The Jewel of Seven Stars

"There was some active intelligence awake. I am convinced of it. Andit wielded a power which it never lacks. I believe that on both thoseoccasions hypnotism was the power wielded."

"And wherein is that power contained? What view do you hold on thesubject?" Doctor Winchester's voice vibrated with the intensity of hisexcitement as he leaned forward, breathing hard, and with eyes staring.Mr. Trelawny said solemnly:

"In the mummy of the Queen Tera! I was coming to that presently.Perhaps we had better wait till I clear the ground a little. What Ihold is, that the preparation of that box was made for a specialoccasion; as indeed were all the preparations of the tomb and allbelonging to it. Queen Tera did not trouble herself to guard againstsnakes and scorpions, in that rocky tomb cut in the sheer cliff face ahundred feet above the level of the valley, and fifty down from thesummit. Her precautions were against the disturbances of human hands;against the jealousy and hatred of the priests, who, had they known ofher real aims, would have tried to baffle them. From her point ofview, she made all ready for the time of resurrection, whenever thatmight be. I gather from the symbolic pictures in the tomb that she sofar differed from the belief of her time that she looked for aresurrection in the flesh. It was doubtless this that intensified thehatred of the priesthood, and gave them an acceptable cause forobliterating the very existence, present and future, of one who hadoutrage their theories and blasphemed their gods. All that she mightrequire, either in the accomplishment of the resurrection or after it,were contained in that almost hermetically sealed suite of chambers inthe rock. In the great sarcophagus, which as you know is of a sizequite unusual even for kings, was the mummy of her Familiar, the cat,which from its great size I take to be a sort of tiger-cat. In thetomb, also in a strong receptacle, were the canopic jars usuallycontaining those internal organs which are separately embalmed, butwhich in this case had no such contents. So that, I take it, there wasin her case a departure in embalming; and that the organs were restoredto the body, each in its proper place--if, indeed, they had ever beenremoved. If this surmise be true, we shall find that the brain of theQueen either was never extracted in the usual way, or, if so taken out,that it was duly replaced, instead of being enclosed within the mummywrappings. Finally, in the sarcophagus there was the Magic Coffer onwhich her feet rested. Mark you also, the care taken in thepreservance of her power to control the elements. According to herbelief, the open hand outside the wrappings controlled the Air, and thestrange Jewel Stone with the shining stars controlled Fire. Thesymbolism inscribed on the soles of her feet gave sway over Land andWater. About the Star Stone I shall tell you later; but whilst we arespeaking of the sarcophagus, mark how she guarded her secret in case ofgrave-wrecking or intrusion. None could open her Magic Coffer withoutthe lamps, for we know now that ordinary light will not be effective.The great lid of the sarcophagus was not sealed down as usual, becauseshe wished to control the air. But she hid the lamps, which instructure belong to the Magic Coffer, in a place where none could findthem, except by following the secret guidance which she had preparedfor only the eyes of wisdom. And even here she had guarded againstchance discovery, by preparing a bolt of death for the unwarydiscoverer. To do this she had applied the lesson of the tradition ofthe avenging guard of the treasures of the pyramid, built by her greatpredecessor of the Fourth Dynasty of the throne of Egypt.

"You have noted, I suppose, how there were, in the case of her tomb,certain deviations from the usual rules. For instance, the shaft ofthe Mummy Pit, which is usually filled up solid with stones andrubbish, was left open. Why was this? I take it that she had madearrangements for leaving the tomb when, after her resurrection, sheshould be a new woman, with a different personality, and less inured tothe hardships that in her first existence she had suffered. So far aswe can judge of her intent, all things needful for her exit into theworld had been thought of, even to the iron chain, described by VanHuyn, close to the door in the rock, by which she might be able tolower herself to the ground. That she expected a long period to elapsewas shown in the choice of material. An ordinary rope would berendered weaker or unsafe in pr

ocess of time, but she imagined, andrightly, that the iron would endure.

"What her intentions were when once she trod the open earth afresh wedo not know, and we never shall, unless her own dead lips can softenand speak."

Chapter XV

The Purpose of Queen Tera

"Now, as to the Star Jewel! This she manifestly regarded as thegreatest of her treasures. On it she had engraven words which none ofher time dared to speak.

"In the old Egyptian belief it was held that there were words, which,if used properly--for the method of speaking them was as important asthe words themselves--could command the Lords of the Upper and theLower Worlds. The 'hekau', or word of power, was all-important incertain ritual. On the Jewel of Seven Stars, which, as you know, iscarved into the image of a scarab, are graven in hieroglyphic two suchhekau, one above, the other underneath. But you will understand betterwhen you see it! Wait here! Do not stir!"

As he spoke, he rose and left the room. A great fear for him came overme; but I was in some strange way relieved when I looked at Margaret.Whenever there had been any possibility of danger to her father, shehad shown great fear for him; now she was calm and placid. I saidnothing, but waited.

In two or three minutes, Mr. Trelawny returned. He held in his hand alittle golden box. This, as he resumed his seat, he placed before himon the table. We all leaned forward as he opened it.

On a lining of white satin lay a wondrous ruby of immense size, almostas big as the top joint of Margaret's little finger. It was carven--itcould not possibly have been its natural shape, but jewels do not showthe working of the tool--into the shape of a scarab, with its wingsfolded, and its legs and feelers pressed back to its sides. Shiningthrough its wondrous "pigeon's blood" colour were seven differentstars, each of seven points, in such position that they reproducedexactly the figure of the Plough. There could be no possible mistakeas to this in the mind of anyone who had ever noted the constellation.On it were some hieroglyphic figures, cut with the most exquisiteprecision, as I could see when it came to my turn to use themagnifying-glass, which Mr. Trelawny took from his pocket and handed tous.

When we all had seen it fully, Mr. Trelawny turned it over so that itrested on its back in a cavity made to hold it in the upper half of thebox. The reverse was no less wonderful than the upper, being carved toresemble the under side of the beetle. It, too, had some hieroglyphicfigures cut on it. Mr. Trelawny resumed his lecture as we all sat withour heads close to this wonderful jewel:

"As you see, there are two words, one on the top, the other underneath.The symbols on the top represent a single word, composed of onesyllable prolonged, with its determinatives. You know, all of you, Isuppose, that the Egyptian language was phonetic, and that thehieroglyphic symbol represented the sound. The first symbol here, thehoe, means 'mer', and the two pointed ellipses the prolongation of thefinal r: mer-r-r. The sitting figure with the hand to its face is whatwe call the 'determinative' of 'thought'; and the roll of papyrus thatof 'abstraction'. Thus we get the word 'mer', love, in its abstract,general, and fullest sense. This is the hekau which can command theUpper World."

Margaret's face was a glory as she said in a deep, low, ringing tone:

"Oh, but it is true. How the old wonder-workers guessed at almightyTruth!" Then a hot blush swept her face, and her eyes fell. Herfather smiled at her lovingly as he resumed:

"The symbolisation of the word on the reverse is simpler, though themeaning is more abstruse. The first symbol means 'men', 'abiding', andthe second, 'ab', 'the heart'. So that we get 'abiding of heart', orin our own language 'patience'. And this is the hekau to control theLower World!"

He closed the box, and motioning us to remain as we were, he went backto his room to replace the Jewel in the safe. When he had returned andresumed his seat, he went on:

"That Jewel, with its mystic words, and which Queen Tera held under herhand in the sarcophagus, was to be an important factor--probably themost important--in the working out of the act of her resurrection.From the first I seemed by a sort of instinct to realise this. I keptthe Jewel within my great safe, whence none could extract it; not evenQueen Tera herself with her astral body."

"Her 'astral body'? What is that, Father? What does that mean?" Therewas a keenness in Margaret's voice as she asked the question whichsurprised me a little; but Trelawny smiled a sort of indulgent parentalsmile, which came through his grim solemnity like sunshine through arifted cloud, as he spoke:

"The astral body, which is a part of Buddhist belief, long subsequentto the time I speak of, and which is an accepted fact of modernmysticism, had its rise in Ancient Egypt; at least, so far as we know.It is that the gifted individual can at will, quick as thought itself,transfer his body whithersoever he chooses, by the dissolution andreincarnation of particles. In the ancient belief there were severalparts of a human being. You may as well know them; so that you willunderstand matters relative to them or dependent on them as they occur.

"First there is the 'Ka', or 'Double', which, as Doctor Budge explains,may be defined as 'an abstract individuality of personality' which wasimbued with all the characteristic attributes of the individual itrepresented, and possessed an absolutely independent existence. It wasfree to move from place to place on earth at will; and it could enterinto heaven and hold converse with the gods. Then there was the 'Ba',or 'soul', which dwelt in the 'Ka', and had the power of becomingcorporeal or incorporeal at will; 'it had both substance and form....It had power to leave the tomb.... It could revisit the body in thetomb ... and could reincarnate it and hold converse with it.' Againthere was the 'Khu', the 'spiritual intelligence', or spirit. It tookthe form of 'a shining, luminous, intangible shape of the body.'...Then, again, there was the 'Sekhem', or 'power' of a man, his strengthor vital force personified. These were the 'Khaibit', or 'shadow', the'Ren', or 'name', the 'Khat', or 'physical body', and 'Ab', the'heart', in which life was seated, went to the full making up of a man.

"Thus you will see, that if this division of functions, spiritual andbodily, ethereal and corporeal, ideal and actual, be accepted as exact,there are all the possibilities and capabilities of corporealtransference, guided always by an unimprisonable will or intelligence."As he paused I murmured the lines from Shelley's "Prometheus Unbound":

"'The Magnus Zoroaster... Met his own image walking in the garden.'"

Mr. Trelawny was not displeased. "Quite so!" he said, in his quietway. "Shelley had a better conception of ancient beliefs than any ofour poets." With a voice changed again he resumed his lecture, for soit was to some of us:

"There is another belief of the ancient Egyptian which you must bear inmind; that regarding the ushaptiu figures of Osiris, which were placedwith the dead to its work in the Under World. The enlargement of thisidea came to a belief that it was possible to transmit, by magicalformulae, the soul and qualities of any living creature to a figuremade in its image. This would give a terrible extension of power toone who held the gift of magic.

"It is from a union of these various beliefs, and their naturalcorollaries, that I have come to the conclusion that Queen Teraexpected to be able to effect her own resurrection, when, and where,and how, she would. That she may have held before her a definite timefor making her effort is not only possible but likely. I shall notstop now to explain it, but shall enter upon the subject later on.With a soul with the Gods, a spirit which could wander the earth atwill, and a power of corporeal transference, or an astral body, thereneed be no bounds or limits to her ambition. The belief is forced uponus that for these forty or fifty centuries she lay dormant in hertomb--waiting. Waiting with that 'patience' which could rule the Godsof the Under World, for that 'love' which could command those of theUpper World. What she may have dreamt we know not; but her dream musthave been broken when the Dutch explorer entered her sculptured cavern,and his follower violated the sacred privacy of her tomb by his rudeoutrage in the theft of her hand.

"That theft, with all that followed, proved to us one thing, however:that each part of her body, though separated from the rest, can be acentral point or rallying place for the items or particles of herastral body. That hand in my room could ensure her instantan

eouspresence in the flesh, and its equally rapid dissolution.