Maahes
Maahes is the lion-headed god of war whose name means 'he who is true beside her' and who is the son of Ptah and of the feline goddess — Bastet at Bubastis, Sekhmet at Leontopolis — sharing their lion nature.
Maahes is a real but thinly attested god with no connected myth; his cult is documented mainly through the Delta lion cults and through Greco-Roman notices. The spellings vary (Maahes, Mahes, Mihos, and the Greek Miysis, also given as Mysis), and his mother is given as Bastet in some sources and Sekhmet in others, the two lionesses being themselves increasingly identified; his Greek rendering is a transliteration rather than an equation with a Greek god. The planetary, zodiac, tarot and sabbat correspondences here are a modern Western overlay with no ancient Egyptian basis; the Egyptian sources themselves work with decans, nome cults and festival calendars, not with planets or zodiac signs.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Mars
Offerings
- Offerings
- Red wineCinnamon incenseCarnelianActs of fierce protectionStanding between the predator and the preyLion imagery
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- MahesMihosMiysisMysisThe Lord of the Slaughter
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- The LionLord of the SlaughterHe Who Is True Beside HerThe Great LionSon of BastetProtector of the Sun Barque
- Symbols
- LionKnifeLotusSolar barque
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneFierce and guardedAddressMaahesGreat LionLord of the SlaughterRelationshipThe lion at the gate not the lion in the houseWarningHe is the guardian who eats the enemy do not call him for private revengeResonanceThose defending something smaller than themselves
- Modern Practice
Maahes is invoked as the guardian who stands between a predator and its prey — protection work with teeth in it, and anger put to a just use. His practice is protective rather than aggressive: he is not the god to call to win a quarrel.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WarProtectionThe lionRighteous furyVengeanceThe heat of the sunGuardianshipThe devouring of chaos
- Mythology Summary
Maahes is the lion-headed god of war whose name means 'he who is true beside her' and who is the son of Ptah and of the feline goddess — Bastet at Bubastis, Sekhmet at Leontopolis — sharing their lion nature. His cult centred on Taremu (Greek Leontopolis) in the Delta and on Per-Bast, and he is shown with a knife and a lotus and called the protector of the sun barque who devours the enemies of order. His mythology survives largely as epithet and iconography rather than as narrative: the lion who guards the god and the king.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsRedGoldBlackScentsFrankincense boswellia carteriiMyrrhCinnamonMetalsIronGoldAnimalsLionLionessCat
One of 3,120 entries in the Grimoire — the whole library, every cross-reference, is free to take. Take the whole thing Is it wrong somewhere?
Referenced by 0
Nothing in the library points at this entry yet.
More in Deities
The entries either side of this one in the same catalogue.
All of Deities →New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.