“Queen of the Sky” by MyWorld1

“Nut’s themes are air and health.  Her symbols are a pot, turquoise, musk, a star, wind and cow images.  This great Egyptian sky Goddess bears a star-spangled belly that stretches over the earth like a protective atmosphere. Today She breaths on us with a late-March zephyr bearing health and well-being.  Legend tells us that when Ra went to escape the earth, Nut offered Her aid by becoming a huge cow who lifted him into heaven. When Nut found Herself dizzy from the effort, four gods rushed to Her aid. They later became the four pillars of creation – the four winds.

If the weather permits, I highly recommend a brisk, refreshing walk. Breathe deeply of the air, which has rejuvenating, healthy energies today. As you exhale, repeat the Goddess’s name, Nut, and listen as She responds in the breeze.

Any type of wind magic honors Nut, and it is certainly fitting today. If the wind blows from the west, sprinkle water into it for emotional healing. If it blows from the east, toss a feather out so it can return to you with healthy outlooks. If it blows from the north, sift a little soil into the wind to give fruitful foundations to a generating idea, and if it blows from the south, burn musk incense to manifest vital energy and a little passion.”

(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

“Nut’s name is translated to mean ‘sky’ and She is considered one of the oldest deities among the Egyptian pantheon, with Her origins being found on the creation story of Heliopolis. She was originally the Goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the Sky Goddess. Her headdress was the hieroglyphic of part of Her name, a pot, which may also symbolize the uterus. Mostly depicted in nude human form, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars).” [1]

“Nut” by Lisa Hunt

“Nut is the Mother of Osiris, Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. Her brother and husband is the earth-god Geb, and Their parents are Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). Nut and Geb were married in secret against the will of Ra, the one-time King of the Gods. When Ra found Them coupling, He had Shu the air-god violently seperate Them, forcing Geb to the earth, where His body’s contours became the hills, and lifting Nut into the sky (which implies that, like Lilith, Nut preferred the top position). Since then They have always been seperated, and Geb has been inconsolable.

Ra then forbade Nut to have Her children on any day of the year. But Thoth, god of wisdom, helped Her, by winning at gaming with the Moon. From His winnings–which were a little of the Moon’s light–Thoth made five extra days that were outside the year, and Nut was able to give birth to Her five children. These five days in the Egyptian calendar did not belong to any month, and with the twelve months of thirty days each brought the total of days up to 365 (and no, they made no allowance for leap-year, though they knew perfectly well.)

Like Hathor, who is also a sky-Goddess, Nut can take the form of a cow. She is also depicted as a slender woman whose arched body touches the earth with only the tips of Her fingers and Her tippy-toes, Her starry body forming the heavens. Nut’s fingers and toes were believed to touch the four cardinal points or directions of north, south, east, and west.

“Nut” by Hrana Janto

Ra once grew disillusioned with rebellious mankind, so Nut in the form of a cow lifted Him to heaven on Her back. Stretching higher and higher, She grew dizzy, and four gods (who represent the pillars of the sky) were needed to steady Her legs.” [2]

“Nut arches over the earth morning from between her thighs. She is the arching vault of the heavens, Her body sparkling with starlight. Through Her mouth the Sky-boat of the Sun passes each evening, from her vulva the it re-emerges and the day is reborn each morning. She retains some weather working functions; the thunder is Her voice.

As Mother Night, Nut represents the unconscious, luna, moon, feminine, the emotional body. Her glyph often depicts two crossed arrows against a leopard skin. Nut is associated with the element air, rainbows and sycamore trees.” [3]

“Nut is also the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in the world.  Because of Her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to Her as a child appeals to its mother: ‘O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die.’ Nut was thought to draw the dead into Her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine: ‘I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil.’

“Nuit” by indigodeep

She was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vault of tombs often were painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. The Book of the Dead says, ‘Hail, thou Sycamore Tree of the Goddess Nut! Give me of the water and of the air which is in thee. I embrace that throne which is in Unu, and I keep guard over the Egg of Nekek-ur. It flourisheth, and I flourish; it liveth, and I live; it snuffeth the air, and I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in peace.'” [4]

 

 

 

Sources:

Crystalinks, “Goddesses Nut – Nuit“.

Took, Thalia. A-Muse-ing Grace Gallery, “Nut“.

Wikipedia, “Nut (goddess)“.

 

 

Suggested Links:

Crystalinks, “Goddesses Nut – Nuit“.

GoddessGift.com, “Nut, Egyptian Goddess and the ‘Mother of All Gods’“.

Hill, J. Ancient Egypt Online, “Nut“.

Seawright, Caroline. Kunoichi’s Home Page, “Nut, Sky Goddess, Mother of the Gods…”

Egypt World, “The Goddess Nut“.