To do this she had applied the lesson of the tradition of
the avenging guard of the treasures of the pyramid, built by her great
predecessor of the Fourth Dynasty of the throne of Egypt. “You have noted, I suppose, how there were, in the case of her tomb,
certain deviations from the usual rules. For instance, the shaft of
the Mummy Pit, which is usually filled up solid with stones and
rubbish, was left open. Why was this? I take it that she had made
arrangements for leaving the tomb when, after her resurrection, she
should be a new woman, with a different personality, and less inured to
the hardships that in her first existence she had suffered. So far as
we can judge of her intent, all things needful for her exit into the
world had been thought of, even to the iron chain, described by Van
Huyn, close to the door in the rock, by which she might be able to
lower herself to the ground. That she expected a long period to elapse
was shown in the choice of material. An ordinary rope would be
rendered weaker or unsafe in process of time, but she imagined, and
rightly, that the iron would endure. “What her intentions were when once she trod the open earth afresh we
do not know, and we never shall, unless her own dead lips can soften
and speak.”




Chapter XV

The Purpose of Queen Tera


“Now, as to the Star Jewel! This she manifestly regarded as the
greatest of her treasures. On it she had engraven words which none of
her time dared to speak. “In the old Egyptian belief it was held that there were words, which,
if used properly—for the method of speaking them was as important as
the words themselves—could command the Lords of the Upper and the
Lower Worlds. The ‘hekau’, or word of power, was all-important in
certain ritual. On the Jewel of Seven Stars, which, as you know, is
carved into the image of a scarab, are graven in hieroglyphic two such
hekau, one above, the other underneath. But you will understand better
when you see it! Wait here! Do not stir!”

As he spoke, he rose and left the room. A great fear for him came over
me; but I was in some strange way relieved when I looked at Margaret. Whenever there had been any possibility of danger to her father, she
had shown great fear for him; now she was calm and placid. I said
nothing, but waited. In two or three minutes, Mr. Trelawny returned. He held in his hand a
little golden box. This, as he resumed his seat, he placed before him
on the table. We all leaned forward as he opened it. On a lining of white satin lay a wondrous ruby of immense size, almost
as big as the top joint of Margaret’s little finger. It was carven—it
could not possibly have been its natural shape, but jewels do not show
the working of the tool—into the shape of a scarab, with its wings
folded, and its legs and feelers pressed back to its sides. Shining
through its wondrous “pigeon’s blood” colour were seven different
stars, each of seven points, in such position that they reproduced
exactly the figure of the Plough. There could be no possible mistake
as to this in the mind of anyone who had ever noted the constellation. On it were some hieroglyphic figures, cut with the most exquisite
precision, as I could see when it came to my turn to use the
magnifying-glass, which Mr. Trelawny took from his pocket and handed to
us. When we all had seen it fully, Mr. Trelawny turned it over so that it
rested on its back in a cavity made to hold it in the upper half of the
box. The reverse was no less wonderful than the upper, being carved to
resemble the under side of the beetle. It, too, had some hieroglyphic
figures cut on it. Mr. Trelawny resumed his lecture as we all sat with
our heads close to this wonderful jewel:

“As you see, there are two words, one on the top, the other underneath. The symbols on the top represent a single word, composed of one
syllable prolonged, with its determinatives. You know, all of you, I
suppose, that the Egyptian language was phonetic, and that the
hieroglyphic symbol represented the sound. The first symbol here, the
hoe, means ‘mer’, and the two pointed ellipses the prolongation of the
final r: mer-r-r. The sitting figure with the hand to its face is what
we call the ‘determinative’ of ‘thought’; and the roll of papyrus that
of ‘abstraction’. Thus we get the word ‘mer’, love, in its abstract,
general, and fullest sense. This is the hekau which can command the
Upper World.”

Margaret’s face was a glory as she said in a deep, low, ringing tone:

“Oh, but it is true. How the old wonder-workers guessed at almighty
Truth!”  Then a hot blush swept her face, and her eyes fell. Her
father smiled at her lovingly as he resumed:

“The symbolisation of the word on the reverse is simpler, though the
meaning is more abstruse. The first symbol means ‘men’, ‘abiding’, and
the second, ‘ab’, ‘the heart’. So that we get ‘abiding of heart’, or
in our own language ‘patience’. And this is the hekau to control the
Lower World!”

He closed the box, and motioning us to remain as we were, he went back
to his room to replace the Jewel in the safe. When he had returned and
resumed his seat, he went on:

“That Jewel, with its mystic words, and which Queen Tera held under her
hand in the sarcophagus, was to be an important factor—probably the
most important—in the working out of the act of her resurrection. From the first I seemed by a sort of instinct to realise this. I kept
the Jewel within my great safe, whence none could extract it; not even
Queen Tera herself with her astral body.”

“Her ‘astral body’? What is that, Father? What does that mean?” There
was a keenness in Margaret’s voice as she asked the question which
surprised me a little; but Trelawny smiled a sort of indulgent parental
smile, which came through his grim solemnity like sunshine through a
rifted cloud, as he spoke:

“The astral body, which is a part of Buddhist belief, long subsequent
to the time I speak of, and which is an accepted fact of modern
mysticism, had its rise in Ancient Egypt; at least, so far as we know. It is that the gifted individual can at will, quick as thought itself,
transfer his body whithersoever he chooses, by the dissolution and
reincarnation of particles. In the ancient belief there were several
parts of a human being. You may as well know them; so that you will
understand matters relative to them or dependent on them as they occur. “First there is the ‘Ka’, or ‘Double’, which, as Doctor Budge explains,
may be defined as ‘an abstract individuality of personality’ which was
imbued with all the characteristic attributes of the individual it
represented, and possessed an absolutely independent existence. It was
free to move from place to place on earth at will; and it could enter
into heaven and hold converse with the gods. Then there was the ‘Ba’,
or ‘soul’, which dwelt in the ‘Ka’, and had the power of becoming
corporeal or incorporeal at will; ‘it had both substance and form.... It had power to leave the tomb....