Flaming Feathers Flock Together

The Benu Bird

The Benu Bird is the Egyptian likeness of the Phoenix. Both are birds of the sun... both are self created rather than being born from other creatures and both die and rise anew becoming symbols of regeneration. The Egyptian sunbird is identified with Ra, the Sun God. The word Benu in Egyptian means both purple heron and palm tree. The Benu was identified with the Temple of the Sun God at Heliopolis, which was revered by the Egyptians as the sacred mound from where the Sun god, in his aspect of the Benu Bird, rose again and again to renew Egypt... another thing the Phoenix and the Benu Bird had in common.

The Phoenix

The Greeks knew the Egyptian Benu Bird as the Phoenix. A legendary bird without parents and offspring... it nurtured itself on sunlight and sea spray. Brilliant in appearance, its feathers were gold, red and white; its eyes were green as the sea. A semi-immortal being, the Phoenix had a lifespan of 500 years and when about to die, it drew new life from the primal elements of fire and water and was born again. It would build its nest in the form of a funeral pyre and a single clap of its wings would ignite it. Then, when consumed by the flames, a young Phoenix would arise from its own ashes. The Greeks considered the appearance of the Phoenix as a herald of important events to come.

Many think that the myths surrounding the Phoenix were simply a misunderstanding of the Egyptian myths of the Benu Bird. It is possible that the legend comes from what Herodotus wrote of the Benu Bird. “I have not seen a Phoenix myself, except in paintings, for it is very rare and visits the country (so at least they say in Heliopolis) only at intervals of 500 years... on the occasion of the death of the parent bird. To judge by the paintings, its plumage is partly golden, partly red, and in shape and size it is exactly like an eagle.

There is a story about the Phoenix: it brings its parent in a lump of myrrh all the way from Arabia and buries the body in the Temple of the Sun. To perform the feat, the bird first shapes some myrrh into a sort of egg as big as it finds, by testing, that it can carry; then it hollows the lump out, puts its father inside and smears more myrrh over the opening. The egg-shaped lump is then just the same weight as it was originally. Finally, it is carried by the bird to the Temple of the Sun in Egypt.”



The Benben Stone

The Benben stone was a massive, sacred solar obelisk in the Egyptian Old Kingdom temple of Heliopolis. It was designed to catch the first rays of the rising sun.  Legends had the Phoenix (the Benu Bird) living either on the stone or in a sacred willow tree.

The Benben stone was the basis for the design of later obelisks as well as the capstones on the pyramids.  The point at the top of  the obelisks and the cap stones of the pyramids themselves were gilded to also catch the first rays of the rising sun.

Tehuti Is Just Another Name

The name Thoth is translated as "lord of the holy words" and is the ibis headed god of the Greco-Roman peoples. In Egypt, he is known by the name Tehuti (or Djehuti) and is the patron of science, literature, wisdom and inventions. It is said that he invented the things like arithmatic, geometry, heiroglyphics, magic, medicine, music, surgery, surveying, wind and stringed instuments and writing. You might call him a jack of all science trades!

Thoth's role as mediator is well-documented. It is he who questions the souls of the dead about their deeds in life before their heart is weighed against the feather of MaatHe was even sent by Ra to speak with Tefnut and ask her to return when she abdicated her position and went to Nubia. He is also the great counselor and the other gods frequently went to him for advice.

Thoth is an unusual god and though some stories place him as a son of Ra, others say that Thoth created himself through the power of language. He is the messenger of the gods (and thus identified by the Greeks with Hermes) and the divine record-keeper and mediator.Thoth is considered a lunar deity and is often depicted wearing the lunar crescent on his head. There is a story told of how Thoth won a portion of Khonsu's light, and this may be the reason. As a lunar deity his totem animal is the baboon, a nocturnal animal that goes to sleep only after greeting the new day.

Bast, Egyptian Deity

Since I love cats so much, I figured a little research on the Egyptian goddess Bast was in order and some of what I found was very interesting.


Bast, also known as Bastet, patron of cats, women, and secrets appears as a desert cat or a woman with the head of a cat (this form possibly dates after the domestication of the Egyptian wild cat). She is described as probably the most famous Egyptian goddess after Isis and Bast was said to be the daughter of Ra though long after he created the primal gods.

She was originally a sun goddess but after contact with the Greeks, she changed to a moon goddess probably due to the Greeks associating her with Artemis. Like Artemis, Bast was a wild goddess and to those who were in her favor, she gave great blessings, but her wrath was legendary and she was sometimes listed as one of Ra's avenging deities who punished the sinful and the enemies of Egypt. This is of course in keeping with her totem animal the cat. Cats were sacred to Bast and to harm one was deemed a great transgression.

Bast's importance in the Egyptian pantheon might be due to the great value placed on the domesticated cat by the Egyptians. Cats curtailed the spread of disease by killing vermin and though the idea of microbes was unknown to the ancient Egyptians, they must have noticed the connection between rats and disease. Her worship was widespread, and her followers apparently had a great deal of power. Bubastis was even the capital of Egypt for a time during the Late Period and some pharaohs took her name in their king-names. Herodotus' description of her temple at Bubastis is that of a place of great splendor and beauty, rivaled only by the temples to Ra and Horus Worshiped widely throughout Egypt...... her center of worship was at Bubastis.

Cats have an air of mystery about them and some do not care for them as pets because of this but I have always understood them and knowing their royal history only makes me love them more!