fertility ritual to bless the serpent river, the two palaces, and the union of pharaoh with consort! PP is in vaguely assuming everyone is present! this thread will be for senmut and @Nazli only; please start your own threads in the aks forum responding to what has been seen. optional: use [sc] (shmu ceremony) in your thread titles for visibility! if anything isnt clear, please message me or here on discord! because this is a very long thread, i have broken it into pieces
@Toula @Rashepses @Racharra (visibility) @Mesen-ka @Zaahira @Legend @Haizel @Tuna @Eset @Khusobek @Tavina @Inji @Kiyya @Machiavelli @Safiya @Tiye @Kheti. babies are assumed to be carried to aks & not present at this ritual; they would be inside akashingo w a nurse. any babies who stay behind in MR would be tended by tavina.
@Toula @Rashepses @Racharra (visibility) @Mesen-ka @Zaahira @Legend @Haizel @Tuna @Eset @Khusobek @Tavina @Inji @Kiyya @Machiavelli @Safiya @Tiye @Kheti. babies are assumed to be carried to aks & not present at this ritual; they would be inside akashingo w a nurse. any babies who stay behind in MR would be tended by tavina.
Mature Content Warning
This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: this is a fertility ritual, heavy drug use & heavy suggestion to follow
muat-riya had been summoned four days beforehand and lodged in the sprawling god-city beneath the mesa. tirelessly had the servants toiled, preparing a feast for the celebration desired by their beloved pharaoh, decorating the bower at the serpent river with many armfuls of new blossoms; indeed, even the very shallows of the sacred water lapped with hundreds of petals by the time that the hour was announced.
these four days were sacred. only fish from the river itself were consumed, eggs preserved in cool moss and carried swiftly up to pharaoh and her Gilded Consort. each mouthful was dedicated to Min, each offering of roe a invitation for the royal pair’s retreat to royal quarters and often. a competition was encouraged among the fellahin to see how many gifts of fish-eggs one servant could bring in a day to either divine one.
in contrast, high priest and high priestess kept away from one another. senmut had resisted the urge to welcome nazli when muat-riya had arrived, instead devoting himself to long and heated prayers. for three days, each would fast alone. and on the fourth, each would be purified separately, washed to every inch of foot and fur, sprinkled with petals of the sacred yellow lotus, anointed with mica-dust, kohled, decorated;
senmut’s heart raced all the while.
in contrast, high priest and high priestess kept away from one another. senmut had resisted the urge to welcome nazli when muat-riya had arrived, instead devoting himself to long and heated prayers. for three days, each would fast alone. and on the fourth, each would be purified separately, washed to every inch of foot and fur, sprinkled with petals of the sacred yellow lotus, anointed with mica-dust, kohled, decorated;
senmut’s heart raced all the while.
as the earth welcomed renewed bounty beneath the turning of the sun, so should their ceremony reflect such. fresh fish, spring-greens, and round fruits would be part of the feast. shades of blue welcomed the touch of rain, and scatterings of red flowers hoped to evoke the desire among the river-gods that would keep fecund the land of akashingo.
the hour was called, that the procession be called together. from the cool depths of akashingo their column would emerge into the hot light of high noon, led by hem and hemet. undoubtedly would the royal ones come after. senmut sang out, light-headed in his hunger despite having kept himself well-watered, almost euphoric to feel the caress of Ra’s gaze;
Min! god of laughter and the lettuce-plant,
god of husbands’ desire and wives’ eyes wanting their men,
today i am You! today Min dances upon jesting step;
today He is bold! today His laughter has brought down
the jeweled eye of Iset upon Him!
and such was nazli, the lilac-glow embodiment of that goddess for this rite, for this day
for eternity, in the eyes of senmut;
and he was captivated.
the throng, lifted by singing, moved down the flower-strewn sands to the river, which billowed with spring-rain, and seemed to lift as if in answer to their hymns.
here only nazli and senmut went on; the others looked on, and he stood aside. his voice became a caress; his kohled eyes watched; would she dance? would she sing?
Tefnut! Sopdet! Bastet! Hathor! Khum! Sobek! Osiris! Renenutet! Heryshaf! Tawaret Mesenet! Amun!
Amun!
the blood of a white heron was shed upon the waters of the serpent. bundles of min’s-lettuce were broken, and tossed among the throng; laughter was encouraged as the plants were rather gifted with small pricklings. but the liquid given by shattered stems was suggestive as well as cooling, and he found himself jubilant.
the hour was called, that the procession be called together. from the cool depths of akashingo their column would emerge into the hot light of high noon, led by hem and hemet. undoubtedly would the royal ones come after. senmut sang out, light-headed in his hunger despite having kept himself well-watered, almost euphoric to feel the caress of Ra’s gaze;
Min! god of laughter and the lettuce-plant,
god of husbands’ desire and wives’ eyes wanting their men,
today i am You! today Min dances upon jesting step;
today He is bold! today His laughter has brought down
the jeweled eye of Iset upon Him!
and such was nazli, the lilac-glow embodiment of that goddess for this rite, for this day
for eternity, in the eyes of senmut;
and he was captivated.
the throng, lifted by singing, moved down the flower-strewn sands to the river, which billowed with spring-rain, and seemed to lift as if in answer to their hymns.
here only nazli and senmut went on; the others looked on, and he stood aside. his voice became a caress; his kohled eyes watched; would she dance? would she sing?
Tefnut! Sopdet! Bastet! Hathor! Khum! Sobek! Osiris! Renenutet! Heryshaf! Tawaret Mesenet! Amun!
Amun!
the blood of a white heron was shed upon the waters of the serpent. bundles of min’s-lettuce were broken, and tossed among the throng; laughter was encouraged as the plants were rather gifted with small pricklings. but the liquid given by shattered stems was suggestive as well as cooling, and he found himself jubilant.
a gentle rosy wine caught in two curved shells waited for hemet and hem upon the edge of the bower. deceptive in delicate hue, the drink had been made many weeks before from the early, tart fruits and left in a darkened storeroom. prior to its careful caching, however, poppyseeds dried atop the mesa beneath the eye of Ra and crushed were mingled with the pink depths, along with a precise dose of that soft laceleaf plant, potent in its reverent dedication to inner vision.
senmut at last sang into the dark eyes of his lover as they ascended the smoothed barkwood rise which had once been a great tree standing beside the river;
come to me, Iset.
Your praise is among all who know
Your sustenance is life-giving.
come to me, Queen of All Eternity.
wind played upon them both. senmut drank from one of the shells and was silent for a long moment. such was not a requirement, but as the pulsing rose of the sacred wine spread through his limbs quickly, encouraged by his fasting, his jubilance grew into euphoria.
how golden the light of Ra!
how azure the flowers strewn at his feet, and around their chosen altar!
and nazli! nazli! lit from within as if heaven’s-light existed too in her, and she was Iset, and the goddess was Her;
Min opened His arms to the gilded figure of splendid power, admiration and longing shimmering aureate around him.
there was no world save for Min and Iset.
no world save for senmut and nazli.
it was with two voices he beckoned her, with two souls he kissed her; it was as man and as god that he caressed Iset and felt their warmth mingling among the cascades of blue flowers, until it seemed they burned against the open sky for endless eons, and he felt Amun strong upon him, the golden Life Spark growing cosmic and unfathomable between their own celestial bodies.
senmut at last sang into the dark eyes of his lover as they ascended the smoothed barkwood rise which had once been a great tree standing beside the river;
come to me, Iset.
Your praise is among all who know
Your sustenance is life-giving.
come to me, Queen of All Eternity.
wind played upon them both. senmut drank from one of the shells and was silent for a long moment. such was not a requirement, but as the pulsing rose of the sacred wine spread through his limbs quickly, encouraged by his fasting, his jubilance grew into euphoria.
how golden the light of Ra!
how azure the flowers strewn at his feet, and around their chosen altar!
and nazli! nazli! lit from within as if heaven’s-light existed too in her, and she was Iset, and the goddess was Her;
Min opened His arms to the gilded figure of splendid power, admiration and longing shimmering aureate around him.
there was no world save for Min and Iset.
no world save for senmut and nazli.
it was with two voices he beckoned her, with two souls he kissed her; it was as man and as god that he caressed Iset and felt their warmth mingling among the cascades of blue flowers, until it seemed they burned against the open sky for endless eons, and he felt Amun strong upon him, the golden Life Spark growing cosmic and unfathomable between their own celestial bodies.
April 21, 2024, 04:45 PM
Mature Content Warning
This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Conception.
the proposition of a fertility ritual was brought to nazli in her temple, by word of mouth, and she was left to think, and pray, and listen for the next steps. she did not need to choreograph anything—Nwt would provide.
those of muat-riya gathered. nazli had a branch of the sycamore sapling carefully wrapped for transport. there were fineries prepared; the red reeds of incense were packed and carried. blue pigments and red, and gold, made from the flowers of the meadows between, having been made paste and gathered in to shells.
the arrival came, and nazli brought these things to a room for preparation. the vaulted ceilings of akashingo welcomed her and she was pleased by all of the commotion—but she missed senmut, who was busy with his own work.
the four days passed and nazli worked to tend the offerings to toula and her consort.
blessings, charms; oils, blossoms, sweetened water.
on the fourth day as she was taken aside to be cleansed and tended, nazli allowed herself to feel the sanctity of the moment. she was washed by fellahin. anointed. painted across the eyes; and in secret once these things were finished, she went to her collection and brought out a precious oil she had left out to be blessed by moonlight, and painted this with great care upon her belly.
so came the time of the procession.
at the head of each column was senmut, was nazli; they did not look to one-another as they marched.
she felt the thrill of eyes upon her. she felt the desire in her body to be fed in many ways; the desire to look upon her beloved before he could assume the power of the gods—but before she could give in to this, his voice filled the space.
the song began.
she looked to him.
before he could become a god and herself a goddess, they were man and woman, and there was love there between them. if nazli expected to feel embarrassment for their audience to see this and to know this, she did not. she only saw senmut and knew her love for him.
as he sang, nazli began to move. it was an animal dance; for each name he called out, she would rise up with a fluid shape to her body. a snake, a crocodile, an eagle; the waving of a palm frond. the lifting of the sycamore branch.
there was blood in the water as they neared it, together.
nazli lay the sycamore branch within the serpent as her dance finished, and as it saturated with the blood and the water it sank, and drifted, and pulsed along with the flow of the water.
the wine burned at her tongue and as it flowed down her throat, nazli felt any of her remaining nerves calm. there was time before the consecration and she found herself eager for it. the drink made her aware of her body in a profound way; her legs felt too long at first, then just right, then a part of the earth in a heavy way. the delicate flavor of the drink was spiked with something she had not tasted before, and as the poppy settled in to her body nazli felt as if she dreamed, but knew she was awake.
she looked then upon senmut and had to be mindful of the lust in her eyes. the urge to call to him was held firmly back, and thankfully, he began the final song.
the magic ignited.
blue flowers, dancing before nazli.
senmut, burning in the halo of Ra's light.
herself, slipping away; she wanted to reach out to Nwt and cling to her, to make her final wish, but it was not the voice of her goddess she heard—it was senmut, as Min. it was her own body pulled in to a new dance she did not know the steps of, yet moved through as fluid as the serpent; as senmut held the voice of Min it was nazli who was taken by Iset.
their dance became so much more potent.
the lust overcame nazli; she knew it was Iset working through her, and she was glad that it was senmut that held her, that it was Min come to meet his beloved.
she gasped and she wept, and she fell away to the pleasure of the ritual.
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