Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian Religion and the Art of Pulling Yourself Together
As some of you will know, my posts this year have explored the wealth of wisdom contained in the rich tapestry of belief systems that has been woven by human societies down the millennia. Today that exploration is going to take us all the way back to the ancient Egyptians.
This endeavour can pose quite a unique challenge. It’s easy to fall into the trap (arguably laid by Hollywood and novelists in search of a touch of exotic mystery) of reducing ancient Egyptian religion purely to a set of fantastical semi-human beasts, macabre paraphernalia and to-do lists about getting ready for the religion’s afterlife. And to be sure, this religion has no Confucius or Zarathushtra, no well-known figure who elucidates a way to create harmony and personal fulfilment in this life on Earth.
But if you read the ancient Egyptian mythology in a bit more detail, in addition to being rewarded with some wonderfully imaginative tales, you start to notice more universal messages—connections with many of the ideas from the other belief systems I have told you about this year, even.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to some ancient deities whose company I’ve recently been enjoying, along with the life lessons I learned from one of the myths they star in.
Meet the Ennead
The foundation of ancient Egypt’s religion was its creation myths. The essentials of this religion had been established by the era of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BCE), and by the time of Ramesses II in the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE), it was deeply entrenched, giving rise to what in our era exist as the rich artifacts that, from the late eighteenth century, European archaeologists began to unearth.
Much of the ancient Egyptian mythology is still shrouded in mystery, with the exact provenance and role of the different deities an ongoing source of speculation and debate. But what we do know more or less goes like this. In the beginning there was Nun, the creative chaotic sea that contains the infinite possibilities of life. From Nun emerged various gods, whose importance within religious belief and rites shifted over time. Among these deities were the sun gods Atum and Ra, who in some ancient texts appear to be one and the same. They are embodied in the sun, whose daily journey across the sky is symbolic of the ongoing maintenance of creation against chaos, order against disorder. Along with Atum and Ra there emerged Ma’at, the goddess of order, harmony, balance, truth, law, morality and justice. (Ma’at, by the way, is a fascinating figure. I could have written a whole separate post about what she has to teach.)
Atum created the first divine pair, which comprised Shu, god of the air, and Tefnut, goddess of moisture. Their coming symbolizes the transition from chaos to order. They produced the second divine pair, namely Geb, god of the earth, and Nut, goddess of the sky. Geb and Nut gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.
These nine deities are called the Ennead. Human beings were then created from the tears of Ra. Their purpose in life is to assist their creator in the maintenance of order and justice in the world. And yes, many of those spectacular images of half-human half-animal beings that you see in photos of ancient Egyptian monuments are members of the Ennead or their other offspring.
The stories of this cast of characters’ doings make up the ancient Egyptian mythology. As I hinted at earlier, I primarily expected to enjoy this mythology for the imaginativeness of its characters and storytelling. It turned out, though, that its symbolism may well speak to truths that even we can appreciate today. Let me recount to you one of the central myths, that of Osiris, to show you what I mean.
The Osiris Myth
Osiris rules Egypt, bringing it civilization through teaching rather than force—until, that is, he is murdered by his brother Seth, the god of creative chaos. Seth isn’t satisfied with just killing Osiris, though. He dismembers his body and scatters the 13 pieces throughout Egypt.
Something tells me that the creators of this myth didn’t make this part of the story just for the sake of giving audiences a bit of gratuitous violence. Isn’t it possible to see in it how we might feel when life is at its most chaotic? Divorce, death of loved ones, job loss, health crises: we all know what it’s like to feel broken into pieces.
The plot then thickens, and along with it, potentially, the symbolism. Isis, Osiris’s sister-wife, doesn’t collapse in grief. Along with her sister Nephthys, she searches Egypt to gather every piece of Osiris and put him back together again. That image speaks to something profound too, doesn’t it? Sometimes you have to pick up your own pieces, and sometimes you need a sister—biological or otherwise—to help you.
Through her magic, which, you might argue, is the deep knowing that comes from experience, Isis transforms Osiris. He can no longer be the active, traveling king. Instead, he becomes the eternal judge of the dead, moving from doing to evaluating, from creating to wisdom-giving. Can we see our own transitions in later life mirrored here, perhaps? We’ve stepped back from the daily cut and thrust of careers and/or parenthood, but we’ve gained something invaluable: the ability to see patterns, to offer perspective, to discern what truly matters.
And what about Isis herself? To me, she embodies the fact that women’s power does not diminish with age but transforms. The intuitive wisdom we’ve developed over decades, our ability to rebuild after loss, the fierce love that protects what matters: all are powers that intensify with time, if you ask me.
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So there you have it. In this belief system, whose last adherents died out eons ago, we can arguably find messages about the human experience and how we must respond to life’s challenges and changes. Truly, we are creatures who have always needed guiding principles for making sense of—and getting the most from—our lives! All that’s changed, I would argue, is the way we communicate them.
Questions for you
What “scattered pieces” in your life have you gathered into wisdom? When have you been the Osiris in your own story? Or the Isis or the Nephthys in someone else’s?
Published in August, 2025