May 28, 2010
Posted in Friday Findings, Netjeru
at 6:45 pm
by Shefyt
In the vein of this morning’s post, here’s an interesting piece: a menat counterpoise crowned with the heads of two Gods, one a lion and the other a man wearing plumes. (A menat, for those who might not know, is a necklace of multiple strands of beads, which can either be worn normally or carried in the hands and shaken as a musical instrument. The counterpoise is attached to the back of the necklace, to help it lie properly on the wearer’s neck and shoulders, or to serve as a handle when it’s being played.) The two heads are unusual, in my experience; more typically you’ll see a single head in profile, usually either a lion Goddess or Hethert. Here, the two heads are probably Tefnut and Shu, or Mehyt and Anhur. The body of the counterpoise shows full figures of the two Gods facing each other and holding a single papyrus stalk between them — a beautifully symbolic image, as the papyrus represents the unfurling greenness of the world, here depicted either as the gift of the two deities or as the product of their union, or perhaps as both.
There are some other nice pieces on the site where I found this one, which is a review of a Sotheby auction of Egyptian antiquities (click on the picture to visit it). About halfway down the page there are several lion Goddesses, including a lion-headed Wadjet (more commonly depicted as a cobra), and a little unidentified Goddess seated in a pose typically used for the Goddess Ma’at. It’s only a guess on my part, but the latter might represent Tefnut, who sometimes is associated with Ma’at. There are some very fine Heru and Wesir statues as well.
Dua Tefnut! Dua Shu! Nekhtet!
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Posted in Netjeru, Poetry and Prayers, The Wild Sky
at 7:50 am
by Shefyt
Last night, driving home from the gym after work: the windows rolled down in the unexpected coolness of the evening, honeysuckle perfume like the scent of incense layering the air, the horizon ahead dark with stormclouds, like driving into a steadily deepening twilight — and suddenly, Tefnut, lynx-eyed and watchful, powerful, awesome in Her presence in the gathering storm. I’d never thought of Her in connection to storms before — typically that association belongs to Set — but there She was. Maybe it was something about the closeness of the storm: the very low, dark clouds, the cool, flower-scented breeze presaging a humidity-breaking change of weather, the looming shadow of the approaching rain.
And as the storm broke it made me think of the meeting of the Distant Goddess and the one Who seeks Her, of Tefnut and Shu (or Mehyt and Anhur). The wrathful, growling Goddess, the charged air finding its release in the flashes of lightning, like the flash of fiery claws, and then the slow quieting toward Her pacification as the rain falls — the thunderstorm as an encounter, as a love story, both intimate and glorious.
Dua Tefnut! O You Who roar, You are in the living breath of the wind, You are in the night-black shadows beneath the trees, You are in the burning river of gold, the lightning that splits the gray-green sky, turning it to amethyst and rose. Your feet are upon the earth while Your mighty voice resounds in heaven. O Tefnut, release Your waters! May You be at peace, may You come in peace for me — may Shu’s love pacify You, may the cool water and the bright flame pacify You, O Beautiful One Who lives in beauty, O Terrifying One Who is soothed by love.
Dua Tefnut! Nekhtet!
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October 22, 2009
Posted in The Wild Sky, Thoughts and Reflections
at 12:21 pm
by Shefyt
Last evening, driving home, was an evening of layers: blue sky high above great sheets of sun-and-shadow clouds; the late golden light cutting across the air to ignite the treetops, turning them into brassy many-colored fires, or striking lower, between them, to burn on houses, grass, cars; the transitioning leaves in all their autumn hues overlapping like feathers; and, most keen of all, my own awareness of existing on multiple levels, of making the everyday drive, part of the New Jersey routine of commuters, and at the same time being with the sky, and also every place in between, breathing between earth and heaven, like Shu.
This morning I got up early to offer to Heru-hekenu on His feast day: flame, cool water, a little Florida water for scent, and teriyaki chicken. His message to me in return was very simple: Fly.
What does it mean to fly? I won’t ever suddenly sprout wings, except perhaps in dreams. But even while my feet are on the ground (or the gas pedal), I can still soar.
What sets your spirit flying?
Dua Heru-hekenu! Nekhtet!
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February 13, 2009
Posted in Parks and Rivers, The Wild Sky
at 8:50 am
by Shefyt
So the path was closed, but I went around the long way, through the maze of fenced-in small athletic fields, trying to figure out how to get to where I was trying to go. (I could have just gone the really long way, around the fields altogether, down through the woods and back along the bottom path, but I was curious.) I thought I was walled in for sure at one point, faced with a wire fence that there didn’t seem to be any way out of — and that would have been okay, since I found a good sitting stone there, at the foot of a silver beech tree, with a fine view of the water. But after a few minutes I went on through the trees and finally found a break in the fence where they’re in the midst of installing a new one (to be electrified eventually, but fortunately not yet). From there, I was able to follow the nature-walk path — open at the bottom end — up onto the hill, and spend a little time right where I wanted to be: at the top of the cutting, about thirty feet above the crossroad, looking out across the bridge and the lake, listening to the wind roar in the treetops and hiss in the rattling beech leaves and tall, sere grasses, and talking to my various gods. It was good.
And coming back, I was able to pinpoint exactly where the path closure is, so in the future I can get around it without quite so extensive a diversion. But still, it was a fun detour. There’s a lot to be said for going woods-romping on one’s lunch break. And the wind! Shake-you-to-the-heart wind, powerful and fierce, yet warm and vital and alive.
Wind lion roaring,
Great Shu, facing yesterday —
fangs bared, mane flaring.
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