EYE OF HORUS

The all seeing eye
Of health and protection
Eye of moon, eye of sun
Enlightenment and intuition

The time of the writing of this article is during the fourth lunar cycle of 2023.  This is a time of vision, of things coming to light, of taking the long view.  One of the most widely recognized symbols of ancient Egypt is the eye.  I started with the intention of writing an article and its relationship to intuition.  Boy did I find a hornet's nest of information.  Part of this seemingly conflicting information comes from the ancient origins of the symbol itself.  Some of it comes from the myths and legends that revolve around the symbol.

I will start with the fact that for most people, the eye is a critical part of how they see the world.  This gives the eye a symbolic meaning since antiquity revolving around perception and seeing beyond the ordinary.  In Egypt, the eye symbol is used in conjunction with Horus, Ra, Bastet, Hathor, Mut, Wadget, and more.  Whether the eye is shown as a left eye as above or a right eye also shifts the meaning as does the coloration.  I am going to stick with the most common aspects in this article.  If you are interested, diving into the myths of Egypt will lend much more nuance to this.

The left eye is the Eye of Horus.
The right eye is the Eye of Ra.
The left eye is associated with the moon, healing, and intuition.
​The right eye is associated with the sun, power, fierceness, and seeing what is.
​

According to legend, Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis.  In a battle of vengeance or justice, his eye was gouged out.  It was later magically healed.  From this legend, the left eye becomes a symbol of healing.  The eye was restored by the god of magic, so the eye becomes a symbol of restoration and magic.  The loss of the eye and its regrowth is used to explain the phases of the moon.  The Eye of Horus therefore becomes the symbol of healing, protection, resurrection, intuition, and clairvoyance.

According to a different legend, the Eye of Ra was sent out to spy on Ra's enemies.  Some times the Eye of Ra would wreak vengeance on those who did not pay proper homage.  The right eye, then becomes associated with the sun, power, and the ability to see all as it is.  The right eye is seen as both poles of power.  It is the ability for greatness and the ability to do great harm.  It is the power of the sun to warm and nourish or destroy.  The right eye symbolizes the intellect.

The last little bit of interesting information that I want to share does relate to intuition.  From the information that I found, the Egyptian eye maps almost perfectly onto the human brain with the center of the eye being the pineal gland.  The eye seems to draw a map of the parts of the brain that regulate emotion, memory, and movement.  These are the parts of the brain that many spiritual teachers believe hold the potential for enlightenment and the third eye.

It is one of the symbols that I use to remind myself to take the long view and to play the long game.

Here is where I got some of my information:
journeytoegypt.com
medium.com
​cleopatraegypttours.com