Out of the waters of chaos a mound emerged and from this mound a blue lotus flower bloomed. This Blue Lotus Flower was to grow into a God. This god was known as Atum, then Ra, then Horus. He is know as the creator god. But what about those waters and the mound of creation? They have a name, too. They have come to be personified as goddess figures.
Even though the Blue Lotus Flower is named as a male creation god, in Egyptian lore, it also associated with the feminine aspects. The Nothingness was named Nu, and she represented the creative potential within chaos. Chaos being a state of potential, a state of not. Even though she represents nothing, and nothing cannot be someone, she is still named as a source of creation…and from this source came a mound of clay.
Pregnant with a Blue Lotus Flower
The ancient Egyptians often symbolized this mound of creation as a Hippopotamus. The Blue Hippopotamus represents the mound from which the blue lotus sprang and she has lotus painted on her back. She is a symbol of birth out of chaos, both at the beginning and the end of life. Symbolized as Nawaret as the birth, and Ammet at the death, this Hippo mother is bound tightly with the Blue Lotus Flower.
As Taweret she is the creation mother, protector of mothers and children. She is the goddess from which life was born. Effigies were kept of here by pregnant mothers and midwives. She is revered by those in the process of birth and being born.
 Defender of the Blue Lotus Barque
As Ammet she is the devourer of the dead. This sounds scary, but she is actually a devourer of the bad spirits. Because of this she is seen as a protector, effigies of this goddess have been kept for good luck and protection from the dark forces. She also serves as a reminder of the resurrection. We should try to keep a light heart so we will not die in death, but live again in happiness. She emerges from the waters in the belly of Maat to eat any bad spirits who escape from the Lake of Fire. She protects the traverse of the Sun Barque in this manner, and she protects you.
Creating and destroying with the Blue Lotus Mother
Hippos lived in the Nile River, the source of life, so they were associated with life. Coming from the water, they are associated with the unknown, the potential. They submerge in the river for a while, re-surface to breathe, then sink again; this behavior of disappearing and reappearing was associated with regeneration and rebirth. The primeval water, the primeval mound, and the lotus flower were thus all connected with creation, life, death, and resurrection.
Another interesting behavior of hippos is that they roar in the morning at sunrise and in the evening at sunset. This behavior could have been interpreted as a greeting and farewell to the sun, a mother celebrating her offspring. It could have been interpreted as a defense cry for the child she created, in contrast. The sun’s travel was seen as an eternal cycle of rebirth that the deceased hoped to join. Blue hippopotamus painted with Blue Lotus Flowers were thus associated with life, regeneration, and rebirth. Effigies and depictions of a hippo could magically transfer these qualities to their owners.
Defying the Second Death of the Blue Lotus Mother
Sometimes broken hippos were found in the sarcophagi. Because a hippo hunt signified the triumph over chaos, the legs of the hippo were intentionally broken and placed in tombs to prevent this deity from devouring the spirit. Presumably, these souls weren’t too confident in their ability to pass through the trial of Maat and may have been afraid to be eaten by Ammet.
Blue Lotus Growing from Within Me
Whether seen as the mound from which creation sprung, or the defender against bad souls, her association with the blue lotus flower can remind us of other aspects of this sacred plant: powerful forces of creation and destruction. These themes are parallel with the masculine symbolisms. Except as the male aspect they are manifested, and as the female aspect they are a force that the male may come from. She is the means of manifestation.
As we participate in the entheogenic experience of Blue Lotus Flower, we may invoke this female aspect of Chaos, Potential, and Protection. Out of our dream state we will find something from which to grow. The entheogenic experience of the Blue Lotus Mother allows us to feel that we can become something when all seems obscure. Invoking the pregnant hippo mother, we may rise like the Blue Louts Flower, growing to fulfill our potential.
Knowing We are the Blue Lotus
And in the trial of our soul, we are defended by this sacred mother. She rises out of the unseen, the obscure parts of our minds to battle against that which would prevent the passage of the Sun Barque across the belly of the night to the Field of Reeds. Defended and protected, we can live again a happy life. Rise from the back of the Blue Lotus Mother and hear her roar.
[su_row][su_column size=”1/2″ center=”no” class=””]