The kitten has claws
On this occasion I will relate one of the most important stories in Egyptian mythology. A story that I, as a cat lover, like a lot and I am sure that many other cat lovers will like it too.
In the beginning
In the beginning, the god Ra ruled the world. It was a time of peace and harmony. But Ra grew old, and the humans began to conspire against him. It´s no surprise: Isis had already done it, as I mentioned in my post about the origin of the world.
But this time, Ra learned of the conspiracy and summoned his eye, Hator, and also Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, and the fathers and mothers who were with him in the primordial abyss. Ra asked them how he could punish humans.
The Gathering
The other gods advised Ra to send his eye, in the form of Tefnut-sekhmet, a form of a woman with the head of a lioness. Tefnut would punish them fiercely.
Tefnut began attacking the humans, who fled to Nubia. But the goddess pursued them, and it seems that she lost control, because her strength soon turned into blind fury. If things continued that way, Tefnut would wipe out all of humanity.
But when he saw the excess that the goddess was committing, Ra had mercy and decided to stop the massacre.
And how do we calm the cat?
At that moment, Ra decided to send Thot and Shu to bring her back.
In one version of the myth, the two messenger gods transformed into monkeys, they met the goddess and, with great respect, promised her that she would live much better in Egypt and that every day she could have abundant hunting and wine.
In another version, the two gods colored beer with henna or elephantine red ocher, to make it look like blood. They scattered it on the ground and, when the goddess arrived, she drank it, believing it to be real blood. In this way the goddess got drunk and began to calm down.
In any case, after that, the goddess bathed in the first cataract of the Nile to appease her anger completely. Then she became Hator, the goddess of love. In other versions, she becomes Bastet: Another cat-headed goddess, who is a protector of home and marriage. Thus humanity survived.
I must go, my planet needs me.
After this latest conspiracy attempt, Ra decided to retreat to heaven. He sat on the back of the cow Nut, who soared up to the sky, but when she opened her eyes, she panicked. Then Ra ordered Shu, the god of air, to hold her in his arms. In this way, heaven and earth, gods and men, were separated, and the world took its final shape. Ra would cross the sky in his boat and the other gods would hang from Nut’s belly, turned into stars.
Then, Ra ceded power over the earth and all its inhabitants, to his grandson, Geb.
Bibliography
- https://losegiptosdeadina.wordpress.com/dioses-y-templos/historias-de-dioses-y-de-humanos/mito-de-la-diosa-lejana/
- https://eltemplodeseshat.blogspot.com/2015/05/sejmet-la-diosa-leona.html
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