Seth

(Set, Suetekh)

Lord of Upper Egypt.

Seth was the god of thunder and storms as well as the desert.

Symbols:

donkeys, fish, pigs, Seth-animal

Depiction:

Depictions of Seth showed him as a mythical animal resembling a donkey or aardvark. He has big ears and red hair.

Worship:

Seth, ancient Egyptian god, patron of the 11th Nome, or province, of Upper Egypti.  The worship of Seth originally centred at Nubt (Greek Ombos), near present-day Ṭūkh, on the western bank of the Nile River. Nubt, with its vast cemetery at nearby Naqadah, was the principal predynastic centre in Upper Egypt. The town lost its preeminent position with the unification of Egypt about 3050 bce, which was carried out under kings whose capital was  Abydos and whose royal god was Horus.   Before it was conquered by Upper Egypt, Lower Egypt considered Seth their benefactor.  

Family:

 His parents were Nut and Geb, his brother was Osiris, and his sisters were Isis and Nephthys. Though married to Nephthys, Seth never had any children, a fact that contributes to his association with the barren desert and infertility. Other than Nephthys, Set had other wives/concubines. He was believed to live in the northern sky by the constellation of the Great Bear. To the Egyptians, the north symbolized darkness, cold and death. It was there that his wife Tawaret, the hippo goddess of childbirth, was believed to keep him chained. He seemed to have bad luck with women.

Later he was given the two foreign goddesses Anat and Astarte, both war goddesses from the Syria-Palestine area and daughters of Ra. The two were often interchangeable, yet they had their own distinct cults. Anat and Taweret, though they were fertility goddesses, never bore Set any children.


Mythology:
Never considered wholly evil. Set was thought to be a follower of Ra. It was he who defended the Solar Barque each night as it traveled through the underworld, the only Egyptian deity who could kill the serpent Apep - Ra's most dangerous enemy - each night as it threatened to swallow the Barque.

Despite his wicked side, Set was still a god of Egypt, and worshiped - and feared - as such. His image changed through time, due to politics, yet he was still a powerful god, the only one who could slay Ra's worst enemy. To the Egyptians he was the god who 'ate' the moon each month - the black boar who swallowed its light - and the god who created earthquakes and heavy, thunderous rain storms. He was a friend of the dead, helping them to ascend to heaven on his ladder, and the crowner of pharaohs and leader of warriors.

Despite his bad reputation, he was still a divine being - an equal of Horus, no less - who could be invoked by his followers or warded off by those who were afraid of him. Yet without chaos and confusion there would be no order; without the heavy, thunderous storms there would be no good weather; without the desert and foreign lands there would be no Egypt. Set was a counterbalance to the 'good' side of the Egyptian universe, helping to keep everything in balance.

Seth and Osiris

Read: http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Mythology/Osiris.htm


Seth and Horus


Read: http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Mythology/Horus.htm


In history:

Records also indicate, however; that according to popular Egyptian mythology Seth was known to protect Re's barge in the underworld, so perhaps he didn't spend all of eternity in the desert after all. In later Egyptian dynasties, some of the god chaos linked to Seth seems to have been forgotten and he gained some popularity. Surprisingly enough, some records even suggest that the number and variety of convoluted stories involving variances between the histories of Osiris, Seth and Horus may have been due to warring battles between cults seeking to establish their chosen deity as superior to others.

Meaning of battles

Seth is seen as the opposite of Horus, the good and the bad, the yin and the yand, the positive and the negative.


For your religion:

Invoke Seth is you want  protection or want to get rid of negativities or unwanted spirits or to ward of those that fear him or want to see harm comes to you.  As he is the God of trickery, be very clear why you are invoking him.

Sources:

http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/seth-the-egyptian-god.html

http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientegyptiangodsseth.html

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/set.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/536211/Seth

http://www.egyptartsite.com/osi.html

http://www.egyptartsite.com/battle.html

http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS_Mythology/Horus.htm

http://www.per-aset.org/contendingsofhorusandsetintro.htm

http://www.philae.nu/philae/IsisOsiris.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_%28mythology%29

http://www.philae.nu/philae/Horus&Seth.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_%28mythology%29

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