Sacred Places Of Goddess 108 Destinations Sekhmet Temple At Karnak

Sekhmet, the lion-headed female Goddess, one of the oldest, most powerful deities known to the human race, resides within a small temple enclosure she shares with her consort Ptah on the periphery of the Karnak Temple complex. She has been called: Lady of the Place of the Beginning of Time; Mother of all the Gods; Mother of Mystery; Great Harlot; Flaming One; Destroyer of Rebellions; Empowerer; and the Great One of Healing are just some of her 4,000 epithets which give clues to her nature and abilities. It is said Amenhotep III had 572 statues of Sekhmet commissioned for the Karnak compound, perhaps as a hedge against plague or pestilence. Each statue received due homage and sacrifice by Sekhmet’s magician-priests, known throughout the kingdom as the most skilled physicians and exorcists. It was believed the deity might reside within the statue, and from the deity/statue, practitioners might receive healing and teachings. According to scholar Robert Masters, certain of these statues were “essential statues,” kept in the holy of holies, only brought out for public display for special festivals, as these statues manifested the most powerful of magical abilities.

Sekhmet’s black granite statues are noted for actually moving, a phenomena called Hanu, according to Masters. Both in ancient times and now, rumor has it, the leonine Goddess might “choose” a devotee for a particular teaching or to do her bidding, and the chosen would be privy to seeing or sensing this movement. Of particular interest is the statue within the Karnak Enclosure, believed by superstitious locals to have been responsible for the murder of some local boys employed by archaeologists. Locals were said to have taken retribution against Sekhmet, by breaking her statue into three pieces, though fortunately the statue has since been repaired. Her devotees countered by saying that this senseless killing was not the way of the lioness Goddess, but if her hand was involved, these boys must surely have committed some heinous crime and were beyond redemption! Rumor also speaks of women who secretly attend the statue during nocturnal rituals, though proof of this veneration within the Karnak temple is difficult to substantiate. This author has interviewed Western women who have performed rituals within the confines of this temple and they report they have come away with knowledge of healing, feelings of empowerment, and stories of mystical experiences.

Sekhmet is most notable for the myth in which Ra directs her to punish mankind. She goes on a killing spree, hence obtaining a reputation for being a wanton, bloodthirsty killer, which does not serve her authentic demeanor. Sekhmet is very much a protector of good against evil. She protects those whom she loves, and can retaliate with savagery toward the wicked that might damage her kin. She very much reflects the lioness, capable of doing great harm if provoked or if her young ones are threatened, however she is not prone to savagery for the sake of pleasure or sport. She personifies righteous anger, justice, and power. In ancient days she was believed to respond to provocation with plague and drought. Sekhmet is the patroness of many women today as they seek personal empowerment, and struggle to obtain their proper rights within society and culture. Devotees utilize statues of Sekhmet as icons for healing, passing them among those within the community, requesting the power of the Goddess to aid them in their illness in a kind of sympathetic magic or prayer. Likewise, men and women carry pictures or pocket-size representations of Sekhmet as amulets of power when they must go into situations in which they require justice to be meted out fairly, or when they anticipate their limits might be challenged. Worshipers of Sekhmet often have a particular affinity with felines of all sizes and shapes, often honoring Sekhmet by dedicating time to animal shelters, money to wildlife conservation, and being active in animal rights.

Sekhmet is associated with the creative force of the kundalini, and ecstasies of love. Her name, according to Wallis Budge, is derived from the root sekhem, meaning strong, mighty, and violent. She personifies the heat of the sun’s rays, thus is associated with purification. She is said to reside in the sun god Ra’s brow from where she can spit flames at his enemies. A feisty and formidable foe, pharaohs called upon Sekhmet’s power and grace before battle. Usually associated with the edgier side of Hathor and the opposite of the more benign cat Goddess Bastet, all three Goddesses share the designation of “Eyes of Ra,” with Bast and Sekhmet sometimes called his daughters. Mother of Nefertem, god of doctors, consort of Ptah, the builder and creator god, Sekhmet is usually depicted in a red dress with rosettes over her nipples, an ankh in hand, a sun disc and uraeus on her head. She carries the flint knife of the embalmer, her animals are the lioness and cat, and her tree, the juniper is associated with medicinal properties. Sekhmet is one good example of Dutch historian, G. van der Leeuw’s contention that Egyptian goddesses have different natures than their neighbors to the north in Greece. Paraphrasing scholar C. J. Bleeker on van der Leeuw, the historian states while goddesses of the Greeks embodied the Great Mother Goddess with connections to Earthly realms, the Egyptian goddesses originally possessed their own separate characters that often times eclipsed that of their Greek sisters and they kept these personas over centuries. Generally their roles might not have been viewed as quite so motherly nor were their domains linked primarily to the chthonic. One might say Egyptian goddesses were multifaceted and had more diverse interests. Further, while Greek mythology chokes with male supremacy, even having goddesses birthed from the male deities, Egyptian history does not so degrade or humiliate the Feminine Divine, giving female deities their full authority and proper and equal place within the Egyptian pantheon. This equality among the Egyptian male and female deities may well have influenced the relationships between genders and suggests a reason why women in Egypt enjoyed such high status as opposed to women of other cultures during the same period of time. Wives and mothers were respected and seen as equals to men. They could own their own property and had many rights unknown to their sisters in neighboring lands.

Getting to the Sekhmet Temple at Karnak

Discovering the sacred sites of the Upper Nile is one of the most profound pilgrimages on Earth. All one has to do is take a convenient flight into Cairo, and then take a train or domestic flight into Luxor. Taxis, horse drawn carriages, and tours all converge on the Karnak temple compound, the site of wonderful nightly light shows that tell the history of the temple. Once in Karnak, when standing at the first pylon entrance near the Avenue of the Rams, veer toward your left toward the area that looks less excavated, and probably will be less visited by tourists. Look for the Temple of Ptah. It's a small enclosed three room temple, with a headless Ptah in the central cell, and Sekhmet off to the right. Temple caretakers can usually be spotted outside and can be persuaded with a minimal gratuity to give devoted tourists a few minutes of uninterrupted meditation time with Sekhmet. Special Note: If Sekhmet is of interest, readers will be happy to learn of the American Sekhmet temple in Indian Springs, a brief 60 minute trip north of Las Vegas, Nevada. She can also be found as the primary and central Goddess in the sanctuary of the Goddess Temple of Orange County in Irvine, CA. A quick Google search will easily bring them up.

An Excerpt from "Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations"

Author Rev. Dr. Karen Tate

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This article was published in the June 2016 issues of Ancient Mysteries International.

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