Tefnut & Shu

   

   Who was Tefnut?

Ancient Egyptian personification of feminine energy, Tefnut was important goddess of rain, moisture, water (and from that aspect of fertility of land). She was depicted with head of lioness and holding ankh, sitting on a throne. Her name translated would mean “She of moisture”. In most wall art Tefnut appears with a sun disc and uraeus (sacred cobra) above her head. She was depicted also sometimes with a “was” scepter- symbol of authority and power over all earthly life. She was connected also with Moon energies and represented the night sky.

    Who was Shu?

God twin of Tefnut (Tefen), he was her brother and husband. The ancient cosmology linked the power of Shu with his father (Creator god Atum Re) and his right eye, symbol of Sun, while Tefnut represented his left eye –the Moon. In such way the Father and his children become part of God Trinity with many functions. Shu was god responsible for wind, air and weather. His name in ancient Egyptian meant “Feather” (shua) and also “light”, “Space”. In this way he was also personification of cosmic light and sun beams, that travel through the air.

Symbolically Tefnut (rain, water) is connected with Shu (the cosmic air, wind) in sacred Union. They represent the higher atmosphere that spread from the power of their father Atum Re.

Shu was identified with feather symbol; He was depicted with head of lion, ostrich feather above his head and holding ankh. 

Shu and his twin sister lioness –Tefnut became the first Egyptian gods of dead and underworld. They created the foundations of the home, where the dead souls will dwell (called later “Gate of the pillars of Shu”). The god of wind also had the role of punishing the wicked souls in Duat, he was participant in the sacred “Hall of two truths”, where the heart was judged on the Maat` s scales.

   Tefnut had important role to supply drinking water for the souls of deceased in Underworld. So she ruled also over the dead and afterlife. Other names she was famous were: “Lady of the Flame”, “Uraeus on the head of all Gods” – they give her strong qualities of protection. She takes part in the ceremony of justification of heart in the Duat and one of 42 judges for the soul. Her city of worship was on the Nile delta, it Egyptian name was Taremu, and Greek name – Leontopolis –city of Lion headed gods. Other famous solar and lion deities were: Bastet, Sekhmet.

Children of Shu and Tefnut were Nut (goddess of sky, stars and moon) and Geb (god of earth, land, soil).

Shu and Tefnut represented the feminine and masculine cosmic energies, united from power of Atum Re – Sun and Moon, left eye of Ra, the right eye of Ra, cosmic moisture (connected with primordial ocean) and cosmic wind, air (connected with primordial creation of air and light traveling through atmosphere). All the pantheon of first gods laid the foundations of and evolves in other gods and goddesses later.

These first primordial gods (Atum Re –Shu-Tefnut) exist in the magical creative power of Triangle – or transforming universal Fire. 

[ nina Lea-nura * ]

0519 -1- 

- image - goddess Tefnut on the left with sun disc and goddess Isis (right) 

Horus

One of the oldest known god in Egyptian history. He was worshiped more over 5000 years.

Who was Horus?

He was deity with head of falcon (or hawk), depicted with scepter and ankh in his hands, symbols of royalty and eternal life. He was Sun god (as Ra, many aspects of him are similar). He symbolized courage and victory. He is wearing two crowns –of Upper and Lower Egypt (red and white), that represents the unity between them.

Name:

Horus means “the one far Above” representing the highest position of Horus among other gods. Other names and titles of him are: Hunter`s god, God of Kingship, god of the Dawn, Keeper of secret Wisdom, Son of Truth, Horus the Avenger; He was also a patron saint of the existing pharaoh, who was referred as “Living Horus”.

Family:

In the early dynasties Egyptian accepted Horus as son of Ra (the Solar god), later they merged in one powerful god of Sun –Ra-Horakhte. He takes part in many creation myths. Later in time father of Horus became OSIRIS and his mother ISIS. His companions are: Serket and Hathor; his children: Imsety, Hapi, Duamutef, Qebehsenuef, Sekhemet.

Horus in mythology?

In form of falcon, Horus flew at the beginning of the times and created the world. His right Eye was the SUN, and his left eye –the MOON.

2. Over the time (around 2350 B.C.) Egyptians put Horus in another role –as son of Osiris and Isis (known as Harsiesis or Horus the Younger).

The famous legend says, the brother of Osiris –Seth, became very jealous of him and decided to destroy him. He made a trap for Osiris, cut his body into pieces and spread them all over the world. Wife and sister of Osiris –Isis with help of Anubis, gathered all the pieces and put them together, making the first embalming in Egyptian history. Then with magic they were able to revive Osiris for short period of time. During this time Isis became pregnant, later giving birth to Horus. As a child Horus was seen next to Isis on a lotus leaf.

3. In varieties of myths and stories Egyptians described the most important battles for them – between Horus and Seth (Good and Evil). They are depicted in many temples and reliefs.

In one story Seth fought with Horus, damaging his left eye (the eye of Moon) –which refers to the changing moon phases on the sky.

God Toth was able to restore and cure Horus eye, so it became one of the most powerful symbols and amulets for Egyptians knows as WEDJAT (Udjat) –symbol of the protection of the world from dark forces and chaos, always watching and observing eye.

* As a funerary amulet, Eye of Horus protected the pharaohs in afterlife. It was seen in the tomb of King Tut.

Horus was the great protector of the pharaohs in their earthly life. He was seen as a hawk resting on the shoulder of the pharaoh, spreading his wings.

Temples of Horus?

The most significant temple is Temple of Edfu (Behdet Edfu)– 60 km  from Aswan. It is well preserved temple showing the battles between Horus and Seth; the construction process of the temple continued 180 years.

Sons of Horus were the guardians of Canopic jars in the Underworld. (These jars contained the liver, lungs, stomach, intestines of the dead).

Passage describing Horus with his words in the Coffin Text (148 chapter):

I am Horus, the great Falcon upon the ramparts of the house of him of the hidden name. My flight has reached the horizon. I have passed by the gods of Nut. I have gone further than the gods of old. Even the most ancient bird

could not equal my very first flight. I have removed my place beyond the powers of Set, the foe of my father Osiris. No other god could do what I have done.

 I have brought the ways of eternity to the twilight of the morning. I am unique in my flight.

My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris

and I will put him beneath my feet in my name of 'Red Cloak'.

Esoteric signs of Horus:

Crystal: Quartzite, Golden Topaz

Color: golden, yellow

Number: 6

Scent: Frankincense 

Animal: falcon, hawk

flower: carnation 

Tree: acacia 

Herb: rosemary 

Food: sunflower seed 

Mantra of Horus: I`m the master of the Rising Sun, I`m defeating the darkness, I`m the symbol of Resurrection.  

Ra-Horakhte

Horus with the double crone of Upper and Lower Egypt

Wedjat -Eye of Horus as amulet

Ra (Re)

Pronounced Ra or Re, he is the Sun god of creation in Egypt. He is also a central god in Egyptian pantheon, influencing all other gods. 

Who is Ra? ~

As connected with the solar deity, he was connected with the sun and always you ll recognize him by the solar disk encircled by cobra above his head. He was connected with Atum –as Atum-Ra. He represented the Sunlight, creation and warmth of world.

Appearance of Ra? ~

He appeared in a human form with head of falcon in dark blue and crown of the Sun disk in red color. The disk is always encircled by Uraeus – the sacred cobra. He also wears collars, bracelets and short dress, in his right hand he carries ankh, and in left –scepter. Some other variations in appearance of Ra are with head of beetle and head of Ram (as god Amun-Ra). As a main god he had the privilege to be depicted as all kind of symbolic animals – bull, lion, ram, hawk, heron, serpent, cat and phoenix. But always the sun disk is his main attribute.

The myth behind? (Solar boat)

Ancient Egyptians myth is telling that Ra sails through the skies with his Solar boat (called “Baraque of millions of years”) with his companions gods, giving light to the world. In the morning his boat appeared from the East and it was called “Madjet” meaning “becoming strong”. In the morning manifestation of the boat, Ra appeared as a beetle, know as “Khepri, the scarab God”.  In the evening the boat reached to the west horizon, where it was called “Semektet” (or becoming weak”). The evening appearance of Ra was as Khnum –ram headed god.

At the end of the day Egyptians believed Ra “died”, swallowed by Goddess of the sky Nut, where he went to the Underworld. He left the moon on his place to spread the light on earth in the night. Ra was always reborn on the next day. In some legends he is fighting with the evil serpent Apep –symbol of the Chaos, and defeat it.

Family of Ra?

As a supreme god, Ra created himself from the Primal chaos (or the dark ocean of the beginning called NUN) (as Amun, Atum). His children were: SHU (God of dry air and sky), TEFNUT (goddess of the moisture and rain), Bastet and MAAT.

His companions were: Isis, Sekhmet, Hathor.

There are many creation myths with god Ra, one of them talks about Isis taking power from him with a smartness and using one snake. Another myth includes the Tree of Life.

The tree was situated in the Sun Temple of Ra in Heliopolis and it was sacred. The fruit from the tree was available only to pharaohs and priests –as representation of Gods power of earth, so only they could taste it, have eternal life and knowledge of the Divine Plan. On the Tree of life was seated the mythological bird BENNU, which represented the soul of Ra. This bird is phoenix, had red and golden feathers and symbolized resurrection and rising sun. Bennu always turn to ashes and was reborn again (similar to the Solar boat of Ra, that went to Underworld and then was reborn for new day).

Another important symbol is Benben stone. It had the pyramid shape (sacred shape of fire element) – and was place on obelisk inside the Ra Solar temple. The stone was a beacon (light) for the Bennu bird.

Temple of Ra?

There are many temples, dedicated to Ra. They don’t contain statues of god, but are made in a special way, showing the sun light in a special time of the year and day. This is the Heliopolis temple called “Bennu Phoenix”.

Ra and other gods ~

Ra was connected with many powerful deities like Atum (Atum-Ra), Amun (Amun-Ra), Horus (Ra-Horakhty –meaning Ra of the Horizon);

During the New Kingdom were build many Solar temples, dedicated to Ra.

Sacred Symbols of Ra~

The EYE of Ra is one of the most important symbols. It represents the sun disk (the right eye of Ra), with two Uraeus (coiled cobras) around it, next to the white and red crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. This eye was also a strong amulet against all evil.

The left eye was symbol of the moon.

The cobra on the sun disk is symbol of divine authority, royalty.

Esoteric signs of Ra ~

Crystals ~ Quartzite, Golden Topaz

Color ~ golden

Number ~ six (Hexagram)

Scent ~ Frankincense

Animal ~ Falcon

Flower ~ carnation

Tree ~ acacia

Herb ~ Rosemary

Food ~ sunflower seed

Amun Re

Meaning “The hidden one” “Mysterious of form” (in combination with Re –“hidden Sun light”)

There are more than 2000 known gods and goddesses worshiped in Ancient Egypt. One of the most important gods was Amon (Amun), who had the name Amun Re later in the history.

Who is Amon?

He is a creator god with the title “King of the gods”, his cult is dedicated to fertility and life. Moreover Amon was the supreme creator of the world and “father of the pharaoh”. Other spelling of his name are: Amun, Ammon, Amen, Hammon. He was the One god from whom everything and everyone came to life.

Appearance of Amon?

Images of Amon show him as a man with blue or black skin, His clothes are royal – double plumed headdress with red and green (or red and blue); He is always depicted with jewelry like collar, necklace, bracelets and armlets. He wears kilt or a tunic. In his right hand he is holding Ankh – symbol of eternal life – and in his left hand is a scepter; In some places we see him with a bull tail hanging from his clothes.

Symbolic animal?

Amun is often depicted not only with humans head, but with animal head –of a hawk – encircled by a sun disk and serpent on the top. Other ways to draw him are with head of Ram, Uraeus (cobra), frog. also Ram (sphinx with ram head); Goose, Lion. There are many variations of depicting him, exactly because of the various spheres of life and fertility, he was asked for help.

Temples of Amun?

The most significant and famous temples dedicated to Amon are: Temple in Deir el Medina (near to the Valley of the Kings, across Thebes). Luxor Temple (where ancient Egyptian worshiped “version” called Amenemope. The temple complex of Karnak, which is the largest temple of Amon (attractive with the alley of the criosphinx – sphinx with rams head)

Center of his worship?

Was the city and area of Thebes and Hermopolis.

Family ?

Amon was part of the so called “Thebean Triad: Amon, Mut, Khonsu”. They are mother, father and child.

His wife as Amun was know as Amunet (the mother-goddess) ; Later when Re was added to his name his wife became Mut (goddess of Thebes). His son is Khonsu – important moon energy and healing god.

Spiritual Correspondences of Amun?

With the Greek god Zeus, Roman god Jupiter.

He is the Supreme self created God, connected with the Sun god Ra.

The depicting of Amun in blue skin symbolizes his connection with the Primal force of Air and sky. As manifestation of worlds creation he was god of the Air (wind), sun and sky. Later in history, when his cult was revived again during 18. dynasty, he merged with the fertility god Min, and became Amun-Min.

Symbol of Amun was his crown from cylindrical down part and top of two double ostrich feathers. The ostrich was symbol of creation and light. The sphinx with the Ram head was symbol of fertility, that`s why Amun was “the lord of the two horns”. There were 900 statues of Ram headed sphinxes in Thebes.

The richest people in ancient Egypt (except the Pharaoh family) were the priests.

They owned sometimes 80 000 people working for them, and enormous cattle.

~ He was considered to be a father of Menthu –the god of war in Thebes.

~ Egyptians celebrated in his honor the festival Opet – where symbolically a great statue of Amun traveled from temple of Karnak to temple of Luxor, celebrating his marriage with Mut.

(At the Sun Temple archeologist discover ancient Egyptian astrological and zodiac system, showing all symbols and magical tools in dominion of 12 gods – referring to the 12 zodiac signs. In this system Amun rules in time (26 April -25 May)

Mystical symbols of Amun ~

 Crystal ~ Turquoise

 Color ~  Light blue

 Number ~ four

 Scent ~ carnation

 Animal ~ Ram

 Flower ~ blue cornflower

 Tree ~ oak

 Herb ~ sage

 Food ~ red plum