Apothis & some other Kemetic questions

[David19]

Does anyone know anything about Apothis, i've heard a few things about him like he's an evil god, but is he really evil or is it just interpretation. Also i heard that he serves something else, i can't remember the name, but i heard they are there to spread Chaos or disrupt Maat. Have you had any experiences with him or anything.

Also, i was reading a book on Egyptian mythology in the shops the other day, and it said that the Kemetic gods were immortal (i think Isis got her head cut off and survived) but that at some point in the future, they can be killed (or mystically imprisioned). Is this true, is it like an apocalypse or something?

And finally, i know Maat is a goddess as well as a concept but what happens if the concept is disrupted, would it affect the goddess Maat (like would she disappear or something if there was too much chaos)

Thanks, hope that made sense.

[Erincelt]

First answer: "Apothis" / "Apophis", or as the ancients called it, Apep, is -- get ready -- not a god. It is the personification of isfet (actions against Ma'at), though sometimes referred to as the "servant" or "agent" of isfet. But it is not a god. All the gods are tied to ma'at -- by their very nature they can only uphold and propogate ma'at. Isfet is anathema.

Second answer: I've never heard anything quite like that one before, so I'm afraid I can't give a perfect response. However, it seems unlikely. The Netjeru are a world apart from us, and they are not immortal so much as eternal. That said, though, there are a few myths that speak of the deaths of gods. Wesir ("Osiris") is slain by Set/Sutekh, for example -- although rather than disappear, he instead transformed into Soqar and took a new throne. In the story of Aset ("Isis") tricking Ra into revealing His True Name, it is said that Ra was deeply and fatally ill from a scorpion sting. Its difficult to say. The common attitude, it seems, is to accept that mythology is not literal historical recounts, but attempts to put something remote and other-wordly into a presentation our human minds can understand more easily.

Third answer: Ma'at is ma'at, indeed, but because ma'at is the very foundation of our reality existing, we will not witness Her disappearance. Think of our universe as a bubble of Order in a sea of Nothing-Chaos. So long as our world exists, and so long as there are some good people walking it, there will be a Ma'at to oversee it. However, She is no doubt affected by the acts of isfet, on one level or another.

[instinct]

listen to my big brother. he is wise

and just to add... Apep was a mistake of creation. it was never meant to be.

[Ahautenites]

I'm not so sure it was a mistake. If there was no ma'at to be maintained against the tide of isfet, what would the gods do all day long? ;)

[Erincelt]

They'd sit back, sip sweet tea, with just the right amount of lemon, and watch cartoons.

Or is that me...

[Ahautenites]

They like tea... as long as Set's has whiskey in it, Yinepu's has rum or brandy in it, and Sobek's has soylent green in it.

[instinct]

I'm not so sure it was a mistake. If there was no ma'at to be maintained against the tide of isfet, what would the gods do all day long? ;)
mmm. kinda like when countries get bored, so they start a war? :eyebrow:

i'm sure they'd have plenty to do without isfet.

i was just saying that from the way apep was created, which i don't actually remember well enough to try and recount. it was not planned. it was an accident

[instinct]

ok. here we go.

"apep" is not it's real name. it's real name is known, but never spoken. speaking a name gives power. and obviously we don't want to give the thing that seeks to uncreate the universe power.

to quote Hemet (AUS) (Tamara Siuda)
"It is written only a few times and each writing is messed up in some way (deliberately misspelled or the hieroglyphs have been mutilated in some fashion) to reinforce this idea of blocking the power of the thing named from manifesting."

apep means "the thing that was spit up". This is in reference to one of its creation myths. In this myth (from the Late Period), apep was accidentally created when Nit spoke the words of creation and a bit of spittle came from Her mouth by mistake, without Her giving it form, function or purpose.

[Romani Vixen]

mmm. kinda like when countries get bored, so they start a war? :eyebrow:

i'm sure they'd have plenty to do without isfet.

i was just saying that from the way apep was created, which i don't actually remember well enough to try and recount. it was not planned. it was an accident

Have you ever seen the charts of the where the US tax dollars go? The *insaine* ammount that's spent on military???

Helloo.... education people!!!!!

I really don't think that They would get bored without isfet.

[Erincelt]

Although one could argue that, without isfet, we wouldn't need all that military spending. ;)

[Romani Vixen]

One can argue both ways. I have to think that it would at least be more balanced.