In the Care of Sekhmet:
Ancient Healing Wisdom for the Modern Age
The Twofold Wisdom of the Wab Priest
At the heart of our community lies a timeless understanding: Sekhmet is both Protector and Healer. In the ancient world, Her temples were not merely monuments of stone, but living centers of healing and restoration - places where the body was tended with skill and the spirit with devotion.
Physicians trained in the House of Life often served within Sekhmet's temple precincts, and many bore titles such as “Physician of Sekhmet, 𓋴𓅱𓈖𓅱 𓈖 𓌂𓐍𓏏𓁐,” recognizing Her as the divine force presiding over their craft.
In antiquity, the Wab (pure) priests and priestesses of Sekhmet (𓅱𓃀 𓈖 𓌂𓐍𓏏𓁐) moved between two realms. Some served solely as ritual specialists, while others also held medical titles (𓋴𓅱𓈖𓅱, physician) as the healers who treated wounds, set bones, and prepared remedies. Together, they formed a lineage in which ritual purity and practical healing were understood as complementary arts. They knew how to approach the Goddess, soothe Her fierce power, and call Her healing presence into the world. Today, we carry this inheritance forward, honoring Sekhmet the Great One of Healing as we care for the spirits of those within our circle.
The Edwin Smith Papyrus
This ancient two-fold understanding is vividly reflected in the Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1600 BCE). The scroll itself embodies this dual approach: its front preserves precise surgical instructions, while its reverse contains protective spells. The text offers a diagnostic instruction that reveals this partnership:
“Now if a priest of Sekhmet (𓅱𓃀 𓈖 𓌂𓐍𓏏𓁐), or physician (𓋴𓅱𓈖𓅱), put his hands or his fingers upon the head, upon the two hands, upon the two feet, he measures the heart.”
By placing the priest and the physician in the same line, performing the same diagnostic touch, the ancient world affirmed that healing is a singular art expressed through two complementary paths.
We carry this “Twofold Wisdom” into our modern practice in the same whole way the ancient temples did. We understand that true well‑being is woven from both professional care and spiritual fortification.
Honoring the Professionals
We recognize medical staff as the modern heirs of those ancient physicians who once worked in partnership with the temples. Following the example of the ancient “Temples of Hearing,” we raise our voices in intercessory prayer. We petition the Goddess to guide the hands of the doctors, to illuminate their clinical judgment, and surround their healing work with Her divine protection.
The Power of Ritual: Tending the Spirit
While the body requires the hand of the physician, our temple community role is to provide the “spiritual half” of the healing journey through concrete acts of devotion:
A Sacred Journey:
We have provided guided meditations crafted from the Pyramid Texts and ancient healing literature. These lead the spirit through “Her Lands” - the lush papyrus marshes and verdant fields protected by Sekhmet, where the soul finds the deep tranquility necessary for the body to focus on recovery.
The Ankh at the Heart:
We have facilitated rituals of life-force illumination. By visualizing the ankh at the heart center, we call upon the Goddess to radiate energy throughout the body, warming and soothing the flesh from the inside out to support the work of modern medicine.
A Living Blessing:
We have spoken the many Names of Sekhmet to create sacred ritual recordings. These allow members to carry the presence, sounds, and protective resonance of the temple directly into the hospital room or place of rest. Listeners find strenght as the ancient words work to “unite the bones and bind the flesh.”
This is how we tend the spirit while others tend the body - not as separate efforts, but as two halves of the same ancient understanding of healing.
A Shield of Protection
In our tradition, health and healing is as much about protection as it is about recovery. During times of environmental or public‑health challenge, we follow official guidance and public health advisories, seeing them as the modern manifestation of communal safety.
Simultaneously, we perform the traditional pacification rites. We wear the twelve‑knot amulet scarf, reciting the Pacification of Sekhmet from Papyrus Leiden AMS 23A, calling the twelve protective deities by name, knot by knot, to create a shield of blessing for our flesh.
The Tending of Inner Echoes
Many who come to Sekhmet carry not only physical wounds, but the weight of trauma - the kind that lives in the breath, the memory, and the body’s quiet responses. The temple recognizes that the specialized clinical care of these inner landscapes belongs with the independent therapists and licensed professionals our members choose to work with outside of this community.
Within the temple, our role is spiritual: we offer grounding, ritual presence, and the steadying strength of the Goddess to fortify the spirit. We believe that the personal healing journey guided by a member’s own chosen clinicians is best supported when it is accompanied by a profound sense of spiritual protection. By providing this sacred sanctuary, we help the inner work of “uniting the self” be supported by a wider circle of care and resilience.
The Gratitude of the Stela: Acknowledging the Source
When recovery begins and a crisis passes, we gather in thanks. We recognize that the “Great One of Healing” works through a complex tapestry of care: the precision of the surgeon’s blade, the skill of the clinical therapist, the efficacy of medicine, and the resilience of the human spirit.
We acknowledge Sekhmet as the source who weaves all these pieces together. The Goddess does not just provide a “miracle” separate from medicine; She is the force that ensures the clinician is at their best, the medicine is effective, and the spirit remains strong enough to heal. When these threads come together, the member is restored to health, and the bonds of our community are reaffirmed in gratitude. This practice of public gratitude is deeply rooted in history. We look to the example of Nebre, an ancient Egyptian artisan who lived over 3,000 years ago. When his son fell dangerously ill, Nebre petitioned the Divine for help. Upon his son’s recovery, Nebre commissioned a stela (a carved stone monument) to publicly proclaim his thanks, ensuring that the story of the healing was preserved for the community to see.
Like Nebre, we believe that sharing the story of recovery is a vital part of the healing process. By celebrating these returns to health, we honor the lineage of those who have turned to Sekhmet in times of need and acknowledge the role of the Goddess in modern clinical success.
A Community of Care
Healing, for us, is a relationship - with one another, with the Goddess, and with the long lineage of people who turned to Her temples in times of need. We tend the spirit. We pray for those who tend the body. And together, we weave the kind of care that has always belonged to Sekhmet: fierce, compassionate, embodied, and whole.
Temple offerings are rooted in ancient ritual and devotional practice. They are not a form of medical treatment, licensed mental health counseling, or clinical therapy.
Sekhmet - Pleasure Is Our Prayer, the Body Is Our Altar.