In the following article I am going to talk about my Magical namesake, The Egyptian God Ra, why am I doing this? Because I think it's important for practitioners of Magick, especially those who are new to the craft, to have a basic understanding of the deities they will be working with, before they actually start working with them.

Knowing the deities you work with adds power and a level of protection to your Magick, this is because it gives you the ability to work with
your deity knowingly instead of blindly, plus, it’s respectful, just as you would research a company before going for a job interview, you
should research who your working with before performing ritual Magick!

Over the next few paragraphs I’m going to go over who Ra is, his creation and role, some of the Mythology surrounding Ra, The Eye of Ra, how Ra merged with other Gods, (in particular the God Amun to became Amun Ra) some offerings that can be made to Ra and a list of
further reading.

So who is Ra?

Ra (pronounced Ray or Rey) is the Egyptian Sun God, he represents the divine male principal, sunlight, warmth and growth. Considered by the
ancient Egyptians to be a powerful deity, Ra was a central God of the Egyptian pantheon, and was revered by the ancient Egyptians as the God
who created everything.

Ra was by far the most worshipped of all the Gods in ancient Egypt, so much so that pharaohs often connected themselves with Ra in their
efforts to be seen as the earthly embodiment of the creator God.

The ancient Egyptians believed Ra created himself from the primordial chaos, that he died every night and was reborn at dawn every day. His role was to sail across the heavens in his boat called the “Barque of Millions of Years.” During Ra’s journey through the heavens he was
accompanied by several other gods including Thoth, Horus, Hathor, Maat, Abtu, and Anet. In the morning when Ra emerged from the east,
his boat was named, “Madjet” which meant “becoming strong.” By the end of the day the boat was called, “Semektet” which meant “becoming weak.” At the end of the day, it was believed that Ra was swallowed by Nut (Goddess of the sky, stars and cosmos) died and sailed on to the underworld, leaving the moon in his place to light up the world.

During his journey across the heavens it was told that Ra fought with one of his enemys, an evil serpent named Apep (The Lord of Chaos) In some
stories, Ra, in the form of a cat named Mau, defeats the evil serpent, Apep. This is part of the reason why cats are so highly-revered in Egypt.

It was believed that Ra brought forth all forms of life by speaking their true and secret names, all forms apart from humans, humans were created from Ra’s tears and sweat, not his words.

The Eye of Ra was a valued symbol in the ancient Egyptian culture, it was a symbol of royal authority that represented the sun. Often, it
was associated with the destructive power of the sun, but Egyptians also used it to protect buildings and themselves. Some scholars
believe the Eye of Ra was originally Horus' right eye, a representation of the sun. Over time, the Egyptians came to associate it with Ra, the sun God, and called it the Eye of Ra.

Several Egyptian myths discuss the Eye of Ra. According to one myth, Ra's children, Shu and Tefnut, wandered away and got lost. Ra plucked
out his eye and sent it to find his children. The eye found Shu and Tefnut and brought them back to Ra. While the eye was gone, Ra grew a
new eye. The eye saw this as a betrayal and became enraged! So to appease the eye, Ra changed it into the uraeus (a sacred serpent) and
wore the uraeus on his forehead (symbolic of the third eye)

The Eye of Ra also played a part in the worship of the Goddesses, this was due to the fact that ancient Egyptians considered each Goddess to
be the mother, sibling, consort and daughter of Ra. They conducted rituals every new year to celebrate the life giving aspects of the Eye
of Ra, with the life giving aspects of the divine feminine and the flooding of the Nile.

The ancient Egyptians, as well as many practitioners of Magick today celebrate certain aspects of the Eye of Ra, and used symbols of the eye to invoke the God's protection.

Random fact, the right eye of Ra is said to represent the Sun; while the left eye of Ra represent the Moon, in terms of Magick, this
symbolism gives the perfect balance for the divine male and female to work together in union and bring forth creation.

Ra, is by far one of the most famous Egyptian God forms. He was the seen as the king of the Gods, ruler of the sun, and creator of the
world. His vital daily task was to guide the sun boat through the skies by day, and through the underworld by night. He was also seen as
the personal patron of the Pharaoh, and from the IV Dynasty onwards Pharaoh's called themselves the "Sons of Ra".

As the cults of various solar deities rose and fell, Ra's role as the most well known solar God in the Egyptian pantheon constantly changed.
Horus, Ra, Aten and Amun-Ra exchanged roles as actually being worshipped as the sun, even though all three retained their solar links. Ra, and sometimes Horus, were broken down into several smaller aspect Gods, who presided over the sun at sunrise, noon and sunset.

Amun, and Ra were both Egyptian deities. For a large part of their history they remained separate, with Ra being the chief God in the
larger Egyptian pantheon, and Amun being the patron deity of Thebes. Amun was a member of the Ogdoad (the eight deities worshipped in
Hermopolis) and was believed to create via breath, thus he was identified with the wind rather than the sun.

The cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt respectively, and they were combined to create Amun-Ra, a solar creator God. It is hard to distinguish exactly when this combination happened, with references being made in pyramid texts to Amun-Ra as early as the V Dynasty.

The most common belief is that Amun-Ra was invented as the new state deity by the (Theban) rulers of the New Kingdom to unite worshippers of Amun with the older cult of Ra, beginning around the XVIII Dynasty. Amun was not the only God Ra Merged with, over time he was also merged with Atum becoming Atum-Ra, Ra-Horakhty, Khepri and Khnum and many more.

If you are looking to work with Ra as part of your practice, I would strongly recommend you conduct further research on him, his cults, the
God’s he’s merged with, and his mythology before you do. Ra is known as the God of creation, but he is also the God destruction, so its important for you to know what your working with prior to making the commitment of working with him, and as with any other deity, even if
you are simply seeking guidance, always remember to give thanks, below is a list of some offering suggestions that could be made to Ra and their disposal.

Liquid Offerings:
Water, Beer, Pomegranate-Wine, Wine, Orange Juice, Coffee, Tea

Food Offerings:
Bread and Barley, Fruits and, Vegetables, Oranges, Apples, Figs,
Dates, Pastries; cookies and cakes

Disposal of Offerings:
1) Eat them
2) With wine or water, you can leave it to evaporate on the Shrine or
pour it out as a libation when done.

Non-Food Offerings:
Scents: Myrrh, frankincense, sandalwood
Disposal: Burn them, use the ash for magical workings or throw into the wind.

Flowers: Yellow, Orange or Red Roses, Sunflowers, Yellow or Red flowers, Water lilies, lotus
Disposal: Leave them on your sacred space until dry then use for compost or leave by a tree.

Candles: Yellow, red, gold or orange candles; beeswax candles.
Disposal: Let them burn completely and bin whatever is left, candles, especially coloured candles can be bad for the environment, do not
leave them outside.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this piece as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that it has given you a better understanding of who the Egyptian God Ra is, some of his Mythology and history, his role in the Egyptian pantheon, the symbolism of the Eye of Ra, how he merged with other Gods and his importance in ancient Egypt. Above all, always remember, knowledge is power, do with it what you will.

Further reading:

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Richard H. Wilkinson

Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of
Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Pinch

Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses,
Monsters, and Mortals by Donna Jo Napoli

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day
translated by Raymond Faulkner and Ogden Goelet