Alright, so while poking around OccultForums, I found a thread that focused on the question of whether Sutekh and Satan are the same. I had a bit to say, and I read everyone else’s posts about it, and have now decided to write a blog entry about the role Sutekh had in Egyptian mythology and culture.
Sutekh is known as the Red Lord. He rules over the desert, chaos, storms, favors redheads, and in some way cares for everyone who is an outcast in some way. No one knows quite what the “Set animal” actually is, but some believe that it either is an animal now extinct, or that it’s a compilation animal similar to how the Chimera is a compilation animal. However, one thing is for certain: the Egyptians viewed him as the the lord of chaos, the opposite of order.
There was no good or evil idealogy in ancient Egypt, that much is known. There was, however, the concept of Order and Chaos. Order was personified by the goddess Maat, and Chaos was mostly personified by Sutekh. There was also the concept of Creation and Uncreation, and Apep, the giant serpent, was the force behind Uncreation.
Traditionally, Apep is the greatest enemy known in Egyptian mythology. His very motive is to destroy all of Creation, and the gods with that. Traditionally, he tries in the morning and in the evening, in each time that the sun and moon are in transition. The morning, during the point right before dawn, and in the evening at the point right after sunset, when Ra is his most vulnerable. Sutekh and Aset and a few other deities fight to protect Ra during these times.
Sutekh’s most infamous act in mythology is when he allegedly killed his brother, Wesir (Osiris). He then supposedly attempted to go after Heru, Wesir’s son with Aset.
The biggest question, I’m sure, is that since people who perceive Sutekh as the ultimate evil (which once again is irrelevant, as evil doesn’t exist according to the Kemetics) would rather ignore all of the good he does in mythology for the sake of Order (despite being the opposite force), why should anyone continue to believe that he killed his brother?
Basically, his role in mythology is a very controversial one. In some parts, he’s portrayed as chaotic but helpful. In others he’s portrayed as a murderer. The biggest question, then, is: does any deity escape all of these portrayals? In the major mythologies people look at, there is not one deity that escapes some kind of bad portrayal of their characters and deeds. Aprodite, Aset, Ra… everyone is portrayed poorly in some part of mythology.
Therefore, in order to make any judgements (which are not really ours to make) on any deity, one must first get to know the deity in question outside of mythology. Mythology has changed throughout the years, deities have changed throughout the years, and anyone who bases their entire opinion and religious practices on myth are selling themselves and many deities short.
Credit: knowledge gleaned over the years from reading and studying. All of the factual information can be found on many websites and in many books, and is common knowledge and doesn’t need citation. OccultForums.com belongs to the forum owner. A lot of this (barring mythological fact) is my own opinion. I’ve also posted it on a blog I run, Differing Opinions.
