At the end of the first formula quoted above come the words, “The Sa shall not be separated from thee,
and thou shalt not be separated from it.” By the word Sa
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, the Egyptians understood that mysterious energy and life-giving power which existed
in the gods, and which for want of a better name we may call the “fluid of life.” Its source was the Sun-god, by whatever name he is called, Horus or Rā, and
Rā in the text of Unȧs[1] is said to be “Sovereign of the divine Sa"
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. The gods and goddesses received this Sa from Rā and communicated it to those whom they loved upon earth. According to M. Moret,[2] the fluid of life could be transmitted from the being who possessed it to the person to whom it was desired to transfer it, by embracing that person and by making “magnetic passes” along the back. M. Maspero also describes the Sa as a sort of “magnetic fluid,” or “aura,” which could be transmitted to a person by laying hands on him, or by making passes over the nape of the neck or the spinal column. The phrase setep sa
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, means something like to “make passes.” The Sa was transmitted to a king from the statue of a god by placing
the arms of the statue round him, and by laying one of its hands on the nape of his neck as he knelt before it.[3]
