Deity of the Day

Eirene

The Greek Peace Goddess

Areas of Influence: Eirene was the Greek peace Goddess. She is also the patroness of wealth and prosperity, this is because in times of peace people have the opportunity to plough the fields and make and sell, goods and services. War only breeds famine and destruction.

Her name can also be spelt Irene and Irini

She was one of the three Horae who are the maintainers of law and order that a stable society depends upon. They were also the Goddesses of the seasons and the natural divisions of time. In the lliad the Horae are also described as the guardians of the gates to Olympus.

Origins and Genealogy: She was the daughter of Zeus and Themis. She had two sisters Eunomia (order) and Dike (Justice) who were other two members of the Horae.

Strengths: A peacemaker.

Weaknesses: As a personification of peace and wealth she has no other distinctive personality traits.

Symbolism: Often shown as a young woman holding an olive branch or Hermes’s staff. She wore ears of corn that represented wealth and prosperity. In one statue by Kephisodotos she is shown holding the infant Ploutus (Wealth).

Sacred Animal/Bird/Plant: Corn and the olive tree.

Roman Equivalent: Pax.

Eirene’s Archetype

The Diplomat/Peacemaker

The Diplomat Archetype is able to mediate between different groups, as they are able to quickly assess the situation, understanding both sides point of view. Helping them to find a middle ground upon which they can both agree.

The Shadow Diplomat manipulates both sides to achieve their own personal agenda.

This is the most fitting Archetype for the Greek Peace Goddess as it is through successful diplomacy that conflicts can be resolved and wars averted.

How To Work With This Archetype

The Diplomat/Peacemaker

To have the Diplomat as one of you main archetypes you do not have to be a diplomat by profession. However you must have a life-long commitment to resolving disputes and bringing people together. This can often occur within families where one member of the family is constantly trying to keep the peace and the family together.

Check you are not stepping into this Archetype’s shadow by asking yourself if it is you who will benefit most from the outcome you are steering the different sides towards?

Source:
Goddess-guide.com

Deity of the Day

Branwen

Branwen, Daughter of Llŷr is a major character in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, which is sometimes called the Mabinogi of Branwen after her. Branwen is a daughter of Llŷr and Penarddun. She is married to the King of Ireland, but the marriage does not bring peace.

Her story

The story opens with Branwen’s brother Bendigeidfran (Brân the Blessed), King of Britain, sitting on a rock by the sea at Harlech and seeing the vessels of Matholwch King of Ireland approaching. Matholwch has come to ask for the hand of Bendigeidfran’s sister Branwen in marriage. Bendigeidfran agrees to this, and a feast is held to celebrate the betrothal. While the feast is going on, Efnisien, a half-brother of Branwen and Bendigeidgfran, arrives and asks why there are celebrations. On being told, he is furious that his half sister has been given in marriage without his consent, and vents his spleen by mutilating Matholwch’s horses. Matholwch is deeply offended, but conciliated by Bendigeidfran who gives him a magical cauldron which can bring the dead to life; he does not know that when the dead are brought back, they will be mute.

When Matholwch returns to Ireland with his new bride, he consults with his nobles about the occurrences in the Isle of the Mighty. They are outraged and believe that Matholwch was not compensated enough for the mutilation of his horses. In order to redeem his honor, Matholwch banishes Branwen to work in the kitchens. Branwen is treated cruelly by her husband Matholwch as punishment for Efnisien’s mutilation of the horses, though not before she gives birth to an heir, Gwern. She tames a starling and sends it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brother and Bendigeidfran brings a force from Wales to Ireland to rescue her. Some swineherds see the giant Bendigeidfrân wading the sea and report this to Matholwch, who retreats beyond a river and destroys the bridges. However, Bendigeidfran lays himself down over the river to serve as a bridge for his men, uttering the gnomic words, “A fo ben, bid bont” (‘He would be a leader, let him be a bridge”). Matholwch, fearing war, tries to reconcile with Bendigeidfran by building a house big enough for him to fit into in order to do him honour. Matholwch agrees to give the kingdom to Gwern, his son by Branwen, to pacify Bendigeidfran. The Irish lords do not like the idea, and many hide themselves in flour bags tied to the pillars of the huge newly built house to attack the Welsh. Efnisien, checking out the house prior to the arrival of Bendigeidfran and his men, guesses what is happening and kills the hidden men by squeezing their heads. At the subsequent feast to celebrate Gwern’s investiture as King of Ireland, Efnisien in an unprovoked moment of rage throws his nephew Gwern into the fire.

War against Ireland

In the ensuing war, all the Irish are killed save for five pregnant women that lived in Wales who repopulate the island, while only seven of the Welsh survive to return home with Branwen, taking with them the severed head of Bendigeidfran. On landing in Wales at Aber Alaw in Anglesey Branwen dies of grief that so much destruction had been caused on her account, crying “Oi, a fab Duw! Gwae fi o’m genedigaeth. Da o ddwy ynys a ddiffeithwyd o’m hachos i” (‘Oh Son of God, woe to me that I was born! Two fair islands have been laid waste because of me!’). She was buried beside the river Alaw.

Bendigeidfran had commanded his men to cut off his head and to “bear it even unto the White Mount, in London, and bury it there, with the face towards France.” And so for seven years his men spent feasting in Harlech, accompanied by three singing birds and Bendigeidfran’s head. After the seven years they go to Gwales in Penfro, where they remain for fourscore (80) years. Eventually they go to London and bury the head of Bendigeidfran in the White Mount. Legend said that as long as the head was there, no invasion would come over the sea to Britain.

Branwen’s Grave

At Llanddeusant, Anglesey on the banks of the Alaw can be found the cairn called Bedd Branwen, her supposed grave. Now in ruins, it still has one standing stone. It was dug up in 1800, and again in the 1960s by Frances Lynch, who found several urns with human ashes. It is believed that if the story of Branwen is based on real events, these must have taken place during the Bedd Branwen Period of Bronze Age British history.

Source:
Wikipedia

Deity of the Day

Athena

Greek Goddess of Wisdom

She sums up many of the Greeks’ gifts to Western culture, from philosophy to olive oil to the Parthenon. Athena, daughter of Zeus, joined the Olympians in a dramatic way and figured in many founding myths, including taking an active part in the Trojan War. She was the patron of the city of Athens; its iconic Parthenon was her shrine. And as the goddess of wisdom, the strategy of war, and the arts and crafts (agriculture, navigation, spinning, weaving, and needlework), she was one of the most important gods to the ancient Greeks.

The Birth of Athena

Athena is said to have emerged fully formed from the head of Zeus, but there is a backstory. One of Zeus’ many loves was an Oceanid named Metis. When she became pregnant, the King of Gods remembered the danger he posed to his own father, Cronos, and in turn, how Cronos dealt with his father Ouranos. Wary of continuing the cycle of patricide, Zeus swallowed his lover.

But Metis, in the darkness of Zeus’ interior, continued to carry her child. After some time, the King of Gods came down with a royal headache. Calling upon the blacksmith god Hephaestus (some myths  say it was Prometheus), Zeus asked that his head be split open, whereupon sprang gray-eyed Athena in her glory.

Myths About Athena

Befitting the patron of one of Hellas’ greatest city-states, Greek goddess Athena appears in many classic myths. Some of the most famous ones include:

Athena and Arachne: Here, the Goddess of the Loom takes a skilled but boastful human down a peg, and by transforming Arachne into tiny, eight-legged weaver, invents the spider.

The Gorgon Medusa: Another tale of Athena’s vengeful side, the fate of Medusa was sealed when this beautiful priestess of Athena was wooed by Poseidon in the goddess’ own shrine. Snakes for hair and a petrifying gaze ensued.

The Contest for Athens: Once again pitting the grey-eyed goddess against her uncle Poseidon, the contest for the patronage of Athens was decided for the god who bestowed the best gift to the city. Poseidon brought forth a magnificent (salt water) spring, but wise Athena gifted an olive tree—source of fruit, oil, and wood. She won.

The Judgement of Paris: In the unenviable position of judging a beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, the Trojan Paris put his money on the one Romans would call Venus.

His prize: Helen of Troy, née Helen of Sparta, and the enmity of Athena, who would tirelessly back the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Athena Fact File

Occupation:

Goddess of Wisdom, Warcraft, Weaving, and Crafts

Other Names:

Pallas Athena, Athena Parthenos, and the Romans called her Minerva

Attributes:

Aegis—a cloak with the head of Medusa upon it, spear, pomegranate, owl, helmet. Athena is described as gray-eyed (glaukos).

Powers of Athena:

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and crafts. She is the patron of Athens.

Sources:

Ancient sources for Athena include: Aeschylus, Apollodorus, Callimachus, Diodorus Siculus, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Nonnius, Pausanias, Sophocles and Strabo.

A Son for a Virgin Goddess:

Athena is a virgin goddess, but she has a son. Athena is credited with being part-mother of Erichthonius, a half-snake half-man creature, through an attempted rape by Hephaestus, whose seed spilled on her leg. When Athena wiped it off, it fell to earth (Gaia) who became the other part-mother.

The Parthenon:

The people of Athens built a great temple for Athena on the acropolis, or high point, of the city. The temple is known as the Parthenon. In it was a colossal gold and ivory statue of the goddess. During the annual Panathenaia festival, a procession was made to the statue and she was clothed in a new outfit.

More:
Since Athena was born without a mother — sprung from her father’s head — in an important murder trial, she decided that the role of the mother was less essential in creation than the role of the father. Specifically, she sided with the matricide Orestes, who had kiled his mother Clytemnestra after she had killed her husband and his father Agamemnon.

Source:

N.S. Gill

Ancient/Classical History Expert

Article published on About.com

 THE GODDESS

One of the things that sets Paganism apart from most of the other religions in the world is our belief in not just a patriarchal male god but in a matriarchal goddess as well. Father and mother, if you will.

As a nature-based religion, it makes sense to follow the patterns that we see everywhere in nature: male and female, that is, not just one or the other or neither (unless you’re an amoeba).

The goddess we worship comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and we call her by various names, depending on our personal preferences or the needs of the occasion. There is even a common goddess chant that merely repeats the names of some of the most well known: Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna.

As you can see by this list, our goddesses are drawn from many cultures, including Greek, Roman, Celtic, Indian, Egyptian, and Sumerian. Does anyone know where Sumeria was, by the way? I certainly don’t. Many times, the goddesses we call upon have actually outlived the culture that spawned them. Now that’s immortality.

The goddess is generally known in three forms: maiden, mother, and crone, collectively referred to as the triple goddess. She changes shape as the year changes: young in the spring, middle-aged in the late summer, old in the winter, and young again as spring returns.

Most Pagans find one or more goddesses who appeal to them in particular (or who speak to them in an especially loud voice-sometimes the goddess picks you, and not the other way around) and call on her most often. Some just say “goddess” without feeling the need to attach a name. Either way, our belief in the goddess strengthens our connection to the female in all of us (yes, guys too) and to the duality in the natural world that surrounds us.

No matter what name you call the goddess or goddesses you worship, remember to treat her with respect and a bit of caution as well. These are powerful, many-faceted deities, after all. Even the lovely Venus, goddess of love and beauty, was known for her twisted sense of humor on occasion. Ever have a bad blind date? Yup, that’s her too.

–Deborah Blake, Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusing, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft

Deity of the Day

Kali

(Raja Ravi Varma)

Kali is the Hindu goddess (or Devi) of death, time, and doomsday and is often associated with sexuality and violence but is also considered a strong mother-figure and symbolic of motherly-love. Kali also embodies shakti – feminine energy, creativity and fertility – and is an incarnation of Parvati, wife of the great Hindu god Shiva. She is most often represented in art as a fearful fighting figure with a necklace of heads, skirt of arms, lolling tongue, and brandishing a knife dripping with blood.

Kali’s name derives from the Sanskrit meaning ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’, but she is also known as Chaturbhuja Kali, Chinnamastā, or Kaushika. As an embodiment of time Kali devours all things, she is irresistibly attractive to mortals and gods, and can also represent (particularly in later traditions) the benevolence of a mother goddess.

Kali’s name derives from the Sanskrit meaning ‘she who is black’ or ‘she who is death’.

The goddess is particularly worshipped in eastern and southern India and specifically in Assam, Kerala, Kashmir, Bengal, – where she is now worshipped in the yearly festival of Kali Puja held on the night of a new moon – and in the Kalighat Temple in the city of Calcutta.

Kali’s Birth

There are several traditions of how Kali came into existence. One version relates when the warrior goddess Durga, who had ten arms each carrying a weapon and who rode a lion or tiger in battle, fought with Mahishasura (or Mahisa), the buffalo demon. Durga became so enraged that her anger burst from her forehead in the form of Kali. Once born, the black goddess went wild and ate all the demons she came across, stringing their heads on a chain which she wore around her neck. It seemed impossible to calm Kali’s bloody attacks, which now extended to any wrongdoers, and both people and gods were at a loss what to do. Fortunately, the mighty Shiva stopped Kali’s destructive rampage by lying down in her path, and when the goddess realised just who she was standing on, she finally calmed down. From this story is explained Kali’s association with battlegrounds and areas where cremation is carried out.

In another version of the goddess’ birth, Kali appeared when Parvati shed her dark skin which then became Kali, hence one of her names is Kaushika (the Sheath), whilst Parvati is left as Gauri (the Fair One). This story emphasises Kali’s blackness which is symbolic of eternal darkness and which has the potential to both destroy and create.

In a third version, men and gods were being terrorised by Daruka who could only be killed by a woman, and Parvati was asked by the gods to deal with the troublesome demon. She responded by jumping down Shiva’s throat. This was because many years previously Shiva had swallowed halahala, the poison which had risen from the churning of the ocean during the creation and which had threatened to pollute the world. By combining with the poison still held in Shiva’s throat, Parvati was transformed into Kali. Leaping from Shiva’s throat in her new guise, Kali swiftly despatched Daruka and all was well with the world once more.

Finally, in yet another version of Kali’s birth, there is the story of the terrible demon Raktabija (Blood-seed). This demon was, like most demons, causing a great deal of trouble with people and gods alike but even worse was his ability to produce more demons every time a drop of his blood spilt to the ground. Therefore, each time Raktabija was attacked, the only result was more demons to deal with. The gods decided to work together and combine all of their shakti or divine energy and produce one super being that could destroy Raktabija; the result was Kali (in another version only Durga produces Kali). Given all the divine weapons of the gods, Kali swiftly sought out Raktabija and his demons and proceeded to swallow them all whole so as not to spill anymore blood in the process. Raktabija himself was killed when Kali lopped off his head with a sword and then drank all of his blood, making sure none fell to the ground and thereby ensuring no more demons could menace the world.

Another famous story involving Kali is her escapade with a band of thieves. The thieves wanted to make a human sacrifice to Kali, and unwisely chose a Brahmin monk as a likely victim. Dragging him to the nearest temple, the thieves prepared to make the sacrifice in front of the statue of Kali when suddenly the statue came to life. Outraged at the thieves’ plan to kill a monk, the goddess took swift revenge and decapitated the whole gang, even tossing their heads about for fun, whilst naturally the Brahmin escaped to continue his life of scholarly reflection.

Kali In Hindu Art

In art Kali is most often portrayed with blue or black skin, naked, and wearing a Bengali type crown of clay which is painted or gilded. She is, like many Hindu deities, a multiple armed figure with the number of arms being four, eight, ten, twelve, or even eighteen. Each arm usually holds an object and these can include a sword, dagger, trident, cup, drum, chakra, lotus bud, whip, noose, bell, and shield. Sometimes her left hand forms the abhaya mudra, whilst the right makes the offering varada mudra. She is often represented seated with legs crossed and having eight feet.

Kali’s most common pose in paintings is in her most fearsome guise as the slayer of demons, where she stands or dances with one foot on a collapsed Shiva and holds a severed head. She wears a skirt of severed human arms, a necklace of decapitated heads, and earrings of dead children, and she often has a terrifying expression with a lolling tongue which drips blood.

About the Author

Mark Cartwright

Mark holds an M.A. in Greek philosophy and his special interests include the Minoans, the ancient Americas, and world mythology. He loves visiting and reading about historic sites and transforming that experience into free articles accessible to all.

Located on the website, Ancient History Encyclopedia

Deity of the Day

The Norns

The Norns, or Nornir, were the Norse and Germanic fates, the demi-goddesses of destiny. The Æsir often sought their council. They are similar to the Moirae  and Fates of Greco-Roman myth. As in the Germanic mythological tradition, they were known to be three sister goddesses: Clotho (“The Spinner”), Lachesis (“The Decider”), and Atropos (“The Inevitable”).

The original Norn was undoubtedly Urd, a word which can be translated to mean “Fate”. The Well of Urd, which was situated at the base of the great cosmic tree Yggdrasil, is named after this Norn. The two additional Norns that are known by name are Verdandi (“Present” [or “Necessity” in some versions]) and Skuld (“Future” [or “Being” in some versions]). All three Norns live at the Well of Urd in Asgard.

Domain

It was believed that the Norns decided the destinies of gods, giants, and dwarfs, and were responsible for the fates of every individual human being. The Anglo-Saxons referred to Urd by the name of Wyrd, and in England there was maintained a belief in the tremendous powers of the three sisters long after the arrival of Christianity. For instance, in Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, the Three Sisters on “the blasted heath” were obviously inspired by the Norns and other mythological fate goddesses.

It would seem more than possible that the Norns were also originally conceived as spinners. However, in Germanic mythology, the Greek and Roman concept of the Fates spinning an individual length of yarn for each mortal life does not appear.

In Mythology

According to Norse mythology, nothing lasts forever, and even the great Yggdrasil has been said to decay one day. The Norns try to stop or slow this process by pouring mud and water from the Well of Urd over its branches. The magical liquid stops the decaying process for a short time.

In other versions pertaining the Norns, they were thought to give assistance to birth, and that each person has their own personal Norn.

Source:

Mythology Wikia

Deity of the Day

Bellona

Roman Goddess of War

Bellona was an Ancient Roman goddess of war. She was called the sister of Mars, and in some sources, his wife or an associate of his female cult partner Nerio. Bellona’s main attribute is the military helmet worn on her head, and she often holds a sword, a shield, or other weapons of battle.

Politically, all Roman Senate meetings relating to foreign war were conducted in the Templum Bellonæ (Temple of Bellona) on the Collis Capitolinus outside the pomerium, near the Temple of Apollo Sosianus. The fetiales, a group of priest advisors, conducted ceremonies to proclaim war and peace, and announce foreign treaties at the columna bellica, in front of her temple.

The name Bellona is transparently derived from the Latin word bellum “war”—the older form Duellona demonstrates its antiquity, showing the same sound change as duellum.

In art, she is portrayed with a helmet on her head, usually wearing a breastplate or plate armour, bearing a sword, spear, shield, or other weaponry, sometimes holding a flaming torch or sounding the Horn of Victory and Defeat. In heraldic crests, she may be shown as a goddess with spread feathered wings bearing a helmet or coronet.

Ammianus Marcellinus, in describing the Roman defeat at the Battle of Adrianople refers to “Bellona, blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging more fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans”.

Near the beginning of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I.ii.54), Macbeth is introduced as a violent and brave warrior when the Thane of Ross calls him “Bellona’s bridegroom” (i.e. Mars). In Henry IV, Part I, Hotspur describes her as “the fire-eyed maid of smoky war” (IV.i.119). And in The Two Noble Kinsmen (1613), set in pre-Roman Athens, the sister of Hippolyta will solicit her divine aid for Theseus against Thebes (I.iii.13).

The goddess has also proved popular in post-Renaissance art as a female embodiment of military virtue, and an excellent opportunity to portray the feminine form in armour and helmet.

The composer Francesco Bianchi and the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte together created a Cantata first performed in London on 11 March 1797 & called Le nozze del Tamigi e Bellona, (The Wedding of the Thames and Bellona), to mark the British naval victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Cape St Vincent.

Also, the “Temple of Bellona” was a popular choice of name for the small mock-temples that were a popular feature of 18th- and 19th-century English landscaped gardens (e.g. William Chambers’s 1760 Temple of Bellona for Kew Gardens, a small Doric temple with a four-column facade to contain plaques honouring those who served in the Seven Years’ War of 1756–64).

First World War poet Edgell Rickwood wrote a poem “The Traveller” where he marches toward the front line in company of Art, the God Pan and the works of essayist Walter Pater. As they approach the active war, they meet Bellona. One by one the pleasurable companions are forced to flee by the violence of war, until Bellona rejoices in having him to herself.

Samuel R. Delany’s 1975 novel Dhalgren is set in the city of Bellona.

The detective novel The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers is set at a fictional London club whose membership is composed of active or retired military officers, and is named after the goddess.

Source:
Wikipedia

Deity of the Day

Goddess Pomona

Areas of Influence: Pomona was one of the Numina, the Roman guardian spirits who watched over people, homes and special places. She protected fruiting trees and gardens.

She is an agricultural Goddess , responsible for the care and cultivation of fruit trees and orchards. Her name is actually derived from the Latin word pomun, meaning fruit. Her dedication to her work left her little time for love. She turned down the offers of marriage from Silvanus and Picus but was eventually tricked into marriage by Vertumnus. This deity was served by high priests known as Flamen Pomonalis in a sacred grove known as the Pomonal.

Origins and Genealogy: I can find no references to her parents, siblings and children.

Strengths: A nurturer, dedicated to her job. As a fertility Goddess she represented abundance.

Weaknesses: So busy looking after her trees that she has little time for herself.

Symbolism: A popular figure in art she is shown as a beautiful Goddess carrying a knife to prune with and a platter of fruit or a cornucopia.

Sacred Animal/Bird/Plant: Apples.

Festival: A feast was held annually on the November 1st when apples, nuts and grapes were consumed to celebrate the harvest.

Unlike many of the Roman Goddesses she has no specific Greek equivalent.

Pomona’s Archetype

The Mother

The Mother is a life-giver and the source of nurturing, devotion, patience and unconditional love. The ability to forgive and provide for her children and put them before herself is the essence of a good mother.

In its shadow aspect the Mother can be devouring, abusive and abandoning. The shadow Mother can also make her children feel guilty about becoming independent and leaving her. It is not necessary to be a biological Mother to have this stereotype. It can refer to anyone who has a lifelong pattern of nurturing and devotion to living things.

As Goddess of the harvest she represents the Mother Archetype as she nurtures the fruits, trees and the plants in the garden.

How to Work With This Archetype

The Mother

You are exhibiting the features of the shadow Mother if you smother your children and are over protective. Encourage independence and allow children to make mistakes but be available to give care and advice when it’s needed.

The other shadow Mother is the one that abandons her children, or is so busy that she has no time for nurturing her young.

Source:
Goddess-Guide.com

Deity of the Day

Nephthys

Nephthys /ˈnɛpθɨs/ (Greek: Νέφθυς) or Nebthet /ˈnɛbˌθɛt/ (Arabic: نيفتيس Nyftys) is a member of the Great Ennead of Heliopolis in Egyptian mythology, a daughter of Nut and Geb. Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Set.

Nephthys is the Greek form of an epithet (transliterated as Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, from Egyptian hieroglyphs).The origin of the goddess Nephthys is unclear but the literal translation of her name is usually given as “Lady of the House,” which has caused some to mistakenly identify her with the notion of a “housewife,” or as the primary lady who ruled a domestic household. This is a pervasive error repeated in many commentaries concerning this deity. Her name means quite specifically, “Lady of the [Temple] Enclosure” which associates her with the role of priestess.

This title, which may be more of an epithet describing her function than a given name, probably indicates the association of Nephthys with one particular temple or some specific aspect of the Egyptian temple ritual. Along with her sister Isis, Nephthys represented the temple pylon or trapezoidal tower gateway entrance to the temple which also displayed the flagstaff. This entrance way symbolised the horizon or akhet.

At the time of the Fifth Dynasty Pyramid Texts, Nephthys appears as a goddess of the Heliopolitan Ennead. She is the sister of Isis and companion of the war-like deity, Set. As sister of Isis and especially Osiris, Nephthys is a protective goddess who symbolizes the death experience, just as Isis represented the (re)birth experience.

Nephthys was known in some ancient Egyptian temple theologies and cosmologies as the “Useful Goddess” or the “Excellent Goddess”. These late Ancient Egyptian temple texts describe a goddess who represented divine assistance and protective guardianship.

Nephthys is regarded as the mother of the funerary-deity Anubis (Inpu) in some myths. Alternatively Anubis appears as the son of Bastet or Isis.

As the primary “nursing mother” of the incarnate Pharaonic-god, Horus, Nephthys also was considered to be the nurse of the reigning Pharaoh himself. Though other goddesses could assume this role, Nephthys was most usually portrayed in this function. In contrast Nephthys is sometimes featured as a rather ferocious and dangerous divinity, capable of incinerating the enemies of the Pharaoh with her fiery breath.

New Kingdom Ramesside Pharaohs, in particular, were enamored of Mother Nephthys, as is attested in various stelae and a wealth of inscriptions at Karnak and Luxor, where Nephthys was a member of that great city’s Ennead and her altars were present in the massive complex.
Triad of Isis, Nephthys, and Harpocrates. Early Greco-Roman. Walters Museum

Nephthys was typically paired with her sister Isis in funerary rites because of their role as protectors of the mummy and the god Osiris and as the sister-wife of Seth.

Less well understood than her sister Isis, Nephthys was no less important in Egyptian Religion as confirmed by the work of E. Hornung, along with the work of several noted scholars.

“Ascend and descend; descend with Nephthys, sink into darkness with the Night-bark. Ascend and descend; ascend with Isis, rise with the Day-bark.”

Pyramid Text Utterance 222 line 210.

In the funerary role, Nephthys often was depicted as a kite, or as a woman with falcon wings, usually outstretched as a symbol of protection. Nephthys’s association with the kite or the Egyptian hawk (and its piercing, mournful cries) evidently reminded the ancients of the lamentations usually offered for the dead by wailing women. In this capacity, it is easy to see how Nephthys could be associated with death and putrefaction in the Pyramid Texts. She was, almost without fail, depicted as crowned by the hieroglyphics signifying her name, which were a combination of signs for the sacred temple enclosure (hwt), along with the sign for neb, or mistress (Lady), on top of the enclosure sign.

Nephthys was clearly viewed as a morbid-but-crucial force of heavenly transition, i.e., the Pharaoh becomes strong for his journey to the afterlife through the intervention of Isis and Nephthys. The same divine power could be applied later to all of the dead, who were advised to consider Nephthys a necessary companion. According to the Pyramid Texts, Nephthys, along with Isis, was a force before whom demons trembled in fear, and whose magical spells were necessary for navigating the various levels of Duat, as the region of the afterlife was termed.

It should here be noted that Nephthys was not necessarily viewed as the polar opposite of Isis, but rather as a different reflection of the same reality: eternal life in transition. Thus, Nephthys was also seen in the Pyramid Texts as a supportive cosmic force occupying the night-bark on the journey of Ra, the majestic sun god, particularly when he entered Duat at the transitional time of dusk, or twilight. Isis was Ra’s companion at the coming of dawn.

Nephthys plays an important role in the Osirian myth-cycle.

It is Nephthys who assists Isis in gathering and mourning the dismembered portions of the body of Osiris, after his murder by the envious Set. Nephthys also serves as the nursemaid and watchful guardian of the infant Horus. The Pyramid Texts refer to Isis as the “birth-mother” and to Nephthys as the “nursing-mother” of Horus. Nephthys was attested as one of the four “Great Chiefs” ruling in the Osirian cult-center of Busiris, in the Delta and she appears to have occupied an honorary position at the holy city of Abydos. No cult is attested for her there, though she certainly figured as a goddess of great importance in the annual rites conducted, wherein two chosen females or priestesses played the roles of Isis and Nephthys and performed the elaborate ‘Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys’. There, at Abydos, Nephthys joined Isis as a mourner in the shrine known as the Osireion. These “Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys” were ritual elements of many such Osirian rites in major ancient Egyptian cult-centers.

As a mortuary goddess (along with Isis, Neith, and Serqet), Nephthys was one of the protectresses of the Canopic jars of the Hapi. Hapi, one of the Sons of Horus, guarded the embalmed lungs. Thus we find Nephthys endowed with the epithet, “Nephthys of the Bed of Life,” in direct reference to her regenerative priorities on the embalming table. In the city of Memphis, Nephthys was duly honored with the title “Queen of the Embalmer’s Shop,” and there associated with the jackal-headed god Anubis as patron.

Nephthys was also considered a festive deity whose rites could mandate the liberal consumption of beer. In various reliefs at Edfu, Dendera, and Behbeit, Nephthys is depicted receiving lavish beer-offerings from the Pharaoh, which she would “return”, using her power as a beer-goddess “that [the pharaoh] may have joy with no hangover.” Elsewhere at Edfu, for example, Nephthys is a goddess who gives the Pharaoh power to see “that which is hidden by moonlight.” This fits well with more general textual themes that consider Nephthys to be a goddess whose unique domain was darkness, or the perilous edges of the desert.

Nephthys could also appear as one of the goddesses who assists at childbirth. One ancient Egyptian myth preserved in the Papyrus Westcar recounts the story of Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, and Heqet as traveling dancers in disguise, assisting the wife of a priest of Amun-Re as she prepares to bring forth sons who are destined for fame and fortune.

Nephthys’s healing skills and status as direct counterpart of Isis, steeped, as her sister in “words of power,” are evidenced by the abundance of faience amulets carved in her likeness, and by her presence in a variety of magical papyri that sought to summon her famously altruistic qualities to the aid of mortals.

The Ramesside Pharaohs were particularly devoted to Set’s prerogatives and, in the 19th Dynasty, a temple of Nephthys called the “House of Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun” was built or refurbished in the town of Sepermeru, midway between Oxyrhynchos and Herakleopolis, on the outskirts of the Fayyum and quite near to the modern site of Deshasheh. Here, as Papyrus Wilbour notes in its wealth of taxation records and land assessments, the temple of Nephthys was a specific foundation by Ramesses II, located in close proximity to (or within) the precinct of the enclosure of Set. To be certain, the House of Nephthys was one of fifty individual, land-owning temples delineated for this portion of the Middle Egyptian district in Papyrus Wilbour. The fields and other holdings belonging to Nephthys’s temple were under the authority of two Nephthys-prophets (named Penpmer and Merybarse) and one (mentioned) wa’ab priest of the goddess.

While certainly affiliated with the “House of Set,” the Nephthys temple at Sepermeru and its apportioned lands (several acres) clearly were under administration distinct from the Set institution. The Nephthys temple was a unique establishment in its own right, an independent entity. According to Papyrus Wilbour, another “House of Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun” seems to have existed to the north, in the town of Su, closer to the Fayyum region.

Another temple of Nephthys seems to have existed in the town of Punodjem. The Papyrus Bologna records a complaint lodged by a prophet of the temple of Set in that town regarding undue taxation in his regard. After making an introductory appeal to “Re-Horakhte, Set, and Nephthys” for the ultimate resolution of this issue by the royal Vizier, the prophet (named Pra’emhab) laments his workload. He notes his obvious administration of the “House of Set” and adds: “I am also responsible for the ship, and I am responsible likewise for the House of Nephthys, along with a heap of other temples.”

As “Nephthys of Ramesses-Meriamun,” the goddess and her shrines were under the particular endorsement of Ramesses II. The foundations of the Set and Nephthys temples at Sepermeru finally were discovered and identified in the 1980s, and the Nephthys temple was a self-sustaining temple complex within the Set enclosure.

There can be little doubt that a cult of Nephthys existed in the temple and great town of Herakleopolis, north of Sepermeru. A near life-sized statue of Nephthys (currently housed in the Louvre) boasts a curiously altered inscription. The basalt image originally was stationed at Medinet-Habu, as part of the cultic celebration of the Pharaonic “Sed-Festival,” but was transferred at some point to Herakleopolis and the temple of Herishef. The cult-image’s inscription originally pertained to “Nephthys, Foremost of the Sed [Festival] in the Booth of Annals” (at Medinet-Habu), but was re-inscribed or re-dedicated to “Nephthys, Foremost of the [Booths of] Herakleopolis.” A “prophet of Nephthys” is indeed attested for the town of Herakleopolis in the 30th Dynasty.

Nephthys was considered the unique protectress of the Sacred Phoenix, or the Bennu Bird. This role may have stemmed from an early association in her native Heliopolis, which was renowned for its “House of the Bennu” temple. In this role, Nephthys was given the name “Nephthys-Kheresket,” and a wealth of temple texts from Edfu, Dendera, Philae, Kom Ombo, El Qa’la, Esna, and others corroborate the late identification of Nephthys as the supreme goddess of Upper Egyptian Nome VII, where another shrine existed in honor of the Bennu. Nephthys also was the goddess of the “Mansion of the Sistrum” in Hwt-Sekhem (Gr. Diospolis Parva), the chief city of Nome VII. There, Nephthys was the primary protectress of the resident Osirian relic, of the Bennu Bird, and of the local Horus/Osiris manifestation, the god Neferhotep.

Nephthys was most widely and usually worshipped in ancient Egypt as part of a consortium of temple deities. Therefore, it should not surprise us that her cult images could likely be found as part of the divine entourage in temples at Kharga, Kellis, Deir el-Hagar, Koptos, Dendera, Philae, Sebennytos, Busiris, Shenhur, El Qa’la, Letopolis, Heliopolis, Abydos, Thebes, Dakleh Oasis, and indeed throughout Egypt. In most cases, Nephthys found her typical place as part of a triad alongside Osiris and Isis, or Isis and Horus, or Isis and Min, or as part of a quartet of deities. It is perhaps in this way that Nephthys best fulfilled her role as an important national deity whose ideal function was to provide powerful assistance to her associates in a great variety of temple cults—a truly “Useful” and “Excellent” goddess, as her primary epithets reflect.

Source:
Wikipedia