Here’s an interesting true story about Earth’s twin planet, Venus and a Venusian moon. For over a century (about 123 years), many leading world astronomers sighted what they believed might be an orbiting moon of Venus. And one believed it might be an enigmatic planet.
Belgian astronomer Jean-Charles Houzea, eventually named the mysterious object Neith after the Egyptian Goddess Neith or Net. She is also associated with Amentet or Amunet and all other Egyptian goddesses.
So, what became of Neith, and why did a Belgian astronomer choose the name of an Egyptian goddess? Strangely enough, the story began when Houzea traveled from Belgium to Texas and then back again.
Belgian Astronomer Studying Venus – in Texas
Houzeau was the former director of the Royal Observatory of Brussels and relocated to Texas just before the Civil War. Sadly, he was fired for publishing his views on social and racial equality in Belgium. (Years later, he was redeemed and took back his position.) But when he left for the United States, he found himself deep in similar divisive politics in the United States.
The war over slavery broke out, and he chose to work for the cause of abolitionism as a revolutionary, journalist, and editor for the New Orleans Tribune, the first black-owned daily newspaper in the United States.
Morally objecting to slavery, he refused to join the Confederate Army.
“The Confederate authorities were conscripting every able-bodied man they could find and had offered to make the Belgian astronomer an officer. He told them he’d rather cut off his right hand,” stated an account in the San Antonio Express in 2004.
After fighting for civil rights for nearly two decades and becoming a Civil War refugee, he returned to Belgium as the King asked him to resume his post as the director of the Royal Observatory. That was in 1876, but Houzeau made one final trip back to Texas for a rare astronomical event involving Venus.
The Transit of Venus Across the Sun
In December 1882, Houzea traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for what was considered “one of the most significant scientific experiments of the nineteenth century.” Astronomers had been preparing for over a century to record the transit of Venus across the Sun. Their observations helped them triangulate the Earth-Sun distance.
In preparation, Houzea developed a device called a Heliometer and was able to get 124 photographic plates of Venus crossing the Sun.
After Returning to Belgium, Neith Gets a Name
It was after the trip to Texas in 1884 that Houzeau proposed the name of Neith for the object astronomers had been observing near Venus up to 30 times since 1645 (More on why he may have chosen that name next).
Giovanni Cassini, who first saw the satellite in 1672, recorded it in his journal 14 years later when he saw it again. He estimated it was one-quarter the size of Venus, similar to our Earth and Moon, and noted it showed the same phase as the planet. Venus, like the Moon, has phases such as full, half, or quarter. But Venus takes 584 days to complete the cycle.
Neith was Determined an Illusion
In 1887, a paper from the Belgian Academy of Sciences determined most sightings of Neith may have been an illusion. Looking at the time of each observation, they determined that various stars were in the vicinity of Venus. Thus, in their view, there was never a real Venusian moon or satellite.
Since then, Houzeau’s ideas about Neith have been abandoned. And, it remains a mystery if Venus ever had a moon. However, all other planets in our Solar System except Mercury have them.
One unlikely but fascinating idea is that Venus may have lost her moon in the ancient past. Perhaps it escaped Venus’s gravity and strayed into Earth’s orbit. Eventually, it became what we today observe in the night sky as our own Moon (see video below).
Not long after returning to Belgium, Houzeau died in 1888. Although he received tributes from all over Europe, the New Orleans press was silent.
Video by Rooftops of America about Neith:
Mysterious ‘Planet’ Named After a Mysterious Goddess
While those before him believed it was a moon, Houzeau proposed the strangely elusive object was a separate planet. Looking at the time of all the observations, he concluded it could not have been a “true satellite” of Venus.
Rather than orbiting Venus, he suggested Neith orbited the Sun every 283 days, crossing near Venus every 2.96 years. But if that was true, it vanished and wasn’t seen again. It’s not 100% certain what happened to it or if it was truly just an optical illusion, the most likely explanation.
As for the name he chose, Neith may have come from “the mysterious goddess of Sais, whose veil no mortal raised.” The name is associated with the Veil of Aset or Isis, described by Plutarch. Thus, he might have chosen the name because it is mysterious and elusive, like the object seen in telescopes.
Neith is the patroness of the city of Sais, once Egypt’s capital in the 26th dynasty. (664–525 BCE). Plutarch described a seated goddess in the Egyptian city of Sais with an inscription:
“I am all that has been and is and shall be; and no mortal has ever lifted my garment.”
In Egypt, Neith, or Net, was associated with weaving, as in weaving the matrix of existence. As with many ancient spiritual beliefs, the true meaning is shrouded in esoteric metaphors. It’s not to be taken literally. She, or more accurately, They, were present at the creation of the world before earthly duality, such as male or female, even existed.
Athena and Aset
Although Houseau chose the name Neith, Plutarch identified the goddess in Sais as Athena or the Egyptian Aset (Isis). The shroud he described was a flowing Greek traditional garment called a peplos. (See images above of Athena wearing the garment.)
Athena is often seen with her companion owl, a symbol of insight and knowledge. Likewise, Aset or Isis represents the intuitional wisdom needed to unlock the secrets of the universe. Rather than an owl, Aset is sometimes depicted as a kite, similar in appearance to the falcon. And Egyptian goddesses are often depicted as vultures with embracing, protective wings. As animals of the air, birds represent messengers from heaven.
Through intuitional wisdom, one can attempt to lift the veil of ignorance and see beyond the illusory nature of earthly duality. And Egyptian goddesses are seen as aspects of one another. Like the gods, they all arose from one Supreme source, which gave rise to Neith or Net. Thus, it’s not true Polytheism, but rather, Henotheism.
Venus, the Only Planet Named for a Goddess
Venus, the only planet in our Solar System named for a goddess, has features mostly named for women, such as regions named for Ishtar, Terra Mater (Gaia), and Aphrodite. The sister planet or twin to Earth, Venus, is opposite of Earth in many ways, spinning backward so that the sun rises in the West and sets in the East.
The planet may be the first celestial object recognized as a planet and not a star. In Egypt, one name for Venus was Astarte; the Sumerians called it Inanna; the Akkadians named it Ishtar, and the Chinese called it Jin Xing. Interestingly, the Egyptians and Greeks saw the planet Venus as two different bodies until 323 BC: the morning star and the evening star, Tioumoutiri and Ouaiti, respectively (Or Phosphoros and Hesperos in Greece).
The planet’s retrograde rotation is vastly slower than Earth’s, and there are no seasons, just ravaging heat over 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 Celsius). But scientists think conditions may have been favorable for life there once and may still exist in the upper atmosphere.
Venus, Aphrodite, Nephthys and Aset
Our twin planet is close to the size of Earth and the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and Moon. The Romans named Venus after the goddess of love and beauty, associated with Aphrodite in Greece. In Egypt, Aphrodite was associated with the earthly goddess Nephthys (Greek Nebethet), whose sister in the higher realms is Aset or Isis. Nephthys crown represents ‘House,’ while Aset’s crown is a ‘Throne.’ Inverted, they complete each other (see image below).
In Greek mythology, it’s unclear who Aphrodite’s twin sister would be. Still, depictions of the Veil of Isis give a hint since they could represent Isis, Artemis, or a combination of both, a depiction of nature herself as a goddess. Artemis was identified with Diana in Roman mythology. Artemis was part of a Triad, the Triple Goddesses, Artemis, Selene (Moon) and Hecate (Diana, Luna, and Trivia in Rome).
Similarly, the goddess Neith was part of a Triad:
“Neith was worshipped throughout Egypt but most ardently at Sais and in Lower Egypt. She was a part of the Triad of Latopolis at Esna along with Khnum (“The Great Potter” who fashioned human beings) and Heka (god of magic and medicine) replacing the goddess Menhet who may have actually been only an aspect of Neith,” writes World History Encyclopedia.
A Presidential Statue of the ‘Goddess of Life’ in Iowa
A fascinating sidenote is that the Belgian government gave President Herbert Hoover a 7-and-a-half-foot bronze statue, “Isis, Goddess of Life,” in 1922. It was a work by Belgian artist Auguste Puttemans and featured the inscription Pluartch described but in French.
The statue was a gift for Hoover’s famine relief efforts during the First World War and sits in Iowa at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. (At least one visitor unfamiliar with Isis as an Egyptian goddess has posted a video on YouTube relating the name to the extremist Islamic terrorist group.)
Note: The Egyptian Aset (Greek Isis) has absolutely no relation to the Islamic terrorist group, an unfortunate coincidence that many people fail to grasp. It’s a case where the veil of ignorance is unlikely to be removed anytime soon. Yet without the intuitional wisdom that Aset represents, enlightenment is all but impossible.
It’s similar to what happened to an ancient symbol of peace and good fortune similarly corrupted by forces of evil, the swastika. Likewise, Aset represents only benevolence, and in the case of one American president, she represents the goodwill he showed to help people affected by famine in the world, regardless of their politics.
“Isis wears a veil, a symbol of the mysteries of life. Her right-hand carries the torch of life; its three flames represent the past, present, and future. Her left hand holds the key of life. An ancient Egyptian goddess and an American President are an unlikely pairing. But it provides a powerful visual link between Hoover’s childhood and his life’s dedication to the welfare of others,” the site states.
Video of the statue of Isis in Iowa:
Featured: Venus and Earth by WikiImages via Pixabay, Pixabay License