Chapter 14
Back to Eater of Souls Describe the protection ceremony (of an individual)
In the process of the protection ceremony in the historical fiction novel Eater of Souls and in Ancient Egyptian culture, the Egyptians followed a detailed procedure to ensure safety of a particular person who needs protection. In Egyptian culture, evil spirits and gods such as Seth impose tremendous fear. Oftentimes, the procedure Egyptians followed was the Execration Ritual, the act of cursing or denouncing of one's enemies. Priestesses initially dance in plied sistrums and ivory clappers to ward off evil spirits with the noise. Occasionally, the wife of a pharaoh will join in the festivities to ensure the presence of gods. Afterwards, the victim of fear kneels with gold cords in hand and ties knots in them while the High Priest of Amun recites spells. They do this part of the ritual to provide a barrier that the demon, Eater of Souls in the scenario of the novel, cannot pass. Shortly thereafter the pharaoh ties the cords around the representative figurine and places it inside a tall chest that resembles a desert fortress for the most highly of regarded nobles. Using a heavy rope given by another priest, the pharaoh and one other tie the rope around the chest and place a wet clay seal on it where the pharaoh places the royal seal ring. Thus, the demon is imprisoned. A prominent theme in Egyptian Protection ceremonies is to sacrifice or break something that represents the perpetrator of fear; commonly, Egyptians killed alligators to represent the destruction of the evil god, Seth. Additionally, in common Egyptian protection ceremonies, people will break red pots or texts with the perpetrator's name on them. However, these elaborate protection ceremonies of an individual were uncommon. In daily life, people donned amulets or cast magic spells upon themselves to ward off evil. In short, some key themes of Egyptian protection rituals are destruction of something that represents the fear, an authority figure's recitation of spells, the creation of noise to ward off evil spirits, and the attempt to attain a godlike presence that could protect them.
External Source: http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/religion/execration_rituals.htm Source: Eater of Souls (Robinson, Lynda S. Eater of Souls. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 1997.) Photo Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwivu_6LvMHMAhVK7yYKHSAyAoMQjxwIAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.experience-ancient-egypt.com%2Fegyptian-religion-mythology%2Fegyptian-symbols-and-texts%2Fegyptian-protection-symbols&bvm=bv.121099550,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNFX8kbUlGy1KQtVWJ5Sr9gy0NRV0w&ust=1462487304066537 http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/dancers.htm
- Louisa Sarofim
