Sekhmet/Union of Earth & Sky
I love mythology, so I wanted to read up a bit on the subject and I think Sekhmet is such an interesting choice for the coven name. I mean, we know all covens are named after war goddesses (as per Abigail in 2x02):
(Which, by the way, is dope.) War gods in general are associated with violence and death, but Sekhmet is depicted as particularly evil. She was created by Ra, with the sole purpose of destroying mankind, since Ra thought they were conspiring against him. At the last moment, however, he changed his mind and tricked Sekhmet into getting extremely drunk to let her bloodlust subside. (He accomplished this by colouring beer red, to make it look like blood. He spread it across the land and Sekhmet, thinking it was blood, drank it all.)
The point is, there is this element of pure bloodlust associated with her image. Some kind of pure evil. Ancient Egyptians that worshipped her, did so in hopes of appeasing her and preventing disasters and dangers from happening to them. One thing she’s especially held responsible for, is the spread of infectious disease, like plague. Which, in the context of the witch plague in Motherland, is very interesting. It might suggest that the witches themselves are responsible for the creation of this witch plague, even if they’re not aware of it.
Because she is the creator of disease, she is also able to cure these diseases. She is often depicted with an ‘Ankh’ in her hand, which represents life. This symbol is also present in the Sekhmet hall in Motherland (although it is upside down):
Priests of Sekhmet were therefore often highly regarded as surgeons. The point here being that there is this strong sense of ambivalence in this goddess, that I think fits the show very well. I made an earlier post about how I think the witch plague could be the anti-Mycelium (here), and I think we can see this kind of balance again in the mythology surrounding Sekhmet. The difference however, is that using Sekhmet as a coven name highlights the ambivalence between good and evil. Especially since it relates directly to plagues. The cure for a disease might be found in its origin.
Also, small side note: Sekhmet is strongly linked with fire as well. In the sense of the extreme desert heat, but also in the sense of literally breathing fire. It could be a nod to the Spree workings that use fire, maybe.
To add to all of this, the union of Earth and Sky is also very prevalent in ancient Egyptian mythology, which made me think about what Hearst said in 2x10.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, there is Geb, the god of the earth, and Nut, the goddess of the sky. They’re siblings, both children of Shu (god of air) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture). Of course, they were not just siblings, but also lovers. That apparently loved each other so deeply, that they were locked in an eternal sexual embrace. This annoyed the hell out of their grandfather Ra, who asked Shu to separate them. So, he did:
He held Nut above him and left Geb on the ground. So, Shu created the atmosphere which allowed for life as we know it. Nut’s hands and feet represented the 4 cardinal points of the world and helped Shu maintain the separation of earth and sky. They were called the “Pillars of Shu”. Geb took this separation really hard: his tears formed the oceans and he eventually married his mother to separate her from his father, as revenge.
Going back to what Hearst said in 2x10: the union of Sky and earth must be prevented. In the myth of Nut and Geb, it is said that originally, they were locked so tight together that no life could be possible. So, their separation made life possible in the first place. This would make me assume that their union would destroy life again. In the same myth however, Nut does get to come down to Geb at night, which just causes darkness. Finally, when there were storms during the day, it was believed that Nut was closer to Geb as well. It remains unclear what will happen when this union happens, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be good. Not for anyone (except Nut and Geb). I have been assuming that, in Motherland, this union is something we would want to happen, simply because the Camarilla don’t want it to happen. But what if it really is something terrible for both witches and civilians?
Can we have season 3 now? Please?
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