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A Greek astronomer in the first century CE looked up at a sky map and saw a serpent coiling through the darkness. He called it Apophis. An Egyptian priest three thousand years earlier had called it Apep. The same creature, two names, one purpose: to swallow the sun.

Apep and Apophis are the same entity — the primordial serpent of chaos in Egyptian cosmology — but the names reflect different linguistic and cultural layers. Apep (also spelled Apophis in Greek) is the older Egyptian name for the great enemy of Ra, while Apophis is the Hellenized version that entered Western occultism through Greek and Roman sources. The distinction matters because it reveals how a pre-dynastic fear of darkness became a planetary archetype, then a modern asteroid, and finally a cipher for the chaos that every practitioner must face.

Where Did the Name Apep Come From?

Where Did the Name Apep Come From

The earliest known references to Apep appear in the Pyramid Texts (circa 2400–2300 BCE), the funerary inscriptions carved into the walls of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids at Saqqara. The serpent is called ꜤꜢpp (pronounced roughly “ah-pep” in reconstructed Egyptian), a name that may derive from a root meaning “to slither” or “to be enormous.”

Egyptian sources never describe Apep as a god in the usual sense. He had no temples, no priesthood, no offerings of gratitude. The Book of the Dead (the New Kingdom compilation, circa 1550 BCE) treats him as an anti-god, a force that existed before creation and would undo it if given the chance. Spell 39 of the Book of the Dead contains instructions for drawing Apep on a papyrus, spitting on it, trampling it, and burning it — a ritual of sympathetic magic meant to weaken the serpent each night.

The name Apep appears consistently in Egyptian texts for nearly two thousand years. It is the name used in the Amduat (the “Book of What Is in the Duat,” found in the tomb of Thutmose III, circa 1450 BCE), where the serpent is shown bound with knives and chains during the sun god’s nightly passage through the underworld.

When Did Apophis Enter the Record?

When Did Apophis Enter the Record

The shift from Apep to Apophis happened when Greek-speaking scholars began translating Egyptian texts after Alexander the Great’s conquest of Egypt in 332 BCE. The Ptolemaic dynasty that followed (305–30 BCE) produced a bilingual culture in which Egyptian priests learned Greek and Greek philosophers studied Egyptian religion at the Serapeum in Alexandria.

The Greek historian Plutarch (circa 46–120 CE) wrote the most influential surviving account in his De Iside et Osiride (On Isis and Osiris). He rendered the serpent’s name as Ἄποφις (Apophis), following the Greek convention of adding the suffix -ις to Egyptian names. Plutarch described Apophis as a giant serpent that opposed the sun god and represented everything chaotic and formless.

The Greek name stuck. When Renaissance scholars rediscovered Egyptian material through Greek intermediaries, particularly through the Corpus Hermeticum (compiled circa 2nd–3rd century CE, translated by Marsilio Ficino in 1471), they encountered Apophis, not Apep. The Hieroglyphica of Horapollo (5th century CE, rediscovered in 1419) reinforced the Greek version. By the time Western occultism developed its Egyptian-inflected systems in the 19th century, Apophis was the standard name.

What the Two Names Actually Mean

The difference is not theological but linguistic. Apep is the Egyptian name used in the original ritual texts. Apophis is the Greek transliteration that became the default in European languages. Think of it as the difference between calling the city “al-Qahira” and “Cairo”, same place, different mouth.

But the names carry different emotional weights in practice. Apep feels older, closer to the temple wall and the smell of incense in a Karnak ritual. Apophis feels scholarly, mediated through Plutarch and the Greek library at Alexandria. A practitioner working with Egyptian material today might use Apep when drawing on primary sources and Apophis when referencing the Western esoteric tradition.

The Serpent in Egyptian Cosmology

Apep existed before creation. The Coffin Texts (circa 2100–1800 BCE) describe a primordial ocean called Nun, out of which the first land arose. Apep dwelled in that chaos, a serpent so vast that his coils encircled the entire world. He was not evil in the Christian sense. He was the condition of non-existence, the state before order had been imposed.

Every night, Ra traveled through the underworld in his solar barque, and every night Apep tried to stop him. The serpent’s goal was not to kill Ra but to prevent the sunrise. If Apep succeeded, the world would return to the formless waters of Nun. The sun would not rise. Time would stop.

The gods fought back. Set, the god of storm and desert, stood at the prow of Ra’s barque with a harpoon. Mehen, the coiled serpent god, wrapped around Ra as living armor. Isis used her magic to weaken Apep with spells. The nightly battle was not guaranteed. The Book of Overthrowing Apep (a late-period ritual text, circa 4th century BCE) contains dozens of spells, each one a contingency plan for a different form the serpent might take.

How the Serpent Survived Into Modern Occultism

The Greek name Apophis entered Western esotericism through two main channels. The first was Hermeticism, which treated Egyptian mythology as allegorical philosophy. The second was the Egyptian Revival of the 19th century, when Napoleon’s expedition (1798–1801) and the decipherment of hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion (1822) made Egyptian sources accessible again.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (founded 1888) incorporated Egyptian deities into its grade system. Apophis appeared in the rituals of the Adeptus Minor grade as a symbol of the obstacle the initiate must overcome. The Golden Dawn’s version of Apophis was not the Egyptian serpent of non-existence but a psychological adversary, the chaos within the self that must be confronted before spiritual advancement.

Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) took this further. In his system of Thelema, Apophis appears in The Vision and the Voice (1909) as a serpent that must be absorbed rather than destroyed. Crowley’s Apophis is not an enemy but a force of transformation. The Egyptian priests would not have recognized this version. They wanted Apep dead, not integrated.

Apep in Contemporary Practice

Modern Kemetic reconstructionists, those reviving Egyptian religion as closely as possible to its original forms, use the name Apep almost exclusively. They draw on the Book of Overthrowing Apep as a ritual manual. The practice involves creating a wax or clay effigy of the serpent, inscribing it with his name in hieroglyphs, and destroying it through burning, breaking, or burying.

The ritual is performed at specific times: during eclipses, at the new moon, or whenever chaos feels particularly close. Some practitioners perform it daily as a form of spiritual hygiene. The logic is simple: Apep never stops trying, so the ritual never stops being needed.

In the broader occult community, Apophis appears in chaos magic as a symbol of the void from which new forms emerge. The British occultist Peter J. Carroll (born 1953) referenced Apophis in Liber Null (1978) as a model for the chaos magician’s relationship with belief, beliefs are tools, not truths, and Apophis represents the dissolution of fixed categories.

The Asteroid Named After the Serpent

In 2004, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory discovered a near-Earth asteroid designated 99942 Apophis. It was named after the Greek version of the serpent because of its potential threat, initial calculations suggested a possible impact in 2029 or 2036. The name was chosen by the discoverers, David Tholen and Roy Tucker, who were familiar with the Egyptian mythology.

The asteroid is approximately 370 meters in diameter. It will pass within 31,000 kilometers of Earth on April 13, 2029, closer than geostationary satellites. The impact risk has been ruled out for the foreseeable future, but the name has stuck. For the first time in history, a literal rock in the sky carries the name of the serpent that tried to swallow the sun.

Some occult practitioners have incorporated the asteroid into their work. The 2029 flyby is being treated as a ritual date by certain groups, who see it as a symbolic convergence of the astronomical and the mythological. The Egyptian priests would have recognized the logic: when the serpent appears in the sky, you perform the rites.

Apep vs. Apophis: Which Name Should You Use?

The choice depends on your tradition. If you are working with primary Egyptian sources, the Pyramid Texts, the Book of the Dead, the Amduat, use Apep. It is the name the priests used when they spit on the wax serpent and burned it in the temple fire.

If you are working within the Western esoteric tradition, Hermeticism, the Golden Dawn, Thelema, chaos magic, Apophis is the name you will find in the grimoires and the rituals. It carries the weight of two thousand years of transmission through Greek, Latin, and English.

Some practitioners use both deliberately. Apep for the raw chaos, the pre-creation void. Apophis for the psychological adversary, the obstacle in the initiate’s path. The distinction is not academic. It affects how you address the serpent, what you ask of it, and what you expect in return.

Common Misconceptions

Apep and Apophis are not two different beings. They are the same entity wearing two linguistic masks. No Egyptian text distinguishes between them. No Greek source treats Apophis as a separate creature.

Apep is not a devil. Egyptian cosmology had no concept of absolute evil. Apep was the condition of non-existence, not a moral agent. The Christian idea of Satan as a fallen angel who chose rebellion does not map onto the serpent who simply was before anything else existed.

The serpent is not a dragon. Western readers often visualize Apep as a European dragon with wings and legs. Egyptian art shows him as a giant snake, sometimes with multiple coils, sometimes with a single head. No wings. No legs. Just the endless body and the mouth that opens to swallow the sun.

Apep was not worshipped. No temple, no priest, no festival. The only attention he received was hostile. The Egyptians did not pray to Apep. They prayed against him.

FAQ

Is Apep the same as the serpent in the Garden of Eden? No. The biblical serpent is a talking animal who tempts Eve. Apep is a cosmic force of non-existence. The resemblance is superficial.

Why did the Greeks change the name? Greek had no equivalent for the Egyptian phoneme Ꜥ (ayin). The Greek transliteration Ἄποφις was an approximation, and the suffix -ις was standard for Egyptian names in Greek.

Can I work with Apep in modern magic? Yes, but carefully. Traditional Egyptian practice treated Apep as an enemy to be destroyed. Some modern practitioners approach him as a force of dissolution or transformation, but this is a departure from the original context.

Will the asteroid Apophis hit Earth in 2029? No. NASA has ruled out any impact risk for the 2029 flyby and for the foreseeable future. The asteroid will pass close enough to be visible to the naked eye, but it will not strike.

Closing

The serpent has two names but one nature. Whether you call him Apep in the temple or Apophis in the library, you are facing the same question: what happens when the sun does not rise? The answer has not changed in four thousand years. You light the fire. You draw the serpent on papyrus. You burn it. And you wait for dawn.

For deeper exploration of Egyptian cosmology, see our mythology guide. The serpent’s place in the underworld journey is covered in our guide to the Duat. For the ritual texts that name him, visit the glossary of Egyptian deities.