This article originally appeared in the July, 2007 issue of Immanence, printed under the name Morag Grayheart.

Nut (also known as Nuit, Newt, and Neuth) is the Egyptian Goddess who personifies Sky. Nut means “night”. Her titles include “Coverer of the Sky”, “She Who Protects”, “Mistress of All”, and “She Who Holds A Thousand Souls.” According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Nut is described as a friend and protector of the dead, and is known for providing food and drink to them.

Nut is often portrayed as a woman bearing a vase of water on Her head, though sometimes She wears a headdress of horns and Hathor’s solar disk. She holds a papyrus sceptre in one hand and an ankh (Egyptian symbol of life and death) in the other.

Nut’s sacred symbol is the ladder. Ladders were often placed within tombs to protect the deceased, and to invoke the aid of the god of the dead (Osiris). Her sacred plant is the sycamore tree—aside from personifying sky She was also thought to personify this tree. Groves of sycamores were grown in honour of Her, and to get into Her good books. Nut’s sacred stone is Lapis Lazuli, a stone thought to represent the sky.