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Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:13:32 -0700

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Lucy's Forum :: Re: Faery Tales by The Sacred Fire

Thu, 08 May 2008 05:15:53 -0700

By: lucy

A King Curing an Abbot of Indigestion.

ANY of the English monarchs have delighted in the pleasures of the chase. Their hunting expeditions have often led them into out-of-the-way places where they were unknown, and their adventures gave rise to good stories, which have done much to enliven the dry pages of national history. Bluff King Hal was a jovial huntsman, and was one day enjoying the pastime in the glades of Windsor Forest, when he missed his way, and, to his surprise, found himself near the Abbey at Reading. He keenly felt the pangs of hunger, and resolved to try and get a meal at the table of the Abbey hard by.

After disguising himself, he made his way to the house, under the pretence of being one of the king�s guards. He was invited to partake of a sirloin of beef, and he did such justice to it as to 175 surprise not a little the worthy abbot. The latter pledged his guest�s royal master, adding that if his weak stomach could digest such as meal as his visitor had just eaten he would gladly give a hundred pounds. He lamented that he could only take for his dinner the wing of a chicken, or other equally small dainty. The burly stranger pledged him in return, and after expressing his gratitude, departed without his identity being discovered.

After a few short weeks had passed, another stranger wended his way to the Abbey of Reading, armed with a warrant from king Henry VIII. to take the abbot a prisoner, and lodge him in the Tower. It was with a heavy heart that the abbot journeyed to London. His prison fare was very plain, and consisted of bread and water, and provided in small quantities, so that he not only suffered in mind, but also from the want of food. He often wondered what he had done to displease the king, but could not obtain any information on the subject. A change at last came over the scene. A fine sirloin of beef was placed on his table, and he was bidden to feast to his heart�s content. He did not need any pressing to do justice to the joint, for he was almost famished, 176 and dined more like a glutton than a man with a weak stomach. The king watched with amusement, from a secret place, the abbot enjoying his dinner, and, when he had nearly completed it, stepped forth from his hiding place, and demanded one hundred pounds for curing the poor abbot of his indigestion, and reminded him of their former meeting at the Abbey of Reading. The patient gladly paid his physician the stipulated fee, and, with a light purse and a merry heart, bent his steps homeward.

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Thu, 08 May 2008 04:46:38 -0700

By: lucy

Selene - The Radiant - Goddess of the Moon

(Her Roman counterpart was Luna.)

Hymn to Selene

Muses, sweet-speaking daughters of Zeus Kronides
and mistresses of song, sing next of long-winged Moon!
From her immortal head a heaven-sent glow
envelops the earth and great beauty arises
under its radiance. From her golden crown the dim air
is made to glitter as her rays turn night to noon,
whenever bright Selene, having bathed her beautiful skin
in the Ocean, put on her shining rainment
and harnessed her proud-necked and glittering steeds,
swiftly drives them on as their manes play
with the evening, dividing the months. Her great orbit is full
and as she waxes a most brilliant light appears
in the sky. Thus to mortals she is a sign and a token.

According to the poet Hesiod, Selene was the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, sister of Helios, the Sun and Eos the Dawn. Other sources claim she was the child of Pallas and Euryphaessa. Selene, the eternally beautiful goddess of the Moon, was usually represented as a woman with the moon, often in crescent form on her head and driving a chariot pulled by two white horses. At night, she rose from the ocean and with her chariot and rode through the sky.

Selene is one of the Greek triple Goddess of the Moon, Artemis - Waxing Moon, Selene - the Full Moon and Hecate - the Waning Moon. In the maiden, mother, crone aspects of the Goddess, Selene is the mother Goddess, Artemis the maiden and Hecate the Crone.

The mother aspect of the triple Goddess represents womanhood, she is represented by the full moon, were she is at the height of her reproductive potential. The Earth as Gaia, the mother, in whom life can be reborn, where seeds germinate and produce new crops, so the Mother Goddess was also able to bring forth new life. Selene, is the fruitful mother, the Star Goddess, the Sky Goddess, the keeper of the silver wheel of stars, is honoured at the Full Moon and the days of the full and new moon were set aside for her worship. She is also a teacher of the magicians. As Luna, she had temples at Rome on the Aventine and Palatine hills.

She is known for her various love affairs, with Zeus, she is the mother of Pandia meaning 'All-bright' and Ersa meaning 'Dew', with Pan who gave her a herd of white oxen and by Endymion, she is the mother of fifty daughters, who are said to represent the fifty lunar months that elapse between each Olympiad.

Selene and Endymion

According to mythology, Selene saw Endymion, a shepherd, asleep in a cave on Mt. Latmus as she drove he chariot across the sky, as she gazed upon Endymion she fell madly in love with him and began an affair with Endymion, from whom she gave birth to fifty daughters. But Endymion, being, mortal, was susceptable to aging and death, Selene could not bear the thought of this cruel fate, she asked Zeus to grant Endymion eternal sleep, she had learned from her sister, Eos, not to ask for eternal life or she would have a grasshopper. So it was that Endymion would remain eternally youthful by casting a spell that would cause him to sleep forever and while he dreamed of holding the moon in his arms, Selene bore him fifty daughters.

" Selene is a favorite of many poets, especially love poets. A moonlit night brings the feeling of romance. It is said that Selene's moon rays fall upon sleeping mortals, and her kisses fell upon her love, Endymion. "
--From Encyclopedia Mythica

Correspondences

Day of the week: Monday
Festival: 7th February

Perfume: white poppy, white rose, wallflower Incense: myrtle
Wood: willow
Color: silver, grey-white
Influences: agriculture, domestic, long life, medicine, travels, visions, theft (new moon)
Candle: white

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Tue, 06 May 2008 04:45:29 -0700

By: lucy

Diana

Diana - Goddess Of The Hunt.

Diana - Diana Nemorensis - Diana Of The Wood
(The Celtic words dianna and diona, mean 'divine' and 'brilliant' respectively.)

Prayer To Diana

Lovely Goddess of the bow!
Lovely Goddess of the arrows!
Of all hounds and of all hunting
Thou who wakest in starry heaven
When the sun is sunk in slumber
Thou with moon upon they forehead,
Who the chase by night preferrest
Unto hunting in the daylight,
With thy nymphs unto the music
Of the horn-thyself the huntress,
And most powerful: I pray thee
Think, although but for an instant,
Upon us who pray unto thee!

Diana, Roman Goddess of the Hunt, her Greek counterpart is Artemis, from whom she acquires some of her aspects.

On the northern shores of Lake Nemi, Diana's Mirror, in Italy, stood the sacred grove and sanctuary of the Goddess Diana.

The Goddess Diana, is the Huntress and Goddess or fertility, childbirth and the wild woodlands and associated with the constellation of Ursa Major. She is also associated with fire festivals, her title Vesta, indicates a perpetual holy fire in her sanctuary. Her annual festival, held on August 13th, where she is invoked to protect the harvest from autumn storms, is the middle of summer, when the sun is at its hottest. Diana is often depicted holding a torch, a symbolic reminder of the fiery nature of the Goddess.

Several other deities are associated with Diana at Lake Nemi, Egeria, the Nymph of the Lake and Virbius, who, legend states, was the Greek hero Hippolytus. Diana also had in attendance, The Sacrificial King or King of the Sacred Rites. He was required to pluck a branch of a certain tree, often identified as Virgil's 'Golden Bough', and slay his predecessor before taking up his office. Whereupon he becomes the High Priest/Husband/Lover of the Goddess. He holds this office until he himself is slain by a more craftier or stronger challenger, a remainder of the Birth, Death, Rebirth cycle of nature.

Correspondences

Animal:
Astral Body:
Body:
Colour:
Day: Monday, Friday
Festivals: Festival of Diana - February 12th, August 13th, Nov 22nd
Flower:
Gems:
Minerals:
Month: November
Musical Instrument:
Perfume:
Tarot:
Tree:
Weapon:

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Sun, 04 May 2008 11:17:35 -0700

By: lucy

Zorya

In Slavic mythology, the Zorya (alternately: Zarya, Zvezda, Zwezda) are the three (sometimes two) guardian goddesses, known as the Auroras. They guard and watch over the doomsday hound that threatens to eat the constellation Ursa Minor, the 'little bear.' If the chain breaks loose and the constellation is devoured, the universe is said to end.

The Auroras represent the Morning Star, Evening Star, and Midnight Star, respectively, although the Midnight Star is sometimes omitted. In some myths, the morning Zorya was the wife of the male Myesyats, the moon god, and was a major goddess. In other myths, the Zoryas are virgin goddesses who flank the sun, and Myesyats is an unrelated female moon goddess. The Zorya are associated with marriage, protection, and exorcisms.

The Morning Star is Zorya Utrennaya (also Zvezda Dennista, Zwezda Dnieca). She opens the heavenly gates for the chariot of the sun in the morning. She is depicted as a fully armed and courageous warrior. She is the patron goddess of horses, and is associated with the planet Venus. She is invoked to protect against death in battle, and her prayers were addressed as "Defend me, O maiden, with your veil from the enemy, from the arquebus and arrow..."

The Evening Star is Zorya Vechernyaya (also Zvezda Vechernaya, Zwezda Wieczoniaia, Zwezda Wieczernica). She closes the gates of heaven each night as the sun returns home.

The Midnight Star is Zorya Polunochnaya (also Zwezda Polnoca). Some legends omit this Zorya, leaving only the Morning and Evening Auroras. Each night, the sun dies in the Midnight Zorya's arms and is then restored to life. She is a goddess of death, rebirth, magic, mysticism, and wisdom.

The Zorya are sometimes associated with the Triple Goddess mythic archetype, with the Morning, Evening and Midnight Zoryas representing the maiden, mother, and crone, respectively.

Lucy's Forum :: Re: Faery Tales by The Sacred Fire

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:44:30 -0700

By: lucy

THE THREE LEPRECHAUNS

Mrs. L. having heard that Molly Toole, an old woman who held a few acres of land from Mr. L., had seen Leprechauns, resolved to visit her, and learn the truth from her own lips. Accordingly, one Sunday, after church, she made her appearance in Molly's residence, which was--no very common thing--extremely neat and comfortable.

As she entered everything looked gay and cheerful. The sun shone bright in through the door on the earthen floor. Molly was seated at the far side of the fire in her arm-chair; her daughter Mary, the prettiest gfirl on the lands, was looking to the dinner that was boiling; and her son Mickey, a young man of about two-and-twenty, was standing lolling with his back against the dresser.

The arrival of the mistress disturbed the stillness that had hitherto prevailed. Mary, who was a great favourite, hastened to the door to meet her, and shake hands with her. Molly herself had nearly got to the middle of the floor when the mistress met her, and Mickey modestly staid where he was till he should catch her attention.

"O then, musha! but isn't it a glad sight for my old eyes to see your own self under my roof? Mary, what ails you, girl? and why don't you go into the room and fetch out a good chair for the mistress to sit down upon and rest herself?"

"'Deed faith, mother, I'm so glad I don't know what I'm doing. Sure you know I did not see the mistress since she came down afore."

Mickey now caught Mrs. L.'s eye, and she asked him how he did.

"By Gorra, bravely, ma'am, thank you," said he, giving himself a wriggle, while his two hands and the small of his back rested on the edge of the dresser.

"Now, Mary, stir yourself," said the old woman, "and get out the bread and butter. Sure you know the mistress can't but be hungry after her walk."

"O, never mind it, Molly; it's too much trouble."

"Trouble, indeed! it's as nice butter, ma'am, as ever you put a tooth in; and it was Mary herself that made it."

"O, then I must taste it."

A nice half griddle of whole-meal bread and a print of fresh butter were now preoduced, and Molly helped the mistress with her own hands. As she was eating, Mary kept looking in her face, and at last she said:

"Ah then, mother, doesn't the mistress look mighty well? Upon my faikins, ma'am, I never seen you looking half so handsome."

"Well! and why wouldn't she look well? And never will she look better nor be better nor I wish her."

"Well, Molly, I think I may return the compliment, for Mary is prettier than ever; and as for yourself, I really believe it's young again you're growing."

"Why, God be thanked, ma'am, I'm stout and hearty; and though I say it myself, there's not an old woman in the county can stir about better nor me, and I'm up every morning at the peep of day, and rout them all up out of their beds. Don't I?" said she, looking at Mary.

"Faith, and sure you do, mother," replied Mickey; "and before the peep of day, too; for you have no mercy in you at all at all."

"Ah, in my young days," continued the old woman, "people weren't slugabeds; out early, home late--that was the way with them."

"And usedn't people to see Leprechauns in them days, mother?" said Mickey, laughing.

"Hold your tongue, you saucy cub, you," cried Molly; "what do you know about them?"

"Leprechauns?" said Mrs. L., gladly catching at the opportunity; "did people really, Molly, see Leprechauns in your young days?"

"Yes, indeed, ma'am; some people day they did," replied Molly, very composedly.

"O come now, mother," cried Mickey, "don't think to be going it upon us that way; you know you seen them one time yourself, and you had not the gumption in you to catch them, and get their crocks of gold from them."

"Now, Molly, is that really true that you saw the Leprechauns?"

"'Deed, and I did, ma'am; but this boy's always laughing at me about them, and that makes me rather shy of talking of them."

"Well, Molly, I won't laugh at you; so, come, tell me how you saw them."

"Well, ma'am, you see it was when I was just about the age of Mary, there. I was coming home late one Monday evening from the market; for my aunt Kitty, God be merciful to her! kept me to take a cup of tea. It was in the summer-time you see, ma'am, much about the middle of June, and it was through the fields I came. Well, ma'am, as I said, it was late in the evening, that is, the sun was near going down, and the light was straight in my eyes, and I came along through the bog-meadow; for it was shortly after I married to him that's gone, and we were living in this very house that you're now in; and then when I came to the castle-field--the pathway you know, ma'am, goes right through the middle of it--and it was then as fine a field of wheat, just shot out, as you'd wish to look at; and it was a pretty sight to see it waving so beautifully with every air of wind that was going over it, dancing to the music of a thrush, that was singing down below in the hedge. Well, ma'am, I crossed over the style that's there yet, and went along fair and easy, till I was near about the middle of the field, when something made me cast my eyes to the ground, a little before me; and then I saw, as sure as I'm sitting here, no less nor three of the Leprechauns, all bundled together like so many tailors, in the middle of the path before me. They were not hammering their pumps, or making any kind of noise whatever; but there they were, the three little fellows, with their *censored*ed hats upon them, and their legs gothered up under them, working at their trade as hard as may be. If you were only to see, ma'am, how fast their little elbows went as they pulled out their ends! Well, every one of them had his eye *censored*ed upon me, and their eyes were as bright as the eye of a frog, and I could not stir one step from the spot for the life of me. So I turned my head round, and prayed to the Lord in his mercy to deliver me from them, and when I went to look at them again, ma'am, not a sight of them was to be seen: they were gone like a dream."

"But, Molly, why did you not catch them?"

"I was afeard, ma'am, that's the truth of it; but maybe I was as well without them. I never heard tell of a Leprechaun yet that was not too many for any one that cotch him."

"Well, and Molly, do you think there are any Leprechauns now?"

"It's my belief, ma'am, they're all gone out of the country, clever and clean, along with the Fairies; for I never hear tell now of them at all."

Mrs. L. having now attained her object, after a little more talk with the good old woman, took her leave, attended by Mary, who would see her a piece of the way home. And Mary being asked what she thought of the Leprechauns, confessed her inability to give a decided opinion; her mother, she knew, was incapable of telling a lie, and yet she had her doubts if there ever were such things as Leprechauns.

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 05:30:21 -0700

By: lucy

Yemoja: Mother of The Sea

Yemoja, is a female Orisha of the Yoruba Pantheon of Dieties. Her name means "Mother of Fish". She is the Creator's manifestation in the salt waters.

She is the offspring of the union of Heaven and Earth. According to yoruba oral tradition, Yemoja is as old as the Orisha Obatala and so powerful, she was considered the most powerful Orisha of all; but because of her repeated anger raptures, she lost the World's hegemony and was given the superficial part of the Oceans as her only dominium, which by moving from right to left, represent the ocean waves' movements, her character and personality.

The cult to Yemoja is originally from Abeokuta, although the largest number of her devotees are from Egbado. It is said in Nigeria that Yemoja was born in the city of Bida, from the land of Nupe in the Takua region, where the Ogun river springs. Yemoja was the wife of Oranmiyan (grandson of Oduduwa, first King of Ife) and by him he bore Shango; she ruled in Oyo where she became as popular as many Obas (kings). This popularity earned her the titles of "The Nation's Mother" and "Yemoja, Awa Oyo" which means "The Eldest of Oyo". Yemoja was of a heroic character like her husband Oranmiyan and therefore became an Orisha.

The myth of Yemaya also accounts for the origin of other Orishas and the founding of the Holy city of Ife (name that means distention, enlargement or swelling up). It is said that Ile Ife was built at the place where Yemoja once fell on the ground. Due to this fall, her abdomen became swollen and two streams of water gushed from her breasts. The streams joined and formed a lagoon and from her gaping body came Dada (deity of the vegetables), Shango (diety of lightening) , Ogun (diety of iron and war), Olokun (diety of the deep seas), Olosa (diety of the lagoon), Oya (diety of the Niger river), Oshun (diety of the Oshun river), Oba (diety of the Oba river), Orisha Oko (diety of agriculture), Oshosi (diety of hunters), Oke (diety of the mountains), Aje Shaluga (diety of wealth) , Shoponna (diety of small-pox), Orun (the Sun) and Oshukua (the Moon).

Yemoja's anthropomorphism is that of a regal, beautiful woman with big breasts. She is very maternal, protective yet rigorous; virtuous, wise, gentle and oftentimes fearce, her rage is indomitable; astute, fair, an excellent trader and provider, Yemoja symbolizes the matriarchate. She appreciates rich, sumptuous things, enjoys good company, music and dance.

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:29:45 -0700

By: lucy

Amaterasu

The Japanese Shinto sun goddess, ruler of the Plain of Heaven, whose name means 'shining heaven' or 'she who shines in the heavens'. She is the central figure in the Shinto pantheon and the Japanese Imperial family claims descent from her 1. She is the eldest daughter of Izanagi. She was so bright and radiant that her parents sent her up the Celestial Ladder to heaven, where she has ruled ever since.

When her brother, the storm-god Susanowo, ravaged the earth she retreated to a cave because he was so noisy. She closed the cave with a large boulder. Her disappearance deprived the world of light and life. Demons ruled the earth. The other gods used everything in their power to lure her out, but to no avail. Finally it was Uzume who succeeded. The laughter of the gods when they watched her comical and obscene dances aroused Amaterasu's curiosity. When she emerged from her cave a streak of light escaped (a streak nowadays people call dawn). The goddess then saw her own brilliant reflection in a mirror which Uzume had hung in a nearby tree. When she drew closer for a better look, the gods grabbed her and pulled her out of the cave. She returned to the sky, and brought light back into the world.

Later, she created rice fields, called inada, where she cultivated rice. She also invented the art of weaving with the loom and taught the people how to cultivate wheat and silkworms.

Amaterasu's main sanctuary is Ise-Jingue situated on Ise, on the island of Honshu. This temple is pulled down every twenty years and then rebuild in its original form. In the inner sanctum she is represented by a mirror (her body). She is also called Omikami ("illustrious goddess") and Tensho Daijan (in Sino-Japanese pronunciation).

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 04:15:33 -0700

By: lucy

The Goddess Inanna

"The Queen of the Heaven's ".

Inanna is regarded as a daughter of the sky-god An. But she was also seen as the daughter of the moon-goddess Ningal and her consort Nanna. She is the sister of the underworld goddess Ereschkial and of the sungod Utu.

The Sumerian great "Lady Queen of Heaven" (Ninanna) who appears in two sources: the Gilgamesh Epic, where she aids the hero and tries to seduce him, and in the Cycle of Inanna, a collection of poems concerning her relation - in life and death - to her brother and lover, the vegetation-god Dumuzi (akk. Tammuz).

Inanna figures prominently in various myths, such as 'Inanna's descent to the underworld'.
In this particular myth she travels to the realm of the dead and claims its ruling. However, her sister Ereshkigal, who rules the place, sentences her to death. With Inanna's death, however, nature died with her and nothing would grow anymore. Through the intervention of the god Enki she could be reborn if another person took her place. She choose her beloved consort Dumuzi, who would from then on rule the underworld every half year. This myth has some relations to the Demetermyth as well as to celtic believes. The vegetation dies and gets reborn.

During the time of growth, which was in the Near-East the autumn when the first rain after the long summer fell, the people celebrated the "Holy Marriage" of Inanna and Dumuzi - yearly at the autumn equinox as the New-Year-Festival- which brought the land fertility and growth again, because Dumuzi had returned from the underworld and made love with Inanna again.

The poems story in short:

Inanna makes her descent into the dark realm, kur- nu-gi-a, of her sister, Ereshkigal. Inanna passed the seven portals of kur-nu-gi-a,and at each of the portals she was obliged to remove an item of clothing,until at last she stood before Ereshkigal, totally naked. Ereshkigal fastens on Inanna, and for three days she hangs like a carcass on a hook. Her faithful female companion, Ninshubur ("Queen of the East") whom she warns to go in search of help for her if she does not return, appeals to the god of wisdom, responds to her and sends two creatures to plead with Ershkigal for Inanna's release. They find Ereshkigal in the process of giving birth. Inanna is restored to life and ascends like the moon after its three days' death to assume her place once more as Queen of Heaven.

The lesson of this ritual drama for Sumerian culture was the deep realization that death is not inimical to life but an essential aspect of its totality and, indeed, the passageway to a new cycle of life. So her journey into the Netherworld was both a literal and symbolic enactment of a natural world occurrence and its mirror in the human psyche as represented by her earthly representatives: the priestesses of Sumeria.

Lucy's Forum :: Re: ~ GODDESSES AND GODS ~

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:09:11 -0700

By: lucy

Hathor

The feminine goddess par excellence in ancient Egypt, Hathor was a pre-Dynastic goddess who gained enormous popularity early on. Her name is translated as "the House of Horus", which may be a reference to her as the embodiment of the sky in her role of the Celestial Cow, being that which surrounds the decidedly sky-oriented hawk-deity, Horus, when he takes wing. If Horus was the god associated with the living king, Hathor was the god associated with the living queen.

In earlier periods she was most often depicted as a full cow with the sundisk between her horns or as a slender woman wearing the horns-and-a-sundisk headdress (which may or may not have a uraeus upon it). She was also shown as a hippopotamus, a falcon, a cobra, or a lioness, however these were not as frequent as the woman or the cow. While there are some depictions of Hathor as a woman with a cow's head, this is mainly found only in the later periods.

Hathor's symbology included such items as sistra (a type of rattle), the horns-and-sundisk headdress (in much later times incorporated into the attire of Isis), the menat (a type of ritual necklace that may have been used for percussive music), and mirrors. Many ancient mirrors and sistra decorated with smiling, often nude Hathors on them have been uncovered over the years, and Hathor's visage (with cow ears) commonly appeared at the top of stone columns in Egyptian temples, many of which can still be seen today. She flourished in Ta-Netjer ("Land of God" -- modern day Dendera) in Upper Egypt and her priests included both men and women, many of whom were dancers, singers, or musicians as the arts fell under Hathor's domain.

Priests of Hathor were also oracles and midwives, and people could go to some temples of Hathor to have their dreams interpreted by her priests. Hathor's protection was invoked over children and pregnant women. Hathor, as the Eye of Ra, "becomes" Sakhmet in the story "The Destruction of Mankind". Engraved into one of the shrines of Tutankhamen's tomb, the story tells how Hathor, at the request of her father (Ra), turns into Sakhmet in order to punish humans for transgressing against him. When she nearly wipes out all of humanity, Ra tries to stop her and, failing in that, contrives to get her drunk, whereupon she immediately forgets what it was she was doing and goes back to being Hathor.

Hathor also appears as a minor character in "The Contendings of Horus and Seth". Her father (Ra) falls into a black mood so Hathor sets forth to cheer him up. Removing her clothing, she dances around his throne until he smiles again. An additional myth, sometimes called "The Distant Goddess", tells of how Hathor became angry with Ra and wandered away from Egypt. Great sadness falls over the land and Ra, lost without his Eye, decides to fetch her back. However, Hathor has now become a deadly wild cat who destroys all that approaches her, and so no man or god will volunteer to go get her. Thoth eventually agrees to lure her back and, dressed in disguise, manages to coax the angry goddess to return to Egypt by telling her stories. Back in her homeland, she bathes in the Nile and once again settles into her normally gentle demeanor, but not before the waters turn red from the effort of cooling her rage. In some versions of this story it is Tefnut, not Hathor, who wanders away from Egypt, and Shu, not Thoth, who brings her back.

Hathor is associated with numerous other Egyptian goddesses. Her connections with Bastet helped to "soften up" that deity's visage, and as discussed previously Hathor was the other side of the Sakhmet coin. Hathor also seems to have absorbed many of the properties of Bat (another pre-Dynastic cow goddess), who is depicted at the top of the famous Narmer palette overseeing the events detailed therein.

Hathor is also known as the "Lady to the Limit" ("limit" meaning the edges of the known universe) and the "Lady of the West"; her image is sometimes seen on funerary depiction as she stands behind Osiris, welcoming the dead to their new home. Other titles of Hathor include the "Divine (or Celestial) Cow", "Mistress of Heaven", and "Lady of Gold", the last two of which were sometimes attributed to the queens of ancient Egypt. Hathor was also known as the "Lady of Greenstone and Malachite" due to her being regarded as a goddess of the desert fringes where such mines existed.

The Greeks called Hathor by the name of their goddess, Aphrodite. In the very late stages of Egyptian religion (over two millennia after Hathor had first appeared) she became almost totally absorbed into Isis (who acquired, aside from Hathor's headdress, the sistrum as well), resulting in frequent mistaken identity between the two. There are, however, subtle differences. When Isis is shown with the horns she is also (usually) shown with either the vulture headdress (which was associated with Mut, a goddess of Thebes), winged, or wearing a multi-colored feathered dress. There are of course exceptions (such as in the tomb of Horemheb), in which case knowledge of hieroglyphs is necessary to discern which goddess is which.

At the temple of Nefertari at Abu Simbel, Nefertari is shown as Hathor in many places, and Ramses II (the husband of Nefertari) is shown in one sanctuary receiving milk from Hathor the cow. When a child was born in Egypt, seven Hathors (somewhat like European fairy godmothers) would appear to "speak with one mouth" and determine the child's fate. Hathor's own child was Ihy, who was worshipped in Dendera with her and Horus-Behdety. Like his mother, Ihy was a god of music and dancing, and was always depicted as a child bearing a sistrum.

The name of Hathor in hieroglyphs.
Related information
Other names
Hwt-Hert
Het-Heru
Het-hert
Pronunciation
{hat'hor}