My favorite water flower...The Lotus...Even after it has died and left its shell (uniquely styled)... it has seeds in the pockets of the shell which fall back into the water when the shell droops ...Great to decorate with dried arrangements...It symbolizes the Orient to me...Full of mystery and passion...
In the story of how the Pharaoh King Tutankhamun came to be, it is said that he was born from the flower of a blue lotus, and his favorite drinking mug (more likely a chalice for religious ceremonies) is carved from calcite in the form of a lotus in full bloom, and each of the two handles are also shaped like smaller lotus stems and buds, with the god of eternity sitting on each one's top.
Around the rim are his five official and personal names, and also a wish or prayer which in hieroglyphs goes like this: "May you live millions of millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your two eyes beholding happiness."
Millions of millions of years meant "forever", Thebes was their center of culture and learning or enlightenment, the north wind was the cooling wind off the sea, while the red wind, the sandstorms, came from the south usually, and that last bit explains itself.
So here's how it would be understood in those days by the educated Egyptians:-
May you live Forever, Loving Enlightenment, Overcoming Adversity, And Enjoying Happiness.
And I think that's one of the most beautiful wishes or prayers I've ever seen.
.png)
.png)
My favorite water flower...The Lotus...Even after it has died and left its shell (uniquely styled)... it has seeds in the pockets of the shell which fall back into the water when the shell droops ...Great to decorate with dried arrangements...It symbolizes the Orient to me...Full of mystery and passion...
ReplyDeleteIn the story of how the Pharaoh King Tutankhamun came to be, it is said that he was born from the flower of a blue lotus, and his favorite drinking mug (more likely a chalice for religious ceremonies)
ReplyDeleteis carved from calcite in the form of a lotus in full bloom, and each of the two handles are also shaped like smaller lotus stems and buds, with the god of eternity sitting on each one's top.
Around the rim are his five official and personal names, and also a wish or prayer which in hieroglyphs goes like this:
"May you live millions of millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your two eyes beholding happiness."
Millions of millions of years meant "forever", Thebes was their center of culture and learning or enlightenment, the north wind was the cooling wind off the sea, while the red wind, the sandstorms, came from the south usually, and that last bit explains itself.
So here's how it would be understood in those days by the educated Egyptians:-
May you live Forever,
Loving Enlightenment,
Overcoming Adversity,
And Enjoying Happiness.
And I think that's one of the most beautiful wishes or prayers I've ever seen.