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EGYPTIAN GODDESS HATHOR
GODDESS OF MOTHERHOOD, LOVE AND MUSIC
Hathor was another much-loved Goddess of ancient Egypt. Her name was pronounced in two
syllables (Hat-hor). She was closely tied with Isis,
as a protector of women, and Goddess of motherhood, love and
music. Hathor was a Goddess of the stars and sky, and was
usually depicted either as a cow, or a woman with the head
of a cow.
Her cult was centered in Dendera where she was a
goddess of fertility and childbirth. In Thebes she
was seen as a goddess of the dead, and the Greeks identified
her with Aphrodite (their goddess of love).
She is usually shown with a solar disk flanked by cow
horns on her head. She is
also regarded as the patron of love, dance, and alcohol. Her love of music could be seen as she carried a
sistrum (a rattle) with her often. She was particularly
loved by the lower-class women who usually called upon her
during childbirth.
Hathor was the daughter of the sun God Ra, and
Nut, the Goddess of the night sky. In her cow persona,
she was nurse to Horus when he was a child.
| TITLE |
Lady / Mistress of Heaven |
| ANIMAL |
cow, lioness, falcon, cobra, hippopotamus |
| SYMBOLS |
sistrum, musical instruments, drums, pregnant women,
mirrors, cosmetics |
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She was typically a calm and peaceful Deity, but on one
occasion was called upon by Ra to punish mankind for
not worshipping him properly. He sent Hathor to the task,
but she became frenzied with blood-lust and Ra feared that
she would destroy all mankind. So he poured beer in the
fields, and she drank. She fell asleep, drunk, and forgot
about her mission.
The Seven Hathors It was said that when a child was born, Seven Hathors came to
the bedside to announce the child's fate. The Seven Hathors were believed to
know the future and the moment of death for every Egyptian. A
person's destiny depended on the hour of their death and the luck of
ill-fortune was connected with it. It was believed that the Hathors
would exchange a prince born to ill-fortune with a more fortunate
child, therefore protecting the dynasty and the nation. The Hathors
were shown as a group of young women playing tambourines and wearing
the disk and horns of Hathor. During Ptolemaic times (when Greeks
ruled over Egypt), they were identified with the Pleiades.
Variants: Athyr, Hethert.
A foot on
each corner of the world,
Golden Hathor is the House of the Sky,
The rain falls from her belly,
The papyrus blooms beneath her feet.
Tarot Card
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