Nut: The Sky Goddess Who Carried the Sun and Sheltered the Dead

Nut: The Sky Goddess Who Carried the Sun and Sheltered the Dead

I have been learning about the many ancient Egyptian gods, and I want to share with you Nut.

Nut was the daughter of Shu and Tefnut, and the sister and wife of Geb.

She was believed to be the sky itself. She was often imagined as a woman who was arched over the earth, her body stretched from horizon to horizon and covered in stars. Beneath her lay Geb, who we talked about yesterday. The god Shu, separated her from the Geb, who was the earth. Nut is always there, but always just out of reach.

As Egyptian belief evolved and developed, Nut became connected to the cycle of the sun. Each day, the sun travelled across her body, and at night, she swallowed it, carrying it through the darkness before giving birth to it again at dawn. It was something almost maternal.

Like many other gods she became linked to the afterlife, she offered protection to the dead. Tomb ceilings were often painted with images of her, her body stretched above, just like in the story, watching over those who had passed. It feel as if the dead are sheltered and they are not left alone. I would have thought it would have given some comfort, knowing that a loved one is being protected, and that when your time came you would not be alone or possibly scared.

Do you think people found more comfort in imagining the sky as something protective, rather than something distant and unknown?

Mary Louise Hawkins: The WWII Flight Nurse Who Refused to Let Anyone Die

Mary Louise Hawkins: The WWII Flight Nurse Who Refused to Let Anyone Die

I have been learning about some of the remarkable people who served during the World Wars, and over the past couple of days have been finding out about some of the incredible nurses. So I want to tell you about Mary Louise Hawkins.

She was an American flight nurse who waa born on the 24th of May 1921 in Denver, Colorado. During World War II, she served with the U.S. Army Air Forces as part of the air evacuation service. She cared for wounded soldiers being flown out of combat zones.

On the 24th of September 1944, while she was evacuating patients from the fighting in Palau to Guadalcanal, her aircraft was forced to crash-land on Bellona Island after it ran low on fuel. In the chaos, one patient suffered a devastating throat injury. With no proper equipment, Hawkins improvised a suction device and worked for 19 hours to keep him alive until help arrived. Every patient survived.

For her incredible and amazing actions, she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, she continued nursing.

Mary Louise Hawkins died on the 9th of July 2007, at the age of 86.

The Violinist Who Played Through the Titanic’s Final Moments

The Violinist Who Played Through the Titanic’s Final Moments

I have been learning about some of the people who were on board the Titanic and we have been trying to find out s little about the musicians. So I wanted to share the story of Georges Krins.

He was born on the 18th of March 1889 in Paris, but his family soon returned to Belgium, where he grew up in Spa. He studied at the local music academy before continuing at the conservatory in Liège, where he earned top honours in violin.

He briefly considered a military career, but his parents guided him toward music. He followed that path, performing in orchestras before moving to Paris, and later to London, where he played at the Ritz Hotel. By 1912, he had become a bandmaster of a small orchestra.

In April 1912, he joined the Titanic’s orchestra, boarding at Southampton. Just days later, everything changed. As the ship sank on the 15th of April, he and the other musicians continued to play, trying to bring calm to those around them.

He was only 23 years old when he died and his body was sadly never recovered.

Do you think the music they played helped people face those final moments?

Geb: The Earth Beneath Everything We Know and Depend On

Geb: The Earth Beneath Everything We Know and Depend On

I have been learning a little about the many ancient Egyptian gods, and this time I am finding out a little about Geb.

Geb was seen as the god of the earth itself. He was often depicted lying beneath the sky goddess Nut, his body forming the ground beneath all living things.

 Everything people knew, their homes, their fields, their lives, rested upon him.

Geb was also part of a divine family that shaped many of the central Egyptian myths. He was the son of Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture, and the brother and husband of Nut.

They were separated by Shu, when she pushed them apart by lifting Nut away from Geb to create space between earth and sky.

As Egyptian belief developed, Geb became closely associated with fertility and growth. Crops grew from the earth, life emerged from it, and it returned to it after death.

He was also linked to the afterlife, as the earth received the dead. He was not only the source of life, but also the place of return. It is the idea that everything begins and ends in the same place.

Do you think people felt a deeper connection to gods like Geb because they could physically see and depend on what he represented?

Image info:

The Egyptian God Shu separating Nut from Geb

Anna Mae Hays: The Nurse Who Became America’s First Female General

Anna Mae Hays: The Nurse Who Became America’s First Female General

I have been learning about some of the remarkable people who served during the world wars, and this time I wanted to share the story of Anna Mae Hays.

She was born Anna Mae Violet McCabe on the 16th of February 1920 in Buffalo, New York, in the United States. Her parents were officers in the Salvation Army, and her when she was young, she had frequent moves before the family settled in Pennsylvania. She loved music and dreamed of studying at Juilliard, but finances forced her in to another direction. In 1939, she began training as a nurse and qualified in 1941.

In May 1942, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, becoming part of the American effort in the Second World War. By early 1943, she was sent to India, where she worked in a field hospital near the Ledo Road. The conditions were harsh, there were bamboo buildings, disease, and the constant danger, but she carried on.

After the war, she remained in the Army and continued her nursing career. When the Korean War began, she was deployed again, this time to Inchon in 1950. The cold, the lack of supplies, and the sheer number of wounded made the conditions even more difficult than before. Alongside a small team of nurses, she helped treat tens of thousands of patients.

Her career continued to grow through the 1950s and 1960s. She served in senior hospital roles, cared for President Dwight D. Eisenhower during illness, and became Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. During the Vietnam War, she visited nurses in the field, working to improve training and support for those serving overseas.

In 1970, under President Richard Nixon, she became the first woman in U.S. Armed Forces history to be promoted to brigadier general.

She received numerous honours, including the Army Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Army Commendation Medal. After nearly three decades of service, she retired in 1971.

Anna Mae Hays died on the 7th of January 2018 at the age of 97.

 

Do you think moments like her promotion changed perceptions more than policies ever could?

The Final Notes of Jock Hume: Duty, Loss, and Quiet Courage

The Final Notes of Jock Hume: Duty, Loss, and Quiet Courage

I have been learning about some of the people who were on board the Titanic. Recently I have been finding out a little about the musicians, and this time I wanted to share the story of Jock Hume.

He was born on the 9th of August 1890 in Dumfries, Scotland. By his early twenties he had already built a good reputation, performing on several ships. In the winter of 1910–1911, he spent time in Jamaica playing in a hotel orchestra. During these months, he started a relationship with Ethel McDonald and then became a father.

By April 1912, he was engaged to Mary Costin, who was expecting his second child. He got the opportunity to join the Titanic’s orchestra. He boarded at Southampton on the 10th of April.

Just days later, everything changed for him and everyone else on board. As the ship sank on the 15th of April, he and the other musicians continued to play. He must have had fear and anxiety but a determination to bring comfort to others.

He was only 21 years old when he died, leaving behind two children who would never know him.

After the disaster, his uniform became part of a painful and sad controversy, when the agency that employed the musicians sent his father a bill with a request for payment.

Do you think his decision to keep playing was driven by duty, or by a need to give comfort to others?

Image info:

Titanic’s musicians published by the Amalgated Musicians Union after the sinking.

Nephthys: The Guardian Who Stood Beside Grief and the Dead

Nephthys: The Guardian Who Stood Beside Grief and the Dead

I have been finding out a little about the many ancient Egyptian gods, and this time I want to talk about Nephthys.

In the earliest beliefs, Nephthys was part of a powerful divine family. She was the sister of Isis and Osiris, and the wife of Set. While others in her family are remembered for their dramatic roles, Nephthys seems quieter.

As the story of Osiris developed, Nephthys became closely linked to death and mourning. When Osiris was killed, she stood beside Isis grieving, wanting to help to restore him. She is not always at the centre, but she is there.

Over time, Nephthys became associated with the protection of the dead. She was often depicted in tombs and in funeral rites, watching over the dead. She was not a judge or a ruler, she was a guardian. She ensured that the dead were not alone. That must have been hugely, especially for those left behind.

She was also linked to night and to darkness, but not in a threatening way. More like the quiet that comes after everything else has calmed down. A time of reflection, of grief, and perhaps even of healing.

Nephthys, doesn’t seem like a goddess of mourning. I see her as comforting, standing beside someone in their darkest moments.

Do you think people found comfort in gods like Nephthys, who did not take away grief, but shared in it?

Image info:

 Nephthys on the sarcophagus of Ramses III