Egyptian Godforms

(Revision as of 20:12, 2 Oct 2004)

Table of contents

1 The Ennead

2 The Ogdoad

3 Other Important Egyptian Godforms

1 Sources

The Ennead

The Ennead were the nine most important gods and goddesses worshipped in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis.

Ra (also Atum), his children
- Shu
- Tefnut, their children
  - Nut
  - Geb
Nebt-het (Gk: Nephthys)
Asar (Gk: Osiris)
Aset (Gk: Isis)
Set

The Ogdoad

Many ancient Egyptian cities revered a principal set of eight deities, usually arranged in four male/female pairs. For example: the Ogdoad of Hermopolis was as follows:

Nu | Naunet (primordial waters)
Amoun | Amaunet (potential for creation)
Kuk | Kauket (infinite darkness)
Huh | Hauhet (vast empty space)

Other Important Egyptian Godforms

Egyptian and Greek names:

Anpu (Gk: Anubis)
Antaios
Anuket
Apep (Gk: Apophis)
Apis
Astarte
Aten
Bast
Bes: An Egyptian godform usually depicted as a man of dwarf stature, facing forward (as opposed to the nearly universal canonical profile), wearing the mask and tail of a lion and carrying a large knife; also often holding a rattle. Bes is the Name associated most strongly with protection of the household and specifically its children and pregnant women; he was also seen as the patron of laughter, dancing, happiness and fertility. Bes's masked face with lolling tongue can be seen on amulets and pieces of furniture throughout Egyptian history.

Hapi
Het-heru (Gk: Hathor)
Heru (Gk: Horus)
Hoor-par-Kraat (Gk: Harpocrates)

Kephra (also Khepri, Khopri; Crowley Khephera): Khepra is the manifestation of the Sun in the form of a scarab beetle, who pushes the Sun across the heavens daily. The actual Egyptian scarab beetle lays an egg and rolls it into a ball of dung and mud to protect it until it hatches. The beetle was (and is) a common sight pushing its egg in the ball of mud and dung over the ground. It was from this natural fact that the Egyptians derived the idea of the sun rolled from horizon to horizon. Crowley incorporated Khephera into Liber Resh in the midnight adoration of the Sun.

Khonsu
Khnum
Maat
Mentu
Neith
Nut
Ptah
Sebek (Sobek; G/R Suchos) - "Watching over You" Son of Nit (and also, according to some myths, Set), Sebek is either depicted as a full crocodile, or, less often, as a crocodile-headed man. He is often given the epithets of Heru-sa-Aset as a Netjer of protection, healing and vengeance over the wrongdoer. In some mythologies Sebek is a powerful and awe-inspiring denizen of the underworld, and was invoked to do away with annoyances and negative situations, in the phrase "to Sebek with it(him)!," much as modern-day slang consigns bothersome things and persons "to Hell." Sebek/Sobek is associated with Key Number 32 in Liber 777.
Selket
Sekhmet: (Sekhem = strength) Along with Hathor, also called the Eye of Ra. Interestingly, she is associated both with causing and curing disease and is often portrayed as a fierce goddess of war and bloodshed. One of her myths involves her being charged with the duty of slaughtering the most evil of the newly created humans at the behest of Ra. She gets carried away with the slaying and carnage and nearly destroys the entire human race in her zeal. Her rampage is ended when the gods fill hundreds of huge vessels with wine and color them to look like blood, so that she drinks them all and finally falls into a slumber, thus saving the human race from extinction. (Suprisingly, I could find no references to Sekhmet's relevance to Thelema within Crowley's writings. As she is a goddess of war, this is somewhat striking in its absence and perhaps could be a fruitful avenue for future magickal developements.)
Serapis: a Late Period amalgam of Osiris and Zeus. Serapis embodied many of the qualities of the sky-father Zeus as well as the kingly aspects of Osiris. Ptolemaic Greeks were fond of merging Egyptian gods with their own Greek pantheon to create hybrid deities with the qualities of both, one result being the names by which we commonly refer to the more well known Egyptian gods (Osiris, Isis, Anubis, etc.)
Tawaret (Gk: Thoueris)
Tehuti (Gk: Thoth)
Tum

Sources

http://www.kemet.org/glossary/ Listing of Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) god-names from the website of The Kemetic Orthodox Faith, a neo-Egyptian religion featuring a very well researched listing of Egyptian god-names (netjeru).

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