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Ogdoad
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In Egyptian mythology , the *Ogdoad* (Greek
"ογδοάς", the eightfold) were eight deities worshipped in Hermopolis
during what is called the Old Kingdom
, the third through sixth dynasties, dated between
2686 to 2134 BC. First it was a cult having Hathor and Ra
; later changing to a cult where Hathor and Thoth
were the main deities over a much larger number of
deities; and even later, Ra was assimilated into Atum-Ra
through a merger with Atum of the Ennead cosmogony.
The concept of an Ogdoad also appears in Gnostic
systems of the early Christian era, and was further developed by the
theologian Valentinus (ca. 160 AD.).
Contents
[hide <#>]
* 1 Membership and worship <#Membership_and_worship>
* 2 Variants <#Variants>
o 2.1 Egg variant <#Egg_variant>
o 2.2 Lotus variant <#Lotus_variant>
* 3 In Gnosticism <#In_Gnosticism>
o 3.1 7 + 1 <#7_.2B_1>
o 3.2 6 + 2 <#6_.2B_2>
o 3.3 4 + 4 <#4_.2B_4>
* 4 References <#References>
* 5 Bibliography <#Bibliography>
* 6 External links <#External_links>
[edit ] Membership
and worship
The eight deities were arranged in four female-male pairs, the females
were associated with snakes and the males were associated
with frogs : Naunet and Nu
, Amaunet and Amun ,
Kauket and Kuk , Hauhet and Huh
. Apart from their gender, there was little to
distinguish the female goddess from the male god in a pair; indeed, the
names of the females are merely the female forms of the male name and
vice versa. Essentially, each pair represents the female and male aspect
of one of four concepts, namely the primordial waters (Naunet and Nu),
air or invisibility (Amunet and Amun), darkness (Kauket and Kuk), and
eternity or infinite space (Hauhet and Huh)^[1] <#cite_note-0> .
Together the four concepts represent the primal, fundamental state of
the beginning, they are what always was. In the myth, however, their
interaction ultimately proved to be unbalanced, resulting in the arising
of a new entity. When the entity opened, it revealed Ra , the
fiery sun, inside. After a long interval of rest, Ra, together with the
other deities, created all other things.
[edit ] Variants
There are two main variations on the nature of the entity containing Ra:
[edit ] Egg variant
The first version of the myth has the entity arising from the waters
after the interaction as a mound of dirt, the Milky Way
, which was deified as Hathor . In the
myth an egg was laid upon this mound by a celestial bird. The egg
contained Ra . In the original version of this variant, the
egg is laid by a cosmic goose . However, after the rise of
the cult of Thoth , the egg was said to have been a gift
from Thoth, and laid by an ibis , the bird with which he was
associated.
[edit ] Lotus variant
Later, when Atum had become assimilated into Ra as
/Atum-Ra/, the belief that Atum emerged from a (blue) lotus
bud, in the Ennead cosmogeny,
was adopted and attached to Ra. The lotus was said to have arisen from
the waters after the explosive interaction as a bud, which floated on
the surface, and slowly opened its petals to reveal the beetle, Khepri
, inside. Khepri, an aspect of Ra representing the
/rising/ sun, immediately turns into a weeping boy - Nefertum
(/young Atum/), whose tears form the creatures of the
earth. In later Egyptian history, as the god Khepri became totally
absorbed into Ra, the lotus was said to have revealed Ra, the boy,
straight away, rather than Ra being Khepri temporarily. Sometimes the
boy is identified as Horus , although this is due to the
merging of the myths of Horus and Ra into the one god Ra-Herakty
, later in Egyptian history.
[edit ] In Gnosticism
The ogdoad described by Gnostic Valentinus
in the 2nd century AD (with the first two named Propator and Ennoia)
The number eight plays an important part in Gnostic systems, and it is
necessary to distinguish three different forms in which it has entered
in different stages of the development of Gnosticism.
[edit ] 7 + 1
The earliest Gnostic systems (such as the Ophites )
included a theory of seven heavens , and a
supercelestial region called the Ogdoad. Astronomical theories had
introduced the conception of seven planetary spheres
with an eighth above them, the sphere of the
fixed stars.
When the Valentinian system had established
belief in a still higher place, the supercelestial space was called the
middle region (/Mesotes/); but Ogdoad was clearly its earlier name.
[edit ] 6 + 2
In the system of Valentinus , the seven
heavens, and even the region above them, were regarded as but the lowest
and last stage of the exercise of creative power. Above them was the
Pleroma , where were exhibited the first manifestations
of evolution of subordinate existence from the great First Principle. In
the earliest stages of that evolution we have (Iren . I.
i.) eight primary Aeons constituting the first Ogdoad.
The ultimate conception of God, named the Ineffable Father and who has
existed since before the beginning, is described as Depth or Profundity
(Bythos ). All around him exists a female power that has
been named Silence (Sige). These two deities, Depth and Silence, become
the cause, through a process of emanation , of the
other archetypal beings or Aeons . The
Aeons are always born in male-female pairs (as syzygies
), each of which is in itself a divine
principle but at the same time represents one aspect of the Ineffable
Father, who otherwise could not be described nor comprehended as he is
beyond all names. The emanation takes place in the following manner:
Depth-and-Silence gives birth to Mind-and-Truth (Nous and
Aletheia ), who gives birth to Word-and-Life (Logos
and Zoë ), who gives birth to
Man-and-Church (Anthropos and Ecclesia
). These Aeonic pairs comprise the Fullness of Godhead
(Pleroma ), and the first eight Aeons that have been
expounded here are the Valentinian Ogdoad.^[2] <#cite_note-1>
Though this Ogdoad is first in order of evolution, if the Valentinian
theory be accepted as true, yet to us who trace the history of the
development of that system the lower Ogdoad must clearly be pronounced
the first, and the higher only as a subsequent extension of the
previously accepted action of an Ogdoad. Possibly also the Egyptian
doctrine of eight primary gods (see above) may have contributed to the
formation of a theory of which Egypt was the birthplace. In any case an
Ogdoad 7 + 1 would have been inconsistent with a theory an essential
part of which was the coupling its characters in pairs, male and female.
Hippolytus of Rome (/Ref
/. vi. 20, p. 176) connects the system of
Valentinus with that of Simon , in which the origin of
things is traced to a central first principle, together with six
"roots." If for the one first principle we substitute a male and female
principle, the 6 + 1 of Simon becomes the 6 + 2 of Valentinus. This very
question, however, whether the first principle were to be regarded as
single or twofold was one on which the Valentinians themselves were not
agreed; and their differences as to the manner of counting the numbers
of the primary Ogdoad confirm what has been said as to the later origin
of this doctrine.
[edit ] 4 + 4
The doctrine of an Ogdoad of the commencement of finite existence having
been established by Valentinus, those of his followers who had been
imbued with the Pythagorean philosophy introduced a
modification. In that philosophy the Tetrad
was regarded with peculiar veneration,
and held to be the foundation of the sensible world. The Pythagorean
oath by the Tetrad is well known.^[3] <#cite_note-2>
The Valentinian Secundus divided the Ogdoad into a right-hand and a
left-hand Tetrad (Iren. I. xi.); and in the case of Marcus
, who largely uses Pythagorean speculations
about numbers, the Tetrad holds the highest place in the system
.
[edit ] References
1. *^ <#cite_ref-0>* Butler, Edward P.. "Hermopolitan Ogdoad"
.
http://henadology.wordpress.com/theology/netjeru/hermopolitan-ogdoad/.
Retrieved 2010-08-21.
2. *^ <#cite_ref-1>* David, Fideler
(1993).
/Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian
Symbolism/. Quest Books. p. 128. ISBN
978-0835606967
.
3. *^ <#cite_ref-2>* Meursius , /Demiurg. Pythag/.
ch. 7, /ap./ Gronov. /Thes. Gr. Ant./ col. 9; to which may be
added Hippol. /Ref/. vi. 23, p. 179.
[edit ] Bibliography
* /Encyclopedie van de Mythologie/. van Reeth, Dr. A. Tirion, Baarn:
1994 ISBN 9051213042
* Ewa Wasilewska /Creation Stories of the Middle East/, Jessica
Kingsley Publishers 2000, pp. 60ff.
* George Hart /The Routledge Dictionary Of Egyptian Gods And
Goddesses/, Routledge 2005, p. 113
* Françoise Dunand, Christiane Zivie-Coche /Gods and Men in Egypt:
3.000 BCE to 395 CE/, Cornell University Press 2004
* John D. Baines, Byron Esely Shafer, David P. Silverman, Leonard H.
Lesko /Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal
Practice/, Cornell University Press 1991
* /This article uses text from/ A Dictionary of Christian Biography,
Literature, Sects and Doctrines /by William Smith
and Henry Wace
./
[edit ] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: /*Ogdoad
*/
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogdoad"
Categories : Creation myths
| Egyptian deities
| Gnosticism
| Ancient Egyptian concepts
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