in the beginning, well, there were a lot of different beginnings,
AMUN/AMUN-RA: god of the sun and air, supreme king of the gods in some periods. some stories say that he created himself and then everything else in the universe
ATUM: sometimes considered another name for Ra, but when separated he represents the evening sun. he was the first of the Ennead to emerge from Nu, and was the supreme ruler of the gods, and creator of the universe and human beings
RA/RE: when separated from Atum, he represents the midday sun, but other stories say that his aspect changes as he advances his sun barge across the sky. also considered the supreme ruler and creator of the universe. later merged with Amun as he rose in popularity
PTAH: another creator of the universe, Ptah was lord of truth, and the patron god of sculptors and craftsmen (since he was considered to have sculpted the earth). he created the first mound of earth from Nu by imagining it in his heart and breathed life into things with his voice
KHNUM: said to have created everything on his potter's wheel. in a different story he created humans on his potter's wheel then raised them up to the sun so that Ra could breathe life into them
NEITH: a war and funerary goddess, she created all things from her innards. she invented birth, therefore considered the "mother goddess" and closely associated with life and living things
MUT: emerged from Nu and gave birth to the world on her own, or in other stories was the wife of Amun. she was a goddess of protection, guarding humans in life, and against demons in death
MEHET-WERET: celestial cow goddess that emerged from Nu and gave birth to Ra at the beginning of time. goddess of water, creation, and rebirth
then under Atum/Ra creation stories, there were the first gods, called the Ennead,
SHU: the primordial god of air, he was born from Atum/Ra with his sister Tefnut to create the world. it's said that after bein gone for so long, Atum/Ra sent the eye of Ra to search for them, and his tears of happiness at having them returned became humans
TEFNUT: the sister and wife of Shu, she was the primordial god of moisture and rainfall
NUT: child of Shu and Tefnut, she represented the sky, but her relationship with her brother Geb disturbed Atum/Ra so he pushed her high above Geb, decreeing that she could not give birth on any day of the year. however, Thoth then gambled with Iah (or Khonsu) winning five days of moonlight he transformed into days. On those five days, her five children were born
GEB: god of the earth and growing things
OSIRIS: child of Nut and Geb, he was lord and god of the underworld and afterlife. he was said to be the first god to die, after being killed by his brother Set, wherein Isis then resurrected him and they bore Horus.
ISIS: child of Nut and Geb, she was the goddess of the moon, healing, fertility, and magic
NEPHTHYS: child of Nut and Geb, she is the twin sister of Isis and wife of Set. she is considered a goddess of funeral rites, darkness (not in an evil sense), and protector of women.
SET/SETH: child of Nut and Geb god of war, chaos, and storms. although he was the first murderer, he was considered a necessary balance to the good of Osiris. he killed Osiris to usurp his throne, only to later be usurped by Horus.
However, sometimes Set was replaced with Horus in the Ennead,
HORUS: technically there were two Horuses, Horus the Elder, who was a child of Nut and Geb, and Horus the younger, who was the better known Horus. however, they ended up merging into one deity, a god of the sun, sky, and kingship
under the Amun (and sometimes Ptah) creation myth(s) there was the group called the Ogdoad, including Amun and
AMUNET: the female counterpart of Amun, together they represented forces unseen, including the wind and air
KEK: the god of the hours before dawn, he guided the sun barge of Ra from the underworld to earth
KAUKET: the female aspect of Kek, she represented the hours after sunset, and guided the sun barge of Ra into the underworld. Together these gods represent darkness (but not in an evil way)
HEH AND HAUHET: often not separated in any meaningful way, these two were the gods of infinity, eternity, and time
NUN AND NAUNET: personification of the primordial waters, from which everything was created. Naunet is only ever referenced when it comes to the Ogdoad
However, when Amun became revered as a god of creation, him and Amunet were sometimes replaced by
NIA AND NIAT: gods of the void
so then the rest of the gods,
THOTH: advisor of Atum/Ra, he was the god of wisdom, writing, and truth, and was associated with the moon. sometimes he is the child of Atum/Ra, other times he is the son of Horus. he gave humanity the gift of language and marked the passage of time
SESHAT: consort of Thoth, she was the goddess of writing, books, and measurements
ANUBIS: son of Nephthys and Osiris, he was the god of the dead and associated with embalming. he leads the souls of the dead to the Hall of Truth and weighs their heart to determine if they were good or evil
KABECHET/QEBEHT: daughter of Anubis and a funerary deity. she provides cool, pure water to the souls awaiting judgement in the Hall of Truth
BASTET: daughter of Ra, although her image has tempered over time, Bastet was often considered a defender of pharaohs and the hearth. goddess of cats, women, and fertility
SEKHMET: sister of Bastet, she was goddess of destruction, justice, and desert winds. after Ra became tired of the sins of humanity, he sent Sekhmet to destroy them. she ravaged the land until the other gods implored Ra to stop her, where he took beer dyed red (to emulate blood) and left it at Dendera. when she drank it, she fell asleep and woke as the benevolent goddess Hathor
MAAHES: solar god and protector of the innocent, sometimes the son of Bastet, sometimes Sekhmet
HATHOR: goddess of joy, celebration, love, women, drunkenness, and sometimes animals. in some stories she is the wife of Horus the elder, in some Horus the younger, and in some Ra
MA'AT: embodiment of the principle of ma'at, she was the goddess of truth, justice, and harmony
KHONSU: the son of Amun and Mut, god of the moon and healing
MONTU: a god of war and the vitality of pharaohs, he was later replaced by Khonsu as a child of Amun and Mut
TENENIT: goddess of beer and brewing, consort of Montu
HEKA: patron god of magic and medicine, but was also said to be present at the creation of the universe
HU: god of the spoken word, personification of the first word Atum/Ra ever spoke. represented the tongue
SIA: personification of perception and thoughtfulness who represented the heart
ANAT: goddess of fertility, sexuality, love, and war. sometimes she is a virgin goddess, others she is sensuous and erotic
APEP/APOPHIS: the celestial serpent that would assault the sun barge of Ra every night as it travels through the underworld
BA-PEF: god of terror
BES/BISU/AHA: god of childbirth, fertility, sexuality, humor, and war. he protected women and children, fended off evil, and fought for divine justice
TAWERET/TAURET: considered a consort of Set, goddess of childbirth and fertility. guarded children and invoked to help with pregnancy and birth
HRAF-HAF: the ferryman of the dead, he would carry good souls across the Lily Lake to the shores of paradise in the Field of Reeds
AMENET: consort of the divine ferryman, she welcomed souls of the dead to afterlife with food and drink
FETKET: cupbearer of Ra, patron of bartenders
MAFDET: goddess of justice, protected people from venomous bites, later replaced by Serket
SERKET: goddess of protection and funerals, protected people against venom
HEDET: goddess of scorpions and protector against their venom
IHY: son of Hathor and Horus the elder, he was the god of music and joy
IMHOTEP: the deified vizier of the king Djoser, god of wisdom and medicine
MESKHENIT: goddess of childbirth, created a person's ka (life force) and breathed it into them, creating their destiny
NEHEBKAU: joined a persons ka to their body at birth, and with the ba (winged aspect of the soul) at death. has always existed, and swam in the primordial waters before Atum rose
NEFERTUM: god of perfume and beauty, said to be born from the bud of a blue lotus flower at the beginning of creation. associated with rebirth and transformation due to his association with Atum
RENENUTET: goddess of nursing children and the harvest. she determined the length of a person's life and the important events that would occur, sometimes considered the mother of Osiris as consort of Atum
NEPER: son of Renenutet, god of grain and fertility
ONURIS/ANHUR: a son of Ra, god of war and hunting
SHAY: personification of fate, no one could alter her decisions
SHED: god who protected against wild animals and mortal enemies
SHEZMU: god of wine, perfume and plenty
SOBEK: god of water and medicine, namely surgery. lord of marshes and wetlands
SOTHIS: astral form of Isis, represented the star Sirius
SAH: astral form of Osiris, represented the constellation Orion
SOPDU: son of Sothis and Sah, astral form of Horus, guarded over outposts and soldiers on the frontier
TAYET/TAIT: goddess of weaving and associated with embalming
WENEG: held up the sky and maintained balance between the heavens and earth
and the sons of Horus, who get their own special spot,
DUAMUTEF: protector god of the stomach, he represented East
HAPY: protector god of the lungs, he represented the North
IMSETY: protector god of the liver, he represented the South
QEBEHSENUEF: protector god of the intestines, he represented the West
Without Wepwawet Ra could not be reborn and if you see this as a metaphor, he is the psychopomp that guides the Ka to be reborn once again in a physical form.
I often see people lamenting how difficult it is to research norse myth. No story seems quite consistent through time and space, no interpretation is exactly the same, no pre-Christian group even believed in exactly the same way… Would it not be easier if nordic religions came in one, monolithic package— all fossilized together into a single block? But one comes to realize that they don’t, and it’s proof of their wonderfully diverse nature. Oral tradition in Scandinavia, dating back long before the Viking Age and surviving into the christianization period, was unbelievably alive and organic. And taking it all in is a joy in and of itself— not necessarily seeking to acquire a single answer to every question we as heathens find ourselves pondering, but rather, appreciating the myths for what they were: ever-evolving, ever-shapeshifting.
When I approached Ra I was apprehensive. I don’t like the idea of supremacy. I don’t jive with the concept of kingship, and my past relationship with Christianity has made me shy away from all things “Father God”. I like the freedom of choice and self discovery that I’ve found in entities like Lucifer.
But Ra is helping me heal, and in him I’m starting to find that the divine masculine isn’t so scary after all. I thought because of his nobility and position as a king, he would be harsh and picky, but he’s starting to help me understand what it really means to be a God of kings. It doesn’t mean being served and obeyed just because you should, it means being such a great and supportive leader that people want to follow you. And as a father, a good father, Ra never raises his voice at his children. He gives them the best advice because he wants them to succeed. I didn’t feel like I “owed” him respect. I just wanted to, I wanted to be around him and learn from him. I wanted to trust in his leadership and I wanted to make him proud. That’s very new for me. Having grown up without a father, I’ve never understood what that feels like.
Ra reminds me of the beauty and strength of powerful men. Men who protect and lead and encourage, men who nurture. Men who use their strength to create rather than destroy. Men who are honest and know how to love.
Ra is warm (of course) and incredibly, indescribably powerful, but also so soft. So gentle. And lively, cheerful. A smiling God. He doesn’t need to be stern and cold to summon those feelings of immense respect and honour of being in his presence. He laughs and he accepts offerings with such appreciation.
Today I gave him an offering of bread with some peanut butter and water. It’s the first one I’ve ever given. And I was overwhelmed with this feeling of him being pleasantly surprised by the peanut butter. As if he was saying “oh! Bread AND peanut butter! This is a treat!”
And something about that made me feel particularly softened. You’re the king of the Gods, the blazing burning Sun that gives all life to Earth, and yet you’re pleasantly surprised by a little peanut butter. Lol.
Today was the first time I called upon Ra for protection. I did a modified banishment of the Hexagram and called to him in his many faces, along with Horus cleanse my space and aura. I’ve never felt so confident in a protection ritual. The pure blazing energy of the sun sanitizes everything it touches. As I hummed each syllable of his holy names I felt him smiling on me. He seems to like singing and humming a lot. It was the first time I’ve ever felt right ending a prayer with “Amen”.
I could feel Mother Isis looking on us too, she seemed relieved that I’ve finally found them. Something about all this feels like coming home.
When somebody tells you that a certain view of a deity or certain method of practice is wrong or historically isnt relevant you should always remember that modern paganism is NOT ancient paganism. The beauty of paganism is that it changes very easily throughout time, it changes from household to household. It's very difficult to assume exactly what ancient people believed in, particularly because those beliefs changed rapidly over time and geographical location even within the same civilization.
So do what you like, take history as a guide if it helps, learn from it and love it, but try not to think of it as gospel, it's just the way things were at one point and it's ok if they're different now.
hey hi, kinda late to the party I know, anyway, I'm here for the pagan vibes and getting to know the furry community a bit. so if you're part of those things or you're into TTRPGS then drop a thing here so I can follow you. 🦊
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