Hotep, everyone!

I'm wondering if anyone experiences/views these two Names as the same or different - and if so, to what degree. To me, Heru-wer feels more mature, experienced, wiser, and in full control of His power. Heru-sa-Aset, on the other hand, feels young, untested, untried, but magnificent, resplendent and glorious. I'd also have to say that Heru-wer's power feels more subtle, as if He uses it behind the scenes, whereas Heru-sa-Aset seems to be unabashedly "in your face."

And They also feel like two separate and distinct Names of Netjer to me rather than "younger and older" versions of the same Name. My own UPG.

What's yours?

Senebty!

Em Hotep *henu*

to me they are two separate and distinct Names with different myths, different traits, different titles.

If I saw any God at all as a younger and older version of each other then it would be Heru-Sa-Aset and Heru-pa-khered


Senebty
Tanebet

I experience them as completely separate Gods. Heru-Wer is... abrasive, he's the kind of person who will do something a bit offensive and tell you to buck up/QQ more if you don't like it. He likes war and women and drink, not always in a great way. He is... not my favourite god in the whole world.

Heru-sa-Aset is bright, very bright, like yellow. Everything he does is intense. I wouldn't call him childlike or youthful in his manner, but there's an element of that single minded, pure, undiluted and *equal* interest in everything he does, that a lot of us lose as we mature, that he hasn't lost despite being a grown man. Everything he does, he does fully. He's very Genuine.

He's the prince or the young king, where Heru-Wer is the old general, the bored and rowdy soldier. Heru-sa-Aset's features are unlined, but heavy with responsibility, where Heru-Wer's are weathered like leather but utterly free.

Mm, they feel like completely separate deities to me too. When I'm interacting with Heru-wer.... how shall I put this, it feels like I'm hanging out with a good natured pirate or a viking, a strong warrior who's got tons of tales to tell after downing a few pints of beer. He can be rough and blunt, but, only has one's best interest in mind. I truly do love Him.

Heru-sa-Aset... I've only met Him once, but, He truly did feel like a young prince at court. He was noble and beautiful, and a bit quiet. Very different from Heru-wer.

Edited to add: /\/\ Haha, we only posted a few seconds apart. Good to see we're on the same page as the blunt warrior/soldier bit.

Em hotep!

I don't have any personal experience with either Name, but I thought I'd pop in and add context/ask a question. Not that it's super relevant, but didn't the idea of Heru-wer just being the "elder" version of Heru-sa-Aset come about more or less exclusively because of the Greeks? I seem to remember reading that the theological connection between the Two wasn't necessarily part of Their identities in Ancient Kemet. Not that it makes a huge difference if you happen to see Them in that type of relationship.

Senebty,

Menem

Hotep!

Actually no, I think the concept of an Elder and a Younger Heru predate the coming of the Greeks. The PYramid texts according to Meeks (and a perusal of the Faulkner translation thereof) refer to "Horus who is Osiris the king", and the Memphite Theology, which purports to be based on far older texts but at least dates to the Late Period, prior to the Hellenistic Ptolemaic period, refers to Horus as telling both Isis and Nephthys to hurry and get Osiris out of the water. Which sounds as if Horus is full grown, not a babe waiting to be born at that time Horus is kinda referred to therein as son of Geb's firstborn, but he is not referred to as son of Isis.

Just for mind-bendiness, btw, In the same Memphite Theology, btw, later on it also says that "Ptah gave life to all the gods and their kas through this heart and through this tongue in which Horus had taken shape as Ptah..." and Djehuty is referred to in the same way as well, i.e. "in which Thoth had taken shape as Ptah.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Kai-Imakhu. I didn't know of any Kemetic mythology directly tying Them together in that fashion.

This is exactly how Heru-sa-Aset comes across to me, except that He feels more like a youth of eighteen/twenty-ish to me - if one can actually peg human years onto a deity. Everything else - the yellow, brightness, intensity, genuineness - dead on with my take on Him.

Heru-wer as soldier and general, I definitely get. The bawdiness, womanizing and abrasiveness, however, I haven't - yet. He feels more like an experienced and savvy military strategist who has seen a lot of combat and can foresee and plan for every possible scenario.

Though I suppose that wouldn't prevent Him from wanting a good stiff drink or romp in the sack after a day of leading, killing and maiming.

I do know what you mean. I call him a grown man for a number of reasons. First being that it's only in modern times that we have stopped considering teens being "men grown". And second because, you know how there are people who are twenty and thirty, and still boys? And then there are people who have been raised to a purpose, and somehow have all the strength and commanding presence of a much older individual despite being pretty young.

I do see Heru-sa-Aset, visually, as in his late teens to early twenties. But I call him a grown man because to me, he is. He grew up and took on his father's throne, he's no boy.

For me-

Heru-wer fells like I am back at the Junion Ranks Mess and someone's just called "CAMERON'S TO THE BAR!" and there's a mad rush to the bar to get a free drink, then go back to carousing about the evening and retelling war stories. Heru-wer also strikes me as the bawdy old uncle who will smack a pup for getting too close to what he considers His.

Heru-sa-Aset feels like a new Resident getting his feet wet in Emergency. Lots of theory, lots of new ideas on how to make the system work but no practical experience. He's good at what he does mind you, when he gets the chance to do it. He just hasn't worked the endless rotation of nights when the drunks pour in at 3am for fist-fights in tow with the police, or the other miryad of crappy stuff that happens when they system fails. Great at impressing the Higher Up's, but can't seem to make his co-workers like him.

~Maret