In Part 1 of this new 5-part series, I discussed the history of the Djinn. Part 2, reported a little bit about the Shayāṭīn, why Djinn fear wolves and Set. In Part 3, I talked about my first encounter with a Djinn in the desert. In Part 4, I told you about my battle with a Djinn. Now, in part 5, this final instalment of the series, I’ll discuss my encounter with the god Set.
Part 5: The god, Set
Set
I triumphed in my ‘battle’ with the Djinn and I was delighted. I also felt proud at overcoming my fears and in helping Dagaz to move on.
Suddenly, however, I was in the presence of something much more powerful, a god. To be specific, the ancient Egyptian god, Set. I cannot begin to express how enormous this being appeared. A skyscraper of a presence.
I realised just how ridiculous I had been in celebrating my victory. Here was something of immense power which I knew might choose to move his foot and crush me like a scarab beetle into the sand.
I had completely forgotten that the Djinn had spoken of being sent to me. Clearly, then, it was Set who was the master of whom Dagaz’ had spoken.
Communing with Set
Of all the Egyptian gods, it made sense that it would be the god of deserts and of foreigners who appeared to me. But I had supposed the ancient gods to be long extinct.
It is hard to express what followed. It was more of a telepathic exchange, rather than a conversation, as with the more familiar ‘human’ way, in which I had spoken with the Djinn. Frankly, it was humbling to take such a knock to my ego. I suddenly felt very small indeed.
I sensed some amusement from Set that I had defeated his Djinn, particularly by the manner in which I had achieved it. The truth is that Set knew that there were other options open to me. I could have dismissed the Djinn to eternal darkness, like a Catholic exorcist. Or imprisoned it within an endless Labyrinth, as a sorcerer might.
Instead, I chose an option of light and love. It was a lesson for me not to react out of fear or anger but to pause and to listen. A lesson that I had learned from the ghost of a seemingly evil, old man (see Part 4).
I believe that the old gods are bound to the landscape, where once people had worshipped them. Further more, in certain areas, they are still tangible. In Egypt, a nation still very much in thrall to its ancient glory, the old gods apparently still survive, if not thrive. As such, they deserve our humility and our respect.
I formed the distinct impression that Set was mischievous, rather than evil. He certainly likes to challenge those of us who have an ego. He reminded me that there are powerful entities at play in our dimension that are far beyond my small comprehension. It was certainly a humbling experience to be in Set’s presence. In addition, it is always good to be reminded that the universe does not revolve around me!
Recall
Far off, I heard our group leader, Louise, beginning to recall us with her drum. For a moment, I felt unable to move and panic grew. But then I felt Set release me. I think that it was just a final reminder of his power.
Set dissolved. For a moment, he became just a collection of thermal winds, shimmering the air, and then there was nothing. Somehow, however, I knew that this was merely by way of an introduction and that we would meet again.
I began the long hike back to the group, marvelling at the beauty of the desert around me. Humbled by the extraordinary meeting.
Slowly we all gathered into a circle. Louise explained that we would each break our day of silence with a word of our choice, which best expressed our state of mind. Just as I had, in the place of the Eagle, above the Amara Muru doorway in Peru, I screamed out – ‘Chacaruna!’
Incidentally, I did a little research when I returned home. The rune I had seen in the sand when the Djinn disappeared was the Anglo Saxon ‘D’ (see chart of runes, above). It is also known by the Djinn’s name, Dagaz. It represents the dawn, intuition and the ‘light within’.
In Conclusion
I believe that we are taught to close ourselves off from our natural intuition, from cosmic signals and voices from supernatural entities, from when we are very young.
‘Don’t be stupid!’ ‘That’s impossible’. ‘That doesn’t exist’. ‘That’s just a fairytale’. ‘Stop fantasising!’ ‘Grow up!’
I think that such prohibitive teaching forces us to place limitations on how we perceive the world – that ‘cannot’ be there, so I will not see it; I cannot be hearing that, so I will not hear it!
One of the joys of learning shamanism is that you start to open yourself up to different ways of perceiving our world. If the idea of communing with an Animal Spirit, a Djinn or a god seems impossible to you, just think about what is scientifically present but which we cannot normally detect. For instance, visible light is a tiny proportion of the electromagnetic spectrum (see image, above). What would we see if we could see ultraviolet and infrared rays? We only hear between 20 and 20,000 Hz. What would we hear if we could hear as low as 7 Hz, like whales, or as high as 100, 000 Hz, like dolphins?
That brilliant little green guru, Yoda, was right – you must, ‘unlearn what you have learned’. Only then does a whole new world of crazy possibilities and intuitions open up.