Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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Amun (also Amon, Ammon, Amen) is an Egyptian god who rose up in the pantheon during the New Kingdom (c. 1570-1069 BC) as a ram-headed god. His name means “the hidden one,” “invisible,” “mysterious of form.” He is first mentioned in the Pyramid Texts (c. 2400 - 2300) as a local god of Thebes along with his consort Amaunet. Two of his epithets were “The Self-created One” and “King of the Gods.” It was during the time of Akhenaten (1353 - 1336 BC) when he was merged with Ra and the attempt was made at creating a single deity under monotheism of the god Aten. (48) Amun’s consort was the goddess Mut and they had one child, the “moon” god Khonsu. Though he was often depicted as a ram headed god, he was also depicted with the head of a frog, a Uraeus (royal cobra), a crocodile, or as an ape. Sometimes he was depicted with the “ball” over his head, with horns (34i). (49) Khnum and Amun were both ram-gods who were merged with Ra. (34i) Amun-ra Temple of Amun, Kawa, Nubia Sekhmet is an ancient goddess of Egypt, the consort of Ptah and closely associated with Hathor. She is depicted as lion-headed, signifying, among other things, “strength,” with a round disc and a serpent (Uraeus) (50) and sometimes holding an ankh. Her name means “She Who is Powerful.” She was a patron of healers and physicians and her priests were skilled doctors. (51) Her priests were also reputed to have been excellent bone-setters. (52) She was known as “The one who loves Ma’at and who detests evil.” She could also be called the “Lady of Terror,” the “Lady of Life,” Lady of Pestilence,” “Red Lady,” “Lady of Heaven,” “Mistress of Two Lands,” but her most common epithet was “Lady of Flame.” When Thebes took over the power from Memphis during the New Kingdom, Sekhmet, was absorbed into the goddess Mut (also depicted as a lion), where she formed a trinity with her husband Amun and their son Khonsu. (53) |
In one story, Ra employed her to help him destroy the wicked, but she became so bloodthirsty he became afraid for the future of humanity and mixed up a potion, of blood and mandrake which she drank and becoming drunk and intoxicated, she forgot to kill. (54) Depictions of Sekhmet have her feeding the ankh to a devotee, as we have seen (32a, b), or depicted with the traditional ring of gills of the mushroom around her neck (32c, e), doubling as a lion’s mane, or she is featured on an aegis, shaped like a mushroom, with the ball above her head (32d). This aegis might look more appropriate if turned upside down, then the mushroom shape appears to be growing up from the ball of dung.  R: (32e) Sekhmet in the Metropolitan Museum Of Art One last important artistic consideration is her hair in the image from Kom Ombo from 180-147 BC. There are dots all over and the hair is red. Separate the hair from her face and you are left with the mushroom shape (32h).   R: (32h) Sekhmet, from the wall of Kom Ombo Temple, Egypt c. 180-147 BC (48) https://www.ancient.eu/amun/ (49)https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/amun.html (50) Budge, I, 514-520 (51)https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/sekhmet.html (52) Maspero, I, 308 (53)https://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/sekhmet.html (54) Healing Gods, p. 76-77; Muller, pp. 73-75; Maspero, History, I, 234 ff |
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