Nephthys The Egyptian Goddess

In her funery role she was considered a fearsome but necessary companion to assisting the dead through the different levels of the afterlife.

She was also the Goddess of mourning, comforting the relatives of the deceased. These wailing mourners were described as the "hawks of Nephthys".

This Goddess was the guardian of Hapi who protected the Canopic jar which contained the lungs.

She protected the Pharaoh in life as well as in death, incinerating his enemies with her fiery breath. This Deity also gave the Pharaoh the power to see that " which is hidden by moonlight," linking this Goddess to the powers of darkness and magic and making her a popular Deity with witches and magicians.

Her importance has been overshadowed by her sister Isis. In reality whilst Isis governed the energy of birth, growth, development and the visible she represented death, decay, stagnation and the invisible. In many ways she can be viewed as being the opposite force or the other side of the coin to Isis. However, because many fear death and magic in the modern world, rather than recognizing these forces as part of the cycle of life, her role has been sidelined.

Even this analogy does not truly represent the importance of this Goddess, recent evidence suggests that although there are no surviving temples dedicated to this Goddess she was worshipped widely. This Goddess also performed an important role at births where she stood at the head of the bed to comfort and assist the mothers whilst her sister Isis, acted as midwife.

This Goddess was worshipped by nursing mothers as she was considered to be the nursing mother of Horus and the Pharaoh himself.

This Goddess was also known as Nebethet and Nebkhat.


Origins and Genealogy: Seb and Nut were her parents of. Her siblings included Isis, Osiris and Set.

Married to Set the Egyptian God associated with the barren desert and sterility meant she was often thought to be a childless Goddess. Later myths however, suggest that after a union with Osiris she gave birth to Anubis.

Strengths: she is a protective Goddess and represents the cycle of death and rebirth.


Weaknesses: The duality of her nature means she is often neglected and misunderstood.

Nephthys's Symbolism

She is also shown with her Hieroglyphs (a basket and a house) balanced on her head.


Sacred Birds: Falcons and Hawks.

Additionally this Goddess is the protector of the Pheonix whose rise from the ashes symbolises rebith.

Nephthys 's Archetypes

Uses knowledge of the universal laws of nature, the conscious mind and esoteric powers to manifest their desires.

The shadow Witch uses their gifts to increase their own power.

Nephthys was associated with the unseen world and magic.

Please follow this link to the Archetypes page to discover which other Goddess Archetypes resonate with you.

How to work with This Archetype

The Witch maybe one of your Archetypes can if you have the gift of understanding how to transform situations, influence people, and make your visions and dreams a reality.

The Shadow Witch reminds you not to use these abilities to gain power over others as this is not magic but sorcery.

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