During my holidays I am lucky enough to be able to jet off to Cyprus, Crete and other faraway places in order to be able to seek out sacred sites and remnants of Goddess temples from the ancient world. However, in my ‘normal’ life I live and work in London, the capital city of the UK. I love London. The hustle and bustle, the lights, the busyness, the melting pot of cultures (not to mention the fact that you can eat in a different restaurant every night of the year if you so wish). However, they don’t call it the concrete jungle for nothing and I’m not exactly tripping over Goddess statues and ancient artefacts as I stroll past Subway. This means that when I feel the pull to immerse myself in aeons-old Goddess energies I head to the one place that I know I can feel as though I’m stepping back in time – The British Museum.
Now, I know what you’re thinking – didn’t the British steal a whole bunch of stuff from other countries and bring them back here and then shamelessly exhibit in their own museum? Yes, yes they did. My friends are I refer to The British Museum as ‘That place where we go to see a whole lot of awesome shit that we stole’. It’s a problematic place and I am always hyper aware of its legacy of colonialism. However, it’s the one place where I can step inside and be transported back to Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Assyria and so much more. And that is why, until the Doctor turns up in the TARDIS and whisks me back for real, I will continue to go to this museum. If you feel the same way then feel free to join me on my journey and read the rest of my blog. And if not, well just leave this page and go in peace to the million other corners of the Internet ;)
There are so many goddesses that can be found in these walls but today I am in search of Sekhmet. Sekhmet is one of the oldest-known Egyptian deities. She is the mistress of war, of healing, of chaos. She was created from the fire of the sun. She is Sekhmet. Thousands of amulets devoted to her have been recovered as have hundreds of large statues that once graced temples in Ancient Egypt. Her name means ‘She who is powerful’ and over 3500 years ago she was one of the most important deities to be found in that part of the world. Sekhmet is one of the most distinctive goddesses – her head is that of a lioness and upon her head sits the solar disc and often, a cobra. Many of her statues depict her sitting regally, enthroned, quite clearly a queen. Her gaze holds you as soon as you lay eyes on Her. She is not a gentle Goddess of love and light – Sekhmet is fierce and demands respect.
As soon as I step through the doors I head to Her. She calls to me. This Goddess from Ancient Egypt has fascinated and guided me for over twenty years and I never tire of standing in front of her many statues in the museum. The largest group of Sekhmet statues (outside of Egypt) are to be found here and I feel so blessed to stand in their presence. Sekhmet is pure power and is not to be underestimated. I have been known to sit cross-legged in front of her for over an hour; sending her my love, my adoration, my devotion and my sheer awe. I ask her to fill me with her strength, her power and her warrior spirit. She is mighty. She is powerful. She is… well, she’s a badass.
Today I have brought my precious Sekhmet statue to meet her much older sisters. She has graced my Goddess altar for over twenty years and so I thought it was time to take her on a little trip. This little figure was one of the first Goddess statues that I ever bought and bringing her here in the presence Sekhmet is honestly a magical experience. I carefully place her at the feet of one of the statues and I sit down and cross my legs in order to meditate in the presence of this sun goddess.
Now, let me make one thing clear. I am not good at meditation. In fact, I really suck. I am so easily distracted, I can barely concentrate and within minutes my butt will be putting in numerous complaints about sitting on the floor. Plus, here at the museum you have the added bonus of dozens of people walking past you, talking loudly and, occasionally, knocking you on the head with their bag. But I’m not going to give in. How often do you get the chance to meditate in the presence of thousands of years old energies? (Hint, not very often). Ad so I sit and gaze up at Her. I imagine the sun disc on her head to be blazing with light, I imagine her lioness face to be roaring with ferocity and I imagine myself to be sitting on sand thousands of years ago in Ancient Egypt at the time when Goddess was worshipped and the name of Sekhmet was spoken with reverence (and a touch of fear). Her light and Her power surround me and for a few brief moments I forget I am in a museum surrounded by people (some of whom are now asking each other what that weird woman on the floor is doing).
Finally I stand up and thank Her. I retrieve my little statue and a little spark of electricity tingles my fingers as I pick her up from Sekhmet’s feet. My imagination? Or genuine energies accumulated over thousands of years of these statues being venerated. Who knows. But I do know that I feel grateful and blessed to be able to be here looking at these carvings that are thousands of years old.
Sekhmet statues such as these, carved from black granodiorite, can be found in museums (and presumably in private collections) all around the world. There is an abundance of them. But why are there so many? During the reign of Amenhotep III in Egypt (1390 BCE), this king is said to have commissioned over 700 statues of Sekhmet. He hoped that pleasing the Goddess in this way would bring him healing from his illness. Priests would regularly bring her offerings including geese, antelope, beer and wine (everyone knows you serve wine with antelope, duh). Many of these statues are now in museums but some of these statues can still be found in situ in Egypt such as outside the Temple of Millions of Years (shown below).
Photo: Simon Connor
Perhaps one day I will travel to Egypt to see Sekhmet in Her home. However, until that day I have the museum and of course my own little Sekhmet who blesses my home with her presence every single day.
Hail Sekhmet! Lioness of my heart.
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