Het-Heret is seen throughout the entire civilization of ancient Egypt. At the very beginning of creation, She is known as the “Hand Goddess” as She was believed to be the feminine aspect of the Creator when Atum-Ra takes His phallus in His hand and ejaculates Shu and Tefnut. She is the daughter and the consort of Atum. She is coupled with Horus the Elder (Heru-Wer) and They have the God Ihy who is the God of music. Isis and Hathor are very linked together as Mother Goddesses and share many correspondences.
In fact, Her motherly aspect is reflected in Her cow form which can be Her depicted as a
cow, a woman with cow ears, or a woman with the solar disk in between cow horns. Hathor is the Egyptian Goddess of love, beauty, and all pleasure's of the earth. She is a solar Goddess and believed to be the eye of Ra before Sekhmet takes over when He casted it out to avenge Him when mankind betrayed Him. She is a very loving Goddess who shows both sides of love—maternal and sensual. She is a Goddess of the daytime sky and is very primordial as other Goddesses share Her attributes. She is sometimes said to be a sort of aspect of Bat who is a very ancient Goddess. She ruled the month of Athyr which was from about the 17th of September (Her birthday) until around the 16th of October.
She was a benign sky Goddess until She transformed in Sekhmet to avenge Ra who sought to betray Him on earth. He sent out His eye (Hathor) to punish humanity who in her bloodlust turned into Sekhmet. When She calmed down through beer, she turned into Bastet who shares the maternal aspect of Hathor while keeping the fiery, protection aspect of Sekhmet. This may not be how it was in ancient Egypt yet I found this thought on Pagyptian's Youtube channel and really resonated with it. Therefore, to me They are almost like a Triple Goddess. In the contending of Horus and Set, there is a myth about how Set poked out His eye. He poked the lunar eye which is why the moon is not as bright as the sun. Hathor healed Him with her milk, thus making it a milky white color. Therefore She can also be seen as a sort of healing Goddess and the uadjet (Wadjet) eye is a symbol of healing.
Her Egyptian name is Het-Heret and means “House of Horus”. The House of Horus is the sky as He is a solar deity. Her sacred item and symbol was the sistrum as She was the patron of dancers and musicians. Another sacred item of Hers was the menat necklace which was shaken like the sistrum. Her cult center was at Dendera which was absolutely beautiful. It was decorated with Her face and on the ceiling there was a depiction of Nuit and an astrological wheel. She presented Herself there as a Goddess of fertility. In Thebes, which was another important place of worship, She is the Goddess of the deceased, the “Lady of the West”. In every Temple/Shrine, Hathor is special and different because of Her beautiful face with Her “Cow ears”.
An epithet to use when worshipping Her is “Beautiful of Face”. Two other epithets were “The Lady of Drunkenness” from Sekhmet being pacified by the beer as well as being the Goddess of festivity where beer was definitively consumed; another is “Lady of Byblos” as She embraces foreigners and being seen as a Goddess of Foreign Lands, perhaps due to her being the “Lady of Turquoise and Lapis Lazuli” which were imported from other lands. Other titles include: “The Eye of Ra”, “The Mistress of Heaven”, “Lady of Dendera”, “The Lady of the Stars”, “The gold that is Hathor”, “Lady of the Sycamore”, and “The Golden One”.
Her colors are red, orange, pink, and gold. Items to offer Her are: cowrie shells, cherries, chocolate, oranges, lavender, patchouli, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian. Her
animal correspondences are: lynx, sparrows, swans, doves, and cows. The astral body She corresponds with is Sekhem or the form body. Festivals to Her are: the 17th of September which is Her birthday as well as the 2nd of November which is the Festival of Het-Heret. The body part She corresponds to is the eye. Perfume associated with Her is benzoin, rose, red sandalwood, or myrtle. A plant for Her is papyrus. In the Tarot, she corresponds to The Empress and the sevens. Pray to Her if in need of love, sexuality, beauty, self-confidence, happiness, fertility, and children. She promotes freedom of sexuality but as long as it’s in a respectful way that harms none. She makes you beautiful and appreciate the beauty She gave you. Keep Hathor in mind while dancing, singing, even doing makeup. You can make a rattle to invoke Her as well as cleanse your space as the sistrum was used.
She is a wonderful Goddess who've I had many beautiful experiences with but She can seem a bit standoffish--at least in my opinion. That may be in part of the way in which I was approaching Her, especially when I first started working with the Egyptian Deities as They'd scared me a bit as a child because They seemed darker than the Greek ones I cherished so much. I've learned my lesson now and do work with Them regularly. Hathor is very much a Maiden Goddess as She is Independent and a Goddess of fun and playfulness as well as just how She seems to be in general with Her attributes, however She is also a Mother Goddess due to Her having the God Ihy. Personally I see Her as a Triple Goddess in and of Herself because She is clearly a Maiden, a Mother, and She has a death aspect to Her which would be clearly the Crone. That's my take on it at least.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hathor
http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hathor.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/hathor.html
http://www.hethert.org/ladyofthewest.html
Pagyptsian's Youtube channel--the videos are no longer there otherwise I'd post the link.
Pictures:
https://www.unc.edu/courses/2005fall/art/080a/001/EGYPT%20INTRO%20&%20MISC/osiris%20myth%202004.htm
http://www.minos-minal-omfalos.blogspot.com
http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/nefertari.html
Brightest of Blessings,
The Autumn Witch
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