Hathor · Netjeret of Love,
Music, and Joy

While Sekhmet carries the red in the Egyptian pantheon, Hathor carries the gold. She is the Netjeret who brings joy. Music, dance, love, sensuality, good food, wine and beer, the life of children, the joy of couples, the beauty of morning — all of that is her territory. In a spiritual tradition that often becomes too serious, she is the invitation to become light again, without becoming shallow.

A note · Hathor is a Netjeret, a feminine Neter, a cosmic principle in personal form. Not a "goddess" in the Western polytheistic sense. The distinction matters.

Her name and form

The name Hathor literally means "House of Horus" — Hwt-Hr. She is the mother or nurse of the young Horus. Her most frequent form is a woman with cow ears or as a whole cow, on whose forehead the sun-disc stands between two horns. The cow was for Egyptians the mother-animal par excellence — nourishing, warm, patient, benevolent.

In her human form she often wears a thickly woven wig and a Menat, a ritual necklace with heavy counterweights whose sound served as musical instrument. The Menat is a typical Hathor symbol.

The Netjeret of the beautiful

In Egyptian theology Hathor is responsible for everything that makes life beautiful. That is no small category. The Egyptians understood beauty not as superficial decoration, but as a sign that something stands in Maat. A beautiful body, a beautiful garden, a beautiful melody — all of that is a sign that cosmic order has come to life here.

Hathor is therefore not only a beauty-Netjeret in the Western cosmetic sense. She is the Netjeret who recognises when cosmic order shows itself in sensual form. That makes her a serious figure even for practitioners normally cautious about too much "beauty" in spirituality.

With Hathor you may laugh. That is not weakness, that is theology. The holy with her is not separated from the joyful. Whoever learns this finds a whole new entry into the world of the Neteru.

The seven Hathors

A fascinating feature of Hathor: she appears in sevenfold form. The seven Hathors appear at the birth of a child and determine its fate. They are fate-Netjeret figures, similar to the Moirai or Norns. But the sevenfold form is specifically Egyptian. Each of the seven carries a different aspect: one brings love, one success, one art, one fertility, one connection to the ancestors, and so on.

For shamanic work this structure is interesting because it shows that Hathor functions as a collective. Whoever calls her calls not a single figure but an orchestra of different faces of the same archetype.

The Netjeret of music

A central aspect. Hathor is Mistress of Music. Her priestesses were singers and dancers. The sistrum, a ritual metal sound-object, is her holy instrument. Whoever shakes a sistrum literally shakes Hathor. The sound is bright, percussive, joyful — not solemn ringing but an almost child-like jangle that calls forth joy.

In Hathor's temples music belonged not to the supplementary but to the core of ritual work. For modern practitioners this is an important reminder: music is not accompaniment, music is ritual. Whoever works with Hathor often also works with one's own voice, with sounds, with rhythm.

The paradox with Sekhmet

An important point: Hathor and Sekhmet are in Egyptian theology often the same Netjeret in two aspects. The myth tells that Hathor in her wrath became Sekhmet and after drinking the red beer returned to Hathor. The duality is no separation — it is the acknowledgement that the same force can in one moment be wrathful, in another nourishing.

For the shamanic practitioner this is instructive. Whoever calls Hathor also knows Sekhmet. Whoever accepts only the friendly side of the force misses the depth.

Offerings and rituals

• Milk · her classic offering · as cow-Netjeret obvious
• Beer and wine · in small amounts · she is a Netjeret who is allowed to enjoy
• Music · any form · especially rhythm instruments
• Flowers · especially lotus
• Mirrors · she is also a Netjeret of beautiful appearance
• Perfume · especially sweet scented oils
• Gold colours · her realm is the warm, luminous

Hathor for the modern human

For many modern practitioners — especially those coming from a strict, predominantly introspective spirituality — Hathor is a surprising guide. She says: the body may have joy. Food may taste good. Dance may open the soul. Sensuality is not opposed to spirituality but one of its paths.

In a culture that often equates spirituality with asceticism and seriousness, this voice is refreshing and healing. Hathor helps dissolve the separation between "holy" and "joyful". That is a gift many Western practitioners urgently need.

Hathor at Shamanic Worlds

In the Egyptian practice at Shamanic Worlds, Hathor is called in certain ritual contexts — especially at moments when joy is sought, in working with one's own sensuality, in loosening life-phases that have become too strict. Her presence lightens without becoming shallow.

The sensuality-as-spiritual-force that is one of the ground-features of our work finds in Hathor one of its clearest mythological figures. Eileen's parallel project tantracat.com works in depth with precisely this dimension.