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A Gift from Sekhmet

A Gift from Sekhmet

Last updated on: April 18, 2025 at 7:20 am by Laura Tempest Zakroff

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A Gift from Sekhmet 2025-04-18T07:20:04-08:00 Laura Tempest Zakroff

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A line of basalt Sekhmets at the NYC Met Museum, photo by author

I’ve been thinking about a ritual I attended at Sacred Space Conference 2 weeks ago now. I actually attended 2 rituals & led 2 rituals, which makes for more than my usual event ritual quota on both accounts.

It was a Sekhmet ritual led by Monica Stanton of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel- and my decision to attend was somewhat impromptu. I’ve worked with Sekhmet since the mid to late 90s, so we go back quite a while. But when I saw the listing in the program, I got that push. You know the one.

So I went..

Each attendee selected a slip of paper with a name for the goddess on it. She is said to have 1000s of names. I received (and then called and invoked her by) “Fire of My Heart.”

The ritual was mainly a meditation, but we warned/prepared that meeting Sekhmet could be a violent experience. One that tears you down to build you anew – a common trait for destroyer-mothers.

I thought, well, here we go again. What needs to be torn down this time?

I could hear the others around me having that experience…

But that wasn’t my experience. It was calm, quiet, reserved, almost soothing.

She said, “look at your hands.” I looked down to see that my hands were claws. Great, tawny, claws with long talons. A mix of lion and human features.

She said, “Those are yours. Remember how to use them. This is your gift, your job, your protection.”

Headshot of basalt statue of Sekhmet at the NYC Met Museum, photo by author

I drew the claws and vision of her in my notebook while others journeyed and recovered.

And I have thought about those claws a lot and what they mean.
What it means to be reminded. To call upon the strength found in past destructions and rebirths.

To not only know your strengths, but to use them as necessary to clear paths, defend, protect, and empower.

I hope that in these times, we all look down to see our claws, to know our power and to use it with wisdom and love – fiercely and unapologetically. To defend, defy, and endure triumphantly.

To stoke the fire of our hearts and feel the cool composure of carved-basalt grace.

May it be so.

————

(FYI – Registration is now open for the joint Between the Worlds/Sacred Space Conference in 2026 – I highly recommend this event for serious practitioners at any level. The line-up is always phenomenal and diverse – and the offerings are top-notch. If you’re looking for a hotel-based event experience that is immersed in ritual from beginning to end, curated with consideration, focuses on advancing your practice, and enjoy meeting like-minded folks, it’s fantastic. I don’t get anything for telling you how much I love it, except the joy of new folks discovering the event.)

About Laura Tempest Zakroff

Laura Tempest Zakroff is a professional artist, author, performer, and Modern Traditional Witch based in New England. She holds a BFA from RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design), and her artwork has received awards and honors worldwide. Her work embodies myth and the esoteric through her drawings and paintings, jewelry, talismans, and other designs. Laura is the author of the bestselling Llewellyn books Weave the Liminal, Sigil Witchery, and Anatomy of a Witch, as well as the Liminal Spirits Oracle (artist/author), The Witch’s Cauldron, and co-author of The Witch’s Altar with Jason Mankey. Laura edited The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance (Revelore Press). She is the creative force behind several community events and teaches workshops online and worldwide. You can read more about the author here.

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