Post by Dawn2Earth on Oct 8, 2010 18:32:07 GMT -5
A comprehensive compilation (clusterhell) of data on Ancient Egyptian Deities, going from the Ogdoad to Ennead periods.
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Ogdoad:
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Amun
The chief primordial deity was also associated with Ra -- Amun. Amen (or Amun) means "the hidden", "Establishment", the question of the truth; i take it to convey a sense of there being or having been a *question* or something that may need to be understood, and interestingly in the Scriptures the word is used as beginning and end (in non prayer dialogue) similar to saying "what it is is that: .... and that's exactly what it is." Like today's opening and / or then emphatic "Really: ..., really.", like today's "I mean: ... N'a mean!?", "Ok, : __ OK!", as well as "Alright so ... right?!", "You know: ___ You know!", ": Yes!:" (before or after), "For real:/.", and "Fo real fa real." affirmations (not the sarcastic versions) in modern use, which is remarkably, the same way used in the past and thing that we use an emphatic "A-men!" for (when not out of sheer innocent habit) today, especially at the end of statements. A sign of sincerity, a sound answer or conclusion. Amen's title meaning the one of the hidden name conveys a sense of in-obviousness. Like the truth one must tell before a jury. The phrase "the Amen, the faithful and true" is even written in the King James Version Bible and it would seem that the ancient authors of the Scriptures we call the Bible were definitely aware of an Amen related school of thought: Matthew 6:1-21 (to 34 for Nun & Amen-Re -esque stuff) and John 9:2-3, 16 & 25. Popular among the common folk, as protecting the poor in law courts and "protector of the humble" and "of travelers" "vizier of the humble" who "comes at the voice of the poor", Amen rose to become one of the most important of Kemetian deities of all time. This seems to contrast to Ra, in that it was he whom whichever Ruler empowered by the establishment was considered to be the human manifestation of.
As stated earlier (in the first part), popular among the common folk, as protecting the poor in law courts and "protector of the humble" and "of travelers" "vizier of the humble" who "comes at the voice of the poor", Amen ("he of the hidden name") rose to become one of the most important of Kemetian deities of all time. This would seem to contrast to Ra, in that it was he (and later Heru) whom whichever Ruler empowered by the establishment was considered to be the human manifestation of.
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For some it is hard to see how a "higher power" or even highest of powers could be proven to govern all our lives, but for sure things are determined. Whether they're the kinds of things determined at the moment or universal laws that hold for all time: this determination exists. Some question whether this is random, free choice we all share provided we're lucky enough for the opportunity, chance, or the laws of nature of which we are all apart. This questioning is no different though than they who question, "who's to say whether our modern nations are all puppet shadow governments?" or proclaim what is true is that we all govern our selves ( Anarchy!). In any case *someone* governs even if one were to say that everything is left up to "chance" (potentiality) or that everything is really "random" or "out of control" which is still one of the most hypothetical concepts there is (in computing pseudo-random number generation is still used). Back to the higher power thing, it's obvious that of the above examples anarchy could not make sense: none of us have powers to do anything at will unless you consider our apparent "selves" to be nothing and our higher true identity and everything in our lives to be that Almighty higher power. All questions aside, that Re's / Amun's name has a hidden quality has to do in part with science (knowledge / power) being hidden from us and in part with the fact that although one can attempt to describe an identity in terms of others, any identity cannot truthfully actually be defined as another, but is its own: "I AM THAT I AM". Two great human endeavors that aim at actually getting to the answer rather than only raising questions are Math and Science. With sciences, people have come to understand that some of their conventions of the way things are can be fallacious, which is good. As modern Western Science goes the following is being ingested on a large scale: the fact that no matter how objective (devoid of perceptual uncertainty) we manage to be in methods the true subjective (observed and open to interpretation) nature scientific method remains. Interestingly, in modern times quantum physics insights seem to have suggested our world a more 'virtual' reality of an 'increased' one and also challenged the way causality is traditionally thought of (which is strictly in the past). In short Amun is the realness, which is sometimes hidden (Ra when he hides himself), and Amun-Re the power that we're given reveals true colors and also the reality revealed in the nature of the power including whose it is -- in the latter: what's in whose hands and outside of whose hands and therefore what could and what should not be of whom ever's concern. If our identity is our identity and if I am not my body nor anything else nor did I form myself nor control what I would learn or opportunities I would be given it could mean really perhaps I or what I might consider me could do nothing on my own.**
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Primordial deities -- there are always eight, sometimes including Amen & Amenet (male and female versions of Amen respectively, which were indistinguishable or one and the same with each other)
Before there is anything else, *ever*, at the basic level, there exist according to mention of many tales these "eternal" [ever-existing never created nor destroyed of course] "waters" "shrouded" in "darkness", the "primordial" properties which eight "primordial" neteru are ebmlematic of: Heh, one with female counterpart Hehut, Nun, his female counterpart Naunet, Kekui, Kekuit, Kerh aka Ni, and Kerhet / Ennit. They were described by i think E. A. W. Budge as "boundless 'primeval waters' containing within them the germs for all creation". Each male is one with each female counterpart. The drift given is that the first three pairs, i.e., Nun, Heh, and Kekui are qualities, traits, or characteristics of the fourth -- Kerh and Kerhet whom are sometimes swapped out for the names Amun and Amunet or Ni and Ennit. There is an interpretation of them as representing the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Nen - who simply is - is moment, inert and settling, as are waters which flow to whatever given altitude depending on temperature -- water gives way. As well these harness all potent, able to create anything that is, was, and will be (and i see the parallel with all life on Earth depending on that H2O). And these elements underlie and preclude any and all existence. These seem reminiscent of the Tao concept though associated with an initial chaotic state of all reality.
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Ennead:
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The triple Sun deity Ra-Khepera-Tem
Khepera ("to become, or create") depicted as a black beetle or black beetle headed man) -- Developement; generation, engendering, what it do; Divine manifestation
Ra / Re (in any case likely pronounced "Ray" -- 'creative and operative power'; associations: the yellow / golden sun, temperature, light, what we have to go on)
Atum / Adum / Tem / Temu (is a blue man physically and figuratively, usually very aged). Is earliest Divine Man -- who marks the point where mankind went from being inert atoms to agent Adam. Temu, "closer of the jar", does end , but also begins the world. "The closer of the jar" seems opposite Ptah's title as "opener of the jar" written at the bottom of the compilation in my honorable mentions.
(Now, note, that Ra is written to have said he is he who is Atum later, Khepera earlier, and Ra at noon in the day, so keep in mind those are some of his forms. Khepera rolls the sun as dung beetles do their dung rolls which the dung beetles spectacularly spawn out of after implanting the dung roll with their own genetic material -- reminiscent of the acorn and husk or shell in Hegelianism.)
In the beginning, there was the one being that existed before anything else, this self-created being created all else and reportedly was the same as the 'boundless primeval waters' - and Khepera was his name (the black beetle headed guy, very first deity mentioned, at the top of this entire post). Sometimes the "name" of this deity is Amun (who can be depicted blue) which would simply mean he of the hidden name. Interestingly, alternatively, another deity we will cover later named Ausar aka Osiris was also written of as being the identity of this unnamed Neter and has a blue and a water element (riverine i think). Anyway as Khepera makes Shu and Tefnut, they as they come into their train cause his "eye" (presumably) the Sun which is emblematic of the neter Re to emerge (though at times Re just travels in the sun as a boat). It had previously been hidden and submerged beneath / within the primal waters. Another tale features blue deity Temu (aka Atum) instead of Khepera being initial, alone, lonely, and creating twin neteru Shu and his mate Tefnut, and yet another version has Khepera "born" just before immediately becoming Nefertem (Young Temu) and in at-least one tale he either immediately turns into baby Heru instead or somehow Heru becomes born instead. Any way back to just Khepera it is written of Khepera saying "i have made myself three that was one", and it is from tears from Khepera's eye that it was believed man originates from, though at other times it was tears from Ra (who could be identified with Khepera as well as with his eye. Atum (Temu) ("finisher; to complete") "closer of the jar" begins the world and ends it. Now, Nefertem (Young/Good Temu) is Temu as a young man associated with the dawn (sun rise) and is associated with white (purity), blue (omnipotence), and green (new growth). Temu is a blue deity associated with the dusk and is generally an old man. Temu was also believed to have been the first divine man. The composite entity Atum-Kheperer (Tem and Khepere) is also mentioned as having created Shu and Tefnut.
Shu and Tefnut
Shu, who wears the Ostrich feather Ma'at also dons, is supposed to have a calming influence and he is the one who lifts the humidity and raises the fog while Tefnut is associated with moisture and strong feelings. Shu raised us out of the initial "chaotic" state of existence associated with Nun the inert waters in the beginning: not only were we able to see because of the sun / Ra / Khepera's eye (comprehension) and its light that emerged after Shu made some room /space (a bubble) from the dark "waters", this provided earth to stand on, air to breathe, we now have an atmosphere, a firmament [heaven]. Probably through his association with clear air and wind, Shu was attached with the lofty nature of feathers, could personify light (emr) which issues forth, the heat of the mid day sun, the plain mid-summer sun, and was associated with dry-air climate because he raised the air / vapors, acting as a dehumidifier."Shu" had meanings of "dry" "parched" "withered" and "empty" but the Ostrich feather (like Ma'at's) he usually had above his head was of the same word shu that meant "feather". When not the glyph of a fly feather he had instead that of the back-half of a lion, and still held a 'Was' power scepter and an ankh the symbol of life. He comes out of a form of Temu in the form of his breathe in tales. One features a form of Temu becoming stuffy throat-ed after sneezing out Shu and, to clear his throat, coughing out phlegm which turns out to be Tefnut. There are other stories where Temu or Nefertem is lonely and creates them via "beating his meat", exhaling Shu out and skeeting Tefnut out. In another version his fist / shadow is another deity altogether, his wife, YusaAset. One time the twin deities wandered off into the waters and darkness and lonely Temu finds them somehow i think with some help. Shu reportedly has a pacifying influence, while Tefnut (who has an association with humidity) incites strong feelings. There is a tale where she gets upset at Shu, moves South of ancient Egypt and causes drought (which has ancient associations with guilt), and obliterates any being that approaches her there. Shu later feels sorry or misses her, and somehow Djehuti (or Auset with his help) in disguise gets her to return. "Tef" can mean to spit or be moist and she is associated with humidity, rain and moisture. Now, they are the parents of Geb and his mate Nut. In at least one telling Tefnut gives birth to them without male impetus. Since the earliest of times and beginning of creation these deities (Nut and Geb) were said to've been engaging in nonstop lovemaking during (and because of?) which the world was reportedly left in a state of "chaos" -- a situation reminiscent of Nen (aka Nun) the "inert" waters the beginning and end of the world / day / time. Shu raises his daughter Nut into the sky which creates space for light to exist (such as the sun) and for dry land. By the way, Geb is supposed to have existed from the beginnings of time, just submerged under those primordial waters. Anyway, Shu and Tefenut, a reliable source (individual) has told me, is where or when hierarchical reign first begins.
Geb
Nut
Geb is associated with agriculture and is green and brown, spotted like modern camouflage gear. Nut "night" is usually depicted as a golden star spangled dark blue sky. [Image - click here] Geb is reclining, leaning on one elbow with the other arm laxly gesting towards the sky from a knee. Before any of the celestial bodies were in existence, which is before Shu lifted Nut, these two were locked in a perpetual embrace of lovemaking. During the Night and during storms, Nut is allegedly come down on Geb, having swallowed the Sun which she'll give birth to in the morning. This couple is associated with the birth of celestial bodies (sun, moon, etc) they are also the beginning of biological organisms (living creatures). Nut's and Geb's being responsible for the basically the birth of the structured cosmos is what makes her "mother of the neteru". It is Nut that is said to keep the orbits in line and whom is described and depicted as protecting life on earth via encircling it and the structured cosmos from these chaotic waters of limbo outside of her, probably associated with Nun although Nun pervades and transcends all space. The Sun is said to travel up her legs on her back and over her. At night she is said to devour it which is also when it makes its perilous journey through the duat to be given birth to in the morning. Earthquakes are caused by "the great cackler's" [Geb's] laughter - his movements cause earthquakes and thunder also. Geb was associated in a text with Temu (different spelling of Atum), making him "father of his own father" but he is not the only neter of such a title nor the only one associated with an "ancestor" in a like manner. Geb is seen as the "Erpait" or tribal chief of the gods and Nut ("sky")has the title "mother of the gods". It was the heir-ship of Geb that kings of Kemet boasted they had received when they sat upon their thrones. His throne represented the sovereignty of the earth and heavens. Nut was portrayed as the sky in some combination of blue, gold and white in two colors and Geb the earth in brown with green patches, but Geb did not have strictly "Earth" as in planet earth associations. Nor as "solids" as in that physics physical state of matter though he was associated with them. "he is sometimes called the lord of the watery abyss, and the dweller in the watery mass of the sky, and the lord of the Underworld. He is also described as one of the porters of heaven's gate, who draws back the bolts, and opens the door in order that the light of Ra may stream upon the world, and when he set himself in motion his movements produced thunder in heaven and quaking upon earth." - E.A. Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 2 paperback, page 98. Because Geb is an agricultural deity, the above for me coincides with how before creation Geb was said to have been lying dormant under "inert waters" and Nun (deification of the watery abyss) had & has the germs necessary for any creation just lying dormant. Nut is often depicted as being over him sometimes with his dong still erect. In depictions of the start of the world Geb lies on the ground throwing "his hand to heaven and his hand towards the earth" with Shu standing and lifting up Nut in front of him. Geb is connected with the Phoenix Egg, and even for the Heliopolitans as they declared "represented the very ground upon which their city stood, meaning that Heliopolis was the birthplace of the company of the gods". This is an apparent allusion to Ptah, deification of the primordial mound or appearance of dry land, who was said to be an aspect of Geb -- although Ptah was also eventually seen as the creator of even Khepera / Ra / Atum, usurping some of Ra's creations as his own (like light for instance) but this poses no contradiction since Geb was thought to have always been there, just in a submerged state. When he moves, it produces thunder in heaven and when he laughs, earthquakes on earth. In one myth Ra dis-allows them to have babies during any day of the year but Djehuti (the deification of mind) creates five extra days and during each she gave birth (we cover their children in the section under this one). Interestingly, the word ["nut"] was also the determinative for town / city / nation. As was Hathor, Nut was depicted as a cow which were sacred in ancient society and were valuable as they made life easier. Interestingly, there are portraits done where again Nut's body surrounds Geb's but his body is folding into its self, I think boner and sprawled legs aimed for his face and all. He got the appellation "lame one", although Geb is sometimes depicted with dong erect and aimed toward Nut. Another interesting symbolism is the regeneration of the sun each night in the underworld, and the battle of Apep with Ra before sunrise.
Ausar
Heru
Set
Auset
Nebhet
Ausar is said to, at night, climb on top of Nut using a ladder. A deceased King, he resides at the end of the Dw4t / Tuat, which is this sort of "underworld" though i'd call it an afterworld as it lies between this world and the next and as Re in the form of the sun comes through there each night as a result of being swallowed by Nut ("Sky"). Back to Ausar: it was he who was said to have taught men husbandry, civilization mathematics, and how to grow things. In addition to "Lord of Love", and "Lord of Silence", among many other like titles an interesting one is "Lord of Terror". Though this would apparently contrast with his otherwise seemingly peaceful and good nature, there is even mention of him as administering punishment in the Dwat, or presiding over such domains where these tortured souls reside (for / to the wretched and wicked). He is another "people's deity" (contrasted with Ra a more Royal / state endorsed deity). The recently deceased go through a perilous trial or journey at the end of which is either Ausar or their guide Yinepu (Anubis) who as Khenti-Amenti ("Foremost of the Westerners", "Chief of the Hidden") grants them passage into this field of reids, a paradise of sorts, provided there hearts measure up when weighted against the feather of Ma'at. If too light or too heavy and not just the right weight they are immediately devoured by Sobek, incinerated or something of that nature. The same favor was sought by folks as was given by the neteru / Nut to her son Ausar who in the end makes it to heaven and rules in the afterlife - who prior to the New Kingdom would only have been of royal or noble lineage - as he (Ausar) and Auset's son Heru-Sa-Auset ("Heru son of Auset") rules on earth in the realm of the living. The hope was to not be "swallowed" [meet your doom] in by Geb who would give you food and drink for your transition into the next world and that Nut who gives you the same would admit you. Intriguingly, Ausar is not only a 'first' neter like Temu (Atum) (divine man in human form) living as an Earthly man, he is also associated with the dawn of creation: some of the stories of "the primordial waters" [mentioned earlier] proclaim the "name" or identity of the One deity was Ausar instead of Khepera and interestingly Ausar can be a water deity (riverine connect i think). In a story which i will cover more fully further down, Set tricks his brother by holding a banquet during Ausar's birthday during which a contest is held. In this contest, whoever has measurements that match this very extravagant coffin decked with gold and which he and his comrades had measured to fit Ausar gets to keep it. The King, Ausar, participates and is tossed into the river. Set also figures a constant rival to Heru. In one story, he battles with Heru the elder and his balls take a L but he thrashes an eye explaining why Set is said to be infertile and Heru Wer's (Heru the Elder's) eyes are the Sun and Moon. Heru the Elder is identified with Shu in cases. Seth races Auset's son, Heru Sa Auset aka Heru the younger in a contest in which they are supposed to use stone boats: Heru uses a wooden boat painted as stone however and Set's boat sinks. Set also attempts to sexually pleasure himself with Auset who transforms into a dog with a knife at her tail and eludes him. He then comes on the ground and she gets at him. He also tried to do it with her son Heru sa Auset in another well known myth in which the gods say they one has to dominate the other sexually. Set ends up being tricked when Heru comes on some lettuce in which is Set's favorite food and leaves it out. The gods ask their respective semen to come forth and Set's answers from the river but Heru's is inside Set and Heru wins. Ausar post mortem is the father of Heru the younger and somehow comes back to raise and train him. It was written that in the sky there was this iron plane that hovered at a height nearer to but out of reach even of one from the tallest mountains. Ausar is said to have been helped to get up there by Ra, and in seemingly the same scenario but possibly another he was boosted up there by Heru and Set the sworn rivals and brothers to Ausar who up lift him as the ladder and help hold the ladder in place for his ascension. A connection between Ra-Temu and Heru had long been established in Re-Herukhuti and Temu-Herukhuti ("Re who is Heru of the two Horizons" or "Tem who is Heru of the two Horizons"). However, Heru is also connected to his brother Set in "He who is Set when he sits down and Heru when he stands up". They were thought to be opposites: "A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of complements. If you want something look for the complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus redeems Set" -- from: Ihsa Schwaller de Lubicz - Her-Bak: Egyptian Initiate. Set ("pillar of stability, great be-dazzler") was also connected to Ra, as the only other deity of appellation "strongest of the Divine Company", albeit self-perscribed. He was also one to boast to Re that Re needed him, he being the only deity "who dare" fend off Ra's enemy Apep the giant serpent deity made up of Re's dissidents / enemies, for which he got kicked out. Others did have roles in slaying Apep. Ausar, wife Auset, and bro Heru all get the appellation "Kem Wer" attached to the end's of their names, Kem meaning "black" and / and having a secondary sense of "complete" / "ultimately" (just as white in many cultures connotes purity) and Wer meaning great, ancient or both. Where as Heru was attached to 'kem' so was 'deshre' or red to Set -- originally a deity of Southern Kemetian provenance and whom Nehesi (Kemet's neighbors past its Southern borders in general -- who were not monolithic as they worshipped other deities like Amen and Heru) also worshiped. Set became increasingly attached with the malice, evil, other unwanted traits, and red (deshretu - reds) with the Aamu (Asiatics, collective Easterners) when the deity was adopted up by Hyksos (Aamu) that may have had Nehesu help (and Nehesu were interestingly painted with red hair) in their very bloody invasion. So became Set the original demon slayer became the 'red devil / demon'. Set was attached to the barren borders of Km.t [Nw.t]. Keep in mind both red and the desert had positive protective aspects, but both also symbolized consumption, chaos and destruction. I've seen many web pages purport that Set had red hair. An association with red is very understandable in the sense of his association with land bereft of fertility and the desert which has an endless belly for lost things, and him having been stricken in his junk and possibly of his potency if he'd had any. In any case, Set and Heru would aquire a very adversarial relationship where Set gets set straight in his "propper" place, which is under Ausar, by a young Heru (the distant One, one who is above, over; reminiscent to me of "the set apart One" from the Tanakh), Ausar's son. There is mention of a Kingdom of Ausar and a Kingdom of Set, the latter supposedly of the "Northern Sky" having something to do with a bear constellaton. There is also mentioned a Kingdom of Heru, but i'm not sure which if any Heru this is associated with (My guess would be perhaps the Elder or Isis-child). These four (or five) neteru seem to have important implications for civilization and society, and some events involving them seem to have mirrored actual historical events in ancient Egypt.
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Ausar "the strength of Ra" in his name "Ausar" (apparently there wer other names -- deities can have many names) and is the only netjer (deity -- though really I wonder if the word "ntr aka netjer" meant something like reality) referred to as "Netjer" i.e. as God (yes like in the way we do in English with a capital G) and he even replaces Khepera / Tem in the creation-of-everything stories sometimes but this may have been more of an attempt to describe "Netjer" as ultimately being just or righteous or something or possibly of saying righteousness comes from "Netjer". The Kemetians knew of a one, true, and only mysterious Netjer which none of these deities written about here, i.e. the netjer, were exactly -- although they were greater than minor [what I will call] "gods" or "spirits" or "angels". I think what they were writing about in documenting the netjer were something like truths or realities based on axioms or were perhaps the axioms themselves.
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Wesir aka Ausar aka Osiris was said to have been Kemet's first King who taught them how civilization: husbandry, how to grow things, mathmatics, and I'm sure other things. He also teaches his son HerusaAuset armed combat. There are depictions of him with the Was power-scepter at least as Ausar-UnNefer (un = maker of that which is; un = who [himself] is | nefer = good; beautiful; young). He appears to have been very popular with the common folk just as Amen was and as was with the elite Ra popular. He had an association with light. In his absence his wife Auset aka Ysis (Isis) ruled the Kingdom. She is often associated with light and was highly skilled in magic spells and crafty. It was she who learned Re's hidden name allowing his healing from a gruesomely poisonous snake bite and allowing the empowerment of her son HorussaAuset. She also re-animated a dead Ausar's body long enough to conceive her son with. In some versions, as his was gone, she used a golden phallus (donga) of Ra's or fashioned from Ra in some way. Her sister NebetHet ("lady of the courtyard"), Set's wife, had helped. Her and her sister made an awesome pair, it is said when they were together any demon in the underworld would be in complete horror. Auset name renders to "lady of the throne", while Ausar to "he of the throne". Auset really .. showed mankind the way. Check out this Auset (Ysis) Aretology:
- trans. Frederick C. Grant
Interesting to say the least about Auset.
Set, "pillar of stability", or perhaps "great bedazzler", was depicted holding the Was power-scepter and was worshipped in Nubt, "golden city". Over time he was associated with dust / sandstorms confusion and darkness, although there was this Oasis attributed to him. He is the one who boasted he killed Apep, who was known as "enemy of Ra", each day which "no other god dare do" but he was also the murderer of Ausar. He held a banquette upon Ausar's return, Ausar having taken a trip to teach the rest of the world civilized advanced behavior. He returned to a birthday party held by Set and his band of 72. I'm not sure why Ausar needed a golden coffin, or accepted the competition. The contest was whoever fit in won and the coffin was measured prior to the contest by Set to his brother's (Ausar's) measurements. Ausar comes back somehow in the end, and trains his son Heru sa Auset (Horus, son of Isis) in combat and of all the different Heru forms if any, it is Isis's son who bests Set hands down. In some versions Nut and Geb have five children: Ausar on the first extra of the 365 days, an unlucky day, Heru-Wer (Heru the Great or the Elder) on the second which could be a lucky or unlucky day, Set on the third which is unlucky, Auset on the fourth which is lucky, and Nebet-Het on the fifth which I think is unlucky. Heru Wer a.k.a. Heru Kem Wer (Wer meaning Elder and or Great) was like all Herus Set's opposite and battled Set but it was said that he and Set both raised Ausar to higher heights, raising him on his ladder to the iron plane of heaven. Heru Wer is the deification of love-and-foresight and Kem ("black, complete") in his title Kem Wer probably connotes the "complete" "ultimate" and "over" sense to convey a sense of him being "good" or "ok" in the sense that he sees and has a plan. Ausar and Auset also got the title and this is where the black Madonnas come from. Now, these deities were depicted in other colors, and Set was described as a kem pig, but in main Set was associated with the well known Egyptian color deshret (red) and they three (Ausar, Auset and Heru) kem wer. Set was not always demonized in Kemetian literature but became so after his adoption by the scourge Hyksos invaders who were bloodily expelled. Set tries and fails to copulate with Auset and for particular reasons tries to deceive his nephew (Auset's son), sexually arouse himself, and sexually assault him as is typed below. He was associated with the color red and with desert terrain but this Western Oasis was also ascribed to him. In lieu of his association with desert storms, appeal to gay come on lines, and some versions of the mythology having him bereft of children he would seem to be associated with sexual problems and it is interesting given his association with storms that Egyptian researchers have found the static interference to a man's electricity caused by contact with polyester around the genital area helps deter or repress woodies (erections).
Heru -- mainly Heru Sa Auset
Yinepu (son of either Ausar or Set and Nebthet)-- Justice
Heru Sa Auset (son of Auset) is identified with both Herukhuti (Heru of the two Horizons) and Heru Kem Wer. Eventually he is realized as being a younger form of Ausar, and so grows to become not only his father but the father of his father. The story of Set and Heru Sa Auset was that Set murdered his own brother, Ausar by tricking him into laying in this coffin, as Set couldn't come against Ausar in a straight forward manner, and chucking it in the river or sea. In detail, once Ausar had established his Kingdom in Kemet which i think was said to be the first of men and Auset took his place as he set out to civilize other areas of the world. He upon his return found his brother Set waiting for him. Set and a horde of seventy two marauders had this banquet or something for Ausar maybe during his birthday and held this contest where whomever fit into this luxurious coffin made of gold would win it. It was measured to Ausar's measurements and after the contest it's chucked into the river with him in it. Auset sets out to find him and found him lodged in a tree at Byblos. During her time there she disguises herself as a maid I think, taking care of this [royal?] couple's son. With what happens next, i don't remember if it was at the base of the tree or if the tree was connected with the palace and it was carved into the tree there, or if it was just fire wood from the tree but at Night she would place their son into a furnace of some sort to eventually transform him into a divinity. However the parents saw this one night and the mother yelled out stripping the child of ever becoming a neter. She, returning to Kemet, hides the coffin somewhere so that she can revive Ausar when out hunting one night by moonlight Set finds it, dices Ausar into like 14 pieces, and scatters them. Auset finds all the pieces, leave for the phallus in at least one telling. Her sis Nebhet helps her resurrect their brother and her conceive Heru; in the one telling they fashion a phallus out of gold. In a story, Ausar, still having been deceased comes back by some means when Heru is a young man and encourages him in the way of arms / combat. This may have been possible for him due to his dual status as neter and flesh and blood dude. Heru ("distant one; who is above, over"), although a deity of the highest heights, is Ra's heir to the throne on Earth (as is Ausar in the after life). Heru says to his father Ausar that he is active in heaven but also upon earth.
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There were "many" Horus's or at least identities, type and / or descriptions of him, but general Horus, was there such a thing, was the son of Ra and Hetheret (Hathor) properly. Or he was paired to Hathor (who could also be Ra's daughter, consort, or mother). Heru could be husband to Beset and?/or? Bet / Bat too. Heru son of Aset a.k.a. Heru Sa Aset is written of as being seen as growing into Ausar and having Heru son of Aset by Aset. Heru sa Auset is said to also be Heru Wer, Herukhuti (Heru of the two horizens who is also Re), and a host of other Herus, probably all Heru forms. In some tales Heru has four children, I think by Best or Bat. Horus and Seth contested and battled, vying for the throne of Kemet which was formerly Ausar's. They (the Heru probably being Heru Wer / Ur aka Heru the Great / or perhaps 'Elder') were said to battle on indefinitely with victory neither going to one nor to the other. Heru the Great (or Elder) in a violent clash gets an eye gouged out while Set looses his junk. Heru son of Auset participates in a contest set up to determine who should win the crown. For whatever reason they are told to race in boats made of stone (which would sink), so Horus paints the wooden boat he makes stone and wins. In another story which reveals the true nature of Set and Heru Set invites Heru to a feast, and when Heru sleeps he tries to dominate Heru. Heru catches his semenin his hands. In the end Set had eaten a lettuce (an aphrodisiac and his favorite food) sandwhich with Heru's skeet in it and when the gods call forth Set's semen it answers from the river but Heru's called outsemen answers from inside Set. Although Re is said to have helped Heru boost up Ausar to this plane of heaven in hymns Set and Heru (the elder) are they who boost him up. There is even mention of he who is Set when he sits and when he stands is Heru. "A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of complementaries. If you want something look for the complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus redeems Set." In one myth Heru Sa Aset has bested Set, has him captured and bound, and is ready to kill him but Aset frees Set enraging Heru who tore from her head the royal diadem but Thoth gave her a helmet in the shape of a cow's head (cow's were associated with Hathor and Nut). The story of Set and Heru sa Auset might mirror actual historical events related to the Hyksos invaders who adopted him (Set) as their god and who were ousted by a native prince. Heru is a key figure in Kemetian cosmology.
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Honorable mentions:
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Ptah - (associated with carpentry and with the primordial mound, he is "the opener") Foundation. Interestingly he was also titled the hidden in at least one place but not anywhere Amun was worshipped.
Sekhme - Presence; Arrival (divine)
Khnum - Design; build, model, make, mold, form -- like Ptah, i believe he, following Djehuti's instruction created Temu / Atum.
Djehuti - (Ra's heart and tongue, Ptah's voice) Mind / Consciousnes. His animals were the Baboon and Ibis, the latter a pelican like bird used to fight snakes. According to one story he springs from Set's head.
Seshe - Data
Ma'at - means something like "Truth and Order" - Wisdom (the Feather of Ma'at is featured in the Hall of Two Truths in the afterlife)
HetHeret (Hathor) -- ("House of Heru", "eye of Ra") Purpose, Divine Plan, Appreciation, Kemetian Holy Spirit (also the Holy Spirit in Hebrew is Ruach Adonia which is feminine)
Sobek -- destruction
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Ogdoad:
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Amun
The chief primordial deity was also associated with Ra -- Amun. Amen (or Amun) means "the hidden", "Establishment", the question of the truth; i take it to convey a sense of there being or having been a *question* or something that may need to be understood, and interestingly in the Scriptures the word is used as beginning and end (in non prayer dialogue) similar to saying "what it is is that: .... and that's exactly what it is." Like today's opening and / or then emphatic "Really: ..., really.", like today's "I mean: ... N'a mean!?", "Ok, : __ OK!", as well as "Alright so ... right?!", "You know: ___ You know!", ": Yes!:" (before or after), "For real:/.", and "Fo real fa real." affirmations (not the sarcastic versions) in modern use, which is remarkably, the same way used in the past and thing that we use an emphatic "A-men!" for (when not out of sheer innocent habit) today, especially at the end of statements. A sign of sincerity, a sound answer or conclusion. Amen's title meaning the one of the hidden name conveys a sense of in-obviousness. Like the truth one must tell before a jury. The phrase "the Amen, the faithful and true" is even written in the King James Version Bible and it would seem that the ancient authors of the Scriptures we call the Bible were definitely aware of an Amen related school of thought: Matthew 6:1-21 (to 34 for Nun & Amen-Re -esque stuff) and John 9:2-3, 16 & 25. Popular among the common folk, as protecting the poor in law courts and "protector of the humble" and "of travelers" "vizier of the humble" who "comes at the voice of the poor", Amen rose to become one of the most important of Kemetian deities of all time. This seems to contrast to Ra, in that it was he whom whichever Ruler empowered by the establishment was considered to be the human manifestation of.
As stated earlier (in the first part), popular among the common folk, as protecting the poor in law courts and "protector of the humble" and "of travelers" "vizier of the humble" who "comes at the voice of the poor", Amen ("he of the hidden name") rose to become one of the most important of Kemetian deities of all time. This would seem to contrast to Ra, in that it was he (and later Heru) whom whichever Ruler empowered by the establishment was considered to be the human manifestation of.
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For some it is hard to see how a "higher power" or even highest of powers could be proven to govern all our lives, but for sure things are determined. Whether they're the kinds of things determined at the moment or universal laws that hold for all time: this determination exists. Some question whether this is random, free choice we all share provided we're lucky enough for the opportunity, chance, or the laws of nature of which we are all apart. This questioning is no different though than they who question, "who's to say whether our modern nations are all puppet shadow governments?" or proclaim what is true is that we all govern our selves ( Anarchy!). In any case *someone* governs even if one were to say that everything is left up to "chance" (potentiality) or that everything is really "random" or "out of control" which is still one of the most hypothetical concepts there is (in computing pseudo-random number generation is still used). Back to the higher power thing, it's obvious that of the above examples anarchy could not make sense: none of us have powers to do anything at will unless you consider our apparent "selves" to be nothing and our higher true identity and everything in our lives to be that Almighty higher power. All questions aside, that Re's / Amun's name has a hidden quality has to do in part with science (knowledge / power) being hidden from us and in part with the fact that although one can attempt to describe an identity in terms of others, any identity cannot truthfully actually be defined as another, but is its own: "I AM THAT I AM". Two great human endeavors that aim at actually getting to the answer rather than only raising questions are Math and Science. With sciences, people have come to understand that some of their conventions of the way things are can be fallacious, which is good. As modern Western Science goes the following is being ingested on a large scale: the fact that no matter how objective (devoid of perceptual uncertainty) we manage to be in methods the true subjective (observed and open to interpretation) nature scientific method remains. Interestingly, in modern times quantum physics insights seem to have suggested our world a more 'virtual' reality of an 'increased' one and also challenged the way causality is traditionally thought of (which is strictly in the past). In short Amun is the realness, which is sometimes hidden (Ra when he hides himself), and Amun-Re the power that we're given reveals true colors and also the reality revealed in the nature of the power including whose it is -- in the latter: what's in whose hands and outside of whose hands and therefore what could and what should not be of whom ever's concern. If our identity is our identity and if I am not my body nor anything else nor did I form myself nor control what I would learn or opportunities I would be given it could mean really perhaps I or what I might consider me could do nothing on my own.**
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Primordial deities -- there are always eight, sometimes including Amen & Amenet (male and female versions of Amen respectively, which were indistinguishable or one and the same with each other)
Before there is anything else, *ever*, at the basic level, there exist according to mention of many tales these "eternal" [ever-existing never created nor destroyed of course] "waters" "shrouded" in "darkness", the "primordial" properties which eight "primordial" neteru are ebmlematic of: Heh, one with female counterpart Hehut, Nun, his female counterpart Naunet, Kekui, Kekuit, Kerh aka Ni, and Kerhet / Ennit. They were described by i think E. A. W. Budge as "boundless 'primeval waters' containing within them the germs for all creation". Each male is one with each female counterpart. The drift given is that the first three pairs, i.e., Nun, Heh, and Kekui are qualities, traits, or characteristics of the fourth -- Kerh and Kerhet whom are sometimes swapped out for the names Amun and Amunet or Ni and Ennit. There is an interpretation of them as representing the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Nen - who simply is - is moment, inert and settling, as are waters which flow to whatever given altitude depending on temperature -- water gives way. As well these harness all potent, able to create anything that is, was, and will be (and i see the parallel with all life on Earth depending on that H2O). And these elements underlie and preclude any and all existence. These seem reminiscent of the Tao concept though associated with an initial chaotic state of all reality.
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Ennead:
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The triple Sun deity Ra-Khepera-Tem
Khepera ("to become, or create") depicted as a black beetle or black beetle headed man) -- Developement; generation, engendering, what it do; Divine manifestation
Ra / Re (in any case likely pronounced "Ray" -- 'creative and operative power'; associations: the yellow / golden sun, temperature, light, what we have to go on)
Atum / Adum / Tem / Temu (is a blue man physically and figuratively, usually very aged). Is earliest Divine Man -- who marks the point where mankind went from being inert atoms to agent Adam. Temu, "closer of the jar", does end , but also begins the world. "The closer of the jar" seems opposite Ptah's title as "opener of the jar" written at the bottom of the compilation in my honorable mentions.
(Now, note, that Ra is written to have said he is he who is Atum later, Khepera earlier, and Ra at noon in the day, so keep in mind those are some of his forms. Khepera rolls the sun as dung beetles do their dung rolls which the dung beetles spectacularly spawn out of after implanting the dung roll with their own genetic material -- reminiscent of the acorn and husk or shell in Hegelianism.)
In the beginning, there was the one being that existed before anything else, this self-created being created all else and reportedly was the same as the 'boundless primeval waters' - and Khepera was his name (the black beetle headed guy, very first deity mentioned, at the top of this entire post). Sometimes the "name" of this deity is Amun (who can be depicted blue) which would simply mean he of the hidden name. Interestingly, alternatively, another deity we will cover later named Ausar aka Osiris was also written of as being the identity of this unnamed Neter and has a blue and a water element (riverine i think). Anyway as Khepera makes Shu and Tefnut, they as they come into their train cause his "eye" (presumably) the Sun which is emblematic of the neter Re to emerge (though at times Re just travels in the sun as a boat). It had previously been hidden and submerged beneath / within the primal waters. Another tale features blue deity Temu (aka Atum) instead of Khepera being initial, alone, lonely, and creating twin neteru Shu and his mate Tefnut, and yet another version has Khepera "born" just before immediately becoming Nefertem (Young Temu) and in at-least one tale he either immediately turns into baby Heru instead or somehow Heru becomes born instead. Any way back to just Khepera it is written of Khepera saying "i have made myself three that was one", and it is from tears from Khepera's eye that it was believed man originates from, though at other times it was tears from Ra (who could be identified with Khepera as well as with his eye. Atum (Temu) ("finisher; to complete") "closer of the jar" begins the world and ends it. Now, Nefertem (Young/Good Temu) is Temu as a young man associated with the dawn (sun rise) and is associated with white (purity), blue (omnipotence), and green (new growth). Temu is a blue deity associated with the dusk and is generally an old man. Temu was also believed to have been the first divine man. The composite entity Atum-Kheperer (Tem and Khepere) is also mentioned as having created Shu and Tefnut.
Shu and Tefnut
Shu, who wears the Ostrich feather Ma'at also dons, is supposed to have a calming influence and he is the one who lifts the humidity and raises the fog while Tefnut is associated with moisture and strong feelings. Shu raised us out of the initial "chaotic" state of existence associated with Nun the inert waters in the beginning: not only were we able to see because of the sun / Ra / Khepera's eye (comprehension) and its light that emerged after Shu made some room /space (a bubble) from the dark "waters", this provided earth to stand on, air to breathe, we now have an atmosphere, a firmament [heaven]. Probably through his association with clear air and wind, Shu was attached with the lofty nature of feathers, could personify light (emr) which issues forth, the heat of the mid day sun, the plain mid-summer sun, and was associated with dry-air climate because he raised the air / vapors, acting as a dehumidifier."Shu" had meanings of "dry" "parched" "withered" and "empty" but the Ostrich feather (like Ma'at's) he usually had above his head was of the same word shu that meant "feather". When not the glyph of a fly feather he had instead that of the back-half of a lion, and still held a 'Was' power scepter and an ankh the symbol of life. He comes out of a form of Temu in the form of his breathe in tales. One features a form of Temu becoming stuffy throat-ed after sneezing out Shu and, to clear his throat, coughing out phlegm which turns out to be Tefnut. There are other stories where Temu or Nefertem is lonely and creates them via "beating his meat", exhaling Shu out and skeeting Tefnut out. In another version his fist / shadow is another deity altogether, his wife, YusaAset. One time the twin deities wandered off into the waters and darkness and lonely Temu finds them somehow i think with some help. Shu reportedly has a pacifying influence, while Tefnut (who has an association with humidity) incites strong feelings. There is a tale where she gets upset at Shu, moves South of ancient Egypt and causes drought (which has ancient associations with guilt), and obliterates any being that approaches her there. Shu later feels sorry or misses her, and somehow Djehuti (or Auset with his help) in disguise gets her to return. "Tef" can mean to spit or be moist and she is associated with humidity, rain and moisture. Now, they are the parents of Geb and his mate Nut. In at least one telling Tefnut gives birth to them without male impetus. Since the earliest of times and beginning of creation these deities (Nut and Geb) were said to've been engaging in nonstop lovemaking during (and because of?) which the world was reportedly left in a state of "chaos" -- a situation reminiscent of Nen (aka Nun) the "inert" waters the beginning and end of the world / day / time. Shu raises his daughter Nut into the sky which creates space for light to exist (such as the sun) and for dry land. By the way, Geb is supposed to have existed from the beginnings of time, just submerged under those primordial waters. Anyway, Shu and Tefenut, a reliable source (individual) has told me, is where or when hierarchical reign first begins.
Geb
Nut
Geb is associated with agriculture and is green and brown, spotted like modern camouflage gear. Nut "night" is usually depicted as a golden star spangled dark blue sky. [Image - click here] Geb is reclining, leaning on one elbow with the other arm laxly gesting towards the sky from a knee. Before any of the celestial bodies were in existence, which is before Shu lifted Nut, these two were locked in a perpetual embrace of lovemaking. During the Night and during storms, Nut is allegedly come down on Geb, having swallowed the Sun which she'll give birth to in the morning. This couple is associated with the birth of celestial bodies (sun, moon, etc) they are also the beginning of biological organisms (living creatures). Nut's and Geb's being responsible for the basically the birth of the structured cosmos is what makes her "mother of the neteru". It is Nut that is said to keep the orbits in line and whom is described and depicted as protecting life on earth via encircling it and the structured cosmos from these chaotic waters of limbo outside of her, probably associated with Nun although Nun pervades and transcends all space. The Sun is said to travel up her legs on her back and over her. At night she is said to devour it which is also when it makes its perilous journey through the duat to be given birth to in the morning. Earthquakes are caused by "the great cackler's" [Geb's] laughter - his movements cause earthquakes and thunder also. Geb was associated in a text with Temu (different spelling of Atum), making him "father of his own father" but he is not the only neter of such a title nor the only one associated with an "ancestor" in a like manner. Geb is seen as the "Erpait" or tribal chief of the gods and Nut ("sky")has the title "mother of the gods". It was the heir-ship of Geb that kings of Kemet boasted they had received when they sat upon their thrones. His throne represented the sovereignty of the earth and heavens. Nut was portrayed as the sky in some combination of blue, gold and white in two colors and Geb the earth in brown with green patches, but Geb did not have strictly "Earth" as in planet earth associations. Nor as "solids" as in that physics physical state of matter though he was associated with them. "he is sometimes called the lord of the watery abyss, and the dweller in the watery mass of the sky, and the lord of the Underworld. He is also described as one of the porters of heaven's gate, who draws back the bolts, and opens the door in order that the light of Ra may stream upon the world, and when he set himself in motion his movements produced thunder in heaven and quaking upon earth." - E.A. Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians Vol. 2 paperback, page 98. Because Geb is an agricultural deity, the above for me coincides with how before creation Geb was said to have been lying dormant under "inert waters" and Nun (deification of the watery abyss) had & has the germs necessary for any creation just lying dormant. Nut is often depicted as being over him sometimes with his dong still erect. In depictions of the start of the world Geb lies on the ground throwing "his hand to heaven and his hand towards the earth" with Shu standing and lifting up Nut in front of him. Geb is connected with the Phoenix Egg, and even for the Heliopolitans as they declared "represented the very ground upon which their city stood, meaning that Heliopolis was the birthplace of the company of the gods". This is an apparent allusion to Ptah, deification of the primordial mound or appearance of dry land, who was said to be an aspect of Geb -- although Ptah was also eventually seen as the creator of even Khepera / Ra / Atum, usurping some of Ra's creations as his own (like light for instance) but this poses no contradiction since Geb was thought to have always been there, just in a submerged state. When he moves, it produces thunder in heaven and when he laughs, earthquakes on earth. In one myth Ra dis-allows them to have babies during any day of the year but Djehuti (the deification of mind) creates five extra days and during each she gave birth (we cover their children in the section under this one). Interestingly, the word ["nut"] was also the determinative for town / city / nation. As was Hathor, Nut was depicted as a cow which were sacred in ancient society and were valuable as they made life easier. Interestingly, there are portraits done where again Nut's body surrounds Geb's but his body is folding into its self, I think boner and sprawled legs aimed for his face and all. He got the appellation "lame one", although Geb is sometimes depicted with dong erect and aimed toward Nut. Another interesting symbolism is the regeneration of the sun each night in the underworld, and the battle of Apep with Ra before sunrise.
Ausar
Heru
Set
Auset
Nebhet
Ausar is said to, at night, climb on top of Nut using a ladder. A deceased King, he resides at the end of the Dw4t / Tuat, which is this sort of "underworld" though i'd call it an afterworld as it lies between this world and the next and as Re in the form of the sun comes through there each night as a result of being swallowed by Nut ("Sky"). Back to Ausar: it was he who was said to have taught men husbandry, civilization mathematics, and how to grow things. In addition to "Lord of Love", and "Lord of Silence", among many other like titles an interesting one is "Lord of Terror". Though this would apparently contrast with his otherwise seemingly peaceful and good nature, there is even mention of him as administering punishment in the Dwat, or presiding over such domains where these tortured souls reside (for / to the wretched and wicked). He is another "people's deity" (contrasted with Ra a more Royal / state endorsed deity). The recently deceased go through a perilous trial or journey at the end of which is either Ausar or their guide Yinepu (Anubis) who as Khenti-Amenti ("Foremost of the Westerners", "Chief of the Hidden") grants them passage into this field of reids, a paradise of sorts, provided there hearts measure up when weighted against the feather of Ma'at. If too light or too heavy and not just the right weight they are immediately devoured by Sobek, incinerated or something of that nature. The same favor was sought by folks as was given by the neteru / Nut to her son Ausar who in the end makes it to heaven and rules in the afterlife - who prior to the New Kingdom would only have been of royal or noble lineage - as he (Ausar) and Auset's son Heru-Sa-Auset ("Heru son of Auset") rules on earth in the realm of the living. The hope was to not be "swallowed" [meet your doom] in by Geb who would give you food and drink for your transition into the next world and that Nut who gives you the same would admit you. Intriguingly, Ausar is not only a 'first' neter like Temu (Atum) (divine man in human form) living as an Earthly man, he is also associated with the dawn of creation: some of the stories of "the primordial waters" [mentioned earlier] proclaim the "name" or identity of the One deity was Ausar instead of Khepera and interestingly Ausar can be a water deity (riverine connect i think). In a story which i will cover more fully further down, Set tricks his brother by holding a banquet during Ausar's birthday during which a contest is held. In this contest, whoever has measurements that match this very extravagant coffin decked with gold and which he and his comrades had measured to fit Ausar gets to keep it. The King, Ausar, participates and is tossed into the river. Set also figures a constant rival to Heru. In one story, he battles with Heru the elder and his balls take a L but he thrashes an eye explaining why Set is said to be infertile and Heru Wer's (Heru the Elder's) eyes are the Sun and Moon. Heru the Elder is identified with Shu in cases. Seth races Auset's son, Heru Sa Auset aka Heru the younger in a contest in which they are supposed to use stone boats: Heru uses a wooden boat painted as stone however and Set's boat sinks. Set also attempts to sexually pleasure himself with Auset who transforms into a dog with a knife at her tail and eludes him. He then comes on the ground and she gets at him. He also tried to do it with her son Heru sa Auset in another well known myth in which the gods say they one has to dominate the other sexually. Set ends up being tricked when Heru comes on some lettuce in which is Set's favorite food and leaves it out. The gods ask their respective semen to come forth and Set's answers from the river but Heru's is inside Set and Heru wins. Ausar post mortem is the father of Heru the younger and somehow comes back to raise and train him. It was written that in the sky there was this iron plane that hovered at a height nearer to but out of reach even of one from the tallest mountains. Ausar is said to have been helped to get up there by Ra, and in seemingly the same scenario but possibly another he was boosted up there by Heru and Set the sworn rivals and brothers to Ausar who up lift him as the ladder and help hold the ladder in place for his ascension. A connection between Ra-Temu and Heru had long been established in Re-Herukhuti and Temu-Herukhuti ("Re who is Heru of the two Horizons" or "Tem who is Heru of the two Horizons"). However, Heru is also connected to his brother Set in "He who is Set when he sits down and Heru when he stands up". They were thought to be opposites: "A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of complements. If you want something look for the complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus redeems Set" -- from: Ihsa Schwaller de Lubicz - Her-Bak: Egyptian Initiate. Set ("pillar of stability, great be-dazzler") was also connected to Ra, as the only other deity of appellation "strongest of the Divine Company", albeit self-perscribed. He was also one to boast to Re that Re needed him, he being the only deity "who dare" fend off Ra's enemy Apep the giant serpent deity made up of Re's dissidents / enemies, for which he got kicked out. Others did have roles in slaying Apep. Ausar, wife Auset, and bro Heru all get the appellation "Kem Wer" attached to the end's of their names, Kem meaning "black" and / and having a secondary sense of "complete" / "ultimately" (just as white in many cultures connotes purity) and Wer meaning great, ancient or both. Where as Heru was attached to 'kem' so was 'deshre' or red to Set -- originally a deity of Southern Kemetian provenance and whom Nehesi (Kemet's neighbors past its Southern borders in general -- who were not monolithic as they worshipped other deities like Amen and Heru) also worshiped. Set became increasingly attached with the malice, evil, other unwanted traits, and red (deshretu - reds) with the Aamu (Asiatics, collective Easterners) when the deity was adopted up by Hyksos (Aamu) that may have had Nehesu help (and Nehesu were interestingly painted with red hair) in their very bloody invasion. So became Set the original demon slayer became the 'red devil / demon'. Set was attached to the barren borders of Km.t [Nw.t]. Keep in mind both red and the desert had positive protective aspects, but both also symbolized consumption, chaos and destruction. I've seen many web pages purport that Set had red hair. An association with red is very understandable in the sense of his association with land bereft of fertility and the desert which has an endless belly for lost things, and him having been stricken in his junk and possibly of his potency if he'd had any. In any case, Set and Heru would aquire a very adversarial relationship where Set gets set straight in his "propper" place, which is under Ausar, by a young Heru (the distant One, one who is above, over; reminiscent to me of "the set apart One" from the Tanakh), Ausar's son. There is mention of a Kingdom of Ausar and a Kingdom of Set, the latter supposedly of the "Northern Sky" having something to do with a bear constellaton. There is also mentioned a Kingdom of Heru, but i'm not sure which if any Heru this is associated with (My guess would be perhaps the Elder or Isis-child). These four (or five) neteru seem to have important implications for civilization and society, and some events involving them seem to have mirrored actual historical events in ancient Egypt.
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Ausar "the strength of Ra" in his name "Ausar" (apparently there wer other names -- deities can have many names) and is the only netjer (deity -- though really I wonder if the word "ntr aka netjer" meant something like reality) referred to as "Netjer" i.e. as God (yes like in the way we do in English with a capital G) and he even replaces Khepera / Tem in the creation-of-everything stories sometimes but this may have been more of an attempt to describe "Netjer" as ultimately being just or righteous or something or possibly of saying righteousness comes from "Netjer". The Kemetians knew of a one, true, and only mysterious Netjer which none of these deities written about here, i.e. the netjer, were exactly -- although they were greater than minor [what I will call] "gods" or "spirits" or "angels". I think what they were writing about in documenting the netjer were something like truths or realities based on axioms or were perhaps the axioms themselves.
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Wesir aka Ausar aka Osiris was said to have been Kemet's first King who taught them how civilization: husbandry, how to grow things, mathmatics, and I'm sure other things. He also teaches his son HerusaAuset armed combat. There are depictions of him with the Was power-scepter at least as Ausar-UnNefer (un = maker of that which is; un = who [himself] is | nefer = good; beautiful; young). He appears to have been very popular with the common folk just as Amen was and as was with the elite Ra popular. He had an association with light. In his absence his wife Auset aka Ysis (Isis) ruled the Kingdom. She is often associated with light and was highly skilled in magic spells and crafty. It was she who learned Re's hidden name allowing his healing from a gruesomely poisonous snake bite and allowing the empowerment of her son HorussaAuset. She also re-animated a dead Ausar's body long enough to conceive her son with. In some versions, as his was gone, she used a golden phallus (donga) of Ra's or fashioned from Ra in some way. Her sister NebetHet ("lady of the courtyard"), Set's wife, had helped. Her and her sister made an awesome pair, it is said when they were together any demon in the underworld would be in complete horror. Auset name renders to "lady of the throne", while Ausar to "he of the throne". Auset really .. showed mankind the way. Check out this Auset (Ysis) Aretology:
I am Isis, the mistress of every land, and I was taught by Hermes and with Hermes I devised letters, both the sacred (hieroglyphs) and the demotic, that all things might not be written with the same (letters).
I gave and ordained laws for men, which no one is able to change.
I am eldest daughter of Kronos.
I am wife and sister of King Osiris.
I am she who findeth fruit for men.
I am mother of King Horus.
I am she that riseth in the Dog Star.
I am she that is called goddess by women.
For me was the city of Bubastis built.
I divided the earth from the heaven.
I showed the paths of the stars.
I ordered the course of the sun and the moon.
I devised business in the sea.
I made strong the right.
I brought together woman and man.
I appointed to women to bring their infants to birth in the tenth month.
I ordained that parents should be loved by children.
I laid punishment on those disposed without natural affection toward their parents.
I made with my brother Osiris an end to the eating of men.
I revealed mysteries unto men.
I taught (men) to honor images of the gods.
I consecrated the precincts of the gods.
I broke down the governments of tyrants.
I made an end to murders.
I compelled women to be loved by men.
I made the right to be stronger than gold and silver.
I ordained that the true should be thought good.
I devised marriage contracts.
I assigned to Greeks and barbarians their languages.
I made the beautiful and the shameful to be distinguished by nature.
I ordained that nothing should be more feared than an oath.
I have delivered the plotter of evil against other men into the hands of the one he plotted against.
I established penalties for those who practice injustice.
I decreed mercy to suppliants.
I protect (or: honor) righteous guards.
With me the right prevails.
I am the Queen of rivers and winds and sea.
No one is held in honor without my knowing it.
I am the Queen of war.
I am the Queen of the thunderbolt.
I stir up the sea and I calm it.
I am in the rays of the sun.
I inspect the courses of the sun.
Whatever I please, this too shall come to an end.
With me everything is reasonable.
I set free those in bonds.
I am the Queen of seamanship.
I make the navigable unnavigable when it pleases me.
I created walls of cities.
I am called the Lawgiver (Thesmophoros).
I brought up islands out of the depths into the light.
I am Lord of rainstorms.
I overcome Fate.
Fate hearkens to me.
Hail, O Egypt, that nourished me!
I gave and ordained laws for men, which no one is able to change.
I am eldest daughter of Kronos.
I am wife and sister of King Osiris.
I am she who findeth fruit for men.
I am mother of King Horus.
I am she that riseth in the Dog Star.
I am she that is called goddess by women.
For me was the city of Bubastis built.
I divided the earth from the heaven.
I showed the paths of the stars.
I ordered the course of the sun and the moon.
I devised business in the sea.
I made strong the right.
I brought together woman and man.
I appointed to women to bring their infants to birth in the tenth month.
I ordained that parents should be loved by children.
I laid punishment on those disposed without natural affection toward their parents.
I made with my brother Osiris an end to the eating of men.
I revealed mysteries unto men.
I taught (men) to honor images of the gods.
I consecrated the precincts of the gods.
I broke down the governments of tyrants.
I made an end to murders.
I compelled women to be loved by men.
I made the right to be stronger than gold and silver.
I ordained that the true should be thought good.
I devised marriage contracts.
I assigned to Greeks and barbarians their languages.
I made the beautiful and the shameful to be distinguished by nature.
I ordained that nothing should be more feared than an oath.
I have delivered the plotter of evil against other men into the hands of the one he plotted against.
I established penalties for those who practice injustice.
I decreed mercy to suppliants.
I protect (or: honor) righteous guards.
With me the right prevails.
I am the Queen of rivers and winds and sea.
No one is held in honor without my knowing it.
I am the Queen of war.
I am the Queen of the thunderbolt.
I stir up the sea and I calm it.
I am in the rays of the sun.
I inspect the courses of the sun.
Whatever I please, this too shall come to an end.
With me everything is reasonable.
I set free those in bonds.
I am the Queen of seamanship.
I make the navigable unnavigable when it pleases me.
I created walls of cities.
I am called the Lawgiver (Thesmophoros).
I brought up islands out of the depths into the light.
I am Lord of rainstorms.
I overcome Fate.
Fate hearkens to me.
Hail, O Egypt, that nourished me!
- trans. Frederick C. Grant
Interesting to say the least about Auset.
Set, "pillar of stability", or perhaps "great bedazzler", was depicted holding the Was power-scepter and was worshipped in Nubt, "golden city". Over time he was associated with dust / sandstorms confusion and darkness, although there was this Oasis attributed to him. He is the one who boasted he killed Apep, who was known as "enemy of Ra", each day which "no other god dare do" but he was also the murderer of Ausar. He held a banquette upon Ausar's return, Ausar having taken a trip to teach the rest of the world civilized advanced behavior. He returned to a birthday party held by Set and his band of 72. I'm not sure why Ausar needed a golden coffin, or accepted the competition. The contest was whoever fit in won and the coffin was measured prior to the contest by Set to his brother's (Ausar's) measurements. Ausar comes back somehow in the end, and trains his son Heru sa Auset (Horus, son of Isis) in combat and of all the different Heru forms if any, it is Isis's son who bests Set hands down. In some versions Nut and Geb have five children: Ausar on the first extra of the 365 days, an unlucky day, Heru-Wer (Heru the Great or the Elder) on the second which could be a lucky or unlucky day, Set on the third which is unlucky, Auset on the fourth which is lucky, and Nebet-Het on the fifth which I think is unlucky. Heru Wer a.k.a. Heru Kem Wer (Wer meaning Elder and or Great) was like all Herus Set's opposite and battled Set but it was said that he and Set both raised Ausar to higher heights, raising him on his ladder to the iron plane of heaven. Heru Wer is the deification of love-and-foresight and Kem ("black, complete") in his title Kem Wer probably connotes the "complete" "ultimate" and "over" sense to convey a sense of him being "good" or "ok" in the sense that he sees and has a plan. Ausar and Auset also got the title and this is where the black Madonnas come from. Now, these deities were depicted in other colors, and Set was described as a kem pig, but in main Set was associated with the well known Egyptian color deshret (red) and they three (Ausar, Auset and Heru) kem wer. Set was not always demonized in Kemetian literature but became so after his adoption by the scourge Hyksos invaders who were bloodily expelled. Set tries and fails to copulate with Auset and for particular reasons tries to deceive his nephew (Auset's son), sexually arouse himself, and sexually assault him as is typed below. He was associated with the color red and with desert terrain but this Western Oasis was also ascribed to him. In lieu of his association with desert storms, appeal to gay come on lines, and some versions of the mythology having him bereft of children he would seem to be associated with sexual problems and it is interesting given his association with storms that Egyptian researchers have found the static interference to a man's electricity caused by contact with polyester around the genital area helps deter or repress woodies (erections).
Heru -- mainly Heru Sa Auset
Yinepu (son of either Ausar or Set and Nebthet)-- Justice
Heru Sa Auset (son of Auset) is identified with both Herukhuti (Heru of the two Horizons) and Heru Kem Wer. Eventually he is realized as being a younger form of Ausar, and so grows to become not only his father but the father of his father. The story of Set and Heru Sa Auset was that Set murdered his own brother, Ausar by tricking him into laying in this coffin, as Set couldn't come against Ausar in a straight forward manner, and chucking it in the river or sea. In detail, once Ausar had established his Kingdom in Kemet which i think was said to be the first of men and Auset took his place as he set out to civilize other areas of the world. He upon his return found his brother Set waiting for him. Set and a horde of seventy two marauders had this banquet or something for Ausar maybe during his birthday and held this contest where whomever fit into this luxurious coffin made of gold would win it. It was measured to Ausar's measurements and after the contest it's chucked into the river with him in it. Auset sets out to find him and found him lodged in a tree at Byblos. During her time there she disguises herself as a maid I think, taking care of this [royal?] couple's son. With what happens next, i don't remember if it was at the base of the tree or if the tree was connected with the palace and it was carved into the tree there, or if it was just fire wood from the tree but at Night she would place their son into a furnace of some sort to eventually transform him into a divinity. However the parents saw this one night and the mother yelled out stripping the child of ever becoming a neter. She, returning to Kemet, hides the coffin somewhere so that she can revive Ausar when out hunting one night by moonlight Set finds it, dices Ausar into like 14 pieces, and scatters them. Auset finds all the pieces, leave for the phallus in at least one telling. Her sis Nebhet helps her resurrect their brother and her conceive Heru; in the one telling they fashion a phallus out of gold. In a story, Ausar, still having been deceased comes back by some means when Heru is a young man and encourages him in the way of arms / combat. This may have been possible for him due to his dual status as neter and flesh and blood dude. Heru ("distant one; who is above, over"), although a deity of the highest heights, is Ra's heir to the throne on Earth (as is Ausar in the after life). Heru says to his father Ausar that he is active in heaven but also upon earth.
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There were "many" Horus's or at least identities, type and / or descriptions of him, but general Horus, was there such a thing, was the son of Ra and Hetheret (Hathor) properly. Or he was paired to Hathor (who could also be Ra's daughter, consort, or mother). Heru could be husband to Beset and?/or? Bet / Bat too. Heru son of Aset a.k.a. Heru Sa Aset is written of as being seen as growing into Ausar and having Heru son of Aset by Aset. Heru sa Auset is said to also be Heru Wer, Herukhuti (Heru of the two horizens who is also Re), and a host of other Herus, probably all Heru forms. In some tales Heru has four children, I think by Best or Bat. Horus and Seth contested and battled, vying for the throne of Kemet which was formerly Ausar's. They (the Heru probably being Heru Wer / Ur aka Heru the Great / or perhaps 'Elder') were said to battle on indefinitely with victory neither going to one nor to the other. Heru the Great (or Elder) in a violent clash gets an eye gouged out while Set looses his junk. Heru son of Auset participates in a contest set up to determine who should win the crown. For whatever reason they are told to race in boats made of stone (which would sink), so Horus paints the wooden boat he makes stone and wins. In another story which reveals the true nature of Set and Heru Set invites Heru to a feast, and when Heru sleeps he tries to dominate Heru. Heru catches his semenin his hands. In the end Set had eaten a lettuce (an aphrodisiac and his favorite food) sandwhich with Heru's skeet in it and when the gods call forth Set's semen it answers from the river but Heru's called outsemen answers from inside Set. Although Re is said to have helped Heru boost up Ausar to this plane of heaven in hymns Set and Heru (the elder) are they who boost him up. There is even mention of he who is Set when he sits and when he stands is Heru. "A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of complementaries. If you want something look for the complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus redeems Set." In one myth Heru Sa Aset has bested Set, has him captured and bound, and is ready to kill him but Aset frees Set enraging Heru who tore from her head the royal diadem but Thoth gave her a helmet in the shape of a cow's head (cow's were associated with Hathor and Nut). The story of Set and Heru sa Auset might mirror actual historical events related to the Hyksos invaders who adopted him (Set) as their god and who were ousted by a native prince. Heru is a key figure in Kemetian cosmology.
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Honorable mentions:
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Ptah - (associated with carpentry and with the primordial mound, he is "the opener") Foundation. Interestingly he was also titled the hidden in at least one place but not anywhere Amun was worshipped.
Sekhme - Presence; Arrival (divine)
Khnum - Design; build, model, make, mold, form -- like Ptah, i believe he, following Djehuti's instruction created Temu / Atum.
Djehuti - (Ra's heart and tongue, Ptah's voice) Mind / Consciousnes. His animals were the Baboon and Ibis, the latter a pelican like bird used to fight snakes. According to one story he springs from Set's head.
Seshe - Data
Ma'at - means something like "Truth and Order" - Wisdom (the Feather of Ma'at is featured in the Hall of Two Truths in the afterlife)
HetHeret (Hathor) -- ("House of Heru", "eye of Ra") Purpose, Divine Plan, Appreciation, Kemetian Holy Spirit (also the Holy Spirit in Hebrew is Ruach Adonia which is feminine)
Sobek -- destruction