Lessons from Nut, Goddess of the Night Sky

In ancient Egypt, the night sky, filled with stars and streaked with the Milky Way, was embodied by a goddess named Nut (pronounced “newt”). Nut is unusual in the sense that most ancient cultures understood the sky as masculine and the earth as feminine, but in ancient Egypt, the sky goddess wrapped herself lovingly around her beloved earth god, Geb. These two were so in love, so constantly connected, that the sun god Ra had to get between them, thus creating the day.

After Nut gave birth to all the stars in the sky, she became pregnant again, this time with the gods who would walk upon the earth. Ra became jealous and cursed Nut so that she could not give birth on any of the Egyptian year’s 360 days. So, Nut talked to Thoth, a god of wisdom, and he decided to create a wager with the moon. At that time, the moon’s light rivaled that of the sun, but Thoth created a game with the promise that if he won, the moon would have to give Thoth a bit of his light.

The two played all day and all night, and over time Thoth had gained enough of the moon’s light that he could add five days to the year’s cycle, creating a space where Nut could give birth to her children. Greatly relieved and heavy with child, Nut brought Isis, Osiris, Set, Nephthys, and Horus into the world.

From that time on, Nut would watch her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren from above, waiting for the time of their death to bring them back into her loving arms, installing them in her canopy forever as the stars of the night sky.

The Eternal Presence of the Night

Egyptian mythology is pieced together from the many artifacts that have been found, especially in the tombs and sarcophagi that date as far back as 3100 BCE. These stories were likely told orally for generations before they were written down in some of the earliest writings anywhere in the world, around 2100 BCE. The stories shift and change depending on the region and what was happening in the world around the time. Nut wasn’t necessarily the major focus of worship in ancient Egypt; there were times when Ra and Isis were much more central to the stories. But Nut was always present in the mythology, depicted as a loving mother and the night sky.

Her image frequently appeared on the lids and inside of coffins, reassuring the dead that she was waiting for them, ready to bring them home. She’s often depicted with wide wings, open as if ready for an embrace. She is also the namesake of the Book of Nut, an ancient text all about the sky, the constellations, and the movement of the planets.

Another story about Nut is that she gave birth to the sun god Ra every morning and swallowed him at night. Some astrologers have also realized that this story could also be about the position of the Milky Way (Nut) in relation to the Sun (Ra) through the seasons. At the spring equinox, the sun is positioned near the Milky Way’s “mouth,” suggesting that Nut swallows Ra every year at this time. At the winter solstice, the sun appears close to her genital area, between the Milky Way’s “legs,” suggesting that she gives birth to the sun every year at this time. In almost all religious traditions and mythologies, including Christianity, a god is born or reborn around the winter solstice.

The Comfort of a Mother Goddess

As a mother archetype, Nut is eternal, wide, and endlessly loving. Her wings extend as far as the universe, and she wraps herself around the earth and her children in an embrace that lasts forever. Like many ancient goddesses, she is both a birth-giver and recipient of the dead, easing the transition from life to death as her children return to her. She is patient and wise, finding ways to make time and space for her children to be born even when someone is trying to control her.

When we’re suffering, when we’re afraid, even when we’re facing death, we need a mother. Our human mothers may not be able to help us with these difficult moments—they may not even be around anymore. But if we consider that we have another mother, a mother who has always been there since the beginning of time, who can see us come into being and receive us when our time is up, we may be able to feel comforted by her, held by her. All we need to do is look up into the night sky.

Try this goddess ritual to embrace yourself as you age.