Nut
Nut is the sky itself, the woman covered in stars who arches over Geb and is held apart from him by Shu, and the mother of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Each evening she swallows the sun and each dawn gives it birth again, and the stars are her body; the dead king enters her and becomes a star.
The planetary, zodiacal, tarot and Wiccan sabbat values are later Western correspondences, not Egyptian; the Egyptian account is the sky herself. Nut's relation to Ra varies with the source - granddaughter in the Ennead, and in some late texts the mother who gives birth to the sun each dawn - and both are recorded here. The sycamore is her tree, but the catalogue has no sycamore entry, so it is named in symbols rather than in herbs.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Moon
Offerings
- Offerings
- Cool waterLibation of waterBreadBeerIncenseMyrrh
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- NuitNwtNenetThe Sky
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- The SkyLady of the StarsMother of the GodsShe Who Swallows the SunThe Great SowMother of the StarsThe Cow of Heaven
- Symbols
- Starry bodyCowSowSycamore treeMaqet ladderWater potStars
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneVast and coolAddressNutThe SkyMother of the GodsRelationshipThe night that covers and carriesWarningShe takes the dead into her body and that is not a metaphorResonanceStar work death work and the night
- Modern Practice
Nut is called on for star work, night vigils and any rite for the dead, with the coffin-lid and the maqet ladder kept in view rather than softened into 'the universe'. The offering is water poured out under the stars.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- The skyThe starsThe nightMotherhoodThe coffinThe suns nightly journeyAstronomyThe ladder
- Mythology Summary
Nut is the sky itself, the woman covered in stars who arches over Geb and is held apart from him by Shu, and the mother of Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys. Each evening she swallows the sun and each dawn gives it birth again, and the stars are her body; the dead king enters her and becomes a star. She is also a cow, a sow suckling the stars, and the sycamore at the edge of the sky, and the inside of the coffin lid is painted with her.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlueBlackSilverGoldScentsMyrrhFrankincenseLotusMetalsSilverGoldElectrumAnimalsCowSowVulture
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