Sekeht

(SAH-ket)

Variations: Once there were more than 4,000names for this goddess, and of those only a few hundred have survived. All of her titles refer to her vampiric nature, such as Devouring One, Lady of the Bloodbath, Lady of Transformations, Mother of the Dead, Pacht, and Terrible One.

Sekeht's exact origins are unknown but it is long suspected that this vampiric goddess was imported to Egypt and adopted into the religion of the ancient Egyptians. Sekeht was made a daughter of Ra, although she was older than him. She was described and pictured in art as having the head of a lioness and holding a sun disk in her hand. It was a popular belief that there were only two types of demons in the ancient Egyptian lore: those who were under Sekeht's control and those who were not—yet.

The priests and priestesses of Sekeht were very powerful people both politically and magically. Through the goddess Sekeht, her priests were empowered to heal as well as to control and banish demons. There is an Egyptian text that describes trials and tortures that people went through to become one of her clergy, including having to face down GHOUL s and vampires without showing fear.

There was once a time when the people worshiped their kings and queens more than they did their own gods, which naturally angered the pantheon. It was decided to send Sekeht to enact vengeance upon the people to show them how wrongly misplaced was their worship. Sekeht was chosen because whenever this goddess killed a person, she also destroyed his soul. Sekeht descended from the heavens at night and immediately began ripping out the hearts of all the men she could find, eating their bodies and drinking their blood, and then ascending back up with the dawn. Night after night she returned and eventually Sekeht became blood drunk and would not end her assault. The god Sketi made a drug that looked like blood and left it where Sekeht would see it, knowing that the goddess' bloodlust would compel her to drink. As soon as she did, the madness passed and Sekeht regained her senses. Source: Eclectic Magazine, vol. 36, 150 ­60; Tiele, Comparative History of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Religions, 192