Nephthys
by High Priest Hooded Cobra 666

The knowledge presented contains information for those who want to understand the great Goddess of Darkness known as Nephthys, also known in Greek mythology as the great Olympian deity of the heavens, Hestia. Nephthys is a member of the Great Heliopolitan Ennead of Egypt, being a supreme deity of supernal and extreme importance. In the Goetia, she was labeled as the demon Bathin. Her other divine names are presented below:

The Ritual above is a major way to engage in the mysteries of this Goddess, the sister of Isis, the solemn, sacred Queen of the astral realms and the afterlife.

NEPHTHYS

Nephthys is an extremely important Goddess ruling over very important processes of Life and Death. She is one of the foremost Goddesses, and it is no exaggeration to say Nephthys' prominence in all facets of Egyptian religion was second only to Isis and Hathor. Although Nephthys is considered to be a highly mysterious and enigmatic Goddess in the contemporary imagination due to a general lack of understanding of her symbolism, the records of the Egyptian household, palace, temple, tomb, hieratic document, and various sets of sacramental objects all have her imagery emblazoned upon them. Even as far back as the Old Kingdom with its mysterious texts of the pyramids, Nephthys played a highly prominent role tied to the Pharaohs¹, and this means that her divine pedigree is assuredly of great antiquity.

Understanding why this is the case means understanding part of the intrinsic relationship of Isis and Nephthys. Their association conveys the duality of of life and death. The pair are constantly portrayed together. Nephthys is referred to as being the sister² and daughter of Isis, but additionally as the minister, the midwife, the nursing mother, and the twin of Isis. In addition, much of Nephthys' public worship was relationally positioned in regard to the temple cults of Osiris, and her few physical chapels tend to correspond with the larger complexes of Set, relating strongly to the mythological tetrad of divine figures who give way to the birth of Horus that Plutarch famously elaborated upon.³

Utterance 553, Pyramid Texts⁴

My mother is Isis, my nurse is Nephthys.

Nephthys is identified as part of a dyad with Isis in kite form as early as the Pyramid Texts.⁵ The two sister Goddesses became inextricably associated with the lamentation rituals of Egyptian funerals and holiday periods. The high-profile mourning events hosted in the temples of Osiris started to grow into rather complex, stratified events during the Middle Kingdom⁶; during this time, the mourning events were incontestably important for the health of civic religion. Proceedings by the Ptolemaic period give off the impression that the rituals were of an even higher importance, because they left behind a backlog of documents like the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus⁷ describing in immense detail the patronage, preparation and precision necessary for the organizers to pull them off.

Historians interpreting this paper trail quickly comprehended the importance of the Osirian lamentation rituals. Late–Ptolemaic Osirian liturgies preserved in the Bremner-Rhind Papyrus, whose instructions for performance specify the consecration of the temple, give step-by-step instructions for the ritual preparation of the two women representing Isis and Nephthys (purity, depilation, wigs, and naming inscriptions on the upper arms), then provides sung strophes timed to specific festival dates in the Khoiak season at the Osiris temple of Khentamenti (Abydos), and these holy rites would involve lamenting the strewn Osiris of the great mythology. Dressed as Isis and Nephthys and by obligation free of bodily and spiritual defect, the two female priestesses (She of the Kites) were regularly chosen to also conduct funerary rites in a very dramatic manner to ensure the soul of a deceased person would continue to live peaceably in funerary contexts ⁸. The main living role of Nephthys was viewed in these enactments of the divine play by the average Egyptian eye.

Numen (Vol. 5), C.J. Breeker⁹

A close study of this material must lead to the conclusion that the religion of the ancient Egyptians consisted mainly in the performance of certain sacred actions, from which religious salvation was expected. The effect of these cultic actions depended on their immanent mythical value. To the Egyptian mind, religiosity was not bound up with the knowledge of a certain doctrine but with the celebration of certain rites that were somehow rooted in myth.

Nephthys did not have major temple complexes, and given her immense antiquity in Egyptian religion, this fact may seem strange. However, smaller, modest temples and chapels dedicated to her still existed across Egypt, particularly encased in the complexes of Set. The site at Sepermeru, for instance, is representative of a type of building dedicated to her. It is assumed by the design aspects that these chapels have a strongly mortuary bent to them, being places of silence and contemplation. Her priesthood of these places was important but seeemingly modest, which the Wilbour Papyrus hints at as a source.¹⁰ The papryus shows that there was both a prophet and priest of the House of Nephthys in Sepermeru established by Ramesses II during the time of his successor, Ramesses V. By the Late and Ptolemaic periods, she had further chapels at Edfu and Philae, and a temple dedicated to her and Anoukis at Esna.¹¹

Her name in Egyptian, Nebot-Het, means 'the Delineation of the House' or, more simply, 'the Mistress of the House.' The word 'house' is used interchangably with 'temple' in Egyptian language. Nephthys was considered to embody the inner spiritual sanctum of the home. There exists a not insignificant amount of evidence that Nephthys was worshiped privately in households, and in urban life, the amulets commoners wore with her likeness testify to a Goddess whose presence was represented through private and public symbolism on the breast of the people. Nephthys was known in some ancient Egyptian sacral theologies as the "Helpful Goddess" or the "Excellent Goddess".¹²

As a Goddess, she is married to Set. This marriage also contains several mysteries tied to the theme of the home. Following on from defeating one's purely basic nature (one of the themes of Set), in taking a step into the boundaries of the Temple via dedication and opening the Chakras, one's former life dies. The door to the state of ignorance is forever closed: the Temple after Dedication is the new house of life. Set therefore represents the husband ushering in the devotee to the new house of life, while Nephthys represents the wife of the household ready to welcome a sacred guest.

The character of Nephthys as the Ǫueen of the Dead or Ǫueen of the Night in accordance to her marriage to Set is another aspect of her powers, a different type of hieratic function relating to her role in the astral realm. This relates to her endeavors in Egyptian mythology to wall up the cave of Set so he cannot approach, similarly recounted in numerous divine myths of infernal couples across the planet.¹³ Both the home and death represent a private sphere of life with boundary lines and threshholds often connected to motherhood and creation, as in the symbolism of the 4th House in Astrology. The ultimate point of such symbolism is that Nephthys is the ultimate guide to the souls of the dead on the astral, which is her realm. Her helpfulness in the eyes of Egyptians is tied to the assistance she gives in death, and her presence was used to mark the boundary zone of temples, tombs, and other sacred places. Nephthys was therefore commonly represented on one of the two pylons (pillars) opening a temple, while Isis would be represented on the other. For any worshiper entering the temple, Isis and Nephthys would appear as the Queen of Life and the Queen of Death, respectively, to greet them. Both pylons would be aligned with the horizon.

Nephthys is understood by Egyptologists to be the Goddess of the Air. The Chakra of Venus, the Middle Chakra, is ruled by air and fire. This Chakra deals with using the astral body. The symbolism of levity and death connected to this Chakra (upon death, one's soul exits the body through it) is in parallel to Nephthys' rulership of the lower realms of the Astral, where many of the dead inhabit, a realm that only a few living people have access to. In Egyptian religion itself, Nephthys was often called upon to intercede and protect the souls of the dead in front of Ma'at. In the guise of a protector and oath-beholder, she is represented as having the wings of a kite and blessing the Pharaoh, analogous to the inscriptions at Philae. ¹⁴

In tandem, Set rules over elements of the visible world, which is a world with the majority of humanity totally blinded in ignorance. Consequently, Set and Nephthys are equated with the underworld, darkness, and the night, being one of the male and female principles of these matters in the same manner that Thoth and Seshat represent knowledge.

As the Ǫueen of the Dead, Nephthys is notably associated with Isis and Anubis who came to be known as the child of Nephthys³. As the product of Nephthys and Osiris' affair in mythology, Anubis becomes the Lord of the Dead and enacts the decrees of the two deities, carrying out all the bindings and synchronicities involved in life and death. These include the union of matters necessary for the individual to continue incarnating, like matters of race and health, a parallel to the internal processes that Nephthys creates in the soul for the 'Second Birth.' Many other mystical processes are associated with Nephthys who, is also called the 'Binderess' and 'Nurse' in Ancient Egyptian. She represents many processes and alchemical matters of uniting the body and soul together for the 'Second Birth,' a process overseen by Isis. In this context, the House of Nephthys does not merely represent a physical place but the body and soul itself, supported by the pillar.

She is associated often with Seshat, enacting her decrees of reality and acting as a deputy to the Goddess of Fate.

Symbolism

Firstly, the visual symbolism of Nephthys being the identical twin to Isis shows a code involving the Ka or astral body, which is the ethereal 'twin' of the mortal living body and moulds itself to the shape of the physical body in each incarnation. Often, the most visible difference is in the colors of their clothing, with Isis wearing brighter and Nephthys wearing darker tones.

As with Isis, Nephthys was represented by the kite and shown with wings, representing levity and the ability to project in the astral. Unlike Isis, however, Nephthys was distinctly associated with scavenger birds and the harsh desert. This sprawling desert represented the 'domain' of Set and Nephthys, with Set ruling during the day and Nephthys at night. She is portrayed with the symbol for the boundary and basket representing the active connection of the soul atop her head, while Isis wears a throne. The basket and house components of Nephthys name show the Grail of the Solar Chakra after the dew of the Pineal Gland is activated and drips onto it. In line with this, Nephthys is associated with the spitting flame. Nephthys' headdress and the Hieroglyph of Nephthys' name represent another code. If you look closely, it resembles a pillar and a pylon in itself.

In an Egyptian tomb, the King and Queen meditation is represented. Here, Isis and Nephthys anoint Amon Ra, representing the Solar Chakra and major life-force being activated via the dew of the Pineal Gland. Priest Alexandros Iowno pointed out that the heart shape inside the human head is also given as a code by the arms of the Goddesses.

Isis and Nephthys with Amon Ra-Khnum

As Plutarch records³, both Isis and Nephthys were typically shown on the sistrum with one face of Isis on one side and the other with Nephthys' likeness, often interchangably with Hathor. Nephthys is also occasionally shown with the crown of Ma'at adorned with two feathers, illustrating the ability for her to intercede for the dead and hinting at her ability to essentially be anywhere on the astral, which is of the essence of both Isis and herself.

Nephthys is shown playing the sistrum in obesiance to Hathor at the temple of Edfu, showing a kind of mystical relation of the great instrument to the gradual procession of female deities in Egyptian religion.¹⁵ The Temple of the Sistrum was referenced as the birthplace of Nephthys altogether. Some images at Edfu and Dendera also show Nephthys receiving beer from the Pharaoh¹⁶, which is held to be symbolically connected to many of the sistrum and dance festivals of the Red Land.

The Major Arcana card of Nephthys is the Tower reversed. Often, this card deals with a refusal to confront an issue, just as the pillar-like Tower stays in its place suspended from the sky, even as it is struck by lightning. When dealing with a dramatic event for the querent, this card is about rebuilding from the foundations of a disaster, distilling something to its purest essence. Alternatively, it can mean narrowly avoiding these scenarios, or the disaster being a trick of the mind, compared to the outright devastation of the upright card.

This card was called ‘the House of God’ in the past as noted on the page of Bastet, and the reversed form is one of the most cryptic cards. Visually, the card shows this confusing nature – lightning striking from below and people falling upwards is almost oxymoronic. The fate of the crowned and bejeweled figures who jump from the sinister structure likewise becomes more mysterious. Whichever way, the Tower reversed beckons the querent to confront the darkness. In alchemy, it relates to the breaking of the vessel, but the reversed version deals with its reconstitution.

The Minor Arcana card is the Ten of Swords, another card conveying the absolute end of a situation in a thoroughly negative sense. The man, laying on the ground, is impaled by ten swords, with one of his arms bent, his index and middle fingers positioned gesturing towards a crimson shroud enveloping his body like a wave, just as the tumultuous black sky gives way to the citrine dawn. His head is fixed to the earth. In the background, there is a still body of cyan water and mountains meaning that even in destruction, calm will descend.

The end card of the Swords sequence is one of the most negative of all Tarot cards and relates to the devastation involved in an upcoming or unfolded situation. The dawn imagery shows there is still hope, just as Nephthys assists the fallen ones. Part of this card relates to secret insights only the Goddess can give.

Enemy Symbolism and Goetic context

The Book of Revelation provides a striking parallel to how Nephthys is represented in the Goetia as the demon named Bathin, also known as Mathim or Marthim, depicted as a male knight on a pale steed.

Revelation 6:7-8

Καὶ ὅτε ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν τετάρτην, ἤκουσα τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ τετάρτου ζῴου λέγοντος· Ἔρχου. Καὶ εἶδον, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἵππος χλωρός· καὶ ὁ καθήμενος ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ ὄνομα αὐτῷ ὁ Θάνατος, καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἠκολούθει μετ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς ἐξουσία ἐπὶ τὸ τέταρτον τῆς γῆς, ἀποκτεῖναι ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ καὶ ἐν θανάτῳ καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θηρίων τῆς γῆς.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and the wild beasts of the earth.

The fourth seal is the Middle Chakra. This part of the Bible is alchemical in the nature of its curses and is intended to assert the primacy of the Hebrew 'right' over death and all its matters. The horse is symbolic of Her rulership of the Astral realm. Another code here is that χλωρός as a word in Koine Greek means greenish-pale and is often indicative of rotting, but also reinforces the visual connection to the Middle Chakra.

Note the similarity below. The ability of Nephthys to control all things on the astral is referenced in the oblique reference cursu velocissmo hominem de regione in regionem transfert:

Pseudomonarchia daemonum, Johann Weyer¹⁷

Bathym, alibi Marthim Dux magnus C fortis: Visitur constitutione viri fortissimi cum cauda serpentina, equo pallido insidens. Virtutes herbarum C lapidum pretiosorum intelligit. Cursu velocissimo hominem de regione in regionem transfert. Huic triginta subsunt legiones.

Bathin [Bathym], sometimes called Mathim [Marthim], a great duke and a strong, he is seene in the shape of a verie strong man, with a serpents taile, sitting on a pale horsse, understanding the vertues of hearbs and pretious stones, transferring men suddenlie from countrie to countrie, and ruleth thirtie legions of divels.

Many of the representations of Death as a male figure on a horse in western culture thus come from this Hebrew understanding.