a BEASTLY excerpt from "The Third Translation"

"Egyptians believed that words themselves were gods, that they had a power in their existence beyond this world.  To give utterance to a word was to make it real.  To put words down was to preserve them for all eternity.  Priest would often pour water over certain inscribed symbols &  prayers & then drink the water or drip it over their bodies.  That way, they could actually ingest or be covered in the protection of the words, their gods."