Gods' Section [April 8th: Hathor]

[Arcadia [NG]]

The Egyptian goddess of the sky, Hathor, ruled over the sun, the stars, the human soul, love, music, dancing, eroticism, fertility, motherhood, fate, incense and proper conduct.

Thank you, NP Karnonnos. I've performed some further research, for those who may be interested in further information on the sacred plant, Tarot and related myths pertaining to Hathor.

Sacred Plant - Myrrh:

Much as Hathor herself rules over incense generally, myrrh resin is perhaps the best singularly known source of incense in the ancient world alongside frankincense, to the point of common references across both Pagan and even Abrahamic sources alike (with usage present even in contemporary Christian liturgies).

The earliest known Egyptian expedition to the land of Punt (generally identified with the Horn of Africa) was documented during the reign of the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh King Sahure. This mission returned with substantial amounts of frankincense, malachite, electrum and especially myrrh, alongside a variety of exotic animals and resources. [1]

A relief from Sahure’s mortuary temple commemorates the success of this journey and notably portrays the king cultivating a myrrh tree within his palace garden. Titled "Sahure’s splendor soars up to heaven," this scene is unique in Egyptian art for depicting a pharaoh engaged in gardening. In ancient Egyptian practices, myrrh, together with natron, played an important role in the embalming process used for mummification. [2]

Myrrh appears in multiple passages of the Hebrew Bible as a valuable and uncommon fragrance. In Book of Genesis 37:25, the merchants who purchased Joseph from the sons of Jacob are described as traveling with camels carrying goods such as spices, balm, and myrrh. Later, in Book of Exodus 30:23–25, Moses is instructed to include 500 corrupt money of liquid myrrh as a principal component in the preparation of the sacred anointing oil.

Myrrh also formed part of the Ketoret, the consecrated incense burned in both the alleged First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, as detailed in biblical and Talmudic sources. This incense was offered on a dedicated altar and played a central role in temple ritual. In addition, myrrh is again noted as an ingredient in the holy anointing oil used for consecrating the tabernacle, as well as high priests and kings. Oil of myrrh is used in Esther 2:12 in a purification ritual for the new queen to King Ahasuerus:

"Now when every maid's turn was come to go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months, according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with other things for the purifying of the women)."

Within the field of Pharmacology, myrrh has traditionally been valued for its antiseptic qualities, leading to its inclusion in products such as mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes. It has also been formulated into topical preparations like liniments and salves, which are applied to cuts, scrapes, and other minor skin conditions. In addition, myrrh has been used for its pain-relieving effects, particularly in easing toothache discomfort. It has likewise been incorporated into liniments designed to soothe bruises, muscle soreness, and sprains. [3]

Beyond its material usage, myrrh figures into the myth of Myrrha, retold by Ovid in Metamorphoses Book 10. In the reading of the myth, one can clearly recognize thematic parallels with the nature of the Reversed Empress Tarot.

Cinyras, king of Cyprus, has a daughter of marriageable age who is courted by princes from across the East. Yet Myrrha is consumed by an incestuous passion for her own father. Ovid is careful to distance the crime from the usual Olympian culprits: Cupid himself denies responsibility, and the poet blames one of the Furies, who has breathed "viper’s venom" into the girl (note the allegorical parallel here with the cobra venom of the Eye of Ra).

Myrrha knows the horror of her longing. She wrestles with it in long, anguished monologues, wishing her father were not her father so she could love him "properly," envying animals that mate without human taboos, and finally attempting suicide. Her old nurse intervenes, coaxes out the secret, and--during the nine-night festival of Ceres when wives (including Myrrha’s mother, Cenchreis) abstain from sex--tricks the drunken Cinyras into bed with "a girl who truly loves you".

The deception is repeated for several nights. Myrrha becomes pregnant. When Cinyras finally discovers the truth by torchlight, he tries to kill her. She flees into exile, wandering for nine months until, heavy with child and exhausted, she prays to the gods: "Take from me this life that is both living and dead… so that I offend neither the living by living nor the dead by dying." The gods answer by turning her into a myrrh tree. The bark closes over her, but the fetus continues to grow. When the time comes, the Goddess of childbirth (Lucina) cracks the trunk; the tree "weeps" fragrant resin (myrrh) as it gives birth to the beautiful boy Adonis. [4]

Where the Upright Empress embodies harmonious, life-affirming creation and maternal love, Myrrha experiences the archetype in its inverted, poisoned form. Her femininity is not blocked, but instead perverted. The impulse that should lead her toward healthy partnership and motherhood (the suitors at the door) is hijacked into an incestuous fixation on her father, collapsing the generational boundary the Empress naturally guards. The nurse, a twisted maternal surrogate, "helps" her in the name of love, enabling the crime instead of protecting natural order, exactly the codependent, boundary-less dynamic the reversed card often flags.

The pregnancy itself is a prime example of reversed-Empress fertility: it succeeds, yet it is unwanted, shameful, and born of violation. Myrrha flees in horror, carrying a child who is simultaneously her son and her half-brother. She cannot mother him in any human sense; she can only reach out to the Gods and become something else.

However, it is important to note that Myrrha comes to terms what she's done, and allows the necessary retribution of the Gods to take its place. With the necessary acceptance of what she's done and the consequences of it having taken place, what was once wrong has transformed into something beautiful; in this case, the beautiful Adonis, who becomes the lover of Venus herself.

The Reversed card does not deny or act contrary to fertility. Rather, it warns that when the Empress’s gifts are abused or denied their proper channel, the result can be pain, exile, and the necessity of retribution. Myrrha herself becomes the origin of myrrh, something fragrant in smell but bitter in taste.

Sources:

[1] Seagoing Ships & Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant - Shelley Wachsmann

[2] New worlds: The great voyages of discovery 1400-1600 - Ronald H Fritze

[3] Myrrh - Uses, Side Effects, and More - WebMD: Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Consumer Version

[4] Metamorphoses - Ovid