Hathor

Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love, beauty, motherhood, music, dance, joy, fertility, and the afterlife.

Her influence extended across many facets of life in ancient Egypt, and she was worshipped from the earliest periods of Egyptian history up until the end of pharaonic times. Hathor’s role as the goddess of love and fertility is one of her most prominent aspects. She was the goddess to whom people prayed for love, romance, and marriage. Her connection to sensuality and fertility made her a protector of women, particularly during childbirth. In this role, she was often invoked by pregnant women or those hoping to conceive, as she was believed to watch over childbirth and ensure the health and safety of both mother and child. Hathor was also a goddess of sexual love and beauty, comparable to other fertility goddesses like the Greek Aphrodite or the Mesopotamian Inanna. She represented the ideal feminine beauty and was often invoked in matters of attraction and desire.

Role

Her role as a goddess emissary to foreign lands ensured prosperity and good relations with other cultures. She was a bridge between Egypt and the outside world, a goddess who could influence economic success and trade routes. She was well known in the Sinai Peninsula, particularly in Serabit el-Khadim, where turquoise was mined, and other sites of mining precious jewels such as in Canaan and Nubia. In Lebanon, she was the patron goddess of the city of Byblos where she was known by the name of Baalat Gebal. Hathor was strong with the resonance of jewel-mining and presided over the Egypt’s eastern desert mining program, such as the amethyst mines of Wadi el-Hudi, where she was called the “Lady of Amethyst.”

Symbols

In many temple carvings and statues, Hathor is also shown holding a sistrum (a musical instrument), highlighting her connection to music, dance, and joy. The sistrum was an important ritual object used in ceremonies dedicated to her, as her followers believed that the sound of music would appease the gods and bring joy to human hearts. Hathor’s other symbols included the menat (a necklace associated with fertility and protection), further link her to motherhood and the nurturing aspects of femininity.

Additionally, Hathor was associated with turquoise, which was believed to be her sacred stone. She was known as the “Lady of Turquoise” and was worshipped in turquoise mines in the Sinai Peninsula. She was also the goddess of precious stones and minerals, further associating her with wealth, beauty, and the Earth’s natural resources.

Hathor is also depicted as a woman with the horns of a cow framing a sun disk on her head, symbolizing her connection to the sun and the sky. She is also frequently painted in her full cow form, which emphasizes her maternal and nurturing aspects. The cow in Egyptian mythology was a symbol of fertility, motherhood, and abundance, and Hathor’s association with the cow reinforces her role as a motherly and protective goddess.

The Eye of Ra

Hathor was one of the Eyes of Ra, defenders of the great sun god who carried out his will. In this function, she bore a vengeful aspect that she used to protect him from his adversaries.

As the Eye of Ra, Hathor was associated with a cobra. As a cobra, she was four-headed, with each head facing the four cardinal directions to watch for threats. Later myths described the rampage of the Eyes growing uncontrolled. In one story, Ra sent Hathor as the Eye of Ra to punish humans for plotting rebellion against his rule. Alongside the lioness, Sekhmet, they massacred the rebellious humans.

Consorts

Hathor was a goddess of feminine power, eroticism and procreative purposes. She had many consorts, one of which was said to be Ra himself. Others include Konshu, the god of the moon, and the primordial goddess, Mut.

Once, after Ra was gravely insulted by the god Babi, he retreated to his palace to sulk, shirking his mighty responsibilities. Life and order were thought to be dependent on Ra’s activity, and the story implies that Hathor averted the disastrous consequences of his idleness by luring him out of his stupor. She came to Ra and surprised him with an unexpected display of nakedness. The surprise of it made him laugh, lifting his spirits in likely part because it sexually aroused him, but also because of the humor of the moment.

Of her consorts, the most important was Horus, the kingly son of Isis and Osiris. Hathor’s relationship with Horus gave a healing aspect to her character, as she was said to have restored Horus’s missing eye or eyes after Set attacked him.

Fate

Hathor was connected with shai, the Egyptian concept of fate. This was most prominent when she took the form of the Seven Hathors. The Hathors appear at the births of major characters and foretell the manner of their deaths. The Egyptians tended to think of fate as inexorable. Yet in “The Tale of the Doomed Prince”, the prince who is its protagonist is able to escape one of the possible violent deaths that the Seven Hathors have foretold for him, and while the end of the story is missing, the surviving portions imply that the prince can escape his fate with the help of the gods.

Rebirths

1st Age – Nadia Sokolov

3rd Age – Fate Dark, Aes Sedai of the Brown Ajah