To me, this was an amazing cult of people. Anyone could worship any god or gods of their choosing. You could go to one place and their main deity was one god and then travel to another location and they are devoted followers of another deity. They all got along. Religious tolerance was abundant. People had freedom of choice."They worshiped gods that were beautiful to behold, luminous beings that walked the earth, guiding the human race to paradise."

These gods were more than celestial beings, they too had everyday encounters as their human followers. The ancients Egyptians were biographers, poets, chroniclers, narrators and fablers. Their gods were always within their reach. The stories are everywhere, written in stone. As the ancients attained more information about their gods, they could in turn better relate to those around them and their environment. As the North American Natives, they learned through nature. Every deity was a product of their environment. They were in my opinion, the masters of the universe.

Heliopolis, a Greek word meaning "City of the Sun," is now a part of the modern city of Cairo, but in the time of Ancient Egypt it was once of the four major centers of worship for the ancient Egyptian religion. (The other three cities were Hermopolis, Memphis, and Busiris.) The gods worshipped at Heliopolis became the most widely known and honored in all of Egypt, and constitute one of Earth's first great pantheons. The gods of Heliopolis were said to have originated on Earth and actually dwelled in Heliopolis until the time that the human pharaohs took over the rule of the earthly kingdoms. At that time, the pantheon founded its own celestial city of Heliopolis in a dimension adjacent to Earth's. It is there that the gods of ancient Egypt have dwelled through historical times till the present.

Very little is known about the celestial Heliopolis. The gods of Heliopolis came into existence over several generations, even as the Olympian gods derived from the older generation of Titans. Before there were any other gods there wa Nun, the essence of chaos or the primordial ocean of nothingness. Nun was said to spawn Atum, the first physically manifested god among the Heliopolitans (and possibly other pantheons as well). Atum later took the aspect and identity of Ra, the primordial god of the sun and first god to develop a cult of worshipers among the Egyptians. Ra was said to spawn the next generation of gods, Shu and Tefnut, without a female mate. Shu took Ra's place when Ra became too weary and old to rule, and became the god of air. His twin sister Tefnut ruled at his side as goddess of the rain. Shu and Tefnut begat the fourth generation of gods, Geb and Nut. Geb was a god of the earth, having a natural affinity for mountains and other parts of the earth's crust. Nut was a goddess of the sky, specifically the starry heavens. Geb and Nut succeeded their parents when they too became too infirm to rule, and begat the next more numerous generation of gods, eldest among which was Osiris. Osiris's sibling included Isis, whom he took as a wife, Seth, and Nepthys. Osiris became the head of the pantheon when Geb stepped down, and is credited with the spread of civilization throughout Egypt and beyond. Osiris was the last ruler of Egypt before historical times and the human pharaohs came to rule. Osiris became the benevolent god of the dead, preparing the afterlife for his loyal worshipers. Osiris's wife Isis was believed to teach humanity, the arts of medicine and the principles of domestication. She was also a powerful sorceress who was able to bring Osiris back to life after he had been murdered and dismembered by his jealous younger brother Seth. Seth was the god of evil and destruction, who sought to rule Heliopolis himself, and murdered Osiris in order to do so. his wife Mephthus, daughter of Geb and sister of Isis, was also a goddess of the dead but was not evil like her husband. Nephthus had no offspring with Seth, but bore Osiris a son, Anubis. Anubis invented funeral rites and mummy wrappings, and although it was Isis' magic that rose Osiris from the dead, her magic would have been useless had Anubis not specially prepared Osiris' body. Osiris and Isis had a son, Horus the god of the sun. Horus was also instrumental in helping raise his father from the dead after Seth's treachery.

The Ennead

The Ennead were the nine great Osirian gods: Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. The term is also used to describe the great council of the gods as well as a collective term for all the gods.

Atum was the first who created himself (or arose out of Nu, the primal nothingness) and who created Shu and Tefnut from either his spittle or his blood. From their union came Geb and Nut. Their children, the great-grandchildren of Atum, were the first gods of earth: Osiris and Isis, and Set and Nephthys. From those four were all the pharaohs and many of the gods descended.

The Ogdoad

The Hermopolitans claimed that their theory of creation was older than any other in Egypt. The Ogdoad were eight deities who were the basis of the Egyptian creation myth during the Middle Kingdom. They were primarily worshipped in Heliopolis, but their aspects of the creation were combined in other areas with existing myths. Each one is a member of a masculine-feminine pair and each pair represents an aspect of the primordial chaos out of which the world was created

They all came into being at the same time. Nun and Naunet represent the primordial seas, Kuk and Kauket represent the infinite darkness, Hu and Hauhet represent empty space, and Amun and Amaunet represent quintessence, or the secret powers of creation. The gods are usually depicted as men with the heads of snakes, the goddesses as women with the heads of frogs. Together they built an island in the middle of the vast emptiness and the egg that was placed upon it. From this egg, the sun god Atum was born, and he began the process of creating the world while the others withdrew.

Another version says that the egg was laid by an ibis, the bird of Thoth. As the cult of Thoth was newer than that of the Ogdoad, it is likely that this version was created by the priests of Thoth to merge the mythologies of the Eight and of Thoth. The Ogdoad was sometimes called the souls of Thoth.

Ogdoad and Thoth depicted as geese.

The third creation story says that a lotus flower emerged from the waters of a lake called "the Sea of the Two knives". This lake was located in a park near the temple in Hermopolis. When the lotus' petals opened, a divine child was revealed - Ra.

The final story is the same as the previous with the exception that inside the lotus was a scarab beetle, which is a symbol of the rising sun. The scarab then transformed into a crying boy. His tears became mankind. The lotus was sometimes identified as the Eye of Ra.

It is said they all came into being at the same time. Nun and Naunet represent the primordial seas, Kuk and Kauket represent the infinite darkness, Hu and Hauhet represent empty space, and Amun and Amaunet represent quintessence, or the secret powers of creation. The gods are usually depicted as men with the heads of snakes, the goddesses as women with the heads of frogs. Together they built an island in the middle of the vast emptiness and the egg that was placed upon it. From this egg, the sun god Atum was born, and he began the process of creating the world while the others withdrew.

ANUBIS   HORUS   OSIRIS   SETH   AMUN   THOTH

The links below will take you to the Tour Egypt site till I can update and put in my two cents worth. Click your back button and it will return you to here. Aken - Ferryman of the Underworld Aker - Guardian and Gatekeeper of the Underworld Am-Heh - Devourer of Millions Andjety - A precursor of Osiris Apep - The Great Destroyer Arensnuphis - Anthropomorphic Nubian Deity Aten - The Sun Disk and later God Atum - The All-Father Auf (Efu Ra) - An aspect of the sun god Ra Baal - God of Thunder Ba-Pef - The Soul Babi - The Dominant Male Baboon God Banebdjetet -God of Lower Egypt Bat - Ancient Cow Goddess f Benu (Bennu) - The Bird of Creation Bes - Protector of Childbirth Dedwen - Nubian God of Resources Denwen - The Fiery Serpent Fetket - The Sun God's Butler Geb - God of the Earth Gengen Wer - The Great Honker Hapi - God of the Nile River   Haurun -The Victorious Herdsman Heh and Hauhet - Deities of Infinity and Eternity Heryshef - Ruler of the Riverbanks Hike - God of Magic and Medicine Hu - God of the Spoken Word Ihy - The Child God Imhotep - Lord of Science and Thought Kek and Kauket - Deities of Darkness, Obscurity and Night Khenmu - The Great Potter Kherty - Ram-headed God Kephri - The Great Scarab Khonsu - God of the Moon Mahaf - The Ferryman Mahes - The Lord of the Massacre Male Child Gods of Egypt Mandulis - The Lower Nubian Sun God Mehen - Defender of the Sun Boat Mihos - Son of Bastet Montu - Warrior and Solar God Nefertem - Lord of the Sunrise Nehebkau - the God who Joined the Ka to the Body Nun and Naunet - Gods of Chaos and Water Onuris -The War God Panebtawy - The Child God Peteese and Pihor - Brother Gods Ptah - The Creator Re (Ra) - The Sun God Reshep - The Syrian War God Sah and Sopdet (Sothis) - The Astral God and Goddess Sebiumeker - Meroitic God of Procreation Seker - The Resurrected Osiris Sepa - Centipede God Serapist - he Composit God Shay - Personified Destiny Shesmu - Demon god of the Win Press Shu - God of the Air and Sky Sia - The Perceptive Mind Sobek - Guard of the Gods Sopedu - The Border Patrol God Tatenen - "Father of Gods" and the God of the Rising Earth Wadj Wer - The Pregnant God Weneg - Ancient Son of Re Wepwawet (Upuaut) - The Opener of the Ways Yah - Another Moon God Yamm - God of the Sea

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Seth and Horus found in several places on Photobucket