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In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare.
The story of sekhmet was that Ra looked down upon the land and was angry due to the wickedness of man. He sent Sekhmet down to punish man. Upon arriving Sekhmet was so angered and enraged
that she began killing and would not stop. Ra seeing the rage of his daughter worried for the extinction of all of mankind. Sekhmet was known to drink the blood of her enemies, and being the nile ran red with thier blood Ra had an idea. In a nearby lake he filled it with beer and pomegranate juice to tint the lake red. Sekhmet seeing this drank and drank until she passed out. Upon awakening Sekhmet realized she could not kill all of mankind and thus man was saved.
Rituals and festivals are often held drinking beer and pomegrante juice to symbolize Sekhmet drinking the nile (pond) that was red with "blood" as the Nile turned red from silt deposits in certain times of the year.
Sekhmet also is a solar deity, often considered an aspect of the Goddesses Hathor and Bast. She bears the solar disk, and the Uraeus which associates her with Wadjet and royalty. With these associations she can be construed as being a divine arbiter of Ma'at (Justice, or Order), The Eye of Horus and connecting her with Tefnut as well.
Sekhmet and Bast (Bastet)
As Lower Egypt had been conquered by Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was seen as the more powerful of the two warrior goddesses, the other, Bast, being the similar warrior goddess of Lower Egypt. Consequently, it was Sekhmet who was seen as the Avenger of Wrongs, and the Scarlet Lady a reference to blood, as the one with bloodlust. She also was seen as a special goddess for women, ruling over menstruation. Unable to be eliminated completely however, Bast became a lesser deity and even was marginalized as Bastet by the priests of Amun who added a second female ending to her name that may have implied a diminutive status, becoming seen as a domestic cat at times.
Her name suits her function and means, the (one who is) powerful. She also was given titles such as the (One) Before Whom Evil Trembles, the Mistress of Dread, and the Lady of Slaughter, and Lady of Flame.
In order to placate Sekhmet's wrath, her priestesses performed a ritual before a different statue of the goddess on each day of the year. This practice resulted in many images of the goddess being preserved. It is estimated that more than seven hundred statues of Sekhmet once stood in one funerary temple alone, that of Amenhotep III, on the west bank of the Nile. It was said that her statues were protected from theft or vandalism by coating them with anthrax.
Sekhmet also was seen as a bringer of disease as well as the provider of cures to such ills. The name "Sekhmet" literally became synonymous with physicians and surgeons during the Middle Kingdom. In antiquity, many members of Sekhmet's priesthood often were considered to be on the same level as physicians.
She was envisioned as a fierce lioness, and in art, was depicted as such, or as a woman with the head of a lioness, who was dressed in red, the colour of blood. Sometimes the dress she wears exhibits a rosetta pattern over each nipple, an ancient leonine motif, which can be traced to observation of the shoulder-knot hairs on lions. Tame lions were kept in temples dedicated to Sekhmet at Leontopolis.
To pacify Sekhmet, festivals were celebrated at the end of battle, so that the destruction would come to an end. During an annual festival held at the beginning of the year, a festival of intoxication, the Egyptians danced and played music to soothe the wildness of the goddess and drank great quantities of beer ritually to imitate the extreme drunkenness that stopped the wrath of the goddess—when she almost destroyed humankind. This may relate to averting excessive flooding during the inundation at the beginning of each year as well, when the Nile ran blood-red with the silt from upstream and Sekhmet had to swallow the overflow to save humankind.
Born by the mother, in her loving arms of care
placed on my way, in a path no longer cold and bare.
Green by birth, pagan by destiny laid by Hecate
Loved by the Goddess adn God and all the deities.
Ostrasized by those who fear or do not understand
the meaning of the great and natural plan.
The wolf is my father, the lioness my mother,
the eagle, dolphin, and unicorn are my brothers.
In a vast, wondrous sea of magick we dare to dream
and call to the ancient ones, from our souls they beam.
Healer born and healer bred from a dead and lifeless soul,
to take pain and fill those hearts that are no longer whole.
Full of pain, yet happy as one could ever hope to be
Inner wounds and scars, hidden tears they'll never see
Hold me close and comfort me with your great love
protect me from attacks unseen, or hidden from above.
Forever we will be entertwined for that is the key
Love to the Goddess and God, so mote it be!
Blessed Be!
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