Scarabaeus

The term "scarab" derives from the Latin scarabaeus, referring to the dung beetle. In ancient Egyptian, the word for scarab beetle was kheper, which also meant "to become," "to transform," or "to come into being," linking the beetle's rolling of dung balls to the sun's daily journey.

In Iv^'vpt. the .symbol of resurrection, and also of rebirth; of resurrection for the mummy or rather of tlie hijrhest asjieets of the pn-.^nnalifif which animated it. and of rebirth of the Ego. the "spiritual body" of the lower, human Soul. Epryptoloirists pive us but half of the truth, when in speeulatinj^ upon the mcaniu'r of certain in.scriptions. they say, "the justified soul, once arrived at a certain period of its pere^inations (simply at the death of the physical body) .should be united to its body (i.e., the Epro) never more to he separated from it*'. CRouge.) What is this so-called body? Can it be the mummy? Certainly not. for the emptied nuimmiticd corpse can never rt^surrect. It can only be the eternal, spiritual vestment, the E(;() that never dies but gives innuortality to whatsoever becomes united with it. "The delivered Intelligence (which) retakes its luminous envelope and (re)become'=i Daimon", as Prof. !Maspero says, is the spiritual Ego; the personal Ego or Kama Manas, its direct ray, or the lower soul, is that which aspires to become Osirificrl. i.e., to unite itself with its "god"; and that portion of it which will succeed in so doing, will never more he srparatefl from it (the god), not even when the latter incarnates again and again, descending j)eriodically on earth in its pilgrimage, in search of further experiences and following the decrees of Kai'ma. Khem. "the sower of seed", is shown on a stele in a picture of KesuiTection aft<'r physical death, as the creator and the sower of the grain of coru, which after corruption, springs up afresh each time into a new ear, on which a scaraba-us beeth; is seen poised ; and I )everia shows very justly that "Ptah is the inert, material form of Osiris, who will become Sokari (the eternal Ego) to l)e reborn, and afterwards be Ilarmachus", or Horus in his trajisformation, the risen god. The prayer so often found in tile tumular inscriptions, "the wish for the resurrection in one's living soul" or the Higher P]go, has ever a scarabteus at the end, standing for the personal soul. The .scaraba-us is the most honoured, as the most frequent and familiar, of all Egyptian symbols. No mummy is without several of them; the favourite ornament on engravings, liousehold furGLOSSARY 273 iiitui'L' and utensils is this sacred beetle, and Pierret pertint-nlly shows in his Livre dcs Morts that the secret meaning of this hieroprlyph i.s sufficiently explained in that the Egyptian name for the scarabo?us. Khcprr,

Blavatsky, in her characteristic expansive vision, points us toward the scarab not as a quaint relic of Egyptian funerary practices, but as a potent symbol of an enduring spiritual aspiration. The beetle, diligently rolling its sphere of dung, was observed by the ancient Egyptians to mirror the sun's daily transit across the sky, a cosmic drama of death and rebirth. This observation lent the scarab its profound association with kheper, the concept of becoming and transformation.

What Blavatsky emphasizes is the distinction between the physical husk and the animating principle. The mummy, the emptied corpse, cannot resurrect. True resurrection, in this esoteric understanding, belongs to the kama-manas, the lower soul, which aspires to unite with the higher spiritual ego, the "spiritual body" or "luminous envelope" that never dies. This echoes the Hermetic principle of "As Above, So Below," where the microcosm of the beetle's action reflects the macrocosm of celestial cycles and the inner journey of the soul.

Mircea Eliade, in his studies of myth and ritual, highlights the archetypal significance of cyclical renewal. The scarab embodies this archetype, suggesting that death is not an end but a transition, a necessary phase in a perpetual process of becoming. This resonates deeply with the Hindu concept of samsara, where the soul traverses countless lives, each a step in its evolutionary journey. The scarab, therefore, becomes a powerful emblem for the perennial human quest for immortality, not through the preservation of the physical form, but through the spiritualization and eternalization of the self. It invites contemplation on the nature of our own "spiritual body," the unseen essence that animates our transient existence.

RELATED_TERMS: Resurrection, Rebirth, Spiritual Body, Ego, Transformation, Cycles, Samsara, Kheper