Dates:   21 April to 21 May

Appearance: Smooth headed (or wearing a skullcap), dressed in high collar garment with a tassel (shrouded like a mummy), with his arms protruding through to hold a sceptre of dominion (the 'was' which combines at its upper terminal the ankh sign for life and the djed column for stability)

Symbols: Creativity, Materialisation/fertility and Metaphysics/virility
Principle:  Animation
The energy of Ptah is concerned with the state of being full of life or vigour - the state of being alive.  Ptah's powers are concerned with the rising life force in the earth.  Virility; a creator and mover of the innermost being of every living thing.
Function:  Fabrication; as a creator deity, he is able to invent, construct or manufac-ture (especially from already prepared components)
Ptah heralds the return of the growing season bringing together the ele-mental forces that conceive life and augment its form.
Energies            

Myth: Ptah was the creator god of Memphis pre-eminently and one of the oldest deities of Kemet and found on all major sites in Egypt and Nubia.

He is said to have created the world by thought and tongue.  According to the inscription on the Shabaka Stone; In the beginning when Chaos reigned, Ptah appeared on the Primeval Mound and by the effort of his heart* and mind he created Nun and a female counterpart Nunet .  In turn Nun and Nunet brought forth Atum (who became the thought of Ptah) and Te-huti (who became the Tongue of Ptah).  In Memphite theology Ptah is self-created, thinks about the cosmos and speaks it into existence.  Life comes into everything from Ptah's heart* and tongue - gods are born and towns are founded (and order is maintained).

His methods are intellectual rather than physical.  Ptah is also associated with the god Khnumu in carrying out the mandate of Thehuti (the divine intelligence who gave expression in words to the will of the primeval creative power) at the creation.  

* heart/mind: The Egyptian/Kemetics thought that the heart was the seat of  man's being and of his intelligence
Self created and 'Opener' of the day, Ptah is said to have 'opened the mouths of the gods.'  Ptah was one of the most active of the three creator deities, who carried out the commands of Tehuti, who gave expression in words to the will of the primeval creative power.  He is called "exceedingly great god, the beginning of being," "the maker of things which are, the creator of things which shall be, the source of created things, the father of fathers and  the mother of mothers," "closer of the night and opener of the day"

He holds the emblems of life, power and stability.  He is credited with the invention of crafts and is therefore said to be the patron of craftsmen especially sculptors. The Greeks identified Ptah with the divine blacksmith Hephaestus and the Romans associated him with Vulcan.

The sacred Apis bull was associated with the great temple of Ptah at Memphis and. During the New Kingdom the name given to the Temple of Ptah was

'The Mansion of the Soul' (or Hwt-Ka Pth). 

The bull was seen as a symbol of procreation and virility.  Only one bull at a time was regarded as Apis rather than the whole species.

In ancient Kemetic 'religion' the sacred bull deity was worshiped at Memphis and became as-sociated with Ptah and the solar cult, often represented with the sun-disk between his horns.  It was seen as a manifestation of the god who gave oracles.   When an Apis bull died (which averaged about every fourteen years), it was buried with great pomp at Saqqarah.  A search would then be mounted for its replacement.  Priests of Apis would search the land for a bull with the necessary distinctive makings which included a triangular white mark on its forehead.

God of craftsmen, Ptah was thought to have created skills in design and sculpture - "supreme leader of craftsmanship."   One artisan community near Western Thebes, believing that Ptah determined the destiny of the individual artists there; often carved stelaes dedicated to him.  They would sometimes carve ears on these stelaes to encourage Ptah to listen to their prayers:  Which probably linked to one of his titles - "The ear which hears." With his companion/wife Sekmet and the youthful Nefertem he was one of the Mem-phis Triad of deities.  As a mortuary god, ptah was often fused with Seker and Ausar to become Ptah-Seker-Ausar,

Ptah's importance is also reflected in many associated cults; for instance, he had a separate building to himself in the temple precincts of Karnak.  Ptah was recognised as the patron of artists and craftsmen and the Greeks therefore equated him with Hephaistos.  

Personality Traits:    
Dependable  and Focused

Neter                         Ptah
Season                      Harvest
Month                        Khenkhet
Planet                        Mercury
Element                     Earth
Body part                   Throat
Gemstone                  Turquoise
Tree                           Oak
Food                          Damson
Flower                        Violet
Colour(s)                    Blue
Number(s)                  4
Incense/Perfume         Cloves
Metal                         Red gold
12 Tribes of Israel        Rueben
Suitable Occupations        Banking, Accounting, Banking

 
Famous People under this sign      

Duke Ellington (29/04),

Stevie Wonder (13/05),

 Ella Fitzgerald (25/04),

Janet Jackson (16/05).

Western Sun-sign        Approx. Taurus

Yoruba Deity      Olurun