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Where We Left Off:
What began as an investigation into a putrid odor inside my car, turned into deep thoughts on finding value in living beings no matter how small.
The Eye of Horus:
Gus has been leaving me out in the hot sun while he sneaks into areas of shade like under cars or trailers. While he lounged under his favorite truck on a hot day, I felt myself broiling under my parasol while standing on the black pavement of the upper parking area. Something colorful caught my eye.
I’m used to colorful butterflies and birds, but this was something crawling on the pavement. I’m typically scared of bugs in an irrational way. I could be either completely normal or my brain could convince me that bugs are under my skin crawling around in my body. It’s horrible. It’s why I don’t sit on the ground unless something with a great amount of distracting power can get me to do so (like passing out which is a story I wrote about on Instagram). What was this colorful thing that I could see without even needing to bend down and look at it?
It was a obviously some kind of beetle, but one that looked like it was made of stained glass. A miniature cathedral with some fluttering wings that no longer seemed to work used its jagged, thorny legs to move around. I think it was trying to fly. The wings moved, but it could have been missing one. For once, I was interested in a bug. A BIG BUG.
It made me think about the stories The Grumpy Old Man would tell about Thailand. He said people there ate beetles the size of your hand. I’ve seen such things on TV but never in person. Although, one of my high school science classes did give students the option of covering crickets in chocolate and eating them. No thank you. I’m not judging it. If it’s large enough to be a meal, go for it.
Gus was still under the truck. When the beetle moved under there, Gus followed it with his nose up in its business. I was surprised he didn’t eat it. He loves cave crickets, but that might be more of a fun factor than taste factor. The bug was annoyed by Gus and veered back into the sunlight where the vampire cat would not follow.
I wasn’t feeling any discontent so I got down to take photos of the jewel-toned creature. I switched my phone off WiFi and went to data in order to use the iNaturalist app. The bug’s identification shocked me. It’s called a Rainbow Scarab, a type of dung beetle!
I’ve heard of dung beetles but associated them with being near abundant plains of poop like cattle farms or Africa where elephants might be. Great big piles of poo for great big beetles. Made sense in my head anyway.
But a scarab? Aren’t those from Egypt? Are they native to New Jersey?
According to a paper from the University of Florida Entomology and Nematology Department:
“Scarab beetles were the objects of worship in Ancient Egypt and the more spectacular varieties are made into jewelry (Woodruff 1973). The African dung-rolling beetle utilizes the sun, moon and stars as guides for walking in a straight line (Dacke et al. 2013).”
“The rainbow scarab is native to and found extensively in, the eastern United States from Massachusetts to South Dakota in the north and Texas to Florida in the south (Woodruff 1973). The Florida Keys and the Everglades are the only regions in Florida where the rainbow scarab has not been found (Woodruff 1973).”
I told that we should take this information and the photos back to the office and begin researching more about this creature that looks like a magical insect from The Dark Crystal! Gus was not in a hurry. He snuck out of his shady spot and made his way to another. This can be incredibly frustrating. The skin crawling sensation was on the edges of my brain sending signals to my arms as I remembered the scenes from The Mummy starring Brendan Frasier. Eventually, we did get back inside because it was time for me to go! Normally I would include a gif here from the movie, but it bothers me to see them.
Oliver had plenty of questions for Gus. “What did it smell like? Was there an aura? What do you mean you didn’t taste it?”
Gus licked his paw and cleaned his ear without looking Oliver in the eye. “It lives off feces. I had no interest in tasting it. The scent was peculiar though.”
“In what way?” Ollie asked.
“I obviously expected it to smell like our litter boxes, but it didn’t. It smelled more like mowed grass and metal.”
Ollie laid down on top of the banana toy, completely obscuring it so no one would even think of taking it. “Did you get any sensations from it like heat or cold?”
Gus thought back on his time under the truck. “I’d say it was cooler than the shade. Super weird, right?”
Oliver agreed and we continued to discuss how unusual it was that we had never seen this large, chromatic creature before that’s supposedly native to our area.
“Do we have anything related to Ancient Egypt here?” Gus asked me.
“Other than all the cat worship, no,” I mocked. “I had authentic papyruses painted by students—not ancient relics—but I gave them away a long time ago.” The detectives overlooked the sarcasm about being worshiped.
Oliver looked around the office and his gaze landed on one of the bookshelves. The shelves are filled with more than books. There are statues of icons from many religions: the Buddha; the Minoan Snake Goddess; Kwan Yin; Ganesha; Changó. And there was a new addition, Bastet.
The statue was Bastet (or Bast) was recently added to our collection by the Butler. He had a business trip to get the latest information on technology security things, I think. Let’s call it Something with Computers. He reported back that there were a few museums of interest. One was about the Titanic. Another had an exhibition on Ancient Egypt. That’s where he bought the Bastet statue—her form sleek, smooth, pitch black, and adorned in gold jewelry.
Gus, Oliver, and I agreed that something came along with the Bastet statue. There was an energy attached to it that reached out to the entities of gods and goddesses calling them to us.
Another thing that had happened around this time is that red-tailed hawks (at least one) have been soaring over our yard and the neighboring spaces. Before thinking about the hawk as a symbol of Egypt, I was simply happy to sit it. I also felt scared for it because even though it’s a large bird, it would routinely be chased away by smaller birds like robins and blue jays. Maybe the hawk was after their babies. I’ve learned you definitely do not mess with robins.
The way I would notice the hawk in the sky was visually. Lately, I haven’t heard the screeching sounds they make. Large turkey vultures and black vultures circle over every day. I’d look up and see that a bird would be higher than the vultures and lighter in color. I’d look through my camera lens zoomed in and confirm that it was a hawk. I love that it happened several times because I can so clearly remember being disappointed when I was young that other people could see amazing things like hawks, but my vision was so bad even with glasses, that I felt I missed out on magical experiences.
When the cats and I talked about the scarab and the goddess Bastet, it finally dawned on me that the hawk was another symbol of Ancient Egypt! Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. He’s sometimes shown as a falcon or as a man with falcon-head adorned with the appropriate crown and holding a staff.
Case Findings:
It looked like Ancient Egypt spirits were trying to get our attention or protect this area. Anyone willing to protect us from over-industrialization, de-forestation, light/noise/chemical pollution—heck yes, they are welcome. The Rainbow Scarab, Red-Tailed Hawk like the falcon god Horus, and Bastet’s coincidental arrival at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency caused a convergence of Ancient Egypt protective energy.
Case Status: Closed
Resources:
Florida, Univ. of (no date) Featured Creatures: Phanaeus vindex Macleay (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Rainbow scarab – phanaeus Vindex Macleay. Available at: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/BENEFICIAL/BEETLES/Phanaeus_vindex.htm (Accessed: 31 May 2023).
World History Edu (2022) The Conflict between Horus and Seth over the Throne of Ancient Egypt, World History Edu. Available at: https://www.worldhistoryedu.com/the-conflict-between-horus-and-seth-over-the-throne-of-ancient-egypt/ (Accessed: 01 June 2023).