Isis of Alchemy, Transformation Through the Goddess
Fellowship of Isis Liturgy by Olivia Robertson
The Emerald Pylon of Jupiter
The Octagonal Temple of Alchemy
Ritual no. 4
ORACLE OF THE GODDESS SEKHMET
Invocation: Mighty Goddess Sekhmet, Who with Your Inner Sun bestows life blood throughout the universe, help us to transmute our passions into Your Divine Gold.
Oracle: You need gold to create gold. But however hard you try, you will not attain the Inner Sun by ministering to your own ambition. An obsession to be a Spiritual Leader works in reverse. In digging for such fools' gold, you dig your own grave. To gaze directly on the earthly sun blinds you. But it is far more dangerous to steal the rays of the Inner Sun. Spiritual blindness is the punishment.
How then may the seeker attain the goal of Divine Awareness? The answer is simple. Watch shadows! My Gold is not to be seized upon by greedy hands, but shows itself in humble places. It reveals its loveliness in the sound of doves in a wood: moonlight on a pool; cubs playing in their earth. My Nature has its hidden symbols to guide you on your way.
Discover the Inner Sun in those who seem devoid of goodness. It is easy to accept yourself, hard to appreciate the treasure concealed in others whom you find repellent. Most people condemn wrong doers. But the Spiritual Alchemist uncovers good in someone obsessed by evil. Honour such hidden splendour and you yourselves will shine forth as stars!
On a gold and green draped altar let there be 4 lighted candles, a bowl of water, burning incense, a sistrum and the lamen of the planet Jupiter. Priestesses Adepti wear gold crowns, Priests Adepti, green and gold headdresses, all wear gold robes. Women Practitioners wear gold circlets, men Practitioners green headdresses, all wear green and gold robes. Music may be played throughout.
Priest Adept: Fellow Practitioners of the sacred art of spiritual alchemy, we are assembled to transmute our passions into divinity through the Alchemy of Jupiter. This combines the celestial blue of the heavens with the gold of the sun, so producing the Emerald Pylon of perfected Nature. The God Jupiter, Ruler of the Heavens, transmutes basic elements of Material atoms into Divine Gold. (makes sign of Jupiter with staff) I invoke the Goddess Sekhmet of the Midday Sun. Mother of the Goddess Maunet and of the God Nefertum, source of All Souls, Mighty in Enchantment, may your Lion Power transform our violence into the gold of Love.
Priestess Adept: The creation of beauty in myriad forms brings about the regeneration of the passions, however dangerous. Without emotion creation is not possible. (she makes sign of Jupiter with wand) I invoke the God Ptah, Consort of Sekhmet, Lord of Creation, Architect of the Universe. Thou who brings harmony, atoms and galaxies, achieving order from chaos, draw us back into the practice of the Sacred Arts, that we may join in your cosmic creation.
Priest Adept: Are you willing to be initiated into this Mystery?
Candidate: For too long have I lost control, both of mind and heart. So I fail in my life's aims. I accept the work.
Sponsor: The candidate has resolutely passed all the tests I have set him, through many months of work and meditation.
Priest Adept: Your word is accepted. To further understanding, we present the Candidate with a Mystery derived from ancient Egypt.
Priestess Adept: (anoints each brow with water) May you understand with the Golden Eye of the Goddess Uachat. (she shakes sistrum) Fellow Practitioners, in Northern religious tradition, our holy sacrament involves the turning of wine into the blood of a sacred victim. But in Ancient Egypt this procedure was reversed! Behold the Mystery of "How Blood was Changed into Beer"!
MYSTERY DRAMA: HOW BLOOD WAS CHANGED TO BEER
Enter the God Thoth wearing ape mask.
Thoth: Yes, my friends, you may wonder that the God of Wisdom could come forth as an ape! Although Truth may be enjoyed in Heaven, wisdom usually comes to humans by scrabbling in the mud for food. Many civilizations have fallen from too much unrewarded labour. But others have perished from a surfeit of good fortune! This indeed was the case with the Ancients. Hear the complaints of two young people, Maunet and her friend Nefertum.
Enter a girl and boy richly dressed but depressed.
Maunet: How can we attend this autumn celebration while so many starve in our rich city?
Nefertum: Far greater horrors reach the country dwellers and their beasts and farms. Because our rulers have stripped the hillsides of trees to build their palaces, mighty floods come pouring down the hills drowning thousands of people along with their animals and crops.
Maunet: What really frightens me are the very contraptions our men have devised to protect us from invasion. They mine into the very heart of our great mountain, in order to use its inner fires for "defense". They have lost all fear of the Gods of land and sea.
Nefertum: How can they fear what they do not believe in? Faith in God Ra and the Goddess Raet of Sun and fire has vanished. They wish to steal divine fire. No one will heed our warnings...
Enter dancers, fantastically dressed. Music. Exotic dance.
1st Dancer: Dance with us, Maunet and Nefertum, and stop looking so gloomy! Join in our Fire Celebrations of the Sacred Mountain. Its fires will protect us.
Maunet: Heed the omens. The mountain moans in grief. The Gods are disturbed.
2nd Dancer: The Gods are dead if they existed.
3rd Dancer: Yes, and we can do as we like whether we enjoy it or not! (All laugh.) We turn day into endless night of excess. Come, all who want to enjoy themselves.
Enter poor Mother.
Mother: You call me. I too would find enjoyment, but how can I? My little daughter has been raped and murdered. My son, a year older, was shot down in the streets by soldiers.
1st Dancer: That's very sad. (dancers shake their heads) We would really like to help you but we can't. We only have liberty to enjoy ourselves, not govern. That is left to the Rulers. We are helpless. Go to them.
Mother: That I shall.
Exit. Dancers leave sadly.
Thoth: Let us repair to the Palace of the Rulers, in a conclave over-guarding their commercial interest from overseas competition.
Enter Rulers talking among themselves.
1st Ruler: This continual violence in our cities is preventing investment. The people are rioting. What do you recommend?
2nd Ruler: I suggest we promote religion. It always used to keep people obedient, placing their hopes in the next life, leaving us to control this one.
3rd Ruler: And above all, this lady with a lion's head. Crazy feminists are resurrecting her to use as a totem. I wonder what they are up to?
Enter Mother.
2nd Ruler: Old woman, how did you get past security?
Mother: My anger brought me through. My six year old daughter has been raped and murdered; my small son was shot down in the street with his playmates by your soldiers. You are the Rulers. I demand justice!
1st Ruler: This is just what you are getting through our soldiers. The crime rate in Poseidonis is being dealt with efficiently. As for you, you can put in a claim to our Treasury and in due time you will receive compensation.
Mother: I do not ask for money. I demand Justice. And I shall have it - not tomorrow - NOW! (Drum roll. Mother assumes gold Sekhmet mask. Music.) I am the Goddess Sekhmet. Your wickedness draws upon your destruction. The fires you seek to use for your defense shall engulf you. (chants) "Spirits of Fire, Spirits of the Winds, Spirits of the Rock. Come! Heed my call, I the Mighty Mistress of the Gods! (assumes posture of Power, arms aloft)
Storm music. Dance of fiery spirits. Rulers flee.
Thoth: The great mountain of Atlas, clothed in a mantle of shining snow, erupted and mighty flames poured forth from its heart. Black rivers of lava poured forth from the mountains and rocks were hurled from chasms, destroying all in their path. No palace, no pleasure garden, no city was spared. Earthquakes followed in the wake of the eruption, thus destroying the whole continent. Finally high tidal waves from the Atlantic Ocean brought that great land to nothingness, deep beneath the ocean under a tide of moving earth.
Enter Ptah.
Ptah: My wife has compassion. The evil rulers are dead.
Enter Sekhmet: (triumphant) How can I have compassion when you say they are all dead - their blood staining the salty ocean? But I have compassion. They are not all dead, my brother. Those whom I have spared are even now making their way across the waves in small boats. I shall guide them on their journey across the stormy sea. The winds abate. Some have reached the land of Egypt.
Sekhmet: Indeed so, My star children Maunet and Nefertum, are in one of those boats, rowing wearily, their belongings in sacks. They are my pledge that when the Goddess takes away, She will always replace. In one of those sacks are seeds. They will grow corn and other crops and brew beer laced with pomegranate juice with its seeds of life. And Maunet also carries this new life - she is with child!
End of Play
Priestess Adept: (to Candidate) What do you learn from this story?
Candidate: I learn that when I think I can do as I like - whether I enjoy it or not - I will suffer the consequences - usually unpleasant - like those silly young dancers. But when I am too disciplined and powerful, I can become a bully - like those rulers. I need to balance heart and head. Even as I say this, I feel a glow within me.
Priestess Adept: You feel the Inner Sun. This is the Alchemy of Jupiter. From now on you will learn how to rule yourself and so achieve your life's aims. But beware trying to rule other people! They have their own path to tread. (She places Lamen of Jupiter round Candidate's neck.) You have passed the test.
Priest Adept: Fellow Practitioners, let us meditate upon the Alchemy of Jupiter.
Meditation
Reports. Gold and emerald rays of power and peace are sent forth to all beings. Thanks are given to the Deities.
Sources: "Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology", Moreau & Cie. "Egyptian Mythology", Hamlyn Moeay. "The Goddesses of Chaldea, Syria and Egypt", Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, Fellowship of Isis.
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