Meeting the Goddess Tefnut

This meditation was initially devised for us to explore this goddess, of whom we knew little. It can be used for this purpose, where the participants ask Tefnut to show them information about her. Or, she can be approached for knowledge about one's own spiritual path.

Our group has had some really wonderful, vivid visualisations based around Tefnut. Rather than reveal our results here, which may influence what others see, we'd be interested in hearing from people who try this meditation, to see what results they get.

The altar of Tefnut can either have candles of dark blue and red to represent the colours of the setting sun, or else of silver and violet, which represent the colours of Tefnut's primal aspect of divine creation in moisture. Flowers for the altar should be lilies, irises, corn flowers, or white roses. Have a small candle in your personal colour ready.

We have not found a statue on sale at any of our usual suppliers that specifically depict Tefnut, yet she is very similar in appearance to Sekhmet, so you can acquire a Sekhmet image and use this to represent Tefnut. The statue can be painted in colours associated with this goddess. In our case, we utilised imagery picked up in our visualisations about Tefnut, and painted her dress in smoky, purply colours with a silver sheen.

A recipe for Tefnut incense is given at the end of this meditation. We have yet to find any supplier who makes an incense specifically for Tefnut, but you can substitute any aroma, whether joss sticks, oil or loose incense, which smells fresh and astringent. ('Ocean', by the incense stick company 'Airs', is a good example.)

As for the meetings with Bast and Sekhmet, spend a few moments breathing deeply before the meditation. Light your personal colour candle. Then, as before, imagine a black void forming around you, which turns into a fog. As the fog clears, you find yourself in a desert landscape. You are standing between two immense pillars. Before you is a lake of silvery water. It is night-time and the sky is studded with brilliant stars. You can make out by the light of the moon that there is a mound in the middle of the lake, a primal mound of creation. It has come into being through the union of Tefnut and Shu, the most primal beings, who were created to bring life and flesh and blood to the earth. This lake is the primal water, from which life will come forth. And the pillars you stand between represent Tefnut and Shu, the twins, the pillars of life.

You see a jetty nearby, to which a small boat is moored. You will soon board it to cross the lake, but first touch the columns, one at a time. As you do, feel the vibration of life within them: energy, pure creative power. Commune with the columns and ask for passageway to the primal mound.

When you are ready, step into the boat. It begins to glide across the lake. When you look down into the mirror-like water, you can see flashes of light, ripples, movement, convulsions, as if life is roiling and boiling within its murky depths: all manner of strange creatures that have yet to evolve.

You can see the mound looming up closer and closer, becoming less dense and dark. You can see now a temple, some kind of building on the top. This is the beginning of Heliopolis, built by Shu and Tefnut. This is their house. It is the entrance to the underworld below from whence they came as Elder gods.

Step off the boat and climb the primal mound. Walk around it in a spiral, as if you were walking a winding Processional Path.

When you reach the top, you come to a slender white pyramid, the temple of Tefnut and Shu. Cross the threshold of the temple and enter the outer shrine.

You find yourself in a high narrow chamber, and before you is a tall tripod, upon which burns an eternal flame, symbolic of the sun god's light. Passageways lead off to left and right, but for this first visit, you will not go down them. They lead to the inner shrines of Tefnut and Shu.

Look around the temple and note anything that you see, hear, smell or touch. Fill in the details of the chamber for yourself.

Now, call upon Tefnut, the primal mother. Ask her to appear, through the power of the air, through the power of the water, the power of the stars, the power of the moon.

She appears before you, and the form she'll take will be personal to you. She might have a lioness's head or take the form of a woman. Some people have seen her as veiled with crystal, because her breath conjures storms. Others have seen her adorned with tattoos, or as having fur instead of skin. Allow your imagination to wander. You'll see her as you wish. Commune with her and let her show you visions of her being, her purpose and her worship. You can ask her for knowledge and wisdom concerning your own spiritual endeavours. You can ask to be shown other realms.

(Spend at least fifteen minutes in free visualising.)

When it is time to finish the visualisation, return to the outer shrine of the temple and bid farewell to Tefnut, asking her if there is anything you may do for her in our world.

Then retrace your steps back down to the boat at the edge of the island. Cross the lake once more, and when you alight near the two columns, walk up to them.

They have now transformed into a pair of lions sitting back to back. These are the Aker lions, the lions of yesterday and today. They also represent Tefnut and Shu.

The lion who faces the east, he is Shu. He welcomes the light of the sun and of life, the light of the dawn. See that sun rising up into the sky, moving across the heavens, as if the day has speeded up, arcing across to meet the gaze of the other lion, who is Tefnut. She will stand watch and guard over the setting sun, which represents the land of the dead in the west, Armenti. As the sun sets, it is a bloody red and darkness fills the sky.

When you are ready, see a fog forming around you, which gradually transforms into a black void. This turns back into fog and when it clears, you are back in your own reality. Open your eyes when you are ready.

Tefnut Incense Recipe

This incense needed to have a real scent of moisture, to smell like dew on the ground. It incorporates some ingredients with air connotations but the majority are associated with water.

2 parts myrrh
2 parts Benzoin
1 part each of gum mastic, orris root and catnip
1/2 part each of lavender, jasmine, camomile and rose petal