Many of you have probably heard of an ancient Egyptian amulet called the ankh, which is still popular in jewelry today. And you may even know that it was a symbol representing eternal life.
But did you also know that it was sometimes called the Crux Ansata by Coptic Christians and early Egyptologists or also the Cross of Horus?
Why Horus? Well, the god Horus was the son of Osiris who represented the deceased Pharoah. Horus, however, represented the Pharoah who lived. He was commonly pictured as a falcon, lord of the skies. In paintings on tomb walls of the Egyptian judgment scene, the weighing of the heart, you would frequently see Horus with his falcon head, carrying the ankh, the Cross of Horus, to impart the breath of eternal life to the lips of the deceased. He could also withhold the ankh and thus deny eternal life to those whose hearts were weighted down by misdeeds. (Note: Many Egyptian gods and goddesses were shown holding the ankh, not just Horus, but in the Weighing of the Hearts scene, it was usually Horus who carried this key to life when presenting the deceased to Osiris for final judgment).
So, what does any of this have to do with Harry Potter? Well, my other obsession with Harry Potter, besides helping writers learn to improve their own craft, has been in tracing the Egyptian mythological references which run through JK Rowling's stories. I think there are many, and I think the Horcrux is one of them.
Hor + Crux = Cross of Horus.
For Voldemort, his Horcruxes gave him eternal life. But when Harry, who represents Horus, got involved, they led to his final death. Harry urged Voldemort to account for his murderous misdeeds. When Voldemort refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing, it was Harry/Horus, who denied him eternal life.
Most fans are familiar with the Greek, Nordic, and even Druid references which JKR wove into her subtext. But not as many picked up on the Egyptian. I think the Egyptian may have even been primary. In fact, I think that the whole reason for JKR to place Bill as a curse-breaker in Egypt, was to point the way there. But when I first presented the Horcrux = Cross of Horus theory back in 2005 at the Witching Hour conference in Salem MA, very few people were onto JKR's use of Egyptian subtext. Now, lots of fans have caught on.
Over the years, I've analyzed many of these Egyptian references through the series and will share them, with time, here. Follow the Egyptian Mythology label to read them all.
And why point these out? Because in seeing how JKR used ancient myths and symbols as subtext for her stories, we can do the same. This layer of subtext is what gave her series such a rich depth and hooked her readers into searching out all the clues within.
Fans delighted in finding these Easter Eggs of clues, buried within her text. They scoured the Internet, searching out the meaning, and then plastered their theories of what was to come in the series based on their interpretation.
As writers, especially if your story has mystery or fantasy elements, weaving in this layer of subtext will delight and engage your reader. Studying how it has been done by a successful author will help you improve your own craft.
Have you used any ancient symbols or myths to add subtext to your story?
