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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.
After the myth additional information is provided.
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.”
Sekhmet is one of the oldest deities in the
world. She is known as the daughter of Ra but is also
described as older than Ra. She was a deity who was
imported from another culture but it is not known which
culture. She has over four thousand names, some of which
hint at the other origins. Some authors have
linked her with the “Goddess of the Kundalini energy
constellation…..which is often improperly attributed to the
Indian Tantra.” Egyptologist Sir Wallis Budge
comments that the name Sekhmet is connected or comes from the
word sekhem which means to be strong, mighty & violent.
Sekhmet is the goddess most often depicted
with the head of a lioness, occasionally with the sun disk.
There are more large statues of Sekhmet than of any other
deity. Like many deities, the Goddess Sekhmet was a Lady of
many contradictions. She is the bringer of disease &
the Great One of Healing. She is the Goddess of War and
the Goddess of Love. She is also an underworld deity,
known for her destructive tendencies. She has the power to
completely destroy not only human bodies, but also their souls
- total destruction. She, additionally, is the protector
of the dead in the underworld. To become an initiate in
the temple of Sekhmet, candidates were actually put to
‘death’ where they had to deal with its horrors.
These ‘horrors’ included facing “fiends and vampires.”
Those who did not succeed in overcoming their fears, if they
survived, were disqualified. Unfortunately, no other
reference to the Egyptian beliefs in vampyres could be
located. Her priests & priestesses were considered to be
extremely powerful – both as physicians and as practitioners
of magick who had the power to destroy and command demons.
The demons of Egypt were divided into two categories: those
that serve Sekhmet & those that are of the underworld.
Sekhmet’s demons were dispatched to send disease, chaos
& pestilence. The demons of the underworld were
considered to be worse as they stole body parts from the dead
& would eat the hearts of the “undeserved.”
Celebrations for Sekhmet included wild orgies, which earned
her the additional titles of Great Harlot & Lady of the
Scarlet-Coloured Garments. Those celebrations also
included the drinking of the exact substance given to Sekhmet
to quench her thirst – sans the blood according to several
authors.
There is only the one myth that discussed
the blood lust of Sekhmet. It would seem that any
additional information of this has been lost, not yet
uncovered, or contained in resources not available to this
author. Of her four thousand names, only a few
hundred have survived. Some of the hint at a possibly
deeper connection to the realm of the vampyre: Lady of
Transformations, Enrapturing One, Giver of Ecstasies, Mother
of the Dead, Lady of the Bloodbath, Devouring One, &
Terrible One.
Resources:
http://www.ancientsites.com/~Tjeti_Sobkneferu/Amun/dictionary_index.html
http://www.netins.net/showcase/ankh/
"The Goddess Sekhmet, Psycho-Spiritual
Exercises of the Fifth Way" by Robert Masters, published by
LLewellyn Publishing; copyright 1991.
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