#Hymns and Hieroglyphs

[iamtryingtobelieve]

You drive me crazy

I drive Miss Daisy

Before I take you anywhere

If I could get your smell out of my hair

You bum me out

I have my doubts

I sleep with one eye open

A toast and here's to hoping

That she'll clutch your pearls so hard that one popped off

He grinded his teeth 'til they were soft

Parking meters and laundromats ate my coins

(They ate my coins, what will I do?)

So I can't make a wish in a well, oh well

I'll sit back might as well enjoy

(I'll sit back might as well enjoy)

The part where Jack and Jill fell

They fell

You take me on

I should be gone

The doctor told me so

The doctor from that talk show

You make me wait

I hesitate

I'll pile up my books

And change my whole outlook

He drove his car right off the cliff

She wrote 'fuck you' in hieroglyphs (Fuck you, man!)

Parking meters and laundromats ate my coins

(They ate my coins, what will I do?)

So I can't make a wish in a well, oh well

I'll sit back might as well enjoy

(I'll sit back might as well enjoy)

The part where Jack and Jill fell

They fell

Jack and Jill went up the Hollywood hills

Winding canyon roads

No turning back

An earthquake shook the city of angels

And Jack and Jill fell right through the cracks

[blueiscoool]

The Tomb of a Royal Scribe Discovered in Egypt

Czech experts have made another important discovery in the Egyptian archaeological site in Abusir. They found the hitherto unexplored tomb of the royal scribe Dzhehutiemhat, which is richly decorated in the form of many hieroglyphic texts and images. They mainly consist of ritual and religious texts, which were supposed to ensure the soul of the deceased an eternal life in the next world.

In April and May of this year, another part of field research by Czech Egyptologists regarding shaft tombs from the middle of the first millennium BC took place in Abusir, Egypt. It was here that the archaeological team of the Czech Institute of Egyptology of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University discovered the tomb of a hitherto unknown dignitary from the time of the Persian invasion of Egypt.

“It is a richly decorated shaft tomb of medium size, whose owner, a certain Džehutiemhat, held the office of royal scribe,” explains Ladislav Bareš, who has been coordinating the research of Abusir shaft tombs for a long time.

From the tomb, the above-ground part of which was destroyed already in ancient times, only the main shaft was preserved, at the bottom of which lay a burial chamber made of limestone blocks at a depth of 14 meters. Access to it was provided by a small, more northerly shaft and a narrow corridor approximately three meters long connecting the access shaft with the burial chamber.

For reasons still unknown, this access shaft was largely filled with several dozen decorated limestone blocks, originating from the dismantled above-ground part of the nearby majestic tomb of General Menechibnekon.

A tomb with rich decoration

The burial chamber is richly decorated with texts and other scenes. A long sequence of incantations against snakebite from the Pyramid Texts covers the north entrance wall. Interestingly, the snakes mentioned in these magical texts represented a potential danger, but could also serve as powerful protectors of the deceased and his mummy.

“While the entrance to the nearby Menechibnekon’s burial chamber was protected by the guardians of the gates of the 144th chapter of the Book of the Dead, in the case of Džehutiemhat, snakes from the Pyramid Texts play this role,” adds Renata Landgráfová, director of the Institute of Egyptology and an expert on the ancient Egyptian language and texts.

The south and west walls are covered with a sacrificial ritual and an extensive sacrificial list. On the ceiling of the burial chamber are depictions of the journey of the sun god Reo through the sky, first in the morning and then in the evening celestial bar. The depictions are accompanied by hymns to the rising and setting sun. Inside the burial chamber covered with relief decoration is a large stone sarcophagus, which also bears hieroglyphic inscriptions and depictions of gods, both outside and inside. The lid is decorated with texts taken from the Book of the Dead, but also excerpts from the much older Pyramid Texts, which partially repeat sayings that also appear on the walls of the burial chamber.

Ritual texts for eternal life

On the bottom of the inner wall of the sarcophagus bath, the goddess of the west, Imentet, is depicted, and its inner sides bear the so-called canopic sayings, spoken by this goddess and the earth god Geb. “The goddess of the west inside the sarcophagus represents the protector, guide and symbolic mother of the deceased,” explains Jiří Janák, who analyzes and interprets religious and magical texts as part of field research.

All the mentioned spiritual-ritual texts were supposed to ensure the deceased a smooth entry into a blissful and well-secured eternal life in the afterlife.

The tomb of the scribe Dzhehutiemhat was discovered almost empty, as it was robbed probably already in the 5th century AD, similar to other tombs in this burial ground.

The deceased suffered from sedentary work

From the anthropological analysis of the skeletal remains, which was carried out by leading Egyptian experts, it was found that Dzhehutiemhat died at a relatively early age of around 25 years, he bore the signs of a kind of occupational disease (wear and tear of the spine during sedentary work) and suffered from severe osteoporosis, i.e. thinning of the bones.

The latter fact could place him in the family of other inhabitants of the Abusir shaft tomb burial, in whom the disease was also confirmed, such as the famous Iufaa, the owner of a nearby much larger tomb, whose unlooted burial chamber was discovered in 1996.

It is therefore possible that most of the owners of the tombs buried in this part of the Abusir necropolis belonged to one extended family, firmly anchored in the military elite of late Saiyan Egypt. However, Dzhehutiemhat’s mother probably came from completely different circles and a different part of Egypt at that time. Her two names can be translated as “Nubian” and “Fox”, while the latter is written in an unusual, most likely Berber form.

They also found a collection of pottery in the tomb. “The discovery of a large fragment of a Chian amphora with a perfectly smoothed edge is also very interesting, because the ancient looters probably used it as a shovel,” says Květa Smoláriková, who is an expert on Egyptian ceramics and Greek imports in the Czech team.

“The recently discovered tomb of the dignitary Džehutiemhat on the Abusír archaeological concession is the latest piece of knowledge in the mosaic of the history of ancient Egypt at the end of its glory in the late period, in the 6th century BC,” says Miroslav Bárta, director of Czech archaeological research in Abusír, about the discovery.

“The shaft tombs represent a special type of tombs of this time. They were created as a specific attempt by the ancient Egyptian elites for a renaissance and are based on the form of the tomb of King Djoser, the founder of the famous Old Kingdom, the time of the pyramid builders in the 3rd millennium BC,” he adds.

[coinandcandle]

Isis Deity Deep Dive

Known most notably as the “mother goddess”, Isis comes with many names, many stories, and many talents. Let’s get to know her!

Parents and Siblings

Geb and Nut

Osiris (brother)

Set (brother)

Nephthys (sister)

Horus the Elder (brother)

Lovers or Partners

Osiris is most commonly noted as her husband

Min

Serapis

Horus the Elder

Children

Horus (the younger)

Min

Four Sons of Horus

Bastet (sometimes)

Isis had many names (see image for her name in Hieroglyphs), often these doubled as titles that described her role.

The Divine One

The Queen of all Gods

Queen of Heaven

The Maker of Sunrise

Mother of God

Khut: giver of light at the beginning of a new year

Usert: goddess of the earth

Thenenet: goddess of the Tuat (the underworld)

Satis: the Nile flood’s power

Ankhet: providing fertility from the waters and embracer of the land

Kekhet: goddess of the fields and the cultivated areas

Renenet: goddess of the harvest

Tcheft: goddess of the food offered to the gods by humans

Ament: lady of the underworld who restored the bodies of the dead so they could live with Osiris in his kingdom.

Notes

Other names given to the goddess are Aset, Aust, Eenohebis, Eset, Esu, Hesat, Iahu, Unt, Urethekau, and Werethekau.

Her name has been debated to mean “throne” or “the seat”

There are no known references to Isis before the 5th Dynasty. Starting in obscurity, she became one of the most popular Kemetic deities, with a reach far beyond Egypt. This gave her many associations over time.

She is a psychopomp, leading the dead to the afterlife, which relates to her husband Osiris.

Often given the role or title of “mourner”, she was mentioned in the rites of the dead.

While being associated with death, she was also heavily associated with healing and magic, these two associations becoming more prominent as time went on and she gained popularity.

Isis is often conflated with fellow Kemetic goddess, Hathor, who she shares a likeness with in many ways and eventually usurped power as the most popular goddess in Egypt.

In one tale, it is said that Isis tricked Ra into revealing his true name to her, and as such gave her his magical abilities.

Seen as the ideal mother, the ideal wife, and all around ideal woman of the time, Isis gained popularity amongst high society and the common folk alike.

Her primary temples were in Behbeit el-Hagar and Philae, though she was often worshipped in many other temples, even in those not dedicated to her, but on a more minor level.

Due to her many associations, she also eventually came to be seen as the patron goddess of sea-farers.

Weaving, baking, and brewing beer are associated with her as well, as is the star Sirius and the kite falcon and the rearing cobra.

Festivals of Isis in Roman times were held on December 25, January 6, and March 5. Lychnapsia has also been suggested to be a festival dedicated to Isis.

Unlike many Kemetic deities, whose clergy were required to be of the same gender as the god, men and women both served in Isis’ temples.

In Greece her cult developed into a Mystery Religion and it held strong all throughout the Mediterranean until the 6th century CE.

Isis was said to conceal herself as an old or injured woman begging for alms.

Correspondences

Any traditional correspondence will be marked with a (T).

Rocks/Stone/Crystals

Bronze, red jasper (T), gold

Herbs/Plants

Acacia, persea, and date palm (sacred trees in Ancient Egypt), lotus, wheat

Cobra (T)

Scorpion (T)

Kite (or kestrel) (T)

Offerings

Beer (T)

Wine (T)

Honey (T)

Clean Water

Incense

Milk (T)

Perfume

Acts of Devotion

Practicing magic

Practicing medicine

Donating to charities involving healing or protecting those in need

Creating or reciting poems, hymns, songs, or prayers to Isis

References and Further Reading

Ancient Egypt Online - Isis

Britannica - Isis

The Complete Gods And Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Umair Mirza

Wikipedia - Isis

World History Encyclopedia - Isis

Center for Hellenic Studies - Isis

Isiopolis (A votive work for Isis)

“I Am Isis”: The Role of Speech in the Cult of Isis by Martin Bommas

[santoschristos]

Prayer to the Goddess Aset (Isis)

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, The mother of Horus, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

You are the First Royal Spouse of Osiris, The supreme overseer of the Golden Ones in the temples, The Eldest son, first born of Geb.

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, The mother of Horus, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

You are the First Royal Spouse of Osiris, The Bull, the Lion who overthrows all his enemies, The Lord and ruler of eternity.

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, The mother of Horus, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

You are the First Elect One of Osiris, The perfect youth who performs slaughter among the disaffected of the Two Lands.

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, The mother of Horus, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

You are the First Royal Spouse of Osiris, One who protects her brother and watches over the weary-of-heart.

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, God’s mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

You are the First Royal Spouse of Osiris, The Eternal One rejuvenating himself, who raised up Eternity: You are with him in the Temple (of Philae).

Praise to you, Isis, the Great One, God’s mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the gods.

This hymn is inscribed in hieroglyphs on the rear wall of the temple of Isis at Philae – circa 300 BCE

We are gods in the body of god, truth and love our destinies. Go then and make of the world something beautiful, set up light in darkness.

Egyptian Book of the Dead, more correctly translated as the Book of Coming into the Light.

[akhret]

Clothing Rituals

This type of ritual was performed daily, monthly, for special occasions, or it was done annually for the New Year in Ancient Egypt- this largely depended on the temple and the time period. They have been attested dating back to the Old Kingdom and lasted until Ptolemaic times. From the Abusir papyrus that was found in royal funerary temples- specifically from pharaohs Neferirkare and Raneferef, we can see that these rituals were done monthly; however, the deity of the temple was the deceased king. In later times, this ritual was performed daily for the main gods in the temple. What we do know from this type of ritual is best explained in pBerlin 3014, pBerlin 3053 and pBerlin 3055 (which is dated to the 22nd dynasty), along with the temple of Seti I in Abydos and Ptolemaic temples.

In the morning, the ba was reawoken for the god by unveiling them from the night before. You would say your admiration of the god with a prayer or hymn before washing off the mD.t unguent and undressing it from the mnH.t cloth. The mD.t unguent and the mnH.t cloth is speculated to help with regeneration and renewal. The mnH.t cloth was commonly “depicted as one or two stripes of cloth folded in half and often referred to as four-coloured cloths- white, green, red and blue (or dark-red). Each of these colours had its own symbolic meaning connected with protection, health, fertility, regeneration and renewal” (The Clothing Rite, 66). Next, the statue was then purified with natron and incense (perhaps myrrh, frankincense, or palmonia resin) before it was redressed in clean mnH.t cloth. The mD.t unguent was reapplied to the statue, along with green and black paints. Next, formal clothing was adorned to the statue, along with jewelry and pectorals before, lastly, the final purification and fumigation took place.

How can you implement this into your practice?

Based off of the steps known from ancient practices in temples of Egypt, it is possible to do a daily rite with this, if you choose, or on days when you want to go to your own shrine.

First, find a place for your statues so they won’t get damaged. Find a good piece of cloth, preferably linen to conceal the statues when they’re not at the forefront of your practice. When they’re not in the forefront of your practice veil the statue.

Unveil the deity’s statue.

Next, invoke the deity along with saying or singing a prayer/hymn.

Third, use natron to help purify and light some incense. You could use something universal like myrrh and frankincense or your could use UPG and choose the one you think they would like best.

Fourth, dress the deity in some new cloth and annoint the statue. I cannot find anything about mD.t ungunet at this time but you could use something that you’ve dedicated to just them- whether you make your own oil or purchase it.

Fifth, add on the regelia and jewelry. While this step isn’t always possible for everybody, I will add it. You could get Barbie jewelry to add or you could make your own to size. You could repaint on the makeup if you choose, as well.

Lastly, the final purification and fumigation. Relight your incense. This one should be more specific to cleansing.

Sources:

Coppens, Filip. Vymazalová, Hana. “Linen for the God: The Interpretation of Old Kingdom Clothing Rites in the Light of First Millennium BC Rituals (and vice versa).” 2016. https://academia.edu/resource/work/37212908

Coppens, Filip. Vymazalová, Hana. “The Clothing Rite in the Royal Temples of Abusir.” 2009. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291332482_The_clothing_rite_in_the_temples_of_Abusir

Sharpe, Samual. “The Rosetta Stone in Hieroglyphics and Greek Translations. 1807. https://www.ganino.com/anteanus/scripturam_aegyptium_rosetta_stone

[weidaoduzun3]

ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ -- ABRASAX From a Hermetic Viewpoint.

To the Gnostics, Abrasax is the great archon who created the whole world. There is quite a bit of nuance considering how Basilides Gnosticism views this deity. Nuance that I am not qualified to go over at the moment. Carl Jung refers to Abrasax as a truly terrible entity that encompasses all evil and all good, in his Red Book. I've seen negative reactions from people on Discord to this entity, but also some positive reactions.

But to the Hermeticist…who and what is this weird rooster head, snake-legged deity that is found all throughout the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM)? Let’s find out? 

In the Discourse of the Ogdoad and Ennead (D89) we are given strings of vowels and nomina Barbara for the Hermetic student, namely Tat as he is being taught by Hermes. To Christian H. Bull in his The Tradition of Hermes Trismégistōs, the string of Greek vowels and nomina Barbara/voces magicae is the totality of the Kosmos. Tat asks to receive the imprint of fullness by ways of hymns of praise to God. Bull seems to agree with Alberto Camplani that the “imprint of Fullness (Pleorma)” is coded within these string of vowels and voces magicae. 

From personal experiences — I have to agree with this, but I had to fuck around and find out for myself as I read this book many months ago when vowels and voces magicae were not big in my praxis. Anyways, here is the full hymn: 

Great! So how does this tie into ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ and what is this names value to a Hermeticist? For starters — This name, has a numerical value of 365, according to isopsephy. 365, as the majority of you know, is the totality of days our Earth revolves around the Sun. In PGM VIII. 1-63, specifically in lines 45-50… we see a love spell invoking Hermes to which we are given the name of ABRASAX equaling 365 explicitly, and quite possibly a voces magicae for Hermes.

The Sun's importance in Hermeticism is ever-present. Most explicit in my opinion is SH 2a from M. David Litwa’s Hermetica II:

Also important to note: Thoth. Many believe Thoth is just the god of the Moon, yet Thoth has a Solar form: the Baboon. Baboons and their screeches are believed to be connected to the language of the gods. This is confirmed in the Demotic Book of Thoth. Where a scribe of Thoth’s Scribal College: The House of Life [𓉑], says this about the great teacher, Thoth: "The signs revealed their form. He called to them and they answered to him. He knew the form of speech of the baboons and the ibises." Thoth is also believed to be the creator of not just words and language but also vowels (Philebus 18b-c). For clarity's sake, Thoth is an extremely important figure in Hermeticism. Our teachings are based upon a syncretic god: Hermes & Thoth — Hermēs Trismégistōs. 

More evidence for the importance of ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ is found in PGM XIII.1-343 — the famed Heptagram Rite, which we can perform more clearly and neatly here. This is a ritual that invokes Aiōn. Aiōn is believed to be the power of the Unknowable, Ineffable Godhead in Corpus Hermeticum XI. In lines 80-89 of PGM XIII, we are given voces magicae to Aiōn in 7 different languages as seen below.

Birdglyphic: ΑΡΑΙ Hieroglyphic: ΛΑΙΛΑΜ Hebraic: ΑΝΟΧ ΒΙΑΘΙΑΡΒΑΘ ΒΕΡΒΙΡ ΕΧΙΛΑΤΟΥΡ ΒΟΥΦΡΟΥΜΤΡΟΜ Egyptian: ΑΛΔΑΒΑΕΙΜ Finally, in Baboonic: ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ 

(The voces magicae for Aiōn is continued in 'Falconic' and lastly hieratic languages). Thus, we can see a clear link to baboons and Thoth, the name Abrasax to the baboons, and their "language." We see a connection between Aiōn and Abrasax, and we also saw above in PGM VIII that it could also be used as a voces magicae to Hermes!

But let’s look at the imagery as well. A rooster head with snake legs. The legs, to me, are Chthonic of course, and curl up to shape an Ω, the seventh sphere, Saturn. The connection to Omega is something Christian H. Bill points out. The rooster is also a Solar animal. So to me, we have a beautiful image representing the totality of All Things from the Sun whose an image of Truth, directly subordinate to the One Primal Deity (SH 2a), down to the Du’at/Underworld. Both Hermes and Thoth are connected to the Underworld as well as the Sun. Hermes' planet, Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Hermes is also famously known as a psychopomp, a traveler and mediator between Hades and Mount Olympus, Death and Life. Thoth, with His solar connections stated above, is also a key member of the Ancient Egyptian Underworld. In the Ani Papyrus, we see Thoth as the recorder/scribe that lists every heart that is weighed up against the Divine Feather of Truth -- Ma'at.

Thus what we have here, from a Hermetic standpoint, is that Abrasax is not a malevolent archon or a demon as denoted by the early Catholic Church, but rather a beautiful deity that is worthy of reverence whose name equals our revolution around the Sun, the Image of God. Abrasax — a name that is connected to both Hermes and Thoth, for reasons stated above. A name that also has a connection to Aiōn, an extremely important power/god in Corpus Hermeticum XI.

That is my interpretation, from a Hermetic standpoint. There are many interpretations of this elusive yet captivating deity. Abrasax can be a voces magicae for Hermes, or for Aiōn, it can be what I said, or you can take the Gnostic approach, or Jung, or Catholic approach to Abrasax. Regardless of what you do with the information, I shall continue to raise my voice in jubilation and cry out:

ΧΑΙΡΕ ΑΒΡΑΣΑΞ ! 

[xenonmoon]

OH YES IT'S EGYPTOLOGY INFODUMP TIME

Khonsu had indeed more than one aspect (as most of the Egyptian gods after all) and the most common were this four:

Ḫnsw-pꜣ-ẖrd - Khonsu the Child Ḫnsw-pꜣ-jr-sḫr - Khonsu the Provider Ḫnsw-(heseb-ahau) - Khonsu the Decider of Lifespan Ḫnsw-m-Wꜣs.t-nfr-ḥtp - Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep*

*I left Neferhotep untranslated because it's composed of the hieroglyphs for nft + ḥtp and they can mean different things depending of the context.

nfr can mean "good", "beautiful", "perfect", while ḥtp if it's a name it means "pity"/"mercy" or also "offer", "offering table", if it's a verb it can mean "satisfy", "being satisfied", "being contempt"

Most of my sources leave it like that (Neferhotep), some of them translate it as "the Merciful" (although it should've been more ḥtp yt in that case?), others "beautiful and contempt", others "parfait d'offrandes" (perfect of offer?) and others again "vollkommen Gnädige" (perfectly merciful?)

Every time Khonsu and his aspects comes up I think of the Bentresh Stela (the picture below is incomplete but you can easily google it)

It's a sandstone stela with hieroglyphic incisions telling the pseudo-epigraphical story of Bentresh, daughter of the king of Bakhtan and sister of Neferure who was married to Ramses II

At some point this girl fell ill and they couldn't find any cure for her, so the king of Bakhtan sent a messenger to the Pharaoh of Egypt asking for help.

Ramses called for all the learned men of the palace and a scribe to go there and figure out a way to heal the girl, but they came home reporting their failure because apparently there was a spirit possessing her causing her illness and the only way to cure her was through divine intervention.

"Alright then" probably said the Pharaoh, going to the temple of Khonsu in Thebes

So basically Khonsu Neferhotep stacked 4 layers of magical protection to Khonsu The Provider and sent him to heal the girl.

It's the only case I know where different aspects of a god exist at the same time and interact with each other

One thing I found funny about this story is that as soon as Khonsu The Provider arrived (through his statue carried from the temple) he casted a magical protection on the girl thus expelling the spirit from the body

And that spirit is super polite with him, greeting the god with a sign of peace and welcoming him to the city before deciding to get back to whatever place they came from.

So everyone rejoiced and started preparing celebrations, at some point Khonsu said to his prophet to tell the people to prepare an offering not only for him but for the spirit too

And as they made an offer for the spirit, the spirit went away in peace

But as the celebrations were over the king of Bakhtan refused to let the god go home and kept the statue and shrine in his kingdom for 3 years and 9 months.

Until one night he had a dream where a golden hawk flew away in the general direction of Egypt - so he figured it was time for Khonsu the Provider to go home.

So the god came back to his temple safe and sound and everyone was happy

Story finished, let's get back to the comic-

Ah

I bet the last one was the cannibal hymn derivative they mentioned in Vengeance of the Moon Knight

They sure are cannibalising the cannibal hymn quite a lot

[starry-blue-echoes]

The JoJo outro songs as Stands (a continuation of my excessive list of Fan-Made Stands)

Roundabout

[Roundabout] is a close range stand with the power to reverse momentum.

While not terribly strong, this stand is very good at deflecting strikes because it can just reverse the momentum of any attack (forcing attackers to either punch in the opposite direction, or punch directly into the momentum of their own attack).

Also, the stand user is very manoeuvrable, because they can jump, start falling, then reverse the momentum of their fall to keep going up instead.

Walk Like an Egyptian 

The user of [Walk Like and Egyptian] is able to transform into a hieroglyph that can move across any stone surface. The user can also take objects (or people) with them, and then leave them inside of the stone as a hieroglyphs, where they can retrieve them later.

The stand has no direct combat application, but it allows the user and their allies to travel very stealthily from one place to another, provided there is a stone surface nearby.

Last Train Home

My thought process was for this stand was Last Train Home = metaphor for death. Therefore, the user of [Last Train Home] might be a doctor, or someone else who has to deal with a lot of death, and then gained a stand focussed on helping people pass away without pain. So…

[Last Train Home] has the ability to remove all sensation from a person’s limbs or body. While the original use of this stand is to allow people to die without being in pain, or to perform medical procedures without the need for costly painkillers, this is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, so the Stand also has applications in combat.

By removing sensation from a part of a person’s body, that person can no longer control that part, meaning the stand can shut down limbs or just paralyze people. 

I Want You

….. okay so to be honest, I haven’t watched part 4 in a while, and I kind of forgot about this song for a while, so I don’t have a clearly defined ability for this song as stand yet. 

I listen to the song, and it seems to be about friendship and staying together, so maybe a stand that draws on positive emotions or has some kind of healing ability?

I’ll have to get back to you on this one. 

Freek’n You

[Freek’n You] is a small stand that looks like a small scorpion (or maybe a crab, not quite sure yet). It has the ability to attach itself to a human, and in the process modify, increase, or reduce the amount of any of their brain chemicals. 

Depending on the user, this stand could either be really problematic (since modifying brain chemicals can influence peoples behaviours, this gets really close to being mind control) or really helpful (since some mental health problems can be attributed of chemical imbalances in the brain, the user off this stand would be a very good therapist). 

Since I was imaging all of the JoJo’s intro/outro characters as protagonist, I’ll probably go with the latter. 

In combat, the stand plays a support role. It doesn’t have any fighting power, but an adrenaline boost to an ally here and a melatonin boost to an enemy there could potentially tip the scales of a crucial fight. 

Modern Crusaders

Sometimes, when making a stand, I’ll have this really interesting idea for an ability, which suggests certain things about a character’s personality, as well as interesting ways it could combine with other stand abilities, and then there is the abilities like these, as suggested by my JoJo friend:

“A cross that shoots smaller crosses” 

… and I couldn’t think of anything better, so….

[Modern Crusaders] looks like a cross. The user is able to use the stand like a gun, using it to generate and project small crosses at high speeds. As a bonus, the crosses project religious hymns when they hit something and vibrate, providing a secondary sound-based attack.

It’s basically a gun stand with a weird religious theme. But it was a funny idea at the time. 

Distant Dreamer

So, the weird thing is, the idea for this stand involves as stand user merging with their stand. But I’m pretty sure this idea was constructed before I found your blogs and your many AUs where characters merge with their stands/are their stands.

Anyways, the concept behind [Distant Dreamer] is the user was a person who wanted to travel, to explore, to see as much of the world as possible. Then, they get into some kind of bad accident and end up in a coma.

However, in the seconds before they went unconscious, the user was filled with enough regret that they had not been able to see enough of the world before what they presumed would be their death, that they spontaneously developed a stand, which their soul now inhabits.

Since their physical body is technically alive, just in a coma, the user of distant dreamer is Technically not a ghost, but since they knew.

If I do ever end up writing anything about this character, they would definitely go through a whole whirlwind of emotions as they process “Wait, I’m not dead? My body’s fine.” To “Wait, I am dead, my bodies right there!” To “Oh no, I’m a ghost!” To “Oh wait, my body is alive, I’m not a ghost.” to “What even am I then?!?”

As for the stand’s actual abilities, my current idea that it can create objects from peoples memories. Kind of like Emporios [Burning Down the house], except it creates it’s objects out of how people remember objects, rather then objects that no longer exist.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS

Roundabout is the literal embodiment of an Uno Reverse card. You try to attack it? No. You push it off a tower? No thanks :) You set it on fire? Nope

and I LOVE the idea for Distant Dreamer, I absolutely love people becoming their Stand for one reason or another and if you ever write it I would absolutly love to read it :D

[zhylia]

" would you play your lyre for me ? "

𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐑𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐔𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍. her inheritance : a manifestation of heaven's gold rewritten into silky fronds and ancient hieroglyphs. a musical melody is passed before ancestor and descendant. it remains unchanged —— never ending towards the absolution known as the passage time, the goddess' final hymn : zelda's lullaby. she breathes into its vibrato as if it was oxygen, a soft chorus escapes her lungs over and over again. zelda hums and you listen. quietly in the privacy of their shared sanatorium, where ruffling pages and shifting movements intercepts an unconscious singing.

would you play your lyre for me ?

❝ and what would you do for me in exchange, dear husband ? ❞ the queen finds herself suppressing an impish exchange, rosy lips blooming into a fond yet delicate smile with eyes never once looking away from the documents at hand. she works excessively behind the scenes, always drawn by diligence and responsibility. the fact that she existed here, in this moment, was the simple truth that : she wanted to be here. at this moment : she wanted to be by your side. the line between convenience and sincerity has long began to blur, and instead she finds relief with your camaraderie. dear husband, my husband, how easy it was to spew forth such a convincing act and yet she finds it just as natural as her song. she has grown fond of you, she has concluded, in spite of all pretentious and cunning and pride, she has in all accounts began to feel such a foreign sense of attachment.

( if i play you this song, would this make you happy ? ) could she also be capable of granting you, your heart's desire ? there is a pause that resonates within her for a second. a thought appearing before her like the first few drops of rain. surrendering to your request, she places her work down and offers you, her hand from where she stood. ❝ i will play for you a short performance and once it is finish, i would like some answers from you. ❞ a fair trade, one that exhibits the underlining core to their very own union : to give is to receive, and in this case what she wanted most was to know you, as you have grown to know her. ( what delights you, what compels you, the thoughts that goes onto your head, she wanted to excavate it all. in exchange for her song, she wanted to know you. ) ❝ what do you say ? do you accept this terms ? ❞

[emeraldbirdcollector]

The Cuneiform Song

I have not, for several days, been able to get that damned unicorn song out of my head. You know the one, the one where they miss Noah's Ark, and God, who told Noah a few verses ago NOT to forget them, who was TOTALLY capable of picking them up in his supposedly-omnipotent hands and putting them gently onto the ark, did not do that and let them drown as if he didn't give a crap.

I HATE that song.

I have also, on a different note, been reading a book about Ancient Mesopotamia.

Therefore, in self-defense, this happened.

The Cuneiform Song

CHORUS: You've got Greek and Latin alphabets, and Arabic scripts,

Some graceful Chinese characters and hieroglyphs,

Letters, words, and numbers in a literate swarm

But the earliest of all was cuneiform

Long, long ago when civ'lization was new

Some frustrated accountants wondered what to do

To keep count of the wages paid in bread and beer

And complain about bad copper from old Ea-Nasir

Then someone stuck a stick in a batch of wet clay

Looked closely at the wedges that it left on display,

Said, “Hey guys, what if we made a lot of these,

Used one for bread and one for beer and one for cheese?”

The idea soon caught on with astonishing speed

Soon symbols could mean anything you'd want or need

And all you had to do was go and read for yourself

And you'd know exactly what goods sat upon which shelf

But counting up goods was just the start of the game

Soon even abstract concepts had a written name

And a priestess of Inanna, filled with holy glee

Became the first to write a thing called po-e-try.

Now Enheduanna's hymns and Ea-Nasir's mail

Help fill out for posterity old Sumer's tale

And other cultures learned to pass their stories on

Of Gods and kings and wars and things of days bygone

So when you read a book of stories, prose or rhyme

Remember those accountants back in ancient times

Who gave us all the means to keep our histories warm

And it started with a thing we call cuneiform.

[werevampiwolf]

Hieroglyphs are only like emoji if you're gonna accept this as the emoji for "cat"

🚗🍎⛩️

(Except even less so because I just picked emoji that start with the same letter. Hieroglyphs will also swap out glyphs that are similar but may be easier to draw, or just for artistic reasons. Like, "the letter is Vulture but I'm going to use a Quail instead", and any number of other complicated things, because it was, in fact, a very sophisticated writing system. So this could also be "cat" 🚚🍌🚧)

Also, here is a hymn from an Egyptian temple (Esna) that is written almost entirely with variants of the crocodile glyph.

(There's actually also a similar thing where it's all ram hieroglyphs in the same temple)

Good luck managing that with emoji.

Interesting side note, but Mayan glyphs also do the thing where they often spell out the words and then put the symbol for that thing at the end. Like "balam" is jaguar, and it's completely normal to see jaguar spelled as "[ba glyph] [la glyph] [ma glyph because it's a syllabary and there's no individual consonants] [jaguar head glyph, which itself can also be a phonetic symbol in other words]". It could also be written as just "ba la ma" or "[jaguar head]" or "ba la [jaguar head]" or "ba [jaguar head]" - that's not even a full list, and not to mention that there's basically at least two glyphs you could use for any syllable and usually there's more, so the ba la and ma might change between spellings, even in a single work.

Mayan also has a little glyph for if the same sound was twice in a row, so you didn't have to draw the glyph twice, though I'm not sure if Egyptian hieroglyphs do too.

Emoji certainly could someday evolve into a form of hieroglyphs, probably over the span of hundreds or thousands of years, but it sure isn't a glyph system now (though the same could be said of basically any series of images)

Bonus side note, it's apparently human nature to make poetry out of repeating the same (animal-related) thing over and over, because the opposite happened in a Classical Chinese work where if you just look at the writing, it looks like a normal paragraph, but if you try to read it out loud, it's all the same sound with different tones. If anyone is wondering what that looks like, here you go (complete with translation)

it's mildly annoying when people compare emoji to hieroglyphs. like I get where the misconception comes from, but it's still a little bit frustrating to see

[santoschristos]

Thoth, the god of Magick

Hail to you Thoth!

Thoth was an Ancient Egyptian deity who served as the scribe of the gods and was said to have invented writing and hieroglyphics. He was the creator of science, religion, philosophy, and magic, as well as the god of the moon, wisdom, art, and judgement.

HYMN TO THOTH O my twice-great master Thoth, the only God who has no equal, who sees and hears whomsoever passes, who knows whomsoever is drawing near, with the knowledge of everything that happens! You have made my heart walk upon your waters,

He who walks on your road will never stumble. O people living on this Earth, and those yet to be born, ye who come to this mountain, ye who see this tomb and pass by it.

Come, I will guide you on the road of life, you will sail with a favorable wind, without accidents, and you will arrive at the abode of the city of generations. The road of the man who obeys Thoth (God) is straight, happy is he whose heart urges him to follow it!

To walk on the road of God is to be filled with light, great are the advantages gained by those who discipline themselves to follow it.

It is a monument raised by them on this Earth, that those who follow the paths of God, those who cling to the ways of God, spend all their lives in joy, gathering riches without equal.

Thoth, the God of knowledge, rewards every act according to its own merit. As you act so shall you be treated. To speak a good word is to build a monument. Happiness is to be found in observing Ma’at.

The West beyond the horizon is the dwelling place for he who has not transgressed the law, happy is who reaches there! Nobody can reach there unless their hearts have conformed exactly to the law. Down there there is no distinction between rich and poor, unless it is in the favor of he who is found to be righteous when weighted in the scales of justice before the master of eternity.

[helicoptersandcrocodilesfmp]

Context and reasoning for the artifact

For the story and mechanic for my game I wanted something at the end that the player wants to obtain, I am planning to look into history and other media to find inspiration for this concept to help me further the idea. 

Olmec colossal heads - Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances, requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers, perhaps carved to commemorate their deaths.

It has been suggested that she is a fertility figure, a good-luck totem, a mother goddess symbol, or an aphrodisiac made by men for the appreciation of men.

The back of the mask is covered with Spell 151b from the Book of the Dead, which the Egyptians used as a road map for the afterlife. This particular spell protects the various limbs of Tutankhamun as he moves into the underworld.

When it was discovered, nobody knew how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Because the inscriptions say the same thing in three different scripts, and scholars could still read Ancient Greek, the Rosetta Stone became a valuable key to deciphering the hieroglyphs.

Constructed over 2,200 years ago, the Terracotta Army was built at the request of the Emperor himself, who believed he would continue to rule in the afterlife. The Emperor, who took the throne at age 13, wanted to be buried with his army who would guard his tomb and protect him for eternity.

Other media that also takes inspiration from a dead army being resurrected to defend their ruler are movies such as Ragnarök and The Mummy 3. From these two sources and how they diverge from the original source material I am planning on making an unique story while trying to stay faithful to the source material.

Among the texts are parts of every book of the Hebrew canon — what Christians call the Old Testament — except the book of Esther. The scrolls also contain a collection of previously unknown hymns, prayers, commentaries, mystical formulas and the earliest version of the Ten Commandments.

Modern archaeologists, such as those at the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, believe it is more likely to have been used primarily as a ceremonial basin or ritual altar for gladiatorial sacrifices, than as an astrological or astronomical reference.

The Aztecs sacrificed a prisoner on the calendar stone on the date 4 Olin, the day they believed the world would end. The day repeats every 260 days in their calendar cycle. With succession of the cycle, another prisoner was sacrificed and the sun rose again the following day.

The mechanism was operated by turning a small hand crank (now lost) which was linked via a crown gear to the largest gear, the four-spoked gear visible on the front of fragment A, gear b1. This moved the date pointer on the front dial, which would be set to the correct Egyptian calendar day.

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (Ancient Greek: Λαβύρινθος, romanized: Labúrinthos) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the hero Theseus.

Each of the 9 circles in hell represents a different sin, each with its own degree of wickedness. The punishment, which is relevant to each sin is inflicted in the corresponding circle. As Dante travels through each circle, he encounters notable figures from history who were guilty of sin.

[weidaoduzun3]

Poimandres Dialogue & PGM XVIIb. 1-23

Interesting parallel here, as Hermes Trismégistōs is being taught by Poimandres the elements and the “unreasoning” creatures that spring forth from said elements and in PGM XVIIb which appears to be a simple theurgic hymn to Hermes. In line 15 it states: “You lord it o’er the Elements: fire, air, water and earth.”

Here is the whole hymn as follows:

This hymn just seems very similar to CH I. 5 and 11. In paragraph 5 of the Corpus Hermeticum, Hermes Trismégistōs learns of “The fire that was nimble and piercing and active as well…” and the rest of elements that are “stirred to hear by the spiritual word (Logos) that moved upon them.” And in paragraph 11 he learns of the elements air, earth and water and the unreasoning creatures that spring forth from said elements.

What’s interesting is my equation of Hermes as the spiritual word. The divine Logos. Is this Hermes Trismégistōs being taught by Poimandres the nature of Hermes, the Olympian, as Logos and his role in Hermetic creation? Seems like an argument could be made for this. What’s tricky though is who Hermes Trismégistōs is. Cause at times, to me at least, He is Hermes the Olympian and Thoth syncretized, other times he is a divine prophet, but a man no less.

Thoth is also equated in my head canon as the divine Logos, but the name of which god is the Logos of the Poimandres dialogue is not what is important I think. For in both mythologies: Hermes the Olympian is a brandisher of speech, gifting said speech to we mortals and to Pandora, and Thoth is the creator of the hieroglyphs, recorder of all names who enter the Du’at. So, they can both be the Logos, as described in the Poimandres dialogue, i.e. CH I.

Not really sure where this is going, other than just making an interesting parallel to Hermetic “philosophy” and more practical Hermetic “magic/theurgy”. Anyways —Khaire Hermes!

[depoat]

Here for some more hieroglyphic based puns! But this time with visual AND phonetic components (whoo!)

So, a way to refer to the interior of something is with the compound m-Xnw, which looks like this:

[id: A series a hieroglyphs, going from left to right with an owl sign, followed by a headless goat sign above a water sign, followed by a small round pot sign, a chick sign, and a house sign.

/end id]

Much of the final signs are just phonetic complements, meaning they repeat the sounds of previous signs for clarification, so it is sometimes shortened to just the the first 3 signs, which represent the consonants “m,” “Xnw,” and “n” as a phonetic complement, respectively. However, sometimes they write the word in an ENTIRELY different way, which looks like this:

[id: Another series of hieroglyphs, made up of the same small round pot above 3 of the waters signs stacked on top of each other

/end id]

Now, if you were to just look at these signs and read them, it would just be “nw mw” (one water sign is the consonant n, but 3 together is the word mw, meaning water). But, if you were to DESCRIBE the image in Middle Egyptian, it would be something like “mw Hr nw.” That is, “mw under nw,” so the mw sign is beneath the nw pots. If you were to say “mw Hr nw” quickly, it sounds really similar to m-Xnw, which is why the phrase is sometimes written with these signs!

[l-egypte]

August 3, 2020 | Radium Girls (trailer, 2020)

Last year I read Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women (2017), by Kate Moore. My colleague was speaking to a group of us during lunch break, describing this book about women whose jaws were falling apart, like you can just pull pieces of bone out of their mouths. The women were working with radioactive paints. I was very intrigued by the gruesome descriptions, and so, a few days later, I found a copy of the book in the library and read it. And it was very good. Disturbing and upsetting, but very good. 

In short, the book tells the story of girls who worked at US factories where they painted dials of watches etc. with paints that contained radium, so that the dials would glow in the dark, and so that soldiers who used these watched etc. could see the time etc. in the dark.

This year I found out that they were making a movie based on the book, which is based on these real women. I saw the trailer on YouTube, and, in one of the scenes, one of the girls is flipping through a book, and there are hieroglyphics in it. The running head reads “Hymn to Ra.”

You can read the “Hymn to Ra,” from The Book of the Dead, on WikiSource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Egyptian_Literature/The_Book_of_the_Dead/Hymn_to_Ra. 

It begins: 

A hymn of praise to Ra when he riseth in the eastern part of heaven. Those who are in his train rejoice, and lo! Osiris Ani, victorious, saith:

“Hail, thou Disk, thou lord of rays, who risest on the horizon day by day! Shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of Osiris Ani, who is victorious; for he singeth hymns of praise unto thee at dawn, and he maketh thee to set at eventide with words of adoration. May the soul of Osiris Ani, the triumphant one, come forth with thee into heaven, may he go forth in the Mātet boat. May he come into port in the Sektet boat, and may he cleave his path among the never-resting stars in the heavens.”

[...]

Why this is in the trailer, I’m not entirely sure, but, alas, a book of the dead seems apt for this story...

[Screenshot from the trailer Radium Girls (2020)]