• Religion
  • Gods

  • Sekhmet

    • Sekhmet
    Sekhmet
    .
    Samael
    Samael     		TitleLady of the Palace of the Beginning of Time
    goddess of War
    The Eye of Ra
    Cult Center- Sekhmet is the triad goddess of Memphis with Ptah, and Nefertum.
    GenderFemale
    FatherRa The King of gods
    ConsortPtah
    Sons and DaughtersImhotep
    Nefertum
    Patron - Dominion- Sekhmet personifies the aggressive aspects of the female forms in contrast with Hathor
    1. Plague was the work of the raging Goddess, visits upon Egypt caused epidemics, so she could be persuaded to remove the same plagues through the performance of the 'Rite of Appeasing Sekhmet'.
      The Egyptians fearing a repeated performance by Sekhmet, developed an elaborate ritual in hopes she could be appeased, priests were required to perform this ritual each morning and each afternoon of every single day of every single year.
    2. The goddess of war protects the Pharaoh in battle, stalking the land, and destroying his enemies with arrows of fire,
    3. In spite of the fact that She is destructive, she was also the healer. In Egyptian Medicine, all healers and doctors were under Sekhmet's jurisdiction.
    Dedicated Shrinesmore than 700 statues of the goddess in all Egypt - daily rituals
    Appearance- woman with the head of a lioness surmounted by the solar disk and the Uraeus
    - Her body was draped in red, Sekhmet faces West, her sister Bastet in green faces east
    Historical Development- Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts recount that at the origin of time, men conspired against their Creator Ra. After considering the matter, Ra decided to send his Eye in the form of a lioness, Sekhmet to chastise the insurgents. Sekhmet wrought havoc and would have devoured all humanity had not Ra, stricken with regret, then had the ground covered with red-dyed beer in place of blood, so that Sekhmet, deceived by the color, drank up the liquid, became drunk and fell asleep, thus sparing mankind.
    - Until the beginning of the New Kingdom, Sekhmet possessed a full range of powers, and acted independently, without consulting further gods, and at many times had to be appeased from Ra himself
    - However during the New Kingdom, the Theban Triad was made up of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, Sekhmet's attributes were absorbed into that of Mut ( Amun's wife).
    In that historical stage, the number of gods and goddesses were drastically reduced, and their attributes melted into the imperial triad
    - Later during the development of the monotheistic Hebrew religion, Sekhmet was reduced into an angel called Samael The Messenger of Death, instead of a full goddess the new angel supports the role of the unique god
    He does no longer takes or spares lifes according to his own will, but rather becomes a servant of the Lord, and acts according to his instructions
    The new angel Samael retained Sekhmet's power as a warrior angel, defending the cosmos and humans, by fighting against evil spirits who attempt to wreak chaos
    Still Samael has a crown of a snake and can take the form of a snake and bite his enemies, just as Sekhmet his predecessor
    Unfortunately Samael is masculine unlike Sekhmet, since in the emerging monotheistic religions, there was less room for female characters
    Greek equivalentAthena Medusa