Horus

Horus was seen early in Egyptian mythology as a sky god, depicted as a falcon with outstretched wings, whose eyes represented the sun and the moon. From the early historic period Horus in his celestial falcon form was associated with the King and kingship, seen often as the manifestation of Horus himself. In mythology Horus was seen as the son of the god Osiris and rival to his uncle, the god Seth.

Tellow sandstone falcon of Horus, possibly Ptolemaic (Greek rule 332 - 30 BCE).


Horus appears most frequently in the tarot cards in falcon form:
o ‘Horus’ Glory’ (3 of pentacles) – “After his victory over Seth, Horus could finally rise to the heavens bearing two Shen, and here he was crowned with a flaming sun disc by Ra”.

o ‘Horus’ Sceptre’ (Ace of Wands) – Falcon Horus “with the sign of power over the earthly world (wand)”.
o ‘The Chalices of Souls’ (10 of Chalices) – “The god Horus surrounded by ten chalices, symbols of the hearts containing the souls destined for reincarnation”.

Wedjet Eye

The wedjet eye is considered to be the left eye of the god Horus, stolen from him by his brother Seth in conflict it was then healed and restored by Thoth and called ‘the whole one’.

Considered as the lunar eye, it was also a powerful symbol of the power of the god of light and offered protection in amuletic form. It was used as a symbol to ward off evil in funerary contexts, appearing on tomb door recesses in the late Old Kingdom, coffins of the Middle Kingdom and sarcophagi of the New Kingdom.


The Bead Cases in the Petrie Museum demonstrate the use of the wedjet eye as amulets in jewellery:
• Bead Case 23: UC6831; UC6830; UC6829 (all 22nd dynasty).
• Bead Case 24: UC28153 (22nd-23rd dynasty); UC38008 (22nd dynasty).

The wedjet eye is represented as ‘Eye of Horus’ or ‘Eye of Ra’ in the tarot cards and can be seen in these examples:

‘Horus’ Defeat’ (10 of swords) – relates to the ancient Horus and Seth myth, in which Horus’ eye was removed by Seth.



‘Ra’s Eye’ (2 of wands) – in which the wadjet is seen as the symbol of the ambiguous power of the sun that makes the earth live - solar symbology through connection to Ra.