12 Days of Yule Devotionals – Day 9

“Oak King” by Tara Upchurch

“The Holly King is gone, and the Oak King reigns –
Yule is the time of the old winter gods!
Hail to Baldr! To Saturn! To Odin!
Hail to Amaterasu! To Demeter!
Hail to Ra! To Horus!
Hail to Frigga, Minerva, Sulis and Cailleach Bheur!
It is their season, and high in the heavens,
may they grant us their blessings this winter day.” ~ Patti Wigington

“Winter’s goddess” by *frenchfox

 

 

 

 

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/qt/YuleOldGodsPray.htm

Goddess Sopdet

“Sopdet” by BlueSilver

“Sopdet’s themes are fertility, destiny and time. Her symbols are stars and dogs.  The reigning Egyptian Queen of the Constellations, Sopdet lives in Sirius, guiding the heavens and thereby human destiny. Sopdet is the foundation around which the Egyptian calendar system revolved, Her star’s appearance heralding the beginning of the fertile season. Some scholars believe that the Star card of the Tarot is fashioned after this Goddess and Her attributes.

The long, hot days of summer are known as the ‘Dog Days‘ because they coincide with the rising of the dog star, Sirius. In ancient Egypt this was a welcome time as the Nile rose, bringing enriching water to the land. So, go outside tonight and see if you can find Sirius. When you spy it, whisper a wish to Sopdet suited to Her attributes and your needs. For example, if you need to be more timely or meet a deadline, she’s the perfect Goddess to keep things on track.

If you’re curious about your destiny, watch that region of the sky and see if any shooting stars appear. If so, this is a message from Sopdet. A star moving on your right side is a positive omen; better days are ahead. Those on the left indicate the need for caution, and those straight ahead mean things will continue on an even keel for now. Nonetheless, seeing any shooting star means Sopdet has received your wish.”

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

“Sopdet – Cosmic Auset” by TRSkye (available for purchase on Etsy.com).

“Sopdet (‘skilled woman’, also known as Sothis) represented Sirius, the Dog-Star. Sirius was the most important star to ancient Egyptian astronomers because it signalled the approach of the inundation and the beginning of a new year. New year was celebrated with a festival known as ‘The Coming of Sopdet’.

In fact, the ‘Sothic Rising’ only coincided with the solar year once every 1460 years. The Roman emperor Antoninus Pius had a commemorative coin made to mark their coincidence in CE 139. The Sothic Cycle (the periods between the rising of the star) have been used by archaeologists trying to construct a chronology of Ancient Egypt.

Sopdet was the wife of Sahu (‘the hidden one’), the constellation Orion, and the mother of Sopdu (‘skilled man’), a falcon god who represented the planet Venus. This triad echoed the trio of Osiris, Isis and Horus, but the connections were not always simple. Sopdet became increasingly associated with Isis, who asserts that She is Sopdet (in ‘the lamentations of Isis and Nephthys‘ c 400 BCE) and will follow Osiris, the manifestation of Sahu. However, as well as being considered to be the spouse of Orion (Osiris), She is described by the pyramid texts as the daughter of Osiris.

 

Although Sopdet started out as an agricultural deity, closely associated with the Nile, by the Middle Kingdom She was also considered to be a mother Goddess. This probably related to Her growing connection with the Goddess Isis. This connection was further strengthened by Sopdet’s role in assisting the Pharaoh find his way to the imperishable stars. It may be no coincidence that Sirius disappeared for seventy days every year, and mummification took seventy days.

         

In the first Dynasty ivory tablets Sopdet was depicted as a reclining cow with a unidentified plant-like emblem (possibly signifying representing the new year) between Her horns. However, She was most often depicted as a woman wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt topped by a star or a headdress with two plumes.

Less often, She is portrayed as a large dog, and by the Roman period the hybrid Goddess Isis-Sopdet was depicted as a woman riding side-saddle on a large dog.

Sopdet was occasionally shown as a male deity. During the Middle Kingdom the male Sopdet was in associated with Horus as one of the gods who held up the four corners of the earth and held Nut (the sky) in place. During the Greek period She was linked to Anubis as Sopdet-Anubis, possibly because of Her canine associations.” [1]

 

 

 

Sources:

Ancientegyptonline.co.uk, “Sopdet“.

 

Suggested Links:

Agaliha. Mysticwicks.com, “Thread: Sopdet/Sothis {Goddess of the Week}“.

Cowofgold.wikispaces.com, “Sopdet“.

Crystalinks.com, “Sirius“.

Egyptianmyths.net, “Sopdet“.

Thegoddesshouse.blogspot.com, “Sopdet – The Goddess of the New Year“.

Herebedragons.weebly.com, Ancestral Memories,”Get Sirius“.

MXTODIS123. An Inner Journey: The Moon, Mythology and You, “Sopdet“.

Sabrina. Goddess A Day, “Sopdet“.

Schwader, Ann K. Goddessschool.com, “Sothis/Sopdet: Star of the Eastern Horizon“.

Seawright, Caroline. Articles by Caroline Seawright, “Sopdet, Goddess of Sirius, New Year and Inundation…“.

Tribe.net, “Sopdet“.

Wikipedia, “Sopdet“.

Writing, Jimmy Dunn. Touregypt.net, “Sah and Sopdet (Sothis), the Egyptian Astral God and Goddess“.

Goddess Nut

“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“.