Nut is the Egyptian Sky-goddess and Mother of Osiris,
Horus the Elder, Seth, Isis
and Nephthys. Her brother and husband is the earth-god Geb,
and Their parents are Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture). Nut
and Geb were married in secret against the will of Ra, the
one-time King of the Gods. When Ra found Them coupling, He
had Shu the air-god violently seperate Them, forcing Geb to
the earth, where His body's contours became the hills, and
lifting Nut into the sky (which implies that, like Lilith,
Nut preferred the top position). Since then They have always
been seperated, and Geb has been inconsolable.
Ra then forbade Nut to have Her children on any day of the
year. But Thoth, god of wisdom, helped Her, by winning at
gaming with the Moon. From His winnings--which were a little
of the Moon's light--Thoth made five extra days that were
outside the year, and Nut was able to give birth to Her five
children. These five days in the Egyptian calendar did not
belong to any month, and with the twelve months of thirty
days each brought the total of days up to 365 (and no, they
made no allowance for leap-year, though they knew perfectly
well.)
Like Hathor,
who is also a sky-goddess, Nut can take the form of a cow.
She is also depicted as a slender woman whose arched body
touches the earth with only the tips of Her fingers and Her
tippy-toes, Her starry body forming the heavens.
Ra once grew disillusioned with rebellious mankind, so Nut
in the form of a cow lifted Him to heaven on Her back. Stretching
higher and higher, She grew dizzy, and four gods (who represent
the pillars of the sky) were needed to steady Her legs.
Nut is also said to swallow the sun each night and give
birth to Him in the morning, and Her sign is a vase shaped
rather like a uterus. She also protects the dead, and is painted
on the inside of coffins, Her starry body embracing and protecting
the deceased.
She is shown here cradling Her womb which contains the Sun,
shown in its hierogylphic form that was later used as the
symbol for the Sun in alchemy.
This card in a reading indicates a time of fertile waiting,
and can mean a literal or a figurative pregnancy. Projects
need to be nurtured, and the right time will make itself known.
