Page:Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, Vol. 32--Legends of the Gods.pdf/49

 were the germs of all the living things which afterwards took form in heaven and on earth, but they existed in a state of inertness and helplessness. Out of this ocean Kheperȧ raised himself, and so passed from a state of passiveness and inertness into one of activity. When Kheperȧ raised himself out of the ocean Nu, he found himself in vast empty space, wherein was nothing on which he could stand. The second version of the legend says that Kheperȧ gave being to himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states that he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to stand. In other words, when Kheperȧ was still a portion of the being of Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word "Kheperȧ," and Kheperȧ came into being. Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to stand, he uttered the name of the thing, or place, on which he wanted to stand, and that thing, or place, came into being. This spell he seems to have addressed to his heart, or as we should say, will, so that Kheperȧ willed this standing-place to appear, and it did so forthwith. The first version only mentions a heart, but the second also speaks of a heart-soul as assisting Kheperȧ in his first creative acts; and we may assume that he thought out in his heart what manner of thing he wished to create, and then by uttering its name caused his thought to take concrete form. This process of thinking out the existence of things is expressed in Egyptian by words which mean "laying the foundation in the heart." 