Fear is one of our greatest teachers. From the time we have our first childhood lesson of keeping our hands off the hot stove to our mature ability to recognize danger and get out of the way, fear has earned our respect and has tremendous influence over our behavior. But sometimes fear holds us back because it is at the root of many of our most deepseated issues, those that keep us from locating the main blockages to our personal energy and power.

Fear Journey with Sekhmet

[Allow yourself to be very comfortable as you close your eyes and ground and center yourself. Take a moment to find your heart flame and feed it with love. As you pour love upon your heart flame, inhale the powers of Earth and Sky. Reach with your breath into the heart of the Earth and draw the vitality, the power, the strength and healing energies, and the vital life force of Earth all the way up to your heart center where it enters your heart fire and mingles with the intelligence, power, and love that you have drawn down from the sky.]

As you exhale, express the breath through your entire body and let a new level of alertness and clarity enter every cell of your being. As you exhale and the radiance of your heart flame grows, look outside the circle of light that surrounds you like a halo. Look into that place of darkness that inevitably surrounds us all.

As you put your attention beyond the comforting glow of light, you will see the eyes of Sekhmet -- the lioness goddess of the Egyptian Pantheon -- gleaming in the darkness. On your next exhale, send your heart breath to Sekhmet as you ask her to join you and help you deal with the fears that inhabit your being.

As you connect with Sekhmet, she stands before you in her goddess form, a woman’s body with a lioness head surmounted with a uraeus crown holding the sun disc. As "She Who Comes in Times of Chaos," she takes offerings of fear, rage, and weakness and transforms them into alchemical gold, the universal medicine for physical, emotional, and soul healing.

If this is the first time you are meeting Sekhmet, allow yourself to connect with her eye to eye and heart to heart. She may place a hand or paw upon your chest. Allow yourself to feel her sekhem, her power, moving into your heart and through your circulatory system into every cell and molecule of your body, reminding every part of you that this goddess truly lives within you, and you feel as though you are filled with her courage and power. . . . [Pause.]

For now, Sekhmet has come to help you work through your fears. As you continue to feel her power coursing through your being, she morphs into her beautiful lioness form, nudging you to become a lioness with her. . . . She is going to take you on a journey into the savanna.

Feel yourself begin to transfigure into a lioness. You can feel your breath, your body, and your muscles change. Feel your whiskers grow and begin to sense how they communicate information to you. . . .Stretch into the fullness of your lioness being and follow Sekhmet, feeling the grace and strength with which the two of you are running across the savanna. . . .

Off in the distance you begin to perceive the first fear that is coming up to meet you. Sekhmet shows you how to stop and crouch in the grass to watch. . . . Observe this fear closely. Listen very carefully. Sniff the air. You can smell it. You may even be able to taste in on your tongue. Is this a fear that is serving your higher self? Is it keeping you safe? Notice where you feel it in your body and how your body reacts to it. . . . [Pause.]

If this fear is something that still serves you then honor it. If it has served you in the past to keep you safe, honor it and thank it. If it is a fear that you wish to transform, Sekhmet may nudge you to stand and look directly at this fear. . . .

You hear a low grumbling, rumbling sound that is coming from you. Let the sound build as you face this fear. Let loose with a large roar! Notice how the fear reacts. Do not be shy. Sekhmet is right there with you! The roar seems to have a life of its own. As it diminishes, mark this fear with a knot in your twine. . . . [Pause.]

Continue hunting more of these fears, following the same process. As you seek out each fear, remember to honor and give gratitude, then roar and let go of that which no longer serves you. Sometimes you will know the source of the fear and sometimes that is obscured. Regardless, tie it in a knot in your twine and continue on your hunt with Sekhmet. . . . [Long pause.]

When there are no more fears showing up, you and Sekhmet walk side by side enjoying the sun in the aftermath of the hunt. She has shown you how to hunt and how to face your fears.

As you slowly walk back to your place in present time and space, Sekhmet slowly returns to her goddess form. Take one last stretch in your lioness form, relishing the power and strength that is the natural state of a healthy lioness. . . . Now feel yourself come back into your human form. . . . Walk with Sekhmet now and ask if she has any further instructions for you. . . . [Pause.]

Be sure to express your gratitude to Sekhmet. Thank yourself for having the courage to face your fears and offer prayers for others that you know and the world in general to be able to live free of fear. When you feel complete, take a deep Earth breath pulling up the Earth energy to ground you into your body. Slowly open your eyes.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Bear & Co.,
a division of Inner Traditions Intl. ©2017 by Nicki Scully. 
http://www.innertraditions.com

Article Source

Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess
by Nicki Scully

This journey of shamanic death, illumination, and rebirth in the belly of Sekhmet provides an opportunity to heal on all levels and allows you to release your rage, anger, and fear as you transform the energies that maintained them into creative and constructive solutions that benefit yourself, your community, and the planet.

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About the Author

NICKI SCULLY has been a healer and teacher of metaphysics, shamanism, and the Egyptian Mysteries since 1982. She gives lectures and seminars worldwide and guides spiritual tours to Egypt, Peru, and other sacred sites. The author of Power Animal Meditations and numerous audiocassettes, she lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she maintains a healing center.Visit the author's website: http://www.shamanicjourneys.com/

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