Ptolemy II Philadelphus

 

Although Ptolemy II later married his sister Arsinoe in the Egyptian tradition, his first wife is also named Arsinoe (It’s nearly impossible to keep them all separate!). Historians call his first wife Arsinoe I and his sister Arsinoe II in an effort to differentiate them. It was his first wife who bore him his children, Ptolemy III (his successor), Lysimachus (who is named after his mother’s father), and a daughter named Berenike. His sister/wife Arsinoe II doesn’t seem to have borne him any children. Philadelphus had two half-brothers, Ptolemy Keraunos and Meleager, sons of Ptolemy Soter from a previous marriage. Both became kings in Makedonia. When Philadelphus was young, he was educated by Philitas of Kos, who was a well-known scholar and poet, and the philosopher Strato of Aristotle’s school, which instilled him what would become a  lifelong love of learning.

In 88 BCE he began to rule as co-regent with his parents Ptolemy Soter and Berenike I. Three years later, when Ptolemy Soter was sure that his son was ready to rule on his own, Philadelphus took over. Philadelphus was not a great warrior, he was a peaceable and cultured king, who was eager to increase the literary works in the great Library and to patronize scientific research. He loved to be in the company of philosophers, poets, and scientists. He was a “lover of all that is beautiful and of literature.” Zenodotus, the man who he appointed as bibliophylax, or “Custodian of the Books”, invented alphabetization as a way to organize books and created the first modern library shelving system. Kallimakhos, Theocritus, and a host of lesser-known poets glorified the Ptolemaic dynasty and recorded their works. Philadelphus also finished the building of the Pharos lighthouse, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient worked, started by his father. Philadelphus was a great ruler, who continued his father’s work of uniting the Egyptian and Greek peoples.

While they were still living Philadelphus and Arsinoe declared themselves living Gods, and they were called the Theoi Adelphoi, “the Brother-Sister Gods”. Ever after the Ptolemies would be worshiped as God-kings in the Egyptian manner. Even in her lifetime Arsinoe was being prayed to, particularly by sailors, suggesting she was seen as a kind of avatar of Isis.

Philadelphus also took the Egyptian name Meryamun Setepenre, which means “Beloved of Ammon, Chosen of Ra”. (another source says the name was Weserkare Meryamun “Powerful is the soul of Ra, beloved of Ammon”.) It was under Philadelphus that Alexandria really began to grow. It grew so fast under Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III that it had to be divided into three districts, making them easier to govern. By the end of his reign, it consisted of Rhakotis, the native Egyptian quarter (and the original village before Alexandria was built), Bruchium, the Greek-Makedonian quarter and the Jewish Quarter, which was almost as big as the Greek section. Philadelphus completed a canal from the Nile River to the Gulf of Suez. The canal been started under the last Egyptian Pharaoh, but was forced to be abandoned when Darius became the Persian King.  It was named Ptolemy River in honor of the man who finished it. Many say that under Ptolemy II Philadelphus Egypt attained its greatest height.

Philadelphus was a fervent worshiper of Dionysos, and sponsored many elaborate and expensive festivals in the God’s honor. He bought many exotic animals from faraway lands, to live in a kind of Alexandrian zoo. In fact, in one of the more elaborate processions in honor of Dionysos, there were 24 chariots drawn by elephants and followed by pairs of lions, leopards, panthers, antelopes, wild asses, camels, a bear, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and as many as 8 pairs of ostriches. One of chariots was drawn by elephants and carried a 7-foot call solid gold statue of Dionysos[1]. Perhaps appropriate for a worshiper of Dionysos, Philadelphus was famous for his many mistresses and concubines.

But he was also a great ruler, perhaps even better than his father. Ptolemy Soter had vision, but was bored by some of the day-to-day efforts it took to run a county like Egypt. He left the details to his advisors. Philadelphos threw himself into it and learnt the ins and outs of everything, so he knew intimately what was going on, which also meant that his advisors would not be able to trick or cheat him. He even invented new currency, changing the relatively primitive barter system the Egyptian used into a more modern banking system, according to The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World, by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid (which I plan to review whenever I finish reading it). I’ll end this post with a quote from Philo:

 

“In all the qualities which make a good ruler, Ptolemy Philadelphos excelled not only his contemporaries, but all who came before him so that even today, after so many generations, his praises are sung for the many evidences and monuments of his greatness of mind which he left behind him in different cities and countries. That is why acts of more than ordinary munificence or buildings on an especially great scale are proverbially called Philadelphian after him. … To put it shortly, as the house of the Ptolemies was highly distinguished, compared with other dynasties, so was Philadelphos among the Ptolemies. The creditable achievements of this one man almost outnumbered those of all the others put together, and, as the head takes the highest place in the living body, so he may be said to head the kings.” – Philo, Life of Moses 2.29-30

[1]    Scullard, H.H The Elephant in the Greek and Roman World Thames and Hudson. 1974 pg 125 “At the head of an imposing array of animals (including…)”

Who was Ptolemy Soter?

This was originally published on the Neos Alexandriaqwebsite, but I thought it would be good to re-post it here too, since there is little information about Ptolemy out there.

 

Who was Ptolemy Soter?

by Amanda Artemisia Forrester

[Excerpted from the author’s class “Olympos in Egypt: An Introduction to the History of Alexandria, the Ptolemies, and Greco-Egyptian Spirituality.”]

Ptolemy I, or Ptolemy Soter, ruled Egypt from 323 to 285. He was born in 367 or 366 BCE in Makedonia, meaning he would have already been in his early 40s when he became Pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled for thirty-eight years, so he was in his early eighties when he died. In 285 he gave up rule to his son, who had been co-regent for three years. He died three years after he retired.

Ptolemy was so loved that the poet Theokritos sang this of him:

With Zeus begin, sweet sisters, and end with Zeus when ye would sing the sovereign of the skies: but first among mankind rank Ptolemy; first, last, and midmost; being past compare. Did not the son of Lagos accomplish whatever his mind could dream up, dreams which no man hath had before? Zeus doth esteem him among the blessed immortals; in the sire’s courts his mansion stands. And near him Alexander sits and smiles, the turbaned Persian’s dread1.

Ptolemy had been a boyhood friend of Alexander, although almost ten years older than him. He may have been taught in the school of Aristotle alongside Alexander. His mother was Arsinoe, a noble of Makedonia, and his father was usually said to be her husband Lagos. However, some people said that Ptolemy was an illegitimate son of Philip, which would have made him Alexander’s half-brother. Ptolemy fought alongside Alexander, and more than once saved his King’s life in battle2, even exposing a plot on Alexander’s life3.

When Alexander ordered his men to marry Persian women in 324, only one year before his death, Ptolemy was given a noblewoman named Artakama4. She was the sister of Alexander’s mistress, Barsine, but there are no further references to her. Like most of Alexander’s men, Ptolemy most likely divorced his Persian bride after Alexander’s death – he had married only out of loyalty to Alexander, not love or any choice of his own.

When Ptolemy returned to Egypt, he was not yet named Pharaoh. At that time he was still a satrap under the rule of Philip Arrhidaeus, Alexander’s older half-brother, and Alexander IV, infant son of Alexander and Roxane. Philip Arrhidaeus was technically king. The infantry wanted someone of Alexander’s blood to rule, and threatened to revolt against the generals if Arrhidaeus was not put on the throne. The first fight for succession was between Perciddas, commander of the cavalry, and Meleager, commander of the phalanx. Perciddas wanted to wait until Roxane gave birth, to see if Alexander’s child was a boy. Meleager, like his men, thought that Arrhidaeus, as the closest living male relative, should be king. They came to a compromise: Arrhidaeus would rule for the time being, and then if the child was a boy, they would rule together.

However, he was a mere figurehead for the generals, starting with Perciddas and going through many others. Plutarch tells that Arrhidaeus had become physically and mentally disabled after Alexander’s mother Olympias poisoned him as a child, in an attempt to clear the way to the throne for her own son. Like so many other stories about Olympias, there is no proof this ever happened. Alexander was apparently very fond of his brother, and took him with him on his campaigns, although he was never in any kind of command and may have never fought at all. Arrhidaeus was eventually killed in the political struggles after Alexander’s death, on Dec. 25, 317 BCE.

Ptolemy stole the body of Alexander, in an attempt to honor his wishes to be buried in Egypt. It was also a Makedonian tradition for the new king to bury his predecessor, so Perdiccas saw this as a grab for power and declared war on Ptolemy. In 321 BCE Perdiccas tried to attack Ptolemy. But Perciddas was unable to invade Egypt, losing as many as two thousand men to drowning when he attempted to cross the Nile. He was forced to retreat, and the episode so badly damaged his reputation that he was killed that night in his tent by two of his subordinates. Even before he was killed, a hundred of the commanders revolted and went over to Ptolemy’s side. When Ptolemy heard what had happened, he crossed the Nile himself to give much needed supplies to Perciddas’ army. He had fought with many of these men, after all, just a few years before. In return he was offered Perdiccas’ position as Regent, but he turned it down. Ptolemy was never tempted to risk everything in pursuit of total power, but in his wisdom stuck with Egypt.

Alexander’s son was killed in 311 BCE, leaving Ptolemy with control of Egypt all to himself. Although he had been acting as Pharaoh to the Egyptian people for many years, he was now addressed by the title of King by other Greek lands. Ptolemy is pictured in both Greek and Egyptian dress. He actively promoted the Egyptians cults and sought to create a synthesis of the two societies.

Although the many successors (who were called the Diadochi) of Alexander fought off and on for forty years, Ptolemy did his best to stay out of the affairs of the others. Except to defend Egypt when necessary, Ptolemy concentrated his energy on rebuilding rather than fighting with the successors. He did not retain his land or holdings in Greece, and he didn’t seem to care or dispute their seizure. Ptolemy was a cautious strategist. He only joined the coalitions against certain of the Diadochi when it appeared that one, such as Antigonus, had the ambition and possible ability to destroy them all. He also sent men to assist the island of Rhodes when it was under siege by Demetrius. Ptolemy controlled Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Palestine as well, for a time. Although he lost and regained Cyprus and Palestine at different times, he never lost control of Egypt. Ptolemy was strongest there, and Egypt is a hard land to invade, surrounded on all sides by merciless desert.

Ptolemy continued to build the city of Alexandria according to Alexander’s original plans. He built the city’s walls, countless Temples, and the tomb/temple of Alexander and established a priesthood of Alexander, which would become one of the most important priesthoods in the city. He began the work on the famous Pharos lighthouse, which would be completed during his son’s reign. The Pharos would become one of the seven wonders of the world. He connected the island of Pharos to the mainland by a causeway, as Alexander had planned, and it became one of the sides of the Alexandrian harbor. He patronized the mathematician Euclid, and invited the philosopher Strabo to tutor his son. He founded the great Library of Alexandria and the Mouseion (Temple of the Muses), both great centers of learning and culture. At it’s height the Library was said to house 700,000 scrolls5!

Ptolemy, driven by zeal and the great desire for the furtherance of learning, collected with no less care, a similar Library for the same purpose at Alexandria, about the same period. When by dint of great labor he had completed it, he was not satisfied, unless, like the seed of the earth, it was to go on increasing. He therefore instituted games to the Muses and Apollo, and in imitation of those in which wrestlers contended, he decreed rewards and honors to the victorious in literature6.

Ptolemy even resorted to piracy to gain rare books for his library:

The precious texts were safe-guarded in the Athenian state archives and were not allowed to be lent out. Ptolemy however was able to persuade the governors of Athens to permit him to borrow them in order to have them copied. The enormous sum of fifteen talents of silver was deposited in Athens as a pledge for their safe restitution. The King thereupon kept the originals and sent back copies, willingly forfeiting his pledge7.

There were books on Zoroastrianism8, histories of foreign places such as Babylonia9, and as Ptolemy II Philadelphus was in contact with one of the greatest Kings of India, Asoka, there may have even been Buddhist texts in the Library at that point. In the first class I stated that the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek under Ptolemy Soter; it turns out that there is some dispute as to which Ptolemy had them translated. I’m going to quote H. Jeremiah Lewis’ opinion on this subject:

It should be noted that there is some disagreement as to when this happened, and whether it was Ptolemy Soter or his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus who ordered the translation. The 2nd century Letter of Aristeas asserts that it was the son. Augustine (City of God 18.42-43) and Epiphanios (On Weights and Measures 3-11) agree with him, while Jerome (Preface to the Pentateuch) and Justin Martyr (Apology 1.31) insist it was the first Ptolemy. Of course, Justin says that Ptolemy sent to King Herod for the translation – which is about 300 years off the mark – meaning that he was probaly taking the ancient world’s eviqulent of crack when he wrote that. Scholars believe it is unlikely that the translation was undertaken by Philadelphus as Aristeas suggests, since Demetrios sought refuge at Soter’s court, but fell out of favor with Philadelphus and was killed shortly after he took the throne. (Diogenes Laertios L.5.78) Since Aristeas also gets other details of early Ptolemiac history wrong, it’s safe to assume that Soter is the one responsible for translating the Hebrew scriptures into Greek10.

Even though he was the ruler of a rich land, Ptolemy had simple tastes. He did not live in luxury. But he was a generous man, known for giving lavish gifts.

Ptolemy, son of Lagos, owned no more than was required for everyday use; and he used to say it was more kingly to enrich than to be rich11.

Ptolemy Soter was plain in his manners, and scarcely surpassed his own generals in the costliness of his way of life. He often dined and slept at the houses of his friends; and his own house had so little of the palace, that he borrowed dishes and tables of his friends when he asked any number of them to dine with him in return, saying that it was the part of a king to enrich others rather than to be rich himself. – S. Rappoport, History of Egypt.

He fed the Makedonian soldiers not under his command, from his own pocket:

On the next day when their was an assembly of soldiers, Ptolemy came, greeted the Makedonians, and spoke in defense of his attitude; and as their supplies had worn short, he provided at his own expense grain in abundance for the armies and filled the camp with the other needful things12.

Ptolemy wrote his own account of his experiences alongside Alexander, known for its plain and straightforward style of writing. The whole document has itself been lost, but served as a main source of Arrian’s history of Alexander, and so quotes and sections of Ptolemy’s history survive through Arrian’s writing.

Neither did Ptolemy have a puffed up ego; he could take a joke at his own expense. Ptolemy was once making fun of a pedant — commoner (?) for his ignorance, and asked him who the father of Peleus was. The pedant retorted that he would tell him after Ptolemy told him who the father of Lagos (Ptolemy’s father) was. This was a jest at rumors of Ptolemy’s illegitimacy. Everyone in the court was indignant, but Ptolemy told them, “If it is not the part of a king to take a jest, neither is it to make one13.”

Ptolemy was so loved that after his death in 382, he was declared a God and given the worship of a Heros like Alexander.

Now the rhyton was earlier called a horn; and it appears to have been manufactured first under the orders of King Ptolemy Philadelphus, that it might be used as an attribute borne by the statues of Arsinoe. For in her left hand the queen carries that sort of object filled with all kinds of fruit, the artists thus indicating that this horn is even richer in blessings than the horn of Amaltheia. Theoces mentions it in his Ithyphallic Versesthus: “All we artists have today celebrated with sacrifice the festival of Salvation;* in their company I have drunk the double horn and am come into the presence of our dearest king14.

*Xen. Anab. Iii. 2. 8. But here the Saviour Gods are Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice.

Ptolemy Philadelphus

Ptolemy had three children with Berenike: one son, Philadelphus, and two daughters, Arsinoe II and Philotera. (He had four or five children by his first wife, and three by an Athenian courtesan, Thais.) Philadelphus, who succeeded him, was born in 308 BCE, took the throne when his father retired in 285, and ruled as Pharaoh of Egypt for almost forty years, till January 28th, 246 BCE., when he died.

Ptolemy’s son was called Philadelphus because, in the tradition of the Egyptian royal families, he married his sister Arsinoe. This scandalized the Greeks and Makedonians, who had a strong prohibition against incest. To the Egyptians, this was not only to be expected, but celebrated. It’s easy for us moderns to judge this practice by our own social mores, but it was a different time. While they were still living they declared themselves living Gods, and they were called the Theoi Adelphoi, “the Brother-Sister Gods”. Ever after the Ptolemies would be worshiped as God-kings in the Egyptian manner.

Philadelphus was a great ruler, who continued his father’s work of uniting the Egyptian and Greek peoples. It was under Philadelphus’ reign the Pharos lighthouse Soter had begun was finished.

“In all the qualities which make a good ruler, Ptolemy Philadelphos excelled not only his contemporaries, but all who came before him so that even today, after so many generations, his praises are sung for the many evidences and monuments of his greatness of mind which he left behind him in different cities and countries. That is why acts of more than ordinary munificence or buildings on an especially great scale are proverbially called Philadelphian after him. … To put it shortly, as the house of the Ptolemies was highly distinguished, compared with other dynasties, so was Philadelphos among the Ptolemies. The creditable achievements of this one man almost outnumbered those of all the others put together, and, as the head takes the highest place in the living body, so he may be said to head the kings.” – Philo, Life of Moses 2.29-30

Modern Worship of Ptolemy Soter

While doing the research and writing for this class, I repeatedly found myself more and more drawn to Ptolemy Soter on a personal level. I turned to my friend, H. Jeremiah Lewis, whose book I’ve been referencing, and asked him some questions about his worship of the Ptolemies. His response was rather lengthy, but I’d like to share some of it with you, so you can get an idea what modern worship of the Ptolemies looks like (the full essay is available online here).

I asked him how he worshiped the Ptolemies, Soter in particular. His response was that although it was a straight-forward question, the answer is a bit complicated. The worship is very different depending on which Ptolemy he worshiping, if it’s only for one of them or as a family collectively, if it is a festival simply to honor them or if there is a particular goal such as promoting fertility or establishing order, or if it’s alongside other Gods. Dionysos and Aphrodite have special connections to the dynasty, and so will have different results than something for the whole pantheon, as They draw out different aspect of the Ptolemies’ personalities then other Gods. He also identifies four different aspects of Ptolemy Soter he has experienced:

Then there’s the fact that just as the gods have different forms or aspects that they may choose to reveal to us at any given time, so do the Ptolemies – and Soter in particular. Roughly there are four of them, though one should not assume that these exhaust the totality of his being or that they are mutually exclusive. They have a tendency to blur into each other during the course of an encounter, though whichever is most dominant tends to influence how I engage with him.

The God-King: In this form Soter is a deified monarch with very little humanity left about him. It’s almost as if he’s an image on a temple wall come to life: wise, powerful, strong, almost indistinguishable from the gods themselves. He embodies the spirit of kingship itself and everything that a good Pharaoh aspires to be. He tends to be distant, serene, aloof and fills you with a mixture of awe, reverence and more than a little fear. You are very much conscious of standing in the presence of something divine, something more than human, something radiating awesome and unimaginable power, something that would be terrible if not for the deep gentleness and benevolence of his spirit. He is absolutely just and pure, intolerant of misdeeds and personal weakness. You’d better have your shit together when you come before him in this form because he’ll make you acutely aware of every imperfection if you’re not.

The Neos Dionysos: The Ptolemies were descended from the god and especially devoted to his cult. They embodied all of his qualities and several seemed to live entirely in his mythical shadow. A Hindu might say that they were an avatar of Dionysos, the god made flesh on earth. Many of the Ptolemies themselves claimed to be the New Dionysos. Soter, however, wasn’t one of them. The Dionysian aspects of their kingship only became prominent with Philadelphos and it wasn’t until the reign of Philopator that this term was even coined. That’s not to say that Soter didn’t worship the god or that Dionysian imagery played no part in his royal ideology – there is ample evidence in support of both points – but Soter was also, unquestionably, less of a Dionysian monarch than his descendants, especially since he tended more to favor the cults of Zeus and Herakles and modeled his rule after them. It may seem strange, then, to include him in this category, but when I’ve encountered the Neoi Dionysoi (or whatever the plural of the term would be) in ritual he’s definitely been among them. Not as prominently as Philadelphos, Philopator, Auletes or Marcus Antonius, to be sure, but he nevertheless stands among them at their head, as is only fitting for the founder of the Dynasty. In terms of cultus the Neoi Dionysoi are a host of spirits resembling the god, sharing in his attributes, powers and personality as well as well as being distinct forms or masks through which he may manifest. Sometimes they appear all together as one being, like Dionysian nesting dolls stacked inside each other. Other times they are distinct but form a troop or choir accompanying the god in his eternal revels. When Soter is among them he appears lighter, friendlier, more jubilant and, well, human – though it is his Dionysian qualities that are foremost. Lusty, laughing, dancing, drunk and joyous. This is my favorite side of him, but it’s also the one I encounter least often. Of course it’s not all fun and games – this is Dionysos we’re talking about! – because there’s also a solemnity and darkness beneath the mirth, and above all a concern with fertility and especially the fertility of vegetative life through the process of death, decay and rebirth. Their revelry has a purpose: to awaken the dormant powers within the earth and stimulate growth and new green life once more.

Ancestral spirit: This is the form Soter takes when he is among the dead collectively. He is not one of the impotent and mindless shades of Haides – he’s more like the powerful ancestral spirits of traditional African and Egyptian religion who dispense wisdom, luck and potency when appeased but send illness, death and calamity when ignored. This form is very different from the others I’ve encountered. It’s much less personal, to the point where it can be difficult to distinguish him from the other spirits. He’s more a force or power than anything, driven by hunger and craving attention. But not personal attention, since there’s little that’s personal left to him. It’s blood and dance and offerings of food and alcohol and attention for all the dead that he desires, and he is just one among many. A host of souls continuing to influence this world from beyond the grave. The dead are dark and strange and hungry but they show great kindness to those who feed them. They are especially effective in healing illness, sending prophetic dreams and increasing one’s luck.

Ptolemy Soter himself: This is probably the form that I’ve encountered least often, but in some ways it’s left the greatest impression on me. This is just Ptolemy the son of Lagos. Not the king, not the god, not the living image of Dionysos or the great ancestral spirit – but the man. A man born in the hinterlands of Greece many centuries ago, who spent most of his life on the battlefield, who loved his wives and mistresses, who wanted only the best for his children and looked back with pride on the incredible things he’d done and seen over his eighty-plus years. He was a man of keen intellect, though not an intellectual by any stretch of the imagination. He was interested in figuring out how things worked – but only if that knowledge had a practical application. Others could spend time with their heads in the clouds – he was too busy keeping his men alive or governing a country. He was a stern patriarch, a man of honesty, integrity and uncompromising moral convictions. A hard man, disciplined and frugal. He didn’t shun wealth, but he believed that it should be used properly, never allowing it to corrupt one’s character or be pursued as an end unto itself. He demanded much of those around him – especially his children – but demanded even more of himself. He was interested in other cultures, especially when it came to their religious beliefs, but in the end he was a deeply conservative soul who believed in the inherent superiority of his people and their traditions. He’s like your grandfather. Someone who came through the Great Depression, fought in WWII and Korea and had the scars and stories to show for it. Hard, but not cruel; kind, but not doting. Set in his ways, a little crabby, but with a ready smile and a booming, infectious laugh. Full of solid practical advice – whether asked for or not – and more than a little nostalgic, frequently going on about how much better things were back in his day, yet grudgingly impressed by the progress we’ve made in certain areas. Over all, a wise and good man you’d do well to listen to.

So, now that I’ve probably told you more about the different ways I’ve encountered Ptolemy Soter than you ever wanted to know, I suppose I should actually attempt to answer the question you put to me, namely how I worship the Ptolemies. Well, when the god-king aspect is most prominent my style of worship isn’t much different from what I offer to the other deities. I set up a shrine, light some incense and candles, pour libations, offer food, recite hymns and prayers, etc. Beforehand I cleanse myself properly, wear my finest clothing and a garland. It’s all very formal and by the book. In fact, sometimes I adapt the Egyptian prayers to the deified king or use the royal formulas found on Ptolemaic temple walls, or the works of the Alexandrian court poets (Kallimakhos, Theokritos, Poseidippos, etc.) if I haven’t composed my own hymns and prayers for the occasion. I often use the official titles and honorifics associated with the cult of the Ptolemies, in both Greek and Egyptian. There are a number of activities associated with particular festivals but these are too complicated – and in some instances too personal – to go into here as part of a general overview.

Likewise if I’m dealing with the Ptolemies in their capacity as ancestral spirits I’ll employ the traditional Greek or Egyptian methods for honoring the dead. The main difference here is in what’s offered – for instance a mixed libation of milk, wine, honey and oil – and in how the offerings are handled. I may bury the offerings instead of just leaving them out and when I do so I write my prayer or request on a card and either inter it with the offerings or burn it.

The only unique feature that I feel warrants discussion at this point is the trance-possession that often takes place when I am dealing with their more Dionysian aspects. I allow them to come through and “ride” me in the manner of the Haitian lwa. This can take a variety of forms ranging from mere “shadowing” where I am in complete control of my body and senses but feel them somewhere in the back of my consciousness, communicating with me or showing me certain things on up to full possession where they are manipulating my body and speaking through my mouth and I’m pretty much just along for the ride in my own body or completely unaware until I return to myself. There’s plenty of things that can happen between these two extremes and it’s usually somewhere in the middle, a mixture of the two: I’ve only experienced what I’d consider total possession a handful of times now, and always on very special occasions. What transpires during these states and how they’re brought about aren’t things I really feel comfortable sharing in such a public forum. It’s enough to state that they are possible and happen with some regularity. In fact they’ve been known to happen even when I wasn’t intending to go that deep or had even planned to be working with them at that time. Lately the Ptolemies often show up when I’m doing stuff with either Dionysos or Spider – especially when I’m dealing with both of them together.

1Theokritos. Idylls 17

2Plutarch. Moralia. 327 B, 344 D.

3Alexander’s Itinerary. 41. xciii

4Arrian. 7.4.6

5Ammianus Marcellinus. Roman History. 22:16:15.

6Vetruvius. On Architecture. 7.4.

7 Galen, In Hippocr. De Nat.Hominis 1.44 ff

8Pliny. Natural History. 30.3-4

9Manethon. fr.3

10H. Jeremiah Lewis. Balance of the Two Lands: Writings on Greco-Egyptian Polytheism. Nysa Press. Page 230.

11Plutarch. Moralia. 181 F

12Diodoros. 18.28.5

13Plutarch. Moralia. 458 A – B.

14 Athenaeus XI. 497 b – c

Greco-Egyptian Noumenia Ritual

So, today is the Noumenia, the New month in the Greek Calendar. Although Noumenia means literally “New Moon”, it is not on what is astrologically called the new moon, which is really the dark moon. Rather, it occurs a few days later, when the first sliver of light appeared. It was considered one of the holiest of days. No other religious festivals were ever conducted on this day. Most public offices were also closed. It was a day to stay home with your family and celebrate the household Gods. Yesterday was Hekate’s Deiphon, the last day of the lunar month. The Deiphon is dedicated to purification and cleansing, of both the spiritual and physical kind. Then on the Noumenia, the newly clean house is blessed. Tomorrow is the day for the Agathos Daimon. In any case, we are entering the month of Gamelion, which gets its name from the Gamelia festival. Alternately called the Theogamia, this festival celebrates the marriage of Zeus and Hera, the King and Queen of the Greek pantheon. This year it falls on February 6^th. The folks over at Hellenion have a free pdf calendar for 2016, available here if you’re interested in other upcoming festivals.

Below is a Greco-Egyptian ritual celebrating the Noumenia. This is the ritual I will be using myself late tonight. I wanted to write something that had a specific Greco-Egyptian feel, instead of just Athenian or general Greek. If anyone uses it themselves, they should change the Gods in the section titled “Honor Personal and Family Patrons” since these should be the Gods that you or your family members are close to. Even if you are close to the Gods I’ve named, some of what I talk about in this ritual is specific to my current situation. I thought I’d share it anyway. I plan to change the some of the specific lines in this section each month, depending on how my devotions are going, therefore making it even more personal and not just a rote recitation.

 

Greco-Egyptian Noumenia Ritual

Barley Offering

Sprinkle barley on the altar, SAYING:

“To the givers of life, Life.”

 

Purify the Circle

Walk around the ritual space with the khernips bowl, sprinkling the water around the perimeter. Say:

“You are washed clean by the life-giving waters of the Nile! You are pure! No man has set foot on you, for you are the primordial mound rising from the broad depths of Ocean at the First Time. You are pure!”

Walk in another circle, taking the bowl to each of member of your family, so they can wash their face and hands. As they are doing so, say:

“You are washed clean by the life-giving waters of the Nile! You are pure!”

 

Calling the Gods

Hail to the Gods of Olympos, Gods of Starry Night, Gods of green Earth, and Gods of the dark Underworld below. I call all of You Divine Beings to witness my ritual.

 

Ritual Lighting of the Sacred Fire

[light the fire, whether it be a single candle or roaring fireplace]

First I honor Hestia, Goddess of the Flame, the Hearth, the Center of Olympos

The Heart of All Things, the Axis round which we revolve, the peaceful calm that all Gods cycle back to, the Beginning and the End of All Things.

Come to us, Goddess, and attend our rite.

[pour out libation]

 

Libations to the Gods of the Noumenia

Next we honor the Gods to Whom the Noumenia belongs.  For Selene, silver-haired Titaness, Goddess of the Moon, Lamp-Bearer of Night, Tonight Your power begins to grow again, as Your light waxes to full once more. A thin sliver of Your light appears in the sky again, an eternal promise that after the darkness comes renewal, that the cycle will never end, but begin again. Sweet Selene, Lover of Endymion, Who selflessly lends mankind Her light, I honor You.

[pour out libation]

 

Zeus Ktesios I sing to next, of the sacred jar, and also Zeus Herkios, of the fence, the boundary between the outside world and the sanctuary of the home. Great are You, the ruler of Olympos, but it is not to the King I pray today, but to the Father. Guard my lands, Father Zeus, and protect my household, as You would protect Your own.

[pour out libation]

 

Agathos Daimon, Snake-formed God, Guardian of the pantry, Who stands beside fair Tykhe-Fortuna, God of Alexandria, I pray to You also. You are the Good Spirit, so often ignored by scholars, made a minor footnotes in the texts, but so important to the ancients! You Who guard the food-stores through the dark of winter, protect me and mine as we enter this new cycle, see that my lands are made abundant and my animals fertile, so that my family continues to prosper and be fed.

 

[pour out libation]

 

Janus, Guardian of the Door, He Who gazes ahead and behind, You see and comprehend all, past, present and future has no meaning for You. Every beginning ends, and every ending begins. Forever and ever, a cyclic rhythm, spinning into eternity. And you stand in the Center and witness it all. Pater Ianus, I pray to You now. Allow no-one Who means me or mine harm to enter here, Let only friendly faces cross this threshold. Protect my family as we leave the safety of Home, and go out into the wide world.

[pour out libation]

Honor Personal and Family Patrons

 

Athena, Warrior’s Goddess, Mighty Daughter of Zeus, With Hephaistos the patroness of craftsmen, I have felt Your call all of life. These past few years have been hard for me, and I have fallen away from Your worship. My soul has suffered from Your absence. I have known you primarily as a city Goddess, the philosopher’s Goddess, Who haunts the marble halls of higher learning. My life is changing now, as I flee the packed and teeming masses of the city into the tranquility of the country. I pray to You as the Goddess of weavers, that woman’s skill, for I must find a way to learn many forgotten skills in my new life. If You’ll still have me, Goddess, I would rededicate myself to You tonight.

 

[pour out libation]

 

Artemis, Virgin Huntress, forest-dweller, Who runs forever with Her hounds and nymphs, Wild and free, Teach me the mysteries of the woods, the language of trees and of babbling brooks, teach me survival in its most basic form, in the magic of predator and prey. I dedicate myself to You Artemis, Whom I have known before, but only briefly. I invite you to walk with me as I carve out a new life for myself, the life of homesteader, of a woodswoman, a person of the wild places.

[pour out libation]

 

Hermes, Laughing God, Trickster from Kyllene, I have felt Your Presence greatly of late, more so even than Artemis of the silver bow. You are a liminal God, a God of transitions and transformations, of passing from what-was to what-will-be. If You are here to guide me, I welcome You also, for many forget that You are a rustic God as well. God of Shepherds, lover of many nymphs, Father to Eternal Pan the Goat-Footed, Who plays His pipes in the Arcadian woods, I welcome You into my life as well.

[pour out libation]

Isis, Swarthy-skinned Goddess of Aiegyptos, Celestial Deity, Whose eyes are the sun and moon, Great Mother of All, Savior-Goddess, Who enfolds the world in Her embrace, Soother of pain, I pray to You now. I have suffered greatly in my life. When I can no longer be strong, may You be there to comfort me, to help me get back on my feet, and try again. With You beside me, surely there is nothing that I can’t do.

[pour out libation]

Anubis, Jackal-headed God of the desert, feral God in canid form, Prince of the Court of Justice, Once You came into my life like a whirlwind, filled my dreams with Your Divine Presence, and gave me a sense of safety I’ve never known. When You howl, specter scatter and evil quakes in fear. Anubis, I remember You, Hovering at the periphery, as I came to know Your adopted Mother Isis. Opener of the Way, open my eyes so I can see what You see, deep into the hearts of men. Teach me the arts of divination, as I relearn the crafts I left behind in my dark night of the soul. Anubis, I ask You also to watch over my dogs, Your special creatures, who are dear to my heart. I have lost much, and I could not bear to lose them.

[pour out libation]

Ending                   

O Blessed Immortals, You hail from the shores of both Greece and Egypt, and even might Rome, but my heart is called to worship you all the same. Just as the moon forever returns to the point of darkness, and again to fullness, So do I return to honor You, the Gods of my ancestors. As the silver of light brings the promise of renewal, I bring the promise of my adoration. To You I will pour out libations and sacrifice sweet incense on the fires of Your altars. Forgive my inattention and doubt in the last two years. I am but human, a fallible mortal, and life has not been kind to me of late.

—-

After the ritual, you should some time in the Presence of the Gods if you can. I plan on doing some meditation and divination tonight after the ritual.

Last night’s ritual

Last night was a beautiful ritual. I baked blueberry-walnut muffins as one of the offerings, and two other people were in attendance, including one woman who has not been able to make it to ritual in a while. It was a nice night, wonderful to see my friend, and after the ritual I led a guided meditation to meet Isis in a Temple by the Nile. The ritual was new, but the meditation was the same one I led two or three years ago when I first offered worship to Isis. This is a special holiday for me in that respect, the anniversary of when I first began to tentatively worship the Egyptian Gods. I now feel Alexandria is my spiritual home, and so this festival, the Panegyris, is the anniversary of my homecoming spiritually. After the ritual we drummed for the Goddess. I love drumming, I really feel it adds a lot to a ritual. It grounds the ritual working in the physical world and is itself a great offering to the Gods. It was a great evening. Putting these rituals on is a lot of work, but it is so rewarding. I really enjoy it, nothing fills by heart with song like worshiping the Gods, especially in community. Next month we will be holding a festival for Hermes and a ritual to connect with the ancestors. I can’t wait!

Panegyris Ritual

Cleansing the Sacred Space

Carrying the khernips, the Priest/ess walks around the ritual area, sprinkling everything with the water. Recite the following as you make your circuit:

“You are washed clean by the life-giving waters of the Nile! You are pure! No man has set foot on you, for you are the primordial mound rising from the broad depths of the Ocean at the First Time. You are pure!”

Carry the bowl to each participant and let them wash their hands and face. Say:

“You are washed clean by the life-giving waters of the Nile! You are pure!”

Take up the aparkhai (barley offering) and proceed to the shrine. Scatter the aparkhai and say:

“To the givers of life, Life!”

Intro

Today we gather to worship Isis, Great Mother of Egypt, in Her form as Tykhe-Fortuna, the syncretized Hellenistic Goddess of Good Fortune. Who would not want the Goddess of Good Fortune is their lives? And we thank Isis also as the discoverer of grain, with which this bread is made, which feeds our bodies and our souls. Today we offer back to the Goddess that which She gives to us, the abundance She shares with us so freely. Thus do we give to Isis that which is Hers.

.

Hymn to Isis (read by one of the worshipers)

O Isis of the Many Names

Mother of Aieygptos, Great in Magic

You are the nurturer and defender of the world

Who enfolds all of mankind in Your wings

Wife of Osiris, You shed many tears for Him

In mourning You wandered the world

Loyally searching for the pieces of His body

Scattered by the vengeful Set

O Isis, You gave birth to a magnificent son,

Bright Horus the strong-armed

And adopted a darker son, just as magnificent

Mighty Anubis, the hound-formed son of Your sister

Isis, it is You Who makes Upper and Lower Egypt fertile and green

Who causes sweet myrrh and useful papyrus to sprout and grow tall

Lady of the Sycamore Tree,

Who rules over life and death

She Who knows the secret name of Ra

Lady of Magic Who brings forth whatever Her heart conceives

Through words of power and the magic of Her tongue

Truly You are the greatest of all Gods and Goddesses,

For You name is known in all lands!

Your Mysteries spread far from Aiegyptos

Far from Your native land

And all Who heard Your name

Fell under Your spell

Even as we worshipers who, Two millennium later

gather to pay Your homage.

The magic of Your name lives on

.

Hymn to Tykhe (read by one of the worshipers)

Turret-crowned Queen, I sing

Immortal Agathe Tykhe, Fortuna to the Romans,

Elder sister of the Moiroi

Goddesses Three, Who weave the threads of mortal lives

Friend of all mankind

Who bears the cornucopia,

And metes out good and evil.

Rich and poor alike must deal with Your decrees,

O Goddess.

O Primal One without parent, I pray

Allow me to accept

The twists and turns that Fate deals

To see the opportunity in the tragedy

And to understand what I am meant to do.

Help me to make the right choices,

Where my Fate depends on it,

And to accept my lack of control,

Where it does not.

Let me always act with honor

Whatever you set before me.

Send me only hardships I can endure,

And that will make a better person.

This I pray, O Glorious Tykhe.

.

Offerings:

Great Isis-Agathe Tykhe, whether You be one Goddess or two, we offer You this sustenance, sweet bread, salad greens, and rice, the staples of life. May You join us in our feast, but know You are always welcome in our homes or in our hearts.

Serapis

Of all the Gods, Greek or Egyptian, most connected to Ptolemy Soter were Isis and Serapis. The Egyptian Osar-Apis (or Osiripis, Userhapi, Asar-Hapi), was in the Greek called Serapis (or Sarapis, Zaparrus). While building Alexandria, Ptolemy had a dream. He saw a large statue that commanded him to bring to bring it to Alexandria. Ptolemy did not recognize the statue in his dream. He discussed it with his friends, trying to discover the identity of the mysterious statue. One of them, Sosibius, said that in Sinope there was a statue of Pluto that perfectly matched Ptolemy’s description of his vision. Ptolemy sent two men, Dionysius and Soteles, to get the statue. Plutarch says that while they are on their way, a storm blows them off course and they become lost and discouraged. A dolphin appeared by the prow and led them to their destination. When they got there, they manage to steal the statue, with more divine help¹.

Although recognized as a statue of Pluto, we are told that two priests, Timotheus the Heirophant of the Eleusisan Mysteries, and an Egyptian scholar called Manetho of Sebennytos, convinced Ptolemy that he was the God Serapis.So Plutarch tells us:

It certainly did not bear this name when it came from Sinope, but, after it had been conveyed to Alexandria, it took to itself the name that Pluto bears among the Egyptians, that of Serapis. Moreover, since Herakleitos the physical philosopher says, “The same are Haides and Dionysos, to honor whom they rage and rave,” people are inclined to come to this opinion. In fact, those who insist that the body is called Haides, since the soul is, as it were, deranged and inebriate when it is in the body, are too frivolous in their use of allegory. It is better to identify Osiris with Dionysos and Serapis with Osiris, who received this appellation at the time when he changed his nature. For this reason Serapis is a god of all peoples in common, even as Osiris is; and this they who participated in the holy rites well know².

Tactius, however, says that Ptolemy’s dream was really of “a youth of singular beauty and a more than human stature”. What ever the truth, the statue was bought to Alexandria and renamed Serapis. The Greek and Egyptian priests who both claimed it was Serapis lend weight to the belief on both sides. Serapis had been a relatively minor Deity in the Egyptian New Kingdom (appox. 1570-1065 BCE). Osar-Apis was what the sacred Apis bull was called after his death. When the Apis died, he was mummified and entombed with great honors. In the Underworld he was identified with Osiris, just as the Pharaoh was. Eventually all the dead came to be identified with Osiris, rather than just the Pharaoh. One of the most common titles of Osiris was “Bull of the West” (the Western Lands is the land of the dead in Egyptian belief).

The Apis bull was a God incarnate, a harbinger of fertility, prosperity, and healing, and connected with the Nile. Bulls, one of the most sacred animals in Egypt, were greatly revered as symbols of strength, virility, and fighting spirit. Bulls are one of the most useful animals in an agrarian society, being used to plow the fields where grain grows. So the connection to fertility, food, and life is a natural one. Apis was considered one of the kindest, most beneficent Deities. He was a guardian of children, and any child who smelled the breath of the bull was thought to have the power to tell the future. Sometimes the Apis was himself used as a form of divination. He was asked a question, and then offered food. If he rejected the food it was a bad omen, if he ate it that was a good omen. OriginallyApis was considered a manifestation of Ptah, the creator God of Memphis, Who brings the world into being through sacred words of power. But early on, the Apis began to be associated with Osiris, the dying and resurrecting consort of Isis. The mother of the Apis bull was called the Hesis of Hesat cow (or less often, the Isis cow).

There were a few smaller bull cults, including one centered in the town of Armant. This bull had to be all white with a black face. He was called Buchis, and was linked to Ra, Osiris, and Montu. The Buchis bull and his mother were also mummified and laid to rest in a special cemetery called the Bucheum.

In pre-Ptolemaic Egypt, the cult of Osar-Apis was primarily centered in Memphis, which is where the Apis bull lived out his life and was buried. But by an account in Tactius Serapis was claimed as the local God of Rhakotis, the small Egyptian village that was located near or at the site of the future Alexandria. The Greeks believed that Apis was the son of Zeus and the river-nymph Io, who had been turned into a heifer and driven to Egypt by Hera. There in Egypt, she gave birth to Zeus’ son, who the Greeks called Epaphos, the first Apis bull³.

After Ptolemy’s dream, Serapis was adopted as the patron of Alexandria and the Ptolemaic dynasty in general. He formed a bridge between Greeks and Egyptians, so they both payed homage to the same great God. To the Greeks Osiris was most often seen as the Egyptian face of Dionysos, but as Serapis He came to incorporate aspects of Zeus and Haides, even taking patronage of the Sun from Helios, and healing and dream incubation from Asklepios! He was addressed as lord of the universe, life, death, and the afterlife.

He is heavily bearded, looking a lot like Zeus, except He wears the modius crown of grain. (In the movie Agora, one of the Christian leaders publicly mocks Serapis as a God wearing a flowerpot on head) He’s often shown with a royal scepter and holding the chain of Kerberos, the three-headed dog who guards the underworld in classical Greek belief. Sometimes he is also depicted with the curved ram’s horns on the side of His head, linking Him to Zeus Ammon.

Some scholars say that Ptolemy Soter completely invented Serapis. This is obliviously not true, as Osar-Apis was worshiped in Egypt long before Ptolemy, even if He was an obscure Deity at the time. However, it is fair to say that Ptolemy did reinvent the cult for a mixed Greek and Egyptian audience. Serapis was soon associated with Isis and Harpokrates (the Greek name for Horus the Younger, Heru-sa-Aset).

Under Ptolemy III the famous Serapeum of Alexandria was built. The Serapeum was a huge complex of buildings and gardens, one of the largest in the ancient world. It was considered one of the most beautiful Temples in the world, and become a great site of pilgrimage. In the complex was a library that contained 300, 000 scrolls, which was considered to be a daughter library of the Great Library of Alexandria.

Since many residents of Alexandria were sailors and traders, worship of Serapis and Isis was quickly spread abroad. Jeremy J. Baer (aka “Ursus”) in his essay The History of Serapis, tells us that:

..We find cults of Isis and Serapis formed as private associations throughout many major port towns of the Mediterranean, with official temple cults erected not long thereafter. Egyptian slaves sold in foreign markets often carried the cult with them to new lands. Interestingly enough, foreign merchants and slave traders were just as likely to adopt the cult, for they found in Isis and Serapis universal deities with powers to grant great boons.

Serapis …. in cult shared powers of some of the Greek healing gods. He could also be identified with Dionysus-Sabazius as another resurrected vegetation deity. His consort Isis could be linked with the Greek Demeter or Greek Aphrodite. These identifications helped the cult of Isis and Serapis spread to other Hellenes throughout the Mediterranean⁴.

Among modern Pagans Serapis is usually, but not always, honored beside Isis. Together They are a powerful pair, symbolic of life in it’s purest and truest forms. Among Serapis’ gifts are healing, peace, fertility, prophetic dreams and oracles, and favor in the afterlife. In total, the Deities He is equated with are Osiris, Apis, Agathos Daimon, Dionysos, Haides, Asklepios, Helios, Zeus, Pan.His symbols are the modius crown, cornucopia, throne, scepter, lightning-bolt, kerberos, snakes, bull, ship, wheat, beer, grapes.

1Plutarch. Moralia. 984 A – B.

2Plutarch. On Isis and Osiris. 361 F – 362 E

3 Nonnus. Dionysiaca. 32.65

4http://neosalexandria.org/serapishistory.htm

The Goddess Isis

If somebody were to take a poll of the most popular Goddesses in modern Paganism, I’d wager that Isis would be one of the highest ranking, somewhere with Hekate, Artemis and Bridged. Yet, some of Her basic functions are misunderstood. Nowadays Isis is most often depicted with Her horns-and-disk headdress, but in antiquity she was shown with a throne atop Her head. After all, Isis, or Aset in the native Egyptian, is the feminine of the word for “Throne”, hence “Female of the Throne”, i.e. “Queen of the Throne”. Aset is a very ancient Deity. Some believe that She was originally a Nubian Goddess Whose worship spread to Egypt very early on. First mentions of Her name begin in the Fifth Dynasty (2494 to 2345 BCE) of the Old Kingdom. Aset was originally a somewhat obscure Deity. She was a protector of the Pharaoh and symbol of his power. The Pharaoh, as Her symbolic child, was called “the Living Horus”.

Eventually Isis absorbed the horns-and-disk headdress from Hathor. Most New Age books will tell you that the disk in question is the moon – depending on your point of view, this is both wrong, and correct. Originally, it was a sun-disk, and Isis was never considered a Moon Goddess by the Egyptians. But to the Romans, any Goddess which a symbol like that had to be a Moon Goddess. There were no Greco-Roman Sun Goddesses. Sky Goddesses, sure, even without the connection to the moon (Hera/Juno). In many ancient Western cultures, the moon and the earth were seen as female, the sky and sun as male. As the cultural descendents of the Romans, we have inherited the same presumption. But this was not true of all cultures. The Egyptians saw the earth as a male God, Geb, and His wife the sky was called Nuit. There are many Deities, male AND female, that the Egyptians associated with the sun. Which makes sense if consider the climate of this desert country. There are also several Moon Gods in Egypt (Min, Khonsu, Thoth), but in all cases they are male.

And there are other cultures where the genders are swapped. The Japanese Amasterasu, the Slavic Saule, the Nordic Sunna, the Australian Aborigine Wuriupranili and the Cherokee Unelanuhi are Sun Goddesses. While the Hindu Ushas and the Greek Eos are both Goddesses of the Dawn, the Sun’s first gentle rays at it rises at its birth.

By the time the Ptolemies came on the scene, Osiris, Isis, and Horus were honored everywhere in Egypt. Isis absorbed the features of other Goddesses (such as the sun-disk and cow horn headdress from Hathor). She was worshiped as the Goddess of magic, motherhood, protector of the dead and giver of fertility, a Savior from Fate. Isis was known as a Goddess for everyone, Who listened to the prayers of slaves and Emperors alike.

Isis, Mut, and Wadjet

Commonly Isis’ headdress also featured vulture wings alongside each of side of Her head, connecting Her to the Vulture Mother, Mut, and the snake rising from Her brow, the urasus, is Wadjet, the cobra Goddess. Both of these Goddesses are considered “lesser” Deities today, but were very important in Their day. Both relate to purification, transformation, and initiation.

Mut (also spelled Maut and Mout) means simply “Mother”. She is a primordial Goddess Who was said to have already existed in the Nun (Chaos; the primordial nothingness from which the universe arose). In Thebes Mut was considered to be the Queen of the Gods, the wife of Ammon, and by Him mother of the moon-God Khonsu. In some versions Khonsu is not Her biological son, but an adopted one. Either way, Ammon, Mut, and Khonsu were worshiped as a triad at Thebes. Earlier texts say the adopted child is Montu, a falcon-headed God of War and one of the Horus-Gods, but eventually Khonsu overtook Him. Part of the reason may be that a certain lake sacred to Mut was in the shape of a crescent moon.

Horapollo (an Egyptian magus of the fourth century CE) tells us that the ancient Egyptians believed there were no male vultures. Instead, when the females wished to reproduce, they exposed their vulvas to the North Wind, thus remaining virgin, while simultaneously becoming mothers. It is said that Mut was never born, but self-created. She is somewhat androgynous, and is sometimes pictured with with a phallus, but in every other way (breasts, long hair, etc) very female.

Mut has a sister, Nekhbet, another vulture Goddess. They are called the “Two Ladies” of the Pharaoh, one Nekhbet protecting Upper Egypt and Mut Lower Egypt. Together They might be considered one Goddess, Nekhbet-Mother Mut. Much of what can be said of Mut also applies to Nekhbet. Mother Goddess, tough love, protection, linked to the Pharaoh. Nekhbet was considered to be the wife of Hapi, the androgynous God of the Nile River. Nekhbet’s fierce side is a little rougher than Mut’s. She is also a War-Goddess, often pictured hovering above the Pharaoh’s war-chariot, protecting him from his enemies. She is also called the Eye of Ra.

Vultures are carrion-eaters. This is an unsavory but necessary job in the natural world. Mut strips the dead flesh from the rotting corpse, leaving only the clean white bones beneath. Death feeds life, but rebirth is only possible after what is unnecessary is striped away. The rest is transformed, decomposed to become fertilizer to feed new green plants as they grow. Mystically speaking, Mut strips the dead weigh from our souls in preparation for initiation into the Mysteries. This is not a pleasant process. In fact it can be incredibly painful, and at the time we might rage and scream against the heavens. But this is necessary, and in fact will leave you much better than you were before. Many people never come to understand the initiation or embrace the lesson that the pain has taught you.

Some of Mut’s many titles included World-Mother, Eye of Ra, Queen of the Goddesses, Lady of Heaven, Mother of the Gods, and She Who Gives Birth, But Was Herself Not Born of Any.

Wadjet (Wadjyt, Wadjit, Udjo, Uto, Uatchet, Edjo, Buto), the Cobra, is also a “tough love” type of Goddess. The poison She spits is purifying, the kind of painful transformation that a sword must go through being tempered in a fire, pounded into shape. She was originally a pre-dynastic cobra goddess of Lower Egypt who rose to prominent when the Pharaoh adopted Her as one of His protectors. Wadjet is usually pictured as a rearing cobra, ready to strike and kill the enemies of Egypt. Sometimes She is also shown as a cobra with the head of a woman, or a cobra with wings.

Wadjet is one of Goddesses Who is called the Eye of Ra (along with Sekhmet, Bast, Hathor, and Tefnut). Her connection is so strong the symbol the Eye of Ra (sometimes called the Eye of Horus) was called a wadjet (in the form of the Eye, Udjat is the most common transliteration of Her name). In earlier times She was said to be a daughter of Ammon, and later a daughter of Ra. Ra sent Wadjet to as His “eye” (remember, irt, “eye” is very similar to ir.t, “doer” or “agent”) to find Tefnut and Shu when they were lost in the waters of Nun. When Wadjet returned with the wayward Deities, Ra was so happy that He cried tears of joy, from which the first humans sprang.

This is another pun, as the word for humans is romi the word for joyful tears is remi. This is also a profound statement on the nature of humankind. Created from tears, we suffer. Our emotions are powerful, and rule our lives. But we persevere, and from our hardship we create joy and beauty. Also, our bodies are 80% water. This element is primary to our species. Deep, emotional, spiritual, nurturing, caring, mystical. This is in our very nature.

Anyway, back to Wadjet. As a reward, Ra placed Her upon His brow in Her form as a cobra so She could always be close to Him and could act as His protector. She is also a protector of Ma’at, the principle of justice, balance, and universal order. There is an obscure myth that demonstrates Wadjet’s abhorrence for the violation of Ma’at, especially by a trusted leader, where Geb raped His mother Tefnut before being made king. When He tried to place the Royal Ureas on His forehead, the snake reared up and attacked him.

Wadjet was a forceful protector Goddess, not only of Justice in general and of kings, but in Lower Egypt of women in childbirth and of young children. Wadjet is the ultimate defender, whose purifying poison cleanses and destroys all evil. Although the cobra was Her primary manifestation, She sometimes took the form of a lioness, a further connection to Sekhmet. The mongoose, which is an apt and efficient killer of snakes, was also considered to be sacred to Her. Mongooses and shrews were mummified and entombed with statuettes of Wadjet that were buried along with human mummies. The Egyptians believed that the mongoose represents daylight, and the nocturnal shrew represents nighttime, and together they stood for the day and night cycle. The snake preys on the shrew, and a mongoose can kill a snake. The cycle of life, the food chain, the magic of the predator-prey cycle, right there in Wadjet’s sacred animals.

As we study all this, it is important to understand something about Egyptian metaphysical thought. In Egyptian thought, a picture of a thing, the word that represents a thing, and that thing itself all share the same magical essence. Spiritually, a hawk, a picture of a hawk, a hawk’s feather, and word “hawk” (whether written or spoken) all have same energy. A symbol of a God IS that God. At least, a part of that God. It’s an important point. We don’t worship idols – a picture of the God – but mystically, that symbol shares in the essence of the Deity. Just as malachite and green turquoise are Hathor embodied, Isis’ headdress *IS* the Goddesses Nekhbet-Mut and Wadjet. In an instance such as this, it can be interpreted as the Deity in question incorporating aspects of the the Deities whose symbols They wear. Another as the Gods teaming up in a temporary synthesis, a partnership, a sharing of essences for a specific propose.

the Kemetic Aset vs. The Romanic Isis

When speaking of the Goddess Isis I tend to use the the Greek transliteration, as it the most familiar and the most pleasing to me aesthetically. However, for clarity, in the rest of this post I will use the proper names to differentiate between the earlier Egyptian Aset and classical Isis

We’ve already discussed earlier the symbolism of Aset’s sundisk headdress and how the Romans interpreted it as a moon, making Isis a lunar Deity. This does not mean that the lunar associations are completely wrong. The Deities are bigger than any single culture’s understandings of Them. But it is important to know where (and when) all these ideas come from. If She comes to you as a Moon Goddess, that’s fine. But don’t try to claim that the ancient Egyptians of 3000 BCE saw Her that way. Aset may be putting on a Romanic guise to speak with you as Isis, it may be part of Her particular message to you at that time. Just because a theological idea is closer to the modern time does not make it invalid. But it is important to know the difference.

Aset has strong funerary aspects that the Romanic Isis does not. The Romans emphasized Isis’ power of life over death, but it was a conquering power, not an embracing of the afterlife. Aset and Her Sister Nebt-Het (Nephtys) are pictured on coffins as two kites (a kind of hawk) with outstretched wings, one at foot and one at the head, protecting the deceased. Aset also had a seat at the Hall of Judgment, where the deceased had to face the council of the Gods before they could enter Amenti, or heaven. When Aset became Isis, the all-loving, all-embracing, all-accepting Goddess known to the Romans, Her position as one of the Divine Judges of the afterlife was apparently shed.

Aset also comes off as a bit fiercer than Isis, somewhat ruthless in the pursuit of Her goals. The difference makes a lot of sense, if you consider the position of women within the two cultures. Egyptian women were NOT fragile, docile and submissive little things we are led to believe Athenian women were. They were used to having all the rights and most of the responsibilities of men. They could own property in their own names, take someone to court, and were considered equal to men as far as the law was concerned. It wasn’t entirely common for a woman to live alone without a father, husband, or other male guardian, but it was permitted. And not unheard of.

Aset lost Her strong connection to royalty when She was exported. In early Egypt, Aset was the protector and symbolic mother of the Pharaoh. She embodied His right to rule, as the throne that supported him. She was the mother of Heru (Horus), and very motherly and protective towards Him (and so the Pharaoh, “the living Horus”). But She was not originally considered motherly and supportive to everyone. Over time, this began to change, and more Egyptians began to turn to Her in times of trouble and address Her as Mother. It wasn’t until She was adopted by that Romans that She became a Universal All-Mother Goddess, but the framework was already there. Her Roman devotees were nearly fanatical in their love for Her. They identified Isis with every Goddess in Their pantheon, and many in others. They adored Her almost to the point of henotheism. It was in Rome that Isis acquired the title Lady of the Ten Thousand names.