in the Egyptian season of Shemu
(Season of Deficiency)
The Egyptian Astrological Sign of Virgo
based on the symbolism from the ceiling mandala at The Temple of Hathor - Dendera
To
understand the Egyptian interpretation of Virgo we first need to have a
closer look at how they viewed this sign. The modern astrological
Virgo/Virgin image is very different from the Egyptian sign that they
illustrated as a woman likely a priestess carrying a sistrum and being
followed by a horned god. The clues to the meaning of this card come
from the work that a priestess would do with a sistrum. The sistrum in a
ceremonial use would have been used to drive away negative energy. The
repetitious sound would set up a vibration that would clear the energy
of the space. The symbol of the Virgin would invoke purity in the sense
that she was an individual who was her own person and was not an
instrument of the religion she practiced. She may have been sexually
active but she belonged to no man. The god behind her seems to resemble
Set he carries the haunch of an animal on his shoulder indicating a rite
of DIS-membering while her presence represents the power to RE-member.
Full Moon Cycle of Virgo
In
the image for the High Priestess we see a woman sleeping above her body
is the star spangled body of the goddess Nut. The High Priestess is on
an inward journey having a dream or vision. The role of High Priestess
is found in the most ancient dynasties then her power wanes during the
middle kingdom 2030-1640BC. Known as the Hand of God the high priestess
comes back after the Hyksos dynasties begin to fall away. The job of the
High Priestess required her to act and sing she remained single and did
not have time to raise a family of her own but took young people under
her tutelage.
A Dream for the High Priestess Card
“In April of
2011 I had a dream that told me I should use the sleeping Goddess for
the High Priestess again. The dream is full of multi-tasking giving
readings and being tested in doing a reading and interpreting messages,
there is a request for morning prayer at sunrise, and a special request
in feeding a guest. In the dream I learn to delegate some of the work I
have been asked to do to another woman I know who is a priestess.
A
dream symbol of an old fashioned vinyl record that gets shattered and
left behind, when I remember and go back to it one of the pieces has a
credit card stuck to the back of it that I nearly missed. I symbolically
go back to a shattered record and am given credit for something. Then
the dream shifts and I find myself looking at a new box of tarot cards
in the box there is a note and it says “be a tarot extremist!” I find I
am back stage from a performance. It hits me that I am working on the
High Priestess and all of my tasks are part of that energy.
My mind
begins to go through the energies of all the major cards I have already
done. Here is where I usually trade in my dream for information on work I
am doing, but I manage to hold on to the dream as well.
The
High Priestess Full Moon Cycle of Virgo triggers memories of a more
ancient 10 sign Zodiac. Sometime before the Greeks made revisions to the
zodiac it may have been made up of only ten signs instead of the
twelve. The idea was that the signs Virgo, Libra (the Scales) and
Scorpio (which includes Ophuichus or Serpentarius) where just one long
woman stretching across the sky, similar to the Goddess Nut. This
becomes inspiration to put Nut in my High Priestess card. The goddess
Ma’at and her scales are in the Justice card. The Egyptian goddess
Selket a scorpion goddess of death and healing would also play apart in
the symbolism of the third month. This idea of a triple goddess rang
true. It also further fortified the choices of having only female courts
representing these three months in the season of Shomu (Deficiency).
Nut
or Nuit: Her name is translated to mean Sky may be the origin of our
word for night. She is one of the oldest deities found in Egypt. Her
origins being found in the creation story of Heliopolis in this story
the goddess is the sky above and the god is the Earth below. Mostly
depicted in human form, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a
cow.
Card meaning: A wise woman who keeps her own
counsel. In a reading the High Priestess card tells you that this issue
you will need to handle on your own whatever it is keep it to yourself
and dream on it. The High Priestess as the full moon cycle of Virgo
shakes things up she gets the energy moving, she flushes out the
negativity. The High Priestess in your reading let's you know it's time
to transform the dead inert into something bursting with life! Shake off
the old dusty cover and find that essential nugget within. What's been
hidden inside is ready to come out and be revealed.
Queen of Wands
Full moon in Virgo ( Real Sky Astrology full moon of March 27, 2013)
The
image of the Queen of Wands is Neferure meaning “The Beauty of Ra”
daughter of two pharaohs Thutmoses II and Hatshepsut. She was given the
highest female stations within the court her titles include Lady of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Mistress of the Lands, and God's Wife, this was
the normal role of a royal princess to the pharaoh prior to Thutmosis
IV. As her mother Hatshepsut acquired the role of pharaoh Neferure took
on duties her mother had as queen in ceremonies and rites. Many wall
carvings and paintings of Neferure in the Red Chapel at the Karnak
Temple show her functioning in these roles. All of the religious and
ceremonial duties illustrated on the walls of the Red Chapel that were
performed by Neferure would be fulfilled by the royal queen in later
generations. Hatshepsut played a strong role in the administration of
Thutmosis I she also held these titles for her father while still a
princess. Scholars today look back at this as if it seems unusual but
perhaps it was not so unusual at the time and only seems unusual in
hindsight because of misogynist changes within the Egyptian laws that
were instated after their reign. This early 18th dynasty period seemed
to be very egalitarian perhaps even showing higher favor toward royal
born women. Since until the reign of Thutmoses III unless you were born
of a royal queen or married a royal you were not allowed to be pharaoh.
We
know that Neferure’s gender did not inhibit her from being given the
best education of her day guided by Hatshepsut's most trusted viziers
starting with Ahmose Pen-Nekhebet, who had served under several of the
earlier pharaohs and was highly regarded, then by Senemut who was
believed the architect of her mother’s mortuary temple and finally by an
administrator named Senimen.
Neferure had a half brother; Thutmose
III born to a secondary wife only a marriage between Neferure and her
half-brother assured his place in the royal succession. In later
generations after the changes in laws he would have unquestionably
succeeded as the only male heir. It seems that something occurred during
this generation that instituted a new gender bias.
No record has
been found recording Neferure’s marriage to Thutmoses III, however,
there are some authors who believe that Neferure was still alive in the
first few years of Thutmose III's rule as pharaoh, and that his eldest
son, Amenemhat, was her child. On two depictions the name, Satiah, is
recorded as the wife of Thutmoses III, and seems to have replaced that
of Neferure. Neferure is found in several places, among them in her
mother's Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri, on several statues with
Senemut, on stelae in Karnak, and in the Sinai.
The cat found in most
images of the Queen of Wands may be a reference to the goddess Bast
(Bastet, Ubasti): Egyptian cat goddess of joy and dancing, of the home
and of the domestic cat, twin sister of Horus. She sometimes took on the
war-like aspect of a lioness as Sekhemet daughter of the sun god Re and
was associated with the 'eye of Re', acting as the instrument of the
sun god's vengeance. As Sekhemet she is the wife of Ptah (god of
craftsman and the primordial mound) and mother of Nefertum (god of
healing and beauty). As Bastet her cult was centered on her sanctuary at
Bubastis in the delta region. She was depicted as a cat or in human
form with the head of a cat, often holding the sacred rattle known as
the sistrum.
Card meaning: The Queen of Wands shows us that all
magic begins in the mind. Once you can imagine the way something will go
it is easier to see it though. The Queen of Wands will show you where
your hidden talents are as she is able to walk between the worlds of
what is and what could be. She has the ability to start from scratch and
create something beautiful with very little resources. She may hold the
key to the hidden creative places in your mind. She is the keeper of
lost secrets.
The Full Moon this month falls on the second week of the Full Moon cycle of Virgo this year, this highlights the 3 of Wands as the minor card of the month.
3 of Wands
Second 10 days of the Full moon cycle of Virgo
The
image for the 3 of Wands is the return of Hatshepsut’s ships from the
mysterious land of Punt. No one today knows the location of Punt it is
assumed Punt was somewhere easy to navigate from the Red Sea someplace
to the south like Yeman or Somalia. What if Hatshepsut had
circumnavigated the continent of Africa and made it all the way around
Africa to Mali and visited with the Dogons? What if this trip recorded
on the walls of her mortuary temple was not just some arbitrary female
shopping trip but a feat of great magnitude. She is noted as a
successful pharaoh whose reign expanded trade with neighboring countries
and as well as contruction at home we see her support of ship making
and seafaring. During this period there is evidence of Minoan residents
whose artistic style decorated some buildings of the period. Hatshepsut
brought home myrrh trees to grow her own resources for the precious
incense keeping her priesthood happy. Hatshepsut built a fleet to
facilitate trade between Egypt and Punt to bring mortuary goods to
Karnak in exchange for Nubian gold. Hatshepsut personally went on this
most famous herself. When she arrived home her ships were full of
copper, carved amulets, incense, ebony and short-horned cattle, gold,
ivory and animal skins and other goods usually transported great
distances overland. The carved reliefs at her mortuary temple show that
there were 5 ships on her journey According to the temple reliefs, the
Land of Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati. This
well illustrated expedition of Hatshepsut occurred in Year 9 of the
female pharaoh's reign with the blessing of the god Amun.
Hatshepsut's
successors, such as Thutmoses III his son Amenhotep II continued the
Egyptian tradition of trading with Punt. Did Neferure play god’s wife to
her mother while Thutmosis III was on extended and continued trade and
exploration missions to Punt? Punt was called Ta netjer, Ta Netjer is
Arabic for Dendera the temple dedicated to Hathor the Lady of the West.
Card
meaning: The 3 of Wands in a reading is an adventure into unknown
territory using new technology and discovering new ideas. This is the
card that says your ship has finally come in and what you have been
waiting for has just arrived. Because this is a card of air, inspiration
and seeing things from a new perspective you are most likely to be
coming into new ideas rather than monetary gains. Putting the past
behind you and moving into the future. Coming home to yourself.
