“…I am the Passion of Lightning and the Command of Thunder,
What exists, IS, because I have Willed it To Be.
I am the Queen of Heaven in a Mansion of Fire,
I am First among those in the Great Sky-Boat of Eternity…”
"Sekhmet is usually written as the Skhm Sceptre combined with a human placenta (the monoliteral character 'kh', the Germanic hard h as in the Scottish word 'loch', a symbol of birth), a loaf of bread (the monoliteral character 't', representative of agriculture and the priestess-women, or witches, who invented agriculture, as well a determinative indicating feminine or womanhood or Goddess-hood), and a determinative of the Goddess Sekhmet (a picture of a lioness-headed woman seated upright with Her knees near Her
chest, with the uraeus cobra encircling the circle of the sun resting on Her head).
Her name literally means "Strong Female", usually translated as "Lady of Strength" or "Lady of Power".
There is also an older form written as a down-pointing arrow and a loaf of bread. This early name can be confirmed by both artwork and literature in museums around the world."
Since it is clear from the archaeological record that Sekhmet is very old-- She certainly predates her 'husband' Ptah-- I think we are looking at a very archaic Goddess of the Hunt in Her. Also, since there are several other female deities in ancient Egypt who have arrows (or bows and arrows) as symbols-- Neith being one-- I think it is pretty clear that in ancient times, hunting was not specifically a male activity. It is certainly easy to see how archaic female hunters could have identified with the Lioness who hunts for her pride, the young cubs and the pride-male not taking part in the chase and downing of prey. The first archaeologists (exclusively men), looking through their male-privilege world-view, always assumed that any time hunting was done in the past, it was always done by men. This idea is completely chauvinistic, and doesn't take into account what is plainly seen in the archaeological and mythological record.
A fact that springs to the fore when one looks at world mythology, is that the bow is everywhere associated with a Goddess-- from the Sami in Finland to Siberia to ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, it is a Goddess who is the Lady of the Hunt and the Owner of the Bow. I would therefore posit that it was women-- women who figured out how braid and spin fibers into cording-- who developed the bow as a female hunting device, along with snares and slings, which also use cording, and which also have a tradition of female use, David's sling notwithstanding.
The modern 'idea' that 'men are the hunters' because they supposedly have better spatial-relationship viewing skills is utterly fatuous. Women, like men, have two eyes, and thus have the necessary binocular vision to accurately gauge distance and bring down prey. This is borne out among Native American tribes, where women do sometimes actively hunt. Today there are also women around the world who use both bows and rifles to hunt with, and they are just as successful in their hunting pursuits as men are.
Also fatuous is the modern mythology that women are always gentle nurturers. Just take a look at Kali, Aphrodite (who was originally a Sex-and-Death Goddess), Durga, Neith/Nit... and Sekhmet.
The bottom line is that human emotion-- love, anger, aggression, grief-- has no gender. When a woman hunts, it is a completely feminine activity, just as when a man grieves, it is a completely masculine one.
I praise Sekhmet, my Mother, who has released my Awareness from the sexualized delusion that accompanies modern thinking about emotion and human nature, and I hold Her Arrow and wear Her Claws with pride of female birthright.
Sat, Sekhmet, Sahut,
Sekhmet Neseret Djet!
[T'Zairis Shirzah, the Naked Lioness,
Shamaness-Standing-Before-Sekhmet]
I have long had the very strong feeling that the Gnostic text, 'The Thunder, Perfect Mind', is actually a survival of an older Egyptian prayer, specifically a hymn in honor of Sekhmet. I therefore claim it for Her, with a few adjustments, and add Her Name to what was probably Hers to begin with...
The Thunder, SEKHMET'S Mind
I was sent forth from SEKHEM,
and I have come to those who reflect upon Me,
and I have been found among those who seek after Me.
Look upon Me, you who reflect upon Me,
and you hearers, hear Me.
You who are waiting for Me, take Me to yourselves.
And do not banish Me from your sight.
And do not make your voice to hate Me, nor your hearing.
Do not be ignorant of Me anywhere or at any time.
Be on your guard!
Do not be ignorant of Me!
For I am SEKHMET, the First and the Last.
I am SEKHMET, the Honored One and the Scorned One.
I am SEKHMET, the Hetaira and the Holy One.
I am SEKHMET, the Wife and the Virgin.
I am SEKHMET The Mother and also the Daughter.
I am SEKHMET, the limbs of my mother.
I am SEKHMET, the Barren One, and infinite are the number of my children.
I am SEKHMET, She whose wedding-feast is great,
and yet I have not taken a husband.
I am SEKHMET the Midwife as well as She Who does not bear.
I am SEKHMET, the solace of My Own labor pains.
I am SEKHMET, both the bride and the bridegroom;
My husband begets Me,
I am the Mother of my father
and the Sister of my husband,
and both are My offspring.
I am the slave of him who conceived Me,
And I am his ruler, for he is My offspring.
The boy who begot Me before time birthed itself
Is My Own offspring in the fullness of time,
and My Power is radiant in him.
I am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of My old age.
And whatever he wills in the world, also happens unto Me.
I am SEKHMET, the Silence that is incomprehensible
and the Idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am SEKHMET, the Voice whose sound is manifold
and the Word whose appearance is multiple.
I am SEKHMET, alive in the utterance of My Name.
Those who profess to love Me,
and yet hate those who also love Me,
are the ones who hate Me.
You who deny Me, witness Me,
and you who profess Me, deny Me.
You who tell the truth about Me, lie about Me,
and you who have lied about Me, tell the truth about Me.
You who would know Me, be ignorant of Me,
and you who have never known Me are yet aware of Me.
For I, SEKHMET, am knowledge and ignorance.
I, SEKHMET, am shame and boldness.
I am the Wanton One, and I am also humiliated.
I am strength and I am fear.
I am war and I am peace.
Give heed to Me,
For I am the One Who is disgraced
And I am the Great One Who is beyond all creation and all judgment.
Ease My poverty and spread My wealth;
Do not be arrogant to those cast out upon the earth,
for I am in them, and in the dust of their desolation.
Seek me diligently in those that are to come.
For if you do not forget Me when I squat upon the dung-heap
nor avert you face and leave Me cast out,
you will find in Me riches beyond that of kingdoms.
And if you choose not to see Me when I am cast out
among those who are disgraced and in the meanest places,
Or, seeing Me there, laugh at Me,
Or if you cast Me out over and over
among the corpses of those who are slain by your violence,
Be on your guard!
For I, SEKHMET, I am the Compassionate One,
and yet I am also She Who is the Mother of All Cruelty.
Be on your guard!
Do not hate the obedience I require
and do not love My forbearance and mercy.
In My weakness, do not forsake Me,
and do not be afraid of My Power.
How is it that can you despise your fear
and curse your pride
When I am She Who exists in all fear
as well as the One Whose strength makes the Cosmos tremble?
I am She Who is weak and is about to die,
and I am whole and well in a beautiful garden.
I am senseless, demented and senile, and yet I am also All Wisdom.
My Voice that is the thunder of the sky
now asks the priests and the men of the world,
Why have you hated Me?
Why have you denied Me in your counsels?
For I have been silent among the millenia that are silent,
but now I appear again and speak,
Why then have you hated me, you princes and pontiffs?
Is it because I am a pagan among the pagans?
Who are you to decide with whom I shall dwell?
For I am the wisdom of the Greeks
and the knowledge of the barbarian tribes.
I am also She Who is the Judgment
of the Greeks and of the barbarians both.
I am the One Whose Image is great in Egypt
and the One Who has no image at all among the desert dwellers.
I am the One Who has been hated everywhere
and the One Who has been loved everywhere.
I am the One Whom they call Life,
and you have also called Me Death.
I am the One Whom they call Law,
and you have also called Me Lawlessness.
I am the One Whom you have begged miracles of,
and I am the One Whom you have raped.
I am the One Whose most sacred temples you have destroyed,
and I am the Substance and the Grace of every church you build.
I am the One before Whom you have been ashamed,
and yet you have been utterly shameless and disrespectful to Me,
over and yet over again.
I am She Who does not keep festival,
and yet every celebration is Mine.
I am She Who is godless,
and I am the One Who is the Greatness of God.
I am the One Whom you have reflected upon,
and yet you have scorned Me.
I am the unlearned One,
and yet I teach you.
I am the One Whom you have denied,
and yet your heart knows Me.
I am the One Whom you have hidden from,
and yet you return to Me.
For whenever you hide your self,
I Myself will appear,
And whenever you appear,
I Myself will hide within you.
Those who have My Light cleave to it senselessly, flawlessly,
and thus do they return My rightful Crown to Me.
Take Me to yourselves without either understanding or grief,
and take Me to yourselves from deepest understanding and through terrible grief.
Take Me to yourselves out of places that are broken and in ruin,
stealing from those who, in neglecting My good,
have beaten it into ugliness.
Out of shame, take me to yourselves shamelessly;
and out of both shamelessness and shame,
call up the part of Me in you yourselves.
Come forward to Me, you who know Me
and you who know Me in one another,
and establish your great ones from among the humble.
Come forward to your own childhood,
and do not despise it in you because it is small and it is little.
And do not divide maturity from youth,
for every old tree stands upon a young seed, and itself produces seed,
smallness coming from greatness that has the greatness to divide itself up.
Why do you curse Me? Why do you honor Me?
You are the ones who have wounded each other,
and yet you have also shown mercy.
You cannot separate Me from anyone whom you have known.
Thus, do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone away
even though they turn you away and say 'I know him not'.
What they are saying is that they know Me not.
But I know what is of Me,
I know the first ones and those after them will also come to know Me.
For I am the Mind of all beings and also of all creation.
I am SEKHMET, the answer of My Own question,
and the finding of those who seek after Me,
and the command of those who ask of Me,
and the Power of the powers in My knowledge
of the angels, who have been sent at My Word,
and of the gods in their seasons, set by My counsel,
and of the spirit of every man who exists extended from Me,
and of the soul of every woman who dwells within Me.
I am the One Who is honored, and Who is praised,
and Who is yet despised scornfully.
I am serenity,
and yet conflict has come because of Me.
I am the alien and I am the citizen.
I am substance itself and also the One Who Has No Substance.
Those who deny Me are ignorant of Me,
and those who understand they are of My substance are the ones who know Me.
Those who are close to Me now have been ignorant of Me in the past,
and those who are far away from Me now are the ones who have known Me before.
On the day when I am close to you, you are far away from Me,
and on the day when I am far away from you, I am still close to you.
I am SEKHMET within.
I am SEKHMET of the natures.
I am SEKHMET of the creation of the spirits.
I am SEKHMET, the granter of requests of the soul.
I am SEKHMET, control and the uncontrollable.
I am SEKHMET, the union and the dissolution.
I am SEKHMET, the abiding and the fleeting.
I am the One below all things,
and yet they all must come up to Me.
I am the Lady of the judgment and the acquittal.
I am sinless and stainless,
and yet the root of sin derives from Me.
I am the Unbounded desire that clothes all things in outward appearance,
and yet interior self-control exists perfected within Me.
I am the hearing which is attainable to everyone
and the speech which cannot be grasped.
I am a mute who does not speak,
yet great is My multitude of words.
Hear Me, then, in gentleness, and learn of Me in roughness.
I am She Who Roars In The Heavens,
and yet I fall down upon the face of the earth.
I prepare the bread without and My Mind within.
I am the knowledge of My Name.
I am the One Who cries out,
and I am the One Who hears that cry.
I appear and distress flees, I walk in Light, the seal of My Grace.
I am the Flame Who shows the Way,
Who strides like a lion in the darkness.
I am the Accuser as well as the defense of the persecuted.
I am the One who is called both Truth
and iniquity,
I am the Judge, and the judgment as it falls...
You honor Me and then you whisper against Me.
If you are vanquished, it is because you judged those who vanquished you
before they had ever given judgment against you;
the judge and the partiality exist in you,
For you exist in Me.
If you are condemned by yourself, who will acquit you?
Or, if you are acquitted within, who will be able to detain you?
For what is inside of you is what is outside of you,
and the One who fashions you on the outside
is the One who shaped the inside of you.
And what you see outside of you, you see inside of you;
it is visible and it is your garment.
Hear Me, you who can
and learn of My words, you who know Me.
I am the explanation of everything;
I am the unknown language that cannot be deciphered.
I am the Name of the Sound
and the Sound of the Name.
I am the Sign within each letter
and the designation and measure of their division.
And through you and your skill, I give to you what you wish,
For I am the Perfect Power and its utterance,
and creation is the Wish-Fulfilling Gem.
If you want to know the Light, then walk in its Way.
O you hearers, the whole of creation roars for you.
I am SEKHMET, born of the Great Power.
And there is no god who will move My Name.
I am the True Gate, the One Who is beyond the one who created Me.
For he also came from Me,
And I will speak his hidden name.
Look then at these words
and at all the writings which have been completed.
Give heed then, you hearers
and you also, the angels and those who have been sent,
and you spirits who have arisen from the dead.
For I am the One Who alone exists,
and I have no one who will judge Me.
Myriad are the pleasant distractions which exist in numerous sins,
and incontinencies,
and disgraceful passions,
and fleeting pleasures,
which fickle men embrace until they become sober
and go up unto their final place of rest.
And when they do, they will find Me there,
and they will live,
and they will not die again.
APRIL 21, 2010
Yes, the Moon zipped into Leo at 15.44 Sydney time – early AM in the Northern Worlds & I totally grokked the shift. One moment all Cancerian & herbal, a swim in the beautiful ocean and then attempting to communicate with my pennyroyal plants…Voomp: Leo Moon felt like a blast of jungle fever. And of course it is waxing toward being Full and thus in opposition to the Aquarius Sun. It’s a Lunar Eclipse with Chiron and Neptune near to the Sun – brilliant for art, magic, meditation, spiritual love, glamour, miracles, compassion transcendental genius and insights.
Fab also for dipsomania & delusions, old-style stupidity via misplaced sympathy. Not a good Moon to do drugs…Fantastic for dreams, telepathy, divination and blending the objectivity & idealism of Aquarius with Leo verve to affirm resolutions of spirit, beauty , strength, power, art…Yes, even amidst the vile, horribly sad & disturbing news days that seem so often to coincide with Eclipses.
http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_signs_e.htm
The Signs
A Brief Introduction to Astrology
Each of the 12 astrological signs belongs to a certain element in one of its states. This gives us twelve quite different basic types. These varying qualities provide the “backdrop” to the planetary positions. As each horoscope has different planets in different signs, there can never be a “pure” Aries or a “pure” Gemini. Each horoscope is a highly individual, very complex and usually also very varied combination of parts.
In order to understand the signs, we must take into account the typical expressions of the elements, as well as the characteristics belonging to the planets associated with the signs.
Aries
Cardinal fire; ruled by Mars
Willpower, impulsive, initiative, courage, energy, activity
Often rushes headlong into things
more by Liz Greene
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Taurus
Fixed earth; ruled by Venus
Sensual, pleasure-seeker, steadfast, strives for security
Sees red when provoked for a long time
more by Liz Greene
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Gemini
Mutable air; ruled by Mercury
Mental type, witty, communicative, mobile, takes pleasure in learning. Rarely touches down
more by Liz Greene
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Cancer
Cardinal water; ruled by the Moon
Emotional type, stubborn, seeks safety and closeness
Very much a family person
more by Liz Greene
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Leo
Fixed fire; ruled by the Sun
Glamour, generosity, organizer, the center of attention
Likes to take the lion's part
more by Liz Greene
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Virgo
Mutable earth; ruled by Mercury
Precise, differentiates, does what is necessary, utilitarian
A critical point of view
more by Liz Greene
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Libra
Cardinal air; ruled by Venus
A sense of beauty and proportion, tactful, seeks balance and harmony. Sometimes hovers between the scales
more by Liz Greene
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Scorpio
Fixed water; ruled by Pluto
Corrosive, passionate, piercing, extreme situations
Frequently quarrels with the spirits he called
more by Liz Greene
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Sagittarius
Mutable fire; ruled by Jupiter
Free spirit, carefree, love of movement, cheerful
Wanderlust, often seems to be elsewhere
more by Liz Greene
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Capricorn
Cardinal earth; ruled by Saturn
Enduring, has a sense of purpose, proud, ambitious
Can get stuck in craggy heights
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Aquarius
Fixed air; ruled by Uranus
Communicative, humanitarian, progressive, fraternal
Universal spirit with occasional astonishing obstinacy
more by Liz Greene
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Pisces
Mutable water; ruled by Neptune
Sensitive, compassionate, helpful, sociable
Very adaptable, hard to get a hold on
more by Liz Greene
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