Circle. Isis. Ellen Cannon Reed. Ancient Egyptian Magick for Modern Witches. NEW PAGE BOOKS A division of The Career Press, Inc. Franklin Lakes, NJ

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2 Circe of Isis Ancient Egyptian Magick for Modern Witches L Een Cannon Reed NEW PAGE BOOKS A division of The Career Press, Inc. Frankin Lakes, NJ

3 Copyright 2002 by Een Cannon Reed A rights reserved under the Pan-American and Internationa Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whoe or in part, in any form or by any means eectronic or mechanica, incuding photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieva system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the pubisher, The Career Press. Circe of Isis Edited by Kristen Mohn Typeset by Eieen Dow Munson Cover design by Mevin L. Harris Printed in the U.S.A. by Book-mart Press To order this tite, pease ca to-free CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: ) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press. The Career Press, Inc., 3 Tice Road, PO Box 687, Frankin Lakes, NJ Library of Congress Cataoging-in-Pubication Data Reed, Een Cannon Circe of Isis / by Een Cannon Reed p. cm. Incudes bibiographica references and index. ISBN (pbk.) 1. Magic, Egyptian. 2. Goddesses, Egyptian. 3. Gods, Egyptian. I. Tite. BF1591.R dc

4 To Christopher, who is the wind beneath my wings. L

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6 L Acknowedgment Thanks to Wiie, Rick, Tinne, Vicky, and a the others who shared their experiences with me.

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8 L Contents Part I Gods and Goddesses of Egypt 11 Nut Geb Ra Tehuti (Thoth) Asar (Osiris) Aset (Isis) Set Nebet Het (Nephthys) Anpu (Anubis) Heru, sa Aset (Horus, Son of Isis) Het Heret (Hat Hor) Bast Khnum Bes Shu Sekhmet... 84

9 Ptah Khonsu Seshat Khephera Mut Tefnut Tanent Neith Other Gods Part II Rituas, Meditations, and Deveoping Reationships With Deities 127 Meditation Mantra Meditation Contact Rituas Guided Meditations Other Meditations

10 Rituas Ceebration of the Birthdays of the Gods The Rite of Bessing a Chid Festiva of Bast Songs for the Gods Incenses and Ois Food and Drink Prayers Part III Magic and Magica Toos 193 Amuets Wax and Ushabti Figures Creating a Sistrum Making a Scarab Making a Kit Making a Nemyss Making a Magic Wand

11 Hierogyphs Divination Creating the Udjat Orace The Pyramid of Nebet Het Appendix A: Tameran Names Appendix B: The Caendar Gossary Resources Bibiography Index About the Author

12 L PART I Gods and Goddesses of Egypt 11

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14 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt I was in despair. The reasons don t matter. It was New Year s Eve and I sat aone in my apartment, in tears. A I saw before me in the year to come was pain and oneiness. But then a thought wandered into my head. I had read, somewhere (I sti don t remember where), that Isis never turned away from those who caed upon Her for reasons having to do with ove. I had aways been drawn to Her on some eve. I remember physicay turning my body, as if turning away from the past, and caing to Her. It was a simpe prayer, a cry of Lady, pease, hep me. How do I expain it? How do I te you what happened? I have searched for the words and can find ony these: She was there. Oh, not for the eyes to see, or the hands to touch, but for the heart to know. She was there, she oved me, and I oved Her. On that night, December 31, 1974, my ife changed. For the magnitude of the moment, that phrase sounds too weak. I found my path, I found my direction, I knew where I was supposed to be. Perhaps it was not a matter of changing paths, but of finding out what path I d been on a aong, the path waked by those who ove and honor the ancient Egyptian deities, those who are in the Circe of Isis. The Circe of Isis isn t an earthy coven or organization. It consists of a of us who ove Her. Whether I changed paths or earned where I d aways been, it doesn t matter. I oved Her, and I wanted to find others who oved Her. When I did find them, they were Witches. The rest, as they say, is history. 13

15 Circe of Isis In the quarter of a century since, the subject of ancient Egypt and its magic have been an abiding interest. However, my interest is not so much in magic as it is in reigion: the reigion that coors and directs my ife. The path that I foow is Wicca, and my focus on that path is service to the Gods and Goddesses. Therefore, the majority of the information I have gained and wi share with you has come through persona knowedge of the ancient Egyptian deities. There are many books about the Egyptian Gods and the magic of that and, but amost a of them were written by peope who wrote about other peope s gods. Those authors were writing through the eyes of their own beiefs, as we a do. For me, and for others in the Circe of Isis, these are not other peope s gods, they are our own. They are not abstract and They are not distant. They are persona. Our work with the deities has made them very rea to us and very much a part of our work, our ives, and our seves. Athough their cuture was unike ours, the ancient Egyptians were not so different from the Pagans of today. They, too, saw the Utimate as Gods and Goddesses. They, too, saw the Lords and Ladies in a that existed. They saw the majesty, strength, and fertiity in a horned anima (it happened to be a bu, not a stag, but the simiarity remains). They, too, sought to earn of the Infinite from the Finite, found essons in the works of nature. They, too, had a fascination with, and understanding of, symbos as a means of attaining spiritua growth. In spite of a the information that has been ost, a great dea remains of the knowedge of the ancients. There is much we can earn because Egyptians expressed so much in symbos. They have eft us the keys to some of their knowedge, and eft ways to earn for ourseves how to earn and achieve spiritua growth. Our coven is working to discover the doors those keys open. What we have discovered so far is here. What s a this she s saying about spiritua growth? I was hoping to earn something about magic. 14

16 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt You wi, if you are wiing. But perhaps you wi earn magic beyond specasting, which is, as far as I m concerned, a very sma part of the reigion I foow. We often speak of two types of magic, referring to them as high and ow magic. Those are terribe terms because they impy a vaue judgment. I d rather use the terms spiritua and mundane magic, athough those terms aren t a great dea better. High magic, or spiritua magic, is work done for spiritua advancement. Low magic, or mundane magic, is done for physica or materia matters. Both can be important. We are iving in a word of the physica and materia. Using magic to meet our needs in this word is just as important, and just as hoy, as using magic to achieve our spiritua ends. Magic is ess than hoy ony if it is used for the wrong reasons. In Wicca, our approach to magic is usuay through the Gods. Having done a we are capabe of doing on this pane, we turn to magic, and wi often ask for the hep, guidance, and bessing of specific deities. Egyptian egend says that Ra invented magic. The Gods were too busy to do everything, so Ra gave humankind magica powers, heka, so that we woud be abe to hande the unseen word ourseves. Wicca is, first and foremost, a reigion. You might ca magic a fringe benefit, a resut of our beiefs. We beieve that we are part of the Gods and abe to do much They can do. The very source of the abiity to do magic, however, makes it imperative that we view it as something sacred, not to be used ighty, or for fun, or to manipuate or harm others. Never forget it was a gift from a God. Whie it is possibe to do magic without any spiritua or reigious overtones, that is not the approach to magic our coven uses or teaches, nor is it the approach you wi find here. 15

17 Circe of Isis The magic you wi find here is more than ways to cast spes. It is the magic of growing coser to the Gods, the magic of earning the Mysteries of the Universe. I do not pretend that the information in this book is exacty as it was taught in Egypt, but as those ideas might be taught now, in present-day cuture. This is, in a sense, a transation. When Edward Fitzgerad transated The Rubiyat of Omar Khayam, he did not transate it word for word. He transated its spirit, so that the Engish-speaking readers woud appreciate the spirit without being confused by cutura differences. This is the kind of interpretation you wi find here. I do not pretend that this is a recreation of the reigion of ancient Egypt. It most emphaticay is not. Our coven and its tradition are Wiccan. There are other organizations that are working toward a recreation of the ancient reigions of that and, but that s not what we intend to do. One other important note: I have a friend who foows a Cetic tradition. She kept assuming that I woud deary ove Midde Eastern music, dress, etc., and for the ongest time, I coudn t figure out why. One day I reaized that she made the assumption because she knew I was interested in Egypt, and did not reaize my interest ay in ancient Egypt. She was not aware that the Egypt of today is not the same cuture. Today s Egypt is Isamic, for one thing, and its peope are semitic. Those who ived in Egypt during the earier dynastic times have been referred to as hamitic. This word refers to a race of peope who were, according to egend, the descendants of Ham. It incudes the ancient Egyptians and other African races. The term aso refers to certain anguages incuding Egyptian, Berber, Gaa, and others. I found it interesting that, in his book, Cetic Myth and Legend, Chares Squire says that one of the two origina races of peope in the British Ises spoke a hamitic anguage. 16

18 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt It is important to me that readers of this voume understand this. I discovered very eary in writing this book that typing ancient Egyptians became tedious. If it s tedious to type, it might we be tedious to read. Here s how I ve soved the probem: An ancient name for Egypt was Tamera, which means Beoved Land. Throughout this book, I wi refer to ancient Egypt as Tamera, and to its inhabitants as Tamerans. Trave to the past with me, to a and so important to its peope that its name meant Beoved Land. Let me introduce you to it first through its Gods. L In an age ong past, by a mighty river of changing coors, there was an enchanted ream. There grew the statey sycamore, the acacia, the fruitfu pam, and the papyrus. There wandered the gazee, the oryx, the hare, the ion, and the jacka. About the river, ife fourished: the ibis, many kinds of fish, the crocodie, and the hippopotamus. And the sky hed an abundance of winged ones: the swaow, the kite, the vuture, ducks and geese, and soaring above them a, the hawk. This kingdom had many names, but one most vividy described the feeing of the peope for their country: Ta Mera, Beoved Land. These peope knew and oved many Gods, among them a beautifu Goddess of the sky, whose name was Nut. 17

19 Circe of Isis L 18 Nut Others see Ony sky When they raise their eyes above, raise their eyes. Mother Nut, They are bind For they see not with their hearts, just their minds. I can see High above How you cover a the word with your ove. I can see, with my heart, Thou art beautifu to see, oh, Thou art. The ancients portrayed Her stretched across the heavens with her feet to the East and her head to the West. The stars, they said, were jewes on her body, and the Miky Way was mik from her breasts. When our coven, Sothistar, casts a circe, we visuaize this Lady stretched over us. She is Mother of the Gods, ancient, yet not od, the feeing you have in Her Presence is one of ageessness. She has known pain and earned to ive with it. She has watched eons pass beneath Her. She has watched empires rise and fa civiizations grow and crumbe. She surrounds us with her ove, hurts when we hurt, weeps for us, rejoices with us, and eternay hods us in her womb.

20 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt We invoked Her by accident one night. Instead of a spoken invocation, Chris began to sing Ancient Mother, a beautifu chant. The Goddess who appeared was wonderfu. Her Presence touched us a, especiay one woman in the circe. Eager to earn more about this Lady, the woman wrote down the chant, made sure she knew the tune, and went home to work with this Lady further. A few months ater we did an invocation of Nut and when she appeared, we a recognized Her as the same Goddess we d met before. On that night, we knew who one of our students woud dedicate to when the time came. In hierogyphs, Her name is speed with a sma round ceramic pot and the symbo for feminine, a container and a woman, and ike so many hierogyphs, this expresses its meaning so we, so beautifuy. As Mother of the Gods, She contains a of us, a our Earth, a that ives. She is Mother, true, but more Grandmother. She is abe to view our temper tantrums and hurt feeings with a bit more objectivity than a new mother woud. She knows the painfu times are often essons, and that we must suffer to earn them. She aso knows that we coud have earned them more easiy if we weren t so stubborn and, sometimes, so bind. If we fater, She wi pick us up, dust us off, and send us right back into the fray, ovingy, but brooking no nonsense. She woud never consider etting us give up. If you woud come to know this beautifu Lady, go out on a cear night and ook up at the starry sky. There She wi be. See Her above you. Fee Her above you and know that She oves you. Athough they are rarey depicted in paintings that are seen, and sedom mentioned in any ancient writings, more than one member of my group has fet that Nut has night-dark, night-soft wings enfoding us a. You may fee those wings about you. If you wish, speak a prayer found on one of the shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun: Mother Nut, spread thy wings over me, encirce me with thy arms in heath and ife that I may be inside thee, that thou mayest be my protection. 19

21 Circe of Isis Her Love is unconditiona. Nothing is hidden from Her, She can see a. She knows your vices and your virtues, your triumphs and your faiures. She knows even those things you hide from yoursef. And She oves you. If you fee that ove, you wi find it impossibe not to return it. As a symbo of Nut, a piece of sodaite serves beautifuy. This is a dark bue stone with white markings ike the night sky and the stars that are its jewes. Not ony does it resembe Her body, but the feeing I get from it is very much the feeing I get from Her. It can absorb my confusion, hep me order my thoughts, and fee I can hande any probem. We know, a of us, that the night sky is not soid, and that the stars are not ony biions of mies away from us, but often mies away from each other, even those that appear in the groupings we ca consteations. We know that, and yet it does not keep us from seeing Nut when we stand outside and gaze at the star-jeweed sky. If She contains a those stars, She is truy Mother of the Gods, Womb of Creation. L The ady Nut was beoved of her peope, and beoved aso of the Lord of the Earth, Geb, the God who can be seen in mountains thrusting up from the Earth, in the steep sides of a canyon, in the granite precipice. 20

22 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Geb Lord of the Earth and the pains And the highest mountains Lord of the forest and his And the deepest canyons Geb! We honor Thee! Geb! We honor Thee! Lord of the rocks and the ciffs And the darkest cave, Oh, Lord of the desert and sands! Now we sing our praise to Geb! We honor Thee! Geb! We honor Thee! Lord of the Earth, praise to Thee! The peope of Tamera saw this Lord stretched out beow his Lady, just ike Her, with his feet to the East and His Head to the West, and they fet his strength and vitaity rising from the Earth. Near my house, there are ciffs jutting up through the Earth, thrusting up into the sky. Each time I see them, I think of this Lord, and say a word of praise to Him. It was in these huge rocks that I first saw Him, and came to know a Lord not many are privieged to know. I can fee His strength by pacing my hand on a sun-warmed bouder. He is Father of the Gods, the foundation on which both They and we stand. We cannot imagine ignoring Him, or faiing to know Him. Beoved of Nut, Father of Her chidren, He is the stabiity of the Earth under our feet, the strength of Earth peope in my part of the 21

23 Circe of Isis word may know better than most, because we can fee that tremendous strength when arge portions of the Earth move. When we cast a circe, we picture this God beneath us, as we picture Nut stretched above us, we are hed between Them, Mother and Father, Grandmother and Grandfather, safe, protected, and oved. There are those who have troube with the idea of an Earth God and a Sky Mother. An Earth Mother seems much easier to understand because it is in the Earth that we pant seeds to grow. Consider the Earth, however, as a seed in the womb of Nut, the Sky Mother. Why can t our panet be both Mother and Father? As compex as ife is, we d be fooish to restrict our ideas to one eve, to one point of view. The Gods are compex beyond our ken, and we must stretch to try to achieve that understanding. The very stretching is part of our deveopment whether we reach that understanding or not. With that in mind, spend some time seeing the Earth as Geb. I heartiy recommend this, because you wi come to know this gorious Lord, and He is worth knowing. You wi aso earn much about the Earth if you try to fee it as a Father. Try feeing it as both and see the difference. Striving to know Geb is more than an exercise. He is an aspect of the God many peope don t know for the very reason that we tend to gravitate toward the Earth Mother. He does exist. He is rea. He is of the Earth. He is of us, and we can t afford to ignore any part of ourseves, much ess any part of the Gods. Geb wi give you strength if you need it. He can bring you stabiity. You stand between His Body and that of his Beoved Lady, Nut, in the ove that fows between Them. Know that, stand there and fee that, and you wi never fee aone again. Honor Him by caring for the Earth. Send Him your ove when you see the towering ciffs. Fee His power rising up 22

24 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt through your feet. Lie on a huge bouder and fee His strength and His Love. Fee yoursef sinking into the Earth, surrounded by His gory. You never regret it. I never have. L Nut and Geb were overs, and as it happens when two ove, it came to pass that Nut found hersef with chid. What woud often be an occasion for rejoicing was here a potentia tragedy, for though the beoved of Nut was Geb, Lord of the Earth, the husband of Nut was Ra, Lord of the Sun! 23

25 Circe of Isis L Ra Brighty He shines the Goden One! Hai, Ra! Ruer of the Sun! Hoy One on high! Ruer of the Sky! Let your voices ring In praise of Ra, our King! Father in heaven, shining bright! Hai, Ra! Bring of the Light! Hoy One on high! Ruer of the Sky! Let your voices ring In praise of Ra, our King! Thou who art ife, a praise to Thee! Hai Ra! Ever Bessed Be! Hoy One on high! Ruer of the Sky! Let your voices ring In praise of Ra, our King! My first contact with Ra was not a peasant one. He was angry, and, athough I was not the object of His anger (thank goodness), it was a frightening experience. He s very powerfu, and I woud not want to be the one who causes His dispeasure. There had been, I m sorry to say, a sad incident in our community. A student in a group had been physicay abused. The incident horrified the rest of us not ony for her sake, but aso for the sake of the community as we as the Craft. Most members of our community were hard-working, devout Witches, and to have two group eaders use their office to abuse a student in 24

26 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt the name of the God and Goddess enraged and sickened us. The fact that they admitted the act and beieved they were perfecty within their rights to do what they d done was nauseating and frightening. The Craft has enough troubes without its members using it to exercise their own sicknesses in its name. That incident was not activey in my thoughts at the time, however. The weather had been overcast and damp unti that afternoon, but as I waked, the Sun was warm on my face, and I was singing Ra s name in my mind. Suddeny, I fet His Presence powerfu and angry and I heard, Now you ca my name? Yes, Lord, but... One of my chidren has been injured and you caed not my name? No, Lord, but... I wanted to say that the group invoved was Cetic, and it just hadn t occurred to me to ca upon this particuar Lord. I had aready caed upon Asar and Anpu, but I regret to say I hadn t thought to ca upon Ra. I was given very itte chance to say anything. My entire contribution to the conversation was Yes, Lord, but... and No, Lord, but... Know you not that a are my chidren? Yes, Lord, but... He proceeded to te me exacty what He fet about the matter, and what He intended to do about it. Apparenty, His actions woud not be immediate. They wi go through the darkness, He tod me, and it wi be terribe. But they wi ong for that darkness when they meet my fame! I confess to smiing at that moment. It was not, I m sure, a peasant smie. One of the probems of this situation was our hepessness, our inabiity to do anything. If the authorities were informed about the incident, the Craft woud be on tria, not the two peope invoved. Reaizing that, utimatey, these two woud pay for their act against their student, the Craft, and the 25

27 Circe of Isis Gods was a matter of deight to me. (There are times when I m not a very nice person.) Athough most of the community officiay dissociated with the coven (a few thought whatever they did was a right because the two peope said it was part of their tradition), we ve kept an eye on them. Nothing horribe has happened to them, but I have fu faith that they wi earn the essons needed when they face this Lord. What did I earn from this contact with Ra? Among other things, He is very protective of a of us, He is angered by those who hurt us, and that I woudn t want to be on His bad side. Ra represents the physica aspects of the Sun, those we can sense, specificay ight and heat. In the New Kingdom of Tamera, His name and attributes were combined with those of another Sun God, Amen, and caed Amen Ra. Whie I don t use this name, I understand the combination. Amen represents the invisibe aspects of the Sun, the utravioet rays and so forth, whie Ra represents the Sun that can be sensed, the ight, heat, and so forth. The Tamerans pictured Ra saiing across the sky in a barque, beginning the day as a youth and aging as the journey went on. Nut swaowed Him at sunset and gave birth to Him at dawn. There are many Sun deities in Tameran mythoogy. Groups or individuas who wish to work with Tameran deities just have to choose which they wi work with and see as the Sun. Sothistar uses four to represent the Sun both in its daiy and annua cyces. Khephera is the Sun at midnight and at Yue, both times of unseen beginnings. Heru sa Aset, the Younger, is the Sun at dawn and at Spring. Ra is the Sun at noon and Midsummer. Tum is the Sun at evening and Autumn. Ra, ike severa other deities, was often portrayed as a Hawk. This bird soars above a free, powerfu, and a-seeing. To some, Ra was (and is) the mightiest Lord of a. Athough he is not, to me, the High Lord, he has my respect and ove. 26

28 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt L Powerfu was the Sun in this ancient and, and powerfu Ra, so powerfu that when another Sun God, Amen, came to prominence, the Tamerans added Ra s name to His, for none coud ignore this mighty Lord. In His not totay unreasonabe anger, Ra pronounced a curse upon the chidren carried in the womb of the Lady. The chidren woud not, He procaimed, be born in any day of the year. Our story might have ended here, were it not for yet another God, Tehuti, Lord of Words, Lord of Wisdom, Inventor of hierogyphs, the wisest mage and teacher of a time. 27

29 Circe of Isis L Tehuti (Thoth) s Wisdom has wings. Wisdom can fy. Coud wisdom come to one such as I? Teacher of Gods, Teacher of kings. Oh, I woud earn from Thee, I woud earn wings. Head of an ibis, eyes of a sage, Wisest of a wise ones, hoiest mage. Teacher of Gods, Teacher of kings, Oh, I woud earn from Thee, I woud earn wings. Lord, hear my cry! Fee my heart reach! My ife is earning if you wi but teach! Teacher of Gods, Teacher of kings, Oh, I woud earn from Thee, I woud earn wings. It seems difficut, at first, to ook at the strange figure with a human body and a bird head with a ong, curved beak and hod any serious thoughts. It can seem aughabe to consider this figure the Lord of Wisdom. Yet, if you meditate upon Him, imagine Him standing before you in this form, ook into those eyes, and you wi not find Him udicrous. You wi be entranced by the wisdom, and, yes, humor, you find in those eyes of infinite depth. Knowedge, Wisdom, Words, Books, Science, Learning, Teaching a these are His, a these are represented by Him. He is aso ruer of knowedge beyond book earning. He hods the keys to the Greater Mysteries. Many beieve the hierogyphs are some of those keys. Tehuti is said to be the Inventor of this aphabet. 28

30 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Simiar to the many who beieve the Tarot deck is a book of knowedge hidden in symboism, many beieve that there is more to the hierogyphs than representation of sounds. The ancients caed this pictographic aphabet medu neter, words of the God. This name reveaed, as names often do, the feeings the Ancients had for their aphabet. I am sure there is much to be earned from their study. When we did a contact ritua on Tehuti, the words given to each of us were different. To me, He said, Teach what you teach. Prepare them for me. To another writer, He said, The papyrus on which I write must be fine and smooth; the brush we made; the ink finey ground. To a man invoved with computers, He said, There is information that must be in your memory banks before I can teach you. Athough each message was different, there was a thread that ran through a the messages. As someone at that meditation put it, that thread was Pardon me, but this is a graduate course. In order to earn the Greater Mysteries Tehuti can teach you, you must prepare to be ready for that knowedge. You must be worthy of His teachings. You must advance spirituay, strive for growth, reach for the knowedge you need. Tehuti wi, of course, hep you to achieve this. The important thing you must have is a sincere, sou-deep desire to earn and grow. Without it, no amount of study wi hep you. The desire is important, but remember, Tehuti is aso interested in your spiritua growth as we as your menta deveopment. He has so much to teach you, and he wi do whatever is necessary to hep you earn. In at east one case, His appearance changed to a form so that a specific person coud reate to Him better. One of my former students was a buegrass musician. Tehuti appeared to him wearing mirror shades and heped with musica arrangements. Funny? Maybe. Irreverent? Who am I to te a God how He sha appear? My student oved this God most deary. He had a persona reationship with Tehuti. That s the important thing. 29

31 Circe of Isis Tehuti was very specia to ancient scribes. Every morning, a scribe s first act was to make a ibation to this Lord by dropping a few drops from the water bow used for ink onto the ground. The current equivaent of a scribe might be a secretary, a bookkeeper, or a writer. I use a computer to write, and have no water bow from which to ibate. I make an offering from my first cup of coffee! For me, this beverage is a necessary working too. That may sound frivoous, but I make my ibation with a reverence, asking Tehuti to bess the work I am to do that day. I have never had the feeing He thought my act was irreverent. You needn t be a writer, secretary, or bookkeeper to honor Tehuti. You need ony have the desire to earn and grow, and the wiingness to work at achieving those things. Such hard work wi aways be rewarded by the Lord of Wisdom. As a teacher, I ca upon Tehuti often for his guidance in serving my students. This Lord is the greatest teacher of a, and He has heped me innumerabe times to teach and ead my students. Credit for any success my husband, Chris, and I have had must be shared with this Wise Lord. We coud not have done it without his hep. If you wish to earn from Tehuti, work hard and reach for His Knowedge. He can teach you so much more than any earthy teacher. This does not mean, if you have a human teacher, that what he or she has to offer is unimportant. Learn from your teacher, buid a foundation of knowedge, and then Tehuti wi teach you. His is not a basic course, it s an advanced one. 30 L One cannot be wise without being oving, and the wise and oving Tehuti took pity on our beautifu Goddess. He payed draughts with the Moon, and won one 70-second part of each day, creating five new days in the year. During these days, Nut gave birth to three sons and two daughters; Asar, Set, Her Ur, Aset, and Nebet Het.

32 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Asar (Osiris) y Osiris, Osiris, Osiris, Lord. Pharaoh of two ands, Hod us in your hands, Osiris, Lord. King of ife and death, Fi us with your breath Osiris, Lord. Hoy is thy name, Warm us with your fame Osiris, Lord. Ruer of the Nie, Touch us with your smie, Osiris, Lord. Osiris, Osiris, Osiris, Lord. Except for Aset, Asar is probaby the most widey known of the Egyptian Gods. He is aso one of the east understood, for most ony know one of His Aspects. We know Asar as the Lord of the Underword, as the Judge, because most of our information comes from tombs. Such writings are, of course, very much concerned with death and the afterife. We know Asar, the Judge, presided over the Weighing of the Heart, during which the heart of the deceased was weighed against the Feather of Maat, She Whose Name was Truth. 31

33 Circe of Isis If the resut was favorabe, perhaps the heart was as ight as the Feather, the deceased went to ive in the Fieds of Ra; if not, the deceased was turned over to Amit, the Eater of Hearts. These are the ideas portrayed on the wa paintings found in tombs. My view is a bit different. I beieve that shoud the deceased fai the test, it simpy meant that the sou had more work to do, and woud return to Earth for another incarnation. (This is just another way in which Sothistar s practices differ from the ancient traditions.) Asar is usuay depicted in mummy wrappings, wearing what is known as the atef crown. This is simiar to the White Crown of Upper Egypt, with the addition of a feather aong either side, and a sma sphere at the top. He hods the crook and fai, symbos of ruership. In some paintings, His skin is back. In Egyptian symboism, this coor represented the Underword and rebirth. It aso represented the back fertie earth deposited by the Nie. In others, His skin is shown as green because He was aso the Lord of Vegetation. With this attribution, we approach an aspect of the Lord that is sedom mentioned, and is the aspect that I cherish. As God of Vegetation, Asar woud, of course, represent the ife, death, and rebirth cyces of the grain and other pant ife. Asar, Judge, Lord of Death, is concerned with the dead, but remember, the dead are those who wi be reborn. In both aspects, Asar is the Lord of Life. The aspect I hod dear is Asar the King! I ve found ony one picture of Asar without the mummy wrappings in which he is usuay depicted. Even then, the picture did not even hint at the power of the God I have met in my meditations. I have seen Him, strong and bronze, soidy buit. His Face manages to be both beautifu and powerfu. In my vision He wore a nemyss and short kit of bue and god stripes, and a pectora of apis azui. His presence was so overpowering that 32

34 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt I fe to my knees, overcome, not by fear, but by awe. He was vita, vibrant, and inspired a devotion I was never abe to give His other aspect, however much I revered Him. This is the Asar adored and worshipped by our coven. This is our High Lord. There is nothing of the soemn judge in this aspect, but that is not to say He is frivoous. He is not a sweetness and ight. He is, after a, a king, and rues his peope in a way that is best for them, guiding and protecting them, and punishing wrong-doers. This is the meaning of the crook and fai with which is He is aways portrayed. The crook is a shepherd s crook, symboizing eadership. The fai symboizes His duty to punish those who do wrong. No ruer is worthy of the tite uness he or she is wiing to do both. Baance is the keystone of many reigions, incuding our own. These symbos can be hed by either aspect of the Lord, and the differences they might have when hed by one or the other are worthy of contempation. Take a moment, if you wi, to consider what these symbos woud mean if hed by Asar, the King. Now think what meanings they might have when hed by the Judge. Do you find differences? If so, what are they? Life and death: both are important, both are part of the cyce we recognize. Asar s death and rebirth are ceebrated time and time again in Tameran writings. Yet death and resurrection mean nothing if not preceded (and foowed) by ife. One of the most deightfu customs recognizing His function as Vegetation God was known as an Asar bed or a corn mummy. (Because corn as we known it in the United States is native to the Western Hemisphere, corn probaby meant bareycorn. ) This is a shaow container in the shape of Asar, fied with soi and panted with grain. Many have been found in tombs. At the proper season, the corn mummy woud be watered. The grain woud sprout and the God woud be reborn. 33

35 Circe of Isis If such containers were avaiabe today, I woud pant them in the Fa. It is at this time of year that the Goddess does Her panting; fruits fa from the trees, grain from the stak. Panting an Asar bed woud be a wonderfu thing to do during an Autumn rite. I woud water it at Yue to begin the rebirth. Asar is said to come from a star referred to ony as Orion. Oder astronomy books identify this as the midde star on the bet of the consteation of the same name. It is green. Betegeuse, the star at Orion s shouder, was attributed to Set, because it is red. It s interesting that this particuar consteation is invoved with Egyptian myths, because I ve aways fet a connection with it. And if you wi draw a ine from the top star in Orion s Bet through the midde star and keep going, you wi find the star Sirius, known to the Greeks as Sothis. The Tamerans said this was the home of Isis, and my coven is named after this star. Party because of the pectora Asar wore in my vision, I use apis azui for Asar. I have a ovey piece on the atar near His statue. This attribution comes not ony from a meditation on Asar, but aso one on Aset, when two of us were tod that apis beonged to Her Lord. There was a barey fied through which the Lord and I waked in my meditation, and that is where He spoke to me. Barey was grown in Egypt and used to make both bread and beer. The coven considered deveoping a recipe to make our own beer, but none of us have the proper skis. It isn t, however, necessary to make your own. Mat iquor wi serve as we. Mat is any grain (often barey) steeped, sprouted, and smoked, so mat iquor is very ikey simiar to barey beer. Another symbo of the Lord was a piar caed the tet, often caed Asar s backbone. It has the same sound as another Egyptian word meaning stabiity. This, too, coud be a part of the meaning of the symbo. No one seems to be certain. To me, it represents the stabiity and strength of the Lord. If it 34

36 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt is, as some beieve, the trunk of a tree, then the tree is mighty. It is a tree that withstands storms, earthquakes, the extremes of the seasons. Life arising from death, a wonderfu symbo of resurrection! Athough His Name is Asar, the hierogyphs that spe his name say something ese. The first symbo is an eye, ari, the second, a throne, ast or aset. Throne maker, or made by the throne? I don t know, but again, I m sure we can earn much from contempation. I am not forgetting Asar s other aspect, the Lord of Death and Resurrection, nor is He any ess beoved of our coven. I beieve the best way to te you about Him is to describe the events that heped us know and ove Him. In cass one night, we were discussing psychic gifts. After sitting quiety, with her thoughts apparenty turned inward, one of our students burst out, I have a taent that is a curse. I hep peope through the vei. When I was itte, I thought I was making them die. A curse! I cried. Oh, no, never. We gathered around her, reminding her that making it easy for someone to eave this ife, when it is time, was far from a curse. It meant that instead of eaving one s body in fear, one eft hoding her hand, ed to the Summerand by her bright, oving spirit. The student s expression showed her thoughts moving quicky, but she was sti not assured, unti I said, You take them to Asar. This is the work done by His Priests. She has one of those faces that are beautifu in repose, but shining when she smies. That gorious smie of hers said it a. She aready oved Asar, the King, with a her heart. How coud it be anything but joyfu to take someone to His Presence? She began to earn more of Asar, Lord of the Underword, bringing to that study the ove she aready had for His Aspect as King. And as she extended that ove to His other Aspect, so did the rest of us. You shoud hear her say His name. 35

37 Circe of Isis A short whie ago, we were asked to do a heaing for a ady. Barbara, who was a beoved friend of two of our members, was horriby i: she had cancer. Such work is aways preceded by meditation. For that reason, I knew, when we opened that circe, that we had to do more than physica heaing. The heaing was needed not ony on more than the physica pane, but it needed to extend to more than Barbara. We aso had to hea those who oved her. We woud do our best to hea the cancer, but it woud have been dishonest to ignore the possibiity that it was time for her to go. We did raise the heaing energy, and gave it to Barbara to use as she wied. We reminded a present that those who cross over go to the arms of the Lord and Lady. We gave her three stones and suggested that, whenever her time came, she try to have them near her. The first was an apache tear, for Anpu, the Guide. The second was a apis azui for Asar. The third was an azurite/maachite for Isis. Each of us took a itte of her pain, and gave back peace and heaing. Then I caed our Osiris priestess and put her hand in Barbara s, teing Barbara to remember the feeing of that hand and to ook for this priestess s beautifu face when the time came. We continued with our reguar ritua, and by the end of it, we were a aughing, incuding Barbara. Two weeks ater, Barbara crossed over, and our Osiris priestess ed her. Did our heaing rite fai? I think not. Her ast two weeks of ife were of higher quaity than they might have been otherwise with ess medication necessary and better seep, and she eft a pain wracked body without fear, ed by a oving hand, accompanied by our beautifu sister, Priestess of Asar. If you can understand and accept the above, you can accept and ove the Lord of the Underword. The important thing to remember is that the Lord of Death is sti the Lord of Life, 36

38 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt one who has experienced death and rebirth. When we die, He greets us, shows us what we have earned and have yet to earn, and gives us again to the Goddess, who gives us birth once more. Loving the Lord of Life makes it not ony easy, but necessary to ove the Lord of Death, for the dead are aso the unborn! L Ruing by his side, the Lady Aset, Sister, Wife, and Queen, Mistress of Magic, perhaps the most beautifu Goddess of a. Queen she was, and mighty in power, binding in beauty, and oving beyond a human understanding. 37

39 Circe of Isis L Aset (Isis) Seek you staright that sings? Seek you magic with wings? Woud augh and then cry? Seek you joy? Seek you joy? Seek you ove without end, Maiden, Mother, and Friend? Come with me, I wi show you my Lady. Woud your spirit unfod, Seeking wisdom untod? Woud you ook on a beauty That s binding to see? Are there words you woud know? Seek you power to grow? Come with me, I wi show you my ady. This Lady is the most difficut for me to write about. What? you say. Everyone knows about Aset. How can it be hard to write about Her? It is difficut because she is my Lady. I am Her Priestess. I have dedicated a my ife to Her and the work She wants me to do. She came into my ife and brought with Her purpose, direction, and meaning. You d think that woud make it easy to write about Her, but it doesn t. I can find no words that wi do Her justice, no dictionary or thesaurus contains them. I wi never fee I have succeeded in showing you Her Beauty, Her Magnificence, Her Power, Her Spendor, Her Love. 38

40 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Who is She? Mother, Worker of Magic, Creatrix, Queen, and Sister. She is usuay portrayed in one of three forms: wearing the Soar Crown, the throne that is Her name, or Her winged form. In Egypt, She was the epitome of oya wife, mother, and ruer. Don t et the term oya wife confuse you. We are not taking about the itte woman, or the woman behind the man who has no pace of her own. Aset s status was and is equa to that of Asar. When he traveed to teach the rest of the word, Aset rued Egypt. In our tradition, the Lord and Lady are given equa honor. Both Aset and Asar rued Tamera. Both are the height and heart of our coven. Those who had ost a oved one appeaed to Aset for comfort, for She knew their pain. Those who had suffered because of ove reached out to Her, as I did, those many years ago, for She understood. She defended her son against everything from scorpions to Set. Parents appeaed to Her for protection for their chidren. Those of any age who fet the need of a nurturing Mother turned to Her. I know. I have, and She hed me. My friend Wiie, aso a priestess of Isis, shares yet another aspect of Isis with us, the Goddess as friend. In 1977 I had been pagan for a coupe of years. Like a good Christian turned Pagan I worshiped and revered my Goddess from afar. I meditated, prayed, it candes to Her, but there was nothing persona in our reationship. One day I fe, nothing serious but bruises and ots of aches and pain. That night I just coudn t find a comfortabe position to seep. Finay, in desperation, I cried out, My friend, pease hep me! I heard aughter that hed a the music of the spheres and a gente voice fu of mirth saying, It s about time you caed me friend. A heaing warmth fied by body and my pain was gone. I was abe to fa aseep and when I awoke, so were a my bruises. 39

41 Circe of Isis Isis had et me stumbe around for a coupe of years unti I reaized that a reationship with Her is very much in-your-face persona. She doesn t want to be adored from afar, She wants to be a part of your daiy ife. To serve Isis you shoud not be on a eve where you are removed from Her as an untouchabe Deity to be petitioned and adored from afar, but as energies that are ived with, oved with, and aughed with on an intimate, daiy basis. Since then she has been my best friend and confidant. It is often said, usuay ruefuy, that the Gods have a sense of humor. Wiie has certainy earned that Isis does! Isis aso oves to augh and has a great sense of humor. A few years ago, my best friend asked me to dedicate his home to Isis. Severa nights ater I did the dedication and whie we were meditating I ooked up and there was Isis waking in through the door with two suitcases. She winked at me and said, I m here! This Lady has so many facets. She performed the greatest act of magic: She gave new ife to her murdered husband, at the same time conceiving their son, Heru. There are many paintings of Aset hovering over Her Love s body, fanning the breath of ife into Him with the wings of a bird. Some writers ca this bird a swaow, some, a kite. I suggest another possibiity, the African swaow-taied kite, a reative of the hawk. Like the hawk and the vuture, the kite is a captor, possessing taons that grab and hod. I can hear you now, Sweet ovey Aset, symboized by a predator? How can you? I can, and do. First, et me remind you that we are the anima kingdom s most voracious predators, and have no room to criticize others. Second, a ife feeds off other ife. The bird of prey hunts down its food and kis it. So does a swaow, athough its prey is usuay an insect, so to some, that makes it a right. An insect, even one we don t ike, is sti ive prey. 40

42 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt The kite gives a feeing of strength I do not find in a swaow. Aset is not a Southern Bee who gets the vapors when things become difficut. She is the epitome of woman, strong and powerfu, as we as beautifu. Her name, Aset, means throne, one of the symbos of a ruer. Without a throne, a king is not a king, nor a queen a queen. Without a throne, a seat, we stand aone on our two fragie feet. In a chair, we are stabe, supported, steady, hed. It is Aset who can make kings and queens of us, ift us heavenward. The crown she often wears is caed a soar crown, or horned crown. (You see Het Heret wearing it, too. Aset usuay has the vuture headdress on as we, whie Het Heret does not). The curved horns represent not ony the cow, a Mother symbo to the Egyptians, but aso the horns of the waxing and waning Moon. The disk in between, caed the soar disk, does represent a sun, but not our Sun. It represents Sirius, known as Sopdet to the Egyptians, and Sothis to the Greeks. Sirius is caed the sun behind the Sun, the source of its power. It is to our Sun, some say, as our Sun is to our Moon. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky and is easy to find, most of the year. Locate the consteation Orion, usuay identified by the three stars that make up his bet. You notice the third star to Orion s right is just a itte off ine from the other two. Start with the star farthest to your right (his eft) and draw a ine through the midde star. As you continue past (not through) the third star, you wi find Sirius. It is, as I said above, the brightest star in the heavens. If there is something brighter up there (besides the Moon), it is a panet or possiby a sateite. Legend has it that this star is the home of Aset. Another egend has it that Aset and Asar went to Sirius after They eft Earth. Our coven, Sothistar, is, of course, named in honor of that bright Sun. It is our inspiration, a physica symbo of our goa in ife. We seek to be bright and shining for Her sake, in Her honor, 41

43 Circe of Isis and to Her Gory. For us, it is as much a symbo of the Goddess as is the Moon. Sirius is a doube star. There s a subject for meditation for you! I use two stones for Aset. The first is azurite. It was a very precious stone in Egypt; its use was restricted to priests. The finest pieces ook ike bue-banded maachite. As a matter of fact, azurite and maachite are often found together. Another stone is chrysocoa, a beautifu stone of bue and green. Both of these attributions are the resut of meditation. In contact rituas or other meditations, we often ask the God or Goddess we are communing with if there are specia stones (or incenses, or chants, etc.), we shoud use as His or Her symbo. How do you use a stone for a God or Goddess? We often give such a stone to someone as a symbo of that deity. If a specia work is done that appies to a particuar deity, the right stone, charged for that purpose, woud be that much more effective. The Romans fe in ove with Aset, and took Her worship home with them, spreading Her fame even farther. A tempe of Aset has been found in Engand. Statues of Aset nursing Her son, Heru, may have inspired the many pictures of the Madonna and chid that came ater. A sma probem with using the Tameran Gods in our cuture was the ack of a sea deity. The Romans, however, saw Aset as a sea Goddess, and hed an annua ceremony in which their ships were bessed by the Goddess. Not everyone saw Her in Egyptian stye or dress. A beautifu description of Her can be found in Apeeius The Goden Asse. Many peope then (and now) saw Her as I do, the Goddess, the Lady in whom I find Nebet Het, Bast, Het Heret, Morrigan, Rhiannon, Freya, and a the other Ladies upon whom we have caed over the centuries. When we ca upon Her in Sothistar s rituas, we are 42

44 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt caing a the Goddesses, a the many aspects humankind has given form to, a the names by which the Lady has been caed over the centuries. Athough I wi probaby never fee any of my words wi ever do Her justice, I have found the words of another that are worthy of her. ISIS She ives in the endess murmuring of the sea or streams; geams and sparkes in the sheen of stones; aughs or whispers in the rustings of eaves and dwes in the gow of sunit things or the soft, sient shadows of the night. She is night and her chidren are the stars. She is Twiight...the Opening Between Words...and quiet becomings and growth in the secret recesses of the Earth. She ives in ove, aughter, wonderment and deight in women and men and can be found in anything that heps bring one to see Her ream and sway...existence...as a beautifu festiva of heaven and earth. She dwes in the sky as the siver sheen of the Four Fod Moon and its pae quiet ight; She is the spiny cooness of the air and the refreshing caresses of soft winds. She is the stark, gaunt majesty of the mountains and the green softness of his; She dwes in the wesprings of the sef where one goes to draw nourishment and strength for one s being. She ives in the sustaining and nourishing quaities of what one drinks, eats, or breathes, offering and giving of Hersef to preserve one aive; She is the sustainer of sous and the spirit of quiet, reentess sureness of sef; She is the Mistress of Mysteries and a amp in the darkness to a who woud seek Her and earn of Her ways. She can be as cod as ice and yet burn ike fire as She seeks to hep bring a to whoeness, competion, and transfiguration. She is the Womb of time and Being and a dwes in and as part of Her. Formay, She is the August Dweer at the 43

45 Circe of Isis Threshod, Mistress of the Luminous Darkness, Mistress of the Fieds of Heaven, Lady of Words of Power, Swift Huntress of the Sou, Throne of Being, the Spendid Light Who Veiest in Briiancy, Dweer in Stiness, Lady Who Opens the Year, Lady of Abundance, Lady of the Fieds, Lady of the West, Lady of the Mysterious Peace, Creatrix of Green Things, Queen of the Great House, Lady of Wid Things, Lady of the Dawn, Mother of the Goden Heru who Answered for His Father, Wife of Asar Miions of Years, Heaer of Broken Dreams, Protector of Anpu, Lady of Siver, Lady of the Endess Quiet Light, Opener of Life, Lady of Sience, Beoved in A Lands, Divine One, Ony One, Greatest of the Goddesses and Gods, Greatest of the Dweers in Nun, Femae Ra, Femae Horus, Eye of Ra, Lady of the New Year, Maker of Sunrise, Lady of Heaven, Light Giver of Heaven, Lady of the North Wind; Queen of Earth, Most Mighty One, Queen of the North and South, Lady of Warmth and Fire, Benefactor of the Other Word, Lady of Life, Lady of the Green Crops, Lady of Bread, Lady of Beer, Lady of Joy and Gadness, Lady of Love, Maker of Kings, Daughter of Geb, Daughter of Neb er Tcher, Chid of Nut, Wife of the Lord of Inundation, Giver of Life, Goddess of Fieds and Lands, Goddess of the Harvest, Mistress of Sience, Great Lady of the Other Words, Hidden Goddess, The Power of the Nie, Fertiity Through Waters, Goddess of the Gods Food, Transformer of Bodies into Bodies of Light, and Producer and Giver of Life. She dwes in the depths and heights of every being. If you ca to and from them, She wi answer you. If you prepare a pace within your heart for Her to dwe, She wi be iving within you. So wi a the other Goddess and Gods. Ron Myron, Church of the Eterna Source First printed in Khephera,

46 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt L Beoved was Asar, beoved was Aset, but Set, their brother was not beoved by many of the peope. They did not understand that his work that storm was as necessary to ife as peace, that breaking down was as much a part of nature as buiding up. Many did not see His Gory. 45

47 Circe of Isis L Set Ù 46 Comes the desert wind! Comes the desert storm! Comes the Lord of a whose time is at an end! And when the storm has passed The tempora wi be gone. Ony the eterna sha remain In his wake. Seek you now to grow? Seek you now to change? Seek you to be one with a eternity? Stand and face the winds And when the storm has passed Ony the eterna wi remain In his wake. If you are at a famiiar with Egyptian mythoogy, you wi reaize that I m teing you the story of Aset and Asar. If not, you are about to see things that wi portray this God as a murderer. Bad, nasty, evi Set! An Egyptian Satan! Now you know, as a good Pagan I can t accept that. We have no need for evi Gods. There must be more to it than that. Myths mean something beyond the story. I confess to you, I don t yet know the meaning of every part of the myth, but I do understand what Set represents. I ve tried to incude as few qabaistic references as possibe in this book,

48 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt because this text isn t about Qabaa, but I can t avoid it here. I hope this discussion wi make sense even if you don t have knowedge of the subject, but if you are interested in some background information, pease consut The Witches Qabaah (Weiser). In this story, Asar represents Chesed and his forces as the benevoent king, the king who nurtures civiization, who is patron of the arts, and who teaches agricuture to his peope. Set represents Geburah and its energies: the warrior king, wieder of the sword, and the surgeon with a scape. Both are necessary for baance. Another interpretation woud be to view Asar as the grain and Set as the harvester. The grain is cut, fas, and is scattered. Nurtured by the Air (Aset) and nourished by the Water (Nebet Het), it takes root and is reborn. Set wasn t aways considered a viain in Tamera. He was originay a desert and storm God. At various times throughout the beoved and s history, He was honored greaty, and not as an evi God. Even in a country as apparenty enightened as Tamera, there were peope who do not understand. There are many, even today, who fee any event or experience that is painfu or difficut must be the resut of evi. Astroogicay, the essons Mars and Saturn have to teach can be very hard, very painfu, and some sti refer to these as maefic panets. Pagans, however, have earned that the essons are usuay hard, and hard times are usuay essons. We have earned that the cyce of ife incudes death, and that death is necessary for rebirth. We have come to understand that breaking down is as much a part of ife as buiding up. Asar was the grain, and the grain must be cut down if it is to spring up anew. Aset gathered the grain, panted it, nurtured it, and gave it ife again. That which Asar had to give was then given to the word. 47

49 Circe of Isis We may not ike storms, but the Earth is often the better for their passing. The windstorms where I ive are frightening, but when they pass, the air is cean, dead eaves are bown from the trees, and much of the dust and dirt is gone. I have seen a pot, back with decades of use, made bright again by sand basting. Without scouring pads, we d never get some things cean. That which Set takes away is never essentia. He removes ony the tempora, ony the unnecessary, ony the obstaces to growth. It is our cinging to those things that make the cutting away painfu. We cannot ove and honor Asar without oving and honoring Set. He is not easy to ove, but earning to do so can be a giant step forward in your growth. Once you have earned to accept Him, you wi find Him gorious! L Set of the Red Hair, Lord of Storm, envied His brother the ove of the peope, and in His own home, Set found more reason for envy, for the eyes of his wife and sister, Nebet Het, gazed upon Asar with such ove that Set became enraged. 48

50 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt L Nebet Het (Nephthys) I am the darkness of the womb I am thoughtfu sience. I am the stiness of the tomb. I am thoughtfu sience. I am the staright in the night. I am thoughtfu sience. Soft the sound of wings in fight. I am thoughtfu sience. I am the chorus of the breeze. I am thoughtfu sience. Whispered winds thought imbs of trees I am thoughtfu sience. (Used by permission from Caro N. Hart) This ady appears in many wa paintings and is mentioned in many writings, and yet we know itte about Her. She is the sister of Aset and Asar, wife to Set, Mother of Anpu. Her name means Lady of the House. She assisted Aset in the magica work done to resurrect Asar. A this does not te us who She is. When I determined to earn more, I was constanty frustrated. Book after book said itte more than I ve aready written. So, I foowed my own advice and used one of the methods I described earier. I chanted, Oh, Nebet Het, teach me of Thee. The foowing was the answer. Chid, if you woud seek me, seek me not. I am that which is not what it seems to be. By misdirection, do I teach. I am the unseen. 49

51 Circe of Isis I work with Her since has shown me who She is, at east as much as I can understand. Her energy seemed famiiar to me, yet was different. She is the dark side of the Moon; not the dark of the Moon, the dark side of the Moon. It is there, it is part of the whoe, it is an integra part of the Moon, and we never see it. Who is She? Once, I said she was Aset, a esser known side. But I ve earned that a the Gods and Goddesses are so individua that I can no onger say that. Yes, they are cosey reated, they are sisters. In a I ve earned about both adies, I find them connected. Aset is the siver Moon; Nebet Het is the dark side of the Moon. Aset is magic; Nebet Het is mystery. Lecturing is an Aset form of teaching. Guided meditations are Nebet Het s stye. How can we earn more of Her? I don t know. I don t think you can reach for Her. I think She must come to you. I think She comes more often than we know. I think most of the things we earn indirecty are from Her. In the movie Karate Kid, the young hero is taking karate essons from an oder man. He is given work washing and waxing cars, varnishing fences, sanding a foor, and painting a house. Each job had to be done with very specific movements. When the boy finay objects, his teacher shows him that in the course of his performing the chores, certain movements had become second nature, movements that are a part of the martia art. That s Nebet Het. When we suddeny reaize that something we ve earned has proved usefu in a totay unexpected way, that s Nebet Het. When we discover we ve earned something by some way other than direct study, that s Nebet Het. Her Presence in a ritua can be confusing because it is so ike that of Aset, and yet so different. (Some ca her the Dark Aset.) I had a phone ca the other day from a High Priestess of another coven who asked if we worked with this Lady. Upon 50

52 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt my answering positivey (or Positivey! ), she described an aspect they d experienced in a Moon rite recenty. The Lady had been indirect, independent, and the resuts of Her words and actions turned out to be very different from what was expected. That s Her! I said. Athough Asar and Aset are High Lord and High Lady of Sothistar, and those who reach Second Degree wi be Their High Priest or High Priestess, members of Sothistar may aso make specia dedications at First, or thereafter. Choosing (or being chosen by) a deity to dedicate yoursef to can be a joyfu experience, ike being in ove. But it shoud not be taken ighty. With the approach of her First Degree initiation, one of our peope was sti unsure whom she d make a dedication to, if anyone. She was drawn to Aset, but fet in her heart that wasn t quite right. She didn t know. We did an aspect of Nebet Het in which I served as the vesse. As I/She stood in front of this particuar student, I found mysef unabe to speak the thoughts that were coming to me. The thoughts were very cear Nebet Het was caiming this woman as Her Priestess but I just coud not get the words out of my mouth. After the ritua, we discussed the aspect and when the woman spoke, I earned it hadn t been necessary for me to speak. She and the Goddess had been having a conversation as I stood there and she now knew she woud be a Priestess of Nebet Het. You can ca upon Nebet Het if you wish something to be hidden, especiay if you can t secrete it anywhere. You can ca upon Her to hep you teach in Her Manner. Am I being obscure? It isn t deiberate, I assure you. It s the Nature of this Lady. Because I am dedicated to Aset, I know I must earn to know this Lady better. I am spending, and wi continue to spend, 51

53 Circe of Isis a great dea of time earning about Her. The more I earn of Her, the more I ove Her, and, as you know, oving a God or Goddess is aways a joy. L It is said, in egend, that Nebet Het and Asar were overs. Some say the Goddess deceived the Lord by taking on the ikeness of Aset. Others say, Asar knew. And many say that Aset knew of the union, and in her boundess ove, bessed the joining. A chid was born to Nebet Het, a chid of hidden ight, Anpu, Guardian of the Underword, Guide of Sous; Anpu, the Observer; Anpu, the Jacka; Anpu, the Chaenger. 52

54 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Anpu (Anubis) Do you dare to wak the hidden ways? Do you dare to wak the hidden ways? Do you dare to face the jacka? Do you dare to face the jacka? Do you dare to wak the hidden ways? Do you dare to face the hidden truth? Do you dare to face the hidden truth? Do you dare to face the jacka? Do you dare to face the jacka? Do you dare to face the hidden truth? Ó Jackas: scavengers, night prowers, atogether nasty animas, right? And you probaby aren t going to isten to any tak about the necessity of scavengers in the scheme of things. Did you know that jackas are as often hunters as scavengers? That they usuay mate for ife? That they have a very strong famiy unit? It s true. It is not unusua for haf-grown pups to babysit whie the parents are hunting. I ve seen fims of two young jackas taking on a hyena five times their size to protect their younger brothers and sisters. Loyaty and courage are not such horribe quaities, are they? Instead, they set a standard often hard to ive up to, a standard that can present quite a chaenge. Anpu is the Guardian, the Guide, the Chaenger, the Dark Lord. To pass His chaenge you must be possessed of courage. You must be ready to face Him steadfasty, or you wi not earn the tremendous amount He has to teach. 53

55 Circe of Isis Anpu is the son of Asar and Nebet Het. He assists His Father, the Judge, in the Weighing of the Heart, yet another chaenge. It is He who serves as a guide through the Underword jackas are very good in the dark. I ve gotten to know Anpu quite we. My husband and High Priest, Chris, is His Priest. Athough Chris was chosen by Anpu rather than the other way around, the association is certainy appropriate. Chris has an unerring sense about peope. If there is something wrong about a person, he knows it. He is the ony person in our coven who can veto the entrance of a potentia student. Chris was, for a ong time, the Guardian of our coven. A priest of Anpu is most appropriate for this office. Future Guardians may not be Priests of Anpu, but they wi certainy be required to have a persona reationship with this God. According to some sources, the priest/esses of Anpu were the true-seers. We are tod that ying was an anathema to this Lord. Anpu is an observer, a reporter. In a meditation, He once said to me, If you are afraid, reach out into the darkness. Fee the darkness gather around your hand, and I wi remove you from your fear. He does not remove your fear from you, but removes you from your fear, etting you step back and view it objectivey, so that you can do what you must to hande the situation. If he removed your fear, you woud not necessariy be abe to do that. Lack of fear is not courage. There are times when not being afraid woud be stupid. Courage is being afraid and going ahead and doing what you must. There is a big difference. His stone is an apache tear, a form of obsidian that appears opaque unti it is hed up against the ight. Its effects are somewhat genter than obsidian, but they can sti be difficut to dea with; obsidian wi te you the truth, aways, and we are not aways ready to face the truth. 54

56 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Some years ago, we had a teacher in our community who shared her knowedge about crystas and stones. From her, I earned most of what I know about the subject. It was she who taught us that obsidian must be worked with carefuy, and that not everyone is ready to work with it. Naturay, ots of peope were absoutey sure they were worthy and ready and mature, and they rushed out to buy obsidian bas without giving it a second thought. Some of them were ready, but most of them weren t. How do I know that? I coud see the effects. Because they weren t ready, they didn t beieve the things the stone had tod them, and a ot of things happened in their ives to show that they were doing anything they coud to ignore the truth. We ve worked with His protective aspect more than once. Our community had some probems with certain members sending out negativity. We needed to protect our homes and ourseves from that. With the hep of Anpu, four of us charged some apache tears with a very specia purpose: They were charged to rebound any negativity sent toward us, and to turn any negativity we might inadvertenty send out into ove and ight. We gave the stones to anyone who might be a target of the negativity. We a carried them and severa were paced around various homes. A week ater, the woman we beieved to be the source of the negativity started compaining that some opas she owned had become fu of negative feeings. She coudn t understand it. (Three of those apache tears were in the pockets of peope standing around her at the moment.) I earned ater that she and her students worked for weeks to trace the negativity back to its source, to see who was sending it. Naturay, they faied, because she was the source. If you are unfamiiar with the ethics of magica practice, you may have earned a thing or two from this story. We did not attack. That woud have been a mistake. More than once 55

57 Circe of Isis I ve beieved the source of a probem was a particuar person and I was wrong. If I had performed a spe against that person, I woud have been doing the wrong thing. We simpy sent the negativity back to its source, and prevented any negativity from getting out. The woman received back ony what she had sent. Another protection we received from Anpu had to do with our home. We d been burgarized severa times, and were, understandaby, a itte tired of it. I took a suggestion from Murray Hope s Practica Egyptian Magic, and every day when I eft the house, I woud say, Lord Anpu, pease guard our home. After about a month, as I was eaving the house, I repeated the prayer as usua, and heard very distincty, I m guarding aready! From that day on, I simpy thanked him for guarding us. One possibiity mentioned in Hope s book certainy occurred more than once at our house, and at the houses of others who have asked the same protection. Back dogs started showing up, not every day, but often enough to be noticeabe, dogs we d never seen before...and haven t seen since. Athough the jacka is the anima normay attributed to Anpu, and the one that is, as I have shown, most appropriate, there is some question among archaeoogists as to whether this is correct. They see him as a dog, a wof, or a jacka. When Anpu came to my husband in meditations, he came as both jacka and wof. There is another deity, Apuat, portrayed exacty as Anpu except that He is coored gray instead of back. He was the High God in a city the Greeks caed Lycopois, City of the Wof. Both jacka and wof have undeserved reputations. Athough I ove the jacka, you might be more comfortabe working with the wof first. As a note: when you are doing magica work or meditation with any anima, you shoud first earn everything about that anima, not just symboogy connected with it, but everything you can earn about it in its day-to-day ife; its food, habits, and prey. 56

58 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt You have nothing to fear from Anpu if you are ready to wak the hidden ways, if you are ready to face the hidden truths, if you have courage. Passing His chaenge is reason to be proud. If you are not yet ready, however, there is no reason to be ashamed. You wi aways have another chance. And when you are ready, and do pass the chaenge, you wi make an amazing discovery: Anpu isn t back and snaring at a. He is shining god! L Set coud bear no more, and the Lord of Storm conceived a pan. He caed to his presence the craftsmen of greatest ski. To them he gave this order: Buid a sarcophagus suitabe for the body of a God. Buid it of the finest woods, inay it with the most precious jewes, gid it with the purest god. Buid it, he ordered, to the exact dimensions of the King. When the sarcophagus was competed, Set hed a banquet in Asar s honor. There was music, and dance, and a gorious feast. When the feast was over, Set announced a contest. He reveaed the gorious sarcophagus, worthy of a God, and procaimed to whosoever fit it exacty woud receive it as a gift. One by one, those at the banquet ay down in the coffin, and one by one each rose again, for a were too ta, or too short, too thin, or too fat, too narrow of shouder, or too wide of hip. The ast to enter the sarcophagus was Asar, Lord of Tamera. He had ony time to discover the perfect fit when Set and his henchmen fe upon the sarcophagus, cosed it, and seaed it with ead, imprisoning the King. Together, Set and his conspirators carried the coffin out of the banquet ha, and hidden by the dark of night, took it down to the river and paced it in the water, where it foated away into the dark night. 57

59 Circe of Isis Word came to Aset of the death of her Lord and Love, and she cried out in pain. As was the custom, she tore her hair, rent her garments, and mourned. Mourn, my country, mourn, The King is gone. The King is gone. Weep, my country weep, for the King. She caed out to her sister, Nebet Het, who mourned with her. Mourn, my sister, mourn, Our brother s gone, our brother s gone. Weep, my sister, weep, for our brother! Together they cried out in grief to their mother. Mourn, oh, Mother, mourn, Your son is gone! Your son is gone. Weep, my mother weep, for your son. And Nut added her voice to theirs as they caed to the and of Tamera. Mourn, beoved and. Our Lord is gone, our ord is gone. Weep, Tamera, weep, for our Lord, For my son, For our brother, For my ove. The grieving Goddess searched, and in the and of Bybos, found her Lord. Hiding the body in the swamps, Aset sought assistance. In her absence, however, Set, hunting in the swamp, discovered the body. In a furor, he dismembered the corpse of his brother, and with his gody strength, scattered the pieces throughout the Earth. 58

60 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Returning to the swamp, the Lady of Magic behed an empty sarcophagus, earned of Set s actions, and set out once more to recover the body of her husband, this time piece by cherished piece. She traveed the word she knew, and words she did not know, and one by one, she retrieved the parts of her murdered Lord. At the site of each piece she recovered, she buit a tempe to the gory and remembrance of her King, that a in that country woud know, remember, and revere Asar. A she found, a but one, and that she repaced with a member carved of sacred sycamore. She took the body of her husband back to the beoved and, hid it once again, and sent out a ca for hep. Nebet Het came, and her son, Anpu, and Nut, Mother of the Gods. Wife, sister, son, and mother gathered together to perform a rite that was to be reenacted through a the ages of the beoved and. Genty, they assembed the body of Asar. With the sweetest of herbs, the most fragrant of spices, they perfumed it; in the finest of inen, they wrapped their Lord. Then Aset and Nebet Het stood, one at the foot and one at the head of Asar, they caed to their brother. Come back, come back, O beautifu boy. Come home to those who ove thee. Come back! Come back! Beoved of a, To those who wait in mourning. Come to thy sister, come to thy wife, And bring the joy back into ife! Come to thy house And ease the pain 59

61 Circe of Isis Oh, et our tears not be in vain! Come back! Come back! O beautifu boy. Come home to those Who ove thee, who mourn thee, who ca. But Aset was Mistress of Magic, and she had further work to do, further spes to cast. Her power was great, and made greater sti for the onging she fet for her Lord. Chanting her ancient magics, she transformed hersef into a swaow-taied kite, spread her wings, and hovered over her husband. Performing the greatest enchantment of a, she brought ife anew to Asar, and at the same time conceived their son, Heru the Younger, Heru the Hawk, Heru sa Aset, sa Asar. 60

62 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Heru, sa Aset (Horus, Son of Isis) \ Heru! Heru! Young Lord, Bright Lord, Heru! Heru, Heru. Lord of Morning, Heru! Heru, Heru. Born of Aset, Heru! Heru! Heru! Son of Asar, Heru! Heru! Heru! Hawk of Heaven! Heru! Heru! Heru! Heh! Chid of Aset and Asar, conceived after Asar s death, Heru has many aspects. He is pictured as a youth with his finger to his ips, as a hawk wearing the doube crown, and as a man with a hawk s head. More than one deity was symboized by the hawk, and I have no troube understanding why. I ive on a hi overooking the San Fernando Vaey. One of the deights of iving here is the variety of birds we didn t see when we ived in the vaey. Instead of pigeons and sparrows, we see quai, roadrunners, mockingbirds, ravens, ows, and, of course, hawks. The majority of them are red tais, but now and then we see a gimpse of a kestre and more often we hear that itte hawk procaiming its own majesty. 61

63 Circe of Isis My desk is near the patio door and I can ook out over the vaey. Many times, I ve totay ost track of my work because I ganced out and saw a hawk, hovering in pace, or soaring across the sky. I swear by a that is hoy that I saw one perform a chandee (a specific fying stunt usuay performed ony by airpanes) twice! I have witnesses! I ve been known to pu over to the side of the road to watch hawks. There is something about their beauty and power that enchants me. I ca to them with my ove, and sing Heru! hoping they hear and know my feeings. I am exuted in their presence and ifted away from the mundane word. I ong to soar with the hawks. I thirst for their freedom, their strength, their speed, their vision. Oh, yes, it is very easy for me to see in the hawk an image of the God. My friend, Rick, who is dedicated to Heru, shared his experiences with me. 62 My first encounter with my Father, Brother, and Friend Heru was when I was 16 years od. Athough my Lord did not come to me in form, name, or His specific Aspect, He did come to me in the form of an epiphany. That was the time that I discovered that I was not faiing the deity by my strange forms of devotion, my observance of the natura cyces of ife and connecting them with the deity. I saw the principes of Union of the poarities, strength of conviction, and devotion to truth. I mean that I fet those things in my worship and work. That the work I was doing during my periods of petition (prayer) and meditation were the highest forms of practices in the Craft. Fifteen years ater, I had deveoped my Craft and my choice of spiritua path. I was coming of age during a very dark period of ife and wondering about my future as many peope do during their more formative years. It was amazing that I coud find a pace to sit

64 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt quiety and just be there. I found that pace emotionay whie inspired to sit at the very edge of a ciff at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. A bird of prey (athough not a facon) that today I am convinced was a direct representation of Heru few toward me at eye eve. I was abe to maintain a state of consciousness that aowed me to observe the bird physicay and, on another eve, join the bird in fight. It was the most awesome experience of my ife. That moment, sharing the coo upift of the air and the warm Sun shining on us a. It was then that Heru showed me the beauty of ife its awesome spendor. He made it cear that He is the Sun God. His reign is one over the two Reams because the baance tipped in his favor. And he united the two Reams and made them one. Two aways make one. That was his gift to me: a persona esson that brought much carity to me. And when I was having troube deaing with my mother s i heath just a few months ago, I shared my passionate distaste for her suffering with the Gods. Over the years I have deveoped a sincere friendship and ove of the Aspects, so my diaog with them became ess forma. When I succumbed to the natura human emotion of anger He came to me again, with his brother, Anubis; his Mother, Isis; and his Father, Osiris. I was reminded again of the time we few together: the heat of the Sun and the cooing wind under our wings. I thought, after having that visit, that it is the management of my emotions, whie not denying them, that makes the passing grade and the stuff of our word come into focus. Rick s prayer to Heru is one we can a use. 63

65 Circe of Isis Heru, your ight shines brighty over the mysteries. It is ony for us to open our eyes and focus on them for us to earn and understand. So mote it be! Both the peregrine facon and the kestre bear eye markings, which are said to be the source of the we-known Eye of Horus. They are used not ony to represent Heru, but as a protective symbo as we. Hawks have incredibe eyesight and can spot a mouse running through a fied from hundreds of feet in the sky. When a hawk stoops feet first to capture its prey, it can go at speeds of more than 30 mies an hour. Are you feeing sorry for the mouse? Am I going to have to give my ecture on predators again? I won t do it. I ve aready done so, at ength, in the section on Aset. You must understand that predators are a part of ife. You are a predator. Many of the word s most magnificent animas are predators. One of the reasons I feed the various sparrows and finches that ive in my area is the hope that they provide food for the hawks and ows. If you don t ike that, I m sorry. If you ve ever communed with a hawk, I don t think you d care what they eat. Heru is the God who is most easiy reached because He symboizes the deity within. As the chid of the God and Goddess, He represents each of us. If you ever have troube contacting any deity, start with Heru, become the hawk, and soar to the heavens. From there, it is a simpe matter to reach other Gods. Heru is aso known as the Avenger, referring to the batte He fought with Set to revenge His father s death and recaim His father s throne. (The harvested grain springs anew.) For us, He represents the Dawn and the Spring, both new Suns. 64

66 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt I often speak of Gods and Goddesses who are impersona, who are not so much interested in the temporary, this ifetime you as in the eterna you. Heru is not one of these, He is a very persona God. How much more persona can you get than a God who is you? Do you wish to know this Lord? Then ook inside your own heart and find the hawk that soars in the vast spaces that are inside you. Find the hawk, find the gory that He is, and you wi find the gory that you are. You wi earn how to fy. L Heru grew to manhood and chaenged Set, who had occupied the throne of Tamera. A great batte took pace, witnessed by a the Gods and Goddesses known to the peope of the beoved and. Among them were those who have no other part in this story, but, because we ove them, cannot be ignored. There was the Lady of Maachite, Patroness of the Arts, she of the Horned Crown. 65

67 Circe of Isis L 66 Het Heret (Hat Hor) Roots, reaching into the earth, Down to the depths of the earth, Life springing from the word s heart My Lady Het Heret, Thou art Trees, reaching up to the sky. Trees, with their imbs in the sky, Stars nested sweet on Thy bough, My Lady Het Heret, art Thou. The first feeing you get from Her presence is that of strength; not rock-hard immovabe strength, but that found in nourishment, in an eterna never-ending source of ife itsef. The Tamerans symboized this by depicting Het Heret as a cow, or, when she is in human form, with a crown bearing horns. In meditation, I asked Her what stone shoud be used to represent Her. She said, Hod a stone in your hand. If it says to you eternity, if it says strength, it is my stone. If any stone says that to you, it wi work, but for me, there is a specific one: maachite. And as I found out ater, Het Heret has been caed Lady of Maachite. Many of the arts beong to this beautifu Goddess, but not a. The ones that do may be any art form, if they come from the we springs of the sou. (The words are Hers.) This woud seem to me to incude most inspired works in any form of expression and any work that expressed a heart-fet emotion. Het Heret means House of Heaven, or House of the Sky. You wi aso see Her name speed Het Heru, which

68 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt transates as House of Heru. I prefer the first. If one uses the second, however, I beieve it woud refer to a God known as Her Ur (Horus the Eder), rather than Heru, son of Aset and Asar. A symbo often connected with Het Heret is the menat, a neckace of severa strands of beads gathered into a counterpoise. This is often shown being carried rather than worn, as a Cathoic might carry a rosary. In at east one picture, a priestess of Het Heret is shown wearing the neckace, ifting the front as if to offer it to the Goddess. Most of my references refer to it as a symbo of happiness and/or a symbo of divine heaing. Very itte ese is said. Archaeoogists are probaby very nice peope, and no one can deny the vaue of the work they do, but they might miss something because they are not foowing a magica path. (If you are an archaeoogist foowing a magica path, I apoogize, and I d ove to tak to you.) I ve found that most of the ideas we ve gained from study and meditation do not so much contradict what the schoars and archaeoogists have said, but ampify it. My meditations on the menat have resuted in two things the menat coud symboize. If you have ever worn a heavy neckace or pendant, you know how the weight is fet against the back of your neck, and can appreciate how much better it woud have been if you d had a counterweight. Instead of a the weight being hed by your neck, the neckace woud sit on your shouders: it woud be baanced. The Craft, qabaism, ceremonia magic many paths recognize the vaue of baance in everything. Happiness can be the resut of baance in your ife. The first thing you do when you are performing a heaing on someone is to baance the energies of his or her body. Het Heret possesses many attributes that seem to be in opposition Tree Goddess and Sky Goddess, Fertiity and Music but what She truy represents is baance in a things. Her Strength reaches from the depths of the Earth to the farthest reaches of the stars. 67

69 Circe of Isis My meditations have produced another reason for the menat. The counterpoise was usuay smaer than the beads in the front, and even if the size matched, the counterpoise was hidden in the back. This makes me think of a the hidden truths, a the Mysteries that cannot be taught, written in books, or tod in ectures. They are every bit as important (have as much weight) as the things that can be earned in norma ways. Whether the menat had this meaning for the Tamerans, I have no way of knowing. I do know this fees right in my gut, and that s often the ony way I know to judge the rightness of anything. Because it fees right, the menat has these meanings for us in Sothistar. Whether hed or worn, presenting the menat and a its hidden symboism woud be an offering of your efforts to strive toward baance and/or to seek the hidden knowedge. I ca upon this beautifu Goddess when I am writing a song or a poem, and even when I m writing books. My writing needs sou-deep inspiration if I want my words to reach others deepy. (I am caing upon Her now.) When we dance in a ritua, especiay for the purpose of raising power, our feet strike the Earth giving energy to it, and energy rises in response, fiing us, adding to our own energy, unti we are ready to send the power where we wi, to hea or teach or hep. From the depths of the Earth, through the sky as we send that energy to its goa, a of that is Het Heret. She is a gorious Lady, but then a of Them are! L Aso attending was the Cat Goddess, Dark Lady, with eyes of goden Fame. 68

70 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Bast Lady of the midnight fire, Maubast. Grant to us our heart s desire, Maubast. Lady, if you wi it so, Hep us earn what we must know If our spirits are to grow, Maubast! Cat with eyes of goden fame, Maubast. Hear us as we ca thy name, Maubast. To our waiting hearts appear Hear us caing, Lady, Hear! Might Goddess be ye near, Maubast. à You wi often see this Goddess caed Bastet. This comes from a writing custom of the Tamerans. When a symbo such as the one above represented the whoe name, they woud repeat the fina etter of the name. Thus, Bast is often written with the symbo above foowed by a haf circe, the oaf, representing the etter T. It is possibe for you to skip this chapter and earn of Bast a by yoursef. You can do so by using a chant I received from Her in meditation. It s very simpe, there are ony two words. MAU BAST. (Mau is the Tameran word for cat. ) 69

71 Circe of Isis The words are chanted in a monotone, with the sound of each etter drawn out as much as possibe: M M M M M M M M A A A A A A A A A U U U U U U UU BBBBBBBBAAAAAAAASSSSSSSST. My coven has used this on severa occasions and it has never faied to resut in Her Presence, in cat form and about 18' ta. I spoke earier of a mantra meditation I did on Bast and promised I woud give further detais. As I said, I was chanting, O Lady Bast, teach me of Thee, when I heard in my head, SILENCE. I stopped my menta chant and tried hard not even to think. I heard,...is my name. In sience sha I be heard. For a time, I simpy noted the fee of Her presence. That feeing was probaby not what you woud have expected, for Bast is not a cuddy kitten or an affectionate house cat, She is a Dark Lady. In the Craft, Dark Ladies are usuay referred to as Crones or Hags. Often, they are portrayed as od women, but Crones, Dark Ladies, are not necessariy od. In our haway we have a gorious picture of Hecate in which the Lady is pictured as young and vouptuous, and every inch a Dark Lady. They are found in many traditions, in many pantheons. Among the best known are Hecate, the Morrigan, and Kai. If I say that I ove and adore these Ladies with a my heart, what is your reaction? Are you horrified? Are you frightened? If I started to invoke Hecate, woud you run from the room? Do you think They are evi, mean, and nasty? If you do fee that way, you are certainy not aone, but if you continue to fee that way, you never earn much. Those who refuse to dea with the Dark Ladies (and Dark Lords) are usuay those who fee any event that is difficut or painfu is bad, and evi. They are mistaken. Where is it written that a your essons are easy ones? The important ones never are! Never! 70

72 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Probems that are easiy soved are easy because you aready had the knowedge to sove them. Hard essons require earning that s what makes them hard! The most difficut of these essons come from Dark Ladies and Dark Lords. Mother Goddesses wi teach you tabe manners. They wi hod you and comfort you, and when you make a mistake, They wi stroke your hair and say, My daring, perhaps you shoud consider that you might have handed the situation another way. Dark Ladies wi hit you on the head with a 2 x 4 (just to get your attention) and say Hey! You screwed up! Fix it! They wi not codde or baby you. They wi ca a spade a spade, and they wi te you the truth, whether you want to hear it or not, and they wi teach you the Mysteries of the Universe! The most fascinating thing about these Goddesses (and Gods) is the devotion They inspire in those who come to know Them. If you come to know any of Them, you understand, and the devotion you fee wi be inspired by ove, not fear. To get back to Bast, and my experience with Her. I reaized very quicky that I was deaing with a Dark Lady. I had been asked once what Goddess of another pantheon woud I compare Bast to, and out of my mouth came, Hecate. I asked Bast if this had been accurate. Yes, came the answer, but I am goden, where She is siver. Hecate is unar; Bast, soar. I then asked if, as we beieved, the cat was the proper anima to connect with Her. Again, She agreed, but pointed out that it was not the domestic cat, but one I have heard caed a junge cat. (Very probaby one of the African wid cats, possiby feis capensis.) When I receive information in such a meditation, I do not accept it as fact without verification. I make a note of it, and either research, where possibe, or wait and see what surfaces 71

73 Circe of Isis ater. My research reveaed that the domestic cat was not known in Egypt unti the 12th Dynasty. If you wi ook at the statues from earier dynasties, you can note the differences: onger ears and onger egs, for exampe. The Lady said one other thing on the animas that are connected to her. Amost as an aside she said,...except in another and, where it is the wof. I ater earned of a egend in which Hecate shape-changed into a wof. There are reasons why animas were chosen by the ancients to represent the deities. Consider the cat for a moment. Some peope don t ike cats. (There was a time when I didn t.) An adut cat is aoof, and chooses the time when, pace where, and recipient to whom they bestow affection. You can be honored when a cat is affectionate to you. No one owns a cat. Cats are swift, sient, and deady to their prey, yet they are warm and oving mothers, and very protective. We once caed upon Bast, using the chant described earier, to ask Her hep. Some sub-humans had tied a firecracker to the tai of a friend s cat. The poor anima was in pain, and so terrified that he woud not come out of hiding to et his owners treat the injury. We were outside, when the Moon was dark, as we chanted. At the same moment, we a became aware of a darker area in the surrounding darkness. What we saw/ fet was about 18' of cat, and ots of teeth and eyes. The first words out of my mouth were, Wait a minute, Lady! We didn t do it. We were extremey gad we hadn t. What does this say about Bast? Athough she is a Dark Lady, she is aso a Mother Goddess; oving and protective. She is not, however, a Mommy. Her chidren are as quicky corrected when they misbehave as they woud be protected when they wander into danger. When she is in Mother mode, however, she has been known to purr! Bast, in Her human body form, is often shown hoding a sistrum. Because of this, she is sometimes considered a patron 72

74 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt of the arts. Her response to my inquiry about this was that the arts beonged to Het Heret. The sistrum was used to get Her (Bast s) attention. This fits in with my feeings that the anima-headed, human body form originay represented a priest or priestess. If this is indeed the case, the cothes such a figure woud have been wearing woud have been red, for a priestess of Bast was often caed The ady in the red dress. The stones we use for Bast are obsidian and a type of citrine (cat s eye or tiger s eye). The various types of obsidian are often found connected with Dark Deities, because working with it has the effect of refecting truth, whether you want it or not, whether you ike it or not. The other stones, of course, refect Her eyes. We ca on Bast for any work that invoves cats, of course, but she is more than a Cat Goddess. You can ca upon her for protection or guidance. (Remember, She te you the truth, even if you don t want to hear it.) The cat s abiity to strike with caws extended or retracted symboizes two possibe courses of action. You can ask her what course to take, if any. Do not fear what Bast or the other Dark Ladies and Lords have to teach you. Magica paths are those on which we seek truth and growth. You wi aways get that from Them, especiay if you are wiing to earn what they have to teach. L The mighty and gente ord, Khnum, aso observed the batte. 73

75 Circe of Isis L 74 Khnum Hear the sound of the potter s whee, As it spins! Khnum! See the cay on the potter s whee As it spins! Khnum! Fee the hand of the mighty Lord Form the seed to contain a sou. See the sou join the whee of ife, As it spins. See the sou on the whee of ife, As it spins. Khnum. Birth to death on the whee of ife, As it spins. Khnum! And with death we are born anew Whie the vesse that s tossed aside, Wi return to the potter s whee As it spins.»j Perhaps the smith gods of other pantheons are more impressive, but I m very fond of this God portrayed as a fat-horned ram; this gente potter who forms our bodies on His whee. The whee spins, and firm pressure forms the bob of cay there into the seed that wi become a body. The spirit enters and we begin another incarnation. Lest you beieve that my fondness for the Divine Potter denotes a reuctance to undergo the purification under the smith s hammer, et me remind you that before the cay is ever

76 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt formed, it is pounded, again and again, impurities removed and air bubbes smashed. You cannot make ight of the heat found in a kin, either. When we caed Him in meditation by chanting His name, the um sound it creates becomes the sound of His whee, spinning. The first thing I saw in this meditation was the top of the whee, and on it, what I beieve was the Earth. Huge hands came into my sight and began to manipuate the sphere on the whee. As I watched, a human body formed there. The Tamerans beieved Khnum created the Gods, created the Cosmic Egg from which a came, and, of course, created the bodies in which we ive. He creates our bodies by creating an egg that he formed on the whee and then it is paced in the mother s womb, to grow in its natura course. You might say that what He creates is the combination of chromosomes that wi resut in your body, among other things. This God does not desert us once the egg is panted. With the Goddess Hekat, he assists at our births. He does not create our spirits, our seves, ony the vesse in which we wi ive for this ifetime. If that vesse is broken or destroyed, he fees regret, but wi take the shards and rework them into new creations. He knows that the vesses are temporary, and does not mourn at their destruction. That which is hed in the vesse is eterna, so he spins the whee, and begins to form new bodies for us, and for others. You can pray to Khnum when you desire a chid, and/or pray for a heathy one. I daresay that if you yoursef are a potter, you coud ask him for guidance and hep in your work, too, but don t forget Ptah! L Bes, Lord of Laughter, of protection, the joyfu warrior stood by as the batte raged. 75

77 Circe of Isis L Bes Bes gives me joy, gives me power! Bes gives me strength, gives me aughter. Caed a dwarf by those who have not earned to see, Bes is a giant to me. Bes teaches joy as a power! Bes teaches strength found in aughter. Caed a dwarf by those who have not earned to see. Bes is a giant to me. This strange itte dwarf, sometimes geefu, sometimes fiercey brandishing a dagger, is one of the few Tameran Gods ever depicted with a fu face in paintings. What does this mean? I haven t the foggiest, but I m sure there is a reason. I can ony think of one other deity that is portrayed in this way: a Goddess who was adopted from another country. It is said that Bes is aso an import. There is aways a reason for Egyptian symboism. Portraying deities in profie coud impy that They have two aspects. Conversey, portraying a subject fu-face coud mean that there is a hidden aspect. If you d ike a subject for meditation, here s a subject for you. The meditation wi be most meaningfu if you do it now, before reading on. Then you can compare your ideas with ours. 76

78 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Bes is short, deformed, ugy to ook upon, and very dear to my coven. He is a God of protection, chidbirth, and humor. Humor is the quaity that makes him most dear to us. The ast thing we do in a Moon rite is caed The Four Fod Feast. By the time we begin this, we have done our magica work, spoken with the Goddess and God, and worshiped and honored Them. During our Four Fod Feast, we begin to wind down, to prepare for ending ritua and returning to the mundane word. A symbo of each Eement is bessed and passed around the circe. As each passes the symbo to the next, they make a wish for the person receiving the symbo. For exampe, someone might pass the Air symbo and say, May it ighten your burden. At some point during this feast, something strange wi happen. Something unexpected wi come out of someone s mouth. Once, when the symbo for Earth was a bran muffin, one of our peope handed it to the next, smied sweety and said, May it bring you movement. The reaction to such a remark is, He s hee-re. We augh, and wecome Bes to our circe. He never seems to mind when we attribute smart-aeck remarks to Him. If He doesn t appear, we worry. I ve heard Bes referred to as the Egyptian Pan, and I do find some truth in that. Both are Gods of joy and fun. Pan is known as the Protector of the Greenwood, and Bes does have his protective aspects; athough these are more often reated to the home. In Tamera, His image was found on bedposts, cosmetic pots, hair brushes, and mirrors. It may be that His ugy face scared away evi spirits, much the same as the European gargoyes. Athough I ve seen very itte of His protective aspects, I have the feeing He d be anything but aughabe. His roe in birth seems to be two-fod: He does serve to keep evi spirits away, but He aso encourages the chid to be born. Come on! It s fun! Hurry up! 77

79 Circe of Isis Work with Bes can teach you the deeper meanings of aughter, jokes, and humor. Many peope have the idea that humor is frivoous. They are very wrong. It is one of the essentias of ife physica, emotiona, and spiritua. It can mean surviva. One of the underying themes of the teevision series M*A*S*H was that the craziness in which the characters induged was necessary to keep them sane. Anyone who has ever worked in a high-tension job can understand that. When we did our meditation on Bes, a good friend who is a registered nurse recaed a time eary in her career when she and others were working franticay to keep a 2-year-od chid aive. As the tension buit, as they worked harder and harder, the jokes started. It was horribe and obscene dark humor and it was absoutey necessary if the doctors and nurses were to continue. If they had not been abe to reease some of the tension, they woud not have been abe to continue their desperate work. The jokes kept them from screaming. I worked with a poice department for many years, and have seen simiar situations where peope made horribe jokes that woud be totay tasteess to those who weren t invoved. If you ve never been in such an intense situation, have you ever made a joke because you were nervous or embarrassed? Mutipy that need a thousand fod. Bes teaches us to augh at our own fraities, to accept them, and to quit berating ourseves for having them. Laughter is aso heaing and heathy. When we augh, our bodies react. We take in more air, increasing oxygen to the bood stream. Our bodies reease natura chemicas ike natura painkiers and natura hormones that hep us keep aert. By portraying Bes as a dwarf, the Tamerans may have acknowedged humankind s usua derogation of humor, accepting the unthinking view that aughter is trivia. Ony those who came to know this God and His hidden meanings earned the truth: He is a giant when you know and vaue what He has to teach. 78

80 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A former Guardian of our coven was an inveterate punster, as is Chris, my husband. The combination of Guardian and comedian struck us as an interesting combination and we jokingy suggested that the student become a priest of Bes. Our research hadn t shown any cutic center or priesthood of Bes, and the student s wife ventured the opinion that if potentia priests of the God made puns, they were probaby kied before puberty. She and I aways fet we were buiding karmic credit by not kiing our husbands when they started their horribe wordpay. Bes aso reminds us that the best protection and defense against harmfu magic is aughter. Someone who woud take the time and energy to use magic to do harm to others, when he or she coud do such gorious things with it, even for his or her own benefit, is aughabe, and shoud be regarded as an object of scorn, not fear. I once heard someone compare doing harmfu magic to using Shakespeare s first foio for toiet paper. Isn t that funny? Coudn t you augh at someone that stupid? If you or your group have reason to beieve you are the subject of harmfu workings, you can ca upon Bes to hep you protect yourseves. Obtain, if you can, either a picture of the person doing the harmfu magic (if you know who it is) or obtain some object to serve as a symbo of that person. Pace it in the center of the circe. Ask Bes to join you. Chant his name, if you wish. When you fee His presence, begin to discuss the person who is working against you. Think about how ridicuous he or she is being. Tak about the ignorance shown by this person who obviousy does not reaize that he or she wi receive three-fod what is being sent out. Do anything and everything you can to make yourseves see the humor of the situation. Do anything you can to make yourseves augh at that person and at yourseves for worrying about it. Bes wi hep you. Laughter is the best defense against fear. You just cannot be afraid of something you can augh at and mock. 79

81 Circe of Isis Bes is aso the jester, the foo, who is usuay anything but fooish. He teaches us to augh at our own foibes, and to forgive ourseves for them. He teaches us to accept ourseves and stop putting ourseves down for being human. I m reminded of the time when, at 14, I was sent to bed without my supper. Athough I was sender, I was heathy and in no danger of starving before breakfast. Oh, but at that age, we suffer so we, and everything is a matter of ife and death. So I took birdseed from my parakeet, sheed it, seed by seed, and mashed it in a gass with some water. I ate it and suffered so wonderfuy! I augh at that now, but it seemed dead serious at the time. Bes teaches us to see these things in their true ight, to augh at them, and to ove ourseves a the better for having been human. He gives us hope that someday, we may be abe to augh ovingy at the things we take so seriousy now. The more we seek to work with this God, the ess we see His uginess and the more we see His beauty; the ess we see that He is a dwarf, and the more we see the strength that comes from Him. We ve come to beieve His importance has been highy underrated, and pan to give him more honor than we aready do. We wi honor Him by treasuring our aughter, by recognizing his vaue, and finding more joy in the ives we ive. L Shu, father of Nut, watched the batte between grandson and great-grandson. 80

82 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Shu Take a deep, sow breath, and try to fee the air as it enters your ungs. Hod it there a moment. Remember that the air you breathe is a part of the atmosphere covering our panet. As you exhae, whisper the sound Shhhh and toward the end of the breath, change to a whispered uuu. Be aware of the air around you, touching every inch of your body. Think on the wind in a its aspects, from the gentest breeze to a gae force. Listen to it. Try to hear the God s name. Shu. Visuaize the panet Earth hanging in space. See the atmosphere that surrounds it. See the movement of the winds, the air around the entire sphere, a connected, fowing from one direction to another, surrounding our home. A of these are Shu. He is around you and within you. He enters your body with each breath, bringing you ife, and exits with each exhaation, taking away that which is poison to you. He enters and exits through your pores as we. The trees show his passing. The birds soar through and upon Him. Whitecaps revea his presence on the sea. The movement of air around our panet is His presence. Shu is a of these. His symbo is the ostrich feather. Waving such a feather sowy through the air gives a wonderfu visua awareness of His presence. Athough this is the deity we ca the East for Air, Shu is more propery the God of the atmosphere. On a physica eve, however, our atmosphere is the air that we are most aware of, so His connection with this Eement is appropriate. 81

83 Circe of Isis If I had to choose one word to describe Him, it woud be movement. We usuay become consciousy aware of Him ony when He moves, and often not even then. How often are you aware of the movement of air in and out of your ungs? As I write this, my househod is very much aware of air and its movement. We are in the midst of a season of windstorms 60- to 80-mie-per-hour winds. Outside, we fee it, and see its effects. Inside, we hear it, constanty. From time to time, we ve muttered prayers, asking Shu to take it easy before the roof of the carport ends up in San Diego. Yet we are aware that Shu is present not ony in the winds buffeting our home. He is a the Air in the atmosphere a around us, and that atmosphere is in constant movement. He is not ony a part of it, He is it. My knowedge of Shu s nature is one reason I hesitate to do any kind of weather magic. A weather on our panet is interconnected. Affecting a change in the weather near me coud adversey affect weather esewhere, and that woud be my responsibiity. Magic works that way. A young friend of mine in Forida wrote to me some years ago about the success she and friends had in turning a hurricane away from their city. The hurricane had indeed turned, and hit a major city. If my friend is responsibe, I hope the peope in that city deserved the damage done by that storm. If not, my friend has a ot to answer for. The truth is, Shu isn t concerned with an individua windstorm or hurricane. It is the whoe that is His concern. As is the case with Maat, Shu is somewhat impersona with regard to human concerns. (We have found this true of a four deities we ca for the Eements.) It isn t that He is uncaring, but simpy that his point of view is much more vast than ours. The Gods know our current incarnations are temporary and our eterna spirits cannot be destroyed. 82

84 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Shu does project a feeing of affection for us. I ve fet it. It s rather ike we fee about bubbes. We ike them, and they re beautifu, but we aren t upset when they break. Our current incarnations are just beautifu bubbes to Shu. He oves us, but isn t upset when the thin she surrounding us breaks. We sti exist. Athough individua storms and so forth are not matters of concern to Shu, air poution certainy is; it desecrates His body. Of course, Air is more than physica air, and so is Shu. He is beginnings, and potentia, ight, freedom, and movement. He is inspiration. He is aspiration, reaching for the stars. We have a beautifu yeow ostrich feather that is our Shu symbo, and I ove to hod it up and watch it react to the sightest movement of the air in the room. I become aware that Shu is aways present, inside us and out. He is a necessity for ife, aways changing, aways the same. Shu aso reminds us of His vastness with this fact: The air we breathe now is the same air that has been breathed throughout mankind s existence. That moecue entering your ungs as you read may have entered the ungs of Aristote, Beethoven, or Rameses II. What a thought! Be aware of Shu in the breeze, in the storm, in the fragrance of fowers, in the tornado, and the dust devi you see. (Dust, by the way, is the cosest we can come to a proper stone for Him.) He is in and about you, sustaining your ife. If you woud honor Him, one way is to be carefu what you say. Words are given sound by breath. Do not use the body of this Lord to curse, cause pain, or speak untruths. Another way is to care for birds who trave so easiy through the Lord. Feed them, provide water for them, and gory in their beauty as they fy. When you see any bird soaring, think of Shu, honor Him in your heart, and thank Him for a he gives us. L Aso watching was the Lady of Power, Sekhmet. 83

85 Circe of Isis L 84 Sekhmet A series of books I ove are the Far Memory books by Joan Grant. Four of them are set in Tamera, at three periods in history. Ms. Grant says these books are memories of former ives. I have no idea whether that is true. I do know that the books contain many ideas I ike and hope are true, and many ideas worth striving for. I aways recommend that my students read them. But there is one area where I disagree with her. She portrays both Set and Sekhmet as evi, the Egyptian equivaent of Satan. Neither of these deities is evi. Neither of them is necessariy easy to understand, and both are often difficut to ove. Sekhmet s name is the feminine of the word Sekhem, which means strength, or power. In other words, her name means 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 said She wasn t evi! She isn t. Qabaisticay, she is a Geburic force just as Set is. However, in case you are not famiiar with Qabaa, I expain. Our modern society views destruction as evi. Construction is good. Destruction is evi. To most peope in our cuture, it s that simpe, that back and white. Of course, it isn t, is it? Construction is not good if what you re buiding is a body 75 pounds overweight. Destruction is not evi if you re tearing down a buiding that has become unsafe. Construction is not good if what is growing is a cancer. Destruction is not evi if what is being removed is a cancer.

86 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Sekhmet represents a destructive force that breaks down what is tempora. That which is eterna is never destroyed. As a soar Goddess, She burns away excess. She can be frightening. Power is often frightening, especiay to those who don t understand it. It can be exhiarating when you reaize that however itte we ike what They do, the power of the Gods is aways on our side. The Tamerans beieved She was capabe of causing pague, and therefore, She was capabe of curing it. In a different way, we do the same thing. We use vaccinations, a ight case of the disease in question to prevent serious inesses. Like Bast, Sekhmet is a Dark Lady. (This is a difficut concept to accept when She is so definitey a soar Goddess, but using the terms Crone or Hag woud be just as confusing.) Some say that Sekhmet is the destructive power of the Sun, whie Bast represents the nurturing, warming Sun. Interesting concept when you consider that part of the success with mummification is the heat of the Nie Vaey. In this case, the Sun preserves instead of destroying. Sekhmet is portrayed as a ioness, which at the very east reveas that the Tamerans observed nature, because the ioness is the more active hunter in that famiy of cats. I beieve that the ion symboized power to the peope of the Nie Vaey. It often signifies Fire to our minds, which certainy is a perfect attribution for this Goddess. Is Sekhmet more powerfu than Bast? I don t think so. Can She be gente and oving? Possiby. Do I wish to know Her better? Absoutey! L Wrapped as a mummy, the God Ptah aso witnessed the batte. 85

87 Circe of Isis L 86 Ptah This God is usuay portrayed with a smooth sku cap, his body bound in mummy wrappings. 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 pace a bit of himsef or hersef into the statue, that it might truy be worthy of honor. (Knowing this, Tamerans saw the statues as the deity 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 picture worthy of the deity it represents. I have asked His hep in writing about the Gods, that I may craft my words with such care that you wi come to know and ove Them as I do. We have aso asked His hep in painting a paster statue, that the person s hands be guided. His name means force captured in form. His mummy wrappings signify the same thing. An artist contros the paints, his or her hands, and the toos used in painting. A scuptor contros his fingers and the cay, or chise and stone. You can appy this to amost any job, any work. One witch I know is a registered nurse. She uses toos and knowedge to contro germs, wounds, and such. My husband is a prototype maker. He contros toos, both hand toos and arge mis, using them and their energy to form metas and pastics. What is your profession? A musician? A secretary? A doctor? A budozer driver? A brickayer? If you think about it carefuy, you wi find that you, too, are a craftsman, that you do contro some force, putting it into a desired form.

88 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt His name can be written with the symbo for heaven and the symbo for aah, which is either a sound of praise or the name of a Moon God. Have some fun with that. You might earn more about Him in your menta meandering. The Tamerans were fond of word pay. A word that was the reverse of another in etters might we have a reverse meaning. The word that is the reverse of ptah is htp (hotep or hetep). It means peace or offering. If what you offer is something you vaue, you coud aso ca it a sacrifice. When an anima was offered as sacrifice, it was kied. (This occurred in many cutures.) Its ife force was reeased to be returned to the Gods whence it came. One magica definition of sacrifice is destroying form to reease force. In this way, htp is an opposite of pth. One way to contact this Lord is with soft cay. It doesn t matter whether it is cay that can be fired or not. Chidren s cay wi serve very we. Fee the cay, shape it, squeeze it, twist it, think about its form and, in your heart, ca Ptah. It was said that Ptah used His heart to create a that is, and so His creative power can be fet in every heartbeat. You can, as you form the cay, isten for your heartbeat and try to fee it. If you can, fee the power of Ptah, know that the sound and fee of your own heart is a refection of the God s. He usuay appears to us in a younger form than his statues show, and often in a short kit or oincoth. This form gives us the impression that He is more invoved in the actua work of craftsmen than in simpy supervising. He is not ony capabe of inspiring the design of a buiding, but aso of pouring its foundation. Portrayed as an oder, experienced man, and appearing to us as a young man what a fascinating God this is! He is one invoved in a our ives, and we are bessed by His Presence. L Nearby stood Khonsu, God of the Moon, God of Traveers. 87

89 Circe of Isis L 88 Khonsu» My copy of the Larousse Encycopedia of Mythoogy is an od soft cover, in sad shape. Khonsu, son of Amun and Mut, is the reason I ve refused to buy a new hard cover. In my book is a fu page picture of the head of a sma statue that absoutey entrances me. I coud no more fip past this picture without spending some time ooking at it than I coud resist mint chocoate chip ice cream in August. The new editions show a side view of the entire statue and I won t ever buy one. The statue was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, and, as is true of many statues found there, the features are Tut s. But there is something more, something different, something that enchants me. Perhaps, as egend promises, Ptah appeaed to Khonsu to pace a bit of Himsef in the statue, and it is that aspect I find enchanting. It is the presence of the God, not the features, that is so beautifu. Khonsu is a Moon God, and the crown he wears refects a very specific appearance of the Moon. A Crescent Moon on its back with horns pointing up, is so bright that the rest of the Moon is dimy iuminated, producing the iusion that there are two Moons; one a crescent, the other a fu sphere. The Moon is hoding itsef in its arms, some say. Others see the Moon traveing in a crescent boat. His pictures and statues aso show one other symbo: the prince s ock, a ong ock of hair, drawn to one side. In Tamera, it symboized both youth and royaty. This youth shoud not be taken to impy ack of wisdom. He signifies potentia and beginnings, especiay of cyces. He is the first day of the rest of your ife. We think of the Moon cyce as going from New to New, but doesn t it just as surey go from fu to fu, or from first quarter

90 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt to first quarter? From Moonrise to Moonrise is a cyce, just as Sunrise to Sunrise. Khonsu teaches us not to fee we must aways begin at the beginning. Do not say, It is not New Moon, so I can t start anything. Don t wait unti the New Year to make resoutions. Every day, every hour, every minute can be a beginning, if you need it to be so. According to egend, Khonsu coud aso conquer evi spirits that caused iness. The ight of the Moon can certainy chase away fear, which can be, to those who fee it, a very evi spirit, and that fear can make us very i. His name means traveer, and in a meditation, He has said, I protect those who trave by night. So surey does the moonight dispe the shadows where wrong doers might hide. Khonsu can inspire great ove, even among those who do not usuay worship the Gods in Their Egyptian Aspects. A young priest of a Cetic tradition chose Khensu ka as his Craft name. ( Khensu is another pronunciation of the God s name, and ka can be roughy transated as doube or spirit. ) The priest knew nothing of the God except that he was drawn to Him, and wished to bear His name. You sometimes see him portrayed as a hawk, wearing his Moon crown. He was often connected with Horus, son of Aset and Asar. Both are divine chidren, and both are shown hoding the crook and fai of royaty. In what seems incongruous, considering what we know of Him, Khonsu is aso portrayed in mummy wrappings, just as we usuay see Osiris. Why shoud a God who symboizes beginnings be wrapped in the raiment of death? For those of us in the Craft, death is not an end, it is a change, it is aso a beginning. The dead are aso the unborn, and birth is a beginning. The mummy wrapping can aso signify freedom from the restrictions of the body. It must stay, but you are free to go...and begin again. The Lady Seshat recorded a that occured. L 89

91 Circe of Isis L Seshat For many years, I bore this Lady s name (I hope to Her honor) as my Craft name. Her name means She who writes. She is known as the Lady of Literature and Libraries. She is aso Goddess of Architecture and Record Keeping. Some refer to Her as the wife of Tehuti, an attribution that fees very right and makes perfect sense to me. In Tameran, Her name is written S-sh-t. The vowes are unknown. For that reason, Her name can be Seshat, Sashet, Sasheeta, and so forth. I ve seen it many ways. She is aso known as Sefket, which means seven, and Her symbo incudes a seven-peta fower. She is portrayed with pen (or brush) in hand, and wearing the skin of a panther. Even after much meditation, I m not sure what a Her symbos mean. The presence of both pen and anima skin are a source of puzzement to me. I hope that further work wi revea at east a hint of the meaning. Her Presence gives a feeing of vitaity. She s bright, and wordy. Naturay, she s very concerned with words, and I ve found that, in ritua, the things she says usuay dea with words or writing. She s fussed at one member of our group for keeping his words to himsef, and not sharing their beauty with others. She chided another for being too hesitant to speak. My friend Tinne had this experience with this Lady: I don t work with an Egyptian pantheon now. But when I was in the teaching group, the HPS and HP had us draw down six (yes I said six) divinities into our ives every month. There were no requirements about them 90

92 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt being from the same pantheon or even of the same gender. A true sink or swim, teaching about invocation and Divine energies. (Shudder.) Pretty soon out of the chaos you deveoped some favorites and woud work in a new one or two to get to know them. And trust me, every Divinity has a side to them that doesn t match with your own, no matter who you are. But sometimes they tap into sides of you that you are aware of and magnify them in new and different ways. (Wicked grin.) One memorabe month, I invoked Seshat. Nice Lady. Devised the system of accounting, writing, and record keeping. Precise. I didn t know much more than that and yes, I shoud have seen it coming. Within two days of invoking Her, the books on the booksheves were a over the iving room foor and being sorted by subject and aphabetized within subject. Within a week, every coset had been emptied and resorted and refied. By the New Moon, every drawer, every cupboard, every box, and every shef had been done. My Gemini husband is a bit ax about housekeeping. He was ooking at my Capricorn butt with frank horror and dismay because I had run out of things to organize at home. So I redid the books again in a different order. And again. And redid the cosets. Went over to my mother-in-aw s house and during an afternoon heped her organize her pantry and craft coset. She was very happy with me, but my father-in-aw was eft feeing upset and in fear of what his garage was going to ook ike the next time I came over...and Bi made absoutey certain that month I didn t visit him at work at the theater for fear he woud never find anything ever again after I got done with it. 91

93 Circe of Isis I was exhausted, I was grumpy, I was an organizing fiend gone amuck in Bi s quiet home and it was a ong month fied with terrifying surprises at every turn for him. He made me promise to within an inch of my ife that I woud never ever even consider invoking this particuar Divinity again. I have kept that promise. And earned to do a ot more research before invoking a presence into my ife. If this is the kind of effect you want or need in your ife (I do) then speak to this Lady. Speak to Her when you wish to phrase something precisey rather than yricay. Speak to Her when you want to design a house. Speak to Her when you are researching. Better yet, et Her speak to you! L And at this batte, which surey woud signify a change, whatever the resut, was Khephera. 92

94 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Khephera His name means becoming, formation, creation, and His symbo is probaby weknown to you. It is the scarab beete. Scarabeus sacer is a dung beete that ays its eggs in the midde of dung, which it then ros into a ba. This ba is roed into a hoe and buried. When the eggs hatch, the dung suppies food for the itte scarabs. The Tamerans saw ony that ife came from defecation they saw a mirace. The scarab roing the ba reminded the ancients of the Sun roing aong the sky, and took the scarab aso as a symbo of the Sun. Scarabs are aso said to represent eterna ife. From dead discarded matter came the itte beetes. From death comes ife. The scarab can remind us of that never-ending cyce. My own scarab is a ring, combining the scarab with a circe, another symbo of eternity and cyces. The God symboized by the beete is not an easy one with which to buid a persona reationship. He is not beginnings, he is potentia, formation, and becoming. Yet He is not uncaring. A of us are in the process of becoming. We are becoming better, we are becoming more, we are becoming more perfect. We are striving to become one with the Lord and Lady. Ca upon Khephera when you need to remember that the Sun shines even when our haf of the word is dark. For our coven, Khephera is the Sun at night, most especiay at midnight. We cannot, at that time, see the Sun to show us that the day has begun, but the day has begun a the same. Ca upon 93

95 Circe of Isis this Lord when you need direction, when you want to accompish something and are not sure how to begin or even if you shoud begin. It is Khephera who wi hep you transform yoursef, if that is your desire. If you woud ike to know this God, go out on a dark night and meditate on the invisibe Sun. Consider a the ight that is hidden in the word, a the hidden energies. And know that the Sun wi surey return. L She who is symboized by the vuture stood by, the Lady Mut. 94

96 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Mut h This Goddess s name means mother, and the hierogyph used both for her name and the generic mother is a vuture. Many of the mother Goddesses wear vuture headdresses. Does that make any sense to you? Are you confused, or repused? I was for a ong time, but thanks to the hep of a High Priestess in our community, Joanna, I think I understand now. In a cass she was giving on the magica aspects of birds, she discussed the vuture, and the ight went on over my head. A vuture deas with corpses, with death. Mothers dea with birth. How can these go together? Let s think of the vuture on a physica eve. It eats corpses, and ceans up the andscape. A scavengers do that, of course. Some of those corpses are rotting and boated, fu of disease, a breeding ground for botuism. From these dead, poisoned bodies, the vuture takes ife. A vuture can feed her chidren with this meat, safey. From death, a vuture produces ife, for him or her, or its chidren. The Goddess, our Great Mother, is the Giver of Life and the Bringer of Death. Death is not an end; it is as much a beginning as birth. When you die, you eave behind something for which you have no further use. However we it has served you, that vesse is not your essence. The essentia you is eterna, no matter how many times you incarnate, no matter how your body dies, no matter what happens to your body after you eave it. You coud not grow spirituay if you were stuck in that body after it died. The death of the body, however, is caed the esser death, because it is easiy compared to the death of the 95

97 Circe of Isis Personaity. Your Personaity, who you are in this ife, is a ot more difficut to give up than eaving your body. It wi be extremey hard for me to give up being Een, for many reasons. I have so much I want to do. I know in my mind that I can accompish just as much without being Een, maybe more, but I want to do it this time around. (Besides, I rather ike who Een is and it s taken me years to get to that point. I d ike to enjoy that a whie onger.) The vuture disposes of your physica body, and serves as a symbo for the death of your Personaity. Unti that Personaity is gone, you are ocked up in it as surey as you had been in your physica body. And both are restrictions. Free of your physica body, you are no onger bound to the Earth. You no onger need wak to get from one pace to another. You no onger need to find words to express your thoughts to another. Freed from your Personaity, you are no onger restricted to the knowedge of this ife aone. You wi know who you have been in a your ives. You can then consider a you ve earned in this ife, you can rest, commune with oved ones, and, when the time is right, return to an incarnation, ready to earn more. You return to what we know as ife. Thus, Mut, and her symbo the vuture, represent the fu cyce of ife, not simpy the cyce from birth to death as we experience it in one ifetime. She is the Goddess of a ife s aspects, incuding death and rebirth. If you can understand this, you can come to know this wonderfu Lady. L The Lady Tefnut watched, standing next to her brother, Shu. 96

98 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Tefnut She is depicted as a ioness, and represents the moisture in the air. In our country, that coud incude rain. What does a ioness have to do with any of that? I beieve ions symboized power in Tamera, and in a desert and, moisture of any sort woud be very important and therefore, powerfu. I first came to know this Lady ast year, when there was a forest fire within view of our house. You woud be surprised what you can do when you can see the fire headed toward your home! We caed on every deity, demigod and demigoddess, and mythoogica figure we coud think of, incuding Tefnut. I beseeched her to bring moisture to the fire, to make the trees harder to burn. No, it didn t start to rain within moments of my prayer; however, when the fire was under contro, it was announced that the firefighter s efforts were aided by fortuitous wind changes and unexpected moisture in the air. Fortuitous, my Aunt Fanny! Every witch in the San Fernando Vaey was turning those winds and caing moisture! Oh, they never beieve we had anything to do with it, but who cares? Of a the Tameran deities, Tefnut is the most difficut to transate to our cuture. In fact, when we caed Her to our circe, She said just that. You must decide who and what I am, She said. We ve worked with that idea, and have decided who and what She is, to us. She is the moisture in the air, the rain, the dew, the fog, the couds. She is perhaps more to us than She was to the Tamerans. 97

99 Circe of Isis This Lady was usuay portrayed as a human figure with the head of a ioness. She wears an ostrich feather as her brother Shu does. Our first change in symboism was to do away with the ioness head. Whatever the ion may have meant to the ancients, in our minds it is inextricaby connected with Fire. When we picture her, we see Her as a woman. The ostrich feather she wears, in our minds, is bue. Does the idea of deciding who and what a deity is, and choosing the symbos to be used strike you as strange? It shoudn t. We ve done it throughout history. The names, forms, and symbos were given to the Gods by humankind. The Lord and Lady exist without those things, and They certainy have no need of those things. By connecting names, forms, and symbos to a specific aspect of the deity, we are abe to narrow down our view to that specific aspect rather than trying to dea with the unknowabe vastness that is deity. I can see Tefnut now, from my window. She is there in the biowing couds that fi the sky, in the fog that obscures the vaey beow me. The presence of the couds and fog are a bessing after the hot dry-spe we suffered recenty. The rain has washed the choking dust from the eaves, ceaned the air, and cooed us. However green it may ook, the Los Angees basin is desert, made green by imported water. Ony at times ike this is the and cooed, its thirst quenched by Nature. I can fee the growing things breathing around me, their roots drawing water and food from the moist, soft earth, and I add my thanks to theirs as I see and fee the presence of Tefnut. My friend, Vicky, aso known as Akhentef, has this to say about this Lady: It is very hard to put into words how I fee about Tefnut. She is my mother, my best friend, my confidant, and more. When you stop and think that every time it 98

100 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt rains, that s Tefnut. A waterfa, the fowing river, a sti pond, that tiny drop of dew on a fowers eaf or peta, the sweat on your brow, a thick misty fogbank that bocks everything from view, the tiny deicate snowfake, or the tears from your eyes...a of that is Tefnut. She is moisture, in any form. I use rose incense or potpourri on my atar for Tefnut. I have a tiny ioness statuette in Her honor aso. There have been times when I haven t heard Tefnut speak to me, and whenever that happens, it usuay rains! I ive in the desert, so rain is usuay a rarity here. It is Her way of etting me know that even if I can t hear Her, She is with me. So next time you are caught in a sudden shower, it might just be Tefnut, sending you Her ove. I was Chosen by Tefnut to serve Her amost five years ago, and haven t regretted it once. Oh yes, I had many, many questions: Why me? How coud I possiby interest a Goddess? What am I supposed to do now? You get the idea...i m sure those of you reading this who have been caed or chosen know exacty what I mean! She has shown me the answer to many of these questions, and more. Tefnut is a gente Goddess whose touch is the tiny raindrop, or a tear from your eye. I wrote the foowing as my ca for Tefnut, but have found She is with me aways: Tefnut, wise woman, Goddess of rain and moisture, you who are the couds, bown genty on the breath of your husband/ brother Shu. Empassioned overs wresting, creating the storms of wind and rain. 99

101 Circe of Isis Gente, quiet guidance...speak softy in my ear. Whisper your words to me. Enfod me in your comforting arms, sharing with me your quiet strength. Then send me back out into the word, knowing you are aways with me. Dampen my face with your tears, fi my heart to overfowing with your ove, Share the briiance of your father Ra with me in the refected sunight on a tiny drop of dew. Wise counci, mother s kiss Forever in my heart, your name aways on my ips. If you woud honor Her, then honor the moisture in your breath, honor your own sweat, your own saiva ( tef means saiva ), as we as the rain, the couds, the dew. I have never written an entire song for this beautifu Lady. I have ony one ine, and upon occasion I sing it to mysef. Perhaps one day I finish it...or perhaps you wi. 2 ======================= & 4 e e e e e e e e Gent - e on the air and fa - ing ======================= & e e e q q e h. [ sweet up - on my skin. Tef - nut. L She of the Prima Earth, Tanent, was aso present. 100

102 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Tanent The ony mention I ve ever found of this Lady was in E.A. Wais Budge s Egyptian Hierogyphic Dictionary, and She is said to be a prima earth goddess. She is so much more. She is indeed Prima Earth. She is no persona nurturing mother, however. Tanent is more ike the Grandmother of Grandmothers. She is the Earth s core, the continents, the deepest sea bottom. She oves us, but in a distant way. When you wak on the beach, digging your toes into the sand, you enjoy that beach as a whoe, but are not concerned with specific grains of sand. If one washes out to sea, you are not concerned. You know that nothing is destroyed, ony changed, and the beach remains. This is the ove Tanent has for us. She knows where every grain of sand is, and knows when it is washed out to sea, for she hods even the seas in her arms. A stones are hers, and her coor is russet, earth red. Yet there is more about this Lady that we found fascinating. We had done a contact ritua on this Lady, and at the next Moon rite, invoked her into the Priestess. To one woman in the circe She spoke of a rock the woman had known as a chid, a arge rock, fat but at an ange. There, the Goddess said, is where the gir woud go when she needed strength and peace. The woman confirmed that she had known such a rock, and had fet the Goddess there. I know this Lady, she excaimed. I aways caed Her the Lady of the Fieds. 101

103 Circe of Isis The presence of this Goddess was naturay very heavy, as if one s body were rooted down to the core of the Earth. I found it interesting that this same description had been given to me with regard to the presence of the Irish Tara. Aso attending our ritua that night was a Cetic High Priestess. She, too, recognized the particuar fee of this Lady from her own practices. What defines a particuar aspect? A type of energy, a purpose, a specific type of work, a fee? Each Goddess is different. It woud seem possibe that the peope of Tamera reached out to a specific Goddess, knew Her, oved Her, and caed Her Tanent. It woud aso seem possibe that the peope of the British Ises reached out to the same Goddess, knew Her, oved Her, and caed Her Danu. In order to confirm our findings, we reversed the situation. In a ritua soon after, we invoked Danu. The woman who had know Tanent as the Lady of the Fieds, was present, and I knew by the ook on her face we d proven our point, at east to our satisfaction. The moment Danu was present, we a knew Her. It was our beoved Tanent. Prima Earth Goddess in Egypt, Mother of the Gods, in Cetic tradition, this is a very specia Lady. If She did not receive ampe honor in Tamera, She certainy has since in other ands, and righty so. L It was ony fitting that Neith, a War Goddess, was present. 102

104 L Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Neith This very ancient Goddess is aso known as Net. She is both War Goddess and Goddess of Weaving. If you are a student of Greco Roman mythoogy, this combination may sound famiiar to you. The Goddess Athena had the same attributes. As I pointed out in the discussion of Ptah, the Tamerans often reversed words to reverse meanings. Neith reversed becomes Thien. I can accept that it might be coincidence, but it does make you wonder, doesn t it? If you woud honor Neith as the ancients did, ight oi amps and candes in every corner of your house, and aow them to burn. The oi shoud contain some sat. I do not know the significance of this, but according to Herodotus, this is what the Tamerans did. Neith was often credited with conceiving Hersef. A Goddess of both war and weaving is dispaying both the power of buiding up and breaking down. Perhaps the baance impied in the possession of both those powers impied both mae and femae abiities. We contain hormones of both sexes in our bodies. We contain both God and Goddess within. This mighty Lady dispays the quaities of both; of the two sides of the coin; of the hidden and the visibe. Her symbo is variousy referred to as a weaving shutte and as a shied with crossed arrows, again, refecting her two sides. For me, She symboizes, as so many do, the natura cyces. Buiding up and breaking down both have their proper times. At the proper time, Neith is a weaver, and at other times, a warrior. 103

105 Circe of Isis If you woud know her, think on her two symbos, on her two areas of infuence. Think on times in your own past when it was right to buid up, and on those times when it was right to break down. Give acceptance and honor to both types of situations. Honor the mae and femae within you. In that way, you wi honor Her. L And since the egends say that a the Gods watched, we beieve these others were present as we. 104

106 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Other Gods Where once a hundred ived. The Gods and Goddesses discussed so far are ony a few of the many honored in Tamera. Not ony were there many more, but many times the attributes of two Gods were joined together and worshiped under a combination name, for exampe, Amen Ra. I must say that this practice went a itte far at times because Ptah Seker Ra and simiar names are ony confusing to me. I find it much easier to stick with the individua deities. The foowing ist gives brief information on other deities that have not been discussed so far, and the gyphs for their names. Exporation of and earning about a of Them coud be a ifetime s work, and though I am wiing to give that time, this book woud never have been finished! We continue to work with these deities and wi, by the time you read this, have discovered even more about Them. With the methods I wi give you, and others you may wish to use, you can contact and earn of these deities, make them a part of you, a part of your ife and work. I d be deighted if you d share any information you gain with our coven. A singing Goddess. Aabit 105

107 Circe of Isis Aah A Moon God about whom I found itte. I did find a queen, a Great Roya Wife of one Pharaoh and mother of two Pharoahs who was very interesting, In her tomb were found a decorated war axe that had been presented to her, as we as a symbo of the Order of the Fy, given for bravery. X Aker An Earth God who is shown either as two heads or two ions facing in opposite directions (East and West). You may ca upon him if you are bitten by a snake, for he is said to absorb the poison from your body. Amen One of the best known of the Tameran Gods, often combined with Ra. His name means hidden and He is the unseen quaities of the Sun, whie Ra represents the quaities we can sense: ight and heat. Amen is represented by a ram, was husband to Mut, and father to Khonsu. If you are wondering why He is not discussed more fuy, I can ony answer that I have not fet moved to work with Him to any great extent. What work we have done has shown Him to be distant, and not easiy persona. 106

108 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A Fire God. Ami j A singing God. Ami Neter j A ion God. Ami Pe j Amutnen A Goddess of mik cows. h 107

109 Circe of Isis A dawn God. Amu Xj» Apet A mother Goddess, nursing mother. Apuat (Aso Upuat) We have done very itte work with Apuat, but what we have done has proved interesting. He is caed the opener 0 of the ways, and is depicted exacty as Anubis is with one exception he is white or gray instead of back. The Greeks caed the city dedicated to Him Lycopois, City of the Wof. We beieve He is the one who, after the weighing of hearts and judgment of your sou, guides you to the pace of rest. At the right time, He heps choose the way you wi trave in your next ife. The words that came to me were, He is both before and after Anubis. 108

110 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A messenger God. Aput 0 A Fire Goddess. Asbit, Asbet X A Fire God. Aseb X Ashket A Goddess of the winds. 109

111 Circe of Isis Water God. Ashu X» O God of gifts. Aua K O Auit Goddess of nurses and chidren. K Goddess of the sou. Bait X 110

112 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A hawk Goddess. Baket ¾X Bata God of war and the chase. ¾X X Bekhkhit (Bekhkhet) Goddess of dawn s ight. ¾ Hapi God of the Nie, God of Fertiity, pictured as a man with a woman s breasts. He was caed Lord of the fishes and the birds of the marshes. In a recent discussion with Janet Farrar, we were taking 111

113 Circe of Isis about whether deities were bound to their origina and of worship. We both fet that some, not a, were Gods of pace, or, deities of a specific area or pace. To me, Hapi is one of the few I woud not ca upon. He is the God of the Nie, not generic rivers. I woud ca on Him ony if I stood next to that river. Heh God of infinity. When he appeared on monuments and jewery, he represented a wish that the recipient ive for thousands of years. O Hekat (Heqet) Goddess of chidbirth and protection. Her name transates as Mistress of Magic. Mention of her is found as eary as the pyramids. She was symboized by a frog. With the exception of the frog, does any of this sound famiiar? Henkheses God of the East Wind. Ý 112

114 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A singing God. Hesa The God of taste. Hu» Hutchai God of the West Wind. f Imhotep An architect and sage who was deified because of his ski and wisdom. (No, he was never a reactivated mummy. That s a movie.) j 113

115 Circe of Isis Kekui (or Keku) The God of the hour before dawn, Bringer in of the ight.» Kekuit The Goddess of the hour after sunset, Bringer in of the night. I ve done» a itte work with this Lady, just as it became night. The feeing I got from Her was, Hush. Be sti. You ve worked hard. It is time to rest. I fet mysef enfoded in soft dark gray wings. A bird Goddess. Khurab» The God of sight. Maa K 114

116 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt A ynx Goddess. Mafdet K A ion God. Mahes K Mathet Tree Goddess whose specia purpose was to hep the deceased cimb into K heaven. She who oves sience, a cobra Goddess said to ive on a specific mountain in Tamera. Merseger P 115

117 Circe of Isis A backsmith God. Mesen B Meskhenet The Goddess who presides at chidbirth, symboized by a birth B brick. A woman squatted on two bricks to give birth. This may seem undignified, but no more so than the position used today, which is designed for the convenience of the doctor. The ancient position used gravity to hep the birth. The modern one forces the woman to fight against it. Min The God of sexua procreativity. Bees are sacred to Him. Fowers can be offered to Him to stimuate fruitfuness, and ong ettuce (actuca sativa) was supposed to hep Him procreate. 116

118 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Montu (Monthu, Menthu) War God, facon headed, aso represented by a griffin.» Nekhebet Vuture Goddess of southern Egypt. Neper God of grain and the prosperity of the barey and emmer wheat crops. Nerit (Neret) Goddess of strength. v 117

119 Circe of Isis The prima Water. Nu Nun God of the prima ocean. æ A cat Goddess. Pakhet X Goddess of birth. Papait (Papaet) 118

120 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Goddess of Sunrise. Pestit God of ight. Pestu» Rekhet Goddess of knowedge personified. _ A fish God. Remi j 119

121 Circe of Isis A cow Goddess. Remnet Renenutet Goddess of the harvest, depicted as a cobra. Her festivas were hed at» the end of panting season, and at the beginning of the harvest. She is aso one of the deities said to be present at chidbirth, and the one who decides how ong the chid wi ive. A God of time. Renpiti The God of touch. Saa X 120

122 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt The God of hearing. Setem j Shai A God of destiny. Each of us has our own Shai, our own persona destiny. X A God of wine. Shesmu j» Sia This God personifies the perceptive mind. X 121

123 Circe of Isis Sobek (Sebek) A benevoent crocodie God. A Goddess of weaving. Tait X Symboized by the hippopotamus, She was a protector of women in chidbirth. Tauret X ~ Tum (Aso Atum, Nefertum, and Tem) Symboized by the otus and the setting Sun. j 122

124 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Uadjet Cobra Goddess of northern Egypt, her name means Green One. God of existence. Un æo A star Goddess. Unit (Uneet) æ A God of ight. Unta æk 123

125 Circe of Isis A God of ight. Unti æ A Water God. Ur Henu ~ Utchait A Goddess of the Moon.» fx» A God of embaming. Utekh» O 124

126 Gods and Goddesses of Egypt Utet Tefef God of the 29th day of the month. v There are more, many more. I don t think I ever come to know Them a, but I m going to keep trying. It is my hope that you wi come to know and ove as many of these deities as we do. A deity ony dies when forgotten, and we wi not forget. These are the deities we have come to know and ove. To us they are not strange, they are known and oved, so greaty oved. The pyramids are od. The ibis fies no more. The tempes have grown cod. None come there to adore. And Aah s name rings out Where once Osiris was adored. But in our hearts, Osiris ives, And ever is my Lord. No more the sistrums ring In praise of Het Heret No more the voices sing A prayer to Nebet Het, And no one besses ovey Nut L 125

127 Circe of Isis When stars shine high above. But in our hearts these adies ive And ever have our ove. Forgotten are the Gods In ands they caed their own. Where once a hundred ived They ca one God aone. But in our hearts they are aive, And ever sha they be. Oh, ancient ones of Egypt, we Have not forsaken Thee! 126

128 L PART II Rituas, Meditation, and Deveoping Reationships With Deities 127

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130 Rituas, Meditation, and Deveoping Reationships With Deities L How did we come by this information, this view of the Gods and Goddesses that I ve shared with you? Obviousy, some of it is the resut of research, some is found in books; we consuted both resources. However, coming to know the fee, the energy, the personaity of each deity is the resut of a very different kind of work. We earned about them the same way you earn to know anyone in your ife. We worked at deveoping reationships with them. We worked at earning who they are to us now, not so much who they were to the Tamerans in ancient times. Some of the methods we ve used foow ater in this chapter. It is this approach, this deveopment of a persona reationship, that most refects the difference in attitude between ours and that of many other reigions. We beieve our deities are both immanent and transcendent; both here and there, near us aways. Our deities are not distant judges, but oving parents, teachers, sisters, brothers, and friends. To put it another way, they are rea beings, not archetypes, not representatives of certain kinds of energy. You can come to know them personay. In many covens, incuding mine, this beief is put into practice by what is often caed Drawing Down the Moon. It is aso caed aspecting and channeing. (Personay, I avoid the atter term because of the meaning it has come to have in New Age usage.) Basicay, it is this: The Priest cas a Goddess into the Priestess who serves as the vesse. Ideay, the Goddess speaks through the Priestess. She may speak to the group as a whoe, or to each member individuay. 129

131 Circe of Isis We ask questions, get answers (sometimes before we ask the question), or just hod Her Hand and enjoy Her Presence. Of course, the same appies to an invocation of a God. I must point out that, because we are deaing with a human vesse, everything said is taken with a grain of sat. We take what is said and consider it. Serving as the vesse is aso a position of great trust, and vioating that trust by speaking words that are not those of the deity, but are your own, woud be a most serious offense. Experienced members can often te when a deity is present, and woud know. Once this is experienced, your reationship has to be different. This gives you something you can t get by reading a book about archaeoogy! If you can t imagine this feeing, don t worry. If you reay want to have this kind of reationship with the Gods and Goddesses, you wi. If my expanation has not heped you understand, it is no faut of yours, and not even mine. What I am trying to do is simiar to describing what it is ike to be in ove. Don t despair. You wi understand...you wi, if you wi open your heart and try. How? There are many ways, and every teacher has his or her own, but I wi share my own in the foowing section. The techniques detaied in these pages can be used with any pantheon. We ve used these techniques individuay and as a group. Those who were invoved students, friends, other covens amost invariaby gained something more than knowedge of the Gods. They gained a reationship with Them. To us, these Gods are not abstract ideas or energies. They are not distant unreachabe energies. To us, They are known, and oved... greaty oved. Thinking of that ove reminds me of another reason for deveoping these reationships. It s a matter of common courtesy. One of my pet peeves is being asked What does this Goddess do? or What is He the God of? as if deities can be put 130

132 Rituas, Meditation, and Deveoping Reationships With Deities in itte pigeonhoes. What they are reay asking is what is that deity to be used for. They think nothing of caing on a deity they ve never had anything to do with and asking for favors, and they think there is no other reason to contact a God or Goddess. I ve saved my editor some troube by not saying what I think of that. I wi merey say that I don t think much of that attitude. The Gods aren t servants! They do not exist just to hep us do magic. They do hep with that, of course, but they do a great dea more! Woud you wak up to a stranger and ask him for money? Or to do you a favor, and expect them to do it? If you were that stranger, woud you be incined to grant that favor? Probaby not, and yet many peope just pick a God or Goddess to ask, and expect hep. We, if you are going to ask for hep, the east you can do is spend some time getting to know the deity, and etting them get to know you. It s ony poite! In addition to the meditations incuded here, you find some rituas you can perform, adding changes to make them yours, if you ike. I ve aso incuded information on incenses and ois, to be used in these rituas and others. For us, the feast after a ritua is an integra part of the work we do, so you aso find information on food and drink. As you can see, there are many ways to invove the deities in your ife. Meditation, ritua, and so forth, are ony a beginning. Are you an artist? Paint a picture of Them or for Them. Write a poem, a song, or a prayer. Showing Them that you want Them in your ife and making a pace for Them is one of the best ways to get them there! None of us wi try to te you that you wi have exacty the same resuts with these methods that we did. Each of you are individuas, and experience is intensey persona. If your view of the Gods is different, it does not matter. 131

133 Circe of Isis I woud never try to impose my view of any God or Goddess upon someone ese. I can ony share with you what I have earned, and how. I do not insist that you see Them as I do. I do not insist (as if I coud) that you wi deveop the same intense ove for and reationship with every deity you meet. I do beieve that if you have not yet worked toward knowing any of the Gods personay, if there is not one God or Goddess you can say you know, you have some new joys in store. I do promise you that if you wi use these techniques, and others you may know, if you wi put yoursef into them as we have, you wi gain a treasure beyond price: a persona reationship with the Gods. 132

134 L Meditation Meditation is an integra part of Craft work as far as I m concerned, and our training program incudes meditation of severa types: individua and group. We hod the beief that our earthy teachers can teach a imited amount. What they do teach us is, so to speak, the anguage necessary to earn the Mysteries. Meditation is one method by which we earn the rest. As you might expect from the previous section, a the meditations here are focused on the Tameran deities. Who better to teach us? In this section you wi find information and instructions on various kinds of meditation we have used, and some that friends have shared with us. We ve tried them a and found them a usefu. Two of them, the Mantra Meditation and the Contact Ritua, are extremey versatie and can be used to contact and earn from any deity you choose, from any pantheon. A meditations require that you put some work into them. You can t just sit there and mouth the words, and expect something to happen. You must reach out with your heart and mind to the deity you want to know. No cande-burning or chanting, no ritua, however compex and fu of appropriate symboism, nothing wi hep you come to know the Gods and what They have to teach you if you do not put your heart, mind, and energy into it. No teacher, however knowedgeabe and weintentioned; no book, however we-written, can give you what you can gain by this kind of work. 133

135 Circe of Isis If you want to know the Gods and Goddesses of any pantheon in your heart, your heart must be open to them. Your mind must be prepared and ready for what they have to teach. One more thing. Meditation is a minor form of invocation. What or who you meditate on wi manifest in your ife. The greatest resuts from meditation come not during or even immediatey after, but often much ater in the events that occur in your ife. Mantra Meditation This meditation is based on the four-fod-breath, which is a wonderfu meditation by itsef. It can be done anytime, anywhere, even waking, if you re at a coordinated. Begin by breathing to the count of four: In two three four. Out two three four. Concentrate on the count, mentay. You find this usefu for reaxing and preparing for other meditations. When you have estabished the rhythm of your breathing, switch to a menta chant of eight syabes. For exampe: O SI - RIS LORD TEACH ME OF THEE In two three four. Out two three four. Try to mean the words. Continue unti something happens. What coud happen? I was chanting, O Lady Bast, teach me of thee, when I began to fee the tension that, for me, is a feeing of power, of energy gathering around me. I continued a moment more, unti suddeny, inside my head (or was it?) I heard SILENCE. The rest you read in the chapter on Bast. Once you have His or Her attention, once you fee that Presence, you can isten, fee, ask questions, whatever you ike, 134

136 Meditation as ong as it is in a respectfu manner. As soon as you can, make notes. Bast gave me a chant that has never faied to ca Her. Other things of equa vaue have been earned from other meditations. I encourage you to keep a journa for the resuts of this and any other kind of meditation you do. You might find that you aren t aware of the resuts of the meditations because they do not appear immediatey, but you wi see resuts ater. Add these things to your journa, too. Contact Rituas We refer to these as rituas but they are, in truth, somewhere between a ritua and a meditation. They are deiberatey very simpe to ensure that concentration is on the deity to be contacted. Pease, note, however, that athough they seem passive, they are not. The work being done is not expressed physicay or verbay for the most part, but it is sti work, and it is sti being done. You do not need any equipment for this rite, but those who are new to this type of work may find it hepfu to have a picture, statue, or symbo of the deity you are contacting. For exampe, we recenty did a contact ritua on Shu, the Egyptian God of the Air. We used a sma center atar on which we paced a yeow cande (yeow symboizes Air for us), sandawood incense (incense aso symboizes Air, and sandawood is a cean fresh fragrance), and a yeow ostrich feather (Shu is portrayed wearing an ostrich feather). It heped, too, that we were having 60-mie-an-hour winds that night, but such specia effects aren t necessary. We usuay perform contact rituas sitting down. Often, instead of sitting in a circe, we find a comfortabe pace about the iving room, and cast the circe around the room. We find it more important to be comfortabe than forma for this work. 135

137 Circe of Isis Use the simpest circe casting possibe. If you ike, you can recite the foowing, visuaizing a circe of white ight forming around you. Circe, now we conjure thee That thou mayest a boundary be Between the word of men we know And that the Mighty Ones sha show. A guardian and protection be For power we sha raise in thee. Preserve, contain it in thy sphere To aid the work we sha do here. So have we consecrated thee. So may our circe bessed be. If you wish to invoke the Eements, again, keep it simpe. If you ve used the poem above, and wish to continue in this vein, use the foowing: Sky and Sun and Sea and Earth, Teach us, give our wisdom birth. Sun and Sea and Earth and Sky, With your powers gather nigh. Sea and Earth and Sky and Sun, A together four and one. Earth and Sky and Sun and Sea, Join us as we ca to thee. Fee free to rearrange this to suit your own quarter system. At this time, you may ask the Lord and Lady to be present. I recommend that you do not use names here, that is, do not ca Aset and Asar, for exampe, or any particuar name, because you do not want to turn minds toward any deity name but that which is the subject of your ritua. Lord and Lady, God and Goddess, these are fine. 136

138 Meditation Loving Lady, Mighty Lord, By cup and shied and wand and sword, We ask your presence and your ight To bess the work we do this night. Once this is done, the work of the ritua begins. You may discuss what you know of the deity, any egends of which you are aware. Begin visuaizing the deity in the midde of the circe, putting as much energy and concentration into the visuaization as you are abe. What you are doing is buiding a teesmic image, buiding a form suitabe for the deity to enter. At the same time, you might find it hepfu to chant the name, or, if you have one (and there are severa in the Songs for the Gods section) sing an appropriate song. We often use a be chant, aso known as a free form chant. Each person sings the name of the deity as each fees it, whatever note or notes seem right. This is very effective, and amost aways ovey. When you fee the presence of the deity, stop chanting. At this point, mentay ask the deity what He or She woud have you know. Listen for the answer in your head. When you fee you have an answer, you may ask other questions. Some deities wi take over and give you more information without your asking. (Oh, if ony there were such an invention as a psychic tape recorder!) Someone observing such a ritua woud see a in the circe sitting quiety, and woud not reaize that there is more there than banking out and waiting for the deity to show up and say something. It is important that a invoved have worked at the visuaization and caed the God or Goddess to come and teach. If this is performed by a group, the eader shoud wait unti a have finished their visit with the God or Goddess. When a have finished, each person shoud thank the deity for what they ve earned, and cose the circe. 137

139 Circe of Isis Make notes, or share your experiences with each other. This is the most important part of the ritua. You wi often find that athough each individua has had a persona experience, there wi be a thread of simiarity running through those experiences. Pay attention to events of the next severa days, for it often happens that things regarding this deity may crop up. Don t worry if the information you ve received does not match what the historians and Egyptoogists have tod us. We are interested in what the Gods te us, who They are now, and how they reate to us, here and now. Done propery, these rituas can have a very strong effect on the participants. The deity wi become rea, become a part of each person, rather than a distant, unknowabe being. The ove I have aways fet for Asar is nothing compared to the adoration I fee for Him now that I ve met Him in a contact ritua. Do not fee you must accept and understand every bit of information you receive. Make note of it, research it, work with it, and wait to see what comes ater. You wi earn what is truth and what isn t. It is aso vauabe to do more than one contact ritua on a specific deity, with a space of time between. As you grow, the deities wi have more and different things to teach you. If you wi use this ritua/meditation method, you wi earn immeasurabe amounts about the Gods, and gain a persona knowedge of Them you might not have imagined possibe. Guided Meditations The foowing meditations are introductions to some of the Tameran deities. We usuay use them with peope who are new to our coven, but wi sometimes repeat them for students who have been with us awhie. As is true of the contact rituas, these hep buid persona reationships with the deities that have been introduced, or it heps further those reationships. If nothing ese, they are reaxing and enjoyabe. 138

140 Meditation Chris and I have found it best to read these together. If the deity is mae, I read the narration and he reads the words of the deity; if femae, he reads the narration, and I, the spoken words. Participants shoud make themseves comfortabe. The room shoud be darkened as much as possibe, eaving ony as much ight as is necessary for the eader (or eaders) to read the meditation. We have found it most effective to have a reaxation period in which the students are mentay ed away from the everyday word and probems. The foowing meditation incudes both a eading away and a eading back. These (or your own persona preference) are to be read at the beginning and the end of each meditation. After the meditation, those invoved shoud describe their experiences and feeings. We do, of course, aow them to keep sient if the experience was too persona to share. This sedom happens in a cose group, however. Many groups in our area use simiar meditations based on their own pantheons. Whatever your tradition, you find this type of work vauabe. Guided Meditation: Beginning Cose your eyes. Make yoursef as comfortabe as possibe. Breathe sowy, and eveny. In...two three...four...out...two...three...four. Let your awareness of your body fade away. You are surrounded and hed by darkness, a soft comforting darkness. You foat upon it, drift upon it...drift away from tension...from worry...from probems there is nothing but you and the darkness, the soft, nurturing, peacefu dark. (Short pause.) Your body has no weight, no pain, no probems. You are moving without effort, without intention. You do not know where you are going, but you know it is right for you to go there. 139

141 Circe of Isis (Short pause.) Your movement has stopped, and that, too, is as it shoud be. You fee your feet touch the ground, and you open your eyes. Go to the guided meditation. Guided Meditation: Ending Again, the darkness ifts you, crades you, carries you away in its undemanding softness. You know, as you move, you approach your everyday ife, but you find that the probems and tensions you eft behind have ost their power to confound you. You know that they are temporary, that a except the Gods and the essence of yoursef is temporary. You know that you bear with you the power of (subject of meditation) and with that, you can conquer a. You have stopped your movement. Your body takes on weight, you become aware of your physica surroundings. This room is beginning to become visibe. Take a deep breath, et it out sowy, and return to your norma state. Meditation: Asar Pharaoh You are standing by a river, broad and fu. Ta pams grow beside it. The sun beats down on your body, and you wecome it. It fees good, soaking into your skin, soothing musces, warming you. Its head, and the sounds and sights of the river, bring you a feeing of peace. For the moment you are content to ook, isten, and fee. At the edge of the river, growing from the water, are green staks, a pant you recognize as papyrus. Amongst them stands a bird with a ong, curved beak. He is very sti, eyes cosed, and seems to be thinking deep, serious thoughts. Out on the river, fishermen cast their nets. Their voices drift back over the water as they ca to each other. Some of them are singing as they work. 140

142 Meditation Near you, a fied of barey thrives. A sight breeze whispers through its eaves. You become aware of a presence behind you so powerfu a presence that you hesitate to turn yet you know you must, and sowy, you do. The figure you see is ta, and strongy buit. He wears a nemyss of dark bue and god striped materia; the same coth used in his short kit. A pectora of apis azui with a arge scarab in the center stands out against his bronze chest. His expression reveas nothing of his thoughts, yet you fee the power of His Presence, His very being...and you are overcome by it...by Him. Without meaning to move, you find yoursef at his feet. For a moment, you hear ony the beating of your own heart. Then, in a voice that is firm, tinged perhaps with amusement, He says, The pharaohs that were my image needed homage to remind them of me. I do not. Rise. A bit dazed, you start to stand up. He reaches down to hep you, and you take His hand as a chid might reach to its father. Wak with me, He says and you know that where He eads, you wi foow. Beside Asar, you wak between the river and the barey fied. He reminds you that He taught his peope the ski of agricuture, turned them from nomads into the progenitors of a great civiization. This is often forgotten, He muses. Think more on my ife...your peope think too much of my death. He ponders the barey for a moment, and speaks, amost to Himsef. I tried to teach them of ife and death through the grain...but they did not understand. I had to teach them through my own death. He is sient for severa heartbeats, staring at the grain before Him. 141

143 Circe of Isis Just when you think He has forgotten you, He turns back with a warming smie. Come, He says, et us wak farther. I have much to te you. And you wak beside Him, and isten. A ong pause (at east five minutes) shoud be made to aow the students to experience their own time with Asar. Finay, you stop. He turns to bid you farewe, and to give you His bessing. You eave Him, and return to the pace where you began. Sowy, the and of Egypt fades away as the famiiar darkness surrounds you. Go to Ending. Meditation: Nebet Het You have come to rest on a soid surface, but when you open your eyes, you find yoursef in darkness. Athough you can hear sounds around you, and fee soidity beneath your feet, you can see nothing. There is no Moon to give ight. You peer into the darkness, waiting for your eyes to adjust, straining to gather in the sightest hint of ight. What is here, you wonder. Is there anything here? Out of the darkness, you hear a woman s voice. What do you see, chid, when your eyes are cosed? Nothing. Does that mean everything has disappeared? Again there is sience. To your eft, however, you see a shadowy feminine figure, and you move toward it. When you reach the figure, however, you discover it was a trick of the ight, a swiring of shadow. The voice comes again, from another direction. Has the Moon ony one side? Because you cannot see it, does it have no existence? Who are you? you ask. And from yet another direction, you hear, I am that which is not what it seems to be. 142

144 Meditation You move toward the sound of her voice, but find nothing. By misdirection do I ead, you hear from a distance. As Isis is to Ra, so am I to Khephera. I am mystery. Another shadowy figure appears ahead of you and this time you are sure it is not a trick. You move quicky toward it. Reaching it, however, you find nothing but shadows in the darkness, and frustrated you cry out, Lady! The voice says, Chid, if you woud seek me, seek me not, but be. You stand where you are, trying to be patient. Short pause of about one minute. And finay, you fee Her Presence. You cannot see her ceary, but She is there, and Her hand is hed out to you. You take it, stand with Nebet Het, feeing the joy of Her nearness. Spend this time with Her, earning from Her. Learn what She wi teach you. It is time to return. Bid a oving farewe to the Goddess and cose your eyes. Fee yoursef surrounded by the comforting darkness. Go to Ending. Meditation: Tehuti You are standing by a river, broad and fu. Ta pams grow beside it. The Sun beats down on your body, and you wecome it. It fees good, soaking into your skin, soothing musces, warming you. Its heat, and the sounds and sights of the river, bring you a feeing of peace. For the moment, you are content to ook, isten, and fee. At the edge of the water grow ta green staks, a pant you recognize as papyrus. Among them stands a bird with a ong, curved beak. He is very sti, eyes cosed, and seems to be thinking serious, profound thoughts. 143

145 Circe of Isis As you watch, he opens his eyes, turns his head and ooks at you, he seems to study you. You are surprised to see, when you return the ook, that the eyes are inteigent, even wise. After a moment, the bird nods, as if it has made a decision. It spreads its wings, and takes to the air. You turn to watch its fight as it passes you. Your attention is drawn to a path over which the bird fies. You wonder where it eads, and you foow it, through the grain fied. After a few moments, you see a buiding ahead, made of mud brick, with windows high in the was. A doorway faces you, and you enter through it. You find yoursef in a surprisingy bright room. On two was are cubices fu of scros. The other was are covered with muras and hierogyphs. Through a door opposite, you can see an open inner courtyard, with a poo in the midde. The doorway is momentariy darkened as a figure enters from the courtyard. It is a strange personage who approaches the body of a man, but with the head of the bird who ed you here. Somehow, though, you do not find this strange. The eyes that ook on you are fu of wisdom, and you have the feeing that the knowedge in that ong beaked head is far beyond that contained in these cubices, for this is, you reaize, Tehuti, the Teacher, Lord of wisdom, Inventor of hierogyphs, Master of hidden knowedge, Lord of books and science. Without speaking, he eads you to a tabe. There sit two men, each drawing on papyrus. It is possibe they have the same skis, but the work you see is not of equa quaity. One is drawing cean precise hierogyphs. The other s work is rough, his papyrus stained with ink bots. You notice that the second man s pen is bunt and crude, the papyrus not smooth. The first man has a better brush and better papyrus. It is no wonder there is a difference in their work. 144

146 Meditation Tehuti nods as if he knows your thoughts, and says, The proper toos are necessary. He eads you to another schoar, a young man who is apparenty just earning to scribe. He sowy and carefuy draws the same pictograph over and over. You ook up to see Tehuti s eyes upon you. He turns, motions for you to foow, and eads you out to the courtyard. The Lord shows you the pants there, and the fish in the poo. He says, There is much I have to teach you, but there is work for you to do. There are things you must know, knowedge you must have before I can teach you the greater Mysteries. The papyrus on which I write must be fine and smooth. The brush with which I draw must be we made. The ink must be finey ground and of a good quaity. A these things must be prepared by you, though the work is hard and often tedious. Prepare the toos, and you wi be ready to earn what I have to teach. Stay here a whie with the Lord Most Wise. Perhaps He wi have other wisdom to share with you. It is time to eave the Lord of Wisdom. You rise and bid him a respectfu farewe. You wak back through the room of scros...out the door to the path...through the grain to the river. The river fades sowy...sowy...as the darkness reappears. Go to Ending. Meditation: Anpu You find yoursef in darkness. Though you can see nothing, you can fee a sight breeze. It gives you a feeing of vast, open space. You hear sma sounds in the night. You move your feet, and earn from the fee and sound that you stand on rock and sand. 145

147 Circe of Isis Your eyes are beginning to adjust to the dark. You can see sand, mounds, and nearby, some ciffs. Dark spaces in them seem to indicate openings of some sort. You reaize, with no trepidation, where you are. You are in the Vaey of the Kings buria pace of pharaohs, of queens, of nobiity and you are aone. There is a scutting in the sand, near your feet. What is it? A scorpion, perhaps? A beete? What is that sithering sound over there? Perhaps a horned asp, or some harmess serpent. Another sound catches your attention. You can t quite te what it is, but it is coming nearer...coser. The sound changes from one moment to the next. At first it is the step of an anima; the next moment, the measured tread of a human. You can see something coming, but in the darkness, you cannot discern what it is man, or something ese. You strain to see, strain to hear, try to earn what is approaching. Before you can, however, the figure stands before you neither man nor anima but both the body of a man and the snaring back head of a jacka! You are face to face with Anpu, Guardian of the tombs, Guide of the Underword, the Chaenger. You may escape if you wish, you have ony to open your physica eyes and you wi be safey away from those eyes that ook deep into your sou, away from this denizen of the underword, and away from the teeth reveaed by His snar. What wi you do? Wi you open your eyes? Or face the chaenge of the jacka? (If the student chooses to open his or her eyes at this point, stop. If more than one person is invoved in the meditation, signa for the student to eave the room so you can continue. Later, reassure him or her that it is a right he or she just wasn t ready.) You stand, and after moments, Anpu ceases to snar. He speaks: 146

148 Meditation I am the Chaenger. Those who cannot face me are unready...or unworthy to wak the ways I guard. They sha not earn the deeper secrets, sha not see that which is hidden. You have faced my chaenge and you sha earn. Know this, I guard not ony the hidden ways but those who trave them. If you find yoursef in the dark and afraid, reach out into the darkness, fee my hand hoding yours. I wi remove you from your fear. Anpu may have more to te you. Stay awhie in the presence of this mighty God. Gory in His Presence, for that in itsef may teach you much. It is time to eave the Vaey of the Kings and Lord Anpu. Bid Him farewe as the Vaey fades away and a strange thing happens. For a moment, instead of back, the head of the God seems to be goden. The vaey fades away...sowy...sowy...and sowy there is tota darkness. Go to Ending. Other Meditations From my friend Mardon come these ovey meditations/ rituas. Meditation to Connect With Nut and Geb This meditation not ony connects you with these two deities, but serves as a wonderfu reaxation exercise, as we as a good way to ground yoursef. Grounding is a way of connecting and aigning yoursef with the Eements to keep anchored when engaged in psychic or magica works. This makes this meditation usefu before any magica endeavors, it is aso handy to use whenever you fee you need to rid yoursef of excess or unwanted energies, or you just fee unconnected. 147

149 Circe of Isis Step One: Step Two: Get comfortabe. Unpug the phone, turn off the TV and the radio. Get away from that computer, and find a reaxing position on a sofa or nearby bed. Start this ritua by taking 10 deep breaths. With each breath you take in, fee yoursef reaxed; with each exhaation, see the day s worries, surprises, and disappointments eave your body. Scanning. With your eyes cosed, visuaize a goden ba of ight forming at your feet, and see it move up your body so that everywhere it touches becomes reaxed. Start with your feet, move to your egs, and continue up your body (incude the arms). Stop anywhere you fee stress and aow the goden ight to massage and sooth the stress from you. This is Ra. Aow your body to be competey massaged in Ra s heaing energies. Once Ra reaches the outer imits of your body, aow Him to eave, taking with him the stress and tension in your body. Step Three: Competey reaxed, visuaize strong roots expanding from your body, from your feet, spine, and ower body, digging deepy into the earth beow you. (You are connecting with Geb.) Breath deepy as you inhae, visuaize rich green and brown energy entering your body; as you exhae, visuaize gray and back energy eaving your body. Do this for about 10 breaths before moving on to the next step. Step Four: Feeing the new energy course through you, visuaize strong branches ike a tree stretching up into the sky. Turn your pams upward and visuaize coo raindrops faing genty into your pams. Fee the heat of the Sun as it beams down on your outstretched imbs. 148

150 Meditation Step Five: Step Six: Mixing the energies. The energy you get from Nut is going to fee very different from the energy you draw up from Geb. Aow it to minge and course through your body. Ending the ritua. Visuaize the roots extended into Geb returning to your body, and then the Branches extended to Nut retracting back into your being. Meditation to Connect With Ra and Nun This ritua connects you with Ra (Fire) and Nun (Water). It is symboic of the time before time, before history when the first seeds of ife were introduced into the womb of the Goddess. This ritua shoud be used to consecrate new beginnings, as we as to estabish new path workings. It is aso commony used to find an end to a confict within. Step One: Step Two: Get comfortabe. Unpug the phone, turn off the TV and radio, Get away from that computer, and find a reaxing position on a sofa or nearby bed. Start this ritua by taking 10 deep breaths. With each breath you take in, fee yoursef reaxed; with each exhaation, see the day s worries, surprises, and disappointments eave your body. Scanning. With your eyes cosed, visuaize a bue ba of ight forming at your feet, and see it move up your body so that everywhere it touches becomes reaxed. Start with your feet, move to your egs, and continue up your body (incude the arms). Stop anywhere you fee stress and aow the bue ight to massage and sooth the stress from you. This is Nun. Aow your body to be competey massaged in Nun s nurturing energies. Once He reaches the outer imits of your body, aow Him to eave, taking with Him the stress and tension in your body. 149

151 Circe of Isis Step Three: Competey reaxed, visuaize yoursef as the ocean. Fee the cooing waters surrounding you as you sink deepy into the womb of the Goddess. This is where you began your ife. (This is a great bath ritua by the way!) As you sip under the waters your heartbeat becomes one with the ocean. The waves crashing on the shore become distant and the heartbeats of you and Nun become one. Step Four: Step Five: Step Six: Feeing the new energy course through you, visuaize a streak of ightning coursing down from the heavens and joining with the waters. Aow the energies to fow naturay with one another. At the moment the ightning strikes the waters, visuaize what it is you want to do, and nothing ese. Try to imit your thoughts to the goa at hand. Keep in mind this ritua can have any purpose. The origina purpose was to eiminate negative energies, but the powers of this type of visuaization have become imitess. In the past it has been used to eiminate negative energies, used successfuy as a fertiity ritua, and used by a cose friend to hep him quit smoking. Ending the ritua. Visuaize the ightning dispersing from the waters. (This wi be amost instantaneous from the time the ightning strikes the water.) At this time, visuaize yoursef coming up from the depths of the primordia waters. As the waters fow off your fesh, the objective of the ritua is set into motion. As you rise just above the waters it is a good idea to begin the reaxation and grounding ritua which wi again center and ground you. 150

152 L Rituas What itte we have found in the way of rituas as performed by the Tamerans shows these rites were very different from Wiccan ceremonies. We have, of course, very detaied records of the funera ceremonies, but even if we shoud wish to perform a crossing over rite, these woud not be suitabe in most situations. There were ceebrations of many kinds in Tamera, as you can te by the Caendar (page 267). We don t know many detais about these, but I seriousy doubt they were circe ceremonies. None of this is unexpected. They were not Witches! They had their own reigion, in fact, they had severa of them. As I have said, Sothistar is not trying to recreate the ancient Egyptian reigion. We are a Wiccan coven, and we work with the Tameran Gods. The rituas you wi find here are written with that mindset. Athough these rituas and their various eements are certainy designed so that you may use them as is, I urge you to add as many persona touches as you wish. It is more important that the rituas touch you than that you do them exacty as I have written them. Most of these rituas were written especiay for this book, and athough they may contain eements found in Sothistar s rituas and/or may have been performed by our coven, they are not necessariy traditiona with us. If we performed these rites, we woud add our own touches to make the ritua uniquey Sothistar s, just as I hope you wi make the ritua uniquey yours. 151

153 Circe of Isis Music is something often found in our rituas. If you woud ike to incude it in yours, this section contains songs for many of the Tameran deities. Our big rituas are usuay foowed by a potuck feast. Over the years, it has become traditiona for our Harvest or Haows feast to be made up of dishes that might have been served in ancient Egypt. This has aways added to our feeing of connection with our deities, and with those who caed upon Them. In this section I ve incuded a ist of foods and spices that were avaiabe to the Tamerans, and some recipes we ve discovered. Incenses and ois are, of course, part of ritua for us, and there s a coection of recipes for these in this section. Beow you wi find a Circe Opening and a Circe Cosing to be used with the two rituas. You may, of course, use them with other rituas if you ike, or use your own. Circe Opening A gather at the pace of the ritua. If the individua or group has a specia circe opening for caing the Eements, it may be performed before this opening. Using a wand, staff, or athame, draw the symbo of the throne to the East, saying, The Lady Aset stands before me. Turn to the West and draw there the hierogyph for Nebet Het, saying, The ady Nebet Het, behind me. Turn to the North, draw there gyph for Asar, saying, To my eft, my Lord Asar. y 152

154 Rituas Turn to the South, and draw there the Eye of Horus saying, To my right, my Lord Heru. Again, face East and make a sweeping motion above your head from the Eastern edge of the circe to the Western edge, saying, Nut above me. Make another sweeping motion from West to East, but this time with the wand owered, saying, Geb beow me. Face East again, and say, Safe I stand within the Gods Bessed be the Work done within this sphere. Proceed with the ritua. Circe Cosing Begin at the East and as you mention each deities name, turn in that direction, and bow. Our Work is ended. We thank the Lady Aset, Lord Heru, the Lady Nebet Het, Lord Asar, Lady Nut, and Lord Geb for their protection and guidance. Athough we sha eave our forma circe, we ask that the ove, protection, and guidance we have received from these deities continue, for we sha ever be in need of those bessings. If you have a forma circe cosing, it may be done now. If not, rap on the atar and say, The rite is ended. 153

155 Circe of Isis Ceebration of the Birthdays of the Gods For many years, Sothistar hed a Birthday of the God/ dess party, to ceebrate the birth of five Egyptian deities. I am unaware of any traditiona birth dates for deities of other pantheons, so we ceebrated the birthdays of a the Gods and Goddesses of a pantheons at this party. These ceebrations were hed on the Saturday or Sunday that fe within the five days preceding Juy 19th, the date of the rising of Sirius. This ritua ceebrates the births of the five deities, but is designed so that you may add names in order to ceebrate Gods of a pantheons, if you wish. A participant shoud be chosen to represent each of the five deities. A others in the circe shoud be given (or choose) the name of other deities of the Egyptian pantheon (or any pantheon). To add to the spirit of the ceebration, this ritua can (and shoud be) foowed by a potuck feast. Information on traditiona foods can be found ater in this section. Circe Is Opened Priest: My friends, we are gathered here to ceebrate, with joy and ove, the birthday of five deities worshiped in an ancient and. Priestess: Five they were, born of the sky, fathered by the Earth. Five they were, born one each day in the five days not of the year. Priest: Five were born of the sky mother; three sons and two daughters. Let us first honor Them, one by one. Priestess goes to the participant representing Asar, bows and says: Praise to Thee, Asar, edest Son of Nut. God of Life, Lord of Death, Ruer of the Unborn. Receive Thee our ove and adoration as we ceebrate the day of your birth. 154

156 Rituas Asar: First born of our mother am I, first to see the and, first to ca it beoved. I am the grain that must fa if ife is to be renewed. It is my voice you hear in the ast sigh of death and the first cry of birth. If you woud honor me, then honor a phases of ife incuding its end, for I am both, and I sha be with you when your ife begins and when it ceases. Priest goes to the one representing Aset, bows and says: A ove to Thee, Aset, Lady of the Moon, Daughter of the Sky. Mother, Mistress of a Magic, our hearts rejoice at Your presence on the day of your birth. Aset: I am my mother s first daughter the funess of the Moon am I. I am the brightness of earning. Magic is mine, and power. I am a that is Woman, a its strengths and a its burdens. If you woud honor me, honor a my chidren. Serve them, and you wi serve me. Priestess goes to one chosen to represent Heru, bows and says: Her Ur, Thou Great Sky, Thou Great Face, honor praise we bring to Thee. Lord of a, hear our joy as we ceebrate the time of thy birth. Heru: I am the sky beyond the sky, watching a, seeing a through the Sun and the Moon. Litte known am I, but that does not imit my power. If you woud honor me, then honor yourseves, for a creation is mine. Priest goes to one chosen to represent Nebet Het, bows and says: Beautifu Nebet Het, Lady of the House, Lady of the Womb, happiy do we praise Thee. Know Thou of our ove as we ceebrate your birth. Nebet Het: A that is unseen am I a that is unknown. Mystery is mine, and meditation. Do not seek to know me, I wi come when I choose, and when you east expect me. If you woud honor me, honor that which you do not know, nor understand. 155

157 Circe of Isis Priestess goes to one chosen to represent Set, bows and says: Hai, Mighty Set! Sword wieder, storm bringer, reaper of the grain. Hear us, hear our praise as we honor the season of your birth. Set: I am the desert storm, wind scouring, sand basting. I ceanse, but not genty. Those who do not understand see me as evi, for they do not see that I give by cutting away. If you woud honor me, then honor your eterna seves, for that is what I honor in my work. Priest and priestess return to their origina positions. Priestess takes up the chaice, saying: The Mother of these Gods, the womb from which they came forth, was the Goddess of the Sky, the Lady Nut. We cannot honor Them, without honoring Her. Partake of the cup, taking within you the Mother of the Gods, rejoicing in the joy and pain of birth. Priestess raises the chaice in a saute, sips from it, and passes it to the Priest who foows suit, and passes the chaice on. When that chaice has returned, the Priest takes up the bread, saying: Nor can we ceebrate this birth without honoring the Father of the Gods, Geb, Lord of the Earth. Partake of the bread, honoring this Great God, rejoicing in the strength and beauty of His seed. Priest raises the bread, takes a sma piece and eats it. He then passes the pate to the next person. When the bread has returned, the Priestess says: Though we honor the deities of ancient Egypt with this rite, we know that there are others of other ands equay worthy of honor. Let us now, in that spirit, ca out the names of other Lords and Ladies, with ove and praise, that we may, as much as possibe, honor a of them. 156

158 Rituas She cas out a name and the others foow suit around the circe. It wi be most effective if, after you ve gone around the circe once, you do it again, severa times. If, instead of caing out the names, each person sings the name, in whatever notes they choose, you wi find it quite ovey and moving. Priest: Hai to the Lord and Lady by a Their Names! Priestess: Let us now cose our circe and continue our ceebration with feasting and aughter, remembering as we do that this is as much a part of our ceebration as this ritua. Circe Is Cosed. The Rite of Bessing a Chid Before the rite, the parents shoud, with carefu thought, choose a deity to serve as protector of the chid, and prepare a chid s amuet as detaied on page 199. A sma coth or eather bag to hod the amuet shoud aso be prepared. If possibe, one person shoud be chosen to represent each of the Gods who bring a gift to the chid. If enough peope are not avaiabe, those present can rotate. If desired, each of the gifts given in the name of the deities during the rite can be symboized by an actua gift to be paced in a sma bag or box. Suggestions can be found at the end of each speech. Most of the deities mentioned in this rite are traditionay connected with chidbirth. Circe Is Opened. Priestess: We are gathered to ceebrate a joyous event: a oved one has returned to us. Priest: A sou has entrusted itsef and its upbringing to two of our members. (To parents) Bring the chid forth. 157

159 Circe of Isis Parents step forward with chid to stand facing Priest and Priestess. Priestess: It is not our right to choose the path our chidren wi foow. That choice beongs to each individua. When this chid has reached the age of decision he/ she wi choose the way of the spirit that is right for him/her. Priest: Unti that time, however, we can direct our chidren aong the path we have chosen. And we can pace them under the protection of the Gods as we know and ove Them. Priestess: Before the Gods, name this chid. The naming is done. Priest: As we rejoice in this returning of a oved one, et us bring to this sma one the gifts of the Gods. Parents may stand in the center of the circe, each person stepping forward to bestow a gift, or the chid may be carried around the circe. If symbos of the gifts are presented, they shoud be given to the parent not hoding the chid. Priest: The Lord Asar has sent forth (chid s name), another from the Land of the Unborn. But He sends no spirit forth aone. In the name of the Father of A, do I bring the gift of guidance throughout ife. (A sma compass.) Priestess: In the name of Aset, Birth Giver, do I give the gift of ove, that this sma spirit may both ove and be oved in return. (A sma heart.) Khnum: From Khnum who created the seed for the body of this chid, do I bright the gift of heath. (A tiny pot, or chip of baked cay.) Heqet: In the name of Heqet, Mistress of Magic, midwife, do I bring power. (A sma frog charm.) 158

160 Rituas Bes: Bes, God of joy and protection, brings the gift of humor, of joy, of heaing aughter. (Sma item of siiness.) Meshkenet: In the name of She who is the foundation on which birth takes pace, I bring a foundation on which this chid may stand firm throughout ife. (A tiny chip of brick.) Anpu: Anpu, Guardian of Sous, gives the abiity to see the truth. (A sma cande.) Priest: What deity have you chosen to protect this chid? Parents name deity. Amuet is brought forth and hed toward center of circe. If a God has been chosen, Priestess reads the foowing; if a Goddess, the Priest. The other wi read the words of the amuet. Priest/ess: (Deity name), et your power enter this amuet. Let the words written here be your words, et their truth be your truth, and the voice which speaks the words be heard by a as your voice. Priest/ess reads amuet. A envision the power of the deity entering the amuet. The name of the God or Goddess may be chanted or sung, or a song may be inserted here. The amuet and a sma symbo of the deity sha be paced in the bag that is paced around the chid s neck. If godparents have been chosen, they shoud be caed forth at this time. Priestess: Before the Gods, wi you, (goddessmother), take upon yoursef for this chid s spiritua upbringing, and if need shoud come, for his/her physica we-being, as though he/she were born from your womb? Goddessmother responds. 159

161 Circe of Isis Priest: 160 Before the Gods, wi you, (godfather), take upon yoursef for this chid s spiritua upbringing, and if need shoud come, for his/her physica webeing, as though he/she were grown from your seed? Godfather responds. The godparents step back into the circe. Mother now comes before atar and prays in these words, or words of her own choosing. My Lady Aset, Mother of A, Mistress of Magic, hep me to raise my chid with ove and wisdom, eading him/her in the right ways. Be ever by my side that I may be the mother to my son/daughter You are to me. Father steps forward and prays in these words, or words of his own choosing. My Lord Asar, Father of a, Lord of Life and Death, into my hands you have given this chid. Guide me that I may guide her/him to fu growth. Strengthen me that I may ever be a source of strength to her/him. Be ever at my side that I may be the father to my son/daughter You are to me. (Mother) Priestess:, what vows wi you make to this chid, who, though he/she comes to you in this sma body, may have carried you in her/his arms in another ife. Mother makes vows. (Father) Priest:, what vows do you make to this sma spirit who may be even oder and wiser that any here? Father makes vows. Priestess: This chid, born to our brother and sister, is now under the protection of the Gods. Can we do ess? Let us each promise our ove and protection to this sma one.

162 Rituas Chid is carried around circe as each member makes promise. Priest: May we aways be worthy of the trust the Gods have paced in us. Our work is done. Circe Is Cosed. Festiva of Bast We performed this as a pubic ritua about November 16th, one of the traditiona dates for a festiva of Bast. For our ritua we had atars at each quarter, each with a different statue of this Lady on it, with coors and other decorations reating to the Eements. We aso had a center atar with a arge bust of Bast on it, of the type that have room in the back for a votive which, when burning, shines through the eyes of the statue. Ony the candes on the main atar are burning. When the quarters are caed, do not ight the quarter candes at that time. That wi come ater in the ritua. The Charge of Bast as it appears in the ritua is shown as it was written. However, as so often happens, words came out of the priestess s mouth in addition to what had been written, which made it more powerfu. I wish someone had written them down! One thing you might do, after everyone is gathered and before you start the ritua, is et everyone get a certain something out of their systems. It s there anyway, so you might as we et them do it. Get everyone to sing the meow meow meow meow song found in a certain cat food commercia. That way it s not going to appear in the midde of the ritua. Once that is done, give everyone a few minutes to sette down. At this point, the High Priest and High Priestess of the ritua shoud wak once around the circe having everyone chat mau (not meow ) softy and quicky. The purpose of this is to get everyone in tune and together. 161

163 Circe of Isis East: South: Quarters are caed. Lady Bast! Bring to us the ight out of darkness. Let the winds bow Your inspiration to us. Daughter of the Sun! Bring to us the fire from midnight. Let the fames come out of the darkness. West: Lady Bast, from the dark depths of the sea, to the ight-sparked streams, bring us Your ove. North: 162 Lady Bast, et Your strength rise from the dark Earth to bring us knowedge of Your true sef. Priest: Wecome to the Festiva of Bast, the Festiva of Lights. This is a ceebration, true, and we wi dance and sing. But we aso hope to make this ritua a earning experience. We hope you wi take away with you some knowedge about this beoved Goddess, and wi perhaps take away a bit of Her Sef. We sing hymn to Bast. (Song can be found on page 174.) Priest: It was the custom in ancient Egypt to extinguish a ights at this time, and reight them. So sha we do so now. A candes on center atar extinguished. Priestess: Before we ight them again, et us chant to the Lady Bast, whose Name we ceebrate today, caing Her to teach us. Let us continue this chant unti we are tod to stop.

164 Rituas A chant the Mau Bast chant unti Priestess speaking for Bast chooses to speak. (The word sience shoud be spoken oudy and in a commanding tone of voice that a become sient, at which time the speech shoud continue) Charge of Bast: (oudy) Sience...is my name. And in sience sha I be heard. Be sti and isten. My symbo is not the domestic cat that is dependent on humans for its sustenance. No! My symbo is the wid junge cat, the night prower, the fierce hunter, sovereign and proud. It is here in the darkness that my essons are taught. That which I bring, that which I teach, is not easiy earned. Oh my dear ones! Yes, I can be the nurturing Sun, I can be the gente ight of dawn, but you must first go through the dark night to reach that ight. Know this, in the times when earning is the hardest, when the essons are most painfu, I am there with you and that ight is found through the earning; and when the esson is done, the dawn comes, the ight comes, and the nurturing rays of the Sun wi warm your day. Wi you earn my essons? Or wi you hide from me and a I have to give you? Think, now, in the dark. What wi you do? Priestess: Let us chant again, but this time, ca this Lady to you personay, ca Her within you and isten to what She might have to say ony to you. She may speak in your mind and heart. When you fee the time is right, reight main candes. Then take one of the candes on the center atar and go to a quarter, beginning to ight candes cockwise. During this time, chant: 163

165 Circe of Isis c ======================== & e e q e e q e e E e e e q What we earned in the night we wi bring in - to the ight. ======================== & e e q e e q E E E E E e q [ What we earned in the night we wi bring in - to the ight. When a candes are it and it seems a have finished their communion with Bast, continue. Priest: From the darkness comes the ight. Let us now sing and dance to thank the Lady for the wisdom She has given us and because it is traditiona to do so. Sing the foowing song, unti it seems ike peope are ready to stop. (The tune is the same as the chant above.) Sing and dance in the name of the Cat with eyes of fame. Sing and dance for the one who is Lady of the Sun. When the time is right, continue. Priestess: Let us end our circe. We wi feast, sing, make music and dance a in Her presence! Circe Is Cosed. 164

166 L Songs for the Gods These songs can be used in a ritua, as invocations, or simpy to praise a specific deity. We use them often. Music is very important in our tradition, and it woud be unusua for us to have a ritua without some kind of song or chant invoved. Nothing brings a group of peope together ike singing, so not ony is it peasant, but it is magicay effective to use songs everyone can sing. In the earier discussion on buiding persona reationships with the deities, I mentioned writing songs for them. That s been one of the ways I ve deveoped those reationships. These were written at various times in my ife. Some came when I needed a song for a specific deity. Others seemed to come on their own. I do know that after they were written I seemed to have a cose reationship with the deity the song was about, but I m not sure if I wrote the songs because I had that reationship, or the reationship existed because I wrote the song. ======================= & c h q Î h q Î q Q Q Q H Q Î After ast verse Hymn to Heru He - ru! He - ru! Young Lord, Bright Lord, He - ru! He - ru! He - ru! Lord of morn - ing, He - ru! He - ru! He - ru! Born of A - set, He - ru! He - ru! He - ru! Son of A - sar, He - ru! =======================[ & h q Î h q Î h. Î He - ru! He - ru! He! 165

167 Circe of Isis 166 Hymn to Geb To be sung firmy, with a strong beat. 2 ======================= & b 4 q e e q e e q e e e e Lord of the earth and the pains and the high - est Lord of the rocks and the ciffs and the dark - est ======================= & b e e q e e q e e q moun - tain. Lord of the for - est and his cave, Oh, Lord of the des - ert and sands, ======================= & b q q e e e e e e e e and the deep - est cav - ern. Geb! We hon - now we sing our praise to Geb! We hon - b ======================= & e e q q q q e e e e q or Thee! Geb! We hon - or Thee! or Thee! Geb! We hon - or Thee! ======================= & b q q e e q e e q q [ Lord of the Earth, praise to Thee. Hymn to Set ======================= & c e. x e e h e. x e e h Comes the des - ert wind. Comes the des - ert storm. Seek you now to change? Seek you now to grow? Q H ======================= & e. x e e e e e e q Comes the Lord of a whose time is at an end. Seek you to be one with a e - tern - i - ty? ======================= & e. x e e h x e. e e q q When the storm has passed, the temp ra wi be gone. Stand and face the wind, and when the storm has passed, ======================= & e. x e e e e e e h. e e w [ On - y the e - ter - na sha re - main in his wake. On - y the e - ter - na sha re - main in his wake. ]

168 Songs for the Gods Hymn to Tehuti (Wisdom Has Wings) To be sung somewhat sowy and heartfet. ======================= & b b 4 3 q q q q q q h. q q h. q q h Wis-dom has wings. Wis - dom can fy. Coud wis - dom come to ======================= & b b h E E h. q q q h. q q q h. one such as I. Teach - er of Gods. Teach - er of kings. ======================= & b b q. Q e q q q q q. e q h. q q q h Oh, I woud earn from Thee. I woud earn wings. Head of an i - bis, ======================= & b b q. e h. q q q Q E q q q q. q h. eyes of a sage. Wis - est of a wise ones, ho - i - est mage. ======================== & b b q q q h. q q q h. q. e q q q q Teach- er of Gods. Teach- er of kings. Oh, I woud earn from Thee. b ======================= & b q. e q h. q q q h. q q q h. I woud earn wings. Lord, hear my cry. Fee my heart reach. ======================= & b b q q q q q Q q. E q h. q q q h. My ife is earn- ing if you woud but teach. Teach- er of Gods. ======================= & b b q q q h. q. e q q q q q q q h. [ Teach- er of kings. Oh, I woud earn from Thee. I woud earn wings. 167

169 Circe of Isis 168 Hymn to Aset 3 ======================= & 4 E E Q Q. e H E E Q Q. e Seek you star - ight that sings? Seek you ma - gic with Woud your spir - it un - fod seek - ing wis - dom un - H E ======================= & H E E H E E Q Q Q E wings? Woud you augh and then cry? Seek you joy? Seek you tod? Woud you ook on a beau - ty that s bind - ing to H E E Q Q Q Q. E E E Q E Q ======================= & E joy? Seek you ove with - out end? Sis - ter, Moth-er and friend? see? Are there words you woud know? Seek you pow - er to grow? H Q ======================= & E E E E Q Q q Q Q q Q Come with me, I wi show you my La - dy. Come with me, I wi show you my La - dy. H ======================= & E E Q. E q Q Q E E h [ Come with me, I wi show you my La - dy. The Chaenge # ======================= & c q q q q q q q # q w Do you dare to wak the hid - den ways? Can you bear to face the hid - den truth? # ======================= & q q q q ä q e q q q q q q w Do you dare to wak the hid - den ways? Do you dare to Can you bear to face the hid - den truth? Can you bear to # ä ======================= & q q q ä e e e q q q q e e e q face the Jack - a? Do you dare to face the Jack - a? face the Jack - a? Can you bear to face the Jack - a? # ======================= & q q q q q q q # q w [ Do you dare to wak the hid - den ways? Can you bear to face the hid - den truth? ]

170 Songs for the Gods Hymn to Nephthys b 3 ======================= & 4 e x x e e e e h Q H E E I am the dark - ness of the womb. I am thought - fu I am the star - ight in the night. I am thought - fu I am the chor - us of the breeze. I am thought - fu b ======================= & q h e x x e e e e h Q si - ence. I am the sti - ness of the tomb. I si - ence. Soft the sounds of wings in fight. I si - ence. Whis-pered winds through imbs of trees. I b H ======================= & E E q h ] e e e e q am thought - fu si - ence. Neph - thys Neb - et Het, am thought - fu si - ence. Neph - thys Neb - et Het, am thought - fu si - ence. Neph - thys Neb - et Het, ======================= & b e e e e q Q e e q q e e q } Neph - thys Neb - et Het Dark La - dy of mys - ter -y. Neph - thys Neb - et Het Dark La - dy of mys - ter -y. Neph - thys Neb - et Het Dark La - dy of mys - ter -y. Hymn to Het Heret ======================= & c h. e e e e e e h Roots reach - ing in to the Earth. Trees reach - ing up to the Sky. ======================= & h. e e e e e e h Down to the depth of the Earth. Trees with their imbs in the Sky. H. e e e ======================= & e e e h Life fow - ing from the word s heart. Stars nest - ed sweet on Thy bough, ======================= & e e e q e q q h. [ My La - dy Het Her - et, Thou art. My La - dy Het Her - et, art Thou. 169

171 Circe of Isis Mourning Song # c E ======================= & h e e e h e e h e e e e e e Mourn, my coun - try, mourn. The king is gone. The king is # ======================= & w h e e e e e h. e w gone. Weep, my coun - try. Weep for the king. # ======================= & h e e e E e h e e e h e e e e w Mourn, my sis - ter, mourn. Our broth-er s gone. Our broth-er s gone. # ======================= & h e e e h e e w e e e h e e e e Weep, my sis - ter, weep for our broth - er! Mourn, oh, Moth - er, # ======================== & e h e e e h e e e e w h e e e e mourn. Your son is gone! Your son is gone! Weep, oh, Moth - er, # ======================= & h. e e w h e e e e h e e e E weep for your son. Mourn, Be - ov - ed and. Our Lord is # ======================= & h e e e e w h e e e e gone! Our Lord is gone! Weep Ta - mer - a, # ======================= & q. e e q e e q e e e Q h h h î [ weep for our Lord, for your son, for our broth - er, for my Love. 170

172 Songs for the Gods Lament of Isis and Nephthys 3 ======================= & b b 4 Q Q h h e e q. e q Come back, come back, oh beau - ti - fu Come back, come back, be - ov - ed of ======================= & b b h e e h e e h e e h. boy. Come home to those who ove thee. a, to those who wait in mourn - ing. ======================= & b b e e e q e e e e q. e e e q e Come to thy sis - ter, come to thy wife, and bring the joy back Î ======================= & b b e e q e e e q e e e q. e in - to ife! Come to thy house and ease the pain! Oh, ======================== & b b e e q q e q Q h Q e et our tears not be in vain! Come back! Come ======================= & b b h e e h e e h e e h e e back, oh beau - ti - fu boy. Come home to ======================= & b b h q q q q q q q H Î [ those who ove thee, who mourn thee, who ca! 171

173 Circe of Isis Hymn to Ra To be sung brighty and quicky. b ======================= & c q e e Q q Q Q H Bright - y he shines, our god - en one! Fa - ther in heav - en, shi - ning bright! Thou who art Life, a praise to Thee! H b E ä ======================= & Î E E E E H Hai, Ra! Ru - er of the Sun! Hai, Ra! Bring - er of the Light! Hai, Ra! Ev - er bess - ed be! b ======================= & e e E E H E E E E h Ho - y one on high. Ru - er of the sky Ho - y one on high. Ru - er of the sky Ho - y one on high. Ru - er of the sky ======================= & b e e E E E E E E Q q h [ Let your voi - ces ring in praise of Ra, our King. Let your voi - ces ring in praise of Ra, our King. Let your voi - ces ring in praise of Ra, our King. Hymn to Nut To be sung moderatey sow and softy. # ======================= & c e e h. e e h. Oth - ers see on - y sky Moth - er Nut, they are bind I can see high a - bove I can see with my heart, # ======================= & e e e e e e q e e h. [ 172 when they raise their eyes a - bove raise their eyes. for they see not with their hearts but their minds. How you cov - er a the word with your ove. Thou art beau - ti - fu to see, O thou art.

174 Songs for the Gods Hymn to Osiris ======================= & c e e e e e E h e E h O - si - ris. O - si - ris. Pha - roah of two ands. Hod us in your hands. King of ife and death. Fi us with your breath. Ho - y is thy name. Warm us with your fame. ======================= & e e e Î e h h. [ O - si - ris, Lord. O - si - ris, Lord. O - si - ris, Lord. O - si - ris, Lord. The Potter ======================= & c e e q e e e e q e e q. e Hear the sound of the pot - ter s whee as it spins. Khu - See the sou on the Whee of Life as it spins. Khu - ======================= & h e e q e e e e q e e num! See the cay on the pot - ter s whee as it num! Birth to death on the Whee of Life as it ======================= & q. e h e e q e e e e spins! Khu - num! Fee the hand of the might - y spins! Khu - num! And with death we are born a - ======================= & q e e q e e e e h e e Lord form the seed to con - tain a sou. See the new whie the ves - se that s tossed a - side wi re - ======================= & q e e e e q e e h. [ Sou join the Whee of Life as it spins. turn to the pot - ter s whee as it spins. 173

175 Circe of Isis Hymn to Bast ======================= & c q q q q q q h w w Lad - y of the Mid - night Fire, Mau Bast Cat with eyes of god - en fame, Mau Bast ======================= & q q q q q q h w w Grant to us our heart s de - sire, Mau Bast. Hear us as we ca your name. Mau Bast. ======================= & q q q q q q h b Q Q q q Lad - y if you wi it so, hep us earn what To our wait - ing hearts ap - pear. Hear us ca - ing, ======================= & q q h q q q q q q h w w [ we must know if our spir - its are to grow. Mau Bast. Lad - y hear. Might - y God - dess be ye near. Mau Bast. Hymn to Bes ======================= & b c q e e q e e q H. Bes gives me joy, gives me pow - er. Bes teach - es joy, has a pow - er. ======================= & b q e e q e e q h. Bes gives me strength, gives me augh - ter. Bes shows me strength found in augh - ter. ======================= & b q x x e q. e e e e e h Caed a dwarf by those who have not earned to see, Caed a dwarf by those who have not earned to see, ======================= & b q e e q e e w [ Bes is a gi - ant to me. Bes is a gi - ant to me. 174

176 Songs for the Gods The Forgotten Ones ======================= & c q q q q q h. q The pyr - a - mids are od. The No more the sis - trums ring in For - got - ten are the Gods in ======================= & q Q Q q h. q q q q q i - bis fies no more. The temp - es have grown praise of Het Her - et. No more do voic - es ands They caed Their own. Where once a hund - red ======================= & h. q q Q Q q h. q cod. None come there to a - dore. And sing a prayer to Neb - et - het. And ived They ca one God a - one. But ======================= & q Q Q b Q q q q q A - ah s name rings out where once O - no one thinks of ove - y Nut when in our hearts they are a - ive and ======================= & q q q q h. q si - ris was a - dored, but stars shine high a - bove, but ev - er wi they be! Oh, ======================= & q q q. e q Q H in my heart O - si - ris ives, in my heart these a - dies ive, an - cient ones of E - gypt, we ======================= & e e Q Q q H. Î [ and ev - er is my Lord. and ev - er is my ove. have not for - sak - en Thee! 175

177 L Incenses and Ois To the Tamerans, incenses served two spiritua purposes. The Gods were said to have a very sweet sme, so the fragrance of the incense reminded them of and turned their minds toward the Gods. They aso beieved the smoke carried their prayers to the Gods. Many of us use incense frequenty, both in and out of ritua. The use of incense just because we want to can have one of two effects. It can essen our feeings about the magica uses of incense, or it can bring those feeings into our everyday ives. The resut is up to you. Continue to use incense when the mood strikes you, but as you ight it, say a sma prayer. For exampe: Lord and Ladies, et the fragrance of this incense remind me ever of You. Make an effort, too, as you sme the incense, to remember that its smoke carries your words to the Gods, and take care with what you say. Say nothing you don t want Them to hear! Use incense during any meetings you have that reate to your reigion. For that matter, you coud use them to set the mood for any meeting, whether or not it reates to your path. Most of the perfumes mentioned in the various ancient writings were actuay scented ois. Among the scents the Tamerans were known to use were myrrh, cardomom, and probaby sandawood. We know they aso had sesame, coriander, a kind of caamus (sweet fag), a type of oregano, cumin, anise, and vioets. 176

178 Incenses and Ois The foowing recipes were deveoped by peope; partiay from research, and partiay from fee. You can, of course, use them as they are, or you can deveop your own. Just as we do not necessariy view the Tameran deities as the Tamerans did, we do not restrict ourseves to pants and materias that were avaiabe to those ancients. It is more important that an incense seem right to you than it be historicay accurate. Kyphi First, the best-known incense connected with Egypt is Kyphi. There are many recipes you can find for this. Here is one: 3 parts honey 3 raisins 1 part copa 1 part myrrh 1 part orris 4 parts sandawood 1 part storax 2 parts frankincense 2 parts cinnamon Red wine (enough to moisten (grind it forever) mixture) Benzoin (enough to ro bas in) Thoroughy grind a ingredients separatey. Mix together groups by nature: first, resinous ingredients, then powdery ones, and continue. Mix a batches together, add red wine to moisten, then ro into ¾" bas. Ro bas in benzoin. Lay out on waxed paper for a week or more. Every Kyphi recipe I ve tried is very smoky, so if you must use it inside, have good ventiation. Maria Bumberg s Incenses Maria Bumberg is a friend, Craft sister, and documentary maker who created these incenses just for this book, and therefore, just for you. 177

179 Circe of Isis Isis 3 parts white sandawood 2 parts myrrh 2 parts orris root 1 part rose petas 1 part frankincense 5 drops otus oi or Lotus Bouquet (recipe beow) Grind a ingredients to powder. Add oi or bouquet. Lotus Bouquet (Courtesy of Scott Cunningham) Equa parts rose, jasmine, white musk, and yang yang ois. Mix unti scent is heavy, fora, and warm. Osiris 5 parts frankincense 4 parts juniper 3 parts dittany of Crete 2 parts cedar eaves 1 part myrrh 3 drops otus oi or Lotus Bouquet (see above recipe) Grind a ingredients to a fine powder and mix. Bend in oi. If you ike, add green food cooring. Hathor 5 parts orris root 4 parts rose petas 3 parts myrrh 2 parts spikenard 2 part sweet fag (caamus) 6 drops civet oi 9 drops henna oi (oi from the henna pant fower) Grind a ingredients to fine powder and mix. Add ois. Bend. Bast 4 parts frankincense 3 parts acacia gum 2 parts myrrh 1 part catnip 1 part cedar 1 part cinnamon ½ part juniper 2 drops civet oi Grind ingredients to fine powder and mix. Bend in oi. 178

180 Incenses and Ois Sekhmet 3 parts red sandawood 3 parts cinnamon 2 parts myrrh 1 part benzoin 1 part catnip ½ part dragon s bood reed 7 drops cedarwood oi 1 sma pinch asafoetida (optiona) (This herb has a very strong and, to some, noxious sme.) Grind and bend together. Mara s Recipes Heru 1 part amber 2 parts cinnamon 1 part cove ¼ part horehound ½ part bay Sekhmet 1 part dragon s bood 1 part cinnamon 1 part red sandawood 1 part cat s caw 2 drops vania oi Anpu 1 part amber 1 part frankincense ¼ part myrrh 1 part cinnamon ½ part coves ¼ part dragon s bood 1 drop musk oi (synthetic, pease. The rea thing woud require the death of an anima.) Tehuti 1 part white sage ¾ part cinnamon ½ part bay 1 part cedar ½ part rosemary 179

181 Circe of Isis Benu (Phoenix) 2 part cinnamon 1 part cove ¼ part myrrh ½ part arabica 2 drops amber oi Recipes From Seahorse Isis Incense 3 parts myrrh 2 parts sandawood 1 part frankincense 1 part rose petas A few drops musk (again, pease use the synthetic.) Osiris Incense 2 parts benzoin 1 part cedar 1 part pine 1 part myrrh 1 part patchoui Ra Incense 4 parts frankincense 2 parts orange pee 1 part juniper berries 1 part myrrh Ra Oi 4 drops frankincense 3 drops orange 1 drop cinnamon Add to ¼ oz. of amond or grapeseed oi. Isis Oi 5 drops sandawood 2 drops rose 3 drops musk 2 drops avender Add to ¼ oz. of amond or grapeseed oi. 180

182 L Food and Drink As is true with many covens, our ceebrations usuay incude a potuck feast. Whenever possibe, we ike to incude some dish that might have been served in Tamera. If you wish to do this, or use the proper beverage or food for an offering, this chapter may be of use to you. (Offerings, by the way, can be consumed ater. We usuay pour a iquid onto the ground, and eave the food outside for the wid animas.) The Tamerans used a wide variety of foods, many of which are famiiar to us. Beverages The beverages most often mentioned in Tameran writings are water, mik, beer, and wine. Amost any grain coud be made into beer. The grain was first sprouted in, as far as I can te, the very way we make sprouts for saads and sandwiches. The sprouts and some water were ground into moist dough and formed into cakes. (Ony one source mentions an addition of yeast.) These were ighty cooked, then broken up into water. After a day or two, the mixture woud have fermented enough to be acohoic. At this point, it was strained and drunk. The beverage ony kept for a day or so before it became undrinkabe. If you prefer not to bother, any mat iquor wi serve as we symboicay. There is aso mention in both egend and iterature of red beer. This coud be red because of the grain used, or because 181

183 Circe of Isis of an additive. A egend regarding Sekhmet (and sometimes Hathor) incuded beer either coored with pomegranate juice or ochre. There is a beer avaiabe today that is red and we ve adopted the tradition of the Church of the Eterna Source of honoring Sekhmet by having this beer at our gatherings. We have found mention of Tamerans drinking beer sweetened with honey that resembed mead. This came as no surprise to me because we had in various conversations come to the concusion that the Tamerans coud not have escaped earning about mead. Consider the foowing: The Tamerans had honey. The bees, and therefore the honey they created, were sacred to Min, God of Fertiity. The yeast that causes fermentation is airborne. The Nie Vaey is very hot. Water mixed with honey or honey itsef sitting around in jars coud very easiy have fermented. (I think this is how Og, the caveman discovered booze in the first pace!) Surey, over thousands of years, someone noticed this transformation. If you agree, you might want to try the foowing mead recipe. Mead 1 quart honey 3 quarts distied water Mix and boi for five minutes. (If you wish to incude herbs and spices, add them whie it cooks.) Coo down to just above body temperature. Add a package of yeast, and mix. Put in a arge container. Cover with pastic wrap or pastic bags and aow for expansion. Put in a dark pace and et it sit for seven days. Refrigerate unti it settes (two or three days). Strain and botte. Keep in a coo, dark pace. This is drinkabe now, but I m tod that it is even better after it has been aged for severa months. We don t know at our house, because it never asts that ong. Be carefu. This is no ightweight drink. It winds up being about 60 proof. 182

184 Food and Drink For those of you who do not wish to consume an acohoic drink, the foowing is a recipe for a nonacohoic mead. Nonacohoic Mead 1 quart honey 3 quarts distied water ½ cup emon juice Boi five minutes, coo, and botte immediatey. Keep refrigerated to prevent fermentation. Wine Even now there are wines avaiabe whose origina grape stock came from Egypt. They are: L Mamsey (a madeira dessert wine) L Rainwater madeira L Nebbiio L Amarone L Nebbiio d Aba L Est est est L Pinot Grigio Wines reated to Eygptian wines are: L Savignon banc (simiar to wines from the Deta) L L Tour Banc (has a picture of a shrine to Asar on its abe) 183

185 Circe of Isis Foods Breads There are many kinds of breads mentioned in Tameran iterature, and, athough we don t know what a the different names mean, the breads do seem to have been both fat, or uneavened breads, consisting of four and water, and eavened breads, using yeast. Rather than depend on wid, airborne yeast, it is ikey that the Tamerans had a type of sourdough. Most breads seemed to be made of emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum). Kamut is an ancient reative of modern durum wheat, widey used in the Fertie Crescent, and found its way to Egypt. The name Kamut is modern. This variety was brought to the United States and named Kamut because it was thought that it meant wheat in ancient Egypt. For many heath reasons, Kamut is becoming more avaiabe in the United States. This is a recipe for Beer Bread that used a 12-ounce botte of beer as a eavening agent. It is possibe that homemade beer was used in this way, just as bread was made to make beer. Beer Bread 5 cups whoe wheat four 1 12 oz. botte of beer 1 Tbsp. honey 1½ tsp. sat Combine ingredients. Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover in a bow and et it rise for about an hour. Divide the dough into four pieces and shape into bas. With your hands or a roing pin, fatten each ba to about ½". On a baking sheet, at 350 degrees, bake for 45 minutes. Or Make eight sma bas and then fatten them to about ¼". Fry in oi unti brown on both sides. Some skied bakers added honey or fruit to the dough. Spices, onions and so forth coud be added for a different favor. 184

186 Food and Drink Barey was another grain popuar in Tamera. Barey Cakes 3 cups barey four ¼ tsp. sat ¾ cup raisins 1½ cups hot mik Combine the ingredients. Shape into bas and fatten into circes. Bake minutes at 400 degrees, or fry in hot oi five minutes on each side. Seasonings Both coriander (ciantro) and cumin seem to be native to ancient Egypt. Where I ive, the seeds are caed coriander, but the eaves are caed ciantro. It s one of my favorites. We know cinnamon was used in mummification and have every reason to beieve it was used in food as we. Other spices used were di, chervi, saffower, fenne, thyme, sesame, fenugreek, and parsey. Fruits and Vegetabes Onions were a very popuar vegetabe in Tamera, and were often eaten whoe. (Tak about destiny! Long before I found the Craft, I used to wear a button that said, I beong to the Onion Lover s Cub. In onions there is strength. ) Other vegetabes commony used were carrots, turnips, ceery, radishes, eeks, peas, beans, entis, spinach, and garic. There were some forms of squash as we as chick peas (garbanzo beans). Lotus roots were aso used as a vegetabe, much as we use potatoes. (Check an orienta food store for these.) Archaeoogists have found watercress seeds in Egypt. Peppermint was aso indigenous. Beans of many kinds were prevaent, as you can see in these recipes. 185

187 Circe of Isis Fava Bean Soup (I make this at east once a year.) 3 cups sheed frozen or 4 cups stock, chicken, beef, fresh fava beans or 2 cups amb or vegetabe dried, hued fava beans 8 coves garic 2 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. ground coriander 1 Tbsp. oive oi 1 onion 1 hard-boied egg per serving Chopped parsey or coriander If using dried beans, soak in water for at east two days. (Trust me!) In a pot, cover dried beans with water, and simmer for an hour. Then continue as beow. If using fresh or frozen beans, simmer in stock for 30 minutes and continue as beow. Add 2 coves garic, 1 tsp. coriander, and 1 tsp. cumin. Simmer for another hour or unti tender. Remove one cup of the beans and mash. Sauté the onion, chopped, and six coves chopped garic in oive oi with 1 tsp. coriander and 1 tsp. cumin. Bend this mixture and the mashed beans back into the soup. To serve, pace one peeed egg into the bow, spoon in the soup, and sprinke a few coriander eaves on top. Radishes were popuar, too. Radish Saad 10 radishes 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsey 2 Tbsp. oive oi or sesame seed oi 1 Tbsp. emon juice or wine vinegar sat Wash and trim radishes in cod water. Chop coarsey. Chop fresh parsey finey and then add to radishes. Add the emon juice and oi or sesame seed and stir. Sat to taste. 186

188 Food and Drink Fruits The fruits Tamerans used were dates, pums, figs, pomegranates, watermeon, and grapes. There is aso mention of a persea tree. The avocado is a persea, and whether or not it is the same tree, we do use avocados for such feasts. (Egyptian guacamoe?) These are types of sweets from fruits. Date Sweet 1 cup dates 1 tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. cardamom seeds ½ cup chopped wanuts Warm honey A saucer of ground amonds Stir the dates with water to get a paste. Add cardamom and cinnamon. Stir in the wanuts. Shape the sweets into bas. Ro in the honey, then in the amonds. Fig Cakes 1 cup fresh figs ½ tsp. ground cardamom 1 Tbsp. honey ¼ cup wanuts ¼ cup amonds In a bender, grind the wanuts, and set them aside. Grind the amonds separatey and put them aside. Chop the figs into fairy sma pieces, and bend for a bit, adding a itte water. Add the wanuts and the cardamom and bend further, again adding water if the mixture gets too sticky. You are going to be making this mixture into itte bas, so try for a mixture that wi form we. Form bas from a heaping teaspoon of the mixture, dip in the honey, and ro in the ground amonds. 187

189 Circe of Isis Meats The Tamerans definitey used beef, amb, and the meat of some wid animas, even, according to one source, hyena! Aong the river, wid fow were abundant: ducks, geese, partridges, and others. The Tamerans aso had domesticated ducks and geese. Partridge is hard to come by in most parts of our country, so we substitute Cornish game hens. A friend who has cooked both says she finds very itte difference. The domesticated chicken was not in Tamera unti the Late Kingdom. Up unti that time, the eggs they used were duck or goose eggs. I confess I haven t tried either type of egg, so I can t vouch for taste, nor woud I know how to obtain them. Chicken eggs wi do fine. My friends have said that I make a roast duck to die for. We, the recipe comes from our ancient Egyptian feast, and here it is. Duck with Must Sauce 2 ducks 1 cup oive oi 1 cup dry red wine 2 Tbsp. cinnamon 2 Tbsp. cumin, freshy 2 Tbsp. coriander, ground (it makes a freshy ground difference) 2 cups Must Sauce (recipe beow) Marinate ducks in the wine and oi for at east an hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub spices on ducks, inside and out. Pace duck on rack in pan, breast down, with about ¼ of water in the bottom. As soon as you put the duck in the oven, reduce heat to 350. After haf an hour, turn breast side up and baste with drippings. 188

190 Food and Drink Roast a tota of an hour and 45 minutes to two hours. Baste often with marinade or drippings. The ast time you baste, use the Must Sauce. When the bird is brown and done, turn off the oven. Wait 10 minutes before carving. Must Sauce a cup whoe grain mustard b cup grape jey or jam In a saucepan, mix unti bended and warm through. I ve recenty obtained a wonderfu book with recipes that coud we have been used in Tamera, The Good Book Cook Book by Naomi Goodman, Robert Marcus, and Susan Woohander (Dodd Mead). Any of the Egyptian recipes incuded in this book woud make wonderfu additions to a festiva feast. A this is great fun to do, but the important thing in a feast is enjoyment and good taste. Be gratefu to the Lord and Lady for the bounty you ve received, and your feast wi be traditiona. 189

191 L Prayers Whether used in ritua, meditation, or simpy because you fee the need to pray to a particuar deity, these may be of use to you. Prayers for Daia When Wiie s beoved doberman, Daia, passed away after an iness, these invocations came to her. You might find them usefu. I know you wi find them ovey. Hai Anubis, compassionate and oving Lord Before You stands Daia, A vaiant warrior, who is gente and oving of heart, Innocent and pure of Spirit. I pead with Thee to take her genty by the hand And ead her across the Rainbow Bridge Into the Land of Amenti. With ove take her to Lord Osiris, He who is Lord of everasting ife. Hai Osiris, my Lord who dwes in the shadow ands of Amenti. Anubis, thy son, brings before you Daia, chid of my heart. 190

192 Prayers She has fought a gaant batte, but her pace now is by your side. I pead with Thee, care for her, ove her, and et her rest, For she has been true and oved unconditionay. Let her romp in the green meadows awhie, And if it be thy wi, May she once again return to me, For the whee ever turns. Hai Isis, My Lady who dwes forever in my heart. Daia, who is a chid of my heart Has been brought before Osiris, thy husband. I pea that with thy oving arms you embrace her. As you have shed sat tears of sorrow, So, too, do I shed them now. The whee turns for a, Let my tears become tears of joy at her reease from suffering, Lift the sorrow from my heart. Daia, we have oved and aughed together, For your presence in my ife, I thank you! Restore and rest dear chid. Though gone from this pane, You be ever in my heart, And if it pease the Gods, return to me. I Love you. 191

193 Circe of Isis Hymn to Ra When He Rises (based on the Book of the Dead) Homage to Thee, gorious being. When You rise in the horizon of heaven, A shout of joy rises from the mouths of a. You rise upon the horizon of heaven, You shed your emerad ight! Oh, God of Life, Lord of Love, When You shine upon a, ife springs forth. We sing Your praises, Lord of Heaven, Lord of Earth, King of righteousness, King of eternity! 192 Prayer to Nut for Protection Mother Nut, spread Your wings over me, encirce me with Your arms in heath and in ife that I may be inside You, that you may be my protection. (Pankoff, Harper and Row, 1955). Prayer to Nut for One Who Has Crossed Over O Great One who became Sky, Strong one, Mighty One, Every pace is fied with Your beauty. You possess the whoe Earth as it is stretched beneath You. As you enfod the Earth and a things in Your arms, Pease take this (name of deceased) to You, To be an indestructibe start within You (Lichtheim).

194 L PART III Magic and Magica Toos 193

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196 Magic and Magica Toos L To the Tamerans, the physica and nonphysica words were not the separate paces our major cutures find them to be. They were aware that we ive in both. A study of the spes and magic found in the various ancient writings we have today reay don t appy to our society and our magica work in the present day. I ve found a few things, such as amuets, which we can use today. I did find one spe that was used to protect the Tempe of Osiris at Abydos. It invoved four cay bas, each inscribed with the name of a different cat-headed Goddess. Each was charged with the protection of a different cardina point on the compass; Sekhmet, Bast, Mafdet, and Pakhet coud be used. One name was inscribed on each cay ba, and one was thrown toward each of the cardina points. Beyond that, how do we do Egyptian magic? It is known that there were two important components to the ancient magic: words and gestures. The words must be both spoken and written; spoken for the power of them, written so that they woud ast. I have found amost nothing of specific gestures. In my tradition, we don t fee one has to use the exact words or gestures used by the ancients. In fact, for us, spes are used rarey, and ony as a ast resort. Much of our magic is tied to the Gods and Goddesses, and so to do Egyptian magic, we ca upon the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, whie creating our own forms, words, and gestures. 195

197 Circe of Isis It is said that magic was given to mankind by Ra, so that we coud protect ourseves, since he didn t have time to do it a. For that reason, you shoud aways remember that when you do magic, you are using something that was a gift from a God, and use it accordingy. As for magica toos, the greatest too you have is your mind, of course. I m sure you know you re not going to find that the Tamerans used the same toos we did. Their wand was quite different, there s no mention of knives used for anything but cutting, and chaices seemed to be ony used as drinking utensis. So? Does that mean your toos can t be used? Of course not. Remember, we re not trying to recreate the ancient reigion here! Use the toos you are comfortabe with. If you wish to decorate them with an Egyptian fair, so much the better. If you find something of an Egyptian design, go for it! I ve incuded information on the hierogyphs for which you wi find many uses in your magic. You find instructions in this section for creating some toos you might find usefu: L A sistrum is simpe to make, and you see how to make two different kinds. L To hep you be in a Tameran mood, I ve incuded instructions on making a nemyss (headdress), and a kit to wear in ritua. L Scarabs are as usefu as they are ubiquitous. There are instructions here for creating a simpe one. Divination Information on Tameran methods of divination is rare and vague. So, in addition to what itte information I coud find, I ve created two new divination forms based on Tameran symbos. 196

198 Magic and Magica Toos The Orace of the Udjat uses a ayout coth and hierogyphic tokens. The Pyramid of Nebet Het used a board and the sense of touch to see into the future. Create any or a of these, or none. When you ca upon the Gods and Goddesses for their bessings, you be as Tameran as you need to be. 197

199 L Amuets The Tamerans were great beievers in amuets of many kinds, each of which had a specific purpose. Amuets were carved from stone, cast from meta, and created from cay. A this is very we and good if you have the skis to do those things, but many of us don t. Fortunatey, it was aso beieved that the symbo, drawn on papyrus, was just as effective as any other form. There are other reasons this can be good. You can draw severa amuets on a sma piece of paper and carry the paper in your purse or waet. Carrying severa stone amuets, shoud you fee the need, coud ruin the cut of your suit, or make your purse difficut to carry. Beow, severa of these amuets are discussed. If you have the skis, of course, you can make them of cay or meta or stone. If you are ike me, drawing them on paper wi have to serve. I suggest you use the parchment-coored paper avaiabe today. It has the ook of papyrus. You can, of course, obtain papyrus, but it s expensive. When you have created your amuet, pass it through the smoke of incense for consecration. Whenever possibe, I ve incuded a prayer to be said at the time. Your amuet wi then be charged and ready to carry or wear. 198

200 Amuets The Paper Amuet This spe can be used for amost any purpose. 1. On a piece of paper, draw a picture of the deity appropriate to your purpose. As you do this, remember that to the Tamerans, drawing a picture is amost the same as invoking the deity. 2. Aoud, or on the paper, state your need or probem. 3. Ask the deity to come forth. 4. Identify yoursef with the deity, feeing that you have the power of Him or Her. My fesh is Your fesh, my bones are Your bones is one way this might be stated. Meditate on the abiity of that deity to dea with your probem, and know that, having that abiity, you can now dea with it. 5. When you are confident, fod the paper up, and carry it with you unti it is no onger needed. 6. When the probem is soved, or the need met, burn the paper with incense, sending your thanks to the deity upon the rising smoke. Chidren s Amuet Chidren were often given a strip of papyrus on which was written the statement of a deity that He or She was the protector of the chid. Such a statement might read: Heru, the Mighty, Lord of the Skies, says: Hear me, a who woud bring harm to, whose mother is, whose father is. Know ye that this chid is under my protection. Never sha my eye be away from him/her and never sha any who do him/her harm escape my wrath. Heru has spoken. 199

201 Circe of Isis Heart Amuet We tend to think of our hearts in two ways, the physica heart and the emotiona one. I coudn t find it in my heart to do it. My heart is broken. He has a back heart. The ancients hed simiar views. The heart not ony pumped bood, but was the source of good and evi thoughts, as we as the home of the conscience. When created for the dead, the heart amuet was made to repace the physica heart that had been removed during the mummification process. A heart was necessary in the Otherword because it gave the deceased the power to move and speak. It was aso beieved that, during the time of judgment, the heart was weighed against the Feather of Maat, and the deceased hoped his or her heart woud not have evi things to say. You can use the heart amuet in severa ways. You can use it to keep evi from being said against you, or for your own protection. You can use it for the understanding of your own heart, and therefore, your own thoughts and emotions. The prayer used during the consecration woud make the difference. To prevent evi from being said against you: Oh, my heart, my mother; my heart, my mother. My heart whereby I came into being. Let not that which is fase be uttered against me. Let none cause words of evi to spring up against me. For protection: Oh my heart, my mother; my heart, my mother! Be thou the Bennu, sou of Ra and sou of Osiris. Let me be protected by those great Lords. 200

202 Amuets To understand your heart: Oh, my heart, my mother; my heart, my mother! I sha gain mastery over thee. I sha understand thee and so understand mysef. Open to me that I may know thy thoughts which are my own. The Scarab Not ony was the scarab used in the same way the heart amuet was, but it had its own specia attributes. It was a symbo of the God Khephera, whose name means becoming, being, transformation. Used among the treasures of the deceased, it was a symbo of revivification, ife after death. It is aso a symbo of the Sun, it s never-ending cyces, and the ife-giving power it has. The Sun may disappear from our view at night, but it shines on. Khephera is that midnight Sun, and the scarab represents the hidden ight. The Sun reappears to us each morning and the day is new, everything begins again. The scarab symboizes that rebirth. The ancients beieved wearing or carrying the symbo woud attract a that He is. A prayer for the consecration of your amuet might be: Hai unto Thee, Khephera, Lord of Beginnings, whose shrine is hidden, thou Master of the Gods. Be ever present, I do ask, that I may grow and transform, that I be made new each day, so that I may spend that day, as I spend each ifetime, serving Thee. 201

203 Circe of Isis An ancient rite is described for the consecration of a scarab ring. In the prayer attached to this, you speak as Tehuti, caing Khephera forth. Take the ring and pace it on a piece of oivewood. Set both on a inen coth. Burn myrrh and kyphi. Have a sma container (tradition cas for one of chrysoite, but do what you can) in which you have an oi of iies, myrrh, or cinnamon. After you have ceansed the ring, and purified it by passing it through the smoke of incense, pace it in the oi. Leave it there for three days. On the morning of the third day, burn incense, incuding some oive eaves if you can. Remove the ring from the oi. Turn toward the East and anoint yoursef with the oi on the ring, saying: I am Tehuti, Inventor and Founder of medicines and etters; come to me, thou that art under the Earth. Rise up to me, thou great spirit. Any time you fee the need, you can reanoint yoursef by dipping your ring in the oi. My sources indicate that the proper time to do this is the seventh, ninth, 10th, 12th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 25th days of the month. If you are skied enough to make your own ring, carve a symbo of Aset on the bottom. The Knot of Isis This symbo is aso known as the Bood of Isis or Girde of Isis. It is used for the purpose of invoking Her protection. When carved from stone, the stone is usuay red. If you make a parchment amuet, draw it in red ink or paint it red. 202

204 Amuets The prayer beow can be worded for you, or you can use the name of a friend or oved one. This woud make a ovey gift for one whom you wish Aset to protect. I treasure one made for me by a friend. The bood of Aset, and the strength of Aset, and the words of power of Aset sha be might to act as powers to protect me, Her chid, and to guard me from him who woud do anything I hod in abomination. The Piow This is a wonderfu amuet to make for someone who is i, especiay if you have done heaing work for him or her. If you don t know how to do heaing work, you can sit quiety, picturing your friend strong and we, seeing heaing energy surrounding him. When this is done, prepare your amuet and bess it with this prayer: Thou art ifted up, O sick one that ies prostrate. They ift up thy head to the horizon, and thou dost triumph by reason of what was done for thee. The Ladder When used for one who is deceased, the adder was intended to hep that person ascend to Heaven. I use it to hep me reach upward toward the Gods, to earn from Them, and grow toward Them. 203

205 Circe of Isis Say over the amuet: Homage to thee, O Divine Ladder. Homage to thee, O Ladder of Heru, of Asar, of Aset. Stand thou upright, O Divine Ladder, and ead me to that which is my goa. The Nefer Amuet This is a good uck amuet. It is the hierogyph for beautifu and good. Ask the bessings of any or a of the deities as you pass it through the smoke. F The Menat The menat is a symbo of baance, and therefore joy and heath. (See the section on Het Heret for more information.) Ask the bessings of Het Heret as you consecrate it. The Shen This symbo of eternity is intended to give ife as ong as the Sun continues its orbit. Ask the bessings of the Sun God you prefer. ~ The Two Fingers These represent the two fingers Heru used to hep Asar up the adder to heaven. Make it to symboize hep you wish from the Gods, or give to a friend who needs that hep. 204

206 Amuets The Frog This gyph represents not ony the Goddess Hekat, but it aso means myriads, or 100,000. It is connected with chidbirth and rebirth. Use it to assure a heathy chid or for good uck. Ý The Neha Amuet This symboizes protection. Ca upon whatever deity you wish for that protection as you consecrate the amuet. Ankh Whatever its origina significance, magic knot or sanda strap, the ankh now has the meaning of ife. As a hierogyph, it means both ife and mirror. Thus Tuh ankh amen means iving image of Amen, or mirror image of Amen. If you chose to wear the ankh, or carry it, et it symboize ife in a its aspects. Let it represent for you the choice of path, the fact that you have chosen a magica, and therefore harder, path. Let it symboize a ife dedicated to growth, to the service of the Gods. Let it be a sign of respect for a ife, whatever its form. Let it speak of your gratitude for the ife given you by the Lord and Lady, and of your return of that gift into their hands, dedicated to Their service. Eye of Horus This we-known symbo can be used for protection or, if you ike, for focus. 205

207 L Wax and Ushabti Figures Wax Figures The Tameran magicians sometimes used the wax figures made infamous by some modern practices in negative ways, but they can be used in beneficia ways, as they were in the Two Lands. Wax figures were a very important too to the Tameran magician. The figure shoud be prepared in order to resembe the usua persona items pieces of fingernai, hair, and so forth to make the spe more effective. When the figure is ready, incise the name or image of a deity on the figure to give the subject the power of that deity. If you are doing a heaing, carve an ankh. (If you are thinking of using this spe in a harmfu way, shame on you! Remember what s going out is what s coming in.) The figure can be given to the subject, or put in a safe pace. Ushabti Figures These sma figures, made to resembe their owner, have been found by the thousands in various tombs, but have aso been found in houses. This seems to indicate that they were magica servants in this ife as we as the next. I must be honest. I have received an objection to the use of these for anything other than funerary objects. This person fet that doing so courted death, and she is entited to her opinion. I do not beieve that this is so for the reason given above. I beieve that they were used by the iving, as we. Except for the 206

208 Wax and Ushabti Figures fact that they were created as permanent servants rather than having ife ony for the duration of a specific errand, I d ca them fetches. The word ushabti means the one who answers. Their purpose was to respond when the deceased was caed to do something. For our purposes, they answer to you. Unike the ushabtis designed to do physica work for their owners in the Otherword, these cannot do the gardening or houseceaning for you, but they can do other pane work. They can find things for you, or serve as protection or sources of energy, amongst other things. You can create these itte sef-images of cay, wood, or coth. If they are designed for a specific purpose, you shoud keep that purpose in mind as you design them, and the figure shoud be in a form prepared to do that work. For exampe, if you want it to search out topics for paintings, the figure shoud be an artist, perhaps hoding a brush. Whie you are making it, concentrate on the purpose for which you are creating it. It never hurts to ask the hep of a deity if one is appropriate. I know that most of us do not have scupting skis. You can, however, add anything that is outstanding about yoursef. If you have freckes, add them. If you wear gasses, draw them on the figure s face. When the figure is compete, charge it to do the work you want it to do and put it in a safe pace. 207

209 L Creating a Sistrum Using a sistrum can be a wonderfu aide in appropriate parts of your ritua because it heps you set the mood. It s basicay a sacred ratte, and was used in rituas, especiay for Het Heret, Bast, and Aset. They were often beautifu and ornate. Such sistrum are avaiabe today at a high price. I think the one I made serves just as we. The Tameran word for sistrum, shesheshet, coud represent the sound the sistrum makes, ike a breeze bowing through reeds. I have many taents, but the kind of work invoved here is not among them. These instructions come from Chris, my husband and High Priest. The simpest sistrum, and probaby the most ancient, is made with a forked stick. To make this sistrum, you wi need such a stick, a meta coat hanger or two, meta washers, and wooden or meta beads. 1. Dri four hoes on each side of the fork, spacing them eveny and making sure that the hoes on each side are opposite the hoes of the other. These hoes shoud be big enough for coat-hanger wire to pass through oosey. (Figure 1.) 2. From a coat hanger, cut four straight pieces, each 2" onger than needed to pass competey through the hoes. 208 Figure 1

210 Creating a Sistrum 3. With piers, bend one end of each of the wires at a 90-degree ange. (Figure 2.) Figure 2 4. Pace the straight end of the first wire through one side of the sistrum. String severa washers and beads, aternating them. Pace the wire in the other hoe and bend the end of the wire as you did the other end, but in the opposite way. (Figure 3.) Figure 3 Do the other wires the same way. If the sistrum above is not quite fancy enough for you, try this one. This is the one I made. It took me a day, and I m very proud of it. If I can do it, anyone can do it. You wi need: L A strip of thin copper or brass about 1" wide and 18" ong. It shoud be fexibe enough to bend by hand. L A wooden dowe approximatey 8" ong. Whatever finish you want on this you shoud do before you begin putting your sistrum together. The finish is up to you. I ike a natura stain, but I ve seen one done in god eaf and it was beautifu. L A bock of wood approximatey 1 ½" x ½" x 6", finished ike the dowe. L Coat hanger or simiar wire cut in four 8" pieces. L Optiona: beads and washers. 209

211 Circe of Isis To assembe your sistrum: 1. Lay the meta out fat and mark it as shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 2. With an aw, punch or dri hoes where indicated. The eight hoes shoud be arge enough for the wire to move when you shake the sistrum. 3. Dri a hoe in the center of the bock of wood the diameter of the dowe. 4. Pace wood gue in the hoe, then push the end of the dowe into the hoe. Let dry. (Figure 5.) Figure 5 5. Using nais or sma screws, affix both ends of the meta strip first to the bottom, and then the sides of the bock of wood. 210

212 Creating a Sistrum 6. With piers, bend one end of each wire up 90 degrees. 7. Thread each wire through matching hoes in the sistrum. (If you are using the beads and washers, put them on as instructed in the simpe sistrum. You don t reay need them because the meta wires against the meta band wi make the proper sound. Most traditiona sistrum have ony the wires.) (Figure 6.) Figure Bend the straight end of the wire to 90 degrees. The shape of the wire is, according to some, magicay significant. Chris says it represents the two poarities. 211

213 L Making a Scarab Ony the ankh is more easiy found today than the scarab. I personay have a siver scarab ring, one carved out of hematite, one made for me by a friend, and 20 or 30 brown or buegreen scarabs obtained from other sources. If you want to make a scarab for your own use, a styized one is very easy. You wi need over-fired cay. There are severa brands of this cay avaiabe at craft stores. Look for one that can be baked in the oven at about 275 degrees. This cay comes in many coors. 1. Ro the cay into a footba shaped piece. Press it down on a hard surface to fatten it a itte. Remove the points. 2. Incise a T-shape on the top. 3. On each side, draw three diagona ines (egs). 4. On the front, draw two vertica ines. 5. Bake per the instructions that come with the cay. If you wish to string your scarabs, you shoud make the hoe before baking. I ve found that a cocktai straw is usefu for this. 212

214 L Making a Kit Athough in Sothistar we do not wear Tameran garb in ritua, you may wish to wear something reminiscent of the beoved and in your rites. In Tameran drawings, the kit is shown in two engths: short for everyday wear or warriors, and ong as the priests wore them. (Priests aso shaved a their body hair, but that s up to you.) If the adies among you wish to wear a kit, you coud wear a foor-ength version with a breast band, broad suspenders, or nothing at a. The technique is quite simpe. You need a piece of materia that is one and a haf times your waist measurement, pus 2". This aows for a 1" hem. The ength of the materia shoud be the ength you wish the kit to be pus 4". The kit ooks best if the materia is somewhat stiff. 1. Lay the materia fat. On one edge of the bottom, mark and cut a curve. (Figure 1.) Figure 1 2. Fod down the top (waist) 3" and hem. (This is to stiffen the waist a bit. If the materia is very thin, you might want to add some kind of stiffening materia inside the hem at the waist.) 213

215 Circe of Isis 3. Hem 1" a the way around the rest of the kit. (Figure 2). Figure 2 4. Attach snaps or vecro as show in Figure 3. Figure 3 To wear the kit, pace the straight side at your side, wrap the kit around the front of your body, around the back and across the front. Fasten. 214

216 L Making a Nemyss The nemyss usuay appears in its more forma shape on statues such as the head of King Tutankhamun with which we are a famiiar. This nemyss is somewhat simper, but it refects the more common stye. The materia is cut in the shape of a truncated pyramid. The top is the narrow edge, and the bottom, the wide. The distance from the top to bottom shoud be about 14", more if you ike. 1. Measure across your forehead and sighty downward toward the nape of your neck. The top shoud be about 2" onger than the measurement of your head. 2. From each end of the top, cut at about a 45 degree ange to the bottom. 3. Hem a the way around, making a ¾" hem. 4. Sew severa inches of ribbon or bias tape to each side of the top. To wear, pace the top of the nemyss against your forehead, bring the ties around to the back of your head under the rest of the nemyss, and tie. 215

217 L Making a Magic Wand Athough Tameran magicians did use wands, they did not resembe those with which you might be famiiar. These wands were different in both shape and purpose. They are shaped somewhat ike a throwing stick or a boomerang, and some fee they were used in a throwing manner to send energy. They were usuay carved from ivory, which, of course, we d never use, woud we? I can find no specific information on size, but the wands described in my references were found in a box that measured 18" x 12" x 12". They were inscribed to invoke the protection of specific deities or animas. It is said they were used to draw magic circes. I beieve the word draw must not be taken iteray. A wand arge enough to use standing woud be too arge to go in that box. A smaer wand woud require bending over or crawing 216