Ogdoad 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. In Egyptian mythology[edit] 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. The entity containing Ra is depicted either as an egg or as a lotus bud. In the former version, a mound arises from the waters. In Gnosticism[edit] The number eight plays an important part in Gnostic systems, and it is necessary to distinguish the different forms in which it appeared at different stages in the development of Gnosticism. 7 + 1[edit] Seven heavens[edit] Eighth sphere[edit] The mysteries of the number seven are treated of by Clem. 6 + 2[edit] 4 + 4[edit]
Osiris myth From right to left: Isis, her husband Osiris, and their son Horus, the protagonists of the Osiris myth, in a Twenty-second Dynasty statuette The myth, with its complex symbolism, is integral to ancient Egyptian conceptions of kingship and succession, conflict between order and disorder, and especially death and the afterlife. It also expresses the essential character of each of the four deities at its center, and many elements of their worship in ancient Egyptian religion were derived from the myth. Parts of the myth appear in a wide variety of Egyptian texts, from funerary texts and magical spells to short stories. The story is, therefore, more detailed and more cohesive than any other ancient Egyptian myth. Sources[edit] Other types of religious texts give evidence for the myth, such as two Middle Kingdom texts: the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus and the Ikhernofret Stela. Rituals in honor of Osiris are another major source of information. Synopsis[edit] Birth and childhood of Horus[edit]
God in Buddhism Gautama Buddha rejected the existence of a creator deity,[1][2] refused to endorse many views on creation[3] and stated that questions on the origin of the world are not ultimately useful for ending suffering.[4][5] Some teachers tell students beginning Buddhist meditation that the notion of divinity is not incompatible with Buddhism,[8] and at least one Buddhist scholar has indicated that describing Buddhism as nontheistic may be overly simplistic;[9] but many traditional theist beliefs are considered to pose a hindrance to the attainment of nirvana,[10] the highest goal of Buddhist practice.[11] Some variations of Buddhism express a philosophical belief in an eternal Buddha: a representation of omnipresent enlightenment and a symbol of the true nature of the universe. The primordial aspect that interconnects every part of the universe is the clear light of the eternal Buddha, where everything timelessly arises and dissolves.[22][23][24] Early Buddhism Brahma in the Pali Canon Dr.
Sphinx Perhaps the first sphinx, Queen Hetepheres II from the fourth dynasty (Cairo Museum) A sphinx (Greek: Σφίγξ /sphinx/. Bœotian: Φίξ /Phix) is a mythical creature with, as a minimum, the body of a lion and a human head. In Greek tradition, it has the haunches of a lion, sometimes with the wings of a great bird, and the face of a human. In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the Renaissance. Generally the role of sphinxes is associated with architectural structures such as royal tombs or religious temples. Back of Sphinx, Giza Egypt Egyptian sphinxes[edit] The largest and most famous sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza, situated at the Giza Plateau adjacent to the Great Pyramids of Giza on the west bank of the Nile River and facing due east ( WikiMiniAtlas 29°58′31″N 31°08′15″E / 29.97528°N 31.13750°E / 29.97528; 31.13750). Perhaps the first sphinx in Egypt was one depicting Queen Hetepheres II, of the fourth dynasty that lasted from 2723 to 2563 BC.
Ptah In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (;[1] Ancient Egyptian: ptḥ, reconstructed [piˈtaħ]; Ancient Greek: Φθά; Coptic: ⲡⲧⲁϩ)[2] is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum. He was also regarded as the father of the sage Imhotep. Origin and symbolism[edit] Ptah is an Egyptian creator god who existed before all other things and, by his will, thought the world into existence. In the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, the Nubian pharaoh Shabaka would transcribe on a stela known as the Shabaka Stone, an old theological document found in the archives of the library of the temple of the god at Memphis. Ptah is the patron of craftsmanship, metalworking, carpenters, shipbuilders, and sculpture. He bears many epithets that describe his role in ancient Egyptian religion and its importance in society at the time: Representations and hypostases[edit] The Was sceptreThe sign of life, AnkhThe Djed pillar Main places of worship[edit]
Augustine of Hippo In the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he is a saint, a pre-eminent Doctor of the Church, and the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses.[11] Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and divine grace. In the East, many of his teachings are not accepted. Life[edit] Childhood and education[edit] At the age of 17, through the generosity of his fellow citizen Romanianus,[24] Augustine went to Carthage to continue his education in rhetoric. At about the age of 19, Augustine began an affair with a young woman in Carthage. Teaching rhetoric[edit] During the years 373 and 374, Augustine taught grammar at Thagaste. Augustine won the job and headed north to take up his position in late 384. Relics[edit]
Maat The earliest surviving records indicating Maat is the norm for nature and society, in this world and the next, were recorded during the Old Kingdom, the earliest substantial surviving examples being found in the Pyramid Texts of Unas (ca. 2375 BCE and 2345 BCE).[2] Later, as a goddess in other traditions of the Egyptian pantheon, where most goddesses were paired with a male aspect, her masculine counterpart was Thoth and their attributes are the same. After the rise of Ra they were depicted together in the Solar Barque. After her role in creation and continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos, her primary role in Egyptian mythology dealt with the weighing of souls that took place in the underworld, Duat.[3] Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully. Maat as a principle[edit] Winged Maat Maat and the law[edit] Maat wearing feather of truth See also[edit]
Horus Egyptian war deity Etymology[edit] Nekheny may have been another falcon god worshipped at Nekhen, city of the falcon, with whom Horus was identified from early on. Horus may be shown as a falcon on the Narmer Palette, dating from about the 31st century BC. Horus and the pharaoh[edit] The Pyramid Texts (c. 2400–2300 BC) describe the nature of the pharaoh in different characters as both Horus and Osiris. The lineage of Horus, the eventual product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify pharaonic power. The notion of Horus as the pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty.[7] Origin mythology[edit] Mythological roles[edit] Sky god[edit] Since Horus was said to be the sky, he was considered to also contain the Sun and Moon.[12] It became said[by whom?] As Horus was the ultimate victor he became known as ḥr.w wr "Horus the Great", but more usually translated "Horus the Elder". Her-ur[edit]
Christianity in the 16th century In 16th-century Christianity, Protestantism came to the forefront and marked a significant change in the Christian world. Age of Discovery[edit] The expansion of the Catholic Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire with a significant roled played by the Roman Catholic Church led to the Christianization of the indigenous populations of the Americas such as the Aztecs and Incas. Later waves of colonial expansion such as the Scramble for Africa or the struggle for India by the Netherlands, England, France, Germany and Russia led to Christianization of other native populations across the globe, eclipsing that of the Roman period and making it a truly global religion. Protestant Reformation[edit] The Renaissance yielded scholars the ability to read the scriptures in their original languages, and this in part stimulated the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther and Lutheranism[edit] Luther's 95 Theses Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder Widening breach[edit] First edition of Exsurge Domine.
Seshat In Egyptian mythology, Seshat (also spelled Safkhet, Sesat, Seshet, Sesheta, and Seshata) was the Ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. She was seen as a scribe and record keeper, and her name means she who scrivens (i.e. she who is the scribe), and is credited with inventing writing. She also became identified as the goddess of architecture, astronomy, astrology, building, mathematics, and surveying. In art, she was depicted as a woman with a seven-pointed emblem above her head. Usually, she is shown holding a palm stem, bearing notches to denote the recording of the passage of time, especially for keeping track of the allotment of time for the life of the pharaoh. She is frequently shown dressed in a cheetah or leopard hide, a symbol of funerary priests. As the divine measurer and scribe, Seshat was believed to appear to assist the pharaoh in both of these practices. Seshat assisted the pharaoh in the "stretching the cord" ritual. See also[edit] Gallery[edit]
Horemheb Horemheb (sometimes spelled Horemhab or Haremhab and meaning Horus is in Jubilation) was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled for 14 years somewhere between 1319 BC and 1292 BC.[1] He had no relation to the preceding royal family other than by marriage to Mutnedjmet, who is disputed to have been the daughter of his predecessor Ay; he is believed to have been of common birth. Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief of the army under the reigns of Tutankhamun and Ay. After his accession to the throne, he reformed the Egyptian state and it was under his reign that official action against the preceding Amarna rulers began. Due to this, he is considered the man who restabilized his country after the troublesome and divisive Amarna Period. Horemheb demolished monuments of Akhenaten, reusing their remains in his own building projects, and usurped monuments of Tutankhamun and Ay. Early career[edit] A statue of Horemheb as a scribe Internal reform[edit]
Saṃsāra (Buddhism) Samsara is the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. Specifically, samsara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the six realms of existence.[a][b] Each of these six realms can be understood as a physical realm or a psychological state characterized by a specific type of suffering. The nineteenth century Tibetan lama Patrul Rinpoche explains the cyclic nature of samsara as follows: The term samsara, the wheel or round of existence, is used here to mean going round and round from one place to another in a circle, like a potter's wheel, or the wheel of a water mill. Contemporary scholar Rupert Gethin emphasizes this point as follows: ...beings generally rise and fall, and fall and rise through the various realms, now experiencing unhappiness, now experiencing happiness. So we have six realms. We tend to say, "Oh yes. Samsara is also characterized by impermanence.
Egyptian mythology Egyptian mythology is the collection of myths from ancient Egypt, which describe the actions of the Egyptian gods as a means of understanding the world. The beliefs that these myths express are an important part of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths appear frequently in Egyptian writings and art, particularly in short stories and in religious material such as hymns, ritual texts, funerary texts, and temple decoration. These sources rarely contain a complete account of a myth and often describe only brief fragments. The details of these sacred events differ greatly from one text to another and often seem contradictory. Egyptian myths are primarily metaphorical, translating the essence and behavior of deities into terms that humans can understand. Mythology profoundly influenced Egyptian culture. Origins[edit] The development of Egyptian myth is difficult to trace. Another possible source for mythology is ritual. Definition and scope[edit] Content and meaning[edit] Sources[edit]