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.Sekhmet s name is the feminine of the word  Sekhem,which means strength, or power.In other words, her namemeans  Lady of Strength, or  Lady of Power.She is that.She is power.She is energy.She is force. AH HAH! you say.Destructive force!  I thought you saidShe wasn t evil!She isn t.Qabalistically, she is a Geburic force just as Set is.However, in case you are not familiar with Qabala, I ll explain.Our modern society views destruction as evil.Construction isgood.Destruction is evil.To most people in our culture, it sthat simple, that black and white.Of course, it isn t, is it? Construction is not good if whatyou re building is a body 75 pounds overweight.Destruction isnot evil if you re tearing down a building that has become un-safe.Construction is not good if what is growing is a cancer.Destruction is not evil if what is being removed is a cancer.84Gods and Goddesses of EgyptSekhmet represents a destructive force that breaks downwhat is temporal.That which is eternal is never destroyed.As asolar Goddess, She burns away excess.She can be frightening.Power is often frightening, espe-cially to those who don t understand it.It can be exhilaratingwhen you realize that however little we like what They do, thepower of the Gods is always on our side.The Tamerans believed She was capable of causing plague,and therefore, She was capable of curing it.In a different way,we do the same thing.We use vaccinations, a light case of thedisease in question to prevent serious illnesses.Like Bast, Sekhmet is a Dark Lady.(This is a difficult con-cept to accept when She is so definitely a solar Goddess, butusing the terms  Crone or  Hag would be just as confusing.)Some say that Sekhmet is the destructive power of the Sun,while Bast represents the nurturing, warming Sun.Interestingconcept when you consider that part of the success with mum-mification is the heat of the Nile Valley.In this case, the Sun preserves instead of destroying.Sekhmet is portrayed as a lioness, which at the very leastreveals that the Tamerans observed nature, because the lion-ess is the more active hunter in that family of cats.I believe that the lion symbolized power to the people ofthe Nile Valley.It often signifies Fire to our minds, which cer-tainly is a perfect attribution for this Goddess.Is Sekhmet more powerful than Bast? I don t think so.CanShe be gentle and loving? Possibly.Do I wish to know Her bet-ter? Absolutely!lLWrapped as a mummy, the God Ptah also witnessed thebattle.85Circle of IsisCircle of IsisCircle of IsisCircle of IsisCircle of IsislLPtahPtahPtahPtahPtahThis God is usually portrayed with asmooth skull cap, his body bound in mummywrappings.He is the God of Craftsmen.(Craftspersons, if you insist.)When a craftsman in Tamera created a statue of a deity,he prayed to Ptah to encourage that deity to place a bit ofhimself or herself into the statue, that it might truly be worthyof honor.(Knowing this, Tamerans saw the statues as the de-ity rather than just representations of them.)You can do the same, if you are an artist.Ask, if you wish,that Ptah guide your hands so that you create a statue or a pic-ture worthy of the deity it represents.I have asked His help inwriting about the Gods, that I may craft my words with suchcare that you will come to know and love Them as I do.Wehave also asked His help in painting a plaster statue, that theperson s hands be guided.His name means  force captured in form. His mummywrappings signify the same thing.An artist controls the paints, his or her hands, and the toolsused in painting.A sculptor controls his fingers and the clay, orchisel and stone.You can apply this to almost any job, any work.One witch I know is a registered nurse.She uses tools and knowl-edge to control germs, wounds, and such.My husband is a pro-totype maker.He controls tools, both hand tools and large mills,using them and their energy to form metals and plastics [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]