Immortal Gods and Goddesses

Yesterday was cold, but I had errands I had to do so I was bundled up against the wind. It's been a crazy winter so far - we're way low on snow but we have the cold temps. Oh well, it's also had a lot of above-normal days, so I'm forging ahead and trying to roll with the punches. I did get my hotel reservations made for my June trip to Milwaukee, so I'm now set for classes and a place to stay. I'm really looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. 

Annubis is related to death and judgment (or course,
many of the Egyptian goes are related to death, so
that's not unusual). The jackal god is represented
in many ways and continues to be a popular
subject by modern artists today. Just do a search
on Deviant Art for Annubis and you'll find 100's
of images. 

I'm a bit stumped about the focus for today's blog - it's not that I have nothing to write about, but I'm a bit tight on time. So I'm going back into my bag of happy things and pulling out some imagery for all of you. 

Isis is one of the powerful female gods in the pantheon. In
ancient Egypt she was associated with a throne headdress,
but in later days she was merged with Hathor and her
headdress changed to cow horns surrounding a solar
disc. She was the wife and sister of Osiris, god of the dead. 

I love ancient things - I suppose that's why I love the ancient gods and goddesses. Since they are still written about, studied, and represented in artwork, their names are still mentioned. According to Egyptian lore, if a name is mentioned and a person/deity is remembered, that person or deity still lives. Going along with that, the Greek pantheon as well as the Egyptian and Norse pantheons are alive and well and stirring things up for their own amusement. 

I'm fudging a bit for my third choice today with the Scarab Beetle.
The beetle itself is not a god or goddess, but it is the concept
that ran beneath all of the ancient Egyptian religious belief -
that of immortality and rebirth. Kephri, the god who wore
the scarab beetle, rolled the sun across the sky each day. When
the sun died each night, the beetle would push it back each
morning - thus a rebirth of the solar disc and start of a new day. 

Of all of these varied line-ups of deities, I seem to fall into love with the Egyptian ones the most frequently. Maybe it's their exotic appearances, maybe it's the stories behind each one, but they are beautiful and fascinating to me. So for this cold and slightly rushed morning, I'm giving you images of some of my favorite Egyptian deities from the far-gone reaches of the past. Enjoy your Thursday, be good to each other, and I'll be back tomorrow.