Monday, May 3, 2010

Interesting mythological info -Scarab

Hey guys! So I have always thought that scarabs were interesting and love jewelry that uses scarabs, but I've never known the history behind them. While writing up the listing for my scarab necklace, I thought it would be interesting to find out what it represents. Here's what I found.

In egyptian mythology the scarab was an important symbol of creation, transformation, renewal, coming into being and everlasting life. This was because of its association with Kephri, the god of the rising sun. It was believed that each morning Kephri would push the morning sun out of the darkness, into our world, and across the sky. The dung beetle, or scarab, was tied to this because of the way they prepared for their young. The dung beetles would lay their eggs into a ball of dung that they would roll across the ground for a while until they finally buried it in the ground. Once the larva hatched and matured into beetles, they would "spontaneously" emerge out of the ground.
The pushing of the ball of dung across the ground and the "spontaneous" emergence of the babies was tied into Kephri pulling the sun out of darkness and then pushing it across the sky. For this reason, scarab beetles are often depicted as pushing the sun, or an orb.
Scarabs were also used during egyptian funeral rights. Prior to burial, a scarab amulet would be placed over the heart of the deceased. This was referred to as a "heart scarab" and the purpose of this was to ensure the rebirth of the deceased in the afterlife.


Just a little tidbit for you guys. I thought it was interesting so I figured some of you would too. :)

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