Throughout human history, the heart has held profound symbolic and spiritual significance. In many ancient civilizations, the heart was more than a physical organ — it was regarded as the seat of emotion, the center of thought, the vessel of the soul, and a divine connection to higher realms. Long before the advent of modern science, people ascribed to the heart a central role in their spiritual and ritual practices. This article explores how ancient cultures understood and revered the heart, highlighting its sacred role in their beliefs, ceremonies, and afterlife traditions.
The Heart as the Seat of the Soul in Ancient Egypt
Among all ancient civilizations, perhaps none placed as much spiritual weight on the heart as the Egyptians. In ancient Egyptian cosmology, the heart — or “ib” — was believed to be the core of an individual’s being. Unlike the brain, which they discarded during mummification, the heart was carefully preserved because it was considered essential in the afterlife.
One of the most important rituals involving the heart was the “Weighing of the Heart” ceremony, described in the Book of the Dead. Upon death, the heart of the deceased would be weighed against the feather of Ma’at, the goddess of truth and justice. A balanced heart indicated a life lived in harmony with cosmic order and granted the deceased access to the afterlife. A heavy heart, burdened by sin, was devoured by Ammit, a fearsome hybrid creature, and the soul would be destroyed.
To ensure a favorable judgment, Egyptians often included heart amulets in tombs and recited spells to protect the heart from bearing false witness against its owner. This ritual underscores how the Egyptians saw the heart not only as a record of moral conduct but also as a spiritual compass guiding one to eternal life.
The Heart in Vedic and Yogic Traditions
In ancient India, the heart was equally revered, particularly in the spiritual traditions stemming from the Vedas and early yogic philosophy. Rather than being a mere organ, the heart (called “Hridaya” in Sanskrit) was viewed as the dwelling place of Atman, the inner self or soul. Yogic texts and Upanishadic writings frequently mention the heart as a divine seat of consciousness and intuition.
In the Chakra system, which emerged from Tantric and yogic philosophies, the Anahata Chakra is the fourth energy center and is located at the heart. It represents unconditional love, compassion, and spiritual balance. Meditative practices and mantras were designed to awaken the heart chakra and establish a deeper connection to divine love and universal truth.
Vedic rituals also included the heart in offerings and prayers. The emotional and spiritual states of the heart were believed to affect the outcome of ceremonies. A pure heart, full of devotion and free of ego, was essential for communion with the gods and for the successful transmission of prayers and offerings to the spiritual realm.
The Heart in Mesoamerican Rituals and Sacrifices
In contrast to the inner contemplation of the heart in Indian traditions, Mesoamerican cultures such as the Aztecs and Mayans externalized the spiritual power of the heart through ritual sacrifice. To them, the heart was a potent source of life force and divine energy, and offering it to the gods was a sacred act meant to sustain cosmic balance.
The Aztecs, in particular, believed that the gods had sacrificed themselves to create the world and keep the sun in motion. In return, humans had a sacred duty to repay that debt through blood and heart offerings. During sacrificial ceremonies, priests would remove the still-beating hearts of captives or volunteers atop temple pyramids and offer them to deities like Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war.
While such rituals may seem gruesome through a modern lens, they were rooted in a deep cosmological understanding of reciprocity, balance, and devotion. The heart, as the most vital and symbolic organ, was the highest offering one could give — a literal giving of the self to maintain cosmic harmony.
The Heart in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy
The ancient Greeks and Romans also held the heart in high esteem, although their understanding straddled both physical and metaphysical dimensions. Greek philosophers such as Aristotle believed that the heart was the seat of intelligence, emotion, and sensation — not the brain. He viewed the heart as the first organ to form and the central organ responsible for life and consciousness.
In the Roman world, the heart carried over much of the Greek symbolic weight but also took on political and literary importance. Poets like Virgil and Ovid frequently used the heart as a metaphor for inner truth, desire, and moral integrity. The Latin word cor — from which we get words like “core,” “courage,” and “cordial” — was used to express not just emotional depth but also personal virtue.
In Roman religious practices, the condition of the heart was linked to divine favor. A “pure heart” was necessary for proper worship and for maintaining one’s place in the moral fabric of society. This emphasis on moral rectitude, virtue, and the heart’s symbolic role in expressing them laid a foundation for later Christian conceptions of the heart as the seat of conscience and divine connection.
The Legacy of the Heart in Spiritual Symbolism
The heart’s spiritual significance didn’t disappear with the rise of modern science. Rather, it evolved. In many religious traditions that followed ancient pagan and polytheistic beliefs — especially in Christianity, Islam, and mystical Judaism — the heart continued to symbolize divine presence, sincerity, and inner purity.
Christian mystics like St. Augustine and St. Teresa of Avila emphasized the heart as the place where God speaks to the soul. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, a powerful Christian symbol, portrays divine love as radiating from Christ’s heart — wounded, yet eternal. Similarly, in Sufi Islam, the heart (qalb) is considered the center of spiritual knowledge and divine illumination, accessible through love, remembrance (dhikr), and devotion.
In contemporary times, the heart continues to carry spiritual resonance, often representing compassion, intuition, and the unseen aspects of human experience. Practices like heart-centered meditation, emotional healing, and energy work all trace their roots to these ancient traditions that viewed the heart as a bridge between the human and the divine.
The heart, across civilizations and centuries, has remained a powerful spiritual symbol — the convergence of love, truth, morality, and divine energy. Whether through Egyptian funerary rites, Vedic introspection, Aztec offerings, or Greek philosophy, the heart has been recognized as more than a pump of blood. It has been a portal to the eternal, a sacred space where the human soul meets the cosmos. As we reflect on these ancient understandings, we’re reminded that in every age and culture, the journey inward — to the heart — is often the first step on the path to spiritual awakening.
