Kemetic Spirituality - Tumblr Posts
Dua Aset! ✨
O Great Throne, Let me gaze upon your beauty!
O Great House, Let me sing your praises!
O Great Kites, Let me prostrate myself before you! Dua! Dua! Dua!
Dua Seth, Who created the Storms!
Order, or justice. There will come a day you have to choose.
Seth, god of storms and chaos. This piece is on hold for a Patreon follower. To get early access and discounts please consider pledging!
Dua Seth! 🔥
Our Lord of the Storms is roaring fiercely these days here, and I'm so glad to hear His voice.
-Sha-Beast of Set Painting-
Homage to you Set, Lord of the Northern Sky, who resides beyond the Imperishable Stars. O Powerful-of-Forefoot, may you stretch forth your arm to let Ap/ep fall! Advance, O far striding Master of the Seven Stars. May your powerful face be gracious to me. May you establish a crown upon my head like the Disk upon the head of Ra, and give to me all life, and strength, and health. (Modified from) Eternal Egypt - Richard Riedy
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Set has always been a name that comes to me when change is required. Not easy change usually. It can be in difficult times, in growth or in destruction. He doesn’t open doors for me, he takes the door down and removes it from this reality.
I started this piece because I had an urge to try my hand at painting on a wood board. Painting and drawing like this have been hobbies that I left behind many years ago, so it’s an old friend to rediscover them. And funny enough, the moment that I finished, a door was removed from a problem I’d been facing and opened up solutions that are honestly a huge relief for us financially and mentally. It’s still not easy, but the way is there. As is His way always. Dua Set!
Senebty,
Iseqi
Daughter of Amun-ra and Set
Beloved of Hethert-Sekhmet and Heru-Wer
Always worth re-reading, and I also fave the version in which it was consensual - makes far more sense to me.
The Contendings of Horus and Set (and homosexuality in Ancient Egypt)
(The image is the Chester Beatty Papyrus I, written in hieratic, containing the mentioned story)
In my last post I (affectionately) called Set "the Gay Uncle of the Egyptian Pantheon" and promised to elaborate more on it in another post.
(CW: sexuality talk, bits of violence and- lettuce. No strong language)
First, a "little" foreword on homosexuality in Ancient Egypt: this is a very complicated subject as I gathered since, well- we don't know very much about it. The few accounts that survived are either disputed or offer little information on the general attitude towards same-sex relationship outside the single case.
It's also difficult to talk about heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality in ancient times at all since the way we know them is a relatively modern concept (the word homosexuality is first attested in 1868 on a letter to Karl Heinrich Ulrichs by Karl-Maria Kertbeny) and before christianity became mainstream the biggest concerns were at best pointed towards the practices (mostly, Taking It™).
For everything else, relationships were just relationships.
The best known example of a same-sex couple were these guys, since it's likely the earliest recorded in history:
They're Khnumhotep (ẖnm.w-ḥtp(.w)) and Niankhkhnum (nj-ꜥnḫ-ẖnm.w), two royal servants and confidants who had the prestigious task to be the king's head manicurists. In their mastaba tomb in Saqqara are depicted in poses traditionally reserved for couples - like holding hands, embracing and kissing.
However, both of them had wives (Khenut and Khentikawes) and 6 children each.
Ancient Egyptians were very passionate about fertility - which is understandable considering how easily people could die any day for any reason back then. The more children you had and the more the chances that at least one of them survived to adulthood and could carry on jobs and duties.
So as long as you were a (re)productive member of society, it wasn't a big deal that you enjoyed / preferred the company of an individual of your same sex.
The big deal was, as I mentioned, Taking It™ for two main reasons:
Power dynamics. Assuming an active role during the intercourse meant at the same time asserting your dominance and/or humiliating the person on the receiving end of it
Something that I understood as "guy takes up the role of a woman during the intercourse but with none of her reproductive power" which considering how massively important being fertile was to them... well. Makes it a practice as sterile as the desert
And guess who was the god of deserts? our guy Set
(and also storm, disorder and violence to be precise)
His name was written either stš, swtḫ, swtj or stẖ depending on the time period (the Greeks just went with Seth)
He also loved eating this particular vegetable a normal amount (keep it in mind, we'll need that later):
Set was one of the children of Geb (the god of the Earth) and Nut (goddess of the sky) along with Osiris, Isis and Nephthys - who he was married to.
Osiris was king at the time and upheld the rule of ma'at (ideal natural order, fundamental concept of AE culture) along with Isis, his wife-sister.
At some point Set murdered Osiris, tore his body into pieces and scattered them all around Egypt. Reasons for this act may have been:
Osiris kicked him
Osiris had an affair with Nephthys
Isis and Nephthys in the form of either a falcon or a kite searched for all pieces and with the help of Anubis put them all together in what is considered the first mummy in Egyptian tradition. Isis uses her wings to briefly fan new life in Osiris' body and the two conceive a child, Horus.
Osiris' resurrection was not permanent and after his time was out he became ruler of the Duat (the realm of the dead), while Isis raises Horus in secret until he was old enough to come back to challenge Set for his throne.
The dispute took the form of a series of competitions (like racing with boats or fighting each other in the form of hippopotami) and legal judgement before the assembled council of gods, the Ennead.
During one of the competitions Isis tried to help her son while he was locked in combat with Set but accidentally spears Horus - he got FURIOUS and beheaded his mother. Then tried to fix it by sticking on the body a head of a cow. No one will ever notice, amright? (This gives the mythological origin of the cow horn headdress Isis sometimes is depicted wearing)
Horus repeatedly defeats Set in the various competitions and is largely favoured by the the other gods, but the head of the Ennead was Geb and Geb liked Set so they were stuck in this limbo situation of tie for years.
and then - brace yourself. Now it comes the key moment of this story.
Set and Horus have sex.
I'm serious
The details of this obviously varied from account to account (as most of myths in Ancient Egypt, it was almost expected to have different variations of it depending on the time period and place)
According to one account, it was deliberately only to humiliate him
According to another, he genuinely wanted to bang his nephew other than the act of dominance / humiliation thing, he didn't take no as an answer and got him drunk
According to another one again it was consensual, Horus agreed on condition that Set would've given him part of his strength (my fave)
But Horus was a smart birb and he either caught Set's seed with his hands (don't ask me how) or removed it in secret, so to make Set believe the act was successful. Horus tells his mom about what happened and the morning after they plan something.
Horus wanks on some lettuce and Isis serves it to a clueless Set.
Who eats it all.
The next time the Ennead were called to judgement, Set mentions having laid with Horus as a mean to demonstrate he has asserted his dominance over him so he had the right to claim the throne for himself. Horus disagrees. Geb verifies who of the two had the other's seed in his body and-
Set did.
Horus thus won the dispute
They eventually reconcile with each other and shared the lands to rule (which might have been fertile lands of the Nile to Horus and foreign deserts to Set, or one had the land and the other the sky, or the two traditional halves of the country). With this reconciliation, the dualities they represent are also reconciled into a united whole restoring order after the conflict.
(according to other accounts Geb played the bitch and gave sole reign to Horus, to other much later when Egypt was a bit in a bad place Set was utterly defeated, exiled and/or destroyed)
Funny thing is that Set actually got pregnant from the tainted lettuce and gave birth to either:
A golden disk on his forehead
Thot
Thot's moon disk (in versions where Thot is present during the dispute)
Well ancient Egyptian mythology sure is something huh
Dua Seth! 🖤
i drew Lord Set from khemetic mythology. he's my patron god and he likes being drawn all fancy like x3
Well well well, hello Brother.
"At his side lived his brother, the irreverent and violent Seth."
Found another illustration by Marguerite Divin, which I love, this time from the myth of Isis and Osiris.
This really speaks to me.
Dua Bast! 🐈⬛
Prayer to bast for good mental health.
O powerful bast. Great one who rises over the horizon.
I reach out to you and ask for help.
Let your light flow into my mind and clear the darkness and chaos.
Help me heal and learn from my past.
Protect me from anger anxiety and depression.
Let your gentle yet powerful energy nurture me and bring me a healthy mind.
Beautiful bast, bring me relief from darkness.
Dua Seth! 🔥
Epithets of Set
my favorites
The Lord of Heaven
He who supports the sky for all the gods
Before whom the sky trembles
The Lord of the Wind
The Storm
The master physician of Upper Egypt
The head of the upper Egyptian Shrine
Who is in the heart of the great houses
The Lord of the Oasis
The beautiful child of Ra
The Lord of Life
He with great magic
He who doesn’t care about the law
He who is pleased with cheating
He with great strength
He with great power at the tip of the barque
He who was fighting in the womb
He with the mighty arm
Whose arm is powerful
He who loves fighting
The Lord of Power and Strength
The Lord of the Force
He who is strong full of strength at the bow of the barque of the Lord of Millions
He who grips with full malice
He who rushes to inflict harm
He with the outstretched stride
He with great shape
He who holds his head high
The Red
He with red hair
He who arises with an arrow
Who fells the enemies at the bow of the barque of Ra
Who overthrows a/pep
Who overthrows a/pep at the bow of the barque of Ra
He who laps up the decayed
He who is in the fire
He of the popular gods
The Very Popular
He of great reputation
The great god
He with hidden/secret forms
The perfect god
Who is in the dark
The comrade of darkness
Who creates the eye of darkness
Who acts with violence
The offender
He with the great roar
The thief of the dawn
Who creates turmoil
Who causes the dispute to arise
Who prepares sorrow
Who inflicts his pain
Who orders the riot
Who roars words
Who hates society
The lord of the storm
The Enraged One
The Injurious One
Who is pleased with riot
Whose enemy is heart-weary
Just as sassy as he is 🔥
Another Set commission finished up for a great client. Slots are always open!
Gotta love him.
This is my favourite hieratic version of the Set animal glyph 𓃫. It’s from the 19th dynasty and LOOK AT THOSE EARS.
I am Seth, the Red.
I am Seth, great of magic.
I am Seth, lord of the wind.
I am Seth, lord of the storm.
I am Seth, lord of the desert.
I am Seth, the destructive one.
I am Seth, he with the great roar.
I am Seth, before whom the sky shakes.
I am Seth, he who is in the middle of fire.
I am Seth, the lord of power and strength.
I am Seth, he with great power at the tip of the Barque.
I am Seth, and I answered your call.
Were you aware, when you came to me?
Were you aware of what I would bring?
Were you aware that I would stick around?
Were you aware that I would tear your heart out of your broken ribs?
Were you aware that I would stand among the flaming sand as you cried out for help?
Were you aware that I would be there to help you?
Of course you were not.
That’s why I came.
You needed me.
You needed my lessons, the harder the better.
You needed to understand your rage more.
You needed to dance through the storm - no: with the storm.
You needed to find your may among the swirling dust devils and their dervish songs.
You needed to know how much you belong to the red sands, deadly and unforgiving, yet constellated with oases of peace.
And now that we’ve been through all that, tell me: would you really want me to go away?
Yeah. I thought so.
•
Uhm, yeah, sometimes I write my own devotional bits too. Sometimes someone inspires me and I listen and write. This time, it was Seth. The Red himself. So, a litte bit of devotion for him.
Image by Nathalie Braconnot, as credited.
This is perfect. ❤️🔥
Great One who rattles the sky, I honor you!
Strong One whose voice I heard from within the sandstorms of my mind, I call to you.
Mighty One who stands at the front of the barque as I row & row towards the light, I praise you.
(Fearless One who is strong enough to do what it takes, I admire you.)
May I remember You in the faces of strangers whom others so easily shun & misunderstood. May I remember You as I wander & leave what is familiar.
May I remember You in the stretch & the scrapes of falling on unexplored terrains.
(May I remember Your un-judging offer of hand; the counsel that yes, the desert tends to do that.)
But may I also remember the ease in swinging staffs & the power coursing through veins, Strongest of Gods. May I remember the amusement & the joy, even, in taking life with a stride. The laugh that turns frowns upside down.
(May You love me, as I love You.)
Dua Sutekh! ⚡
Sutekh, Lord of Thunder ⚡️
Sun. Art by Mickie Mueller, from the Mystical Cats Tarot.
Definitely can see why.
Dua Sutekh! 🔥
Set wearing a very low v neck smoking a cigarette
why? because he said so
Dua Anpu neb-ta-djeser, I pray to you for protection for that of my body, my soul, and for guidance toward ma'at. tpy-djuf, grant me calm and connection, for I honour you in my space and in my words. May my praise and worship of you, khentyamentiu, show my devotion and gratitude for your guidance and presence.
Look at the beauty and power in these!
Dua Sutekh! 🔥
little paintings for my altar! i… hope he likes them. sutekh has done so much for me and i never want to stop creating for him.
