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The following myth deals with the goddess
Sekhmet and is found on the walls of the tomb of Seti. This
myth has several different versions, the one presented here
comes from "The Goddess Sekhmet, Psycho-Spiritual
Exercises of the Fifth Way" by Robert Masters, published
by Llewellyn Publishing; copyright 1991.
The Myth
of the Destruction of Mankind
There was a time in ancient Egypt where
"humans entered into a conspiracy to overthrow the Gods.
They blasphemed against Ra, king of Gods and men, and
heretical priests and magicians plotted ways to turn against
the Gods for their destruction, using those very powers the
Gods had given to men that they might flourish and grow great
upon the earth.
"Ra, hearing of this plan, called to
meet with him the most ancient and potent Deities, those who
had been with him in the primeval waters before the time when
with his eye, the sun, he had made life. The Gods counseled
together and it was decided that Sekhmet, the force against
which no other force avails, should manifest on the earth and
quell the rebellion. Sekhmet would manifest and punish all
those who had held in their minds evil images and imagined
wicked plots.
"Then Sekhmet walked among men and
destroyed them and drank their blood. Night after night
Sekhmet waded in blood, slaughtering humans, tearing and
rending their bodies, and drinking their blood. the other Gods
decided that the slaughter was enough and should stop, but
they could find no way to stop Sekhmet, who was drunk on human
blood.
"As the carnage went on, the Gods
recognized that Sekhmet, Her rage sustained by intoxication,
would implacably proceed with the killing until the last human
life had been extinguished. Then Ra had brought to him from
Elephantine certain plants which have been said to be the
Solanaceae family and which can be brewed as powerful
mind-altering drugs. Those plants, and possibly also opium or
hemp, were sent to the God Sekti at Heliopolis. Sekti added
these drugs to a mixture of beer and also human blood, until
seven thousand great jugs of the substance had been made. The
jars were taken to a place where Sekhmet would pass and there
were poured out onto the ground, inundating the fields for a
great distance. And when Sekhmet came to these fields and
perceived what She thought to be blood, She rejoiced and drank
all of the liquid. Then "Her heart was filled with
joy," Her mind was changed, and She thought no more of
destroying mankind.
"After that, Ra addressed Sekhmet as
the One Who Comes in Peace, praising the beauty and charm of
the Goddess. "
For more information see the first article in the
Vampyric
Deities Series on Sekhmet |
