This is a tale of how I became acquainted with, inspired & guided by Hathor.
Preface: Labor Day September 7, 2020
Labor day for me signals the end of summer … My favorite season typically filled with trips to the beach, floating in the ocean, walking along the boardwalk and stopping at a bistro for a lunch, enjoying outdoor concerts etc.
…and even though officially it doesn’t end until the autumn/fall equinox, this summer there were no celebrations, no gatherings and when I let my mind drift to feeling how sad that makes me, how depressed I am over this isolation and the ongoing division, the lack of coming together to mitigate, slow down the transmission of this COVID-19 disease I grow weary and teary-eyed. It is these thoughts that I needed shift; I needed to replace them with thoughts of what I can do. That is, what I can do in isolation I never otherwise found the time to do because distraction prohibited me from proceeding with that kind of lovely focus. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still have a wandering mind and these meandering thoughts can be a distraction for sure but at least I can replace those thoughts, the ones I had amidst running around when I behaved a bit like I was inside a pinball machine bouncing from one thing to the next giving each my all, thinking/imagining that was energizing me… I thought that contributing to the success of this and that boosted my purpose, my “worthiness” … mmmm hmmm what a delusion/illusion! There I was, chasing after “worthy” as I demonstrated my intelligence, my friendliness, my ability to cooperate, collaborate, when in fact I was “worthy” all along. Being me is (more than) enough! Enough❣️ So hum. I am.
Soooo, cue the onset of the pandemic and being healthy, thank you, and safe and secure at home, thank you, I realized I had an opportunity to prioritize what is important to me (not my mother, not my father, not my employer, etc.). Here, handed to my on a lovely mosaic platter was the gift of time, a time to prioritize and give great attention to my curiosity, my inclination towards celebrating the Divine Feminine and acknowledging the power of women as in our ability to juggle several things at once *and* provide loving care and attention with the deep desire to be respectfully treated similarly.
We are not threatening in our powerful femininity, we are brilliant and LOVE-able, the very embodiment of love & light and the Goddess wants us to Bee all that!
~ Tahya
Inspired, I began a new project! I began to prepare a PowerPoint about my research into the Systrum, without distraction, remembering a select few women from Egyptian antiquity whose names deserve to be spoken, whose lives deserve to be remembered, and with whom I became acquainted thanks to my research after being quite literally inspired and guided by the ancient Egyptian Goddess Hathor.
…. and now, more specifics as to how I became acquainted with Hathor
Her name was first whispered in my ear at the conclusion of an AET (Ancient Egyptian Teachings) program I attended ~ a presentation that would overview the cosmology of ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses together with information transferred in the oral tradition and professed, theoretically, to have been done so for millennia. I admit I was fascinated! I had always appreciated the beauty of artifacts and the art had always fascinated me.
This introductory AET class began with an observation that as the Nile River flows north to the Mediterranean sea, it blossoms at the delta like a lotus flower, not unlike the countless lotus motifs in the art and architecture.
The class continued with our presenter telling the tales of Osiris and Isis and we viewed slides of the Great Pyramid at Giza, etc. At the conclusion of the program each of us was invited to meet privately in an adjoining room with the facilitator for an “energy reading.” I had no idea what to expect although since I treated myself to many a massage over the years, I imagined it would be something like that but rather than a “hands-on” experience, she would hover her hands over the energy centers akin to chakras; however, in AET this energy practice is referred to as Sekhem.
During my session she was inspired to speak aloud a word she then repeated three times. Beforehand we had been told a message may come through during our private session and if so, that message was intended/meant only for each individual to hear/receive and that it was not to be shared. Nevertheless I did not understand at all, not a clue, NO idea. What I heard her say was “hot whore”. I mean, I know I’m hot Ha ha ha but I never thought of myself as a ‘whore’. What was this message!?!?
I hoped with time I would gain some clarity but after a couple of weeks I telephoned the facilitator and asked if she remembered what she said? No, she replied, it was a message for me that came through her and she had no recollection of what she had said. I explained I understood we were instructed not to repeat what we’d been told, that it was special and unique to each individual. Nevertheless, I inquired if she might shed some light, have any insight into the message I received. She agreed to try and asked me to share. I said what I heard her say was “hot whore”. “Ah,” she said, “yes, I know.”
She went on to explain that what I heard is in fact a pronunciation of the name of the ancient Egyptian Goddess Hathor. In the English language we want to put the T and the H together and therefore pronounce the Goddess’ name Hath-or; however, Her name implies She is the House, the Home of Horus.
I replied, “Ah, thank you for that. At least now I know how to pronounce Her name accurately!”
Over the years, particularly when reading Layne Redmond’s research, the name of this Egyptian goddess was referred to time and again since many rituals for Her adoration were literally carved in the temple walls depicting women processing while playing drums and sistra. But until I learned otherwise I had been pronouncing Her name “Hath-or” ~ So, you see, at first, the message had sailed right over my head. (DUH!)
Grateful now for this new information I returned to my frame drum studies, unaware of what the message meant to me…. and then, about a year later, I had the good fortune to travel to Egypt and I thought it was most fortuitous that the itinerary would include going to Dendera, the locale of the temple complex dedicated to this diety who held a prominent role in the ancient Egyptian cosmology.
I was excited about the prospect of seeing in person (and maybe even being able to photograph?) the hallway Layne described in her book wherein one side of the hallway 32 priestesses are depicted playing frame drums and on the other side there are 29 priestesses depicted processing playing systrum.
What I didn’t expect and what threw me completely off-guard was what happened to me when I first gazed upon the temple. I had been merrily going about as an American tourist traveling with my friends in a small van amidst a long line of tour buses filled with Asian and European tourists.
Earlier that day we had visited the temple dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed deity (see image above). Dendera was the last stop on this day with Hatshepsut’s temple on the agenda for the next day. It was all mapped out on a very tight schedule to keep everyone safe and accounted for.
After passing through the admission gate my friends chose to use the restroom before proceeding, leaving me to round the corner by myself where I was completely taken by surprise.
I gasped for breath when upon seeing the temple, I was breathless, speechless, reduced to tears overflowing. I got weak in my knees and I was overwhelmed by the huge opening of my heart with tears streaming down my face with an all-encompassing sense of returning “home.” I did not know what was happening to me or why I was reacting so strongly but before my friends rejoined me I summoned the full extent of my willpower to regain composure. I kept the experience to myself.
She had made Herself known to me once more (and, by the way, She blessed me with finding that hallway I mentioned, despite our being in a ridiculously short timeframe).
After returning from Egypt I pursued acquiring a systrum to add to my collection of handheld percussion instruments, but all I could find at that time were artifacts on museum shelves. I could find none in music stores nor online…..and then She awoke me from my sleep “commanding” that I re-emerge the systrum. I felt Hathor Herself was tapping me on my shoulder requesting that I manifest the re-emergence of the systrum here and now and to do so in association with Her name and to remember the women who have come before us by honoring their sacred practices and rhythm and movement traditions.
I felt She had ‘chosen’ me and I honored this command! It took a little over seven years to bring the project to fruition and now it is my distinct honor to introduce the Ceremonial Systrum™ and to also share present my PowerPoint presentation, A Story of the Systrum!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Final note: More Egypt travel memoirs at my Egypt Beckoned post.