THE MANY FACES OF SEKHMET

The Goddess has many names.

I have chosen to look beyond the boundaries

of ancient Egypt to see Sekhmet's broader Truth.

It's very enriching to discover Sekhmet's many forms

as they have appeared throughout the planet.

Should I be surprised to discover that a majority of Sekhmet people also report being multi-cultural in their approach to the Goddess?

Like myself, an incredible number of Sekhmet devotees have been practioners of Tibetan Buddhism. In fact, one of the most important deities in the Tibetan Pantheon is the Lion-headed Dakini, Simhamukha. Let also me mention in passing that Sekhmet's overwhelming feminine energy can easily be balanced by meditating upon Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. He appears in the form of a dynamic and graceful 16-year old whose mount is a snow lion. He holds a lotus in his left hand which contains a volume of the Perfection of Wisdom scriptures and in his right hand, he holds the sword of discriminating judgement. (He's just as intense and no-nonsense as Sekhmet which makes him, for me, a perfect male counterpart.)

My Tibetan studies and practice have expanded my frame of reference. When I got beyond the limitations of Sekhmet's mythical frame, I began to piece together information from other cultural sources. It is easy to find Sekhmet in the descriptions of the 21 forms of the Goddess Tara. When you start viewing Sekhmet in terms of energies, aspects, or even mathematical functions, Her territory becomes richer and more fertile. As time permits, I will add more sections exploring other Sekhmetian Goddesses. Perhaps you have something to share?

GAINING SOME PERSPECTIVE

When I first connected with the energy of Sekhmet, I was young, fierce, and untamable. The idea of a powerful virgin warrioress really appealed to me. Years later, when I first learned about the experiences of women who were connecting with Sekhmet's mother aspect, I was stunned. I thought I "knew" Sekhmet, but this was an aspect I had never explored. Sekhmet was larger than my old definitions and a whole new world of possibilities suddenly opened up.

Sekhmet has always defied categorization (just like me). Some say Sekhmet is an aspect of Hathor. And some say Hathor is an aspect of Sekhmet. Some say Sekhmet and Bast are different names for different aspects of the same energy. Others have insisted that all are aspects of Nuit. Thanks to some stellar work by Jeremy Naydler (TEMPLE OF THE COSMOS, Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 1996) questions of this type can be put into some perspective.

Naydler noted the composition of Egyptian triads reflect the different ways in which pure cosmological principles can be stepped down towards human interface. The Heliopolian triad (with RA as the cosmological component), the Hermopolitan triad (with Tehuti as the cosmological component), and Memphis (with Ptah as the cosmological component) relate in specific ways to each other, with the Memphis triad defining that aspect of the Divine most involved in matter. Memphite theology represents that which has sacrificed a purely spiritual mode of being in order to become crystallized in materiality.

Using this model as the foundation for Egyptian trinities, it is easy to see how Nuit, the great mother of the universe could be equated with Eternal Spirit. Just like the shape of the round ceramic pot which spells her name, the star-speckled body of Nuit is a container for all there is. The sky and beyond is huge ­­ much too incomprehensible to relate to on a human level.

Out of the body of Nuit, a brilliant fiery ball appears in the sky. As it approaches the earth, it gets larger and brighter, looking somewhat like an eye. The impersonal sky becomes personal as it touches the earth in the form of a comet strike. The destruction is catostrophic and widespread. Yet, all is not as it seems. The comet's fragments have seeded the earth. Time passes. Out of the ashes, new life emerges. Destruction has been an agent for life. Sekhmet has become Hathor whose presence can be detected in every leaf and twig...

The truth lies somewhere between the comprehensible and the incomprehensible. Look at the story, look at the message behind the story. Consider the functions. Hathor is accessible and user-friendly. She interfaces easily with humans. Sekhmet is accessible, but not as user-friendly. Within the human psyche, it is a deep and haunting memory. Sekhmet came from "out there" and almost destroyed the earth. There's no getting around that. Sekhmet possesses real power. People can and do relate to Sekhmet through the Hathor/Isis filter. Even though this path is the most accessible, this was the path I knew nothing about. Another very popular path to Sekhmet is through Bast, or Bastet. (A kitty is alot easier to approach than a lion).

Alot of the Nuit/Sekhmet stuff, I've gleaned from Book I of the Liber Al Vel Legis or Book of the Law. It is my husband and my contention that on three consecutive days, (April 8 - 9 - 10, 1904) three different entities appeared to Aleister Crowley representing three alternate realities. This first to appear was Sekhmet, the second was Horus the Elder/Horus Montu/Horus Behdet or Horus of Edfu, and the third was <Set>. Consider the three books, so different in tone and content, with this in mind and think about Book I as being the path of the Goddess who says, "Now, therefore, I am known to ye by my name Nuit, and to him by a secret name which I will give him when at last he knowth me." What is the secret name of Nuit if not Sekhmet?

Compare this to the sinister tone of Book Three whose speaker blatantly says (III:43): "Let the Scarlet women beware! If pity and compassion and tenderness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old sweetnesses; than shall my vengence be known. I will slay me her child: I will alienate her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a shrinking and dispised harlot shall she crawl through the dusk wet streets, die cold and hungered." This sounds pretty much like what has happened to the pagan religions in the face of Christian muscle. Who is the Warrior Lord of the Forties if not <Set>? And did not the Eighties cower before him?

Thus, Sekhmet is on the move. The ancient forces which shaped this reality are active and interacting. It's the same theme its always been: the struggle to control earth's destiny.

We come to the crux of the matter. Someone once asked me, if you are embodying the compassionate qualities of the Goddess, why see Sekhmet in her form as destroyer? Wouldn't a more positive life-enhancing image, such as Hathor, be more appropriate? I pondered upon that one for years. And the answer is simple. Sekhmet in Her lion form is a force which is needed at this time to loosen the choke hold that evil, violence, hatred, ignorance, greed has upon the earth. Since Sekhmet's power comes from being a cosmological neter, she can easily defeat <He who shall remain Nameless> (a metaphorical neter) and those who serve him.

Anyone for whom the Goddess Sekhmet is strong knows that they can be targets for the forces of evil. Fortunately, Sekhmet is a powerful protector.