Myth of the god Ra
Legend has it that at first there was no light. There was only darkness and a large expanse of water named Num. The power of Nun was so great that from the inside of the gloom it made a large, shiny egg sprout. And from the inside of that egg came Ra.
Ra had the power to do whatever he wanted, even change shape. What he named took shape and became real. The power of the name was so important, that it kept its own name secret so that no one could use it.
Ra set out to create the sun, saying, “At dawn my name is Kephera, at noon Ra and at dusk Tem.” And then the sun appeared after the first time illuminating the darkness, rose above the horizon and at dusk descended to hide again. Then he named Shu, and the winds gathered for the first time and began to blow.
When Ra named Tefnut, the rain became present with his drops.
He later named Geb and just naming it, the earth was formed and to keep him company he named the goddess Nut, and the firmament bowed upon the earth.
When he wanted to crown Egypt with the river Nile, he named Hapi. And the Nile began to flow through Egypt fertilizing its wide valley. Ra, began to name one by one all things that exist on earth and these became visible grew. He finally gave names to men and women, and since then mankind populated the earth.
Ra could take any form he wanted. Then, he took the form of a man and became the first pharaoh of Egypt.
Ra ruled Egypt for thousands of years bringing well-being and prosperity to its inhabitants thanks to fabulous harvests and magnificent laws. The Egyptians had only words of gratitude and kept praising his name.
But Ra, he had taken human form and therefore aged day by day. One day, the Egyptians stopped respecting him, began to mock his senile appearance and disobey his orders.
Ra could not help but hear the mockery and comments and when he saw that men did not obey the laws, he became angry in such a way that he decided to summon the gods he had created in a secret place for advice.
There were Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut and Nun listening to the problem of the god Ra.
Nun spoke saying, “What you must do is destroy them in the form of your daughter, the goddess Sekhmet.
The other gods, seeing the evil behavior of men, advised him also to destroy men through the goddess Sekhmet.
Ra, with his eye, which gave away a terrifying look, created the goddess Sekhmet. Ferocious and bloody like a lioness who pursues her prey and delights in slaughter and blood. Following Ra's orders, he unleashed his fury upon all those who ridiculed his father, sowing terror and despair throughout Egypt.
The men fled to hide, but the goddess Sekhmet, chased them and killed them, relaxing with the blood.
When Ra saw what Sekhmet had done, he called her to his presence to ask if he had obeyed him. Sekhmet replied that he was happy because he had avenged his father Ra, eliminating all the men he had given him. All of Egypt was stained with the color of blood and it was impossible to stop the fury of the cruel and bloody Sekhmet.
But Ra took pity on the men and decided to do something to stop the killing. He then sent fast and silent messengers in search of large quantities of amber. Then he ordered to prepare mucios liters of beer until he filled seven thousand jugs. Later, he had the amber mixed with the beer. By moonlight, beer acquired the red color of blood. He filled the jars again and sent his messengers to dump them at the place where Sekhmet was. As the sun rose, Sekhmet was ready for his next hunt, when he saw the earth flooded with red color and thought it would be royal blood because there was no man nearby. She came up and drank in a fuss as she laughed and enjoyed thinking it was blood. He drank so much, that on that day, that he was drunk, he could not kill any man.
When Sekhmet returned to the presence of Ra, the god greeted her with joy because he had not killed anyone and decided to change his name to Hathor. From that moment she became the goddess Hathor was the goddess of sweetness, love and passion.
Humanity was redeemed and Ra continued to reign in his old age, although he knew that the time had come to delegate the Egyptian government to the young gods. Let's not forget that Ra's power was in his secret name. If anyone found out, Ra would stop reigning. Ra knew this and kept it hidden in his heart. Only by using great magical powers could one be known.
The goddess Geb joined Nut and had several children: Isis, Osiris, Neftis and Seth. Isis was the wisest of them all. Isis knew all the secrets of heaven and earth, but what he did not know was Ra's secret name and set out to discover it.
Ra, he was very old. I walked with difficulty. His whole body was shaking. His words were heard choppy and, like most of the elders, he drooled.
Isis began to hide him and when a drop of Ra's slime fell on the earth forming mud, she picked him up and modeled a snake. He placed the serpent near the road and as Ra walked, the serpent bit him and then fled to hide.
The poison quickly ran through Ra's body, causing him a hitherto unknown pain. Ra shouted with all his outings and the gods ran to meet him.
Ra was puzzled. He felt that a fire burned him inside and found no explanation for what happened.
The gods summoned, wept and lamented for what happened. Among these gods was the cunning Isis who approached asking, “What happens almighty father?” Did one of the snakes you created bite you?
Ra answered, “A serpent has bitten me, which I have not created.” I can't stop shaking. I feel like a scorching fire burns me inside and devours me.
Isis approached sweetly and said in his ear, “If you tell me your secret name, I will be able to use my magic powers and I will be able to heal you.
Ra answered, “I am the one who made heaven and earth. He who created the waters, the winds, the light, the darkness. I'm the creator of the great Nile River. I am Khepera in the morning, Ra at noon and Tum at dusk.
Isis replied, “You know well, Father Almighty, that these names are known to all. What I need to cure you is your secret name.
Ra took her by the hand and whispered in her ear, “Before my name passes from my heart to yours, swear to me that you will not tell anyone but the son you will be called Horus.” And Horus must swear that the name will remain in him forever. It should not be communicated to other gods or other men.
Isis took his oath and the knowledge of the secret name passed from the heart of Ra to the heart of Isis.
Then, Isis, using all his magical powers, said, “By the name I know, I order the poison to leave Ra's body forever.
The poison disappeared and Ra felt good, but he ceased to reign over Egypt. He found a place in the sky to walk along the path of the sun.
At night he moved to the underground world of Amenti, where the deceased live. In his Barca he carried the souls of the dead who knew perfectly the prayers and the words to be said in order to reach the other world.