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Author Topic: Seshat  (Read 2815 times)

entwife

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Seshat
« on: June 28, 2020, 01:36:55 am »
Until recently, I had no name for her. I thought of her simply as The Librarian. This year, I discovered her name is Seshat, female counterpart to Thoth. Mistress of the House of Books, She Who Writes, Lady of Numbers, Maker of Lists, Keeper of Records. Anybody else worked with this elusive goddess?
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Re: Seshat
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2020, 02:36:50 am »
Until recently, I had no name for her. I thought of her simply as The Librarian. This year, I discovered her name is Seshat, female counterpart to Thoth. Mistress of the House of Books, She Who Writes, Lady of Numbers, Maker of Lists, Keeper of Records. Anybody else worked with this elusive goddess?

I have - with much guidance from the (now-archival) Seshat.org website.

She's also Lady of Builders. From the intersection of her titles, I've determined that one of her modern roles must be goddess of assembling flat-pack furniture, especially bookcases :D.

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Re: Seshat
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2020, 11:10:18 am »
Until recently, I had no name for her. I thought of her simply as The Librarian. This year, I discovered her name is Seshat, female counterpart to Thoth. Mistress of the House of Books, She Who Writes, Lady of Numbers, Maker of Lists, Keeper of Records. Anybody else worked with this elusive goddess?

I had a really profound experience with her at a devotional ritual that Brandy Williams did at Paganicon some years ago, and I've made periodic noises in that direction ever since, though still without figuring out a long-term "how do you fit into my other stuff" that feels quite right.

For me, very much the "Mistress of the House of Books" part as the most relevant, for the obvious professional reasons as a librarian. (I also keep sort of gesturing at something that involves Seshat, Urania (as muse of Astronomy) and Hypatia, who I've honoured for years as an ancestor of profession, but again, not so much with the having that gel into a practice that works for me. Yet.
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entwife

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Re: Seshat
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2020, 09:34:51 pm »
Yet.

Libraries are sanctuaries to me the way churches are for others. I have a bucket list of libraries I would like to visit lol Writing something out using calligraphy, or in another language, with illumination or creating the ink used, and then sacrificing it to her has worked well. She is there in the thrill I get every time I set a good pen to fresh paper, smell an old/new book, admire fine bookbinding, mend a tattered book, read to study/learn something new lol or make a list to get something organized.
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entwife

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Re: Seshat
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2020, 09:48:06 pm »
Writing something out using calligraphy, or in another language, with illumination or creating the ink used, and then sacrificing it to her has worked well.

I have never made my own paper, but have made inks and dyes. I did have an art teacher who kindly taught me the basics of bookbinding lol Haven't done that in quite awhile, but the end result is worth it
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Re: Seshat
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2020, 01:47:48 pm »
Libraries are sanctuaries to me the way churches are for others. I have a bucket list of libraries I would like to visit lol Writing something out using calligraphy, or in another language, with illumination or creating the ink used, and then sacrificing it to her has worked well. She is there in the thrill I get every time I set a good pen to fresh paper, smell an old/new book, admire fine bookbinding, mend a tattered book, read to study/learn something new lol or make a list to get something organized.

When I say "figuring out how that fits in my practice", I don't mean offerings - those are not a problem. (Though those are some good suggestions!)

But stuff like:

"On what sort of schedule do I do this thing, given my other deity commitments, offerings, the regular cycle of a coven and teaching."
(Which is to say, my dance card is already sort of complicated.)

"Given that I have committed a bunch of my information-seeking-so-I-can-share-it to M'Lady [1], how would Seshat fit into that, so that it doesn't feel like there's competition for the same stuff?"

([1]: M'Lady is my primary deity commitment: after 20 years I still don't have a name in the documented record for her, but one of the British deities of water, of whom there are lots. Her primary direction to me is "reach out to those who thirst" with a specific thing about the thirst being knowledge-related. You can see why the overlap is relevant. It feels to me like there's a distinction between 'sharing information' and 'structures supporting knowledge and learning' here, but being clear about that matters in my head.)

"Do I do stuff with Seshat by herself, her among other deities I make semi-regular offerings to, something else?"
(Related to the above).

"Is this a thing where I do devotional jewellery, or a thing I wear when I'm doing that kind of work?"
(Maybe not, because I'd be wearing the thing an awful lot.)

"Is this a thing where I set up a small shrine?"
(Maybe, but I'm getting low on flat surfaces for shrine space.)

"Given this is a professional thing for me, do I do whatever it is I decide to do on work days? But I also librarian not on my work days, I just don't get paid for doing it then." and the currently related "I don't currently librarian in a library - I've been working at home since March, and likely will be through at least August - but it's not like I don't have a personal library at home, even if a lot of my books are ebooks these days."

"Actually, now we're thinking about ebooks, how do I deal with that aspect, and multiple formats, and related stuff in this context. Clearly, still a library, by my definitions of same, but how do those containers feel, and could I maybe rename some database structures in Calibre to reflect that better?"
(Calibre being my ebook management tool)

Some of those are a lot easier to resolve than others, and it's honestly the overlap with M'Lady that is probably the sticking point, but that's also the one that doesn't have an easy obvious resolution. And overall, if I'm going to add something like that, I'd like to do it in a way that feels well-supported and cohesive.

There's also another part that I keep chewing on: my personal identity is deeply invested in being a librarian, but it has been and will continue to be a volatile field in terms of job options, etc. The profession has issues with vocational awe, and with people wrapping their identities up in it wholeheartedly, and there are ways that can be good for people - but I've also been thinking a lot the past couple of years about how it can be super destructive. Wrapping even more of my personal life up in that mode of interacting with the world may or may not be a great idea.

The piece I'm sort of circling through is that "How does knowledge and specifically systemisation of knowledge help wayfind in the world?" (that Urania -> Seshat - > Hypatia trio), which is a little less prone to vocational awe issues, and could be a bit more practically focused in terms of "Let me work with these three, and honour them, in aid of supporting structure to my learning, knowledge, structure, and sharing of same." But that still leaves a lot of "What does that actually look like in terms of what I do?" to be sorted out.
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Tags: egyptian goddess seshat 
 

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