Summoning Hathor
by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki
This is a ritual for women. Hathor is particularly their
goddess in the same way that Aphrodite is their goddess. She rules beauty
of face and mind and character. She is the original Fairy Godmother
giving gifts to the new born. She is love in all its aspects. She is sevenfold
in power:
1) Hathor as a beautiful girl.
2) Hathor as mature wife and mother.
3) Hathor as the older woman of wisdom.
4) Hathor as priestess.
5) The Hathor as the Goddess.
6) Hathor as the Sacred Prostitute. (This is not to
be thought of as anything demeaning, for the Heterai were drawn
from the most noble families.)
7) The Hathor as the Royal midwife.
Hathor the Goddess, holds all these aspects within the One.
This is not a long ritual but it has a special purpose<@151>to link
all the women of the group with their animas through the
Egyptian Goddess of Grace, Beauty and Passion. It is perhaps more of
a celebration than a true ritual. It is best worked after midnight in
the time of the full moon.
First decorate the altar with Her colors of turquoise and
rose, and adorn it with flowers and candles. There should be wine
and small honey cakes and flower petals to strew over the altar. Then
build up the image of Hathor Sevenfold, with a different woman speaking
for each one. Use all your powers of imagery to build Her as given.
The more detailed the image the better it will work.
1st Speaker:
I build Hathor the Goddess of Beauty and Youth. She is
golden of skin and slender as the Nile reed that bends to the wind. Her waist
is like the neck of a perfume jar smooth and curved. Her hair
is unbound and flows like a black tide over her shoulders. Her hands
and feet are narrow and painted with henna. Her breasts are young
and firm. Black are Her eyes and soft as gazelles<@146>. Her power is
that of attraction. Her mouth is a pomegranate ripe and sweet. This
is Hathor the Goddess of Beauty.
All:
We praise Thee, Hathor, Goddess of Beauty. We
welcome Thee.
2nd Speaker:
I build Hathor as Wife and Mother, one who knows the joys
of the marriage bed, and the pains of birth. Her joys are those of
the Giver of Hospitality, the Lady of the House, the Mother of the
eldest child. She is the Maker of Bread and the Giver of Wine. Her power
is that of comfort and compassion. Her hips are wide and her
breasts are full, Her days are long and rewarding. This is Hathor
the Goddess of Marriage and Connubial love.
All:
We praise Thee, Hathor, Goddess of Marriage and
Connubial love.
3rd Speaker:
I build Hathor as she is seen in the older woman. Her Youth
and Beauty have gone, but they have left behind a different kind of
Beauty. The fine lines on her face are like the finest linen, and as strong.
She wears Her life as precious jewels, each one a year of Her life.
Her laughter holds no malice for She is beyond the sword of
jealousy. Strong and patient is the Hathor of the older women, and this is
Her power for She is full of wisdom to share and to teach. This is
the Hathor of age.
All:
Praise to Hathor of the later years.
4th Speaker:
I summon Hathor the Priestess, She who guards
the temple with the power of Ever-Creating Life. This is Hathor of
the Sycamore Pillar. She who resides in the adytum of the temple. She
is the guardian of the rites and chants, the temple dances and the
wisdom of potions, oils and unguents. This is the Giver of Dreams and
the Granter of Desires. Such is the Hathor who is the Priestess.
All:
Praise to Hathor the Priestess.
5th Speaker:
I call upon Hathor the Goddess. She who wears
the cow<@146>s head with the silver disk of the moon between
Her horns. By the power of this disk She rules the ebb and flow
of womanhood and the pull of desire between man and woman. As
the Goddess She commands the womb to open and the child to come
to birth. When the time is right, She seals that womb forever. This is
the great Goddess Hathor.
All:
Praise to Hathor the Goddess.
6th Speaker:
I build Hathor the Divine Prostitute, She who becomes
the container of human desire. She is the dancer, the enchantress,
the lover of human men. In the ancient temples She overshadowed
the priestesses who gave Her their service and through them
touched the lives and hearts of men, instilling in those able to reach Her the
love of the anima. For them it was the Goddess in whose arms they lay
at peace. In Her they found their true strength. This is Hathor
the Prostitute.
All:
Praise to Hathor the Temple Prostitute.
7th Speaker:
I summon Hathor the Midwife. She who enters the
room when child is born. It is She, as Tuaret, who lifts the bed above
the earth so they may be born out of time and space. It is She who
gifts them seven time seven, though not all the gifts are welcomed.
Hathor as Tuaret stands by every cradle, by every marriage bed, and
every deathbed. For what is death but a different kind of birth. Such
is Hathor the midwife.
All:
Praise to Hathor-Tuaret the midwife.
1st Speaker:
Let us seek within for the Spirit of Womanhood and
in looking upon it, search out that aspect of Hathor that it
reflects. Not always will it show us the face we think it bears, but
sometimes another and less welcome one. Let us light our candles from
the Goddess light and seek within for Her in Her true aspect.
Silence for meditation. A bell is rung to warn you to return
to full awareness.
2nd Speaker:
Sisters, let us praise the Goddess who is Sevenfold.
All:
In beauty You walk, divine Hathor, and the birds of
Amenti sing praises to your beauty.
Your feet never press the smallest flower, but lightly touch
it, and it blooms in praise to the Goddess.
In the lovers couch, in the marriage bed, in the heat of
love, You are there as the senses offer praise to the Goddess
In the temple dance, in the song of the chantress we shall
see you and sing praises to the Goddess.
In youth and in maturity, in age and in the final days of life
you are there. Praise be to the Goddess!
Let us see with the eyes of Hathor, speak with Her
breath, love with Her heart and dance in the Temple of Life in praise
of Hathor the Goddess.
3rd Speaker:
Thou art the beauty of Egypt. Thou art the beloved of Horus.
The passing of time has not diminished Thee. Thou art forever held
in beauty.
All:
Goddess of Beauty, Thou art forever held in Beauty.
4th Speaker:
Look upon those who praise Thee, Beauteous One. From the
far future of your time we come to seek Thee. We make Thee
offerings as did the women of ancient times. The 4th Speaker pours
wine into Chalice and offers it up, sprinkles flower petals over altar.
Walk the earth again, oh Hathor, that we, the women of
this time may know Thee.
All:
Walk the earth again, oh Hathor, that we may know Thee.
5th Speaker:
This land and these times, the worship of Egypt is different
to the one You knew, but turn not Thy face from us in anger.
Comfort the women who need Thee. Bring to them the sense of their
own worth once more. Let them be free in their minds and their bodies.
We who count ourselves their sisters ask this of Thee, Great Goddess.
All:
Hathor, we ask this of Thee.
6th Speaker:
Lady of the Sycamore, we call to Thee to help us see with
the inner eye and feel with the inner heart. We come in love and
with reverence. Bless us we pray Thee, and those we hold dear. Bless
the earth that once knew thy footstep. Return to us who call Thee,
Great Goddess.
All:
Return to us Great Hathor.
7th Speaker:
Let all be done according to Thy will, Great One. We do
but ask like children for what we hope is right. In Thy wisdom let it be
as Thou, the Goddess, shall will.
All:
Let all be done according to <N>the will of Hathor.
7th Speaker:
Let us share wine each woman with her sister. Let
us embrace that we may feel the love of the Goddess within. Let us
rest in each other's trust, knowing the inner peace of the heart.
Take time for silence, sharing and maybe dancing.
1st Speaker:
O my sisters, let us depart on silent feet, with full hearts,
loving thoughts, and gentle ways, knowing that we are under the hand of
the Goddess Hathor. Praise be to Her
© Worldwide 1992, Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki
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