Friday, October 8, 2010

30 Days of Paganism [Day 3: Beliefs - Deities]

My deity are wildly bold, strong characters: Isis and Thoth.  They are marvellous examples of the woman I aim to be, reminding me of what I can contribute to the world with their shared strength, composure, wry humour, gusto and intelligence stretched over thousands of years worth of pathworking in their own right.

Isis is known as one of the first documented workers of magick, having learnt from both Thoth and Ra - who actually contribute to a 'holy trinity' as it were.  Ra is just starting to step into the picture for me, and has been calmly guiding me through moments of stress by opening my third eye which seems to deeply relax the body when I feel overwhelmed.  I had initially met Isis and Thoth in my first pathworking journey in the form of a visualisation trance in about December last year.  The trance I put myself into was of my own devising - completely off the bat & working with raw energy to start my journey into high magick.

In this trance I floated over the shoulder of Isis who was lead to Thoth.  Thoth gave her the scribe (which is meant to list the dead as he is the scribe to the Gods and in the underworld) which she took and I have been journeying with them ever since.  I would give you the whole story, but I'm bound to write about them more as I go and eventually also paint them.

My deities seem to stretch from Egypt through to India - where ironically they share a lot of the same or similar kinds of animals: hyenas, elephants and monkeys.  I find that the Egyptian diety is one of great pride, power, discipline and strength.  The Indian pantheon is vastly different: its goddesses and gods much more primal and wild, more like animals than the anthropomorphised characters of Egypt.  Many are dubious about the Egyptian pantheon, perhaps partly because of its associations with Aleister Crowley, but I find the Indian pantheon far more confronting because I'm not sure how to approach its members.

I've learnt not to approach Isis and Thoth with any feelings of fear because they are working with me to deplete all of my fear and to enjoy my time with them whereby I learn so many new things.  Isis was taught magick by both Thoth and Ra, and I do feel as though I am literally walking by her side, experiencing her teachings as a 'sister' - perhaps as Nephthys, sister of Isis and 'Mistress of the House.'  Its been an amazing experience - I hadn't heard of these characters, and I was lucky that a friend of mine had unlocked the mystery of the first visualisation for me by letting me know who Thoth was whom my friend "Hadn't seen in a long time."  From there on I was able to figure out who these characters were and I have been on an amazing journey ever since.

In ancient Egyptian times, Isis and Nephthys were embodied by priestesses:
"The goddesses were personified by two priestesses who were virgins and who were ceremonially pure; the hair of their limbs was to be shaved off, they were to wear ram's wool garlands upon their heads, and to hold tambourines in their hands; on the arm of one of them was to be a fillet inscribed "To Isis," and on the arm of the other was to be a fillet inscribed "To Nephthys." On five days during the month of December these women took their places in the temple of Abydos and, assisted by the Kher Heb, or precentor, they sang a series of groups of verses to the god."

It's hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for my Deity - which is really quite spread out, with Isis and Thoth being the two main characters, also allowing for other Gods and Goddesses to come through and share their energy with me.


It's very late so there will be more soon!

Source: http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/nephthys2.htm

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