© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

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Shu

In Egyptian mythology, Shu (meaning dryness and he who rises up) is one of the primordial gods, a personification of air, one of the Ennead of Heliopolis. He was created by Atum from his breath, resulting from an act of masturbation or autofellatio in the city of Heliopolis. With his sister, Tefnut (moisture), he was the father of Nuit and Seb. His daughter, Nuit, was the sky goddess whom he held over the Earth (Seb), separating the two.

As the air, Shu was considered to be cooling, and thus calming, influence, and pacifier. Due to the association with air, calm, and thus Maýt (truth, justice and order), Shu was portrayed in art as wearing an ostrich feather

In a much later myth, representing the terrible weather disaster at the end of the Old Kingdom, it was said that Tefnut and Shu once argued, and Tefnut (moisture) left Egypt for Nubia (which was always more temperate). It was said that Shu quickly decided that he missed her, but she changed into a cat that destroyed any man or god that approached. Thoth, disguised, eventually succeeded in convincing her to return.

Due to the shared headdress, and Shu's position as the one who holds up the sky, Shu was later identified as Anhur, whose name could mean Sky Bearer, becoming Anhur-Shu. Since Anhur was the more popular and significant deity, and, indeed, Shu was more a concept than a god, Shu was eventually absorbed completely into Anhur.

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