Appearance: He is portrayed as a man with the head of an ibis wearing a crown of a full and a crescent moon; always writing. He may also appear or in purely animal form; as either an ibis or a baboon.
Symbols: Ibis, Baboon, pen & tablet or papyrus (writing implements), Full and crescent moon.
Principle: Resonance – (word/sound/power)
Function: Communication
Energies:
Tehuti’s powers are concerned with the recording of ‘facts’ or ‘data’ for a cosmic memory that when necessary may reveal its ancient wisdom to whoever calls for it. Tehuti’s energy is said to break through mental barriers; it allows information to become known and secrets or ‘lost’ or ‘forgotten’ ideas to be revealed.
Tehuti assists in the discovery of ‘lost knowledge’ but he communicates more directly with the mind in such a way as is said to ease mental confusion. He may be called upon when learn-ing new skills and languages (especially symbol systems such as programming or codes), as he is patron of scholars and scribes. He is one of the patrons of divinatory activities (such as libation pouring – an act of tapping into the cosmic memory).
Tehuti was the inventor of writing and language and was therefore the patron of professionals known as scribes. Tehuti gave Medu Neter (the Kemetic term for hieroglyphs) or “NTR’s words” – to humankind.’ As such he is interpreter and advisor of the neteru. Recognised as magically powerful, only the elite, it is said were allowed to learn to read and write these hieroglyphs. Others had to make do with cursive writing.
Tehuti is the guardian of divine order, of all rituals and of secret knowledge. He is also the god presiding over magicians and all learning. He represents the em-bodiment of all scientific and literary attainments. He was in command of the House of life (Per Ankh) which was a revered resource centre accessible only to scribes and contained a wealth of knowledge recorded on papyri – all under the protection of Tehuti (for example medical manuals and instructional documents).
In the hall of judgement; he is record keeper, he records the verdict of Ausar. At the end of a person’s life; their judgment on how they lived is assessed by weighing their heart against a feather of truth (Ma’at). Tehuti’s presence is re-quired for the Weighing of the Heart. It is his duty to record all the souls entering the ‘Duat’ (underworld).
Both the Ibis and the Baboon, Tehuti’s symbols suggest lunar symbolisms. The Ibis’ curved beak suggests the crescent of the moon which is always shown in his crown. The Baboon on the other hand is said to become agitated at dawn. Arm waving and chattering has been interpreted as a greeting to the rising sun by creatures of the moon ntr. According to one myth; ‘the eye of the baboon watched out for scribes who abused their power by applying it to illicit self-gain. As record keeper he was depicted in coronation scenes as listing the names of kings and the years of their rule.
As a moon god Tehuti’s responsibilities include the calendar, the measurement of time, and mathematics. When Nut was forbidden from giving birth on any day of the year (during the time when years were still only 360 days long); it was Tehuti who intervened and by beating the moon in a game of senet (a board game similar to chest) managed to win enough light to create an additional five days referred to as ‘days upon the year.’ On each of these days Nut was able to produce one of her offsprings (said to be ASR, AST, Seth, Nephthys and Heru). These days were then added to the calendar and originally did not form part of any month year. The Greeks later referred to these as ‘epagomenal days’ ‘unlucky days’ or ‘the days of the demons.’ How ever we need to be careful with our value judgements of lucky or unlucky as well as how our interpretation of demons may have changed over time.
The skill of his words is said to bring order to warring factions in Egypt itself, (“the peace of the gods is in him”) but he could be merciless to enemies of truth; decapitating them and cutting out their hearts.
In the myth of Ausar, Auset and Heru, Tehuti protected Auset during her preg-nancy and healed the eye of her son Heru which had been wounded by Ausar’s brother and adversary Seth. He is an advocate of Heru, who he is shown (on temple walls) with him in the ritual of pouring ankhs (signs of life) over the mon-arch between them. See illustration
As one of the outstanding divine figures in the Kemetic Neteru; His main cult centres were found all over Egypt, from Nubia in the south to Lower Egypt. His identification with the Greek Hermes ‘trismegistos’ = three times great, appears to come from one of Tehuti’s epithets found in the temple of Esna: ‘Djeheuty pa aa, pa aa, pa aa’ – Tehuti the great, the great, the great. Tehuti was worshipped through out the country from the Old Kingdom onward. His main cult centre was in Central Egypt.
“In the individual’s search for enlightenment – Tehuti is the symbol of right rea-son; our link to the higher-self. Once we decide to pursue the Divine, the strug-gle becomes a holy war against ignorance and illusion within ones conscious-ness. If the process is misunderstood, the energy of the struggle becomes di-rected to the world outside of oneself in the form of political/ relig-ious/social/ethnic/gender etc. conflicts.” (- Muata Ashby).
Personality Traits
From the patron of the scribes – we can expect those born during this period to display the following personality traits:
A remarkable capacity for analysis
Direct, mental communication that lead to light-bulb moments.
Sometimes a razor sharp truth that cuts through fog.
Painstakingly careful to the point of being nitpicking and pedantic and precise regarding detail
Enquiring mind
Most self critical (but dislike being criticized by others)
Usually the one to initiate, plan and organize events
An abundance of mental energy
Excellent memory
Neat and methodical
Sociable and amenable
Practical, reliable, loyal and dependable
Suitable occupations include writing (including music/symbolic writing)
Natural entertainers*
Excellent teachers and lecturers
Tendency to be extravagant (money burns a hole in their pockets)*
Body parts
The parts of the physical body usually linked to Tehuti are abdominal or-gans, small intestines, duodenum and colon.
Gemstones –
Peridot and Sapphire
Both said to be stones used in the breast-plate of high priests. Peridot is said to regulate cycles (e.g. physical/mental/emotional/intellectual and life cycles. It helps with a bruised ego by reducing anger and inspiring happiness. As a heal-ing stone, peridot can be used in the treatment of disorders of the heart, lungs, spleen and intestinal tract. Also said to improve nearsightedness and provide re-lief from ulcers.
Sapphire brings lightness and joy, with depth of beauty and thought to the user/wearer. Also known as a stone of prosperity, sapphire is said to sustain the ‘gifts of life,’ while peridot is said to have a warm and friendly energy.
Other Correspondences for Tehuti:
Neter Tehuti
Season Inundation
Month Panchons / September
Planet Moon
Element Earth
Body part Colon
Gemstone Peridot & Sapphire
Tree Citrus/quince
Food Orange
Flower Marigold
Colour(s) Yellow, orange, rust brown
Number(s) 8, 5
Incense/Perfume Narcissus
Metal Silver, white gold or platinum
12 Tribes of Israel Zebulun
Suitable Occupations Writing, journalism, entertainment agents and managers
Ase
Ase