In the beginning, before there was any land of Egypt, all was darkness, 
and there was nothing but a great waste of water called Nun. 
The power of Nun was such that there arose out of the darkness a great
shining egg, and this was Re (Who his secret name 
is not known but himself and Isis).


    
Eye of The RE


     
Now Re was all-powerful, and he could
take many forms. His power and the secret
of it lay in his hidden name; but if he spoke
other names, that which he named came
into being. 

"I am Khepera at the dawn, and Re at noon, and Tem
in the evening," he said. And the sun rose and passed
across the sky and set for the first time. 

Then he named Shu, and the first winds blew; he
named Tefnut the spitter, and the first rain fell. Next he
named Geb, and the earth came into being; he named
the goddess Nut, and she was the sky arched over the
earth with her feet on one horizon and her hands on the
other; he named Hapi, and the great River Nile flowed
through Egypt and made it fruitful. 

After this Re named all things that are upon the earth,
and they grew. Last of all he named mankind, and there
were men and women in the land of Egypt. 

Then Re took on the shape of a man and became the
first Pharaoh, ruling over the whole country for
thousands and thousands of years, and giving such
harvests that for ever afterwards the Egyptians spoke of
the good things "which happened in the time of Re". 

But, being in the form of a man, Re grew old. In time
men no longer feared him or obeyed his laws. They
laughed at him, saying: "Look at Re! His bones are like
silver, his flesh like gold, his hair is the colour of lapis
lazuli!" 

Re was angry when he heard this, and he was more
angry still at the evil deeds which men were doing in
disobedience to his laws. So he called together the gods
whom he had made - Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut
- and he also summoned Nun. Soon the gods gathered
about Re in his Secret Place, and the goddesses also.
But mankind knew nothing of what was happening, and
continued to jeer at Re and to break his
commandments. Then Re spoke to Nun before the
assembled gods: "Eldest of the gods, you who made me;
 and you gods whom I have made: look upon mankind
who came into being at a glance of my Eye. See how
men plot against me; hear what they say of me; tell me
what I should do to them. For I will not destroy
mankind until I have heard what you advise." 


    


Nun


    

Then Nun said: "My son Re, the god greater than he
who made him and mightier than those whom he has
created, turn your mighty Eye upon them and send
destruction upon them in the form of your daughter, the
goddess Sekhmet." 



Sekhmet

      
                  
         
Re answered: "Even now fear is falling upon them and
they are fleeing into the desert and hiding themselves in
the mountains in terror at the sound of my voice." 

"Send against them the glance of your Eye in the form
Sekhmet!" cried all the other gods and goddesses,
bowing before Re until their foreheads touched the
ground. 

So at the terrible glance from the Eye of
Re his daughter Sekhmet came into being,
the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she
rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight
was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in
blood. At the bidding of Re she came into
Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who
had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed
them among the mountains which lie on
either side of the Nile, and down beside the
river, and in the burning deserts. All whom
she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and
the taste of blood. 

Presently Re looked out over the land and saw what
Sekhmet had done. Then he called to her, saying:
"Come, my daughter, and tell me how you have obeyed
my commands." 

Sekhmet answered with the terrible voice of a lioness as
she tears her prey: "By the life which you have given
me, I have indeed done vengeance on mankind, and my
heart rejoices." 

Now for many nights the Nile ran red with blood, and
Sekhmet's feet were red as she went hither and thither
through all the land of Egypt slaying and slaying. 

Presently Re looked out over the earth once more, and
now his heart was stirred with pity for men, even
though they had rebelled against him. But none could
stop the cruel goddess Sekhmet, not even Re himself:
she must cease from slaying of her own accord -and Re
saw that this could only come about through cunning. 

So he gave his command: "Bring before me swift
messengers who will run upon the earth as silently as
shadows and with the speed of the storm winds." When
these were brought he said to them: "Go as fast as you
can up the Nile to where it flows fiercely over the rocks
and among the islands of the First Cataract; go to the
isle that is called Elephantine and bring from it a great
store of the red ochre which is to be found there." 

The messengers sped on their way and returned with
the blood-red ochre to Heliopolis, the city of Re where
stand the stone obelisks with points of gold that are like
fingers pointing to the sun. It was night when they came
to the city, but all day the women of Heliopolis had
been brewing beer as Re bade them. 

Re came to where the beer stood waiting in seven
thousand jars, and the gods came with him to see how
by his wisdom he would save mankind. 

"Mingle the red ochre of Elephantine with the
barley-beer," said Re, and it was done, so that the beer
gleamed red in the moonlight like the blood of men. 

"Now take it to the place where Sekhmet proposes to
slay men when the sun rises," said Re. And while it was
still night the seven thousand jars of beer were taken
and poured out over the fields so that the ground was
covered to the depth of nine inches -- three times the
measure of the palm of a man's hand-with the strong
beer, whose other name is "sleep-maker". 

When day came Sekhmet the terrible came also, licking
her lips at the thought of the men whom she would slay.
She found the place flooded and no living creature in
sight; but she saw the beer which was the colour of
blood, and she thought it was blood indeed -- the blood
of those whom she had slain. 

Then she laughed with joy, and her laughter was like
the roar of a lioness hungry for the kill. Thinking that it
was indeed blood, she stooped and drank. Again and yet
again she drank, laughing with delight; and the strength
of the beer mounted to her brain, so that she could no
longer slay. 

At last she came reeling back to where Re was waiting;
that day she had not killed even a single man. 

Then Re said: "You come in peace, sweet one." And
her name was changed to Hathor, and her nature was
changed also to the sweetness of love and the strength
of desire. And henceforth Hathor laid low men and
women only with the great power of love. But for ever
after her priestesses drank in her honour of the beer of
Heliopolis coloured with the red ochre of Elephantine
when they celebrated her festival each New Year. 
  


Hathor

    
So mankind was saved, and Re continued to rule old
though he was. But the time was drawing near when he
must leave the earth to reign for ever in the heavens,
letting the younger gods rule in his place. For dwelling in
the form of a man, of a Pharaoh of Egypt, Re was
losing his wisdom; yet he continued to reign, and no one
could take his power from him, since that power dwelt
in his secret name which none knew but himself. If only
anyone could discover his Name of Power, Re would
reign no longer on earth; but only by magic arts was this
possible. 

Geb and Nut had children: these were the younger gods
whose day had come to rule, and their names were
Osiris and Isis, Nephthys and Seth. Of these Isis was
the wisest: she was cleverer than a million men, her
knowledge was greater than that of a million of the
noble dead. She knew all things in heaven and earth,
except only for the Secret Name of Re, and that she
now set herself to learn by guile. 


Isis

       

Now Re was growing older every day. As he passed
across the land of Egypt his head shook from side to
side with age, his jaw trembled, and he dribbled at the
mouth as do the very old among men. As his spittle fell
upon the ground it made mud, and this Isis took in her
hands and kneaded together as if it had been dough.
Then she formed it into the shape of a serpent, making
the first cobra -- the uraeus, which ever after was the
symbol of royalty worn by Pharaoh and his queen. 

Isis placed the first cobra in the dust of the
road by which Re passed each day as he
went through his two kingdoms of Upper
and Lower Egypt. As Re passed by the
cobra bit him and then vanished into the
grass. But the venom of its bite coursed
through his veins, and for a while Re was
speechless, save for one great cry of pain
which rang across the earth from the eastern
to the western horizon. The gods who
followed him crowded round, asking: "What
is it? What ails you?" But he could find no
words; his lips trembled and he shuddered in all his
limbs, while the poison spread over his body as the Nile
spreads over Egypt at the inundation. When at last he
could speak, Re said: "Help me, you whom I have
made. Something has hurt me, and I do not know what
it is. I created all things, yet this thing I did not make. It
is a pain such as I have never known before, and no
other pain is equal to it. Yet who can hurt me?-for none
knows my Secret Name which is hidden in my heart,
giving me all power and guarding me against the magic
of both wizard and witch. Nevertheless as I passed
through the world which I have created, through the
two lands that are my special care, something stung me.
It is like fire, yet is not fire; it is like water and not
water. I burn and I shiver, while all my limbs tremble.
So call before me all the gods who have skill in healing
and knowledge of magic, and wisdom that reaches to
the heavens." 

Then all the gods came to Re, weeping and lamenting at
the terrible thing which had befallen him. With them
came Isis, the healer, the queen of magic, who breathes
the breath of life and knows words to revive those who
are dying. And she said: 

"What is it, divine father? Has a snake bitten you. Has a
creature of your own creating lifted up its head against
you? I will drive it out by the magic that is mine, and
make it tremble and fall down before your glory." 

"I went by the usual way through my two lands of
Egypt," answered Re, "for I wished to look upon all that
I had made. And as I went I was bitten by a snake
which I did not see -- a snake that, I had not created.
Now I burn as if with fire and shiver as if my veins
were filled with water, and the sweat runs down my
face it runs down the faces of men on the hottest days
of summer." 

"Tell me your Secret Name." said Isis in a sweet,
soothing voice. "Tell it me, divine father; for only by
speaking your name in my spells can I cure you." 

Then Re spoke the many names that were his: "I am
Maker Heaven and Earth." he said. "I am Builder of the
Mountains. I am Source of the Waters throughout all
the world. I am Light and Darkness. I am Creator of the
Great River of Egypt. I am the Kindler of the Fire that
burns in the sky; yes, I am Khepera in the, morning, Re
at the noontide, and Tum in the evening." 

But Isis said never a word, and the poison had its way
in the veins of Re. For she knew that he had told her
only the names which all men knew, and that his Secret
Name, the Name of Power, still lay hidden in his heart. 

At last she said: "You know well that the name which I
need to learn is not among those which you have
spoken. Come, tell me the Secret Name; for if you do
the poison will come forth and you will have an end of
pain." 

The poison burned with a great burning, more powerful
than any flame of fire, and Re cried out at last: "Let the
Name of Power pass from my heart into the heart of
Isis! But before it does, swear to me that you will tell it
to no other save only the son whom you will have,
whose name shall be Horus. And bind him first with
such an oath that the name will remain with him and be
passed on to no other gods or men." 

Isis the great magician swore the oath, and the
knowledge of the Name of Power passed from the heart
of Re into hers. 

Then she said: "By the name which I know, let the 
poison go from Re for ever!" 

So it passed from him and he had peace. But he reigned
upon earth no longer. Instead he took his place in the
high heavens, traveling each day across the sky in the
likeness of the sun itself, and by night crossing the
underworld of Amenti in the Boat of Re and passing
through the twelve divisions of Duat where many
dangers lurk. Yet Re passes safely, and with him he
takes those souls of the dead who know all the charms 
and prayers and words that must be said. And so that a
man might not go unprepared for his voyage in the Boat
of Re, the Egyptians painted all the scenes of that
journey on the walls of the tombs of the Pharaohs, with
all the knowledge that was written in The Book of the 
Dead, of which a copy was buried in the grave of lesser
men so that they too might read and come safely to the 
land beyond the west where the dead dwell. 
   

Orion!