Spell
of exorcising a scorpion, to be recited. Isis and the Seven Scorpions
Spell
of exorcising a scorpion, to be recited.
I
am Aset (Isis), I have come from the spinning-house (or secret place),
wherein my brother Set had put me. Djehuty, the great god, the lord of the truth
in heaven and on earth, had said to me: “Do come, Aset divine, - it is well
to listen, conceal yourself with your young son, that he may return for us, when
his body is strong and his strength has completely developed and you make him
sit down on his father’s throne and the office of lord of the two lands is
granted to him.”
I
went out in the evening-hour and seven scorpions went out behind me. They led
me: Tefen and Befen close behind me; Mestet and Mestetef under my stretcher;
Petet, Tetet and Matet prepared my way. I ordered them emphatically and my words
penetrated into their ears: “Do not know “the black one” and do not
greet “the red one”; do not distinguish the high one from the humble one; be
your face turned downwards to the road; be careful not to lead him who looks for
me, until we have reached “The House of the Crocodile”, the beginning of the
Delta Marshes, the marshes of Db.” Finally I reached the houses of
matrons. As soon as a noble lady had seen me from afar, she closed her door to
me.
This annoyed my companions. They deliberated on it and put their poison together on the sting of Tefen. A fisher-girl opened her door for me and we entered the shabby dwelling. But Tefen had penetrated under the leaves of the door and she stung the lady’s son. Because she had not opened to me, her heart was sad and she did not know whether he was alive. She wandered about her town lamenting, but nobody came to her voice.
My heart, for that reason, was uneasy about the child that I wished to cure the innocent one. I called to her, saying, “Come to me, come to me, behold my mouth bears life. I am a daughter known in her town, who expels the poisonous snake with her spell. My father has taught me knowledge; I am his own beloved daughter.” Aset (Isis) laid her hands on the child to cure him who was short of breath: “Poison of Tefenet, come, go out to the earth, do not go about and do not penetrate: Poison of Befenet, come, go out to the earth, I am Aset divine, mistress of magic, exercising magic, magical in speaking, effective of words. Every biting snake obeys me. Fall down, poison of Mestet, do not run. Poison of Mestetef, do not rise, poison of Petet and Tetet. Fall down, mouth of the biting one, at the words of Aset divine, great of magic among the gods, to whom Geb has given his magic power in order to avert the poison in its power. Yield, recede, flee, backwards, poison, do not jump up, at the words of the beloved of Ra, the egg of the smn-bird and who has come forth from the sycamore."
The lady came and brought her possessions, and filled the house of the
fisher-girl on behalf of the fisher-girl, who had opened her stable to me; but
the lady had been worried during one night and had tasted the effects of her
utterance, for her son had been bitten and she had brought her possessions
because she had not opened to me.
May
the child live and the poison die, then Horus will be healthy for his mother Aset
(Isis) and the patient will be healthy for his mother likewise. Bread of
barley drives out the poison; it flees on account of hmn (salt).
Sources: Gods of Ancient Egypt by Barbara Watterson
Metropolitan Museum book of Egyptian and Near Eastern Art
A Magical Statue Base in the Museum of Antiquities at Leiden by A. Klasens
Copyright July 2001-May 2002 by Khenmetaset and Marie Parsons. All texts contained herein are from annotated sources unless otherwise stated. This website is for educational purposes only. Any comments may be directed to Khenmetaset or Marie Parsons at khenmetaset@per-aset.org.