Sekhmet & Bastet Quotes

“The Great Mother Goddess of Catal Huyuk is shown with lions, Cybele rides a chariot drawn by lions and Ishtar “drives seven lions”. Inanna has the epithet “Divine Lioness”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Each decan had an associated deity and Sekhmet was the Mistress of the Decans, controlling fate and administering divine retribution. She determined good and bad luck and could guarantee a good year with an excellent harvest by controlling the inundation.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“The oldest of these texts are the Pyramid Texts which were designed solely for use by the king although by the end of the Old Kingdom they started to appear in other royal tombs. The main emphasis is on the king being reborn as a star.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“I am Horus…sprout of Sekhmet! I am the unique one, the son of Bastet – I will not die on account of you.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Hathor and Sekhmet both have a seven-fold aspect, which is not surprising given their relationship.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“He is Bastet who guards the Two Lands…he is Sakhmet to him who defies his command.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Sekhmet’s weapon was the bow and arrow. Was this because it was a high-status weapon or because it is used to attack from afar? The rays of the sun could be viewed as arrows shot by a divine archer, illustrated by rays of sunlight shining through clouds. “When shooting an arrow as Sekhmet does, you fell thousands.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Lady Sakhmet of the lilies – yes, our Lady of Dew dwells among lily pads…Nefertem…blossoms newborn in the blue lotus. Twilight is heavy with gods.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“In Khonsu we see a parallel with the transition of the Angry Goddess into the benevolent Bastet. He was originally a bloodthirsty God but becomes increasingly benevolent in later periods. His mother can be Bastet or Mut, and at Kom Ombo it is Hathor.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Nebmaatra a local version of the Lunar God Khonsu. One ritual which was held here was “joining the dais” where Nebmaatra was invoked to ensure the regular appearance of the full moon by healing the Eye of Horus.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“If it is a day of full moon when the sister (Tefnut) comes, then this lunar feast becomes a full festival day.”[253] In the Greco-Roman Period the cat was seen as lunar, another Greek influence, but the lion always retained its solar imagery and association”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“With Greek influence, all the Goddesses were seen as lunar rather than solar, but Tefnut always had a suggestion of lunar influence for some reason. Perhaps it was her water aspect. In later periods Bastet could assume the role of the Lunar Eye as well.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Are Bastet and Sekhmet Dual Goddesses, the dual nature of a single Goddess, or two individual Goddesses?  The same question can also be asked of Hathor and Sekhmet and Mut and Sekhmet. There is no definitive answer as the ancient texts support all views.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Sekhmet is the Original Power which drives creation. In an echo of creation, each individual is created at conception by that same power.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“The time of the absence of the Goddess – whether the Eye or another – is the season of fear and lifelessness.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“The absence of the Solar Eye plunges Egypt into fear and gloom. This is echoed in other tales of a departed deity, such as Demeter and Persephone and Ishtar and Tammuz. The life of the land dies when the deity departs.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Ra orders 7,000 jars of beer. 77 is associated with Ra and multiples of seven indicate an infinite number.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Weret-Hekau personified the magic of the royal crown and the uraeus and her name means Great of Magic. This was also a common epithet of Isis, Mut, Hathor, Sekhmet and Pakhet.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Purification ceremonies depicted in some of the Greco-Roman temples invoke “Sekhmet of yesterday…Wadjet of today…protect the King with that papyrus of life which is in your hand, in this your name of Wadjet”.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Wadjet is the tutelary Goddess of Lower Egypt. Her name means the Green One, possibly a reference to the snake’s colour or to the green and fertile Delta region.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Sekhmet is on your head, Wadjet is on your forehead.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“In the early versions of the myth the Eye can be Venus, the Morning Star which heralds the sunrise.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“But what has been split will eventually come back together. Energy and nature can’t be static and they have a natural oscillating cycle, like snakes winding around a staff.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“The Creator contains both male and female energies and aspects but our language struggles with this concept. By giving the Sun God an independent Solar Eye Goddess the Egyptians might have been attempting to express the initial androgyny of the Creator.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Thy Living Eyes which emit fire, thy Heavenly Eyes which lighten the darkness, awake in peace, so thy awakening is peaceful.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“his consort Sekhmet who provides the primaeval energy for Ptah to channel into creation. The God or male principle can’t achieve anything alone but needs the Goddess or female principle to activate and energise him. Consciousness needs energy to be active and energy needs consciousness otherwise it is chaotic and aimless. The interplay of male and female energies is very prominent with the feline deities. This leads into the other concept which had long fascinated the Egyptians, that of duality. Duality fed into their beliefs with Dual Goddesses and each living being having a double or shadow of themselves.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“Lioness energy was important in two out of the three creation myths and one of Sekhmet’s epithets was “Mistress of the Beginning” reflecting her role in creation.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“It was only in Greco-Roman times that Isis acquired a strong water element.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“The ished-tree was a sacred tree and at Heliopolis was sacred to the Sun God. The Greeks called it the persea. Its fruit was said to ripen with the inundation making it very symbolic. It is thought that the persea was a species of Mimusops, a fruit-bearing evergreen. This tree was also sacred to Hathor and later to Isis. Its flowers were considered life-giving and called the “flowers of life”.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt

“In the crossword hymn Mut takes on the role of Creator. “Everything came into being because of her…mankind and gods are her offspring…everyone is united to her ka.”
― Lesley Jackson, Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt