The Celestial Mother: Nuit in Ancient and Modern Times

Although she does not appear to have had a cult of her own, Nuit was one of the most important of the Ancient Egyptian deities.  This article will briefly look at her ancient role, and will also examine her significance to modern Thelemites.

Nuit as the Celestial Mother 

Nuit was regarded as the mother of the gods.  The myth of her pregnancy is quite fascinating.

Nuit was the consort of the earth god, Geb.  To prevent them from constantly having sex Ra ordered Shu, the air god, to separate them.  Ra then discovered that Nuit was pregnant.  To prevent her from giving birth he decreed that she could not give birth on any day of the (360 day) year.  Thoth decided to help out.  He played senet against the moon and won sufficient light from her to make an extra five days. Nuit was able to give birth on these days and produced Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys and Aroueris.

Nuit as a Sky Goddess

Nuit is usually depicted arched over the earth as the night sky, her body studded with stars.  Sometimes Geb is seen reclining below her. At other times she is depicted as the Celestial Cow whose legs are the pillars of Creation.  As a sky goddess she was believed to swallow the Sun every night and give birth to it every morning.  Some of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings have astronomical ceilings which depict the Sun's nighttime voyage through her body.

Nuit as a Funerary Goddess

From the earliest times Nuit was regarded as a funerary goddess.  In the Pyramid Texts she is considered to receive the Pharaoh into the Afterlife:

"Recitation by Nuit the great who dwells in the mansion of Snit:  The King is the son of my desire;  I have given to him the Netherworld..."

Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Utt. 7

Coffins were often decorated with an image of Nuit on the base so that the mummy would have been lying on it.

Nuit in the Aeon of Horus

In the modern age Nuit is one of the principle Thelemic deities.  She is the nominal spokeswoman in the first chapter of Liber Legis (The Book of the Law) and is considered the Great Goddess by Thelemites.  Qabalistically she represents the Ain Soph Aur, the Unmanifest from which all Creation comes.  Because she is Unmanifest her daughter, Babalon, is regarded as her representative within Manifest Creation.

Although she does not appear to have had a cult of her own, Nuit was one of the most important of the Ancient Egyptian deities.  This article will briefly look at her ancient role, and will also examine her significance to modern Thelemites.

Nuit as the Celestial Mother  

Nuit was regarded as the mother of the gods.  The myth of her pregnancy is quite fascinating.

Nuit was the consort of the earth god, Geb.  To prevent them from constantly having sex Ra ordered Shu, the air god, to separate them.  Ra then discovered that Nuit was pregnant.  To prevent her from giving birth he decreed that she could not give birth on any day of the (360 day) year.  Thoth decided to help out.  He played senet against the moon and won sufficient light from her to make an extra five days. Nuit was able to give birth on these days and produced Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys and Aroueris.

Nuit as a Sky Goddess

Nuit is usually depicted arched over the earth as the night sky, her body studded with stars.  Sometimes Geb is seen reclining below her. At other times she is depicted as the Celestial Cow whose legs are the pillars of Creation.  As a sky goddess she was believed to swallow the Sun every night and give birth to it every morning.  Some of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings have astronomical ceilings which depict the Sun's nighttime voyage through her body.

Nuit as a Funerary Goddess

From the earliest times Nuit was regarded as a funerary goddess.  In the Pyramid Texts she is considered to receive the Pharaoh into the Afterlife:

"Recitation by Nuit the great who dwells in the mansion of Snit:  The King is the son of my desire;  I have given to him the Netherworld..."

                     Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Utt. 7

Coffins were often decorated with an image of Nuit on the base so that the mummy would have been lying on it.

Nuit in the Aeon of Horus

In the modern age Nuit is one of the principle Thelemic deities.  She is the nominal spokeswoman in the first chapter of Liber Legis (The Book of the Law) and is considered the Great Goddess by Thelemites.  Qabalistically she represents the Ain Soph Aur, the Unmanifest from which all Creation comes.  Because she is Unmanifest her daughter, Babalon, is regarded as her representative within Manifest Creation.