This post is also available in: French

Mastering destiny according to the ancient Egyptians and the strength of their iconography by Antoine Gigal

Mastering Destiny according ancient Egyptians by Antoine Gigal

Prepare to be surprised because it is through two fishes (two different ones) that the Egyptian Elders reveal to us their deepest thoughts about mastering  the destiny. Indeed: two fishes were carrying a very powerful symbolism in ancient Egypt and as I often repeat the simple iconography of Ancient Egypt has much more teaching than it looks. The representation of these two fish is interesting as you will see.

These two fishes are: Tilapia and Nile Perch: “Lates niloticus” wrongly called “captain”. And if in iconography, we often depicted a man harpooning both at the same time, in reality it was perfectly impossible. And that’s where it becomes interesting. Indeed: if tilapia is a fish living in shallow water, mainly in lakes, river banks or basins, Lates instead lives in the dark and deep waters, in the very bed of the river. We could not catch them at the same time and so the representation of a man fishing both at once, has a hidden meaning.

Tilapia, British Museum, Public Domain

The name Tilapia is a Latinization of the word “thiape” in the Tswana language of the Bantu (Niger-Congo languages). And in ancient Egyptian the tilapia was called “in.t” and had its own hieroglyph (k1 in the list Gardiner). In China tilapia is known as loufei 罗非鱼 because the Nile was named: “niLOU” and Africa: “FEIzhou” = LOUFEI.

One of the oldest Egyptian bas-reliefs representing tilapia dates back 4000 years and shows tilapias bred in basins. Tilapia was associated in many ancient poems in the rising sun and the light blue of the turquoise but also: with the heart, because of its beautiful red highlights at times, because it could display bright colors. It strongly symbolized the life and fertility of the sun and was associated with protection because in case of danger the female gives refuge to her babies in her mouth. And then Tilapia cleans the lotus stems of his micro organisms so that one has the impression that the flower and the stem of the lotus come out of his mouth.

Tilapia after cleaning lotus photofragment©AntoineGigal

Lates Niloticus, 1923

On the other hand, Lates fish was associated with the night and dark blue lapis lazuli. This Lates is named Mbuta in the Luo Nilotic languages ​​and is a formidable predator that can feed itself even on its own breed! Lates is mainly  living in dark and deep waters.

And it is not surprising that the two fish are represented according to the solar boat because one represents the night and the other the day.

In the “Book of the Dead” (better translated as “Book of the return to the light of day”) song 14, it is said to the deceased when he wishes to join the solar boat: “You see a real Tilapia in its turquoise pool ..”. And “I hold the true tilapia guiding the fast boat on the waters …”.

Tilapia representation today in Egypt from ancient egyptian drawing Photo© Antoine Gigal

So harpooning the two fishes so different in the iconography of ancient Egypt is first of all didactic, a good teaching method to remind and warn about the different properties of the fishes but it is especially a representation for the man, the control of the day and the night, the mastering of  destiny, of his proper destiny.

Tilapia 17 dynasty with cartouche Intef, Cairo Museum PublicDomain

Gold with ancientEgyptian green glazed faience, WaltersArtMuseum Publicdomain chalcedony, turquoise, carnelian, lapis lazuli and black stone inlay

Indeed, the day was assimilated in Ancient Egypt to the enlightened Past: yesterday visible, yesterday “enlightened”, and the night was assimilated  to the future: the next day as it is not visible, is therefore dark, full of chaos not yet organized. The past being harmonious, “predictable”, “known”, assimilated because behind us, and the future: unknown and prey to the dark chaotic forces assimilated to the Lates fish that can eat his own race.

The place of the right man is in the center, in the “now”, mastering his destiny, that is to say these two forces. Our  responsibility as humans  is always to smooth out the difficulties of the future and to prepare, harmonize, put order and balance (the Maat of ancient Egypt) and I am always amazed at how little we do in this regard  with the huge amount of work and energy that it represents….As you know we are not taking care enough of Nature and of our sisters and brothers for the sake of Humanity and this planet…

Nébamon’s garden (v. -1350BC), British Museum, Public Domain

To be in the Present to avoid Chaos of the Future

Harmonizing the Future and keeping the balance of the present or restoring, it is one of the most important tasks of Humanity and was well understood by the ancient Egyptians, because for them it was there the assurance of our immortality and the stability, the certainty to get then higher dimensions where we must evolve afterwards. The future depends on us and if we do not deal with it, it can contain the worst disasters, but we are the co-creators and we must not forget our responsibility in this regard.

At any moment we can change things by our actions and our thoughts and that has many implications, if we face with lucidity. According to the guardians of the oral tradition I attended, the most powerful prayer of their ancestors in Egypt was: “God, preserve us from our bad futures! “. 

Gigal Master Classes soon !

I will soon devote a master class to the control and protection of the destiny according  the Ancient Egyptian knowledge and methodology because the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with it and it seems really important especially nowadays. In  almost all my Masters Class I will talk about it because it is deeply intricated in all ancient Egyptian topics, so that you can benefit from their techniques in your own lives what seems to me very important in the chaotic, difficult times that we go through.

Iconography played its essential role in transmitting the message so that we would not forget it and know how to use it for thousands of years later.

Text © AntoineGigal-April2012-2018

All rights reserved.©AntoineGigal2018

                                                                                          ? MORE?

► Please sign up to my Newsletter on my BLOG:  

     https://gigalinsights.com/  To get News, latest articles, next Tours, e-classes, surprises and much more !

► Follow me on my FB : https://www.facebook.com/antoinegigal                                                                                  Or (&) on : https://www.facebook.com/GigalEgypt/?ref=bookmarks 

►Follow me on my INSTAGRAM for my everyday amazing pics from Egypt: https://www.instagram.com/antoine_gigal/

► And don’t miss my YOUTUBE channel with videos in English:  

 https://www.youtube.com/user/antoineGigalEGYPT

 ► TWITTER :  https://twitter.com/AntoineGigal    @AntoineGigal

►Podcasts: (in French) SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/antoine-gigal

• ►Who is Gigal ? https://gigalinsights.com/contact-gigal-insights/gigal-insights-blog/
• ►More on Gigal : https://gigalinsights.com/contact-gigal-insights/

This post is also available in: French