen as cursing, as it
was an effort to protect the sovereignty of Egypt. In such instances
sympathetic magic on a grand scale might be resorted to, with models
representing enemy ships or troops being ritually destroyed.
If somebody was having problems, with illness or bad luck, this was
often viewed as the actions of beings with heka. It could be an angry
ghost, a sorceror, or an angry deity that the individual had offended.
To this end the individual was seen as the victim of circumstances,
and there was no guilt associated with seeking a practitioner of heka
to help fight off the negative influences being experienced. By
restoring the correct balance problems were resolved, again
demonstrating the nature of heka as being the natural and correct flow
of energy towards harmony within the universe.
It has been suggested that there was a separate class of magicians
operating on the fringes of society performing heka for the masses,
but evidence now indicates that the practitioners of heka were usually
none other than priests, acting as magicians and earning an income
outside of their temple duties. Priests served one month in four in
the temple and spent the other three months with their families, were
they were not bound by all the same taboos and strictures as when
serving the gods in the temple. During this time in the community they
were thus available to assist members of the community who might need
their aid.
The word heka continued to be used through until Roman times. After
this it was succeeded by the Coptic word hik (xik), which was equated
to the Greek word mageia (and hence magic).