The God(s) Of Egypt, The One and the Many Options

Greetings,

This is mainly for those of you who have worked with the Egytian ntr , but of course anyone who has any insight is urged to reply.

At the end of the 19th C. and beginning of 20th C. when E.A. Wallis Budge was the keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum there was a prevailing concept that the Egyptian deities were all personified aspects of the one “true” God. Of course Budge was a product of his time as this theory was also put forth by other leading German and French Egyptologists (Lepsius, Mariette, Pierret,etc.). Outside the realm of academia, this belief also prevailed in the occult circles of the time as a means to reconcile the many gods of the Egyptians with the YHVH of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The thousands of Egyptian deities were interpreted along a similar vein to the multiple names of God in that they represented the plurality through which the One could be comprehended.

Now, more recently Egyptologists (Hornung, Baines, Silverman, Shafer, Lesko, Quirke, etc.) are moving away from this interpretation and see the ntr of the Egyptians as local and regional deifications of the forces of nature. Through syncretism (i.e. Amen + Re = Amen-Re) spurred largely by political reasons these multiple regional gods became more singular through time. There is a slightly sinister overtone to these recent interpretations as they boil down to the human struggle for control and manipulation of the masses through a singular source of power (particularly relevant in the 18th Dynasty). Nonetheless, I'm sure 100 years down the line, people will look at these interpretations as reflective of our own unstable religio-political atmosphere.

Now here is the catch (I’m quoting from Le Page Renouf):

“Throughout the whole range of ancient Egyptian literature, no facts appear to be more certainly proved than these: (1) that the doctrine of one God and that of many gods were taught by the same men; (2) that no inconsistency between the two doctrines was thought of.” (Lectures, p. 92)

Given our modern concepts of God, nothing could be more contradictory…right?

It is, however, a true statement. Whether you look at the Hermopolitan , Heliopolitan, or Memphite cosmologies the various uses of the word ntr (i.e. ‘god’) and epithets in association vary tremendously. In one inscription you may have Amen (Amun) called the “one true hidden God” (in the Judeo-Christian sense) alongside wr-ntrt Isis (the great goddess Isis) and a little further down sps-ntr Wepwawet (the glorious god Wepwawet). The mix and match of singular and plural doctrines of God or gods is of little concern to the Egyptian scribes, or somehow they have managed to reconcile both concepts into something which we cannot entirely grasp.

If you have read this far, and I still have your attention, here are my questions. What are your views on the singular and plural aspects of Egyptian divinities? How do you reconcile these in your Magical workings?

My interest in this is because I am currently working with an Egyptian ntr, and have come to the realization that there is an underlying duality (and even multiplicity) in his nature. He appears to me as one being, but there are moments when he can be two and even three distinct divinities which are somehow still one... or maybe, he is an aspect of the One???

Anyway, do post your thoughts.

F

This post has been edited by Faustopheles: Dec 11 2006, 10:39 PM

Greetings,

Fantastic post.

My opinion of the Egyptian deities is one of Aspects. If you look at any one of them, they each have more than one prevailing quality. So it would be my theory that it is possible to 'evoke/invoke' different aspects of one deity. I.e, the god of the sun doesn't only rise, he also sets, and also burns brightly at noon day.
Just a thought.
Peace.

My interest in this is because I am currently working with an Egyptian ntr, and have come to the realization that there is an underlying duality (and even multiplicity) in his nature. He appears to me as one being, but there are moments when he can be two and even three distinct divinities which are somehow still one... or maybe, he is an aspect of the One???

Anyway, do post your thoughts.

F

Greetings Faustopheles,

In my opinion I would say that you have described E. A. Wallis Budges estimation of ntr quite accurately. A lot of the Religions of Ancient Egypt as well as Judao/Christian have attributed the separate distinctions of various Tribal or Regional Deities to a single Deity. This usually solidified the growing and communities where two or more communities were joined into a central people where their Deities were centralized by Attributes and Characteristics.

In the easiest way I can comprehend the various Aspects of Deity, I consider them as somewhat like unto Egregors. An Egregor is a cumulative effective of the buildup of energies and attributes over periods of time ,and Egregors may gain as do Deities various additional attributes according to those involved in the working with these entities.

I consider Egregors and Deities to some degree to be reflective of their adherents energies, their adherents charateristics, and also, their adherents attributes. Take a group of people who come from various cultures, symbolic of tribes, these in turn give certain identifying characteristics to a group when they are gathered for a single purpose. Yes they are all separate individuals, yet, at the same time they are in one accord and in one mind. If you have ever been to a meeting of Ecclectic Worshippers whether Pagan or Other, and it comes time for Ritual you shall see people preparing themselves in a multitude of ways, some may ground themselves with the Earth, some may raise their hands to the sky, some may stand motionless drawing in the Air and circulating it as Prana to enliven their energy centers. All involved have come to particular ways to get in touch with Deity, whether that Deity is Subjective or Objective, One or Many, or Many of One. Each adherents and worshippers energy builds up the Group Egregor or Deity, and if you think of it, that is exactly how various Deities whether of the Egyptian, Babylonian, Hindu or other Religious Caste Systems coupled their Deities or Group Egregors in the times past. each one added a bit of themselves.

Then of course as you so adeptly stated; there is the political purpose of controling the populace by controling the Religious Expressions they were encouraged to exhibit.

You made an Excellent Post on this topic.

Respectfully,
Helel (Joseph)

Greetings Seraphim and Joseph,

You both seem to agree that the Many can be a reflection of the One, or at least that the many can reflect one. I think I am also in agreement. Good stuff Seraphim pointing out that the Egyptians deified the sunrise, noon, and sunset. Indeed, different aspects of the same one. Joseph, I’m quite fond of your Egregor analogy, which springs an interesting theosophical question. Are each ntr a condensed thought-form of the divine Godhead? Or are they human thought-forms through which we interact with the divine?

I think an Egyptian priest might argue that while the ntr has the power to control events on earth, the priest/magician has the power to control the ntr. So again, does this mean the ntr were emanated from God for man, or created by man to play God? And of course is their a God (a One) for the Egyptians, or is God the totality of the ntr?

Here the Egyptian cosmogonies are not too clear; some ntr (i.e. Osiris, Set, Isis, Nepthys) appear to be early humans somewhat Adam-Eve and Cane-Abel archetypes promoted to gods in later periods. After all Osiris’ tomb was believed to have been at Abydos…why would a god need a tomb? This is also the case with Imhotep, Djoser’s royal architect who is deified in the New Kingdom. And of course there is Pharaoh. Clearly the Egyptians had the power to create their own gods!

But, what about those other ntr, such as Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Re, and others who from their beginnings are the agents responsible for cosmological order? Surely, these cannot be created by man as these are the very forces that bind our universe together. These are perhaps the Egregors of the Creator (i.e Ptah or Atum ) who through speech, breath, or masturbation (depending on the version told) manifest their thoughts and energy into the personified forces of the cosmos.

And now we are left with these Creators themselves, are they the different regional versions of the Godhead? I find it hard to believe that a civilization could have flourished for 3000 years having multiple interpretations of the One…after all, our modern civilizations have only been around for hundreds of years and we are on the verge of destroying one another for this very reason. Perhaps even these ntr are to be understood as aspects of the omnipotent nameless One, condensed into divine thought, divine speech, and divine action to fulfill the role of creator.

All Egyptian creation myths begin with the chaotic primordial waters (Nun), representing the limitless potential of matter. The Hermopolitan cosmogony is perhaps one of the most philosophical in origin as it tries to explain the nature of this chaotic and limitless primordial expanse through eight aspects (four duality pairs). It is the separation of these eight ntr that begins the process of creation. Here there is no One per say, unless the One is the totality of the eight aspects, i.e. the potential for order in the primordial chaos…this seeds a pantheistic interpretation of God (which I find quite alluring). It is perhaps through this approach where we can see how the dual doctrine of many gods and the One God can exist side by side with no contradiction between the two. That is because one is the totality of the other.

What is clear, however, is that the word “gods” does not do the ntr justice- at least our modern conception of the word. It is entirely too simplistic. The Egyptian sources tell us that there are primordial ntr who will themselves into self-creation, there are ntr created by other ntr, and there are ntr created through human worship. In the end one law holds true across the ntr, and that is the efficacy of magic as this is the means through which they create and are created. Anyway, I am rambling… daydreaming of what it would be like to be ancient Egyptian theologian!

Thanks for your responses.

F

Greetings Faustopheles,

There is considered as you have described several beliefs in the origination of Neters, or Gods. As you have listed the most accepted ones I would like to recapitulate on a couple of beliefs that the Egyptians held concerning the Origins of the Gods.

E.A. Wallis Budge who wrote "The Gods of The Egyptians." describes in volume 11, page 8.,:
"Adorations be to thee, O thou creator of the gods, who hast stretched out the heavens and made solid the earth. Thou art the untiring watcher, O Amsu-Amen (or Min-Amen), the lord of eternity, and maker of everlastingness."

This particular text describes a Creation of the gods, by a Creator of the Gods, as you have discussed quite well. Then as we have discussed there does appear to be in Ancient as well as modern Religion a gathering of qualities, attributes and characteristics from several tribal or communal deities into the formation of a Deity with which Omnipotent and Omnisient Power is ascribed. This in turn seems to have cemented followers to their dedication and servitude believing that the Deity or (Dual Deity) ascribed name, was of greater ability and more able to provide for their spiritual needs, as well as their physical needs.

I have pondered for years the concepts both Theological, and Philosophical of the Origin or Existence of Deity, much as you have been describing of yourself, the drawing and desire to search for the truth behind so many various ideologies.

In reflection on the Cosmological Creation of the Universe by Deities or a Deity that was Self Born or Self-Willed into creation, and by which through the act of creation manifested aspects of its own nature in a Self-Reflected attempt to discover its own existence. What if though, that all things in creation had as it's begining or source a common origin. An Origin where both Gods and Man existed simultaneously without the necessity of one to praise, while one would recieve praise, or of one having their existence separate from the other. I personally view the separation of the gods from man or any aspect of existence as a method of reductionism. In my honest opinion I believe that "The sum is greater than it's parts" truthfully we may never know of the exact order or heiarchy of such questions as we have pondered, sometimes the importnat thing to remeber is everything in the Universe including Eternity has in some fashion existed for Eternity. For those who conceive of reincarnation we have existed in the past and we follow a pattern of our own choosing or Archetypal Image of what our perfected state would be. Yet one thing is for certain in my mind, we are as integral in the existence of the Universe as the existence of the Universe and the Deities are integral to our existence. It is an interdependence of all things in existence, we may call certain things by one name, while someone from another city may call it from another, while someone from another country may consider the same aspects of their Deity yet with an completely different name. Does this change or are we merely describing the same Archetypal Images that are inherent in the Collective Unconscious of man in a more Ancient time.

I think one of the most important points to remember in our search for Deity or Deities, is that they are an integral part of our Nature, and we are an integral part of their Nature, through the Interrelationsip of existence we share one commonality with all of Creation, and with Deity, we can truly state,
"I Am."

Respectfully,
Helel (Joseph)