Out of all the Egyptian deities, Sekhmet is the vampiric goddess that sets fear into the heart of her people to this day. Her story is found on the walls of the tomb of Seti and this myth has several different versions but one thing is always in common – she is a ruthless blood drinker.
Sekhmet is one of the oldest deities in the world and is known as the daughter of Ra but is also described as older than Ra.
Considered to be a warrior goddess and fearless hunter she is often depicted as a lioness [sometimes with a solar disk]. Her lioness form was chosen because it is the female lion who hunts [the most aggressive gender in many species is the female].
Almost all her visual depictions show her dressed in the color red which symbolizes her connection with blood.
Legend has it that her breath was responsible for creating the desert. Overall, the pharaohs saw her as their protector and when it came time to enter war and other battles, it was she who delivered guidance.
She was also the protector of women, particularly during childbirth or the menstrual cycle.
Legends about her origin are many and there are even speculations that she might actually be an “imported” deity because she is known all across Egypt under over 400 names.
The legend of the destruction of mankind is taken from “The Goddess Sekhmet, Psycho-Spiritual Exercises of the Fifth Way” by Robert Masters. There are several versions of this myth in tombs at Thebes and they tall the following story:
“Humans entered into a conspiracy to overthrow the Gods. They blasphemed against Ra, king of Gods and men, and heretical priests and magicians plotted ways to turn against the Gods for their destruction, using those very powers the Gods had given to men that they might flourish and grow great upon the earth.
Ra, hearing of this plan, called to meet with him the most ancient and potent Deities, those who had been with him in the primeval waters before the time when with his eye, the sun, he had made life. The Gods counseled together and it was decided that Sekhmet, the force against which no other force avails, should manifest on the earth and quell the rebellion. Sekhmet would manifest and punish all those who had held in their minds evil images and imagined wicked plots.
Then Sekhmet walked among men and destroyed them and drank their blood. Night after night Sekhmet waded in blood, slaughtering humans, tearing and rending their bodies, and drinking their blood. The other Gods decided that the slaughter was enough and should stop, but they could find no way to stop Sekhmet, who was drunk on human blood.
As the carnage went on, the Gods recognized that Sekhmet, Her rage sustained by intoxication, would implacably proceed with the killing until the last human life had been extinguished. Then Ra had brought to him from Elephantine certain plants which have been said to be the Solanaceae family and which can be brewed as powerful mind-altering drugs. Those plants, and possibly also opium or hemp, were sent to the God Sekti at Heliopolis. Sekti added these drugs to a mixture of beer and also human blood, until seven thousand great jugs of the substance had been made. The jars were taken to a place where Sekhmet would pass and there were poured out onto the ground, inundating the fields for a great distance. And when Sekhmet came to these fields and perceived what She thought to be blood, She rejoiced and drank all of the liquid. Then Her heart was filled with joy, Her mind was changed, and She thought no more of destroying mankind.
After that, Ra addressed Sekhmet as the One Who Comes in Peace, praising the beauty and charm of the Goddess.”
There are more large statues of Sekhmet than of any other deity and that depicts the huge amount of worshipers she had.
She is also an underworld deity, known for her destructive tendencies. She has the power to completely destroy not only human bodies, but also their souls – total destruction. She, additionally, is the protector of the dead in the underworld. To become an initiate in the temple of Sekhmet, candidates were actually put to ‘death’ where they had to deal with its horrors.
You will also notice that all the names she is known under hint to vampirism, sexuality and power. I mention: The Scarlet Lady, Lady of Transformations, Enrapturing One, Giver of Ecstasies, Mother of the Dead, Lady of the Bloodbath, Devouring One, Terrible One, Great of Magic, Mistress of Life.
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† Vampires in Ancient Cultures
