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Hathor and the Five Gifts of Hathor
Nov. 19th, 2020 02:08 amI'm here to share The Five Gifts of Hathor story with you (see below). If you are only going to read one of the links listed below, read that one.
But first, in my never ending search for a spiritual practice that will be satisfying on the ritualistic side (one of my favourite things about the Anglican church is the ritual), while also not being so silly that I have to prance through the forest in diaphanous robes (I don't want to feel like an aged Magrat, flower petals drooping and nose dripping), I have been reading about and obsessing about Hathor for a couple days, and I want to share my thoughts about it.
She was a Goddess in Egypt for a long time. Towards the end, Isis was taking her place and her powers, but she was top goddess and supreme god-wife and king-maker for centuries. Offerings to her were mostly grain, and things made from grain (hello beer), and music. People celebrated her festivals with dancing and singing and music making and baby making. Aside from the baby making, that sounds like ritual that I can do. It doesn't appear that I have to kill anything. And, okay, my dancing days are done, but I can shuffle for a little bit and shake the sistrum.
The sistrum wasn't exclusively for her, but it was primarily for her. Worshippers aproached her playing the sistrum, shaking it forward in a one, two, three, pause, repeat beat. Most sistra were decorated with the head of Hathor.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sistrum.htm
Now, this is where we get to my brilliant observation. (I suspect that someone has already seen this, but I haven't read very far yet.) We primarily think of Hathor in her later images - as the cow goddess with the sun disk between her horns:
https://www.cleopatraegypttours.com/travel-guide/hathor-the-egyptian-goddess/
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathor#/media/File:Egypt.Hathor.jpg
The images of Hathor with a cow's head are very late:
https://www.ancient.eu/Hathor/
But there are earlier images of her:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/archaeologists-egyptian-goddess-greece-1737300
https://www.alamy.com/wooden-relief-of-the-ancient-egyptian-goddess-hathor-image357356365.html
Especially where she appears at the top of columns in her temples:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hathor-Egyptian-goddess
about 1/4 the way down this page
https://sandinmysuitcase.com/egypt-ancient-temples-and-tombs/
https://ancientegyptmag.com/amp/hathor-hetheru/
I think she was originally a sheep goddess.
Here are pictures of cows with horns:
http://bairnsley.com/Horns.htm
And here are pictures of sheep (yes, even ewes) with horns:
http://www.lavenderfleece.com/horns.html
I think the images without a solar disk, and with a "wig" that reaches behind her ears, and becomes curly, are more reminicent of a sheep than a cow. I think the ears could be either.
Interestingly enough, apparently the Sumerians/Mesopotamians had a sheep goddess who, in some accounts, was the mother of Gilgamesh. Her name was Sirtur or Duttur, which I don't think it takes too much effort to see how it could become Hathor. There aren't many images on the internet for Sirtur/Duttur, so I don't know whether she was given horns and/or animal ears:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirtur
There is a geneology chart 1/4 down this page:
http://www.dhushara.com/book/orsin/origsin.htm
(I have not read all of that page, no indeed.)
As an aside, the usual mother for Gilgamesh is Ninsun, whose name means "wild cow goddess" - so there's that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninsun
So. My theory is that this goddess has morphed and transformed through time, and I feel that if I hunted far enough and squinted my eyes just the right way, I might be able to make the case that she became Mary. I don't really feel the need to do that, though, because I find the goddess's manifestation as earlier Hathor to be compelling.
So, now here is the story of the Five Gifts of Hathor:
https://www.ancient.eu/article/58/the-five-gifts-of-hathor-gratitude-in-ancient-egyp/
Is that not cool? Gratitude and celebration, and a tangible symbol. Very cool.
But first, in my never ending search for a spiritual practice that will be satisfying on the ritualistic side (one of my favourite things about the Anglican church is the ritual), while also not being so silly that I have to prance through the forest in diaphanous robes (I don't want to feel like an aged Magrat, flower petals drooping and nose dripping), I have been reading about and obsessing about Hathor for a couple days, and I want to share my thoughts about it.
She was a Goddess in Egypt for a long time. Towards the end, Isis was taking her place and her powers, but she was top goddess and supreme god-wife and king-maker for centuries. Offerings to her were mostly grain, and things made from grain (hello beer), and music. People celebrated her festivals with dancing and singing and music making and baby making. Aside from the baby making, that sounds like ritual that I can do. It doesn't appear that I have to kill anything. And, okay, my dancing days are done, but I can shuffle for a little bit and shake the sistrum.
The sistrum wasn't exclusively for her, but it was primarily for her. Worshippers aproached her playing the sistrum, shaking it forward in a one, two, three, pause, repeat beat. Most sistra were decorated with the head of Hathor.
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/sistrum.htm
Now, this is where we get to my brilliant observation. (I suspect that someone has already seen this, but I haven't read very far yet.) We primarily think of Hathor in her later images - as the cow goddess with the sun disk between her horns:
https://www.cleopatraegypttours.com/travel-guide/hathor-the-egyptian-goddess/
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathor#/media/File:Egypt.Hathor.jpg
The images of Hathor with a cow's head are very late:
https://www.ancient.eu/Hathor/
But there are earlier images of her:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/archaeologists-egyptian-goddess-greece-1737300
https://www.alamy.com/wooden-relief-of-the-ancient-egyptian-goddess-hathor-image357356365.html
Especially where she appears at the top of columns in her temples:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hathor-Egyptian-goddess
about 1/4 the way down this page
https://sandinmysuitcase.com/egypt-ancient-temples-and-tombs/
https://ancientegyptmag.com/amp/hathor-hetheru/
I think she was originally a sheep goddess.
Here are pictures of cows with horns:
http://bairnsley.com/Horns.htm
And here are pictures of sheep (yes, even ewes) with horns:
http://www.lavenderfleece.com/horns.html
I think the images without a solar disk, and with a "wig" that reaches behind her ears, and becomes curly, are more reminicent of a sheep than a cow. I think the ears could be either.
Interestingly enough, apparently the Sumerians/Mesopotamians had a sheep goddess who, in some accounts, was the mother of Gilgamesh. Her name was Sirtur or Duttur, which I don't think it takes too much effort to see how it could become Hathor. There aren't many images on the internet for Sirtur/Duttur, so I don't know whether she was given horns and/or animal ears:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirtur
There is a geneology chart 1/4 down this page:
http://www.dhushara.com/book/orsin/origsin.htm
(I have not read all of that page, no indeed.)
As an aside, the usual mother for Gilgamesh is Ninsun, whose name means "wild cow goddess" - so there's that:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninsun
So. My theory is that this goddess has morphed and transformed through time, and I feel that if I hunted far enough and squinted my eyes just the right way, I might be able to make the case that she became Mary. I don't really feel the need to do that, though, because I find the goddess's manifestation as earlier Hathor to be compelling.
So, now here is the story of the Five Gifts of Hathor:
https://www.ancient.eu/article/58/the-five-gifts-of-hathor-gratitude-in-ancient-egyp/
Is that not cool? Gratitude and celebration, and a tangible symbol. Very cool.
