Origin: Ancient Egypt.
Roles: Sky goddess, Mother goddess, mortuary goddess, and orderer of the day and night.
Symbols: Cow, ladder, coffins, sarcophagi, sky, stars, celestial bodies, tombs, sycamore tree, sow, water-pot.
Other Names: Nuit, Nwt, Nunut, Nent.
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In Ancient Egypt, Nut was the goddess of the sky, stars, cosmos, mothers, astronomy, and the universe. She is the daughter of Shu—god of air and vital breath, and Tefnut—goddess of heat, water and fertility. Nut is depicted as a nude woman arched on her toes and fingertips over the Earth, represented the god Geb—her brother/husband, with her fingers and toes touching the horizon. She is usually represented with stars covering her body, in particular her hands and feet, which were seen as the four cardinal points.
Egyptians believed that Geb and Nut were born gripped tightly in each other's arms, and had to be separated by their father Shu (air), who is often represented standing in between them, holding Nut above Geb. To the ancient Egyptians, this explained why earth and sky were separated from one another by the air we breathe.
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Nut is considered one of the oldest deities among the Egyptian pantheon, with her origin being found in the creation story of Heliopolis, the theory of the origin of the universe. Nut was said to have existed when nothing else had yet been created. She then created all that had come into being. According to Egyptian mythology, it was she who first placed Ra, the Sun-God, in the sky.
She was originally the goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the sky goddess. Her headdress was the hieroglyphic of part of her name, a pot, which may also symbolize the uterus. Other than her most common depiction in nude human form, Nut was also sometimes represented in the form of a celestial cow—the cow being a prominent symbol of nourishment—whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars). All these representations portray Nut as a protective mother and provider.
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With her brother and husband Geb, the Earth god, Nut bore Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Nut and her husband Geb may be considered enigmas in the world of mythology: in contrast to most other mythologies which usually portray a sky father associated with an Earth mother (or Mother Nature), in Egyptian mythology, the female goddess Nut personified the sky and the male god personified the Earth.
For ancient Egyptians, Nut served as an explanation for where the sun went at night. Although Egyptians understood the cycles of the sun, moon, and seasons, they did not know that the earth was round and that heavenly bodies traveled around each other in orbit. They believed that the giant goddess Nut swallowed the Sun every night at one end of the sky, that he travelled through her body during the night, and that she gave birth to him again every morning at the other end of the sky.
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An important theme in the myths of Nut is death and rebirth. Every night, she consumed the Sun (represented by the Sun-God Ra) by swallowing him, and then gave birth to him again every morning. In this way, the ancient Egyptians viewed each day as a cycle of death and rebirth. In much the same way, Nut transported the Sun from death to new life, and was also regarded as an escort or vehicle for humans at death, accompanying and protecting them on their journey to the unknown world of the afterlife.
Nut was seen as the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos in the world. Because of this, and her role as a mortuary goddess who protected the dead, Nut was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus. The ceilings of tombs were also painted dark blue with stars, to call upon her protection.
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A sacred symbol of Nut was a wooden ladder called maqet, which was placed in tombs to protect the deceased and help them climb to the heavens. This symbol comes from a story involving Nut’s children, Set and Osiris: when Set killed Osiris, and Isis put him back together after gathering all the pieces of his body, Osiris climbs the maqet, sacred symbol of Nut, to enter her heavenly skies for protection. Because of her role in saving Osiris, Nut was seen as a friend and protector of the dead, who appealed to her as a child appeals to its mother: “O my Mother Nut, stretch Yourself over me, that I may be placed among the imperishable stars which are in You, and that I may not die.”
Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine: “I am Nut, and I have come so that I may enfold and protect you from all things evil.”
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Some of Nut's titles were: Coverer of the Sky, She Who Protects, Mistress of All or "She who Bore the Gods", and She Who Holds a Thousand Souls—because of her role in the re-birthing of the Sun every morning and in her son Osiris' resurrection, Nut became a key goddess in many of the myths about the afterlife.
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The Book of Nut is a modern title of what was known in ancient times as The Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars. This is an important collection of ancient Egyptian astronomical and mythological texts, perhaps the earliest of several other such texts, going back at least to 2,000 BC. Nut, being the sky goddess, is a central part of the book. The text also tells about various other sky and Earth deities, such as the star deities and the decans deities. The text focuses on the cycles of the stars, the movement of the sun, moon and planets, and time-keeping methods.
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Here, you will find simple nature-oriented practices, prompts and rituals that will help you embody the energy and qualities of Nut.
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Ground and center. Breathe deep and be conscious of the air as it flows in and out of your lungs. Feel it as the breath of the Goddess, and take in the life force, the inspiration of the universe. Let your own breath merge with the winds, the clouds, the great currents that sweep over land and ocean with the turning of the Earth.
Meditation from The Spiral Dance, by Starhawk
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Ground and center, and visualize a round full moon. She is the mother, the power of fruition and of all aspects of creativity. She nourishes what the New Moon has begun. See her open arms, her full breasts, her womb burgeoning with life. Feel your own power to nurture, to give, to make manifest what is possible. She is the sensual woman; her pleasure in union is the moving force that sustains all life. Feel the power and generative life-force in your own pleasure. Feel the nurturing, unconditionally loving, all-encompassing, all-allowing mother in you.
Meditation from The Spiral Dance, by Starhawk
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The Anima Mundi (‘world soul’) is an ancient philosophical and alchemical concept that suggests the existence of a “Soul of the World”—an ethereal spirit sheltered in nature and in charge of keeping life moving. It’s an intrinsic connection between all living things, an ineffable substance that unites us with everything else in the world and with the world itself. The concept of Anima Mundi sees the universe as a living, conscious being. The latin word Anima means breath, spirit and life, from which ‘Animism’ is derived.
Anima Mundi originated in classical antiquity, and is found in Stoicism, Platonism, Hermeticism, alchemy, and Gnosticism. Plato described the Anima Mundi in his philosophical treatise Timaeus on the workings of the Universe: “This world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence, a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related.”
Similar concepts in other traditions include Prana in Hinduism, Chi in Taoism, and the universal spiritual force called Great Spirit in many Indigenous traditions. Celtic Druids call this life-force Nwyfre, the Algonquians call it Manitou and the Iroquois call it Orenda.
Look up and observe alchemical drawings of Anima Mundi. Reflect on how and why alchemists depicted Anima Mundi as a woman. Notice the correspondences between all parts of the cosmos. The embrace of Anima Mundi is available anytime, anywhere, to anyone. It is a process of unveiling our resistance to its love.
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Dive deeper into the world of Nut and Egyptian mythology
with these resources including books and articles.
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✎ Book
‘Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt’
by Richard H. Wilkinson -
✎ Book
‘Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt’
by Geraldine Pinch -
✎ Book
‘Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day’
translated by Ogden Goelet & Raymond Faulkner -
✷ Illustrated Book
‘Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt: Egyptian Mythology for Kids’
by Morgan E. Moroney -
✎ Book
‘Ancient Egyptian Magic: A Hands-On Guide’
by Christina Riggs -
✎ Book
‘The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt’
by Joyce Tyldesley -
✎ Book
‘Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Reference to the Myths, Religions, Pyramids and Temples of the Land of the Pharaohs’
by Lorna Oakes -
✎ Book
‘The Goddess Nut: And the Wisdom of the Sky’
by Lesley Jackson -
✎ Book
‘Ancient Egyptian Magic’
by Eleanor L. Harris -
✎ Book
‘Invoking the Egyptian Gods’
by Judith Page & Ken Biles -
✦ Article
‘Women of Ancient Egypt and the Sky Goddess Nut’
by Susan Tower Hollis -
✦ Article
‘Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths: From Watery Chaos to Cosmic Egg’
by Glencairn Museum
Image Credits:
Nut, Goddess Of The Sky by Dina Shalaby • Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum