Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

SET (aka Seth)

Egyptian god also known as Had, Hadit or Seth. A malevolant god of deserts, drought, destruction, thunder and storms.

Set was among the early Egyptian deities, probably originating from Libya, whose followers appeared to have worshipped him under crocodile and hippopotamus fetishes. At first they were centered in Upper Egypt but later spread throughout the country. There seemed to be no rivalry between the cults of Osiris and Isis and his cult, perhaps because the people thought they were all of the same family since Set was the third child of Nut born on the third intercalary day. He married his twin sister Nephthys. Geb was his father, and his siblings were Isis and Osiris. As a deity he generally represented hostility and violence, and therefore was typically associated with Semitic war goddesses including Anat and Astarte.

According to legend he violently tore himself from his mother's womb. Set is depicted in human form as possessing a head of an animal that possibly resembling an aardvark with erected ears and a curving snout. He also is depicted in animal, which bears no resemblance to any living creature, but has a stuffy erected tail. Other animals symbolizing this god include the oryx, pig, boar, crocodile, and the hippopotamus when being a disruptive element in a river.

Set is mostly recognized for the pat he played in the Osirian legend in which he battled eighty-four years with Osiris' son Horus. The assembly of gods judged Horus the victor, but during the battle Set tore Horus left eye out, which became the Eye of Horus. This legend was first recorder in the Pyramid Texts and later popularized and embellished by the Greek writer Plutarch.

In another myth Set is credited for having saved Re who was about to be swallowed up by Apophis, the perennially hostile serpent of the . the Book of the Dead accredits Set as being the "lord of the northern sky" who controls the storm, clouds, and thunder.

Politically Set gain supremacy during the Hyksos occupation of the delta, because these Semitic invaders adopted him as their god, but unlike the pharaohs, they regarded him as the only god and attempted to impose his cult on the rest of Egypt, which retained its independence. The Hyksos, hekaukhaust, "the rulers of foreign lands," found Set similar to their own Baals. When Pharaoh Amosis reunited Egypt after the expulsion of the Hyksos, about 1570 BC, the other Egyptian gods were restored. However, an indirect legacy of Set's elevation perhaps was attempted Amenophis IV to replace all the gods with Aton, the solar disc.

Set has been portrayed with red hair and eyes, with pale of skin, those with red hair have been regarded as bearing his mark, and are said by some to turn into Vampires upon death.

He is said to also appear as Apophis, ("The Destroyer"). Kenneth Grant claims Apophis is Set in his "Ophidian" (serpent) form. A huge Nilotic serpent that attempted to devour Ra, he figures strongly in the Left-Hand Path.

Set is alledged to have spoken through Michael Aquino founder of the Temple of Set. Call me a born sceptic, but I have my doubts.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc