So I have wanted to post for a long time now, but my efforts in March required some extra thought. Anyway, here I am, finally.

I posted way back in January that I was going to start doing Devo’s Making Ma’at 2k19 rites this year, in addition to the regular, so-called “Daily Rite” that I had been doing. I got a late start, missing the Execration Rite on January 1st, the New Moon Rite on the 7th, and the 6th Day Akhu Rite on the 10th (Devo rescheduled it because the New Moon Rite in January was on the 7th). I finally started with the Propitiation Rite on January 18. Which I didn’t get around to until the 21st, the day after that stunning lunar eclipse, which my husband and I saw part of.

I was not at all prepared for what happened.

The Propitiation Rite was to Sekhmet, who is the patron of my temple, Per Ankh. I said the words to Sekhmet, using the above altar setup. I don’t remember if I had previewed the words; I think I did not, so I said them as devoutly as I could while reading them for the first time.

Here is what happened next, as recorded in my diary:

The next beat, I was suddenly hit with Sekhmet’s presence: I put my hands over my heart, said, “Great Lady!” and immediately fell to my knees and did a full henu. (I don’t do that often these days, depending on my condition.) I waited a moment [on my knees], still bowled over in awe, did another henu, and started to cry. I got up and closed the rite with the words I usually use from the Per Ankh Daily Rite: “Netjer has come, renewed through the Eye of Heru,” etc. I drank the water and milk and wiped my eyes, thinking I was done. I went out to the living room and tried talking to my husband and discovered I wasn’t done crying yet. So I repaired again to the bedroom, where I sat with the salt lamp still on, as I had left it, letting the tears come out in the hopes of eventually composing myself. About five minutes later, I was good to return to the living room and we went back to our Lucifer marathon.

Later, after an email exchange with my priest, I learned that what I should have done was sit and listen to Sekhmet. You know, instead of turning into a blubbering mess and excusing myself from rite. Now They know that I Am A Complete Wuss and take it easy on me. In other words, this exact experience has never been repeated, although I do feel Their presence closer than I did before I started the Year of Rites.

But this was one of those moments that removes any possible doubt from what is going on. I KNOW that I was in the presence of the Divine that day. The force I felt, that literally knocked me to my knees, was like nothing else I have ever experienced in my life, and can have no other possible explanation. I am incredibly grateful to Sekhmet that I have been allowed to experience Her Presence like this.