Also called the Eight of Hermopolis, Khemenu, Nun and Naunet, Heh and Hauhet, Kek and Kauket, Amun and Amunet.
Their story
At Hermopolis, whose Egyptian name Khemenu means Eight Town, creation was explained through eight beings in four pairs. Nun and Naunet were the waters, Heh and Hauhet endlessness, Kek and Kauket darkness, and Amun and Amunet hiddenness, the males shown as frogs and the females as serpents. Together they brought about the first mound, and from it the sun emerged, from an egg or a lotus depending on the telling. In Theban tradition the Eight were buried at Djeme, and Amun visited them there every ten days.
Best times to give to them
- the start of every ten-day week (as at Djeme)
- Wepet Renpet
What they like being given
- water
- incense
- an egg
- a lotus or water lily
How to honour them
- Meditate on the four pairs as qualities of the unformed world: water, endlessness, darkness and hiddenness.
- Use an egg on your shrine as a sign of potential.
How they can help you
- beginnings
- contemplation
- understanding Egyptian creation stories
Symbols
- four frog-headed gods
- four serpent-headed goddesses
- cosmic egg
- lotus
The names of the pairs vary in different sources.
Sources
- Pinch, Egyptian Mythology
- Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
- Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
More Egyptian spirits
- The Seven Hathors The goddesses who foretell a child's fate
- Hu and Sia Divine command and divine understanding
- The Four Sons of Horus Guardians of the organs and the four directions
- The Ennead The nine gods of Heliopolis