The Cult of Ra (Cardiff University Pagan Society)

Introduction

Ra is one of the most important gods in the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. He was regarded as the Divine embodiment of the Sun, the ancestor of the Pharaohs, the king of the Gods and the Creator of the Universe. This article will examine his cult and show how his mysteries can be used today.

Iconography

In Middle Egyptian the name Ra is written:

(Source: Wikipedia). The hieroglyphs which make up this name (mouth, arm, solar disk, one and god) are all connected with the act of Creation in Egyptian myth, so the name probably means something like "Creator".

In Egyptian art Ra is portrayed as male, having a human body and hawk-headed, with the solar disk and khut-serpent on his head. He holds an ankh in his right hand and a sceptre in his left hand:

Ra is often portrayed sitting in a boat, in which he crosses the sky from sun-rise to sun-set. He had two boats: Matet for the day and Sektet for the night.

Ra's main function was as a Solar Deity and in this role he had four forms.

Kephra was the rising sun, symbolised by a scarab beetle.
Ra was the noon sun as it travelled across the sky, symbolised as above.
Tum was the setting sun, symbolised by a man.
Sokar was the midnight sun as it travelled through the Underworld, symbolised by a hawk-headed mummy.

Ra was also symbolised by the solar disk, which was called the Aten.

As a Creator Ra was known as Amen, the hidden god, who existed before time and whose creative impulse brought the Universe into being.

Religious cult

The worship of Ra was very ancient. In the Pyramid Texts, which date from the Vth and VIth Dynasties, he is already a major deity. Ra's cult centre was Annu (Gk. Helipolis) the scant remains of which are located in Matariyeh, a present day suburb of Cairo. His temple was unusual in that his rites were celebrated in the open air, under the glare of the sun.

Many beautiful hymns to Ra have survived in the funerary literature, and they testify to his importance. At the Valley of the Kings a litany was found which identifies Ra with all the other deities of the pantheon.

During the reign of Akhnaten in the XVIIIth dynasty the Aten became the sole object of worship. Many hymns were written to it. After Akhnaten's death the worship of the traditional pantheon was reasserted.

During the New Kingdom the cult of Amen at Thebes gained prominence and Ra became known as Amen-Ra. The Theban priesthood became the most powerful religious institution in Egypt.

Ra's sacred animals were the hawk and the scarab beetle. The hawk was probably one of the oldest animals to be revered in Egypt and became associated with the monarchy. Its hunting prowess probably caused it to be regarded as the king of the sky, and from there it became associated with the sun. The scarab beetle lays its eggs in dung and rolls the dung into a ball from which its larvae hatch. The Egyptians saw this as a metaphor for the way in which the sun travels across the sky, shedding its life-giving beams.

Mythology

There is no connected account of mythology in the Egyptian sources, but the myths can be pieced together from the scattered references found throughout Egyptian texts.

In the beginning there was formless chaos. Amen, the Hidden God, brooded in the midst of this Chaos until he experienced the desire to manifest. Amen therefore arose as the solar disk, the Aten, and Light came into being. Amen-Ra, as he now was, then experienced the desire to masturbate and from his semen two deities formed, Shu and Tefnut, brother and sister. From their union came Geb and Nut, also brother and sister. These deities then created the Universe, and gave birth to all the other gods.

When the earth was created Ra desired servants to do his bidding. He wept and from his tears sprang human beings. Ra descended to earth and became the first Pharaoh, ruling humanity with justice and peace. But humanity rebelled against his rule so in his anger Ra sent his Eye to destroy them. The Eye of Ra took the form of the Goddess Hathor and set about slaughtering humanity. So great was the lamentation that went up to Ra's throne that he repented his anger and asked Hathor to return to him. But Hathor had such a taste for human blood that she did not hear him. In desperation Ra turned to the Gods for help and they brewed a large amount of beer which they dyed red and spread over the whole land. When Hathor saw it she thought it was blood and drank it all. She became so drunk that she fell asleep and when she awoke her blood-lust was past. Thus was humanity saved from destruction.

Ra was so weary of life on earth that he returned to Heaven to sail across the sky in his boats. Every day he sailed through Heaven in the Matet boat and every night he sailed through the Underworld in his Sektet boat and fought against the forces of Chaos before emerging triumphant as the rising sun.

When Ra became old, the Goddess Isis decided to trick him into revealing his secret name, which would give her power over the forces of Creation. She fashioned a poisonous serpent out of mud and put it on the path of Heaven where Ra would pass by. The serpent stung Ra and he cried out in agony as the poison coursed through his veins. Isis came to him and offered to cure him in exchange for his secret name. At first Ra recited his titles and attributes in an effort to deceive her, but Isis was not to be swayed. Eventually Ra gave in and told Isis his secret name and she cured him.

The Underworld

It is clear from the Pyramid Texts that during the Old Kingdom when the Pharaoh and his court died they expected to join Ra in his solar boats. During the Middle Kingdom the afterlife became "democratised" as the cult of Osiris developed until by the New Kingdom Osiris had replaced Ra as the primary Underworld deity. Nevertheless the Pharaohs still kept for themselves the concept of an afterlife in Ra's boat, a kind of aristocratic afterlife reserved for royalty. A number of New Kingdom texts describe this afterlife.

The Book of Gates and The Book of Am Duat both describe the regions of the Underworld in detail, although they differ from each other in content. The Underworld was divided into twelve regions, each of which was inhabited by a variety of demons and deities as well as the souls of the dead. The ruler of the Underworld was the serpent Apep, who Ra defeated in battle each night. As Ra progressed through each region his Divine Light brought temporary relief to the inhabitants. Finally Ra transformed into Kephra, the rising sun, and passed through into the day to repeat his journey across the sky all over again.

Practical Work

The numerous hymns to Ra are good for devotional work; the Litany of Ra (which you can read here) is particularly recommended. The Book of Gates and the Book of Am Duat make excellent pathworking exercises for those who wish to explore the magical side of things. The best versions of these texts for magical use are to be found in E. A. Wallis Budge's books, cited below.

The Cult of Ra

By David Benton