Tag: Sekhmet

Today, I unpacked the last few things before I started the ritual. I wore my new garments, new jewelry; used my new veil. Lit the lamp, and gazed at the flame through the fabric covering my head. I’m beginning to really feel the outline of my deeper ritual format, and it’s just in time – this is the last Bright Moon before the Epagomenal Days and Wep Ronpet. It’s a leap year so I recalculated the rising time this year, and have adjusted to August 9th, but for the past four years I’ve used the August 7th date for Washington, DC. Look to the Tumblr Shrine for updates and details, as I’ll be posting my follow-along celebration there, as I have in years past.

Here is this month’s message from Bast and Sekmet:

Fire burns but also cleanses, and releases your prayers into the air as smoke. You can find joy in sensual pleasures while everything is burning, while you light it all on fire. Don’t restrict your emotional range. Our festivals in the old days resembled Bacchanalia: drunkenness, blood, sex, frenzy. Bursting into the streets, not unlike today’s block parties. Celebrate living. You are fighting, but don’t forget to live, too. Don’t forget to play, too. You can fight longer without losing stamina if you have time to play, too. You can be strong for longer if you also have a time and a place to blow off steam. Take time during the Epagomenal Days to revel in your life and the full spectrum of human experience.

The next full moon is August 3rd, the day before the first of the Epagomenal Days, so there will probably not be an omen until the New Year omen on Wep Ronpet, August 9th. If you have any questions, or if you would like to request a personal message or heka for August, please email the shrine here. And if you are interested in supporting the shrine, I have a tip jar set up here. Thanks!

I am still using my travel shrine: getting new furniture takes longer, in this time of corona, and my office-cum-ritual-space is still mostly a pile of boxes. I do have candles this time, though I have yet to located my oil lamp. Ah, well. The Eyes of Ra are patient with me, understanding of my circumstances. So long as I can find a way to deliver the message, they are contented. So, without further ado, here is this moon’s message, from Bast and Sekhmet:

We are past the tipping point, now, and some things have become unavoidable. No longer is the sandstorm just beginning, but neither is it beginning to calm. Use your resources carefully, so that you will have enough to outlast it. Think to the future, too: what seeds do you wish to plant, so that you may reap them in the future? Which new shoots will you tend, and which will you pull out? The work you do now is shaping the future, even if it feels too small to matter. What kind of future are you envisioning? But be flexible in your planning, as the path of the sandstorm into the future is still uncertain. Conflict lies ahead of you, especially if resources are not shared equitably. You are being divided, separated, but be careful to note where the lines are causing more harm than good. Find a shared tent in which to weather the storm; you cannot survive being swept up by the winds, alone.

The next full moon is June 5th. If you have any questions, or if you would like to request a personal message or heka for June, please email the shrine here. And if you are interested in supporting the shrine, I have a tip jar set up here. Thanks!

I did almost the full ritual this time, but with my travel shrine, in the new house, where what will become my ritual room and witchy office is still full of boxes and in disarray. (Check the Instagram for a sneak peek!) I’m just glad once again that my arrangement and oath allows for some leeway in both time and scope of the ritual. Hopefully I’ll be all set up by the next full moon! But here’s this moon’s omen from Bast and Sekhmet:

The most important thing right now is ma’at: balance, justice, correct order. You’re on the cusp of something new, but are currently in free fall, and you’ll need a plan to be able to land on your feet, twisting in the air like a cat. Many people are resisting change, refusing to engage with their own shadows and wounds, and that mindset will only make things worse. Let change flow around you like a river, let it take you where you need to be. Use this Pause to to delve deeper into yourself, and find what still needs healing. Honor what you find. Give those around you the space to do their own healing, and encouragement to begin. Be gentle with yourselves and one another. Practice generosity as much as you are able. Rest and prepare, because there will be more fighting to come.

As always, I hope that helps, and feel free to follow along on tumblr @eyesofra! I do a limited number of personal questions each time, and those can be submitted on tumblr or through the shrine email in advance of the next full moon. There’s also a kofi tip jar for those interested in donating to the upkeep of the shrine. Thanks and see you next month!

You may have noticed that last month is missing! Sorry to the folks who only follow here, I forgot to post something here. I did make a note on the tumblr e-shrine about having been out of the country and then feeling too ill and the incredible whirlwind of my mundane life. Long story short, I tried to do it late and kept being unable to, and when I went to apologize to Bast and Sekhmet and try to do it quickly when I didn’t really have the energy, they told me just to skip it for a month and to get well and organized, instead. So. I did that. And now we’re back on schedule!

Here’s this month’s oracular message from Bast and Sekhmet:

You may be frustrated with how some changes seem to be coming too fast, and others too slowly. Do not become upset – let all things come in their time. Never forget that we are with you. Remember who we are! Avengers, Protectors! Mistress of Unguents, Mistress of Plagues. Give offerings and ask for our intervention and aid and you shall have it! Prepare yourselves – more disruption is coming. A new dynasty is beginning to dawn.

A few notes for clarity’s sake:
1. “Unguents” are creams, lotions, salves, that sort of thing, especially when used for healing. This is an epithet of Bast.
2. “Mistress of Plagues” is an epithet of Sekhmet, and is a reference to her both as a bringer of plagues and as a goddess one could pray to if you want to be delivered from them.
3. I’m pretty sure those first two are referring to the coronavirus.
4. I’m not sure what they mean by “dynasty”. Something like “era” I think, but also with a connotation of someone new being in charge, either an individual or a group. I asked for clarification but they insisted I use the word “dynasty”. Unfortunately I think this is going to be one of those oracular things that makes a lot more sense in hindsight.

Next month’s Bright Moon Omen will be on or around 04/07/2020, so check back then! If you have a request for a personal message or heka working, please email that to the Shrine Email. And if you appreciate the work I do, please consider supporting the Shrine on Ko-Fi!

This moon cycle, like every one this Kemetic year, I did my oracular ritual for Bast and Sekhmet, and came back with a message:

The achievements you have made in your mundane world will not be fleeting, nor are they to be overlooked. You are building for the future, and you should turn your eyes towards sustainability. Show hospitality to those near you; strengthen your community ties. These ties will support you and your deeper work, and help it to flow continuously. Do not doubt the worthiness of the work you are doing. It is enough to keep doing; there is no need to seek absolute perfection. You must overcome your own dissatisfaction and discomfort, free yourself from self-imposed limitations, and keep building.

The bit about self-imposed limitations reminded me of John Beckett’s ritual to remove “curses we place on ourselves”. We can also ask our Ancestors for help seeing and untangling the threads of this sort of accidental magic.

The next Bright Moon is 2/9/2020.

Slightly delayed this month, sorry. Apparently I’m highly allergic to some kind of plant pollen I encountered on Saturday. Earlier today I finally managed to do my ritual, and here is this moon’s message from Bast and Sekhmet:

Pay attention to the edges. To your boundaries, to political borders, to people at the margins. Defend and strengthen those boundary areas. In doing so, stay true to your own ethics; follow your heart’s pathway through ma’at. You may be tempted to take a short cut, and to choose the way that seems quickest and easiest, but that will not give you the best outcome. You feel frayed but you are not broken; you are much stronger than you believe. There will be more conflict along the way, more obstacles to surmount, but you can trust your inner resilience and knowledge to guide you. Reject the negative structures that bind you; claim your personal power and move forward.

The next Bright Moon is 11/12/19, so check back then! If you have a question you’d like me to ask Bast and Sekhmet, I take a limited number of personal requests each month. Send them via email (eyes.of.ra.oracle AT gmail DOT com). If you’d like to support the work I do and the shrine upkeep, you can do so on Ko-fi. Thanks for reading!