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The Eye of Ra
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Sekhmet |
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“She who is Powerful.” |
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“Patron of
Physician-Priests & Healers.” |
Her very Name means
"She Who Is Powerful". Sekhmet personifies the aggressive
aspects of the female forms of Netjer and acted as the consort to Ptah.
However, it is believed that Sekhmet's worship pre-dates that of Ptah by at least several hundred
years.
Sekhmet is usually portrayed as a woman with the head of a
lioness, but as the Daughter of the Netjer of the Sun, Ra, Her role as the fire-breathing,
'Eye of Ra'. The pyramid texts themselves mention
that the King or Pharaoh was conceived by Sekhmet, Herself.
Sekhmet is one of the oldest known forms of Netjer in Egyptian history. She, the 'patron' of the Physicians, Physician-Priests and Healers.
Because She is one of the most powerful of all the
Names of Netjer, (Her name literally translated
means "Mighty One", or "Powerful One"). Her Name is derived
from the Egyptian word 'Sekhem', which means
"power" or "might". The word sekhem'
is literally inseperable from Sekhmet and Her worship. Because of these facts, She
is often times misunderstood and portrayed only in a negative way. This is
probably because of legends of how Sekhmet, as the destructive Eye of Ra was sent forth to punish humanity for its mockery
of Her Father, Ra.
Much like Kali being manifested from Durga’s
brow in the Hindu legend, the myth of Sekhmet's creation explains how Sekhmet came into being from Het-Hert (Hathor) the divine, sacred COW.
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Sekhmet (G/R Sachmis)
- "Powerful Female" First noted in a myth describing Ra's vengeance upon his enemies, Sekhmet, an unstoppable force from which humankind was delivered only by
the timely intervention of a moment of levity (embodied in public
drunkenness), is an "aggressive" form of the Name of Hethert (Sekhmet was not originally a Name in and of Herself; it is in
fact more accurate to refer to Her from earlier times as Sekhmet-Hethert, or Hethert-Sekhmet.) Eventually Sekhmet would develop both a cult and a "personality" quite
distinct from Hethert, as the Eye of Ra associated with divine vengeance. As a healer, Sekhmet's power to destroy things utterly
would be invoked against the invisible "demons" of plague and
disease; Sekhmet's priesthood in antiquity were trained surgeons of remarkable caliber, given the
standards for medicine in the ancient world. Thousands of statues of Sekhmet, carved from |
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Click here to return
to the AVE MARIA! – Egyptian Book of the Dead
Osiris | Thoth | Atum-Ra | Netjer | Ptah |
Kali | Sekhmet | ISIS | Hathor |
Ma’at |Nut| Virgin Mary | Kali-Joya