Maiden, Family, Generosity, Happiness
Goddess Isis
For she is from all time, creator, magic, healer, mother, teacher
Painting created by Lisa Hunt
Unlike the other Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis spent time among her people, teaching women how to grind corn and make bread, spin flax and weave cloth, and how to tame men enough to live with them (an art form on which many of us would welcome a refresher course!)
Isis taught her people the skills of reading and agriculture and was worshipped as the goddess of medicine and wisdom.
More than any other of the ancient Egyptian goddesses, Isis embodied the characteristics of all the lesser goddesses that preceded her. Isis became the model on which future generations of female deities in other cultures were to be based.
As the personification of the "complete female", Isis was called "The One Who Is All", Isis Panthea ("Isis the All Goddess"), and the "Lady of Ten Thousand Names".
The goddess Isis, a moon goddess, gave birth to Horus, the god of the sun. Together, Isis and Horus created and sustained all life and were the saviors of their people.
Isis became the most powerful of the gods and goddesses in the ancient world. Ra, the God of the Sun, originally had the greatest power. But Ra was uncaring, and the people of the world suffered greatly during his reign.
The goddess Isis tricked him by mixing some of his saliva with mud to create a poisonous snake that bit him, causing him great suffering which she then offered to cure. He eventually agreed.
Isis informed Ra that, for the cure to work, she would have to speak his secret name (which was the source of his power over life and death). Reluctantly, he whispered it to her.
When Isis uttered his secret name while performing her magic, Ra was healed. But the goddess Isis then possessed his powers of life and death, and quickly became the most powerful of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, using her great powers to the benefit of the people.
Isis was called the Mother of Life, but she was also known as the Crone of Death. Her immense powers earned her the titles of "The Giver of Life" and "Goddess of Magic". Her best known story illustrates why she is simultaneously known as a creation goddess and a goddess of destruction.
Isis was the Goddess of the Earth in ancient Egypt and loved her brother Osiris. When they married, Osiris became the first King of Earth. Their brother Set, immensely jealous of their powers, murdered Osiris so he could usurp the throne.
Set did this by tricking Osiris into stepping into a beautiful box made of cedar, ebony and ivory that he had ordered built to fit only Osiris. Set then sealed it up to become a coffin and threw it into the river. The river carried the box out to sea; it washed up in another country, resting in the upper boughs of a tamarisk tree when the waters receded.
As time passed, the branches covered the box, encapsulating the god in his coffin in the trunk of the tree.
In a state of inconsolable grief, Isis tore her robes to shreds and cut off her beautiful black hair. When she finally regained her emotional balance, Isis set out to search for the body of her beloved Osiris so that she might bury him properly.
The search took Isis to Phoenicia where she met Queen Astarte. Astarte didn't recognize the goddess and hired her as a nursemaid to the infant prince.
Fond of the young boy, Isis decided to bestow immortality on him. As she was holding the royal infant over the fire as part of the ritual, the Queen entered the room. Seeing her son smoldering in the middle of the fire, Astarte instinctively (but naively) grabbed the child out of the flames, undoing the magic of Isis that would have made her son a god.
When the Queen demanded an explanation, Isis revealed her identity and told Astarte of her quest to recover her husband's body. As she listened to the story, Astarte realized that the body was hidden in the fragrant tree in the center of the palace and told Isis where to find it.
Sheltering his broken body in her arms, the goddess Isis carried the body of Osiris back to Egypt for proper burial. There she hid it in the swamps on the delta of the Nile River.
Unfortunately, Set came across the box one night when he was out hunting. Infuriated by this turn of events and determined not to be outdone, he murdered Osiris once again . . . this time hacking his body into 14 pieces and throwing them in different directions knowing that they would be eaten by the crocodiles.
The goddess Isis searched and searched, accompanied by seven scorpions who assisted and protected her. Each time she found new pieces she rejoined them to re-form his body.
But Isis could only recover thirteen of the pieces. The fourteenth, his penis, had been swallowed by a crab, so she fashioned one from gold and wax. Then inventing the rites of embalming, and speaking some words of magic, Isis brought her husband back to life.
Magically, Isis then conceived a child with Osiris, and gave birth to Horus, who later became the Sun God. Assured that having the infant would now relieve Isis' grief, Osiris was free to descend to become the King of the Underworld, ruling over the dead and the sleeping.
His spirit, however, frequently returned to be with Isis and the young Horus who both remained under his watchful and loving eye.
Heru or Horus (Dr. Muata Achby, Anunian Theology)
(DigitalPainting by Jordan Terraemotus Tempestas)
The Divine name, Heru, is related to the word for face, Her or Hera. The relation to facei mplies the idea that what is above (the sky, the heavens) is the mask of the Supreme Divinity. God cannot be seen but his mask, the physical universe, can be seen.
The god Horus has several important aspects in AE mystical philosophy. In the Anunian Creation myth of th Pauti Heru is incorporated as Heru-ur or Horus the aged. In the Ausarian Resurrection myth the idea of Heu (Supreme One above) was incorporated into the myth as Heru-sa-Ast-sa Asar (Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris). In dynastic times Heru was associated with Horus as in the Osirian Mystery where he was represented in the form of Heru-p-khart or Horus the child, who later becomes Min, the avenger of his father.
Since Osiris was dead, Horus, therefore, was born from the union of the spirit of Osiris and the life giving power of Isis who represents supreme love and devotion to the Divine. In this manner, Osiris was resurrected and given life through the son, Horus, and becomes the God who presides over the fate of souls. Horus represents the union of spirit and matter, and the renewed life of Osiris, his rebirth or resurrection. When Horus became a young man, Osiris, in spirit form, encouraged him to take up arms (vitality, wisdom, courage, strength of will) and establish truth, justice and righteousness in the world by challenging Set, its current ruler. During the battle, Set injured the Eye of Horus (intuitional vision) and rendered him impotent against Set's powers (egoism, anger and hatred). Horus left the scene of the battle in order to contemplate his situation. Through the magic of right reasoning from Djehuti and the power of sexual sublimation from HetHeru (Hathor), Horus regained strength (spiritual energy, faith and will) to face Set again. Horus was able to wrest (gain control over) the testicles of Set and thus take away his power of brute force and egoistic impulsiveness. In achieving this control over Set, Horus was able to control the lower self and thereby allow his mind to operate unobstructed by the restless, agitated nature which comes from immaturity, emotionality and unbridled desires. The episode of Horus when he is injured and his subsequent time spent in solitude and reflection represents the stage of asceticism which implies celibacy and control over the senses in order to curb the externalized nature of the mind. The "battle" between Horus and Set is said to have lasted for three days. This is the same amount of time which was assigned to the resurrection of Jesus and to other saviors such as the god Attis.
Hor or Horus (Heru) is the epitome of all human qualities when they are sublimated, or harmonized. he is the offspring of the Spirit (Asar) and intuitional wisdom (Aset). When a human being evolves in consciousness to their full potential they become masters of their own consciousness as well as of their own physical nature. they are the perfect blend of matter and spirit, desire, devotion, wisdom and power. they transcend time and space even as they continue to to live in time and space. Such a life is glorious and it is the goal of all human beings.
Heru is seen as the spirit. but was manifested through the first principle that emerged in the primeval ocean which was Atum.
The Concept of Heru denotes the spirit, which is on high and all-encompassing and existing in the male as well as the female form. These forms were later developed into the divinities Heru sa Asar Aset ( Horus son of Osiris and Isis) for the male aspect and Het Heru (House of Horus) for the female aspect.
Names of Horus:
Heru - The Supreme Light
Herakhti - Manifestation of the spirit in a dual form that is the physical realm and the spirit realm:
*Heru of the two horizones
*Heru of the two spirit lands
*Heru of the two abodes.
The Eye of Horus symbolizes divine consciousness as it is one and the same with Heru, Asar and Ra.
The Battle of Heru (Heru) and Set
The battle between Heru and Set took many twists, sometimes one seeming to get the upper hand and sometimes the other, yet neither one gaining a clear advantage in order to decisively win. At one point, Aset tried to help Heru by catching Set, but due to the pity and compassion she felt towards him, she set him free. In a passionate rage, Heru cut off her head and went off by himself in a frustrated state. Even Heru is susceptible to passion which leads to performing deeds that one later regrets. Set found Heru and gouged out Heru's eyes. During this time, Heru was overpowered by the evil of Set. He became blinded to truth (as signified by the loss of his eyes) and thus, was unable to do battle (act with Maat) with Set. His power of sight was later restored by Hethor and Djehuti. Hethor is the Goddess of passionate love, desire and fierce power, who also represents the left Eye of Ra. She is the fire spitting, destructive power of light, which dispels the darkness (blindness) of ignorance. Djehuti represents knowledge and right reasoning, the power of the mind to see spiritual truth. He brings subtlety of intellect to understand the deeper meaning of the teachings.
When the conflict resumed, the two contendants went before the court of the Psedjet divinities (company of the nine gods who ruled over creation, headed by Ra). Set, promising to end the fight and restore Heru to the throne, invited Heru to spend the night at his house, but Heru soon found out that Set had evil intentions when he tried to have intercourse with him. The uncontrolled Set also symbolizes unrestricted sexual activity. Therefore, all sexual desires should be pursued in accordance with moral and intellectual principles which dictate rules of propriety that lead to health, and personal, societal and spiritual order (Maat). Juxtaposed against this aspect of Set (uncontrolled sexual potency and desire) is Heru in the form of ithyphallic (erect phallus) Min, who represents not only the control of sexual desire, but its sublimation as well (see Min and Hethor). Min symbolizes the power which comes from the sublimation of the sexual energy.
Through more treachery and deceit, Set attempted to destroy Hem with the help of the Psedjet, by tricking them into believing that Hem was not worthy of the throne. Asar sent a letter pleading with the Psedjet to do what is correct. Hem, as the son of Asar, should be the rightful heir to the throne. All but two of them (the Psedjet) agreed because Hem, they said, was too young to mle. Asar then sent them a second letter (scroll of papyrus with a message) reminding them that even they cannot escape judgment for their deeds; they will be judged in the end when they have to finally go to the West (abode of the dead).
This signifies that even the gods and goddesses cannot escape judgment for their deeds and that their existence is finite. Since all that exists is only a manifestation of the absolute reality which goes beyond time and space, that which is in the realm of time and space (humans, spirits, gods, angels, netem) are all bound by its laws.
Following the receipt of Asar's scroll (letter), Hem was crowned King of Egypt. Set accepted the decision for Hem. All the gods and goddesses rejoiced. Thus ends the legend of Asar, Aset, and Hem.
Seth Egyptian God Deity of Chaos
(Digitalpainting by Herisheft http://herisheft.deviantart.com/)
Seth the Egyptian God is also known as the god of chaos. According to popular Egyptian mythology it would certainly seem that he created plenty of mayhem and chaos. Seth was believed to have been born as a second son to Geb and Nut, grandchildren of the ancient Egyptian god Ra
Seth, god of chaos is also often associated with thunder, the desert and infertility. Paintings and drawings of him usually depict him as having red hair. Tales differ in regards to whether Seth was evil from birth or became evil at some later point in history. It would appear that regardless of when it occurred, some of the ancient Egyptian people considered Seth the Egyptian god to be none other than evil incarnate.
Perhaps the most well renowned tale concerning Seth the Egyptian god and his evil deeds involves the murder of his brother,Osiris. The beginnings of this tale of treachery, deceit and murder vary, depending upon the folklore. Whatever the reason for the feud; there appears to be no doubt as to the outcome. After first drowning his brother in a coffin in the Nile River, Seth then hacked up Osiris' body and stashed the dismembered body parts all over the Egyptian desert. It appears unclear how she managed this, but Osiris' wife Isis managed to find most of her husband's body parts and bring him back to life long enough to conceive a son, Horus.
Later, Horus would seek to avenge the murderer of his father; Seth the Egyptian god. The two ancient Egyptian gods became embroiled in a battle resulting in injuries to both parties. Horus lost his left eye, however he managed to cut way Seth's testicles. The loss of his testicles is considered to be part of the reason why Seth is so often associated with infertility.
From this point, the final history of Seth the Egyptian god seems to have become a bit unclear. Some versions of Seth's story state that in a final act of vengeance, Horus is said to have exiled Seth to the desert for eternity. Other tales instead content that this decision was left up the ancient Egyptian gods and while there was some indecision among them; particularly in the case of Re who was Seth's grandfather, they finally chose to send Seth into exile.
Records also indicate, however; that according to popular Egyptian mythology Seth was known to protect Re's barge in the underworld, so perhaps he didn't spend all of eternity in the desert after all. In later Egyptian dynasties, some of the god chaos linked to Seth seems to have been forgotten and he gained some popularity. Surprisingly enough, some records even suggest that the number and variety of convoluted stories involving variances between the histories of Osiris, Seth and Horus may have been due to warring battles between cults seeking to establish their chosen deity as superior to others.
Also check these links for more information on the God Deity Seth:
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