Lion Head Mesa w’peh

hoping for one of toula’s instructors! To help me/toula learn more, and maybe… a review of other lessons, LOL. SO WE CAN LEARN.  

she was learning much. and to learn was something young toula adored to do. the amiirad absorbed each lesson and was able to recite much, but in her youth was working toward perfection. it was not her fathers or her mothers expectations that caused this, but rather her own. and it was not for ambition, as the guileless toula was not yet able to grasp entirely the way of this world, but because she loved to see the joy in others for her successes. and when she succeeded, and brought such joy, toula shared in the feeling wholeheartedly.
and so she breathed, what will i learn today? with a sweet smile to her teacher, settling primly upon her hindquarters. she was a good, devoted pupil.

present day? <3

"today i will teach you about Wepwawet, amiirad."

little toula lacked any aloofness nor the ambition which marked makono. indeed, she was only a cherub, a happy child who soaked up all instruction as if she were a baby fern.

senmut feared for her soft temperament in this harsh place. "first of all, can you tell me who created the first gods?" he indicated she should sit very straight as she spoke, as straight as he. they sat in a medium room of redstone; she sat upon a mat and he sat upon the bare earth. servants moved to and fro outside the entrance, and perhaps even a guest or two.

her eyes grew bright. a name she had not yet heard, not yet. it excited her, and she leaned nearer to him. but she did not miss his cue, keen eyed as she was becoming. with a bashful smile as an apology, toula drew taller as indicated. she was never one to slouch, but she had a tendency to get close when excited. she was better now than she had ever been, but senmut had a sharp eye himself... and knew her well enough to see when she felt such a way.
his question brought forth a tilt of her head. there were many Gods that were creators. but as to which of them created the first ones... was it... Atum? she inquired, thinking herself right but not wishing to be arrogant in her potential knowing of such. and in any event, she was not so certain of this; Ra created much, as had Amun! her voice, while gentle, did not waver as she spoke.

senmut smiled. "yes." and he drew a simple shape with his claw in the sand between them, to indicate Atum.

"Wepwawet is He Who Goes Before. but He is also known as: He Who Opens the Sky for Ra."

and here another mark. "because Atum and Ra are both Creators, Wepwawet tears apart Their enemies and those who seek to take Their magicks."

toula had always been a curious girl, but knew now to stay her tongue until the speaking had ended. politely she listened, though the questions at the tip of her tongue grew in number by the time he was done.
first came, who does Wepwawet go before? she started with, and observed, He sounds as our mazoi do! like a protector! and then the second, and with it the third, ones she truly could not understand: but who would ever harm the Creators? why would they take Their magicks? for Their magick... it is for the good of us all, and to steal it, well, would that not be counterproductive? could it not end them, the thief? undo the world?
she was glad for Wepwawet, she decided at once, and her mind worked wildly to understand even before senmut could explain... but she listened to him, as rapt as she ever was.

the princess answered her own question. "the heavens bow to your wisdom, divine one!" senmut praised. "He is indeed a protector. Wepwawet is a god of war. He Goes Before the Creators and he also walks before a pharaoh into battle."

the bright green eyes of the priest became grave. "you know the story of Osiris? how He was cut apart and all his pieces scattered for his grieving wife Iset to find? a Creator can do things that no one else is able. those magicks are kept inside our ka."

ka, ba, and ahk. did she know their names and differences?

she beamed beneath his praise, lighting up from within as though the rays of Ra existed within her. in that moment, they might have! toula felt the warmth of Him in her heart, and such felt right. how do we pray to Wepwawet? she asked only once he had finished, wanting to be sure to do so... both so that her father might remain safe, and their Gods! may he always be blessed, even when he did not know it.
toula seemed to hold her breath as he brought up the story of Osiris. in toula, Iset already had the most devoted of worshipers. would you tell me again the story? she asked, not due to her not knowing, but because it felt important now somehow to hear it again. though sweet, and soft, toula was not an unperceptive girl. but it could just as well be because toula adored Iset, and if there were opportunities to hear of her—even in a retelling—she would take it.
but she thought to Set. was he a Creator, or a Destroyer, then? truly, toula sought clarity in what she thought she knew.
ka, he had said. ka, she repeated now, uncertainty only apparent in the way she looked to him with a furrowed brow. this was not yet a thing she had been taught directly. she knew of the word, but now... it was time to understand the meaning.

"we pray to him with red things." he showed her three scarlet stones, the size of her paw, and a careful collection of quails-blood. "you have worshipped with your father beside the river. you know the prayers to Osiris."

"Wepwawet desires blood. in this way, it is like the story of the Dead Pharaoh. 'and Set stretched out His hand, and smote Osiris into many pieces, and scattered them all through the sands. Iset wept and with Her tears she caused the Great River to rise. it carried her through the land, and she slowly gathered the parts of Her husband."

"and when Iset had placed Osiris together, She took Him unto Herself, and created with lightning the child Horus."

senmut smiled. "the ka is your life force. like the golden wings of Horus, it lives forever. the ba is what you are, princess toula, and who you will be. and the akh, it is your flesh. it is your skin. it is your bones. these three parts form your essence, the Blessing of Amun. and your three halves are divine, great one."

toula nodded her head, quiet as she had listened. whenever her father would allow, she would take her morning prayers with him; otherwise, she would now come to follow senmut faithfully. it would never be said that toula was not a devout girl.
and as senmut again retold one her favored stories, she listened all the more. her questions once more came in three: did Set desire the power of Osiris? she started, pausing a moment for senmut to digest the question and leaving more room for him to respond, and then asked, where was Wepwawet, to protect Osiris? and lastly, ...was what my sister did for Wepwawet? and then, for their father? there had been much of it then, that fine red color. deep and rich and seemingly endless... until the thing did, at last, stop in its bleeding.
toula preened to be called divine; she sat a little taller, if it were a tall possible! are there ways to improve upon such thingses? for just as she wished to  please her mother and her father, her tutors with them... toula wished to please the gods. her fluency was near perfect, but at twelve weeks there were still some small lapses. in any event, she wished to do such not for Their magicks or for Their powers or for the boons they might bestow her, but because as someone who was divine, she felt it important to worship in turn! to embrace this, to embrace who she and her family were.

first one question, then another. senmut watched her fondly. "all very good things to ask, amiirad," the priest began.

"firstly: Set did not wish Osiris' power for Himself. He had His own. therefore, we know that Set meant to wreak vengeance against Osiris, for the love of Iset. and in the end, it was Iset who suffered greatly, was it not?" this story illustrated the great folly of being jealous.

"secondly, what your sister did was for Ma'at. Ma'at is Order Ma'at is Law. Ma'at defines That Which Comes from Chaos. it is this edict that says pharaoh must be male and that he must hand down the crown to his son." senmut paused, overcome with admiration. "but your sister sought to change Ma'at. she gave a sacrifice. she was guided by the gods."

"yes. she changed her ba. and now she will bear the great burden if she fails."

senmut was solemn, watching the little princess.

indeed, it was Iset who was hurt! who protected Iset in all of this, might have been the better question she realized belatedly. however, toua also saw that Iset was powerful. She had undone the worst of what Set intended. still, her heart broke for Her for all that she had endured. we should do something for Her, toula considered, and knew she would speak on this with her father at length, too. but senmut was hem, and he would know what best Iset would adore. what do you think She would love? she asked, finding it important to learn this from one she considered an expert.
what makono did was not for her mother or for her father. childishly, she was relieved--she wondered what her song might be to her parents next to the wondrous spectacle she had done! toula could not grasp the precise meaning of what her sister had done even still, with her childs minds. truly logical thought had yet to reach her in this regard. the problems she could solve were simpler ones--finding things, for example, or people. she had questions, the largest one asked with a tilt of her head: why would she change her ba? and then, must we all change our ba in that way?
she had asked ways  to improve upon these things, ba among them--was this the only way? had her sister made her own better?

senmut realized belatedly he had not answered her question of Wepwawet! "Osiris chose to sacrifice Himself and to become Lord of the Dead. Set's punishment was to have His soul split. one part became Wepwawet."

how cunning, the tale!

"she changed her ba because her ka is male," senmut explained. "the ka lives inside us," and he pointed to his heart. "when it is discontent, we are unhappy. your divine sister was unhappy because her ka is a man, and sees its right to the throne of akashingo."

he shook his head. "we do not all need to change. in fact, we should not. the gods are honored by tradition," senmut warned, though he had returned to his earlier fondness.

"Iset loves beautiful things. perhaps go to the hemet sokha. ask her to teach you a dance for the eyes of the goddess."

toula did not wish to change her ba. nor her ka. but she considered, and then asked (not to conspire but to understand), with my own ba, and my own ka, as it is... i cannot become pharaoh, like my father? her head tilted. it was said aloud to be better understand as much as it was to get an answer. let it be remembered that toula had only just begun to learn the distinction between man and woman; that she herself was born different than her brother. up until recently, they had been one and the same in appearance (as far as she understood it). but upon playing, they had discovered (innocently, and perhaps to her mothers horror) that toula was missing an appendage.
except she was not. she was simply born a girl!
she breathed. i would only like to do right by our Gods. i love Them, she shared happily. they were a part of her life for as long as she could recall. and she had been singing to them before she could even speak! Ra had, unwittingly, been her very first word.
if not for mother and father, Iset might as well have been the second!
toula nodded to the hem. alright, yes, that is a grand idea... i will, she decided, but firstly, ...do you know of any hymns for Her? asked gently, while blinking politely up at him.

i love them, she said, and senmut's heart was finally captured with the first stirrings of paternal love. before he had come to the palace, the priest had not entertained a thought of family. but now that he spent hours daily with each royal child, his thoughts had turned to the coming years, and the little home he might soon be able to cultivate.

finally he roused himself and cleared his throat. "you cannot. you were made in the image of the Goddess and She looks kindly upon you, great one." 

senmut nodded. "this the Hymn of Iset in the Golden Parade. it was written many, many years ago. and it is meant to be sung by Her priestesses. or Her patrons," he said fondly to toula, for she was a fine patroness of Iset already.

he took a breath and closed his eyes. and then his clear, youthful voice began to float.

toula gasped. She does? toula could not help but ask; that Iset looked at her at all... yes, she was divine, but They must be so busy! 
his voice, and his worship, brought tears to her eyes that she could not even think to hide, so overwhelming and beautiful it was! and when he had finished, toula brought a wrist to her eyes so that she might then just see him a little more clearly.
a quiet, delicate sniffle came before her next question: i am to create an altar for Her. it would... what were the right words? after hearing all of his from his song, they were all she could think of! it would please me greatly if you would help me in this task, and though she was amiirad, and could make demands, she had yet to ever do so to those she so respected. she would request for the aid of hem akhtar, too, who she also quite adored.

senmut sang. toula wept. it seemed she all but wrung her paws with the beauty of it; he saw the devotion in her tears, and found his own rising. "yes," he said, a bit hoarsely; the pleasure and pride of it swept in a moment later.

"i would be honored to help you, divine one." and his bright green eyes were radiant.

toula brightened at his acceptance. and then, she murmured quietly for his ears, it is something i want to make grand for Her... but... i do not know where to begin, her admittance was soft, but it was, fortunately, the very first time she had been entrusted to do something like this!
here she tipped her head up to him for guidance.

"well, first we should find a place, great one," senmut determined. "would you like to have a room for her here, inside the palace? or would you like to go outside and look?"

already he had assigned himself to her righteous cause, for her dedication reminded him that his own must be steadfast.

toula considered. and then determined, after a long minute of thinking, perhaps we should look outside. i think it would please Her to be near the earthly things that both aided and protected Her, came the gently spoken product of her thinking. toula thought of the marshes that had secluded Her and Horus; the river that had carried the severed parts of Osiris. for once, toula did not look to senmut to see what he would think; toula felt Her warmth as she spoke it, and it felt right.
but there was much to see outside! where would be the right place? i believe we should find the perfect spot for Her. do... you have any ideas? she wondered. for she walked with him each morning as a devotee to Ra, and the place selected for such was someplace she knew He would approve of! He must, for His light shone upon them each dawn.

senmut agreed at once. "i do! perhaps —" he moved away with a bow, standing tall and stretching his limbs.

"will you allow me to walk with you to the serpent?" he said of akashingo's river which flowed slowly outside the palace. "or — later, if you would like, divine one."

he had an idea, she saw! toula remained seated as he moved away, bowed. her bright gaze did not shift from him as he drifted, and at his request, she was ready to go on with him!
only she realized the hour, the way the halls beyond him were illuminated, and she stood up quickly, spinning to look to her fellahin as she breathed, it is almost time for my healing lessons with the sesh! and toula hated to be late! her gaze upon them was questioning, wondering why no one thought to remind her... but she was not mad with them, or upset with anyone but for herself.
she looked to the hem, apologetic. yes, later--i would love nothing more! i will send someone to find you, once my next lessons are finished, she determined. her tail waved as she said, until then, hem, she began to move away, her entourage with her, but did not forget to peer thoughtfully over her shoulder and say, her voice rich with her gratitude, thank you, hem,  before she went.

<3

"walk with Amun, amiirad."

he prostrated himself once more until she had gone, looking up to glimpse her smile before she was whisked away to another lesson.

senmut let out his breath. "bless her, Iset. she will be the binding tie which keeps her family grounded during this time, i think."