S is for Set

I’m doing folklore and book review posts to reach and please a larger audience. Previous years have shown select interest in both and to minimise blogging throughout the year, I’m focusing my efforts on April.

If you’d rather check out my book review for today, go here.

I’ve always only heard of Set in opposition to Osiris, but there’s more to him.

Folklore

Book of the Dead: Becoming a God in Ancient Egypt [Ancient Egyptian text]

Anti-snake spells are the most numerous… they are also attested in the oldest magical corpus of the Pyramid Texts… [snakes] are generally associated to the god of chaos, Seth, or the giant serpent Apophis… particularly spell 39.

Ancient Egypt: A Captivating Guide to Egyptian History, Ancient Pyramids, Temples, Egyptian Mythology, and Pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and Cleopatra by Captivating History

Osiris, the mythical ruler of Egypt, is killed by his brother Seth. Osiris’s sisters, Isis and Nephthys, are trying to find his damaged body. Isis finds the body and revives Osiris in order to conceive a son, Horus. The body of Osiris is mummified and protected from Seth’s assaults. Isis, the divine mother, gives birth to Horus in the marshes. The creatures of chaos poison the baby Horus, but he is healed. Horus and Seth fight against each other for the right to rule. Seth ends up with wounded testicles. Horus loses an eye, or both eyes, but another god (usually Thoth) restores the damaged eye(s). Horus avenges the death of Osiris. Seth is overpowered. Horus, as a result, becomes king of the living. Osiris becomes ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead.

The three main gods in ancient Egyptian religion are Osiris, Horus, and Seth. Seth was the god of chaos and the brother of Osiris, characterized as an awkward-looking human with a curved nose and long ears.

*More can be read in the book.

Egyptian Gods: Discover the Ancient Gods of Egyptian Mythology by Stephan Weaver

Seth gets a lot of bad press and sometimes defies easy understanding. He’s the god of the vast deserts and storms. Seth is the god of the strange, unusual, and uncanny. His nature as an evil being is related to ambiguity and uncertainty, not always maliciousness. Seth is sterile and was not originally associated with evil; rather, he was simply a representation of a primal, although chaotic, force of nature. Most often, Egyptians depicted him as a man with a dog’s head. In general, Seth appeared increasingly disposed toward evil, but nowhere near in the same league as Apep.

*More can be read in the book.

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

SETH (SET, SUTEKH) Seth, the tumultuous god who was the enemy of his brother, Osiris, and the rival of Horus, was one of the five children of Nut and Geb. Seth’s sister, Nephthys, and the foreign goddesses Anat and Astarte were among his consorts. Seth acts as a catalyst in Egyptian myth. His thoughtless actions are bad in themselves but can lead to good outcomes, such as that of Osiris becoming the ruler of the underworld. The brute strength of Seth was needed by the gods to defend the solar barque from the chaos monster.

At all periods, Seth was associated with dangerous aspects of the desert such as flash floods and sandstorms. Many desert animals, particularly oryxes, wild asses, and the mythical griffin, were considered Sethian creatures. Seth himself was represented by a sinister imaginary animal. In myth, Seth takes the form of many different animals, such as bulls, pigs, hippopotami, wild asses, crocodiles, and panthers, to carry out destructive acts.

*More can be read in the book.

A Wizard’s Bestiary by Oberon Zell Ravenheart

Apep is the mighty Moon Serpent of Egyptian mythology that emerges from the primal abyss when the world is formed, much like the Babylonian Tiamet. Apep represents storms, night, and death, and is associated with Set, the evil god of chaos.

*More can be read in the book.

The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judika Illes

Set is the Egyptian Lord of the Desert and Lord of Chaos and Disorder. He is among the set of quadruplets born to the Earth and Sky; his siblings are Osiris, Isis, and Nephthys.

Both Osiris and Set love their sister Isis but she chooses Osiris. Set marries Nephthys but she also loves Osiris, and so theirs is not a happy marriage.

Osiris is initially Ruler of the Black Land, the fertile belt of civilization around the Nile River. Set is the Lord of the Red Land as the Egyptians characterized the harsh, barren desert. It, too, however, is a place of power.

Set was a powerful magician, second only to Isis. Appeals are made to Set to keep bad weather far away; he has dominion over rainstorms, sandstorms and windstorms.

*More can be read in the book.

Further Reading:

• Set (deity)
• Set animal
• Seth (Egyptian god)
• Set
• Set (Seth) in Egyptian Mythology: Myths, Symbols, and Powers
• Set | The Bringer of Chaos

Folklore in a Nutshell by Ronel

[piece]

Set in Modern Culture

The Mummy (2017) film

Set is the Egyptian god of death, storms, and chaos. Set was summoned by Princess Ahmanet before the assassination of Menehptre. Set gave her the Dagger of Set, which would give Set corporeal form in exchange for giving Ahmanet political power. Ahmanet used the Dagger to assassinate her family; however, before Ahmanet could complete the pact, her plan was found out and she was mummified alive, leaving Set without form.

In 2017, both Ahmanet and the Dagger of Set reemerged. Ahmanet chose Nick Morton as her new sacrifice to Set, and she killed Morton’s love interest Jennifer Halsey in order to force him to comply with her demands. However, Morton simply stabbed himself with the Dagger, fusing himself with Set, before using Set’s powers to defeat Ahmanet.

Learn more here.

Gods of Egypt (2016) film

Set is the god of the desert, storms, disorder, violence and the main antagonist in Gods of Egypt, played by Gerard Butler.

Set arrived at the coronation of his nephew Horus who was to be crowned king by Osiris. He brought him a hunting horn as a gift and when it was blown into, the sound brought forth Set’s army. The army covered the mortals while Set demanded to fight his brother for the throne of Egypt. Osiris refused and Set impaled him with his knife, leaving Horus to battle his uncle. Despite the power Horus possessed, Set managed to gain the upper hand by blinding his nephew with the sun reflecting off his shield and the shields of his troops. 

Set gouged out his eyes and almost killed him, however, Hathor stopped him from doing so and Set spared him and exiled him before taking the throne for himself. Once Set was king, he ensured that gods and humans would have to buy their way into the afterlife with offers of riches and began a campaign to conquer the world, as well as slay any god or goddess who stood in his way. He also forced the construction of a massive obelisk honoring his father Ra and took Hathor as a lover. 

Learn more here.

Marvel comic books

Along with Gaea, Oshtur, Chthon, and others, Set was an Elder God, created at the dawn of life on the planet Earth by the sentient bio-sphere known as the Demiurge.^[25][26] As Satha, he was a great serpent^[18] and was known as the Old One.

Set learned that by devouring his fellow Elder Gods, he could add their power to his own. Thus, in this way, Set became the first murderer^[25][26] by killing the centaurian Hyppus.^[4] Other Elder Gods followed suit, and soon the majority of the Gods had become corrupt, degenerating into demons. Set and his “brother”, Chthon of the dark forces, were among the worst.

Gaea wept for her brothers and sisters and conceived a child with the Demiurge known as Atum, who had a secondary form, Demogorge, the God-Eater. He went on destroying the corrupted Elder Gods. Set and his children, Damballah and Sligguth, fled Earth into a pocket of dimensional space to escape the wrath of Demogorge.

Learn more here.

SMITE video game

Imagine you can, if only for the briefest of moments, glimpse the future. Your spirit yearns to see all that you hold dear prosper, shining like a beacon against all the rest of creation, defiant against hardship and basking in the glow of peace and security. Imagine then, seeing the truth, a truth of an altogether different kind.

You see your kingdom, the divine beings who protect it and its mortal peoples, and upon looking closer, you see a rot begin to form. A weakness, fraying away at the very heart, a fundamental absence of strength that threatens to spread, yawning wide into a void that will consume all.

What lengths would you go to, to prevent this from happening? What would you sacrifice, whose blood would you be willing to spill? For the god Set, he would pay any price, even the blood of his own brother, Osiris.

Set saw the tyrannical control his brother held over the land, the hoarding of strength and power even from his own son. He looked to that son, fair Horus, starved of the means to take the reigns of command when his appointed time came, incapable of leading them into any future but darkness. Set looked upon an unworthy king, and a worse successor, and he chose to act.

He knew the world would seek to damn him, to decry his deeds as those of a murderer, slavering for power. But Set would endure such lies, to save his kingdom. He would seize the throne back from the unworthy and the weak, from the sinister and the corrupt, and in time, when the truth of the world mirrored the truth he desired in his heart, they would throng the streets to praise him. Set would be their deliverance, no matter the cost.

Learn more here.

Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan

Set is the Egyptian god of deserts, storms, strength, chaos, and evil. He is the son of Geb and Nut, as well as the brother of Horus, Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys. Later, Horus would become his nephew and Nephthys would become his wife. He is the main antagonist of The Red Pyramid, but a minor supporting protagonist in the rest of the series.

Set, along with his brothers and sisters, is released by Julius Kane while attempting to summon Osiris. He kidnaps Julius who has become the host for Osiris and possesses Amos Kane. He then commands the demons under his command to construct a pyramid in Phoenix, Arizona to serve as both a medium for his power and a vessel for his being. He originally intends to turn all of North America into a desert but is manipulated by Apophis into targeting the entire world by possessing his lieutenant Face of Horror. Set also tries to capture and destroy the Kanes by possessing their uncle Amos Kane who he releases once he lures the Kanes to the Red Pyramid.

Learn more here.

Set in My Writing

Origin of the Fae: Set

The lyrics seem appropriate for his life.

See this immortal in action in my writing:

Smoke on the Water (Irascible Immortals Complete Collection with Extra Short Stories)

Set stood on a riverbank watching the sunset. He could hear various insects and even a few bird calls. It was idyllic. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

‘Why are there mosquitoes here?’

Immediate rancour flowed through him and his eyes snapped open.

‘What are you doing here?’ Set asked the Norse interloper to the Duat.

‘I was invited,’ Thor answered.

‘ “Invited” isn’t the word I’d use. “Summoned” sounds about right.’

Both turned towards the speaker.

‘Lord Ra,’ Set greeted and bowed low.

‘As you both know, the world is in turmoil. Join me and I’ll explain.’

They stepped onto the sun god’s barque for his nightly journey through the Duat. Bast stood at the prow, weapons drawn.

One Way or Another, Smoke on the Water, Irascible Immortals by Ronel Janse van Vuuren

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