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Egyptian Goddesses - H, I, J, K & L
Hagar
A desert goddess of lower Egypt. Occult lore links her to the moon.
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Hak
A frog-headed goddess of resurrection.
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Hapimou
This name means the Nile. "He" was depicted with the beard of
a man and the breasts of a child-bearing woman.
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Hast
Another goddess of the underworld mentioned in the Book of the Dead.
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Hathor
The Great Celestial Cow Goddess of ancient Egypt. She was creator of the
world and all it contains. The protectress of women, she is the goddess
of love and joy, the mistress of merriment. She is the sovereign of music
and dance and the weaving of garlands. She often places Her spirit in
the sistrum, a sacred rattle which drove away evil spirits. Her temple
was the home of intoxication and place of enjoyment. She nourishes the
living with Her milk and welcomes the dead into the next world. She was
worshipped in 11th century B.C. Israel; sometimes depicted with a lion
head, as the Sphinx. The lotus was her flower.
Hathor, the goddess of Creation and Nourishment of Life, was worshipped
as a major deity in Egypt for over 3000 years. After she gave birth to
the solar globe in her form as a Cow Goddess, she held it between her
horns while swimming through the cosmic ocean.
Hathor was originally worshipped in the form of a cow, sometimes as a
cow with stars on her. Later she was represented as a woman with the head
of a cow; and finally with a human head, the face broad and placid, sometimes
she is depicted with the ears or horns of a cow. She is also shown with
a head-dress resembling a pair of horns with the moon-disk between them.
Sometimes she is seen in the form of a cow standing in a boat, surrounded
by tall papyrus reeds. As the "Mistress of the Necropolis" she
is shown as the head of a cow protruding from a mountainside. In this
case she wears a menat necklace, which is a symbol of rebirth.
In later times, when the Osiris cults gained popularity, her role changed.
She now welcomed the arrival of the deceased to the underworld, dispensing
water to the souls of the dead from the branches of a sycamore and offering
them food. Hathor was also represented as a cow suckling the soul of the
dead, thus giving them sustenance during their mummification, their journey
to the judgement hall, and the weighing of their soul. In the Late Period,
dead women identified themselves with Hathor, as men identified with Osiris.
Hathor is the daughter of Nut and Ra; wife of Ra, mother of Ihy. Many
legends portray her as the mother of Horus the Elder, others as the wife
of Horus of Edfu and mother of Horus the Younger . At Thebes, she was
considered a goddess of the dead, and wore the hieroglyph for "West"
(amenta) on her head. She was also the patron of love, dance, alcohol,
and foreign lands.
Hatmehet
("fish") Consort of Banebdjedet, She is the Guardian and Patron
of fishermen and the fishing industry.
Hedetet
A scorpion goddess mentioned in the Book of the Dead.
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Heh
A goddess of wisdom, depicted with the head of a serpent. |
Heket
(Heqet) The frog-headed goddess of childbirth, fecundity and resurrection.
Her husband fashioned the bodies from clay, and she gave them life. A
primordial goddess with the head of a frog, worshipped as one of the Eight
Gods at Hermopolis, and seen as the consort of Khnum at Arsinoë.
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Hepat
The goddess of midwives; also known as Hekit. The frog was her representative
animal. She was particularly concerned with alleviating the dangers and
pain of the birth process.
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Heretkau
A cthonic mortuary Goddess concerned with protection of souls in the afterlife.
Images often represent her as a servant or assistant to Isis.
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Heptet
A serpent-headed goddess of resurrection, associated with the resurrection
of Osiris.
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Herit
A goddess of the North.
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Her-sha-s
The goddess of the mid-day desert.
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Her-tept
(Hetep-Sekhus) Another serpent-headed goddess of the underworld, referred
to in the Book of the Dead as 'the Eye and the Flame'. She takes care
of the mummified Osiris.
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Het
Het is the Egyptian serpent goddess who rules fire.
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Isis
At the apex of her influence, this Goddess of Rebirth was worshiped throughout
the Greco-Roman world. Her temples were finally closed in the 4th century
AD, but her role as Mother of God, as well as many other Christian borrowings
from her mythos, were assumed by the Virgin Mary. Originally Isis was
known as Au Set, a predynastic Egyptian Goddess dating from 3000 BCE.
She laid upon the dead body of her husband-brother, Osiris (whose annual
death symbolized the fertilizing of fields by Nile floodwaters), and conceived
Horus, the falcon-headed deity who is the original "son of God(ess)."
The name Isis means "throne woman," and she was venerated as
the inventor of agriculture, law and medicine, and as the Mother who placed
the Sun God Ra in the sky. According to Egyptian scriptures, "in
the beginning there was Isis, Oldest of the Old, the Goddess from whom
all becoming arose."
Isis was the most important Goddess of all Egyptian mythology to embody
the archetype of Great Mother. She was the sister and wife of Osiris,
sister of Set, and twin sister of Nephthys. She was the mother of Horus
the Child (Hoor-par-kraat). She was the female counterpart of Osiris.
In human terms, she was his sister. Just as mankind is of two opposite
yet equal genders, male and female; the nature of the divine cannot be
expressed without reference to the same two aspects.
Isis was the female nature of the human aspect of God. She was equal and
opposite to Osiris, yet her function was very different. Isis was not
only the divine earth mother; she was the female aspect of creation. Without
her magical powers nothing could have come into being. The supreme function
of Isis was the same as that of every woman, she was the divine mother.
Isis was the triple Goddess of Birth, Life and Death. The cat goddess
Bast is her lunar/fertility aspect, holding an ankh in her left hand and
the sacred poppy in her right. The Mother goddess aspect is represented
by her sun-disc/moon crescent crown. She is the prototype of the Mother
of God, who was later adopted by the Christian tradition. Sekmet, the
ravaging lioness, with her burning solar eye, is the goddess's destroyer/devourer
aspect.
Wings spread on bended knee, the Great Goddess Isis was the original Divine
Mother; praised in hieroglyphic hymns as "she who made light with
her feathers and wind with her wings." Her form was painted on sarcopagi
in order to catch the departing soul in her wings and shepherd it to a
new life. As a winged goddess she may represent the wind; in the Osiris
legend there are references to Isis wailing and moaning like the wind.
She continually travels up and down the land in search of her lost husband.
Upon finding Osiris' body, she takes the shape of one of the swiftest
birds, a kite. Darting above his dead body she wails in mourning. She
restores life to Osiris by flapping her wings and filling his mouth and
nose with air.
Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic, worshipped throughout
the Greco-Roman world, venerated as inventor of agriculture, law and medicine,
the Mother who placed the Sun God Ra in the sky.
Isis was also a goddess of healing and magic. She lived with her brother/husband
Osiris until he was killed by his brother Set. Isis, with the help of
her sister Nephthys, found a part of his body in Phoenicia in a tamarisk
tree, and returned it along with the other parts to Egypt for a proper
burial. After Set's second attempt to dispose of the body, Isis brought
Osiris back to life and later conceived a child with him, Horus. In the
Osiris legend she is seen as a dutiful wife, a grieving widow and as a
protector of the dead. Together with Thoth, she taught mankind the secrets
of medicine. She is often rendered on the foot of coffins with long wings
spread to protect the deceased.
Isis created a snake that bit Ra, highest of the gods. He asked her to
heal him but she claimed that she could not until he whispered his secret
name to her; he did and, in curing him, she gained eternal power over
him. She was the Goddess of motherhood, marital devotion, healing the
sick, & the working of magical spells & charms. She was believed
to be the most powerful magician in the universe, due to the fact that
she had learned the Secret Name of Ra from the god himself.
Her festivals are celebrated January 9, February 5, March 5, March 20,
May 14, June 24, July 3, July 19, August 12, August 27, October 28 - November
3, November 13 - 14, December 22.
According to Crowley's Liber 777, she is associated with the Tarot
(Twos, Threes, Fours, Tens, Emporer, Hermit, Hanged Man). Her gems are
ruby, star ruby, turquoise, sapphire, star sapphire, pearl, amethyst,
rock crystal, peridot, beryl and aquamarine. Her plants are amaranth,
cypress, opium poppy, olive, shamrock, willow, lily, ivy, tiger lily,
garanium, snowdrop, narcissus, lotus, and all water plants. Her animals
are Man, woman, unicorn, sphinx, ram, owl, lion, virgin, anchorite, any
solitary person or animal, eagle, snake and scorpion. Her minerals are
phosphorus, silver and sulphates. Her perfumes are musk, myrrh, civet,
cedar, dittany of Crete, dragon's blood, narcissus and onycha. Her Magical
weapons are the lingam, Inner Robe of Concealment, Wand, Sceptre, Crook,
Magic Circle, Triangle, Horns, Energy, Burin, Lamp, Wand, Bread, Cup and
Cross of Suffering, Wine. Crowley gives more correspondances for Isis
than for any other goddess, he attributes her to seven of his thirty-two
paths. |
Iusas
Her cult goes back to the Old Kingdom, at Heliopolis she was known as
the wife of Ra-Hor-akhty. She is sometimes depicted with disc and horns. |
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Kebehut
The goddess of freshness, a daughter of Anubis. |
Kefa
The Mother of Time, she was associated with Ursa Major. |
Kenemet
An early Egyptian mother goddess whose symbol was an ape. She ws later
replaced by Mut. |
Khoemnu
(Chemnu) Known as the Enchantress or Succubus, she was associated with
the underworld and with fire. She may have been the personification of
Egypt (Khemu). |
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