Renenutet

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It’s the 8th day after the full moon, Ugraparbah night, a night of radiating terror. The hunger is immense and the knowledge is out there, just reach out and let it flow through you, download it and upgrade yourself. 

So, it’s a day after the last quarter of the moon and finally, the time felt right for the Renanuteth invocation, the Serpent head goddess, the mother of all serpents. We kept delaying it, as she demanded an offering of that intoxicating smoke, one needs to be very certain of time, space and mind to offer it. 

The temple space is ready,  Zar music is playing in the background and on the altar between the burning candles a silver plate with a bunch of dry leaves, our offering, Salvia divinorum.

It’s been a year since we last journeyed into the Salvia dimension and I was very nervous to cross the gates of these ancient strange worlds again.

Some of you know that I’m an experienced traveller in hyperspace and in some of the galaxies and constellations I travelled to, I feel at home, (ayahuasca, mushrooms, peyote, San Pedro, to name a few) but Salvia, is a whole different story. 

We opened the space and read the invocation:

Thōzo pithē etc  (Thermouthe Pythia)

Thermouthē

The doors are open

And seven virgins 

Shall arise from the deep earth

Their garments of purest linen

Their faces those of serpents

You are the fates of heaven

Wielding golden wands

Welcome

Hail thou seven fates of heaven

O noble and good virgins

O sacred ones 

Hail thou chrepsienthaēs?

Hail thou menescheēs

Hail thou mechran!

Hail thou ararmachēs

Hail thou echommiē

Hail thou tichnondaēs

Hail thou erou rombriesē

Hail thou seven

snake-headed goddesses

The fates of heaven

The goddesses who hold the pole in its place

Thozopithe formula

Hail thou bear goddess,

Great one

 ruling heaven. 

Reigning over the pole of the stars. 

Hail Highest one, 

beautiful-shining goddess. 

Whose element is Incorruptible. 

Hail thous Composite of the all, 

The all-illuminating, 

bond of the universe

You who stand on the pole, you who the lord god appointed to turn the holy pole with a strong hand. 

The first offering 

As soon as the first offering is done, I noticed a very subtle movement, like ripples of heat and colour emanating from the altar. I look around the room, there’s a strange glow all around the fireplace.

The colour-heat ripples around the altar are getting bigger and before I realise what is happening a wave of serpent-like fractal shapes and colours are flowing over me. I try to stay calm, letting the serpent aura engulf me. Yeah… stay calm, I keep hearing myself mumbling…

Something is moving along the altar, two serpents, one black and the other colourful.  Both glowing and moving (flowing?) down the altar along the wall towards the fireplace. The coloured serpent disappeared in the fire, and the black serpent stopped at the left of the fireplace and erected itself. Beautiful, fearsome, awesome, terrifying. Her flaming eyes pierced mine with a hypnotic gaze.

I tried to shift my gaze, to move a little but I was frozen with awe and terror. She’s getting closer, her aura is so bright and huge I can nearly touch it (that if I wasn’t freaking out here, my heart is racing. I think I’m going to faint.) Wait, she’s communicating with me. I can hear a strange whisper echoing inside my head, an ancient serpentine language vibrating down my spine. She’s taking over me, crawling up and down inside my body.

I can’t take it anymore, I cry out and fall down to my knees, I can hear myself praying in her ancient language.

Praying for mercy

Crying my heart out for Her to spare my life.

She’s gone.

My Serpent queen. 

The Second Offering 

Still shaking, I place the second offering on the altar. The smoke is thick and white.

The music is rhythmic, hypnotic, wild and tribal. I can feel it in my bones like the rhythm is part of me. I hear the ‘mama song’ and I can feel them, my three beautiful mamas, dancing around me, opening the gates for me, making me see.  The Zar company are here, with their drums and songs. His Holiness, the Nubian priest is there too. So majestic in his white robes. He stretches his arm out and invites me to approach. The music stopped and everything went quiet. 

Stillness, like we are all frozen between time and space.

The air is crackling with static electricity and energy, it feels like we are trapped in a teardrop that is gonna explode any moment now.

Cacophonia. 

An explosion of sounds, screams and shouts, and crazy rhythms are turning slowly into music and songs, these ancient songs and hypnotic rhythms I’ve heard before. The music gets louder and louder it takes over me, it’s in me, it’s coming from inside me, I am the music.

The black mama took me by the hand and started to dance. We are dancing. Blue mama is to my right and red mama to my left. More people joining in and circling us, with their drums and bells, all dancing the wild ecstatic dance. I can feel something behind me, not sure what, it sends shivers down my spine. Black mama holding my hands tight looking into my eyes and smiling, whispering in her ancient language, “keep dancing habibti”. I close my eyes and I dance and spin, I can’t feel my body, there is something on my back, I freak out but black mama’s hands are squeezing mine reassuring me to keep dancing, so I find my rhythm and let go, I  can fly. I can see the company from above in a dancing frenzy, the Nubian priest is on his knees praying and crying, the three mamas spinning like mad dervishes. 

All of these are orchestrated by the elder of the company. He is standing in the middle of all the maddens, a big grin on his face drumming his magickal drum and shouting mad order towards the sky.

I can feel he’s calling me, I can feel his drumming vibrating in my ears and heart, and I hear shouting and wild screams. Black mana’s grip is tightening around mine and I can feel her pulling me down.

I crash back to the here and now.

The Third Offering 

At this point, I’m weary and tired, but there’s no way back, it has to be done.

I inhale the smoky essence of the offering and lean back into the fluffy white clouds.

There’s a huge wheel in the distance. The wheel rotates slowly as if spinning in a very slow motion. With each rotation of the wheel, it seems that I’m moving forward towards it like it’s pulling me nearer to it somehow. 

I look down at my feet and realize that I am attached to the wheel like Leonardo de Vinci’s The Vitruvian Man.

As soon as I understand that I’m attached to the wheel, it starts to spin faster and faster. I can see myself spinning, turning, becoming an endless spiral of Fibonacci numbers, and fractals.

I close my eyes and think to myself “I can relax now”

Boom, I’m back in the room.

We closed the circle, taking extra care to see the portal tightly shut, and making sure that no strange entities lurked in the shadows. 

I don’t know when I’ll go through this portal again.

Ipet Invocation

Awake and embrace the void 
Your heart strong enough for its joys 
and its worries Leave, 
and when you awake to life 
You will feel young again on the new day Rest, 
lie down assured of long good health.   
“Good night,  
the gods protect you, 
their protection is before you each day 
No bad thing approaches  
The demon (Apep) is repelled from your bed chamber  
Ipet the Great protects you in your long and powerful life.” 
The day and night illumined,
You shine forth  
For she guides your steps on the right path, 
And you know what is needed,
The god Ptah provisions you,  
filling your storeroom, 
With food and drink aplenty, 
and in good measure. 
Your diary and records all in order 
and well-composed. 
The mistakes of the past forgotten,  
The staff in your hand well made and sustaining. 
Break bread with the wise, 
Your cares all behind you. 
Only reason lies before you, 
The best is yet to come.
* 
Praise be to TAWERET, 
Bringing ‘perfection’ in her beautiful name.  
I praise her to the limits of the sky, 
I desire her Ka, calming day by day.  
Be merciful to me,  
May I behold your mercy, 
You, of perfect mercy! 
Extend your hand to me,  
Giving me life, 
And granting me offspring! 
Do not reproach me for my errors  
You, in perfect mercy!
Even if my helpers slip up, 
My peers still reward me. 
I desire your great strength, 
None knows you as I do; 
I will say to the children and children’s children: 
Thee as guardian before her!
Joy my heart should seize, 
Because on this day TAWERET is merciful, 
My house prospers with her blessings.  
May she give them day after day,  
And I never say ‘Oh I have regrets!’  
May she continue to give me health, 
And my womb bear children safely, 
[Or the future be secure]. 
My heart is glad every day, for sure 
The good ones expel the evil, 
And I am blessed.  
Behold her people will live forever, 
My enemies are fearful before you TAWARET! 
Since your rage oppresses them 
more than a mountain of iron, 
Her mercy gives us life! 

In NakedTantra, we documented the first ritual to Ipet the Hippo Goddess.

The insight we got was that Ipet helps one through the trauma of transitions. 

Set kills his brother Osiris, with whom he has a secret bond, but they are part of each other. Now he has to deal with the fallout. Ipet is there to hold Set, or you, in place, to help you check your emotions, if you break the ties that bind you to her, you will lose control. 

In Ritual year 2 ( work in progress) we had the insight that Set is not at all bind to Ipet but chose to stay contained within her center out of his own free will.

The Eye of The Storm

On the sandbanks of the river 
I am the Hippo out of the water 
Walking on dry soft-land.
Making patterns in the sand 
Four pillars around the eye 
One for the north, one for the west, 
One for the south, and one for the east 
The four guardians of the centre 
Of the goddess within
In the centre of her heart
An eye, like a black hole, a vortex
Spinning nearly out of control
Thunder roar 
The binds are gone
If you look into her eye
You will  see from all directions 
His reflection in her eye
Typhon spin with a mighty will
In the centre of our heart
Free

I wonder what insight will have after this year’s ritual…