Nehebkau
The Egyptians had many gods whose functions were often shared by each other. One of these gods was Nehebkau. Nehebkau was a snake god that was often depicted with two legs and sometimes wings. His name meant ‘one who brings together Ka.’
The Egyptians believed that a person’s soul was made up of many parts. Two of these parts were the Ka, which was the lifeforce; and the Ba, which was the personality. I suggest that you also read Teenbee’s “Ba and Ka Theory” for a good take on how Ba and Ka relate to Lost. After a person died the Ka and the Ba were joined. This task was the responsibility of Nehebkau. Since Nehebkau was responsible for this binding he was also given the task of guarding the entrance to Duat, the Egyptian underworld. Now since Nehebkau was responsible for part of the soul and guarded duat he was also one of the gods that helped Anubis with the judging of the dead. The Egyptians also reasoned that since Nehebkau protected the entrance to Duat and was associated with snakes he was also a protector of the earth and could be summond for protection when they needed him.
One of the biggest mysteries on Lost has been the Smoke Monster. Smokey has been described as a security system for the Island (earth), guards what appears to be an underground temple and issues forth from underground (the entrance to duat?), takes on the forms of people (their Ka and Ba), and judges people (Ben and Eko). Also the carving above the vent that the Smoke Monster comes out of shows what appears to be Anubis and another entity that we assume is the Smoke Monster. So could it be that Smokey’s actual name is Nehebkau? I believe so.
very cool, I have never heard any of this but it’s cool to see it pointed out. I’d like to see lost make some connection between the secret society the freemasons dating back to egypt and possibly the split in the others, whidmore vs ben. I see no reason why they would though. All we know is its a war between good and evil. (i think, lol)
Hey Achalli what did you think of the new Battlestar Galactica? i still have not finished season 3 since it went on break way back, but i thought it was pretty awesome, good production, good acting.
Achalli, you certainly got my mind going on Ba and Ka and how it may explain ‘the dead’ making appearances on ‘the island’.
The Ka (life force) distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ka left the body.
The Ka was often represented in Egyptian iconography as a ‘second image of the individual’, leading earlier works to attempt to translate Ka as double.
When a deity intervened in human affairs, it was said that the Ba of the deity were at work. In this regard, the ruler was regarded as a Ba of a deity, or one deity was believed to be the Ba of another.
Given what we know about Fake Locke and Christian Shephard, etc., I am wondering if the above information is one explanation which might aptly fit.
Do you have any thoughts on this?
Holdem Caulfield it never occurred to me to look for a connection to freemasonry. I’d forgotton that it came out of Egypt originally. I’ll have to look into that and also see if the Illuminati can be squeezed in also; they could be the tird organization that others have theorized about. As to the new Battlestar Galactica it is a great show. It managed to honor the original show but yet do something completely different and do it well, which is very rare for remakes. I’ve already seen the fourth and final season so I can’t go into detail without spoiling it for you. I will say that they do explain everything, everything is explained in a way that is satisfying, and done in a way that connects to the original series. The only hint I will give you is to pay attention to the idea that what has happened before will happen again. This idea can be applied to Lost also.
Dabs, I found this information when I started to look at other minor gods in the Egyption pantheon. That’s how I stumbled on the Egyption’s concept of the soul. I’m still looking into it but I’m trying to find different angles than Teenbee. When I was reading about Nehebkau and his properties and responsibilities I was floored. The similarities between the serpent images and being a god of protection fit Smokey really well. The three things that really tied everything together were Nehebkau’s responsibility of binding the Ba and Ka together, guarding the entrance to Duat (Cerberus had a similar role), and was a protector of the earth that could be summoned; if it looks like Smokey, sounds like Smokey, then it must be Smokey.
I think that Ba and Ka do explain all the apparitions. The problem is that I believe that there are many different sources for all the apparitions. I think the Island generates apparations, Smokey takes on different forms, the Adversary has the same abbility. Another part of the soul that Egyptians believed in was the Sheut, or shadow. a shadow was supposed to contain something of the person or thing that the shadow was a part of. This would bring a whole new way to look at the statue and interperet the question “what lies in the shadow of the statue?” I’m starting to think that everything on the Island is just an aspect of the Island and that it wants all it’s different parts united as one, perhaps the series finale will have a major confrontaion with the Smoke Monster, especially if its job is to unite the Ba and Ka. Another quik thought, maybe Smokey is the Sheut (shadow) of the Island, Locke originally described it as the soul of the Island. Smokey contains images he scans from people and he dark in color. The Egyptians usually depicted the Sheut as a dark figure painted black and as a servant of Annubis. The possibilities are endless with this.
Hey Dabs, a quick question for you since you’re a veteran user of this site. Is it normal for posts to take several days to show up? I understand the rules about new users and when the season is in progress but was wondering if this is normal.
Hi Achalli, I am really liking the explanation of Ba and Ka as the reason to explain the apparitions. I would even include Fake Locke and Christian in addition.
I hadn’t viewed it in this light previously, so thanks for posting this.
Also, I left a comment for Holdem on easyrider69’s post, about AES and myself being firm subscribers to The Illuminati and have had many discussions in this regard, and how it may pertain to Lost.
I wrote a theory called, Richard, Ben, The Temple and The All Seeing Eye which you might find interesting.
On a side note, make note of AES’ avatar! lol
Answering your above question, if a member is being moderated, it is common that their comment won’t show up until the admin has approved it. It will magically appear in the proper sequence that it was posted. At least that is my understanding of the process.
I once thought I was going ‘mad’ when I received a comment via e-mail and it didn’t show up in my theory for a day. lol
PS: Also, if you leave super lengthy comments, it can also be delayed slightly, if the site is extremely busy too. My sometimes very long-winded comments have taken time to appear! lol Hope that is helpful.
Hey Dabs thanks for clarifying my question about posts. I was able to get in touch with Emzi and she helped me also.
The Ba and Ka explain so much about the different apparitions. Here’s a break down of the soul according to Egyptians:
Ib (the heart)- This was the most importent part and is what is judged at death.
Sheut (shadow) – This was always present and contained a part of the person or thing it belonged to. It was also a servant of Annubis.
Ren (name) – given to the soul at birth, as long as the name existed in some form the soul would exist.
Ba – the individual personality.
Ka – the lifeforce
Akh – the form of Ba and Ka after binding. Can be thought of as a kind of ghost.
All of these forms can exist apart from each other and I think we have been seeing different aspects running around the Island. I’m also a believer that different entities have been using the same images to further their own agenda. For example the image of Chrisitan that has been appearing to Locke is not the same Christian that appeared to Sun and Lepidus. I believe that one was either Smokey or the Island’s doing.
P.S. Dabs, I just realized that my own avatar could be an all seeing eye also, or an eye of Ra.
As I was reading up on Ba and Ka I found this which I really found interesting in light of the question Ilana and Bram were asking everyone. I’m just expanding on the definition you put up Achalli.
From Wikipedia
Sheut (shadow)
A person’s shadow, Sheut (šwt in Egyptian), was always present. It was believed that a person could not exist without a shadow, nor a shadow without a person, therefore, Egyptians surmised that a shadow contained something of the person it represents. For this reason statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as their shadows.
The shadow was represented graphically as a small human figure painted completely black as well, as a figure of death, or servant of Anubis.
With the answer from richard being “He who will save us all” I’ve assumed he meant Jacob now I’m not sure. With Jacob and the statue (shadow) being gone now. I wrote a theory about Ilana and company bringing Johns’ body to the cabin to be reuninited with his spirit as just kind of fun. Now reading this about Nebekhau and Ba and Ka maybe the answer is John, as the last we saw he was lying in the shadow (what’s left of it) of the statue.
Hey angus, as has become my custom this does not relate to the post…
i was doing some work in cali a few years back and made a trip to hollywood blvd. my friend and i had just parked, we were walking up to the strip with all the stars, joking around i said ‘we gotta find pee-wee hermans star’ we turned the corner, passed 2 stars and there it was. hahaha what are the chances?
Holdem I dressed as Pewee for Halloween one year and got such a great response (won some money, too) that I’ve done it several times now. I went to a pretty big bar one year and hundreds of people were shouting Pewee Pewee as loud as can be. It’s pretty amazing how many people still love him.
Sorry Achalli for writing this on your post.
I’m not sorry!
Angus don’t worry. I know how easy it is to get off track and I’ve been guilty of it myself. When you start to take into account how the Egyptians viewed the soul it does change your thinking of things. I’m working on something that takes all this into account. I suggest you read Teenbee’s Ka and Ba theory for a good take on this. Teenbee deserves the credit for finding this info first.