The Story of Sekhmet
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Unitarian Universalist Church of Ft Lauderdale,
3970 NW 21st Avenue, Oakland Park, Florida 33309
Tonight we celebrate the halfway point between the Summer Solstice and the
Autumn Equinox. I call it ‘Mid Summer’ because it is the Mid Point between
the them. The start of summer is the Summer Solstice and the start of
Autumn is the Autumn Equinox and this is the Mid Point between the two,
hence ‘Mid Summer‘.
In the northern hemisphere the ‘first harvest‘ is celebrated at this Mid
Point. It is common ritual to bake special ceremonial breads to honor the
Goddesses and Gods.
The grinding of the grain to make the bread represents the harvest and death
(or transition), adding sprouted wheat and yeast represents resurrection,
and the consumption of the bread represents the cycles of nature and new
life.
In Ancient Egypt, the harvesting was over. This was the time for the
flooding of the Nile, the inundation, which fertilized the land. A great
transition in their lives.
The heliacal rise of Sirius just before dawn, which is now August 1st ,
was an extremely important event for the Ancient Egyptians. It coincided
with the flooding of the Nile, the inundation.
It was also the start of the Ancient Egyptian solar calendar. Which
consisted of twelve, 30 day, months plus a five day celebration to honor the
birth of the Goddesses and Gods. An additional day would be added as
needed.
June 27th to July 26th is the twelfth solar month; lthe ast month of crop
harvest.
July 27th to July 31st is 'Heriu-renpet', a five day celebration of the
birth of Goddesses and Gods (Wesir, Heru-Wer, Set, Aset and Nebthet).
August 1st is New Year and the Wep Renpet celebration.
August 1st to August 30th is the first solar month when the Nile started
flooding.
So at this time for the Ancient Egyptian the harvest was over, and in
anticipation of the inundation of the Nile, the celebrations had began.
Yea!!! Yea!!
The Ancient Egyptians had both a solar and lunar calendar. The first new
moon after the solar New Year was the beginning of the lunar year.
This year there was a lunar month starting July 25, 2006 the day before the
end of the solar year and 6 days before the solar New Year……. so…… this year
there is an Intercalary thirteenth lunar month from July 25th to August 22nd
The Ancient Egyptian first lunar month Tekhy is from August 23rd to
September 21st and is sacred to Thoth the ibis-headed moon God of truth,
writing, and figuring things.
So there is cause for a lot of celebration. And that we shall do.
Yea!!!!! Yea!!!!!!
Now for some more on the Goddess Sekhmet.
Her Name is derived from the Egyptian word 'Sekhem', which means "power" or
"might". The word 'sekhem' is literally inseparable from Sekhmet.
Her name has also been spelled as Sakhmet and Sekhet.
Sekhmet is shown as a woman with the face of a Lioness surmounted by the
solar disk encircled by an uraeus. She is called the Lady of the place of
the beginning of time. One who was before the Gods were. She holds an Ankh
in one hand and a Lotus Wand in the other; She wears a red dress.
Sekhmet is the Eye of Ra, the Sun Goddess of protection, medicine, child
birth, destruction, death, and rebirth.
She is a protector for those who call on Her for help. She removes threats
and punishes those who do wrong against Ma'at.
Sekhmet is also associated with war and divine vengeance. When She destroys
it is an appropriate destruction or vengeance. It is never chaotic or
random. It is always what is needed at the time. As a destroying element
she plays the part of a power which protects the good and annihilates the
wicked.
On many of the pyramid and temple walls, Sekhmet and Hathor are referenced
as being one and the same Goddess. Isis is the Greek name for the Egyptian
Goddess Hathor. Sekhmet is also referenced with the Goddess Bast who is
sometimes portrayed as a black cat. Bast wears a green dress. Sekhmet
wears a red dress. The three Goddesses Sekhmet, Hathor, and Bast are
sometimes considered as different aspects of the same Goddess and all three
Goddesses have been portrayed with the face of a lioness.
The first lunar month of Tekhy is Holy to Sekhmet/Hathor when the Festival
of the Feast of Lights of Hathor was celebrated.
There is evidence that indicates that this Festival is the true "Festival of
Intoxication." Strong evidence points to the myth recounting the
destruction of mankind by Sekhmet as the basis for this festival. According
to this story, in order to end the bloody rampage, Re tricked Sekhmet into
drinking beer laced with mandrake and red ocher. He flooded Egypt with this
drugged beer. Sekhmet, thinking it was blood, consumed so much of it that
she became drunk and passed out, and she lost interest in destroying
humanity. The yearly Inundation by the Nile, with its rich, red silt, is the
earthly re-enactment of this flood of beer. This feast of intoxication is
the ancient Egyptian's "October fest."
In this ritual we will be using Barley Bread and Red Beer for Cakes and Ale.
Non Alcoholic: The Red Beer consists of a Red Soda and Root Beer.
This Mid Summer ritual will honor three very powerful Ancient Egyptian
deities. Sekhmet, her consort Ptah, and their son Nefertem. They will be
invited to join us for our ritual. We honor them because this is near the
time for Sekhmet’s celebration.
Ptah, the consort of Sekhmet, is shown as a man with a punt beard, wrapped
up like a mummy, but with his hands free which grip a great staff made up of
the symbols for life, stability, and power. Sometimes he wears a skullcap
crown and stands on the hieroglyph for Ma’at. The second lunar month Paopi
is scared to Ptah. "Egypt" is a Greek corruption of the phrase
"Het-Ka-Ptah," which means: "House of the Spirit of Ptah.".
Nefertem, the son of Sekhmet and Ptah, is shown being born in a Lotus
Blossom. Sometimes he is shown as a man with the face of a Lion and as a
warrior. He is also closely associated with healers and healing.
The main temples of the Divine Triad, Sekhmet - Ptah - and Nefertem, were in
the city of Memphis. The creation story of Memphis has Sekhmet creating
everything that Ptah thinks and then speaks. All other Goddesses and Gods
as well as the world and everything in it are created by Ptah and Sekhmet.
There were also temples for Sekhmet in Luxor and Abydos.
In this ritual the Goddesses invited from the four directions will be:
Goddess Uatchet -from the North and the element earth.
Goddess Bast -from the East and the element fire.
Goddess Nekhebet - from the South and the element air.
Goddess Sekhet - from the West and the element water.
In late dynastic times Sekhet and Bast were regarded as the Goddesses of
the West and the East. Nekhe-bet and Uatchet were the Goddesses of the
South and the North.
Each Goddess has been portrayed or shown as a woman with the face of a
lioness.
So now on with the Ritual in Celebration of Sekhmet and the Mid Summer
transformation.
The mantra Sa Sekhem Sahu can be chanted to balance and increase your inner
power.
Sa Sekhem Sahu is pronounced Sa (Sah) Sekhem (Say-Kem) Sahu (Sah-Hoo);
Sa means the breath of life; Sekhem means power or might; Sahu is the
realized human.
There is a story that has the God Ra sending forth Sekhmet to punish mankind
for disrespecting Him and repeatedly breaking the laws of the Goddess Ma'at.
Sekhmet is sent because there is no other Goddess or God that can right
the wrong of mankind against Ra and Ma‘at.. Sekhmet's punishment of mankind
becomes lethal and she goes on a feeding frenzy of blood. She is devouring
mankind. The other Goddesses and Gods were unable to stop her so the God
Thoth created a mixture with pomegranate juice, beer, and perhaps some
psychedelic substance that looked like human blood. When Sekhmet goes to
sleep they pour the mixture on the ground all around her. When she wakes
up, thinking that this is blood, she drinks the mixture and falls into a
stupor and passes out. When she awakes she is transformed back into the
peaceful Hathor. Some stories have her transform into the Goddess Bast.
Another tale has Sekhmet becoming angry with the God Ra and discouraged with
the people of Egypt, she goes south to Nubia taking all her abundance with
her. Leaving only the hot scorching sun. Nothing can grow and the heat
starts to devour everything. The God Ra sends the God Thoth to convince
Sekhmet to come back home and when she does things turn back to normal, the
inundation begins and there are again abundant harvests.
Here in the United States there is a Temple in Cactus Springs, Nevada
devoted to the Goddess Sekhmet. It was constructed by Genevieve Vaughn to
fulfill a twenty-seven year-old promise made to the Goddess Sekhmet when she
touched Her statue in a Temple in Egypt. She promised that if she got
pregnant she would build a temple for Her. And so she did.