Like most creation stories I've read, this reading begins by going explaining how every being comes into existence. I also note the similarities between various religious stories. The story "The Secret Name of Ra" speaks of a great flood. The Egyptian mythology, as well as the Bible both, were created in the roughly the same region. This makes me wonder if both accounts were inspired by the same event, just with different explanations.A storytelling technique I noticed in "The Secret Name of Ra" is that the focus of the story is never revealed. Isis persues Ra's secret name, and she does find out what it is. However, it is never stated. This exact scenario actually reminds me of the show Doctor Who. Only the Doctor knows his true name, and like Ra's, his name is thought to hold great power in and of itself.
Overall, these stories follow the same formula as most other religions. I do, however, like to look at the contrast between polytheistic religions, such as this one, and monotheistic religions. It seems monotheistic religions focus heavily on the inhabitants of the creation, most likely because there aren't other deities from which stories may arise.
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Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend, by Donald Mackenzie
Image: Sun God Ra, via Wikimedia Commons
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