Sekhmet
Lioness goddess of war, plague and healing, the fierce Eye of Ra.
In the myth of the Destruction of Mankind, Ra sent his Eye as Sekhmet to punish humanity, and she could not stop slaughtering. To save the world, the gods flooded the fields with beer dyed red; mistaking it for blood, she drank until she fell asleep. Her priests were also healers.
Symbols
In the ancient sources
Egyptian texts
- Book of the Heavenly Cow Ra sends his Eye 'as Hathor' to punish rebellious people; when she returns rejoicing in the slaughter, a pun on 'power' (sekhem) explains: 'thus Sekhmet came into being'.
- Book of the Heavenly Cow Ra has red haematite brought from Elephantine and mixed into 7,000 jars of beer, poured over the fields at night; she drinks it, is pleased, and comes back drunk without having noticed people.
- Papyrus Ebers 854 A medical text names the 'priests of Sekhmet' among the healers who take a patient's pulse.
In the oldest version the raging goddess is Hathor, and Sekhmet appears as her fierce form. The text is carved in the tombs of Seti I and other New Kingdom kings.
Cross-checked against these texts and records, in public-domain or freely available versions where they exist. Line, section and chapter numbers follow the standard editions, so a particular translation may differ slightly.
Correspondences Explore all
- Planet
- Sun
- Element
- Fire
- Stones & metals
- Carnelian, Red jasper
- Animals
- Lioness
- Offerings
- Beer
- Tarot
- Strength
These mix ancient attributes with modern associations from contemporary pagan and magical practice; the modern ones weren't part of her original worship.