Issue Number 12
Volume I-12
August 1976
Editor: Margaret Wendall IV°
Copyright © 1976 Temple of Set
[Since the announcement of the Æon of Set a little over a year ago, many - most - of us have had what might be called (for lack of a better name) “Set-Experiences”. “What Set Means to Me” by Setian Marie Kelly in the January XI Scroll is one. The following are two more, two completely different ways in which Set has manifest his reality to us. If you open your consciousness to such manifestations, they will come - but not if you’re consciously looking for something in particular. Your own “Set-Experience” probably won’t be like any we’ve reported in the Scroll, and the reason is obvious. We aren’t alike. - Ed.]
= - by Martee L. Zaccirey I°
Becoming a Setian always reminds me of an exhausted archæologist finally discovering a new
and long-sought-after relic. The archæologist is full of pride and joy of having been the first to discover the relic. He knows he has made the news, and history too. As a Setian I feel that this idea correlates perfectly with the pride of being an elite Setian, and joys of what the future holds for me in the Temple of Set.
I am much more than proud to say to anyone, anywhere, that I am a Setian. The feeling of being a member of the elite encompasses me at all times. Having “suffered” under the hypocritical religious beliefs of Christianity for much too long, I have at last found a religion which coincides with my ideas of the “true laws” of the magnificent universe. For the first time I want to create, belong, participate, and contribute to a religion in which I fully believe in and support. You see, it isn’t just the fact of being proud because I am a Setian, but also proud to know fellow Setians desire communication with each other. While one can work effectively on his/her own, group activities are more than suggested and encouraged. Strength through unity will result in a stronger Temple of Set; unity will serve to reinforce the laws of Set, as I know he would so desire.
Set has made me more confident, more able to face the ups and downs of everyday life. Through his strength and power I gain strength and power. We “work” together to create perfect harmony. The blessings of Set are like one that has new-found strength. Being able to control your environment through the strength of Set is certainly more than enough to make one capable of new relationships with the universe.
For Master Set shall lead thee to new-found horizons,
Where thou shalt become one with the universe.
Lord Set shall give thee new strength and new light
If thou wilt serve him well and uphold the beliefs of Set.
Before having discovered Set, trying to identify with Christianity was like trying to place a square peg into a round hole. Frustrated and alienated, I just could not make it work. The beliefs just did not jibe, no matter how well juggled. With Set as my master I feel as relaxed and happy as a peaceful walk by the seashore. Call it a “oneness with nature and the universe” if you will. Being a Setian, my peace with the universe around me will continue for the rest of my life. I also relish the idea of friendship and comradeship that comes from unity. Fellow Setians, if I may paraphrase a very famous man: “Ask not what the Temple of Set can do for you, but what you can-and-must-do for the Temple of Set.”
Hail, Master Set!
= - by Lowana Knaust II°
From the 23rd until the 26th of January Xl I was fortunate enough to be the house guest of Adept Fischer and her son Ray in Ft. Myers, Florida. At that time Adept Fischer was working the late evening shift on her job. When it came time for her to go to work, we were still chattering about anything and everything of interest to Setians. I didn’t hesitate a minute when she suggested that I go with her to the job. After work we stopped for a couple of drinks, still talking. Then we went to her home and spent more hours, doing more talking, over huge cups of coffee until the wee hours of morning.
Ray spent the night with friends, so Adept Fischer and I had the entire place to parade around in, while getting ready for bed. Adept Fischer was playing her Egyptian record, and we were sitting on the bed, when I made the remark that I thought that if she and I put our minds to it, we could “bring in” some information “through Set, or from one close to him”.
Adept Fischer had a Baphomet Plaque hanging on the wall. She got up very quietly, leaned her arms on the plaque, and laid her head on her arms. Very gently, very silently she “opened up” not to me, but to the gods. I “picked her up” in full force. I don’t know what she was asking them, but I started “calling” to Set very easy and very softly. I do that here, or anywhere I may be, when I want to get through, or am trying to “get through”. You see, Set is not a stranger to me. I’ve talked (prayed) to him since I was a child.
For some reason I stood up and said, “Bettye?” She turned to me, put both hands on my shoulders. I put my hands behind her neck, sort of bracing her head. I was still repeating the name of Set. I started talking to her in no language I have ever heard. I felt like someone had stuck all my toes into an electric outlet. I moved my hands down to her shoulders, while those vibrations washed over me in wave after wave. They were so strong that later Adept Fischer said she could feel them going from my hands into her shoulders. The name of Set changed to “Key- Fairer” (like one is more fair than another).
Adept Fischer would say/ask in an odd language (that she later felt was pre-Indian). The language she used was harsh. Not guttural but still really harsh. Not continuous speaking, but spasmodic. I “saw” her as one of the pre-ancestors of the Amazon warrior maidens - so far back in antiquity it wasn’t even funny.
All the while this was going on, I continued to speak in the language that was using me. The “I” of me was standing aside, watching and listening to the whole thing. The language from me was soft, fluid, continuous, yet never crowding Adept Fischer out. When she “spoke”, my voice would hesitate; when she stopped speaking, my “voice” would continue.
The whole thing lasted about five minutes. Just before it ended she and I spoke one name simultaneously. It had three syllables. We said it, maybe a half dozen times, together. The first two syllables were “Kon-ne”. Neither Adept Fischer nor I can recall the last syllable.
After it was all over, I told her how I had seen her and asked her “who I was”. She said, “A light. A beginning. A starter.” She was still in the trance or whatever it was. I was out of it, free and clear. Suddenly she started describing a knife I have in my possession. I don’t think six people in this world have ever seen this knife or even know about it. She said I had to give it to someone, that I mustn’t keep it any longer. So far I’ve not been led to do any more with the knife than let it rest in peace as it now is.
On May 29th one I°, two II°, four III°, and one IV° Setians met at the home of Priestess Jinni Bast in Jersey City, New Jersey. Everyone was most agreeable, compatible, and happy to meet each other.
The First Eastern Conclave was discussed, with all present saying they were planning to attend. Priestess Bast raised the question of Setamorphosis. Although several people had a different idea of how and when it would occur, they all agreed it would come - perhaps as a complete economic crisis within five years, or as a nuclear war involving the United States.
Priestess Bast voiced her opinion that the crisis could come sooner than anyone thought, and that it might come in the form of a natural disaster (such as earthquakes or a rise in the sea level) - or even UFO landings. Earthquakes aren’t likely on the East Coast, but there was an earthquake in New Jersey about eight weeks prior to the meeting. Perhaps Earth might tilt on its axis, causing the West Coast to have no more earthquakes but the East Coast to have them instead. The need for and means of self-protection during a crisis were also discussed.
Finally Magister Robert Ethel performed a Lovecraftian ritual based on the King in Yellow from his Black Book. Priest Howard Sinnott and Priestess Bast assisted him.
= - by Margaret Wendall IV°
reprinted from The Magic Cat #IV-4, June 1976 Bubastis Pylon]
The city of Bubastis (the Greek word for Pa- Bast) was an important city in ancient Egypt. Not only was it the site of worship of one of the Egyptians’ favorite goddesses, it was the capital of Nome XVIll (Am-Khent)* on the Eastern Nile Delta, near the modern Tell Basta and the city of Zazagig. Some writers have indicated that the first “Suez Canal” ran from Bubastis to the Red Sea.
The city’s chief goddess was, of course, the cat Bast, but other gods and goddesses were also honored: Wadjet, Harakhti, and Atum (the gods of Heliopolis); Atum-Ra’s son, Shu; and from the time of Rameses III, Set and Ptah. Bast is often confused with Sekhmet; in fact, because both are feline, some authors will tell you they are the same goddess, although to Egyptians they represented separate concepts. For example, Sekhmet was the patroness of physicians, while Bast was the special goddess of women, and in many respects her worship parallels Catholic worship of Mary. Yet Bast is an evolutionary descendant of Sekhmet, much the same as our domestic cat may be a descendant of the lion.
We meet Sekhmet long before we find Bast in a land where the Sun can kill as well as give life, and where the Sun is both revered and respected. Ptah, the creator-god of Memphis, was represented both as a bull and the Sun. Sekhmet was Ptah’s consort and represented the Sun’s violent and destructive heat.
When the seat of power moved from Memphis to Thebes, Sekhmet followed. The Sun becomes Amon-Ra. Sekhmet waited each day to kill Apep, the great serpent who threatened to destroy Amon- Ra at sunset, the end of his daily journey across the sky. As the “Eye of Ra”, Sekhmet spotted Apep, killed him, and saved the Sun, without whom all life would cease. The transition from Sekhmet to Bast had begun.
The original Bast was possibly a “caffre cat”, which is similar to today’s Abyssinian, except that instead of having ticked fur it was more tabby. Caffre cats apparently abounded in northern Egypt are are presumed by some to be the ancestors of all our domesticated cats.
The caffre cats lived in the Nile delta and helped to rid the area of snakes and vermin. All cats are independent by nature, but because rats and mice are more plentiful near human habitation where grain is stored than in the desert, cats quite literally moved in with the Egyptians. There was almost a symbiotic relationship between man and cat; neither could have lived quite as well without the other. The cats moved into the cool temples, and it wasn’t long before temples were built in their honor.
In Bubastis the “Eye of Ra” and slayer of Apep became the popular snake-killing, caffre catgoddess Bast. In time this purring domestic cat almost relegated the lioness to oblivion in northern Egypt, but such are the ways of cats.
Whereas Sekhmet had represented the heat of the desert Sun and vengeance long before she became the patroness of healing, Bast always represented life and the gentle heat of the Sun. She is called the “Lady of Life”, and one invocation to her asks that she grant “life, power, health, and joy of heart”.
Egyptian women wore Bast amulets with kittens to represent the number of children they wanted. Every domestic cat was considered to be the same cat, Bast, and it was a capital offense to kill one. It apparently wasn’t a crime to let the cats kill each other, though.
When a cat died, its family went into great mourning, even shaving their eyebrows. The cat’s body was either mummified and buried in special cat cemeteries, or cremated with great pomp. Cat mummies are so numerous today that a museum with an exhibit on Egypt should have at least one.
Several goddesses have been likened to Bast: Rat, the female counterpart of Tem; Mut, the Lady of Asheru; lusa-aset at Heliopolis; Hathor; Isis; Sekhmet and Menhet in Nubia; and Mut and Uatchet at Memphis. Whereas these goddesses do share Bast’s attributes, Bast is the only goddess to whom the domestic cat was sacred.
Sekhmet is represented as a lioness crowned by the solar disk and the uræus. She sometimes holds
an ankh and a sceptre. Bast is represented in many ways, but always with the head of a domestic cat. Sometimes she is seated, her tail wrapped around her front paws. Sometimes she is a mother cat surrounded by kittens. Sometimes she is pictured wearing one earring. In human-cat form Bast is often standing, holding a sistrum (a musical instrument with a sound similar to a cat’s purr) in her right hand, a basket over her left arm and an ægis in her left hand.
Bast is also represented with the disk and uræus of Sekhmet, but Bast is seldom a lioness and Sekhmet is never a domestic cat. All of this might make Bast sound pretty “white light” were it not for the nature of cats, and a coincidence: Bast has also been associated with Taurt, sometimes represented as Set’s wife; and in the sky Bast was represented by Gamma Draconis - Set’s star. The circumpolar stars and those close to them were reserved for “gods of darkness~ in Egypt from the time when night was darkness save for the light from the heavens. In this one respect Bast always retained the character of Sekhmet; and even the most gentle and purring domestic cat is capable of all the ferocity of a lioness.
Herodotus tells us that the annual festival at Bubastis was celebrated during the second month of inundation (Paini, 5/26-6/25**), which would immediately precede the North Solstice beginning the astronomical period of Set.
Herodotus was also struck by the fact that the Temple of Bast was visible from every point in the city of Bubastis. It stood in a hollow and was surrounded by the city, which was amphitheater- shaped due to the various buildings which had been razed for new construction. Since many pharaohs and other wealthy individuals commissioned buildings in Bubastis, the “hills” must have been quite high. Even though Bubastis was an important city, this razing and rebuilding has apparently made Bubastis an archeological site far more important than the city itself was.
As far as we know, it was in Egypt that people first adopted small cats as household pets, although cats of many kinds figure in almost all of the religions of the world. It also seems likely that Bubastis is the only city dedicated to the worship of the domestic cat. It’s from the city and its caffre cat goddess that Bubastis Pylon takes its name, in honor of the domestic animal whose independence, inquisitiveness, beauty, mystery, and depth of personality make it most “Setian.”
Footnotes
*Of Lower Egypt. Some authors call this the Vll Nome. The number of Nomes increased as Egypt progressed from the Old to Middle to New Kingdoms.
**Some authors give April and May; I use the calendar in Budge’s The Mummy.
References
Budge, E.A. Wallis, The Egyptian Book of the Dead. NYC: Dover.
The Gods of the Egyptians. NYC: Dover.
The Mummy. NYC: Collier Books, 1974.
Herodotus (George Hawlinson, Trans.), The History of Herodotus. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1930.
Lockyer, J. Norman, The Dawn of Astronomy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1964.
Michalowski, Kazimierz, Art of Ancient Egypt. NYC: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., p. 497.
Patrick, Richard, “Enter the Cat” in A Treasury of Cats. NYC: Octopus Books Ltd, 1973, pages 6-19.
If you’re interested in the role cats have played in other religions, you might want to read The Cult of the Cat by Patricia Dale-Green (NYC: Weathervane Books, 1972). It’s also available in a paperback edition, but the hardbound edition is worth the extra cost for the pictures.
= - by Ricco A. Zapitelli II, Anubis Pylon°
From a point high on a mountain,
At a place where my heart dwells,
Lives time’s ageless flow within me,
Breathing, feeling as it swells ...
To a space beyond time and distance,
At day’s end of discord and noise,
Where confusion and turmoil diminish
To night’s harmony, grace, and poise.
It is here that I might reach you
As Nature drops her manteled veil,
Through the coming of the night,
I sound a silent unheard call.
Reach out for me now through dimensions,
For now may wrong be put to right.
Put day’s provocations aside now -
Mindless impositions having had now
Their useless day’s delight.
Come, join me now in friendship
Through the majesty of the night,
Know you are my beloved
And with your will and might:
Feel me with your unfelt feelings,
See me with your unseen sights,
Sense me throughout all your senses,
Now and endless time - forever -
We shall meet here in the night.
Open up your eyes and view me
For now only with your sight;
From my cloaked and jeweled darkness
Shall spring my gifted light ...
To become man’s involved evolution
And enlightened minds Becoming ...
Coming forth through will by night.
