Akhet Hwt-Hrw An Educational Resoruce for Ancient Egyptian Religion & Esoteric Studies www.Hwt-Hrw.com Heru@Hwt-Hrw.com P.O. Box 6142 Nashua, NH 03063 U.S.A.

Hwt-Hrw: The Goddess Hathor, Lady of Heaven, House Above

From the earliest of times one of the most beautiful, sensuous and powerful forms in which divinity has chosen to express itself can be seen in Hwt-Hrw, or as the Greeks called Her, the Goddess Hathor. There are several different translations for the spelling of Her name from the original Ancient Egyptian into English including: Het-Hert, Het-Heru and Hwt-Hert. Our organization prefers to use the name Hwt-Hrw which is pronounced: Haut-Hor , Hoot-Hor or Hoot-Horu. These appear to be the closest renditions that conform to the to the vocalizations found in Coptic, the language used in Egypt prior to Arabic.

The name Hwt-Hrw means "House Above" (Budge 1904. Vol I 428) as well as "Mansion of Heru" (Horus in Greek), or as George Hart states "'Lady of the Sky' who's womb protected the hawk-god" (Hart 1986. 76). However, Her essence is much more complex than these titles would imply. Some other titles that help to shed light on Her nature include: Lady of Heaven, Lady of Stars, Sovereign of Stars, Lady of Lapis-Lazuli, Golden One, Beautiful One, Lady of the Sacred Land, Lady of Music, Lady of Dance, Lady of the Vulva, Hand of God, and Lady of Drunkenness to name just a few (Pinch 1993. 400, 402; Budge 1904. Vol I 428; Lamey 1981.82; Parker 1950. 33, Lichteim 1976. Vol II 184).

Hwt-Hrw is the Goddess of love, joy, pleasure, sexuality, music, dance, and beauty; the patroness of women, children, and the act of birth (Harris 1981. 26-35; Lamey 1981. 80-85; Hart 1986. 80). In essence She is that which gives meaning and quality to life. But She is also much more. One author describes Her as "the great mother of the world, and the old, cosmic Hathor was the personification of the great power of nature which was perpetually conceiving, and creating, and bringing forth, and rearing, and maintaining all things, great and small. She was the 'mother of her father, and daughter of her son' "(Budge 1904. Vol 1 431). In this way She is seen both as mother and lover, as such She not only 'protects the hawk-god' Heru in Her womb, She becomes His consort. A fact that was celebrated annually at Edfu and Dendera during the festival of "She is Lead Back" (Meeks 1996. 178-186). This was a celebration of the marriage of Hwt-Hrw and Heru, the Queen of Heaven and the Sun God. From this union the god Ihy was produced (Hart1986. 80). Ihy is at once both human and falcon; a blend of the earthly and divine symbols of the monarchy (Meeks 1996. 183). To the Ancient Egyptians the Pharaoh was seen as both the Living Heru and Ihy (Roberts 1997. 30-31), while the Queen was seen as being the Living Hwt-Hrw (Roberts 1997. 124; Tyldesley 1994. 191). Clearly Hwt-Hrw is one of the more complex representations of Neter.

Hwt-Hrw can take on several forms. The most common being that of a cow, beautiful woman with a cow's head, or a beautiful woman wearing the horns of a cow with the solar disk between these (Hart 1986. 76). Other forms include: a falcon (Meeks 1996. 194, figure 27; Lurker 1980.49; Pinch 1994. figure 87), a snake 'who laughs with Wadjet' (Hart 1986. 77), as a sycamore tree(Hart 1981. 77; Lurker 1980. 119) and many others. In Her role as "Eye of Ra" She is portrayed as a lioness (Hart 1986. 77; Harris 1981. 34-35; Meeks 1996. 26), or a wild cat (Harris 1981. 26-33).

"How happy are those who see the festival in this place of mine!
I am seated upon the throne of Khepri,
I give judgement in the company of the Seven Cobras,
I have swallowed the Seven Uraei,
Because I am Hwt-Hrw,
Mistress of Rams,
The serpent who laughs with Wadjet,
The Great Wild Cow!
Here am I appearing in my true form!" (CT 612)

There are several specific ritual items that are sacred to Hwt-Hrw. One is the ritual rattle called a Sistrum, or "Seseheshet" (Hart 1980. 81). There appear to have been two different types of these. There is the "Shmt" which has a loop on the top of the handle with a series of rods strung through this carrying metal disks which rattle when shaken. The other is the "Ssst" naos type (Pinch 1993.153). With both types, the handle terminates at the top with the human face of Hwt-Hrw combined with bovine ears, one face on each side of the Sistrum. However, rather then having aloop on the top of this the "Ssst" or naos type has a miniature reproduction of a doorway between which the rods and metal disks were strung (a good example of this can be seen in Lamey 1981.85).

The symbolism behind both types of Sistra is complex and graphic. First the sound of the Sistrum may very well have represented the sound of 'shaking papyrus,' a plant that is sacred to Hwt-Hrw, and represented joy, life and protection (Meeks 1996. 135). The Sistrum also seems to have had strong fertility overtones and may refer to Hwt-Hrw's role as "Hand of God." Some authorities feel that the handle was regarded as a phallic symbol while the loop or naos top referred to Hwt-Hrw's title of "Lady of the Vulva" (Pinch 1993. 155-156). As such the Sistrum can be regarded as a symbol of life, pleasure and rebirth. It is used in ceremony to cleanse the area, driving negative forces away, bestow blessings and life, while setting the pace or beat of chants and song. This ritual tool is still used by the Coptic Christians of Ethiopia in ceremonies today.

Another tool that is strongly connected with Hwt-Hrw is the Menat necklace. This is a beaded necklace with many strands terminating in a counter piece that, if worn, would hang at the back. Interestingly, this was not intended to be worn, rather this too is a rattle used strictly for ritual purposes to convey the blessings of the goddess (Hart 1986. 81). The symbolism behind the Menat appears to be fertility based as well. The counter piece has been identified as being similar to fertility offerings and 'paddle dolls' that clearly represent female sexuality, while the beaded necklace itself is a symbol for the womb or vulva (Pinch 1993. 278-281). We do know that the Menat was presented to the Neteru and royalty alike to pacify them (Lichtheim 1973. Vol 1 232). Some authorities have seen the offering of the Menat as representing "the mystic union" between the devotee and the goddess (Pinch 1993. 280).

Before leaving the subject of Hwt-Hrw we need to discuss the "Seven Hathors." Essentially Hwt-Hrw was seen as having seven (sometimes nine) forms. In these forms Hwt-Hrw takes on a particularly maternal role of nourishing the souls of those who have passed on. Also in these forms the Hathors helped to provide sustenance for newborn babies. At birth the Hathors also announced the child's fate/Shay (see the entry for the Neter Shay).

Dating from before the Old Kingdom, the Goddess that has come to be known to us as Hathor has been with us since the dawn of known recorded history, and possibly before (Clark 1959. 28). It is our belief that Hwt-Hrw continues to call to humanity in an effort to awaken the spiritual nature of each of us. If only we would listen.

Works Cited

Budge. E.A. Wallis. The Gods Of The Egyptians Vol I. New York, NY: Dover Publications, 1904.

Clark, R.T. Rundle. Myth and Symbol In Ancient Egypt. London, Great Britain: Thames andHudson Ltd, 1959.

Harris, Geraldine. Gods & Pharaohs From Egyptian Mythology. New York, NY: Peter Bedrick Books, 1981.

Hart, George. A Dictionary Of Egyptian Gods And Goddesses. London, Great Britain: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986.

Lamey, Lucie. Egyptian Mysteries. London, Great Britain: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1981.

Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol I & II. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1973 & 1976.

Lurker, Manfred. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt. London, Great Britain: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1980.

Meeks, Dimitri and Christine. Daily Life Of The Egyptian Gods. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1996.

Parker, Richard. The Calendars of Ancient Egypt. Chicago, Illinois: The University of ChicagoPress, 1950.

Pinch, Geraldine. Votive Offerings To Hathor. Oxford, Great Britain: Griffith Institute, 1993.

---------- Magic In Ancient Egypt. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Roberts, Alison. Hathor Rising: The Power of the Goddess in Ancient Egypt. Rochester, VT,U.S.A.: Inner Traditions International, 1997.

Tyldesley, Joyce. Daughters Of Isis. London, England: Penguin Books, 1994.