Ab was the Egyptian word for heart-soul, most important of the seven souls bestowed by the seven birth godesses (Hathors). The 'ab' was the soul weighed in the balances of Maat after death, to see how it stood up to weighing with her Feather of Truth. The ab was the central blood-soul emanating from the blood essence of the mother which lead to the saying that a pregnant woman carries her child 'under her heart' and why a mother called her child 'hearts blood'.
Significantly, the meaning of the Egyptian word for the mother given heart was reversed in Hebrew where 'ab' was redefined as 'father'.
The Egyptian heiroglyphic for ab was a dancing figure referring to the mystic dance of life going on in the body-the heartbeat. The same mystic symbol in India was the Dance of Shiva, who was supposed to dwell at the beating heart of the cosmos within the world body of Kali.Shiva went through periodic deaths until resurrected by his mother as did Osiris in Egypt.
Early Christian Gnosticsequated Jesus to the dancing god within.
Although the Christian church outlawed ecclesiatical dancing early on, the theme of the God within the dancing heart was not forgotten and was translated into the Sacred Heart symbol.
So you can see the spiritual valuing of the heart that underpins its use as such a strong emblem, although these days its more likeli to be referred to on a valentines day card or in a deck of cards than in practices of sacrifice, death and rebirth.
Info taken from the wonderfull "Womans Book of Myths and Secrets" by Barabara G.Walker.
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