Nut, Shu and Geb on Gravity, Horizontal and Vertical Thinking

Kemet – An Ancient Egypt Self Study
Inspired by readings of the book “Temple of the Cosmos” by Dr. Jeremy Naydler
Dea Foy Commentary 1 – August 22, 2014

My Interpretations and Commentary:

First of all, I will use the term “Kemet” or “Kemites” or “Kemetism” to refer to Ancient Egypt since it seems the term “Egypt” was adopted from Greek language.  Besides, it is easier and hopefully more accurate to use the term Kemet than typing out Ancient Egypt all the time; so you may need to add the terms to your modern dictionary.  Also know that Kemetic communities were NOT the same as today’s Arabic Egyptian society of people…another more accurate reason for me to use the term Kemet.  I am not yet convinced all people from Kemet were of the Negroid physiology since Kemet means “Black Land”; but rather still embrace that diversity existed even then.  So let’s start at the top…

THE goddess NUT

Ø  descripted in a semi-circle pose similar to the yoga “downward facing dog”

Ø  represents the sky and heavens

Ø  under her is her supposedly lover Geb who represents the earth and or land

Ø  only she and Geb are deity the author suggests are displayed nude always

Ø  many times covered with stars

The goddess Nut represents our earthly vision on how we see the sky, clouds and stars on the horizon since pictures from NASA show the earth as round.  As we stand on the horizontal plane we call “the ground”; we can only physically see half the circular space that our planet sets in…thus a semi-circle. 

In yoga, downward facing dog is part of the “Sun Salutation” movements and flows. Interesting how the Sun sits in the sky with the goddess Nut.

So the depiction of Nut being nude and covered with stars I get; but wondering if the reason she is displayed as nude is because SHE comes before the concept of needing clothes…something we call in my Christianity learning as “Eve” J

THE god GEB

Ø  depicted as on the ground and positioned on his left hip

Ø  represents horizontal land

Ø  is encircled by the goddess Nut over him

Ø  also displayed as nude and maybe to represent the sexual attraction to Nut

Ø  always looking down toward the horizon

Ø  sometimes depicted with the head of a snake

The author of the book suggests Geb as having a passive personality…maybe even tired where Nut always seems energized and joyous.  Something to notice is the physical proportions of Nut to all others in illustrations; Nut is always exponentially larger.  If my interpretation is correct in that she represents the Judeo-Christian teachings of Eve, Geb must have been the snake she was talking to???

THE god SHU

Ø  suggested to be the father of Nut

Ø  suggested to be the balance between Nut and Geb…or space between Heaven and Earth

It wasn’t clear to me where the author was trying to go with why Shu looks to be holding Nut at her vulva and beast; but if we follow the suggestion that Nut and Geb are lovers… maybe Shu is pointing out he is trying to restrict their sexual interactions?  Maybe the illustration represents stability or lack of stability at those points of the woman’s body?

I also notice that Nut and Ged seem to be looking in the opposite direction of Shu.

Even thought it was not mentioned clearly as such; I interpret Shu to represent Gravity and will play with the thought that if ever Shu releases his hold of Nut or loses his footing with Geb (earth) everything on earth just floats away (a disastrous situation).  For this reason, some images depict other super-natural beings helping to hold Shu’s arms up by providing support under the elbow.

It’s also worth mentioning Shu’s yoga pose looks somewhat like a goal post.

Vertical vs Horizontal Thinking
So, with all the depictions of the goddess Nut and gods Geb and Shu, I think I was better able to under what the author explains are a difference in the thought process of “space” between the Kemites and modern thinking.  What I’m feeling now is that Geb represents horizontal thinking where we get “closed in “ to worshiping material things bound by gravity.  This would be all the clothes, cars, houses, jewelry and even people we think we can’t live without.  On the opposite extreme, Nut represents vertical thinking on things not bound by gravity…kinda like when someone inspires you to “shoot for the stars” (ie no boundaries).  Right now, I call both situations extremes because I’m not yet ready to embrace either over the other; but rather this is why we need Shu, the balance between the two deities. 

The deities are a really cool way of looking at the science of gravity first introduced to many of us in school as being the idea of Sir Isaac Newton…of whom I now know studied the Kemetic landmarks and pyramids before publishing his findings on the laws of relativity and other great works.

Personally, I can’t wait to help my granddaughter with her science homework by introducing her to the how the Kemites first documented most math and scientific methodologies not mentioned in her text books.

So, there you have it.  Meditate on it and let me know your interpretations on the goddess Nut, gods Geb and Shu, and the ideas on Vertical vs Horizontal Thinking.

All commentaries are personal and not to represent anyone else’s adaptions.  It is suggested to cross reference all content by doing the reader’s own self study using any and all resources available to them.