As soon as labor begins, the goddess Meshen(i)t, the patroness of women in labor and assistant to midwives, rushes to her aid along with Hathor and Isis; beautiful young woman in a headdress made of multi-colored feathers. The good goddess is accompanied by her retinue: the shaggy dwarf freaks Bes, their wives - the goddesses Besit and the goddess Taurt (Greek Toeris) - a pregnant female hippopotamus with female breasts, arms and hair and with crocodile teeth. When the baby is born and begins to cry, Meshent and her retinue dance with joy around the cradle of the newborn.
But you can’t dance and rejoice for too long! Hearing the loud cry of the baby, the forces of evil flock to him from all sides, and if they are not driven away in time, they will use witchcraft to inflict illness on the child or his young mother, some kind of disease - and the joy in the Egyptian’s house will be replaced by hopeless sadness. In addition, near the house, in the grass, there are a lot of scorpions and poisonous snakes: they can crawl over the threshold and climb into the cradle. That's why Besy and Basit are always on guard. Feeling the approach of evil demons, the shaggy dwarfs hit the tambourines and, making terrifying grimaces, begin to jump and rush around the house with loud screams: Bes-Akha - “Warrior” - shakes his weapon, Bas-Hit - “Dancing” - dances. Taurt joins them.
The good goddess Taurt was once Seth's concubine, but after Horus defeated Seth, Taurt fled from him and joined Horus's retinue. The angry Seth set a snake on Taurt in revenge. The choir protected the goddess and chopped the snake into pieces.
...Frightened by the grimaces of the Bes, the roar of tambourines and the clanging of crocodile teeth, Taurt, scorpions, reptiles and evil spirits rush to their heels.
Meanwhile, Meshent and her husband, the god Shai, go to the Heavenly Tree. The Heavenly Tree, or the Tree of Hathor, grows in the sky above, among the stars. In its lush crown live the Seven Hathors - seven young goddesses with cow horns and solar disks on their heads. Goddesses play tambourines and sistrums, feed the souls of the dead in the Afterlife and predict people's fate.
Shai and Meshent come to the Seven Hathor to find out the fate of the newborn. After all, if a baby was born on the ninth day of the month Paofi, he was destined to die a natural death, and if he was born three days earlier, then, when he becomes an adult, he will die after drinking too much wine. So says the sacred papyrus - "Calendar of happy and unlucky days":
"The fifth day of the month of Paofi is a very dangerous day. Do not under any circumstances leave the house on this day. Do not approach any woman. On this day, all deeds were accomplished in the presence of God. The Majesty of [god] Montu was satisfied on this day. Anyone born on this day will die indulging in love. The sixth day of the month of Laofi. An unusually happy day. The day of the festival of Ra in the sky. The gods are pacified in его присутствии <...> Всякий рожденный в этот день умрёт от опьянения. День девятый месяца Паофи. Чрезвычайно счастливый день. Боги торжествуют, предаваясь радости. Погиб противник Ра. Тот, кто родился в этот день, умрёт от старости. День семнадцатый месяца Тиби. Очень несчастливый день. Не купайся в этот день ни в какой воде. Это день, когда Нун вышел из храма, в котором пребывали боги. То, что above, fell, and darkness enveloped the earth on this day. Therefore, many dangerous seeds enter into the clothes and mix with them. Anyone who approaches a woman [on this day] will feel faint and be stricken with illness.”
However, what is written in papyrus may or may not come true: after all, man is not the plaything of blind fate, but the sovereign master of fate. By being careful, following all the commandments and not doing what the sacred papyri forbid to do, he can safely avoid all misfortunes, and even if he was destined to die young, in poverty, he, contrary to fate, will live to a ripe old age and die in prosperity and prosperity. And in general: although the texts of the papyri were dictated by the gods themselves, they were still written down by priests - people. But the earthly word does not have the same power as the Heavenly Word. Therefore, Meshent and Shai ask the Seven Heavenly Goddesses about the fate of the newborn.
The Seven Hathors announce to Meshent and Shai what awaits their ward: will he be poor or rich, when will he get married and will he have children, what will he die from and much more; and Meshent and her husband listen to the soothsaying goddesses, remembering their every word. After all, Shai must from now on become a “guardian angel” of a person: observe his behavior throughout his life in order to tell the judges at the Afterlife Court of Osiris whether he was a good person or an evil one, what actions he committed, whether he had sins in his heart - and if the Court acquits the deceased, Shai will lead him to the place of eternal bliss - to the Fields of Iala.
And Meshent needs to know the fates of all people, because she is an oracle goddess. True, the good wife Shai predicts only good things: wealth, good luck, happiness; she prefers to remain silent about all the sorrows that await a person.
If the Seven Hathors predict a good future for the baby, Meshent dances and laughs with joy. But when a child faces a bad lot, for example, death from a poisonous snake bite, Meshent is not too upset either: after all, a person has the power to change even what is predetermined by the gods themselves! This is how one young man, the son of Pharaoh, to whom the Seven Hathors predicted inevitable death, defeated the inexorable fate.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru