{"id":924,"date":"2013-05-03T00:58:32","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T05:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unorthodoxcreativity.com\/emky\/?p=924"},"modified":"2013-06-24T21:34:59","modified_gmt":"2013-06-25T02:34:59","slug":"ihy-the-musician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/unorthodoxcreativity.com\/emky\/prayers\/ihy-the-musician\/","title":{"rendered":"PBP Fridays: I is for Ihy, The Musician"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am writing this late, but yesterday was III Shomu 12, the day of Ihy’s birth… so it is not inappropriate that I catch up on this entry now. :)<\/p>\n

Ihy is a child god, son of Hethert (Hathor) and Heru-wer (Horus the Elder), though He is occasionally described as being the son of other Netjeru. His name has been interpreted as “sistrum player” or “musician,” as well as “calf” (being that Hethert often took the form of a cow)—He is called the Bull of Confusion, the Lord of Hearts. He is the youthful patron or creator of music, the sistrum, and the jubilation that emanated from both sound and instrument. While He is primarily a joyful, musical god, He was also linked to the afterlife as “the lord of bread” and was “in charge of the beer,” a boon both for mortal offerings and the cyclical pacification of His mother in Her name of Sekhmet. He has also been linked, as other child gods were, to the blue lotus that represented renewal and birth and was called “the child who shines in the lotus.”<\/p>\n

He was usually depicted nude, with the side-lock denoting youthfulness, often with a finger to His mouth; however, he was not always depicted as child-sized and was occasionally shown as large as adult Netjeru. To the right here, He’s shown wearing a uraeus and holding a sistrum decorated with His mother’s face. In some birth houses, He was equated with the king, and scenes celebrated the conception and birth of the divine child, which identified the king with Ihy and bestowed upon him the powers and protections of the child god Himself.<\/p>\n

Spell 334 describes His birth:<\/p>\n

My awesomeness precedes me
\nAs Ihy, the Son of Hathor,
\nI am he who begets a begetting,
\nI flowed out from between her thighs,
\nIn this my name Jackal of the Light,
\nI broke forth from the egg…
\nI escaped in her blood,
\nI am the Lord of blood. I am a turbulent bull…
\nI came into being, I crept, I traveled around.
\nI grew, I became tall like my father<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the Coffin Texts, Ihy’s resemblance to His mother Hethert is described:<\/p>\n

My perfume is the incense
\nwhich my mother Hathor uses for her censing,
\nMy efflux is the sacred oil
\nwhich my mother Hathor uses for her flesh…
\nMy intestines are the beads of her menat
\nwhich my mother Hathor places at her throat,
\nAnd my hands are her sistrum
\nwhich my mother Hathor
\nUses for her contentment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, for His (one day belated) birthday, a modern offering:<\/p>\n

A song for You, O Ihy,
\nmost musical of all Netjeru!
\nA song for You and a song for me,
\nthat we may sing together!
\nAs You shake the sistrum for Your mother
\nthat She may be made glad,
\nso I shake the sistrum for You
\nthat You may share in my joy!
\nA song for us, O Ihy,
\nto exult and celebrate life!<\/i><\/p>\n

Sources<\/i>:<\/p>\n