February 26th: Birthday of the Goddess Nut

In the ancient Egyptian calendar, February 26 was celebrated as the birthday of the goddess Nut.

10 facts about Nut:

1. She is goddess of the night sky, usually pictured as a nude woman arching over the earth and covered in stars. Her name means "Sky". Nut forms the barrier separating the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos.
2. Nut’s fingers and toes were believed to touch the four cardinal compass points - north, south, east, and west.
3. Sometimes, she appears as a cow, or a giant sow suckling many piglets (representing the stars). She may have a headdress consisting of a small pot or container.
4. Nut is the daughter of Shu and Tefnut, and Geb's sister.
5. She was married to the sun god Ra, but had an affair with her brother, Geb, becoming pregnant by him. Ra was furious and decreed that she would not give birth on any date in the calendar. Thoth, the god of wisdom, came to her rescue by gambling with the moon in order to win some of its light and create new days that were not in the calendar. He managed five new days, so Nut was able to give birth to five children.
6. Nut's children are Osiris, Set, Isis, Horus and Nephthys.
7. According to Egyptian myth, Nut swallows the sun every evening; it passes through her body overnight and is reborn at dawn.
8. Nut also has a role as protector of the dead. Children would pray to her for protection so that they would not die. People who did die would be taken up into the sky where Nut would give them food and drink.
9. Her sacred symbols are a ladder (used by Osiris to enter her skies), and a sycamore tree.
10. Some of the titles of Nut were: Coverer of the Sky; She Who Protects; Mistress of All; She who Bore the Gods and She Who Holds a Thousand Souls.