There are books that do not seek to explain the world, but to teach us to look at it differently.
Her-Bak belongs to this discreet category. In the form of a story set in ancient Egypt, it offers a reflection on the formation of human beings and how knowledge can become lived experience.
Her-Bak, whose name means ‘Face of the Falcon’ or ‘Face of Horus’, is not a hero in the usual sense. Rather, he represents an inner figure : that of man in the making, called upon to move from a still indistinct state to a clearer awareness of himself and the world.
The closed seed
Au début du récit, l’enfant est surnommé « Pois Chiche ». Le nom surprend, presque amuse. Pourtant, dans la symbolique égyptienne telle que la restitue Schwaller de Lubicz, rien n’est gratuit. La graine est une image simple : elle est close, modeste, mais elle contient déjà ce qu’elle est appelée à devenir.
From this perspective, a name is not an external label. It denotes potential. Children carry within them an as yet unexpressed capacity, an orientation that they are not yet aware of. Her-Bak’s entire journey will consist of learning to recognise this orientation and allowing it to unfold.
Learning to read the world
In the world of Her-Bak, nothing is ever neutral. Nature, temples, gestures, words : everything can become a sign, provided you know how to look.
One of the first lessons a child learns is that of correspondences. What manifests itself in the visible world refers to a larger order. The growth of a plant, the movement of the stars, or the shape of a stone are not just facts : they are part of the same coherence.
Hieroglyphics themselves are not presented as a fixed language, but as the expression of a living link between form and meaning. Learning to read the world is already beginning to see it differently. What tradition calls Maat refers less to morality than to a search for balance between man, nature and that which transcends them.
A gradual transformation
Her-Bak’s initiation is nothing spectacular. It takes place in stages, often slow, sometimes uncomfortable. The child goes through moments of doubt, resistance and incomprehension. Little by little, they also discover another way of perceiving their surroundings.
These stages are reminiscent, without ever being theorised as such, of the major phases of inner alchemy : a period of confusion, then a time of clarification, and finally a deeper transformation of perception. What was sought externally begins to be recognised as an inner reality.
The falcon of Horus, a solar image, then ceases to be a distant figure. It becomes the symbol of a state of consciousness : that of a being who is beginning to stand upright in the light.
The Name as guidance
In the tradition evoked by Schwaller de Lubicz, the Name has a special significance. It does not merely designate : it guides. To receive a name is to receive direction, responsibility.
When a child is named Her-Bak, “Face of the Falcon”, he is not receiving an honorary title. He is being invited to become what the name suggests : a place of passage between the visible and the invisible, between the earth and the light.
Discovering that “the Temple is within oneself” is not an abstract idea. It is an inner experience : one in which man ceases to seek the sacred as something external and begins to perceive its presence at the heart of his own consciousness.
The role of silence
One theme recurs insistently in the story : silence. The master does not teach by accumulating discourse. He often invites the child to be silent, to observe, to let things speak for themselves.
This silence is not a void. It is a space for listening. It is there that a different form of knowledge can emerge, not acquired, but recognised. The world then becomes legible in a different way : no longer as a collection of objects, but as an inhabited reality.
From this perspective, knowing does not mean possessing, but resonating.
The Inner Temple
As the story progresses, Her-Bak comes to understand that the stone Temple is not an end in itself. It is a reminder, an external image of a deeper internal structure.
The real work is not to leave the world, but to inhabit it with integrity. The Temple becomes a way of being : a space of coherence between what man thinks, what he does and what he is.
The falcon of Horus is no longer a distant symbol. It becomes the image of an awakened gaze, capable of connecting heaven and earth in a single experience.
Teaching that remains relevant today
Under the guise of an ancient tale, Her-Bak offers reflections that go far beyond its historical context. It is not about reconstructing an idealised Egypt or passing on esoteric knowledge reserved for the few.
Instead, the book invites us to transform our perspective. It suggests that initiation is not an accumulation of knowledge, but a learning of presence. Recognising the living Temple that we carry within ourselves may simply mean learning to live with greater accuracy, consistency and attention.
It is in this respect that Schwaller de Lubicz’s text still resonates today.
To go further
- Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-Bak « Pois Chiche » (Flammarion).
- Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-Bak « Disciple » (Flammarion)
- Erik Hornung, Les Dieux de l’Egypte, le Un et le Multiple (Editions du Rocher)
- Christian Jacq, L’Égypte des grands pharaons (Perrin).
The above references are provided for informational and cultural purposes only. There is no commercial relationship with the authors, publishers, or platforms mentioned ; these links are not advertisements, but rather further reading intended to provide more in-depth information on the subject matter.
Where possible, the images used to illustrate these articles are systematically accompanied by a reference to their source and credits. Where no source is indicated, this is because the information was not available. These images are used solely for illustrative purposes, in a non-profit context, without any commercial intent or appropriation of the work.