THE WHITE MOON GALLEY PRESENTS

NUT / NUIT

THE EGYPTIAN SKY GODDESS

A Level II Final Project

By

As't Nebthet

For The Sacred Three Goddess School

(All original material in this project is under copyright protection and is the intellectual property of the author © 2009)


(Image: Wikipedia, public domain)


Before you were born, when you were a spirit,
Nut, sky goddess,
Dark body with its mighty heart,
you grew strong in the belly of your mother Tefnut.
Somewhere within you, even then, was perfect knowledge of your selfhood.
Somehow you recognised your perfect name.
You stirred in your mother's womb when that name was spoken,
Nut, daughter more powerful than your powerful mother,
Nut, great goddess who became the sky, the arching sky,
Nut, goddess so beautiful your beauty fills the earth
which you embrace with your powerful arms,
which you hold like a mother,
like a queen,
like a woman in love.

- Egyptian song to the Sky Goddess


Every night She reveals Her glory to us, stretching from the East, the place where Her toes touch the Earth, to where Her hands touch the Earth in the West, the place where She gives birth to the Sun each morning, allowing it to rise. Ascending the Heavens, stars glittering from Her cloak (or stomach depending on legend), She is Nut, the Egyptian Goddess of the Sky, of the Heavens, the celestial cycle, and also of the Afterlife.

Depicted as an azure coloured Goddess, tall and slender arching over the Earth, Nut (alternatively spelt Nuit, Newet, Neuth and even Nwt – pronounced “Noot” or “New-eet”) is conceptualised as the infinity of an ultimately expanded Universe (the circumference of the circle). All things therefore are contained within Her body.

Plate 143 of the Pyramid Texts describes the Egyptian creation myth as:

"In the beginning there was Nun, the boundless primordial water shrouded in darkness. From this came Khepera (Atum), who formed an egg from which sprang Ra, the Sun (now embodiment of His own Divine spirit). Ra then brought forth the first Divine couple of Shu (God of Air or the atmosphere) and Tefnut (Goddess of Dew and Rain). From the first Divine couple came the Earth God, Geb, and Nut, the Goddess of the Sky; and from Geb and Nut, came forth the Ennead, Osiris, Horus (the Elder), Set, Isis and Nepthtys."


Nut and Geb being separated by Shu

Nut’s bringing forth the Gods of the Ennead was no easy task however. According to mythology, when She married Geb, Her brother/consort, it was done against the wishes of their grandfather, Ra, the Sun God, so their union was done in secret. When Ra found out, He was so angry that he forced Shu (whose name means “he who hold up” or “to raise”) to separate the lovers by standing between them.

Afterwards, Ra decreed that Nut could not bear a child in any given month of any year. Thoth (the God of Wisdom) took pity on Nut and during a game of draughts with the Moon, He won enough light from the Moon to compose five new days.

As these five interrelated days did not belong to the official Egyptian calendar of 360 days, Nut was able to give birth successively to Her five children – Osiris, Horus (the Elder), Set, Isis and Nepthtys.(1)

It is believed that during the day Nut and Geb are separated however, each evening Nut comes down to Earth to be with Her beloved Geb and this is what causes the darkness. Likewise, if there are storms during the day, it is said that this is because Nut is somehow closer to Geb than what Ra decreed.

Nut was also described as a Cow Goddess, taking on some of the attributes of Hathor, whereas in the Pyramid Texts, Geb is described as the "Bull of Nut". As a Great Solar Cow, She was thought to have carried Ra up into the heavens on Her back after He retired from His rule on the earth.

Nut’s identifying headgear is not a star as one might have thought, but a waterpot. This uterine hieroglyph represents the sound “nu”, both Her name and the function associating water with life.

In pre-dynastic times, Nut is believed to have absorbed the identities to tribal Mother Goddesses associated with eternal life, water and abundance. These qualities remained connected with Her. To the ancient Egyptians, the primeval waters of creation produced life. This was reflected in the yearly flooding of the sacred Nile River.(2)


From as far back as the Old Kingdom (the 3rd millennium), Nut received, revived and protected the dead. This is reflected in such funerary pieces as the “Stele of Revealing”. A mortuary text that dates from 1,350 BCE has Nut proclaim:

“ I enclose your beauty within this soul of mine, for all life, stability,
dominion and health for the king, may he live forever!”

(Pyramid Text Utterance 11)


Her funerary association was perceived as two-fold. Firstly, She was regarded as the Mother of the deceased through Her identification of Her son, Osiris (the Egyptian God of Vegetation and of the Underworld). This meant that when the deceased was sealed inside the coffin, it was as if he was placed within the body of Nut. Secondly, as a Sky Goddess, images of Her were drawn on the coffin lid, just as Her star body stretches out over the Earth. From the New Kingdom (16th to 11th centuries BCE) images drawn on the coffin and sarcophagus appeared as follows:

“O my mother Nut, spread yourself over me,
so that I may be placed among the imperishable stars and may never die”.

(shrine of Tutankhamun, 1336-1327 BCE)(3)



TO NUT

By As't Nebthet

Beyond all time I seek thee
Thou art the infinite space
Whose non-existence is everything,
Yet nothing.
Bewildered by thy beauty
I stand awe-struck, waiting silently
For there is no void that thou cannot fill.
I surrender to the darkness
And count the stars
For thou hast no beginning
Yet silence beckons me.
My emptiness dissolves
Words of love and truth are spoken
I become all embracing
Like thee, the midnight sky.


Today, the worship of Nut is very much alive for within modern magick She is considered to the first Deity of Thelemic magickal trinity, the “ … Star Goddess who is the category of unlimited possibility”(4).

It is said that thousands of years after the Goddess of Eternal Life spoke, “Be as an imperishable star that lives forever”, a 29 year old English magickian heard the words, “Every man and woman is a star”. This magickian was the infamous Aleister Crowley and this revelation in 1904 resulted in him writing “The Book of the Law” that included his “Manifestation of Nuit”, wherein it is written ….

“Above, the gemmèd azure is the naked splendour of Nuit;
She bends in ecstasy to kiss
The secret ardours of Hadit.
The wingèd globe, the starry blue,
Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-Khonsu!”
(5)

NB: Ankh-af-na-Khonsu being a priest of the Egyptian God Mentu who lived in Thebes during the 25th and 26th dynasty (c. 725 BCE), best known as the creator of the Stele of Revealing, a funerary tablet he created for himself to commemorate his death. Crowley believed he was an embodiment of this priesthood.

“ … I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knowth me. Since I am infinite space, and the infinite stars thereof, do ye also thus …”(6).



RITUAL TO NUT

By As't Nebthet

The following ritual is simplistic in nature to tap into the overall beauty and magnitude of Nut. It is best performed, if possible, outside on a clear night where all the stars can be seen. Have a small candle with you so not to detract from the beauty of the Goddess, as well as a bowl of water. If you have one, bring with you a shawl or wear a robe/cloak that has a hood. You will also need the Star card from a tarot deck.

Place your bowl of water in the centre of your circle, attracting the light of the night’s sky.

Cast your circle in your usual matter. Invoke Nut, the Goddess of the Starry Realms, by using the following invocation:

Goddess of the Infinite Night,
Lady of the Starry realms
Spread yourself over me so that I am protected beneath your reach.
Guide me on my spiritual path
Allow me to access the knowledge for your infinite realm
Show me the Mysteries that are exposed to all but hidden due to ignorance.

Cover your head with your shawl, or pull up the hood on your robe/cloak, and sit in front of the bowl of water. Open your chakras to allow access to the starry realm above your head. Visualise the Goddess Nut above you and in a column of lunar light, descending Her infinite starry wisdom into your crown chakra. You will only receive such knowledge the Goddess knows that you are spiritually, emotionally and mentally ready for.

Meditate on the Star card from the tarot, allowing any messages from the Goddess to come through, keeping in mind that She may speak symbolically or metaphorically.

When you have finished, thank the Goddess for the ancient ageless wisdom that She as bestowed upon you, even if it is not clear to you at this present moment. Close your chakras and ground yourself.

Hold the bowl of water up as an offering. As it has been blessed by Nut, you may wish to anoint your pulse points with it (wrists, forehead, etc), take a sip of the water, bottle it for later use, use it to water a plant.

Wearing in a star cloak,
I make an offering to Nut

When you are ready, end your ritual and open your circle in your usual manner.



References:
(1) “New Larousse encyclopedia of Mythology”
(2) “Nuit: The Limitless Goddess” by Sr. Ashera, The Scarlet Letter Volume 7 No.2 - http://www.scarletwoman.org/scarletletter/v7n2/v7n2_nuit.html
(3) http://www.artcollecting.com/sarcopha.htm
(4) "The Holy Books of Thelema" by Aleister Crowley
(5) ibid
(6)“Magic of Thelema” by Lon Milo DuQuette


Moon Goddess web theme courtesy of Crystal Cloud Graphics

The beautiful Moon Goddess theme background is used couresty of Crystal Cloud Graphics