Myths in Time...

The time before the First Time was the Golden Age. All that existed in that time were the Ogdad - the Eight Gods and Goddesses of everything that is and was not.

Long before even the conception of the idea of existence, the gods stood at the points of the compass and the goddess stood between them - the frog-headed gods and the snake-headed goddesses repeated and frozen, fixed into place by the force of the balance they embodied.

Time went on and never moved, and the Age stood still, mirroring the frozen gods.

The Eight possessed memory and minds which thought, and they grew restless and crafty and begin to think on what would bring variety to the never-ending sea of darkness filled with unseeable things.

Perhaps seeing would bring us amusement roared Amun in a voice that was all and nothing at once.
We cannot force sight, as we hold power over that which cannot be seen, whispered Amaunet.
And the Eight were silent.

Kauket challenged her - We control the dark - without darkness there must be sight.
But without darkness, what power would we have, questioned Kek.
And the Eight were silent.

We have all the time there ever was, pondered Heh.
And as long as we remain balanced, we hold all the time that ever will be, rejoined Hauhet.
And the Eight were silent.

The waters contain the all, Naunet added in a voice of oceans and space.
We could part the waters, and perhaps, perhaps then something new would be revealed, responded Nun.
And the Eight were silent.

All around them, there was a maelstrom of sound, as the waters rushed back from them, leaving them frozen, hanging in a sea of nothingness. The waters drained, and the waters dropped, and finally the waters stopped moving, leaving an empty space between and around the Eight, but nothing changed.

There is still timelessness.
And there is still dark.
And there are still the unseeable things.

The darkness wavered, something not light but not dark either danced along the edges of the water, leaping between the open space and the Eight and the Water, but nothing appeared.

There is still timelessness
And there are still the unseeable things.

Heh moved, spinning in a slow pirouette, turning his face away from the circle and whispered - I can see what was.
Hauhet moved, spinning in a slow pirouette, turning her face away from the circle and exclaimed - I can see what will be!

But the unseeable things are still here.

Hauhet sighed, seeing what was to come. There is now time and I see change. Wait.

Naunet groaned as the waters tried to return to their place. Now that movement has begun, there is little time left.

Kauket focused and the notlight/notdark changed, growing stronger. I see - I see - what is it that I see?

With a crack, the waters broke open and flooded back towards the Eight, and Amun screamed - I see them! Amaunet countered - no, no, I see IT!

And as the waters returned to their place, for the first time since the Age had begun, the Eight moved out of the places they had stood since they came aware of being.

And the all shuddered. And the waters rushed. And time moved. And something grew - grew from the waters that rushed in beneath them and all around them, and between them, and into the places they no longer held.

It leapt from the waters, bearing the Eight upon its height - the Mound that is Khmun.

Nun and Naunet moved away from it, retreating to its edges, and to the touch of the waters they controlled.

It is not water, it is the land. We are powerless over it.

The Eight stared at this new thing - the first new thing since they themselves appeared.

The waters lapped around the mound, and something like a soft wind blew. It was silent again, but only for a moment.

The Mound shuddered, throwing the Eight to their feet, and cracked open, and from within it came something never before seen.

What is it? What can it be? they whispered, eyes wide with the experience of seeing.

Kek and Kauket retreated from glow emanating from the mound.

Is it not dark - it is what pushes the dark away. It is light and it reveals new things and we are powerless over it.

As the light bubbled and rolled out of the Mound, something else arose.

A lotus flower, rising with the light, and blooming as it rested on top of the Mound.

It is change - it grows and blooms and must die, and we are powerless over it.

Heh and Hauhet stepped away from the Mound, stretching out time between them.

The wind blew again, and a bird’s call broke through the silence.

In the light of the Mound, above the lotus, something was seen.

It is the unseeable thing, made visible, and we are powerless over it.

Amun and Amaunet stared, unable to control the bird that swooped and dived above them.

The ibis finally landed, its curved beak arching high over the mound, and with another call, it laid an egg upon the lotus.

The ibis, and the Eight waited, and watched, and time flowed on and on, inwards and outwards, as the waters lapped the base of the mound.

The egg shook, and cracked, and a brilliant beam of light shot out from the cracks. The scraps of shell fell into the waters around the mound, and swam away.

The egg opened, and Re stepped from it, fully made and young, with eyes that glowed with light and hair that flowed like water and garb that was visible only to those who could see the unseen, and a voice that echoed through time.

I am Re.
And I have power over the lands and the waters.
He made the waters into a bridge over the Mound, and sat Nun and Naunet upon it.

I am Re.
And I have power over the light and the dark.
He shaped the dark, and made shade for Kek and Kauket upon the Mound, and sat them beneath it.

I am Re.
And I have power over time and eternity.
He curved time, and pulled Heh and Hauhet onto the Mound, fixing time between them into an ever turning wheel.

I am Re.
And I have power over the seen and unseen.
He summoned the ibis to him, and bound it to Amun and Amaunet to ride upon so that they could see the seen and unseen without sight.

I am Re.
And I will create the world.