Hathor: Moon Goddess?

[Lokabrenna]

Mainline paganism is very post-Hellenistic-and-Roman. Where "lunar" is very heavily coded "feminine", and this was picked up and promoted as some kind of human universal probably based on some combination of menstrual cycle timing, women-are-so-changeable-har-har-har (and the sun is so strong, lookit those abs), and We're A Dominant Culture We Don't Have To Pay Attention To Anyone Else's Mythology.

So, basically, if you putter around you'll run into a whole lot of idiots who equate 'lunar' and 'female' because that's Just Plain How It Is. My favorite is this, from an actual published book: "Het-Her's two horns contain the solar disk, which represents the New Moon."

That....doesn't make any sense....

I know the feeling though. I once saw Freyja described as an "Earth, Sun, and Moon Goddess" now, earthly and solar associations I kind of get, but lunar? Even if you associate her with witches and assume that witches mainly work at night, it's still too much of a stretch. Mani and Sunna do their jobs quite well.

But that Hathor quote....wow....

[Shine]

I love the idea of Her being solar at night.

To me, the stars are the sun at night would mean more solar associations.
The moon reflects the sunlight and to me this makes sense as Djehuty (moon god) is the one who watches over the sky at night while Ra is getting renewed in the Duat. The moon doesn't burn on its own, I guess. (Now I'm picturing bonfires on the moon). I could definitely see where someone would see that as more lunar since the stars are associated with night though.

Aset is associated with the night sky and stars, as She is called Mistress of All the Stars and takes the form of the Celestial Cow (the night sky).

Thanks for listening to my ramble.
Her Sopdet festival, flame festival (Burning the Widow's Flame) and Aset Luminous were/are this week for me so I have Her stellar and solar aspects on the brain.

It seems like a lot of Netjeru have some kind of connection to the solar principle (naturally, given the mythology). Sometimes Kemeticism feels like solar worship. But I'm getting a bit henotheistic in my worship of Bast, so maybe that's it?

So, wait, did Wp Rnpt already happen? 0.o Ugh, the Kemetic calendar is kicking my butt.

[Darkhawk]

So, wait, did Wp Rnpt already happen? 0.o Ugh, the Kemetic calendar is kicking my butt.

Depends on your calendar. :P Which also depends on who is calculating it, why, and how....

(Mine has it as 5 August, at least in its current revision.)

[Shine]

Depends on your calendar. :P Which also depends on who is calculating it, why, and how....



(Mine has it as 5 August, at least in its current revision.)

I think I'm scheduled for the 8th. All these calculations have gotten me twisted sideways and backwards. In the end, I'm just going to use the civil calendar, assign festivals to particular dates, and go from there. The recon in me is screaming but I don't have the resources to keep tussling with this.

[Neteruhemta RaShuSet]

I was wondering, I've come across some websites that call Hathor a moon goddess and claim she could be depicted with a moon disk between horns instead of her usual headdress with the sun between her horns. I can't find any evidence of this myself, and have never come across anything connecting her with the moon, so I'm wondering if anyone else has. I know Isis (Aset) was associated with the moon starting from the Greek Hellenistic period in Egypt, so maybe something similar happened to Hathor, as the moon was a symbol of feminine beauty and fruitfulness in Greek context.

Het-Hert was definitely not a lunar goddess. I will say however, that there are some goddesses that are considered to be close to having aspects of the moon. Mut and Nebthet (Nepthys) come to mind. Mut is a member of the Theban Triad and the Mother of Khons in that case with Amon-Re. Nebthet for the sheer fact she is also considered the "shadow of Aset" with Aset being one of the epitomes of the sun (she has Ra's secret name after all and by having his name she has his soul). In this case the "shadow of the sun" could reference the moon. Nebthet is also tied to the "hidden" which the deities of the "hidden" are sometimes referenced as being attributed to the night. An example is Amon-Re vaguely meaning "the Hidden One" is one of the Theban triad deities. The philosophy within Egypt never really separated deities as this one is lunar so this one must be solar (ie Sekhmet = solar so Bast = lunar). Any divisions that were made by the Egyptians were fluid and there because of particular attributes at certain times. The Greeks swooped in and decided that there can't just be them, they need a logical order. This carries in to today with some of rigid followings of the modern movements where they believe feminine is lunar and masculine is solar. It could be said the opposite in Kemetic form. Semen was said to be a lunar fluid (The Semen of Set made a lunar headdress for Tehuti in "The Contendings of Heru and Set) and the menstral cycle was said to be created when Aset "absorbed" Ra's power (and his ability to create).

[Carnelian]

Het-Hert was definitely not a lunar goddess. I will say however, that there are some goddesses that are considered to be close to having aspects of the moon. Mut and Nebthet (Nepthys) come to mind. Mut is a member of the Theban Triad and the Mother of Khons in that case with Amon-Re. Nebthet for the sheer fact she is also considered the "shadow of Aset" with Aset being one of the epitomes of the sun (she has Ra's secret name after all and by having his name she has his soul). In this case the "shadow of the sun" could reference the moon. Nebthet is also tied to the "hidden" which the deities of the "hidden" are sometimes referenced as being attributed to the night. An example is Amon-Re vaguely meaning "the Hidden One" is one of the Theban triad deities. The philosophy within Egypt never really separated deities as this one is lunar so this one must be solar (ie Sekhmet = solar so Bast = lunar). Any divisions that were made by the Egyptians were fluid and there because of particular attributes at certain times. The Greeks swooped in and decided that there can't just be them, they need a logical order. This carries in to today with some of rigid followings of the modern movements where they believe feminine is lunar and masculine is solar. It could be said the opposite in Kemetic form. Semen was said to be a lunar fluid (The Semen of Set made a lunar headdress for Tehuti in "The Contendings of Heru and Set) and the menstral cycle was said to be created when Aset "absorbed" Ra's power (and his ability to create).

Thank you, that's very interesting.