Taoer

The name Taoer, also transliterated as Ta-op-oer or Tor-ur, derives from Egyptian roots referring to the great hippopotamus. It is associated with the Greek Thoucris and potentially linked to the name Typhon, suggesting a shared ancient concept of overwhelming, chaotic power.

The female T.^•phon, the hippopotamus, called also Tor-ur, Ta-op-oer, etc.; she is the Thoucris of the Greeks. This wife of Typhon was represented as a monstrous hippopotamus, sitting on her hind legs with a knife in one hand and the sacred knot in the other (the pdsa of Siva). Her back was covered with the scales of a crocodile, and she had a crocodile's tail. Slie is also called Teh, whence the name of Typhon is also, sometimes, 'Tehh. On a monument of the sixth dynasty .she is called "the nurse of the gods". She was feared in Egypt even more than Typhon. (See "Typhon".)

The figure of Taoer, as described in Blavatsky's notes, presents a potent symbol for the modern seeker grappling with the shadow aspects of the psyche. She is not merely a mythological monster but a representation of the overwhelming, primal feminine energy that can be both creative and destructive, much like the untamed Nile, the lifeblood of Egypt. Her depiction, a hybrid of hippopotamus, crocodile, and serpent, speaks to the composite nature of primal forces that defy easy categorization. Mircea Eliade, in his studies of shamanism and archaic religions, often highlighted the importance of confronting and integrating these primordial, often terrifying, energies as a crucial step in spiritual development. The "sacred knot" she holds, reminiscent of Siva's iconography, hints at a cosmic power that binds and unbinds existence itself. To understand Taoer is to acknowledge the raw, chaotic potential that underlies all manifestation, a force that, when faced with courage and wisdom, can be transmuted into profound creative power, rather than succumbing to its terrifying aspect. This ancient Egyptian deity reminds us that true mastery involves not the eradication of chaos, but its comprehension and harmonious integration into the ordered cosmos of the self. The profound fear she inspired underscores the human tendency to recoil from the abyss, yet it is within that very abyss that the seeds of transformation often lie dormant.