Ra The Sun God of Egypt

Who is Ra?

Ra (pronounced ray) represents sunlight, warmth and growth. It was only natural that the ancient Egyptians would believe him to be the creator of the world, as well as part of him being represented in every other god. The ancient Egyptians believed that every god should illustrate some aspect of him, while Ra himself should also represent every god.

Ra’s Appearance

Ra was usually depicted in human form. He had a falcon head which is crowned with a sun disc. This sun disc was encircled by a sacred cobra named Uraeus. Ra has also been depicted as a man with the head of a beetle and also a human man with the head of a ram. The ancients also depicted Ra in full species form such as a serpent, heron, bull, lion, cat, ram, hawk, beetle, phoenix and others. His main symbol, however, is the sun disk.

Celtic God Cernnunos

The God In The Wild Wood (3)

At the Sacred Centre, in the Grove of all Worlds, He sits with legs crossed beneath an ancient Oak. Entranced, connecting the three worlds Earth, Sea, and Sky, and the worlds behind the worlds, the god and the Great Tree are One, His immense limbs widespread, stretching into distant sky and starry space.
His massive trunk, spine of the Middleworld, is the heart of the Ancient Forest around which all Life, all worlds turn; His limitless root web growing deep into secret earth and Underworld; above him the great turning circles of Sun, Moon, and Stars. All around Him subtle movements of the leaves in melodious, singing air; everywhere the pulsing, gleaming Green awash in drifts of gold and shimmering mist; beneath Him soft moss creeping over the dark, deep, moist of spawning earth. At His feet is the great Cauldron from which the Five Rivers Flow.

Through the forest stillness they come, whispering wings and secret glide, rustling leaves, and silent step, the first Ancestors, the Oldest Animals, to gather around Him: Blackbird, Keeper of the Gate; Stag of Seven Tines, Master of Time; Ancient Owl, Crone of the Night; Eagle, Lord of the Air, Eye of the Sun; and Salmon, Oldest of the Old, Wisest of the Wise leaping from the juncture of the Five Springs. He welcomes them and blesses them, and they honour Him, Cernnunos of the nut brown skin and lustrous curling hair; the god whose eyes flash star-fire, whose flesh is a reservoir of ancient waters, His cells alive with Mystery, original primeval essence. Naked, phallus erect, He wears a crown of antlers limned in green fire and twined with ivy. In his right hand the Torq of gold, testament of his nobility and his sacred pledge; in his left hand the horned serpent symbol of his sexual power sacred to the Goddess. Cernnunos in His Ancient Forest, His Sacred Temple, His Holy Grove, Cernnunos and His children dream the Worlds.

The Origins of Cernnunos

Cernnunos, a nature and fertility god, has appeared in a multitude of forms and made himself known by many names to nearly every culture throughout time. He is perhaps best known to us now in his Celtic aspects of the untamed Horned God of the Animals and the leaf-covered Green Man, Guardian of the Green World, but He is much older. Cernnunos worked his magic when the first humans were becoming. Our prehistoric ancestors knew him as a shape-shifting, shamanic god of the Hunt. He is painted in caves and carved everywhere, on cliffs, stones, even in the Earth Herself. Humans sought to commune with Him and receive his power and that of his animal children by dressing themselves in skins and skulls, adorning themselves with feathers and bones, by dancing His dance. Yet He is older still. In the time of the dinosaurs, the great swamps and subtropical forests of cycads, seed ferns and conifers, and later in the time of the deciduous plants and flowers, when the pollinators came and the first tiny mammals were creeping up from beneath the ground, Cernnunos was the difference and diversity of life, the frenzy and ferment of evolution. But, He is much older still. He is oldest of the Ancient Ones, first born of the Goddess. At the time of First Earth, Cernnunos grew in the womb of the All Mother, Anu, waiting to be born, to come forth to initiate the everlasting, unbroken Circle of Life.

The Many Faces & Natures Of Cernnunos

Cernnunos, as The Horned God, Lord of the Animals is portrayed as human or half human with an antler crown. Though he wears a human face his energy and his concerns are non-human. He is protector of animals and it is Cernnunos who is the law-sayer of hunting and harvest. While He is recognized most often through his connection to animals and our own deeply buried, dimly recalled, instinctual animal natures, Cernnunos is also a tree, forest, and vegetation god in his foliate aspect of The Green Man, Guardian of the Green World. His branching antlers symbolize the spreading treetops of the forest as well as his animal nature. As Master of the Sacrificial Hunt, His is the life that is given in service of new life. His wisdom is that the old must pass away to make way for the new.

In his Underworld aspect Cernnunos is The Dark Man, the god who dwells in the House Beneath the Hill, the Underworld. He is the one who comforts and sings the souls of the dead to their rest in the Summerlands of the Otherworld. Cernnunos, as Master of the Wild Hunt, who pursues the souls of evil doers, is not associated with a biblical or even modern morality, but with the protection and continuance of the Land and Nature and the spirits that dwell therein.

Pan, lusty Satyr god of the Greeks is another aspect of the Horned God. ‘Pan is a proud celebration of the liberating power of male erotic energy in its purest and most beautiful form.’ (5) He is portrayed as playful and cunning, but He also has a darker, dangerous nature. The panic or terror often associated with Pan is not related to human violence, but to the Life and Death of the natural world. In this form he is called the “All Devourer.” However, Pan, as Protector of the Wilderness and as a god prone to fits of madness and violence, can induce panic or wild fear in those who threaten his domain.

Cernnunos appears again in Elizabethan England, and is mentioned by Shakespeare, as Herne the Hunter, the demon and guardian of Windsor Forest, the Royal Wood. In this aspect it is said that he appears as Guardian of the Realm during times of National emergency and crisis. In modern times he is often called the God of the Witches and embodies uncorrupted masculine energy. A masculine energy that is fully-developed and in balance with the natural world

Cernnunos & The Sacred Wheel Of The Year

We celebrate and honour Cernnunos as the Green Man in spring and summer, the light half of the year and as the Dark One or the Dark God in autumn and winter, the dark half of the year. He appears in spring as the young Son, child of the Goddess, embodiment of the budding, growing, greening world. In summer He is the Green Man, vibrant, pulsing with life essence, the consort of the Green Lady Goddess. It is in autumn, the dying time, that perhaps we see the Horned God most clearly. He is the sacrificed one, who, wounded unto death begins his journey to the Underworld, returning to the Earth from which he was born and where the seeds of light released from his decaying body will quicken Her womb with a new Sun once again.

The Path To Cernnunos

The path to Cernnunos is both through the natural world: seeking out the wild places and a deep understanding of the processes of growth, bounty, decay, rest, and rebirth, and through Otherworld journeys to the Middleworld forest of which he is guardian. One may experience this both actually and symbolically by following the path that disappears over the horizon into the distance and moves away from the ‘civilized’ world and into the heart of the Wild Wood. Often experienced as traveling away from the centre to the perimeter, this is in actuality a return to the Centre. When the seeker reaches the god’s forest the track ends, and her/his pathways are found by other means. After entering the Wildwood the seeker cannot be followed, nor can s/he follow another. Whatever pathways are discovered disappear in passing, and the Wood is trackless once again, for each one’s way is different. In the Forest of Cernnunos there is a stillness, an otherworldly feeling, as if one has passed out of time. Here the mind is not supreme. It is instinct, the innate wisdom of the body that guides us to Him.

The Way Of Cernnunos

The way of Cernnunos is the way of the shaman or any person who truly seeks Communion with the Land. Yet, one cannot speak of Cernnunos without speaking of Anu or Don, the All Mother who gave Him birth. The way of Cernnunos is through the One. Like Her, Cernnunos is a Being or Power that existed before time and before the gods, the Shining Ones. Together they are First Mother and First Father, All Mother and All Father who brought the gods into being. Limitless and everlasting His energy permeates Her matter through every aspect of life to the sub-atomic. As Lord of the Dance He is present in the billions and billions of infinitely small movements that make up the seemingly chaotic Dance of Life, the Dance of Making and Unmaking. He is truly the Life that never, never dies, for even as nothingness he is self-originating. He is triple as She is triple. He is Cernnunos: Father, Son, and Wild Spirit.

Cernnunos Chant

Cern-nu-noh-oh-oh-oh-os
Stag Horned Hunter, Hunted One
Join Us Now
Cer-nu-noh-oh-oh-oh-os
Greenwood Lord of Life and Death
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Cern-nu-noh-oh-oh-oh-os
Herne and Pan and Every Man
Join Us Now (6)

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Greek God – Plutus

Plutus, which is the Latin spelling of Ploutos, is the god of wealth. He was supposedly born on the Greek island of Crete and is the son of a local hero named Iasion and the goddess DEMETER, who is the goddess of harvest and fertility. He is often depicted as a boy carrying a horn-shaped container of wheat called a cornucopia.

Here are some interesting facts about Plutus:

Plutus Was Originally the God of Agricultural Wealth

The reason Plutus carries wheat was because he was originally meant to only represent wealth in terms of farming output, such as an abundance of crops. But he eventually came to represent wealth in general.

Plutus Was Blind

The Greek god ZEUS blinded Plutus when he was very young, so that he would not just bless wealth onto good people and those who were deserving of it, but onto everybody. Famed ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes once wrote a comedy about Plutus, in which he regains his sight and thereafter only bestows wealth onto those who actually deserve it.

Plutus Was Also Handicapped and Had Wings

Plutus was not just blind, but he was also handicapped. This was to explain why wealth sometimes took a long time to come. He further had wings, which was meant to represent why he left a lot faster than he came.

Often Associated with Pluton

Pluton, which is also written as Plouton, is a Greek god similar to Plutus. He is the god of hidden bounty, and like Plutus, he is often carrying a cornucopia.

Plutus Is Often Depicted as an Infant in the Arms of Goddesses

Many depictions of Plutus show him as baby, sitting in the arms of either TYKHE (TYCHE) — who is the goddess of good fortune — or Eirene (Irene), who is the goddess of peace. This was meant to show that wealth rarely comes alone. It often comes hand-in-hand with good luck or peace.

Plutus is Often Confused with Pluto

While their names may sound similar, Plutus is very different from PLUTO, who is the god of the underworld.

SOURCE: <a href=”https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/plutus/”>Plutus: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net</a&gt; – Greek Gods & Goddesses, June 11, 2018

Greek Titan – Atlas

Atlas (the heaven-bearer) was a Titan god of endurance. He was also identified as a god of astronomy because he was the first who instructed mankind in astronomical science which was basically used for navigation and measuring the seasons. It is said, in Library of History by Diodorus Siculus, that he surpassed all others by mastering astrology and was the first to discover spherical nature and therefore being touted as the heaven-bearer. According to Hesiod and Hyginus, Atlas was one of the four sons of Iapetus and oceanid called Clymene but in another source, according to Apollodorus, Iapetus and Asia were his parents. During the war of the gods, unlike his brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus, Atlas sided with the titans along with his other brother Menoetius. After the war he was punished by Zeus who decided not to send him to Tartarus together with his relatives but instead he was sent him to the western edge of the known world, to hold axis between heavens and earth apart and therefore prevent the recurrence of primeval union of Gaea and Uranus and probably a birth of new powerful descendants.

Condemned to a special punishment

During the war against Olympians, Cronusmade Atlas their leader, mostly because of his war skills, extreme orientation and durability. As it turned out, he was quite a leader and it looked like for a long time that they were going to win the war. However, they were outnumbered in the end because Cronus made too many enemies during his ruleage. Atlas was, unlike his relatives, condemned to a special punishment by Zeus himself. He made him as an eternal caretaker of the axis between heavens and earth which were controlled by his predecessors in the past. Because of his endurance, Zeus believed that he was just going to be able to hold them and do nothing else in the meantime. He was right, Atlas was, according to Aeschylus and Ovid, barely supporting the enormous weight of heavens on his shoulders. However, there is an alternative description of the titan by Valerius Flaccus and Virgil who are describing him as an enormous giant standing in the ocean with his feet and his head reaching above the clouds while with ease holding heavens apart from earth.

Descendants of Atlas

But before the punishment, Atlas was in love with Pleione, one of the oceanids, the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, who gave birth to Pleiades, seven in numbers, that were mentioned by most authors. Their names were Alcyone, Asterope, Celaeno, Electra, Maia, Merope and Teygate.

There is a further explanation presented by Hyginus who mentiones in his Fabulae that Atlas and Pleione actually had twelve daughters and a son Hyas. Five of them were Hyades and were named after their brother who was killed by a lion and they had grieved for him so much that they died because of it and were placed among stars. Their names were Ambrosia, Coronis, Eudora, Phaesyla and Polyxo. And when Hyades died, the rest of the sisters also brought death upon themselves by further grief and were placed among stars known as Pleiades. According to Diodorus Siculus, Atlas also had a brother Hesperus and eventually married one of his daughters by the name of Hesperis. She bore him seven daughters that were named Atlantides, after their father, and Hesperides, after their mother. They were very beautiful and pure and therefore they caught the eye of Egyptian king who dispatched pirates to kidnap them. They were later saved by Heracles.

The account with Heracles

As mentioned above, the daughters of Atlas were kidnapped by pirates while they were playing in their garden and when the pirates stopped to have a meal on their route back to Egypt, Heracles, in one of his last labours, came along. When he found out by the maidens what had happened, he slew the pirates on site and brought ladies back to Atlas. In his gratitude, Atlas helped Heracles in his labour, presumably giving him the apples from his daughter’s garden, and also gave him lessons in astrology.

However, the mainstream belief is that Atlas was encountered by Heracles who came to the titan on the advice of Prometheus in his eleventh labour, when he had to retrieve apples of Hesperides. In need of his services, Heracles offered himself as temporary caretaker. In return he asked the titan to help him with the Golden Apples quest. The garden, controlled by Hera, was tended by Hesperides, the titan’s daughters. Upon return, Atlas tried to convince Heracles to hold the heavens for a bit longer while he was going to deliver the Apples himself which was definitely not the case. Heracles thought of this trickery and asked him to hold the heavens for just a few moments so he could reposition his cloak to serve him as support. The titan fell for the trick and when he reclaimed his position, Heracles took the apples and ran away, and opportunity to escape was gone.

“Released” from his burden

According to Fulgentis’ Mythologies and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Atlas, with the heavens on his back, was at some point encountered by Perseus who was on his way back to Seriphos Island. Perseus kindly asked the titan for a shelter over night, telling him that he was a son of Zeus. The titan replied by stating that he was a liar which angered the hero and Perseus then in revenge turned Atlas into stone by showing him the head of Medusa and released him from his burden. From that point on he was known as Mount Atlas. Now, this contradicts the story of Atlas meeting Heracles becuase Perseus lived in the times before Heracles and therefore Heracles could not meet Atlas and ask him for help, if he was already turned into a mountain.