Sekhmet is an interesting goddess; long before I traveled to Egypt, I’d begun to feel pulses of magic from the lioness-headed statues I encountered in various museums, and even in the land of the Nile, it was in a museum that I first felt a pull toward her. At the time, it struck me as a bit strange that I’d feel resonance not with the sand beneath my feet, but with the massive black granite statues of the goddess, but it makes a certain amount of sense. It’s widely believed that tremendous statues of Sekhmet guarded Egypt’s ancient borders, and some even say that in times of invasion, the statues were brushed with poisonous spores to infect the would-be invaders as they crossed into Egypt. It’s no wonder that the statues of the Lady of Pestilence pack a punch; these icons are loaded with power!

I hadn’t expected to feel so strongly drawn to this goddess during my pilgrimage to Egypt; I’m an Isis girl all the way, and while I’ve always enjoyed the other Egyptian gods, I’ve never felt pulled to work with them. But Sekhmet was insistent, from the first time I faced her in the beautiful museum in Luxor, and by the time I ventured south to the Temple of Kom Ombo, I couldn’t ignore the intense emotions her image stirred in me.

Although she is the Lady of Pestilence, in true, balanced Egyptian fashion, Sekhmet is also renowned as a healer, and she’s everywhere at the Temple of Kom Ombo.  This unique temple, built in almost perfect mirror image, is dedicated to the gods Sobek and Horus, with each claiming his half of the space. Artifacts found at the temple and reliefs carved around the perimeter indicate that this location may have been a healing temple, and Sekhmet’s image is prominent in both halves of the space. Her fierceness seems to say, “It doesn’t matter which of these gods you follow; you cannot ignore me if you truly seek to be whole.”

I carried this goddess home in my heart all those years ago, but she’s never far if you care to know her; most museum exhibits on Ancient Egypt have one of her impressive icons, and the power in her form seems to defy the boundaries of time and space. There’s even a temple to Sekhmet in the Southwestern United States, which I hope someday to visit. Until then, I’ve found that even a picture is enough to remind me of the power of the Lady of Pestilence.