Sekhmet.....Lady of a Thousand Names...The Eye of Ra...Avenger of Women and Protectress of Law and Order....Hail to Thee, O Lioness of Egypt!!

Sekhmet..."The Powerful"

"Egyptian lioness-goddess, Eye of Ra who was Her father. Wife of Ptah as goddess of the Memphite triad, and mother of Nefertum, who was the Patron of surgeons, perfumes, healing and the setting Sun. ( later replaced by Imhotep ). A Goddess of War. She personified the scorching, destructive power of the Sun, and also the defence of the divine order. She was placed in the Uraeus on Ra's brow and spat flames at His enemies.

When mankind rose in rebellion against the ageing Ra, He sent Her to quell them, and She became uncontrolled, wanting to destroy them all. Ra had to trick Her with beer mixed with pomegranite juice, which She mistook for human blood and became too drunken to continue the slaughter. Her characteristics were the opposite of Ahatoor's, yet Hathor ( Ahatoor ) was also called the Eye of Ra, and the same story was told of Her. Sekhmet was sometimes viewed as the dark aspect of Ahatoor.

This slaughter and the subsequent saving of the human race by Her divine Intoxication was commemorated anually on Ahatoor's Feast Day, the 12th of the month Tybi (27 November), by brewing "...as many jugs of the philtre as there were Priestesses of the Sun".

The Priests of Bubastis tried to identify Sekhmet with Her, but popular belief seems to have distinguished between the erotic and fun-loving Bast and the fierce Sekhmet. Sekhmet is usually depicted as a lion-headed woman, a lioness with the full mane of an adult male lion, and She is seen crowned with the solar disc and uraeus, but sometimes with a crocodile or udjat ( Eye of Ra ) head instead of the more familiar lioness. She may hold a knife in Her upraised hand. Festival: January 7th

Note: The above information was obtained from "Goddesses Of The World" by Janet and Stewart Farrar

Images of Sekhmet, Sa Sekhem Sahu!

Sekhmet, Lady of the Place of the
Beginning of Time,
Sekhmet, Whose Essence is Fire,
Tempestuous, Forever,
Great One of Magick, Grant me
success in my endeavor!
Blessed be the name of Sekhmet,
Beloved Her Image!

"In opening yourself to Sekhmet, you open yourself to direct experience of what for thousands of years have been called the awe-ful and numinous powers of the Divine and Magical. You may eventually be led to fulfillments greater than any you have yet imagined. You may be seized by Sekhmet, and then unspeakable horrors as well as indescribable delights are among the possibilities. It is always so when one "falls into the hands of the Living God."

The above statement was taken from the Preface and Words of Caution written by Robert Masters in his book "The Goddess Sekhmet", Llewellyn Publications, C.1988 by Robert Masters

Invocation to Sekhmet

Hail unto Thee Who art Sekhmet in Thy Beauty, even unto Thee Who art Sekhmet in Thy triumph, Who travellest over the Heavens in Thy barque at the Mid day hour of the Sun. Tahuti standest in His splendor at the prow, and RaHoor abideth at the helm. Hail unto Thee from the abodes of Morning.

The Papyrus of Nebseni ( British Museum No.9900, sheet 30 ) Text: The scribe Nebseni, triumphant, saith:

Hail, Thou whose strides are long, who comest forth from Annu, I have not done iniquity.
Hail, Thou who art embraced by Flame, who comest forth from Kher-aha, I have not robbed with violence.
Hail, Neha-hau, who comest forth from Re-stau, I have not slain..neither man nor woman.
Hail, Thou O Flame, who comest forth as Thou goest back, I have not purloined the things which belong unto Gods.
Hail, Thou Crusher of bones, who comest forth from Sutenhenen, I have not uttered falsehood.
Hail, Thou who doest consume blood, who comest forth from the house of slaughter, I have not killed the beasts.....for they are the property of the Gods who give them Life.
Hail, Thou serpent Uamenti, who comest forth from the houses of the dead, I have defiled the wife of no man.
Hail, Tem-Sep, who comest forth from Tattu, I have not uttered curses on the king (pharoah)
Hail, Thou whose head is crowned with the Sun, who comest forth from Thy habitations, I have not increased my wealth, except from such things as are justly mine own posessions.

Priestess speaks

I have based my inner Vision of these Ancient Goddesses from years spent in facination with the Glory of Ancient Egypt. In no way do I intend to indicate that my own visions are the only correct and acceptable ones. A dear friend and Sister and I once discussed our mutual histories of being enthralled with Egypt and its images. We both decided that we had been attracted to Egypt since we could remember. Interestingly enough, both of us had parents who were cigarette smokers...and favored Camels. Years back the package had a small illustration of a pyramid, a camel and palm trees with a city far in the background. It makes far more sense to me that she and I both were imprinted with that image and associated it with a loving parent.....the over used and somewhat dubious practice of ascribing facination with Antiquity as being a result of a Past Life experience seems to be stretching a point rather far. However, for those of you convinced you were Kings and/or Queens in Egypt...so be it.
I think if I had lived back then it is far more likely I would have been a laundress or a very junior and not-at-all-important Priestess somewhere in the Delta. *sigh* Well, ok, maybe a dancer in some Tavern by the Nile...I do seem to spend a lot of time either doing laundry, cleaning my Temple space and ...(she grins in a decidedly wicked fashion) ...if YOU think I am about to discuss my history of dancing in Taverns , you are out of your mind...."Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...Heigh Ho, Silver, Away!!"

Laughing to herself, the Priestess snaps her zills a few times, swirls her filmy skirts, ajusts her veils and saunters off into the mists of cyber, leaving behind her a shimmering scent of citrus, vanilla and jasmine; her hips swaying to a far away echo of an ancient dance played by blind harpers painted on the walls of the Tombs of the Valley of The Kings.......