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Monday, February 16, 2009

FROM OUR WORKSHOP: Buto, The Cobra Goddess


(c) February 16, 2009 by Donna L. Faber, Original is 8.5x11, image done in pen & ink on Strathmore smooth bristol paper, then cut out and mounted in black textured paper. Highlights done in silver metallic ink. Some colored pencil used. While the text below indicates that Buto's venom comes from her bite, in my rendition it is Buto's tail which carries the deadly blow; hence, the eldritch flame and energy pulse from it.
Learn more about snake symbolism here.

Buto
(Uatchit, Udjat, Wadjit, Edjo)

Buto was a cobra-goddess whose original home and cult center was in the Delta of the Nile at Per-Uatchit. In time she became a prominent protectress of all of Lower Egypt. As such she was routinely connected to the goddess of Upper Egypt, Nekhebet. Together, they appeared in many pieces of art as symbols of the Two Lands, a united Egypt.

Buto did not just protect Egypt, she also was an aggressive defender of the king. She was portrayed as the uraeus cobra first worn on the brow of Re, and later the pharaohs'. Her hood is spread in a threatening position and she is ready to spit poison on all of the pharaoh's enemies or burn them with her fiery glare. It is thought perhaps that her powers could be used against the pharaoh as well. Her bite may have been the deadly device used by Anubis at the appointed time of the pharaoh's death.

Buto was a personification of the sun's burning heat and she was called the "Lady of Heaven" and the queen of all of the gods. She was closely associated with Horus the Elder, who was the protector god of Lower Egypt. Also she was associated with Harpokrates (Horus the Younger); she protected him from Seth in the marshes of the Delta while Isis was searching for the body of Osiris.
Here is the unfinished draft ...

DRAFT -- Buto

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been waiting for your next wave to rise and crash its creative fervor upon public awareness.

This is a grand reward for my patience. No disappointment here!

Powerful, striking and archetypal of so many aspects that positively resonate w/in the collective feminine.

Profoundly pleasing to both physical & psychic eyes.

Thanks so much for sharing this, and for your vision.

Okay, I have to ask, what do the symbols represent in the lower right cartouche?

Namaste!
A.

Anonymous said...

Powerful energy resonates from these images. Egyptian godesses sometimes seem elusive at the same time as their energy is very real. Readers will be grateful for this perception you choose to share. How do you connect at soul level?

Donna L. Faber said...

Hello A. & Liara ...

As always I appreciate and cherish your feedback.

A ... the symbols in the lower right are very loose in interpretation, but from a symbolic meaning might indicate that "all things are surrounded by the Goddess". In fact, Buto is another incarnation of the divine mother as protector, active shakti energy seeking or demanding righteousness ... just as Ma Kali or Sekhmet does, as well. I love them all well.

Liara ... connecting with Buto on a soul level is the same as connecting with the Goddess or Divine Mother to me, which is ever present. She resides in my heart, and so her various incarnations, as they appear in my life, have specific messages to impart. Lately, it's been about ancient egypt. I've always felt an inner connection, most particularly to Isis, for various reasons relating to past life memory. Having since processed and put those memories in the past (where they belong), I find myself returning to Her for new insight. Rather than Isis, this time, it was Buto, who reminds me to watch my words at all times, lest they sting just like her poison bite and venomous tail. Much like Ma Bagala of the Hindu faith.

Sometimes I listen and am successfull. Some times I'm not.

But, my spiritual mother's is soon to make an appearance in the Bay Area, and as usual, her visit is heralded by an intense desire to create.

Always love,

D~

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