Happy International Women’s Day!  It seems only appropriate to write about two of the most powerful and inspirational goddesses in Ancient Egypt on this day- Sekhmet and Isis.

Goddess Isis was goddess of health, wisdom, magic and marriage. She was the sister and wife of Osiris. Unlike today’s patriarchal set-up, there was a more equitable view. She was viewed as being important as Osiris. In fact, that was the general view, marked out by the Ennead – four pairs of Gods and Goddesses, with Atum at the top as the original God.

In the typical form of her myth, Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, goddess of the Sky. She was part of the Ennead of Heliopolis- with Atum (the father god), Shu (the air and sunlight) & Tefnut (moisture) , Geb (earth) & Nut (sky), Osiris (death, resurrection & fertility), Set (chaos/disorder) and Nephthys.

It can be suggested that Isis was the first witch, a magic-worker of immense power. Following the betrayal and murder of Osiris by Set, Isis found all the pieces of her husband and effectively put him back together again, restoring his body. She was the magical healer. A creator and healer of life. She was also very cunning and instrumental in  her son Horus defeating Set. Isis never doubted her power and her love, so magic and life flowed through her.

Isis, for me, is the prime example of the powerful divine feminine. A lot gets done to detract from her, such as the medias insistence of calling Islamic State by that acronym. Don’t be afraid of using her name. Her name (known as the Ren) is powerful. You can tap in to that.

Sekhmet is the Lioness goddess. Often depicted as the most aggressive goddess in Egypt, she has a fierce reputation. Remember, in the wild, it is the Lionesses that hunts and kills.

Sekhmet  is the goddess of fire, war and dance. she is perhaps that side of femininity that some fear the most. She is not submissive or quiet, she cannot be controlled, she will not conform to your will, she cannot be ‘put in her place’… she will define her place, she will choose it.  From Sekhmet also come the energy Sekhem (there are also variant spellings in the modern world). Sekhem is the same energy as Sekhmet. It can be seen as chaotic and disorientating, but is often neither in truth.

Sekhem energy just ‘is’. If you take it in a world full of boundaries and rulesets- it can seem like wildness, anarchy and chaos. It is the unrestricted, flowing, freedom energy that dances because it wants to, it consumes as it needs to, it is restricted only by the person whom it flows through. Your rules and conformity will bring the boundaries, not the energy itself. And that is Sekhmet. Power and strength, intuition and creative sexual energy. I would say this was present in the Suffragettes, Rosa Parks and many other inspirational women.

So, on this day, I hope you can remember your own strength and power. People have tried to take it away from you, to box you in with rules to control you. It is yours. In Egyptian mythology, it was always shown.

Injoy, inlight and inlove

Phoenix