I was prepared for something to happen today…but it was surprisingly quiet. In fact, today felt…comfortable. I guess that really shouldn’t surprise me. Set is the Name I am most used to and most comfortable with. And today was the day that I built him his very own shrine (separate from the Senut shrine). I think it came out fairly well:
Closed
Open.
Close up of actual altar.
There were a few road bumps along the way. For one, I assembled the bookshelf wrong and had to redo part of it. Then I kept misreading the words of the purifying ceremony. But the job got done and I made an awesome birthday offering to him and spent some time just enjoying the new space with him. Then I pulled out my oracle cards.
Now, normally, Set doesn’t like oracles—he particularly disliked my Tarot cards back when I still used them. But this deck was designed for him, in the sense that I created an entirely new divination system which avoids his biggest gripe: that all too often, oracles get used in place of actual decision making. In this system, the questions are predefined and mostly center on uncovering the hidden without actually commenting on a solution to the issue at hand. They give a set yes or no via the layout of the cards and then the content of the cards acts as commentary.
The question I asked was the most generic one the deck is capable of: Is it square? (Meaning roughly: do I have things under control and am I on the right path—or are there hidden things which need to be addressed or things which I am ignoring at my own peril?) The answer? No. But given the events of the last few days, I sort of knew that already so I wasn’t entirely surprised. The cards that showed up, however, seemed eerily appropriate and specific: The Nisut card, Aset’s card, Nut’s card, Wepwawet’s card, and the card for Nety Ra Shenu (the seen world).
Wow. O.o
I interpreted thusly: Wepwawet serves a double function, as messenger of the Netjeru and as Opener of the Way—hence there is an undertone that this is a direct message and clearly shows a path to take. I can’t help but think that the Nisut, Aset, and Nut showing up together can’t be coincidence—I think that’s a pretty clear indicator that I need to really consider and meditate on the Aset Oracle for Year 20 (which reveals Nut as the Name presiding over the year). And the seen world card…well, the oracle mentions balance and I have been struggling lately with balancing the seen world with the unseen world. I have been so immersed in that liminal space between life and death, in that world of the dying, while I devoted myself to helping my mother through the end of her life, that I have greatly neglected my own life in the process.
The oracle…hope, balance, patience…this is all part of what the aftermath means for me. It is part of the process of grief and the process of moving on despite the ache in my chest. I also find it comforting to be reminded that my mother will soon be among the stars that Nut holds in the safety of her loving embrace. It gives me the permission I need to leave my mother to her care for a time and work on balancing myself as I find new hopes and dreams to pursue. It takes patience to overcome the grief of losing a mother, and it takes persistence and constant work to stay hopeful while living in a world where you are acutely, painfully aware of how fragile everything is.
With my ancestors and my gods beside me, I am prepared to do that work.
Dua Set!
Dua Nut!
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