The Scarab

Post » Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:30 am

Full Foreclose: I did some searches on the forum to see if this has been discussed and couldn't find anything on the particular subject. However, if the ideas have been, please feel free to give some linkage.

After a late night binge of the best kind of ES Lore, I decided to delve into this thread again:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1451586-summing-up-the-amaranth/page__p__22435381__hl__amaranth__fromsearch__1#entry22435381

To see if I couldn't get a better grasp of it than the first time I read it. I recently have been able to inarticulately "understand" some of the concepts associated with the amaranth, the true purpose of Tamriel, and the concepts associated with such (Love, Landfall, enantiomorph) and more importantly, the interaction of those concepts (and some others I felt I already had a good grasp of; CHIM, subgradiance, Numidium, etc.)

The Nerevarine feels and smells like the right answer to me, however, I felt that while the problem seem answered, and their was probably enough work shown there for the teacher to give you brilliant folk a good grade, the answer still wasn't quite proofed out to satisfaction. Whether it can be I suppose, is a matter of debate, but I personally think it should be the goal. Since my knowledge of the metaphysics of Nirn aren't really up to snuff compared to most of you, and I felt, the macro of the problem already had a good and valid hypothesis of an answer, I wanted to attack from the micro side of things, (tactically rather than strategically, if you will). So I settled on the Walking (waking?) Ways as they seemed to have a very Padomaic organization of thought. There's good stuff there, but it seems incomplete. After doing a little research, I believe that it is a worth endeavor to figure out who or what the scarab is or will be. If it's already been figured out, tell me who it is! Regardless, I think the parallels with Egyptian mythology are worth delving into.

The first quote that caught my eye regarding the scarab in the Egyptian mythos can be found on Wikipedia, and it caught my eye instantly.


Kheper-i kheper kheperu, kheper-kuy,
m kheper n khepri kheperu m sep tepy.

“I became, and the becoming became. I became by becoming the form of Khepra, god of transformations, who came into being in the First Time. Through me all transformations were enacted.”

This prayer is attributed to Khepra. Khepra is associated with Ra and Atum (Khnum is another possibility for the anology). Khepra is the morning sun, Ra, the midday sun, and Atum, the evening sun. I'm not sure what connection could or could not be made, but it's a trio. . .


I then went on to find this quote from an article (I'll link all sources at the bottom):

"The scarab beetle was also associated to god Khepri, who was regarded as an aspect of the sun god Ra. Sun gods embody the role of the sun in a solar system; like the sun, which makes all the flowers in the planet blossom, sun gods make all wisdom emerge among humans in periods of intellectual darkness (they are considered humans who have reached the human ideal through many incarnations)."

I don't think it's too far of a stretch to equate human ideal with the amaranth or a failed amaranth perhaps. It seems to be the goal of the Pharaoh (ruling king?), and perhaps people in general, to ascend to become a Sun God.

Searching some more, I came across this, which I found particularly interesting for the ideas of creation embedded in it. Also notice the ideas of "seeing the larger perspective" and seeing "the right direction" (Love as described in the Valentine's day thread?)



"At first sight, the word 'Xeper' looked odd to me. I kept wanting to pronounce it Zepper, rather than Kheffer. Yet this word looks even more ‘alien’ when spelled using the Runic letters. However, the ‘Kenas’ looks like a K without the vertical bar, and if I rolled the two Ehwas on their side, they would look like Es. So with a little imagination, the Runic version looks like Xeper/Khefer.
A deeper understanding of Xeper can be obtained by studying the meanings behind these ancient symbols.

Xeper first begins in us with Kenas, the ‘vital fire of life’. This is the ‘emotional root of creativity’, and ‘the will to generate and create’. It begins with the Will and the Desire. Then, with Ehwaz , we can begin to actualize “Movement and change for the better.’ in a partnership of our self with Self, and also with SET.

With Fehu, we channel the ‘raw, archetypical energy’ and further actualize “Movement and change for the better.’ But this requires seeing ‘seeing the larger perspective’ of Raidho, and being aware of the rhythms of life, we can then see ‘the right direction’ and make progress towards it. Thereby, we complete the cycle of Xeper and then it begins again, ever the cycle of 'being' and 'becoming'."



I believe I've read somewhere before that SITHISIT is anologous to Set, and reading up on both of them (especially the thread where Rotten discusses SITHISIT as the Amaranth), it seems to match, maybe better than any other real religious figure to a Tamrielic one (pure conjecture ;) ). In a[nother] new agey article comparing Set and Kheper, you get some gems like this:


"According to Kheprian history, Setem-Ansi achieves his transformation through a severing of the Universal umbilical as represented by the center in the belly associated with the Ba. The transformation, which enabled this being to transcend beyond a single incarnation, is the self-same transformation that marks the change into a Kheprian."


So, I guess my question is, can we make connections of this to figures (stress the plural) in our favorite dreamer's world? If so, can we make this work with the Nerevarine? It could be important to note that a death seems to be required here.

As a side note, the loveletter seems to indicate that this was a failed Amaranth, however it also states that ""The New Man becomes God becomes Amaranth" (notice the use of the word become). So, my final question is, is it possible that this is the sixth and final step of Amaranth?


No answers here really, just questions. Thanks to any and all that participate!

Links galore:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarab_(artifact)

http://suite101.com/article/the-symbolic-meaning-of-the-scarab-beetle--egyptian-symbolism-a334677

http://www.joanannlansberry.com/journal/pathmark/xeper.html

http://www.kheperu.org/kheprian/beliefs5.html



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra
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