Monthly Archives: November 2017

  • Names: Nit
  • Attributes: Two arrows and a shield, shuttle
  • Creatures: Crocodile, snake, bee
  • Color: Green
  • Plants: Flax, papyrus
  • Favored people: Soldiers, hunters, weavers, artisans

The inscription on Neith’s temple in Sais in the Nile Delta (now modern Sa el-Hagar) read:

I am all that has been,
that is and that will be
No mortal has yet been able
to lift the veil that covers me.

Neith, the First One, the primordial goddess, was never born but always existed. Alternatively she is completely self-generated. Neith traveled from the deserts and oases of Libya to emerge as among the greatest of Egyptian goddesses. In one Egyptian creation myth, Neith brought forth Ra, the sun. Then she invented the shuttle and loom, put the sky on her loom, and wove the world into existence. Neith, the first to give birth, invented weaving. Her name may derive from a word for “to weave” or “to knit.”

She is called:

  • The Oldest One
  • Nurse of Crocodiles
  • The Huntress
  • Opener of the Ways
  • Great Goddess
  • Lady of the West

Mother of the Gods, goddess of war and the hunt, she is goddess of the lower heavens, a warrior goddess and protectress. Her name means “I have come from myself,” or self-begotten.

Eternal goddess, universal mother; the Spirit behind the Veil of Mysteries; World Body; Primal Abyss. Her cult was a very ancient one with two queens of the First Dynasty named after her. Often shown along side Selqet as mummy guardian and protectress of marriage. She wore the red crown of Lower Egypt. In her hands she held a bow and two arrows.

Neith is a goddess of hunting. She presides over crafts of all kinds, including witchcraft and warcraft. Amuletic weapons placed in the tomb to protect the deceased from evil spirits were consecrated to Neith. She is the judge of the Egyptian deities. After eighty years, when the lawsuit between Horus and Set in the Court of Deities was still not resolved, Neith was called in to render a decision to which all could defer. (She favored Horus but compensated Set. Neith has historically had a close positive relationship with Set.)

Her ceremonies were of a mystic nature. Neith was worshiped with Mysteries and lantern processions. In December (on or around December 8th), a great festival, called the Feast of Lamps, was held annually in her honor and, according to Herodotus, her devotees burned a multitude of lights in the open air all night during the celebration.

She is the patroness of domestic arts, weaving, hunting, medicine, war, and weapons. Turn to her when working with herbs, magick, healing, mystical knowledge, rituals, and meditation. She is the protectress of women and marriage.

She may be venerated independently or together with her son, Sobek. The Greeks identified her with Athena, also identified as originating in Libya. Many consider Athena to be a Greek path of Neith or at least a very closely related spirit.

Neith appears as an androgynous woman. She wears the red crown of Lower Egypt. She sometimes appears in the guise of a golden cobra, as well. In Iconography, she is customarily depicted with a green face and hands. Neith is portrayed suckling a crocodile at each breast.

The main imagery of Neith was as the deity of the unseen and limitless sky, as opposed to Nut and Hathor, who respectively represented the manifested night and day skies. Her epithet as the “Opener of the Sun’s Paths in all her stations” refers to how the sun is reborn (due to seasonal changes) at various points in the sky, under her control of all beyond the visible world, of which only a glimpse is revealed prior to dawn and after sunset.

It is at these changing points that Neith reigns as a form of sky goddess, where the sun rises and sets daily, or at its ‘first appearance’ to the sky above and below. It is at these points, beyond the sky that is seen, that her true power as the deity who creates life is manifested.

This ancient goddess represents the full ecliptic circle around the sky (above and below). It was this realm, the cosmos below the horizon, that Neith personified, for she is the complete sky which surrounds the upper and lower sky, and which exists beyond the horizon, and thereby beyond the skies themselves. Neith, then, is that portion of the cosmos which is not seen, and in which the sun is reborn daily, below the horizon which may reflect the statement assigned to Neith as “I come at dawn and at sunset daily.”

As the goddess of creation and weaving, she was said to reweave the world on her loom daily. An interior wall of the temple at Esna records an account of creation in which Neith brings forth from the primeval waters of the Nun the first land. All that she conceived in her heart comes into being, including the thirty deities. Having no known husband she has been described as “Virgin Mother Goddess.”

Unique Goddess, mysterious and great who came to be in the beginning and caused everything to come to be . . . the divine mother of Ra, who shines on the horizon… 

Sources:

This is a by no means complete list of the animals, mortal and supernatural, that were sacred to the ancient Egyptians, along with the deities they were considered to be sacred to. Pictures or statues of these creatures used during rituals will enable the subconscious mind to make a better link, thereby enhancing the ritual’s power.

  • AspButo
  • Ass – Set
  • Ape – Thoth
  • Bull – Ptah, MenthuMin 
  • Cat – Bast, Mut
  • CobraButo
  • CowHathor, Sati, Mut
  • CrocodileSebe,  Set
  • DogAnubis
  • FrogHeqet, Hathor
  • GooseAmen-Ra, Seb, Isis
  • HawkOsiris, Horus, Ra, Seker, and others
  • Heron – Sacred in general
  • HippopotamusTa-Urt, Set
  • IbisThoth
  • JackalAnubis
  • LionSekhmet, Mut
  • Lynx – Benevolent Spirit
  • PhoenixOsiris
  • PigSet
  • RamBa-Neb-Tetet, Khnemu
  • ScarabKhepera
  • ScorpionSelqet, Set
  • SerpentApep, Buto, Renenet
  • Shrew-MouseButo
  • SphinxRa-Temu
  • SwallowIsis
  • Tortoise or TurtleEnemy of Ra
  • VultureNekhebet, Mut, Neith, and others
  • WolfWepwawet

The deities listed here are by no means all those recorded in the Egyptian pantheon. It would be impossible to list them all. Anyone interested in an in-depth study of Egyptian deities should read The Gods of the Egyptians by E. A. Wallis Budge. Also there are vast differences in the spellings of Egyptian deity names. This is because Egyptian hieroglyphs had no vowels.

This is a simple list of Egyptian gods and goddesses from Egyptian mythology, along with their titles and some of their attributes. The ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods at different times and in different places. Some gods changed in importance over time.

A

Aebehout (Kebehet, Kabachet, Kebhut,  Kebechet, Qebhut, Qeb-Hwt) – Goddess of the Water of Life. The goddess of purification, also is known as the wandering goddess or the lost child, she presides over the magical reviving power of water.

Amaunet (Amunet) – Goddess of Heaven, Wife of Amun. (see also Amonet)

Amen (Amoun, Amun, Amon, Ammon) – The Hidden One; Lord of the Libyans; Lord of the Setting Sun and Moon; The Time Lord; Earth Father; Giver of Breath; Giver of Life, Vizier of the Humble, Who Answers the Voice of the Poor. The great god of Thebes of uncertain origin; represented as a man, sometimes ithyphallic; identified with Re as Amen-Re; sacred animals, the ram and the goose.

Ament (Amenti) – The Westerner; The Hidden Goddess; Goddess of the Land of the West; Goddess with Beautiful Hair. She welcomed all deceased people to the land of the dead with bread and water. (see also Amonet)

Ammit (Ammut, Ahemait) – The Eater, Devourer of the Dead; Eater of Hearts; Bone Eater; Devourer of Millions; Greatness of Death. This is the crocodile goddess also known as Ammit the Devourer. She also assists Anubis with carrying out the Judgements,

Amonet (Amunet, Amaunet, Ament, Imentet, Amentat) – The Mother Who Is Father. A primordial spirit composed of the two deities Ammon and Ammit.

Amun-Ra (Akmun-Ra, Ra, Re, Phra) – The Creator; The Supreme Power; The Only One; Great Father; Father of the Gods; Sun God. Ra is the god of the Sun, head of the great ennead, supreme judge; often linked with other gods aspiring to universality, and king of the gods until Osiris took over his throne.

Anat (Anath, Anta) – The Girl; Lady of Heaven; Mistress of All Spirit; Strength of Life; Lady of Mercy. A goddess of Syrian origin, with warlike character; represented as a woman holding a shield and an axe.

Anhur (Anher, Anhert, Onouris) – Skybearer, The Divine Huntsman. Very early aspect of Osiris, God of war, sun and the sky.

Anput – Goddess of the seventeenth Nome of Upper Egypt

Anubis (Anpu, Sekhem Em Pet) – Foremost of the Westerners. He is god of judgement of life and death, the jackal-god, patron of embalmers; the great necropolis-god.

Anuket (Anqet, Anukis, Anoukis) The Clasper; The Embracer; Bestower of Life; Lady of Nubia. She is the goddess of river Nile and the cataract-region at Aswan; wife of Khnum; represented as a woman with a high feather head-dress.

Apep (Apophis) – The chaos snake. Demon enemy of the Sun, the eternal enemy of Ra. He is a god of chaos and war.

Apet (Opet, Tauret, Taurt, Thoueris, Rertrertu, Taweret, Ta-Urt, Tauret) – Mistress of Talismans. The hippopotamus goddess, a beneficent deity, the patron of woman in child-birth and goddess of fertility. In her darker aspect she was the goddess of darkness and revenge.

Arsaphes (Herishef)- A ram-headed god from Heracleopolis.

Apis – A live bull worshiped as a god at Memphis. This is a rare case of an animal being worshiped as a god while alive, then mummified when he died.

As (Aset, Eset, Tait, Isis) Supreme  Egyptian Goddess, Great Mother, Giver of Life.

Astarte (Ashtarte) – Lady of Heaven; Mother of the Blessed. A goddess of Syrian origin; introduced into Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Atem (Atum /Temu, Tem) – Dark Eye of Ra. Personification of God in human form and of the setting Sun. Father of the human race, he helped the dead. In one of his forms he was worshiped as a huge serpent.

Aten – The disk of the sun Originally an aspect of Ra

Athor (Athyr, Hert, Hat-Hor, Hathor) – The Great One of Many Names; The Golden One; Lady of Malachite; Lady of Turquoise; Sady of the Sycamore; Lady of the Date Palm; Lady of the West; Lady of the Dead; The Womb of Horus; House of Horus; Lady of the Evening; My House in the Sky; Lady of the Uterus; Lady of the Vulva; The Womb Above. This popular goddess is the matron goddess of all women, the embodiment of the female principle. She has many functions and attributes.

Auser (Osiris)- Lord of the Far World. Osiris is the god of the underworld and the afterlife. He is identified as the dead or mummified king; also a god of the inundation and vegetation.- Lord of life after death, Sun god, Universal Lord

Au Set (Isis, As, Aset, Eset, Tait) The Great Lady; Queen of the Earth; Light Giver of Heaven; Mistress of Magic; The Many Named; Queen of the Throne; She Who Is Rich in Spells; Great of Sorcery; Redemptress: Star of the Sea; The One Who Is All; Mother of Gods. Isis is the divine mother, goddess of magic, marriage, healing, and motherhood. She is the wife and sister of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She is one of the four ‘protector’-goddesses, guarding coffins and Canopic jars; sister of Nephthys with whom she acted as a divine mourner for the dead. Supreme Egyptian Goddess, Great Mother, Giver of Life

Auf (Euf Ra) – Aspect of the Sun god Ra

B

Babi – God of baboons

Ba-neb~Tetet (Banebedet, Banaded, Banabdedet, Banabdjedet) – The Soul of Mendes; Lord of Mendes; The Ram of Mendes. The calm cool headed ram deity who found a peaceful solution to the power struggle between Horus and Set.  God of discussion, arbitration, peace.

Bast (Bastet, Pasht) – Mistress of the Oracle; Great Conjuress of the Casket. The cat goddess with dominion over sex, fertility, marriage, magic, music, childbirth, and the pleasures of life. Cat Goddess known to protect pregnant women and children. The protector of Ra, his third eye.

Bes  – Dancing. Lord of the Land of Punt. Bes is the dwarf god with leonine features; a domestic god, protector against snakes and various terrors; helper of women in child-birth. Dwarf God God of Pregnant woman, newborn babies, and family also known to protect from snake and scorpion bites

Buto (Uajyt, Uatchet, Utchat, Per Uadijit, Uazrr, Uto, Uraeus) Eye of Ra; Lady of Heaven; Lady of the North. At times she was portrayed as a cobra, sometimes winged, sometimes crowned. Goddess of protection, hiding from evil. See also Wadjet.

D

Djehuti (Zehuti. Thoth, Tehuti, Thout)  – Lord of Divine Words; Lord of Books. Thoth is the ibis-headed scribe of the gods, the god of wisdom, inventor of writing. The ape as well as the ibis is sacred to him. Judge of the Gods.

E

Edjo (Buto, Wadjet, Udjat) – Goddess of protection. Sister of Nekhbet. Lady of Flame; Lady of the North; Lady of Heaven; Queen of Holy Spirits. The cobra-goddess of Buto in the Delta, a goddess of protection, appearing on the royal diadem, protecting the king.

Ernutet (Renenet, Renenutet) Lady of the double granary, Goddess of the 8th month of the Egyptian calendar.

Eset (Tait, Isis, As, Aset) Supreme Egyptian Goddess, Great Mother, Giver of Life.

Euf Ra (Auf)  – Aspect of the Sun god Ra

G

Geb (Keb, Seb) – Father of the Gods. A fertility Earth god, similar to the Greek Cronus, always shown with erect phallus. Presides over fertility, new beginnings, creation, and crops.

H

Hapi – God of the Nile in inundation; represented as a very fat man. God of the Nile, crops, fertility, water, and prosperity.

Hat-Hehit – Fish-goddess of Mendes in the Delta; sometimes represented as a woman with a fish on her head.

Hathor (Athor, Athyr, Hert, Hat-Hor) – The Great One of Many Names; The Golden One; Lady of Malachite; Lady of Turquoise; Lady of the Sycamore; Lady of the Date Palm; Lady of the West; Lady of the Dead; The Womb of Horus; House of Horus; Lady of the Evening; My House in the Sky; Lady of the Uterus; Lady of the Vulva; The Womb Above. This popular goddess is the matron goddess of all women, the embodiment of the female principle. She has many functions and attributes.

Heh (Neheb) – God of eternity, longevity, and happiness. Shown as a man squatting on the ground wearing a curved reed on his head.

Heqet (Heqtit, Heket) – Midwife of the Sun, Giver of Life; Spirit of the Primordial Waters; Mother of the Spirits. She is the frog-goddess of Antinoopolis where she was associated with Khnum; a helper of women in child-birth.

Herishef  (Arsaphes) – A ram-headed god from Heracleopolis.

Horus (Haroeris, Haru-Er, Harsiesis, Harpocrates) – The Enchanted One. Horus is the god of war, sky, and falcons. He is regarded as the son of Osiris and Isis, for the former of whom he became the avenger.- Falcon headed Sun and Sky God, Divine Child, reborn Sun

I

Imentet (Amentat, Amonet, Amunet, Amaunet, Ament)  – The Mother Who Is Father. A primordial spirit composed of the two deities Ammon and Ammit.

Imhotep (I-Em-Hetep, Imouthes) – He Who Comes In Peace. The deified chief minister of Djoser and architect of the Step Pyramid; in the Late Period venerated as the god of learning and medicine; represented as a seated man holding an open papyrus; equated by the Greeks with Asklepios. God of knowledge, medicine, magick, compassion, drugs, herbs, sleep

Isis (As, Aset, Eset, Tait, Au Set) – The Great Lady; Queen of the Earth; Light Giver of Heaven; Mistress of Magic; The Many Named; Queen of the Throne; She Who Is Rich in Spells; Great of Sorcery; Redemptress: Star of the Sea; The One Who Is All; Mother of Gods. Isis is the divine mother, goddess of magic, marriage, healing, and motherhood. She is the wife and sister of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She is one of the four ‘protector’-goddesses, guarding coffins and Canopic jars; sister of Nephthys with whom she acted as a divine mourner for the dead. Supreme Egyptian Goddess, Great Mother, Giver of Life

K

Kabachet (Kebhut, Kebechet, Qebhut , Qeb-Hwt, Aebehout, Kebehet) – Goddess of the Water of Life.The goddess of purification, also is known as the wandering goddess or the lost child, she presides over the magical reviving power of water.

Keb (Seb, Geb)- A fertility Earth God of new beginnings, creation, crops.

Khepri – God of scarab beetles Ra’s aspect in the morning

Khensu (Khons, Khonsu) – God of the Moon; Traveler; The Navigator; He Who Crosses The Sky In A Boat; God of the New Moon. He is the moon-god, represented as a man; with Amun and Mut as father and mother, forming the Theban triad.

Khepera (Khepra, Khepri, Kebechet, Khepera, Kefri) Father of the Spirits, He Who Becomes. The scarab-beetle god, identified with Re as a creator-god; often represented as a beetle within the sun-disk. A god of transformations, rebirth, resurrection of the body, reincarnation, and rebirth.

Khnemu (Khnum, Khnoum) – The Sculptor Who Gives Life; The Molder; The Divine Potter; Lord of Destiny; Father of Fathers; Mother of Mothers; Lord of the Cool Water. The ram-headed god of Elephantine, god of the Cataract-region; thought to have molded man on a potter’s wheel. Ra’s aspect in the evening.

Kuk – Personification of darkness

M

Maahes – Egyptian lion-headed god of war

Maat (Ma’at, Maa, Maut, Mayet) – Lady of Heaven; Queen of Earth; Mistress of the Underworld; Eye of Ra; Daughter of Ra; Lady of the Judgment Hall. Ma’at is the goddess of justice,order, truth, right, and orderly conduct; represented as a woman with an ostrich-feather on her head.

Mafdet – God of justice. Executioner of criminals, protector of the King’s chambers

Mehueret, MehurtLady of Heaven; Mistress of the Earth. A universal Mother Goddess associated with night.

Menhit – Minor lion goddess, Wife of Anhur

Menthi (Menthu-Ra, Mentu, Mont) – Sun god, often with a bull head. In his war aspect he personified the destroying heat of the sun. God of protection, war, and vengeance.

MeretsegerShe Who Loves Silence; Lioness of the Summit; Lady of the Necropolis. A protector of tombs and guardian of the Necropolis.

Meshkenet (Meskhenet) – Goddess of Childbirth. Protects laboring women and newborn babies.

Min (Minu, Menu) – Lord of the Eastern Desert; Lord of Foreign Lands. The primeval god of Coptos; later revered as a god of fertility, and closely associated with Amun.

MutLady of Heaven; Queen of Deities; Mother of the Mothers. The vulture-goddess who is the spirit of maternity. Her name means “mom.” An extremely beloved goddess later represented usually as a woman.

N

Neheb (Heh)  – God of eternity, longevity, happiness

NehebkauSerpent God of the Underworld

Nefertem (Nefert-Temu, Nefertu) – The Lord of Fragrance. He is the god of the lotus, and hence of unguents, perfumes and fragrance; worshiped at Memphis as the son of Ptah and Sakhmet; represented as a man with a lotus-flower head-dress.

Nehebkau (Neheb-kau) – A serpent god of the Underworld, dangerous to both the gods and humans. Death, cursing, vengeance. Some-times represented with a man’s body and holding the eye of Horus.

Neith (Neit, Net, Nit) – The Oldest One; Nurse of the Crocodiles. This goddess of Sais is represented as a woman wearing the red crown; her emblem, a shield with crossed arrows; one of the four ‘protector’-goddesses who guarded coffins and Canopic jars; identified by the Greeks with Athena.

Nekhbet (Nekhebet) – Lady of the South. The vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt, presides over maternity, childbirth, life and death.

Nephthys (Nebt-Het, Nebthet, Nebhet) – Funerary Goddess, Lady of the House; Lady of Life; Lady of Darkness; Lady of Death that Is Not Eternal; Mistress of the Palace, The Revealer, Mistress of the West. Nephthys is the river goddess, sister of Isis; one of the four ‘protector’-goddesses, who guarded coffins and Canopic jars; with Isis acted as mourner for Osiris and hence for other dead people.

Nun (Nu) – God of the primeval chaos.

Nut (Nu) – Life giver, Mother of the Gods, Protector of the Dead. Mother of Stars; Queen of Heaven; Mother of the Deceased; She Who Holds a Thousand Souls; Mistress of All; She; Who Protects. Nut is the goddess of sky and stars, represented as a woman, her naked body curved to form the arch of heaven.

O

Onnophris (Unnefer, Wenen-Nefer) – a name meaning ‘he who is continually happy’, given to Osiris after his resurrection.

Onouris (Anhur, Anher, Anhert) – Skybearer, very early aspect of the God Osiris

Opet (Tauret, Taurt, Thoueris, Rertrertu, Taweret, Ta-Urt, Tauret, Apet) – Mistress of Talismans. The hippopotamus goddess, a beneficent deity, the patron of woman in child-birth and goddess of fertility. In her darker aspect she was the goddess of darkness and revenge.

Ophis (Wepwawet, Upuaut) Opener of the Ways. the jackal-god of Asyut in Middle Egypt; a god of the necropolis and an avenger of Osiris. Opener of roads, God of the Underworld

Osiris (Auser) – Lord of the Far World. Osiris is the god of the underworld and the afterlife. He is identified as the dead or mummified king; also a god of the inundation and vegetation.- Lord of life after death, Sun god, Universal Lord

P

Pakhet – A goddess of motherhood and of war

Pasht (Bast, Bastet)  – Cat Goddess known to protect pregnant women and children. The protector of Ra, his third eye.

Per Uadijit (Uazrr, Uto, Uraeus / Buto / Uajyt, Uatchet, Utchat) – Cobra goddess and protectress of Lower Egypt

Ptah (Ptah-Neb-Ankh) – The Opener, the Divine Artificer, Father of Beginnings, Creator God. Lord of the Sky; Lord of the Two Lands; Lord of Truths; Lord of Sunrise; Father of Fathers; Power of Powers. He is the god of creation, creator-god of Memphis, the patron god of craftsmen; equated by the Greeks with Hephaestus.

Ptah-Seker-Osiris – A composite deity, incorporating the principal gods of creation, death, and after-life; represented like Osiris as a mummified king.

Phra (Ra, Re) – The Supreme Power, The Creator, Great Father

Q

Qebhut  (Qeb-Hwt, Aebehout, Kebehet, Kabachet, Kebhut, Kebechet) – Goddess of the Water of Life. The goddess of purification, also is known as the wandering goddess or the lost child, she presides over the magical reviving power of water.

QebuiGod of the North Wind

Qetesh – A mother-goddess of fertility. Adopted into ancient Egypt from Kadesh in what is now Syria.

R

Ra (Re, Phra, Amun-Ra, Akmun-Ra) – The Creator; The Supreme Power; The Only One; Great Father; Father of the Gods; Sun God. Ra is the god of the Sun, head of the great ennead, supreme judge; often linked with other gods aspiring to universality, and king of the gods until Osiris took over his throne.

Raet-Tawy – Female sun goddess of Upper and Lower Egypt. Female counterpart of Ra.

Rat (Tat-Taiut, Rait) – Lady of the Heavens; Mistress of the Gods; Mistress of the Heliopolis; Mother of the Gods; Goddess of the Two Lands. Goddess of wisdom and knowledge, shown as a woman wearing a disk with horns and a uraeus.

Renenet (Renenutet, Ernutet, Thermuthis) – She Who Rears; The Nourishing Snake; Lady of the Double Granary .Goddess of harvest and fertility; represented as a snake or a snake-headed woman. Goddess of the 8th month of the Egyptian calendar.

RenpetMistress of Eternity. Goddess of youth, springtime, the year, and the general idea of time.

Rertrertu (Taweret, Ta-Urt, Tauret, Apet, Opet, Tauret, Taurt, Thoueris)  – Mistress of Talismans. The hippopotamus goddess, a beneficent deity, the patron of woman in child-birth and goddess of fertility. In her darker aspect she was the goddess of darkness and revenge.

Reshef (Reshpu) – God of war and thunder, of Syrian origin.

S

Sarapis – A god introduced into Egypt in the Ptolemaic Period having the characteristics of Egyptian (Osiris) and Greek (Zeus) gods; represented as a bearded man wearing the modius head-dress.

Sati (Satet, Satis) – She Who Shoots Forth; She Who Runs Like an Arrow; She Who Pours. This Nile River spirit is entrusted to maintain balance and peace at the Nile’s first cataract, the traditional border between Egypt and Nubia. Goddess of the Cataracts, Goddess of fertility, water, the hunt, planting.

Seb (Geb, Keb) – A fertility Earth God of new beginnings, creation, crops.

Sebek (Sobk, Suchos) – Lord of Death, the Hidden One.

Seker (Sokar, Socharis) – The guardian god of the door to the Underworld.

Sekhem Em Pet (Anubis, Anpu)  – God of dead, embalming, funerals, and mourning ceremonies

Sekhmet (Sakhmet) – The Mighty One; The Terrible One; The Powerful; The Beloved of Ptah; Dark Sister of Bast; Great of Magic; Lady of Terror; Lady of Action; The One Before Whom Evil Flees; Mistress Dread; Lady of Flame; The Scarlet Woman. Goddess of lions and fire also goddess of vengeance, a lion-headed goddess worshiped in the area of Memphis; a fiery manifestation of the Eye of Ra. She represented the destroying power of sunlight and was the goddess of war and battle, physicians and bone-setters.

Selqet (Selket, Selquet, Selchis, Serqet, Serquet) Mistress of the Beautiful House. A scorpion-goddess, identified with the scorching heat of the sun; one of the four ‘protector’-goddesses, guarding coffins and Canopic jars. Protectress of marriage, goddess of happy marriages and married sexual love.

Seshat (Seshet, Sesheta) – Lady of the Builder’s Measure; The Great One; Lady of the House of Books, Queen of Construction; Goddess of Writing. The goddess of writing and measurement, the divine keeper of royal annals.

Set (Seth, Seti, Sutekh, Suti, Sertesh) Great of Strength; He Who Is Below; Lord of the Desert; Lord of Chaos and Disorder. God of deserts, storms and violence, evil, and chaos also later version ruler of the underworld. He is brother of Osiris and his murderer; the rival of Horus; equated by the Greeks with Typhon.

Shai (male), Shait (female) – Guardian angel, presiding over destiny and fate. Sometimes a Goddess, sometimes a God.

ShuLord of the Sky. God of Air and the North Wind. Connected with the heat and dryness of sunlight. Shu and Tefnut – his twin sister- form the first pair of gods in the Heliopolitan ennead; shown often as a man separating Nut (sky) from Geb (earth).

Sobek (Suchos, Sebek, Sobk) – Lord of Dark Water; The Hidden One; He Who is Shut In. Sobek is the crocodile-god, worshiped throughout Egypt. An aggressive guardian who repels and devours malevolent spirits who threaten his devotees. Rows Ra’s Sunboat through the Duat.

Sopdu – A god of war Associated with the sun and with the planet Venus

T

Tait (Isis, As, Aset, Eset)  – Supreme Egyptian Goddess, Great Mother, Giver of Life.

Tatjenen – The primeval earth-god of Memphis; later identified with Ptah.

Tat-Taiut (Rait, Rat) – Lady of the Heavens, Goddess of Wisdom and knowledge.

Taweret (Thoeris, Taurt, Ta-Urt, Apet, Opet, Rertrertu) – Mistress of Talismans. The hippopotamus goddess, a beneficent deity, the patron of woman in child-birth and goddess of fertility. In her darker aspect she was the goddess of darkness and revenge.

Tefnut (Tefenet) – The goddess of moisture, dew, rain, and mist. She is said to live at the bottom of the underworld. She and her twin brother – Shu – form the first pair of gods in the Heliopolitan ennead.

Temu (Tem, Atem, Atum) – Dark Eye of Ra. Personification of God in human form and of the setting Sun. Father of the human race, he helped the dead. In one of his forms he was worshiped as a huge serpent.

Thoth (Tehuti, Thout, Djehuti, Zehuti) – Lord of Divine Words; Lord of Books. Thoth is the ibis-headed scribe of the gods, the god of wisdom, inventor of writing.The ape as well as the ibis is sacred to him. Judge of the Gods.

Thermuthis (Renenet, Renenutet, Ernutet) – She Who Rears; The Nourishing Snake; Lady of the Double Granary. Goddess of harvest and fertility; represented as a snake or a snake-headed woman. Goddess of the 8th month of the Egyptian calendar.

U

Uajyt (Uatchet, Utchat, Uazrr, Uto, Uraeus, Buto, Per Uadijit)  – Cobra goddess and protectress of Lower Egypt

Udjat (Edjo, Buto, Wadjet) – Goddess of protection. Sister of Nekhbet. Lady of Flame; Lady of the North; Lady of Heaven; Queen of Holy Spirits. The cobra-goddess of Buto in the Delta, a goddess of protection, appearing on the royal diadem, protecting the king.

Unnefer (Wenen-Nefer, Onnophris) – a name meaning ‘he who is continually happy’, given to Osiris after his resurrection.

Upuaut (Ophis, Wepwawet) Opener of the Ways. the jackal-god of Asyut in Middle Egypt; a god of the necropolis and an avenger of Osiris. Opener of Roads, God of the Underworld

W

Wadjet (Udjat, Edjo, Buto) – Goddess of protection. Sister of Nekhbet. Lady of Flame; Lady of the North; Lady of Heaven; Queen of Holy Spirits. The cobra-goddess of Buto in the Delta, a goddess of protection, appearing on the royal diadem, protecting the king.

Wadj-wer – Personifies the Mediterranean Sea and other lakes.

Wenen-Nefer (Onnophris, Unnefer) – A name meaning ‘he who is continually happy’, given to Osiris after his resurrection.

Wepwawet (Upuaut, Ophis)  – Opener of the Ways. The jackal-god of Asyut in Middle Egypt; a god of the necropolis and an avenger of Osiris. Opener of Roads, God of the Underworld

Z

Zehuti (Thoth, Tehuti, Thout, Djehuti)  – Lord of Divine Words; Lord of Books. Thoth is the ibis-headed scribe of the gods, the god of wisdom, inventor of writing.The ape as well as the ibis is sacred to him. Judge of the Gods.

 

Egyptian deities did not require human sacrifice or annihilation of people with their religious beliefs. Temples were not considered a place of communal worship. They were looked upon as houses for the deities; there, statues were kept and attended by priests and priestesses. The priesthood was not celibate. The pharaoh was considered an incarnated god upon Earth.

The life of the average Egyptian was a blend of religion and the use of magick. Magick was a vital part of every day life. The people believed that worship was basically a private, personal concern and duty. After all, the ancient Egyptians said, when you stood in the Hall of Judgment after death, no one could tamper with the scales that weighed your heart for truth and goodness. Your soul was laid bare; everything was revealed.

Individual worship was performed at home altars and certain shrines, with the populace as a whole participating in in the great seasonal festivals. The common people were not admitted to the great temples, but they made pilgrimages to certain shrines.

Since worship was considered a private concern, the ordinary person visited the temple of his choice for healing or to present petitions when he needed something. Even then, he entered only the outer courts of the temples. The inner sanctuary of the deity was entered only by the highest priests, priestesses, or the pharaoh.

Originally, the priests and priestesses did not believe in polytheism or animal worship. They believed that the god-forms each represented a principle or aspect of the Supreme Creator. They believed that as long as the spiritual needs of humans were met, it did not matter how the Ultimate Spirit was pictured. These priests / priestesses used a sacred language known only to them for all rituals and worship, probably the remnant of a very ancient language.

Some temples were centers of healing, “sleep houses,” where dream therapy and hypnosis were used to cure the sick. In these places, quiet music of special sounds and rhythms were employed for healing the whole person – body, emotions, mind, and spirit.

Egyptian worship was intertwined with music and dancing. The Singers could be either male or female, depending upon the deity they served. The Temple Dancers were most often female, spending their early years actively participating in the sacred dances, and their later years instructing the new Dancers.

Dancing and chanting made it necessary to have musicians. These were attached to the temples, as were the Dancers and Singers, and were usually female. Sometimes there were dramatic performances for very special religious rites.

The ancient Egyptians were well aware that humans had more than just a physical body. They said that humankind had seven souls. Much of the esoteric meaning of these forms has been lost. What we now know of these “souls” is limited.

Here is a simplified explanation of the seven souls:

  1. Khat – the physical body
  2. Ka – the body – soul. It came into existence when the body was born, lived in the body, but was distinct from it. I could assume any form, travel wherever it pleased in the realms of the gods. Did not die at the death of the body but continued to live in the tomb of the deceased.
  3. Ab – the heart. Seat of the life-force and home of the emotions and passions. Formed from the mother’s heart blood.
  4. Khu or Aakhu – the spirit-soul. Resided in the blood as a primordial life force. It was eternal and could not be injured or killed.
  5. Kkaibit – shadow. If the shadow was lost or stolen while the person was alive, it was believed that the physical body would exist in a diseased or dying state. To steal someone’s shadow was to steal their magickal power and their life and was considered a crime.
  6. Sah or Sahu –  spiritual body.  the eternal dwelling place of the soul. The khu lived within it.
  7. Sekkem – power. We might call it willpower or purpose. It animated the sah.

The soul name, ren, was believed to be a vital part of every person. It as given to each person at birth by the goddess Renenet. The Egyptians believed that only by knowing the correct soul name of a person, animal, or object could you have power over it.

Egyptian magick was primarily of two kinds:

  • Magick to benefit the living or the dead
  • Magick used to harm people

At the beginning of each ritual, four lighted lamps were set at the four quarters or directions. They represented the four sons of Horus. Symbols were also set at these quarters. At the east was placed a tat (pole or pillar) and in the south a model of a palm tree. At the west was set a figure of Anubis, in the north a figure of a mummy, sometimes lying in a coffin.

The power of any spell, incantation, or any word of power was considered greatly increased by the use of magickal pictures and amulets. The ankh was a favorite symbol, along with the tat of Osiris (also called a tet or djed), the solar disk, the scarab, the lotus, the buckle of Isis, and the Eye of Horus.

Wax images were used in certain rituals, primarily for gaining someone’s love or harassing enemies. The name of the individual was cut or written on the image. After spells were recited over the figure, it was stabbed, destroyed, of (for love) carried next to the heart. The priests of Amen-Ra at Thebes regularly burned a wax image of the evil god Apep. These wax serpent forms were subjected to all kinds of abuse before they were destroyed in a fire.

Gods of the Four Elements:

  • Air (east): Tuamutef – with a jackal head
  • Fire (south): Akeset – with a human head
  • Water (west): Qebhsennuf – with a hawk head
  • Earth (north): Mestha – with an ape head

Gods of the Four Directions:

  • East: Bast, Min, Osiris, Ra
  • South: Nekhebet, Sekhmet
  • West: Ament, Hathor, Neith, Anubis, Temu, Sebek, Nephthys
  • North: Buto, Shu, Mehueret, Isis

Source: Magick of the Gods and Goddesses

Holder of the Oath Ring; The Silent One

  • Also known as: Oller, Ull, Uller, Ullr, Vuldor
  • Origin: Norse:
  • Rune: Ihwaz
  • Tree: Yew (Holler’s home is Ydalir, Yew Tree Valley)
  • Favored people: Holler likes the ladies. Skiers love Holler and he seems to love them right back.

Holler is the Lord of Frost and the King of Winter. He is a particularly primordial Norse deity, a mysterious, shadowy spirit. It’s unclear exactly where he sits on the Aesir / Vanir spectrum. Holler may be the son of Sif, the Golden-Tressed One. His father, if any, is unknown, although some suggest that he is of Frost Giant descent.

Holler’s name may be related to “glory.” He seems to have been venerated throughout Scandinavia, the Germanic lands, and the British Isles. According to some myths, when Odin goes wandering, he leaves Holler in charge of Asgard.

Holler is a master archer and hunter and a brilliant skier. Holler skis through the heavens, leaving stars in his wake. He controls the Aurora Borealis. Holler is the lord of justice and dueling. Allegedly invoking his name before a duel brings good luck. When he’s not zipping over the snow on his skis, Holler travels in a ship made from bone.

Holler the Hunter has associations with death. His sacred tree, the yew, is a funerary tree, found in grave yards, not least because of its poisonous berries. Holler may have hunted with poisoned arrows. He may be married to Hulda, weather goddess of birth and death. Like her, he is now associated with the Wild Hunt, and a more negative connotation as the God of Death, Disease and Devastation. It is said that he drags the doomed to his darkest dungeon and delights in dealing out disaster and destruction.

Post-Christianity, many of his more benevolent functions seem to have been transferred to Saint Hubert.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Spirits

  • Also known as: Mother Holle, Frau Holle, Hulde
  • Origin: Teutonic
  • Realms: The sky, underground, mountains, wells
  • Constellation: The Milky Way is the street she travels
  • Elements: Earth, air, water
  • Sacred animals: Wolves, Rabbits
  • Color: White, blue
  • Spirit Ally: Odin, with whom she sometimes leads the Wild Hunt
  • Plants: Holly, elder, juniper, mugwort, flax, Sorcerer’s Violet (Vinca major – sometimes called Frau Holle)
  • Sacred Days: The Winter Solstice is Hulda’s feast day. The twelve days between Dec 25 and Jan 6 are sacred to Hulda.
  • Offerings: She loves music and dancing.

Manifestations:

A radiantly beautiful blond woman or a fierce old crone. In her guise as Queen of Witches, she has disheveled hair and a wild look.

She may also manifest as a woman when seen from the front but a tree from behind. She may be accompanied by an entourage of torch bearing rabbits who light her way.

About Hulda:

Hulda, a great and ancient goddess of birth and death, presides over a transit station for human souls, a crossroads between life and death. Hulda receives the souls of the newly dead into her realm and releases newborns to live new lives on Earth. Hulda bathes at midday in a fountain from which babies emerge, a well of life.

She was no unknown spirit but a prominent Northern European goddess. Holland is her namesake. Her name may be related to “holy.” Hulda lives in mountain caves and among elder trees, portals to her realm. Her realm may also be accessed via wells. She is sometimes witnessed walking alongside rivers or mountain paths, alone or accompanied by an entourage of rabbits and Fairies. She may be Queen of the Elves.

She plays a prominent part in German folk-lore and superstition. In stormy nights she can be often heard flying through the air, accompanied by weird spirits and witches. On such occasions it is dangerous for ill-doers to be abroad, as they will surely meet with severe punishment; while to the good she frequently appears as a benefactor. Her particular season is winter.

Hulda is a weather spirit. When she shakes her feather bed, it snows on Earth. Rain falls from her laundry rinse water. Fog hovering over a mountain may be smoke from Hulda’s fire. She guards and nurtures all the growing things of the forest. She was a culture-goddess, too, credited with introducing flax to Europe and teaching the art of making linen.

Banished after official conversion to Christianity, people were forbidden to venerate or contact Hulda. Those maintaining that practice were branded witches. Hulda was reclassified as a demon witch-goddess who attacked and harmed children.

She retains dominion over Pagan babies. People were urged to baptize their babies lest they end up in Hulda’s realm. Mother Holle, once so benevolent was transformed into a monster. People warned their children that if they weren’t obedient, Hulda would “get” them.

Vestiges of rituals invoking Hulda’s blessings on baby girls were retained by Ashkenazi Jews (the Hollekreisch), whether because Pagan women found discreet safety in that community rather than convert to Christianity or because Jews perceived Hulda’s resemblance to Lilith. Although rituals survive, many would be shocked and horrified to realize that they invoke a Pagan goddess.

Like Lilith, Hulda is not always so benevolent these days. She is a proud and resolutely Pagan spirit with little patience for hypocrites. Hulda can bestow fertility but she can take it away, too. She has power over storms, raising them as well as soothing them. She can be ambivalent toward people as demonstrated by Mother Holle, the Brothers Grimm fairytail in which she stars.

The theme involves young girls who wander into Hulda’s domain, either inadvertently or deliberately in anticipation of a reward. She rewards the girl who respects her and follows her commands with effort and devotion but causes excrement to rain down upon the lazy, disrespectful girl.

Found in:

  • Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences
  • The Encyclopedia of Spirits


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