Imhotep & Kriat Yam Suf

י"א באלול תשס"ז

I dreamt.

My little group and I were fleeing pursuers set on destroying or enslaving us. We came to the sea. If we can just get past the creature of the sea, we thought, we will have safely escaped. Those pursuing us wouldn’t be able to get past the creature of the sea, and if they followed us into the sea, they would be slowed down, swallowed up by it, and drown.

We stood on the shore facing into the sea. The waters piled up and created a (paradoxically) distinct yet indistinct place for us to walk through. The creature of the sea was of the waters that piled up, making our walking place. One thing is indistinctly yet distinctly clear, the creature of the sea was neither a fish nor a creature “distinct” from the sea. In other words, the formless creature of the sea was formed of the piled up waters of the sea (another paradox), much in the same manner as Imhotep’s face was formed of the waters which tried to swallow up those in the flying machine in “The Mummy” (or “The Mummy Returns”) movie. The creature of the sea was a male essence, not a female essence like Lilith or Tiamat (as I have read in the midrash and various other mythologies).

We walked into the midst of the sea (guarded by the mouth of the creature of the sea), and emerged safely on the same side of the shore from which we had entered. Yet, we were not in the same place, even though we were in the same place. Another paradox. We were on a different level now and no longer in any real danger. In other words, we were immune to the danger that still existed at the lower level we had left behind and no longer occupied. It was as if our pursuers were now completely immaterial and no longer even existed for us. They were mere illusionary figments of disappearing vapor in a dream. And magic poof – they were gone, not one of them remaining.

I woke up.

James Henry Breasted says of Imhotep (whose name means "the one who comes in peace"): "In priestly wisdom, in magic, in the formulation of wise proverbs; in medicine and architecture; this remarkable figure of Zoser's reign left so notable a reputation that his name was never forgotten. He was the patron spirit of the later scribes ..."

Interestingly, yesterday evening I chose the new Egyptian style solid silver finger stylus and solid bronze (like the Temple laver depicting the basin of the Yam Suf) dipping inkwell (a semi-sphere) I will use to scribe within the pages my Book of Shadows, Sefer Tzelem. Although an expense for me, I decided on sight that these scribal tools were an expense worthy of my Jewitchery, even though only today as I blog this entry am I discovering the symbolism inhered within the tools I chose.





And this is the (Temple pathways knotwork) vessel I chose to keep my small container of scribal ink within.



Related entry:
2-3 Berries From The Uppermost Bough