The Fate Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

 

Isis

The patron goddess of ancient Egypt and one who personified every aspect of life in her many manifestations, Isis was appealed to for setting right what often looked like a difficult life or an unfair destiny mete out by a cruel Fate.

As the cult of Isis spread and became assimilated into the neighbouring regions, each place found a different name for the same goddess. Sometimes, features of the region were also assimilated into the original cult when it came to nearby shores, allowing people of that land to understand the cult better. In Greece, Isis was associated with good fortune and wealth, as well as being the great mother and being universal.

A striking prayer to Isis, in the form of a Greek aretology, has been found, which shows how completely the great goddess was mistress of Fate. The aretologies are in Greek but their source or inspiration has always been debated. While many scholars say their origin lies in Egypt in terms of their ideas and style, others say they are purely Greek. Two of the aretologies ( Kyme and Andros) state that they were copied from a stele in front of the temple of Ptah in Memphis.

These Isis hymns, or aretalogies are forms where the goddess speaks in the first person. Two of them, Isidorus and Kyme, are specially mentioned in discussions of fate and destiny.

 The one by Isidorus , written in four parts, was found as Medinet Madi in 1935. In olden times, that was the place where there used to be a temple dedicated to another deity of Fate - Egyptian Renenet  or the Greek Thermouthis. The Kyme variant of the Usus hymns come from Aeolis. It is in the first person and links her with the rising of Sirius.

I am she who arises in the Dog-Star… I who separated earth from heaven…I pointed out the paths of the stars

I arranged the courses of the sun and moon…I am in the rays of the sun

I accompany the course of the sun…

Isis, was associated with the heliacally rising Sirius ( the time when the star is closest to the sun) , and She was mistress of time and ruled all beginnings. Isis ruled fate. Portions of the hymn are given here

I set down laws for men, and what I have enacted no one is able to change

I made the just strong

I made the just stronger than gold and silver

I ordained the true to be esteemed beautiful

I imposed retribution on those acting unjustly

With me the just prevails

Whatever I determine, this too is accomplished

For me, everything gives way

I free those in bonds

I am she who is called lawgiver.

I conquer fate

Fate obeys me

Hail Egypt, who nourished me

Isis controls fate and has power over destiny. She is able to free those who are shackled by what is inevitable in destiny.

 

Isis commands the beginning of the new year

In ancient Egypt, the New Year began with the return of Sirius- also called the “Star of Isis”. This star would appear very close and just prior to the sun around the end of June . The sighting of this sequence or conjunction was a sign to the people that the strength of Ra was strong and the “Nile Days” were close.  It would always be that soon after this event, the waters of the Nile would rise and bring with it fertility and new growth. This was also an indicator to the people who then opened the gates to their canals , readying for the floodwaters to enter and irrigate their fields.

The temple of Isis-Hathor at Denderah has a statue of Isis located at the end of an aisle lined with tall columns. This statue had a jewel embedded in the forehead. The statue was oriented to the rising of Sirius, so that the light from the star at a particular slant, would strike the gem every year. When the temple priests saw the first light shining on the gem, they would emerge from the precincts and announce the New Year. The temple has the inscription:  

Her majesty Isis shines into the temple on New Year’s Day, and she mingles her light with that of her father Ra on the horizon.

 

  

The Hemuset

Magical and mysterious , the Hemuset are the female form of the Ka and they foretell fate at birth. They are goddesses of destiny and protectors. They were usually seen collectively in groups of seven or fourteen and are depicted as female figures, often shown suckling  the young pharaoh or holding a child. Their headdress is very distinctive, showing  a large shield and crossed arrows.

The Ka and the Hemuset

In ancient Egypt, the Ka was the vital essence of a person. It was that aspect, which we would call the ‘soul’, and when offerings were laid for the deceased, it was the Ka of the person who would imbibe the sustenance. Well known archaeological finds, such as from the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun, have revealed magnificent Ka statues- lifelike statues of the deceased, which could house the Ka of the Pharaoh. They were coloured black, to show regeneration and the Pharaoh taking on Osiris form as he entered the portals of the afterlife.

While mention of the Ka, the Ba and the Akh ( stages of evolution of the deceased as he proceeds into the afterlife) is well known, the Hemuset seem to lie behind a veil of secrecy. While scholars have called them the female Ka, there are many who would also argue that the Ka itself is genderless. The essence of a person, is the vital energy which animates the body. And that energy can go beyond dictates of gender, shedding the boundaries and limitations of body . That is why, just as the Ka can be masculine, so can it be feminine. 

It is to note here, that the latter argument would fit with the overall concept of the other stages of evolution held so high in Egyptian belief. The Ba and the Akh are also forms who do not have gender. 

A Million Ka of the God Ra

In the Coffin Texts , it is written in a passage that the great god Ra has a million Kas , to preserve and protect his subjects. These emanated from Ra in the form of natural elements that sustained life. In the Ramesside period,  there were listed fourteen blessings bestowed by Ra- these were fourteen Kas. , These fourteen aspects were then specially named as nourishment, venerability, food production, greenness, victorious power, brightness, order, abundance of food, fidelity, magical power, flashing, vigor, luminousness, skill.

Finding Evidence of the Hemuset

Since the time of Ptolemy VIII, sacred columns in temples showed the Fourteen Kas of Ra as gift-bearers with female counterparts - the Hemuset goddesses. These depictions of the sacred procession of the Ka and Hemuset is well known in at least eleven sanctuaries and has been so  for over two-hundred and fifty years.

Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir El Bahri, has a special Birth Colonnade which is still in a reasonably well preserved. It shows  twelve Ka suckling the child pharaoh. Here, the female Ka are shown , half of whom bear the traditional symbol of outstretched arms on their headdress, while the other half have the symbol of the Hemuset on their headdress- the shield with crossed arrows.

The Creation Myth and the Hemuset

The magic of the Hemuset, goes back to the time of creation and their mention can be found in the Memphite Theology. It is found on an inscription on a stone which is now at the British Museum in London. It dates back to around 700BC and has the name of an Egyptian Pharaoh Shabaka who wrote that he had replicated an inscription of his ancestors. The original timeline of this work thus is believed to go back to around 3500 BC.

The Memphite Theology is an account of creation through the word begot by Ptah. It gives forth the idea that the truly creative origin lies in the heart and the tongue, and knowledge rests in the heart based on the perceptions it receives. That knowledge which lies in the heart is then spoken and communicated by the tongue. A passage from the MT reads,

And thus were all gods born,

that is Atum and his Ennead.

But all hieroglyphs originated

from that which was thought up by the heart and commanded by the tongue.

And thus were all ka s created and the Hemuset determined,

which bring forth all food and all offering meats by this word,

[the word invented by the heart and commanded by the tongue].

[And thus is ma’at given to him] who does what is loved,

[and isfet to him] who does what is hated.

Scholars like Villatoro have pinpointed the chronological order which this seems to follow. First the gods,  specifically Atum and the Ennead, are created, then the god’s authority is spoken by the word, which is created through Ptah’s power. Next comes the creation of man, for which Ptah created the Ka and assigned the Hemusets, who are also in charge of supplying provisions. Kas and Hemusets were created before food because they are essential for human’s birth and maintenance of life, even in the afterlife.

Thus Ptah created the Hemuset and they were the ones who brought nourishment and sustenance.

Rising from Neith and Nun

In Sais, it was believed that the goddess Neith begot the Hemuset from the primeval waters of Nun. Neith was a powerful goddess who was a warrior as well as Creatrix. The symbol of Neith was a shield and two crossed arrows, like the Hemuset themselves. Sometimes she was depicted holding a bow and arrow. However, while Neith’s symbol has two bound arrows, the Hemuset have crossed arrows. Some readings speculate that the shield and arrow on Neith’s headdress is actually the weaving shuttle.  Neith was also associated , as with war and victory, so too with weaving. Perhaps that is also a hint to her connection with fate and the weaving of man’s destiny.

 

Giving Power to the Pharaoh

The Hemuset who define the path of the Pharaoh are found in specific instances such as here. They are one of the main creative forces which bring forth man and they are also enlisted as one of his powers. They are the creative force when the Pharaoh takes on the power of rule and becomes one with the Sun God.

NN’s kas are behind him,

 NN’s Hemusets are under his feet,

NN’s gods are on top of him,

NN’s uraei are on his forehead,

NN’s uraeus leader is in his front, she who looks impressively and is effective when she parches,

NN’s powers are in his protection. (PT 273, 10–13)

Here, first the Kas and Hemusets attend the birth of the young king; then, gods, namely Horus and Seth, go on top of him as he is to incarnate them as the new pharaoh; and finally, the king receives his royal insignia and the uraei.

 

The Hemuset as a Creative Force

Be it the creation myth or the birth columns which survive till date, they all show the Hemuset as active creative forces. They are the bearers of fertility and as such are associated with farming and grains. In creation texts, mention of farmland and food appear only after the appearance of the Hemuset- and without mention of the Ka.

An interesting etymological analysis of their name ( in Egyptian) shows that Hemuset is a derivative of the verb “to sit”. Women in scenes of maternity across the ancient Egypt have been shown in seated positions – though standing forms have also been seen in some instances.

The Hemuset appear in many scenes showing birth across Dendera, Edfu and Philae. The birth colonnade at Deir El Bahri , even today, shows the Hemuset suckling the young Hatshepsut.

Are the Hemuset the Sapta Matrika of Ancient Egypt?

Findings till date show the Hemuset to be associated with the numbers four, seven and fourteen. They  are fourteen when they appear as the Ka of Ra. They appear as four entities in PT 667B, and seven animal-headed figures in Saft el-Henneh. The goddess Neith herself, who in one myth, is said to be the creator of the Hemuset, is listed in two groups of gods as the seventh- in the funerary temple of Sahure and the coronation text of Horemheb.

The coming together of the Hemuset as a creative force, as fertility signs, and the protectors and makes of fate, along with their association with the numbers of four, seven and fourteen, shows that the Hemusets were also a group of seven entities responsible for creation.

In this , they could be similar to the Indian concept of the seven matrikas, or the Akkadian Sasuratu, the seven assistants to the Mother Goddess at time of birth.

 

The Triad – Renenutet, Shai and Meshkenet

Renenutet , as a goddess of destiny, is the mistress of time. She looks into the length of man’s life and decrees its length. It is Renenutet along with Meshkenet ( discussed later below) who are said to bring the a child into the world from the womb and give it the will and purpose of life. Renenutet also governs the aspect of life which can be associated with good fortune or luck. To have her favour, means to have good luck on your side.

As the goddess of suckling, Renenutet gave each newborn baby a secret name along with its mother’s milk. In this role she was given the epithet “She Who Rears”. To the ancient Egyptians, the secret name was associated with great power, and the one who had knowledge of the secret name of another would have power over that person. In fact, in the story of Isis and Ra, the great goddess acquired her power over Ra through knowledge of the god’s secret name.

Renenutet also protected children from curses. In fact, the child was said to “have Renenutet upon his shoulder from his first day”. 

Renenutet has also been identified with Maat, and personifies justice and cosmic order.  In the Valley of the Kings,  on the walls of some tombs, there has been found the Litany of Ra which shows a mummiform Renenutet with a cobra head. She is named ‘Lady of Justification’.

It was at the time of the Middle Kingdom, that a cult to Renenutet flourished in Faiyum. It was a fertile region which was dominated in number by agricultural workers. These people were however excluded from most  temple ceremonies and rituals. They turned to Renenutet and embraced her cult.

According to the Pyramid Texts, Renenutet was the goddess of plenty and good fortune. It is thus natural that she was associated with harvest and fertility. Now, in the fields where there were mice and other rodents, snakes were often seen hunting them and thus safeguarding the crop from pests. Renenutet was also thus associated with snakes and was the protectress of harvests. She was given the epithets “Goddess of the Double Granary”, the “Lady of Fertile Fields”, and the “Lady of Granaries”.

Some tombs of Thebes depict scenes of threshing, winnowing and harvesting. A crescent like symbol has been found over them. It could be the symbol of Renenutet- or it could even be a protective symbol to ward of pests and harm to the crop.

In another aspect, Renenutet was a cobra goddess whose gaze could destroy the enemy. She was sometimes depicted as a rearing cobra, a woman, or a woman with the head of a cobra wearing the double plumed headdress or solar disc. In the underworld, she could become a fire breathing cobra who could kill with her gaze.

As “The Lady of the Robes”  Renenutet stands for the magical powers in the linen garments which the Pharaoh wears.  She was a protector of the pharaoh in the netherworld, with the epithet “Nourishing Snake”. Renenutet imbued his clothing with power which repelled his enemies. Connections between Renenutet and weaving or linen can be found in temple inscriptions in Dendera and Edfu. This association with cloth seems to fall into place with the idea of a goddess of destiny weaving the fate of man.

It is interesting how many hymns from Faiyum dating back to the 1^st century BC talk of the merging of Renenutet and Isis. A concept which matches the Greco Roman idea, where Renenutet was known as Thermouthis and was closely assimilated with Isis. In fact, the in Book of the Dead, Renenutet is said to have come together with Atum and given birth to Horus ( known to all as the son of Isis) - further strengthening her identification with Isis.

Meskhenet (Mesenet, Meskhent, Mesket, Meshkent) was a goddess of childbirth, a divine midwife, and protector of the birthing house. As a fate goddess,  she decided the attributes or traits that a person would have in life, and this could not be changed.

Her association with the nature or traits of a person again reappears in the Halls of Maat in the afterlife, where Meshkenet is present with Shai and Renenutet, bearing testimony to the character of the deceased. She weighs the scales of the heart of the deceased.

At birth, Meshkenet breathed the ka ( that part of the soul or the ‘double’ of the deceased which was also the personality) into the newborn child. She was the chief goddess of the Ka.

Found in the Westcar Papyrus is the tale of Raddjedet and her triplets (also known as Khufu and the Magician), where the birth was attended by Khnum, Isis, and Nephthys but it was Meskhenet who proclaimed that each child would become pharaoh. Thus, Meskhenet was goddess of fate who could determine a person’s destiny.

At Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir –el-Bahri, the walls bear inscriptions of many deities present at the birth of the pharaoh. They included Khnum, Isis, Nephtys, Bes, Tawaret and Meshkenet.

In ancient Egypt where childbirth often carried its own risks and dangers both for mother and the baby, Meshkenet was seen by the common man, as firstly a birthing goddess who could bring to life safely, their unborn child.  Her name itself means ‘birthing place’ .She was personified as the birthing brick on which ancient Egyptian women squatted while giving birth. Sometimes she was depicted as a birthing brick with a human head, or as a woman wearing the headdress of a cow’s uterus. Her symbol was composed of two loops at the top of a vertical stroke thought to represent the uterus of a heifer.

 

Shai, meaning ‘determiner’ is the deity who personifies fate and is guardian of shay, fate. Another translation of the name means ‘what is ordained’.  Shai was one of the attendants of the scales of Maat upon which the heart of the deceased was weighed. It was believed that Shai could determine the length of a person’s life and also send good luck his way. As a fate deity, Shai was closely associated with the cult of Renenutet and Meshkenet.

Shai is usually depicted as the figure of a man, or a snake. Like Renenutet and Meshkenet, he is also shown as a birth-brick with a human head. A symbol which shows the rebirth of the deceased with the blessings of the divine.

Shai has always been a strangely amorphous deity, who was called god as well as goddess and is in some ways, a shape shifting deity. Shai stands for what is decreed, and is a protector, but has a very intransient quality about him. Just as each person has his individual personal shay, so was Shai personal to each individual.

It is in the New Kingdom inscriptions that first signs of Shai as a fate deity are seen. In some inscriptions likeat  the funerary chapel of Ramses I at Abydos, he is a god seen along with the goddess Renenutet. 

The Papyrus of Ani ( a well known part of the Book of the Dead) has a famed portrayal of Shai. He is shown standing beside the scale of judgment. Renenutet and Meshkenet  are there with him, as the heart of Ani  is weighed against the feather of Maat- standing for truth and righteousness. Shai is shown as a man with the tail of a bull.

The presence of the three fate deities at the weighing of the heart shows that what has been decided at birth can change to some degree by the life a person leads. Leading a good life, a truthful and just life, and appeasing the gods with prayers and offerings were perhaps some of the ways of bettering circumstances through life. Moreover, scholars like Morenz have said that the gods created magic for humans to alter fate. Perhaps then it is no wonder that ancient Egypt and magic have always been inseperable.

One of the inscriptions which mention Shai and Renenutet are :

Biography of Roma from Karnak: New Kingdom (KRI IV, 287)

Gods and people exalt your ka, life is in your hand,

health belongs to you,           

Shay and Renenet united in your grasp protecting you. (Frood 2007, 56)

 

Biography of Samut-Kyky: New Kingdom (KRI III, 336)

He found Mut at the head of the gods, Shay and Renenet being with her. A lifetime of life and breath under her authority and all that occurs is under her command. (Frood 2007, 86)

Jan Quaegebeur calls Shai a ‘genie’ and from a Thirtieth Dynasty inscriptions showing Shai, calls the god, ‘ demon serpent terrifiant!’. Quaegebeur gives a very interesting analysis of Shai as both an active and passive notion. In the passive aspect, Shai stands for predestination. What has been decreed, so shall be. However, in the active aspect, Quaegebeur says Shai stands for the ability of man to change his destiny . He calls it the living force within a person.

 

While in ancient Egypt, fate mainly started out as a determination of the length of man’s life, it took on greater definition including the type of life, the rewards and justifications, personal traits, piety , prayer and so on. The awe and the fear which accompanied this triad of Renunetet, Meshkenet and Shai was one which because of its power, was often seen in opposite ways. Dimitri Meeks calls the Egyptian Fate triad ‘demons’ in some cases, while Greenbaum calls the triad ‘guardian angels’.  It just goes to show that gods , demons and angels- it is all about perspective.

 

The Seven Hathors

The goddess Hathor , or the Heavenly Cow, was a manifestation of the goddess Isis, who wore on her head, a crown of cow horns with the solar disc in the middle. She was the one associated with fertility, love, nurturing and was the one who specially aided women. 

 Scholars have often debated the question of ‘ who is Hathor’ and some like Robyn Gillam have said that she stood for a certain type of deity rather than a single entity manifesting in various forms. Kurt Sethe long ago said that Hathor held within herself many fertility and protective goddesses of the non-elite.

A lesser known form of Hathor is where she takes the form of the “Seven Hathors” and is associated with fate and fortune telling. It was thought that the “Seven Hathors” knew the length of every newborn’s life from the day of birth. The Seven Hathors are often invoked by expectant mothers to ask that their child have a favourable future. They would beseech the goddess to give the newborn a good life and that they , the mothers , have acted morally and therefore their child’s destiny should be good. It must perhaps also be stated that the potency of the deity was multiplied, because of the larger number (especially seven, which was a sacred number) The Seven Hathors were also connected with the inundation of the Nile and good harvest. The priests of Hathor would be asked to read the fortune of a newly born child and they would also act as oracles to interpret dreams and signs.  

The main cult centres of the Seven Hathors were : Waset (Thebes), Iunu (On, Heliopolis), Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset.

The Seven Hathors and the Pleiades constellation

The Seven Hathors were believed to be a form of the constellation Pleiades, and were represented by  seven cows, often with a bull, as a heaven herd , providing nourishment, bread and beer, in the Underworld.

However, that the Seven Hathors represent the Pleiades is not a theory universally accepted. The reason is, that in viewing the Pleiades, it is easier to see six stars. In olden times, it was usually six stars which were seen – not seven.  And the Egyptians tell that one Hathor is "The hidden one, presiding over her place". That is why, in some paintings and wall inscriptions which show the celestial herd ( such as in Maihirpre's Tomb and in the Neferati's Tomb), one of the cows has a black coat, showing her invisibility or power to stay hidden from mortal eyes. 

The Names of the Seven Hathors

In Spell 148 from the “Book of the Dead”, the deceased calls upon the Seven, the college of Hathors, the (cows and their bull, the bull here being probably the symbol of the god Horus). The spell is about the rebirth of the deceased and then her sustained nourishment by the cows:

Hail to you … I know the names of the seven

cows and their bull who give bread and beer …

may you … make provision for me, so that I may

 … come into being under your hinder-parts. (Faulkner, 1985: 137)

Then the deceased goes on to name each cow, and they seem to indicate Hathor, through the use of her epithets: 

Mansion of Kas, Mistress of All.

 Silent One who dwells in her place

She of Chemmis whom the god ennobled.

The Much Beloved, red of hair.

She who protects in life, the particoloured.

She whose name has power in her craft.

Storm in the sky which wafts the god aloft.

 

The tomb of Queen Nefertari also holds a  version of the names of the Seven Hathors :

• Lady of the universe
• Sky-Storm
• You from the land of silence
• You from Khemmis
• Red-Hair
• Bright red
• Your name flourishes through skill

 

The Seven Hathors and the Book of the Dead

A spell in the Egyptian Book of the Dead names the Seven Hathors of the Celestial Herd as : the "Lady of the Universe", the "Sky-storm", "The hidden one, presiding over her place", "You, from Khemmis", the "Red-hair", the "Bright Red" and "Your Name prevails over the West" .

The text in the Book of the Dead is accompanied by oars, standing for the cardinal points and sometimes by Osiris-Apis, Bull of the West. The seven cows and the bull are depicted in front of the offering tables of worshippers.

The Seven Hathors as Musicians of Fate

While it was the period from the Old Kingdom to the middle of the Middle Kingdom which saw women as priestesses, in later times, men took on more and more of the priestly roles. Women became more associated with temple music and as chantresses. Forced by patriarchy perhaps, but in embracing this role, they were emulating one of the forms of their beloved goddess.

The temple of Hathor at Dendera has a unique and beautiful scene in the southern crypt. There is a hymn to the goddess accompanied with a scene in which the Seven Hathors are shown as musicians, playing among the easily recognizable instruments, tambourines and sistrums. In the hymn the Hathors sing to the majesty of Hathor, the goddess of Dendera.

Old myths talk of the Seven, who would bear the disguise of musicians and surround a newborn child and tell his future. The very well known Westcar Papyrus talks of an Old Kingdom story of a group of goddesses, who visit the newborns’ bedside disguised as musicians, and foretell the days of three future kings.

In the Old Kingdom there was an earlier tale of a prediction at the birth of three future kings, in the Westcar papyrus. This prediction is made by a group of other goddesses who come to help with the birth, disguised as musicians.

 

The Seven Hathors and the colour red

 The colour red, reminiscent of blood, fire and energy , was associated with the Seven Hathors. It showed their power and their strength. Spells and prayers to the Seven Hathors often included a part where the demon would be bound with a red cord or red ribbon.

The Seven Hathors and Weaving

Cloth, thread, and textiles were a favoured offering in the cult of Hathor. The connection of thread with the Seven Hathors could have arisen from their weaving destiny – for example, in an old love spell, they are said to “weave fate with a scarlet thread”. Also, the cult of Hathor was essentially a woman’s cult, and since women were closely associated with weaving and , their goddess was also patron of the same. Perhaps, as has been noted by scholars such as Basson,  since  one of the most important tasks of a woman was to weave and clothe her household, perhaps this suggests that by weaving these specific textiles, the women were creating their own act of magic and influence on destiny. The weaving could have been a way of strengthening their magical intent.

Hymns to the Seven Hathor

The Hymn of the Seven Hathors, from the temple at Dendera :

We play the tambourine for your ka,
We dance for your majesty
We exalt you
To the height of heaven.
You are the Mistress of Sekhem,
the menat and the sistrum
The Mistress of Music
For whose ka one lays.

We praise Your Majesty every day,
From dusk until the earth grows light,
We rejoice in Your Countenance, O Lady in Dendera!
We praise You with song.
You are the Lady of Jubilation, the Lady of the Iba-dance (a sacred dance),
The Lady of Music, the Lady of Harp-playing,
The Lady of Dancing, the Lady of Tying on Garlands,
The Lady of Myrrh, and the Lady of Leaping.

We glorify Your Majesty,
We give praise before Your Face.
We exalt Your Power
Over the Gods and the Goddesses.
You are the Lady of Hymns,
The Lady of the Library,
The Great Seshat
At the head of the Mansion of Records.

We propitiate Your Majesty every day.
Your heart rejoices at hearing our songs.
We rejoice when we see You, day by day.
Our hearts are jubilant when we see Your Majesty.
You are the Lady of Garlands, the Lady of Dance,
The Lady of Unending Drunkenness.
We rejoice before Your face; we play for Your Ka.
Your heart rejoices over our performance"

 

Strophe of a song from the Seven Hathors to Hathor

We gladden Thy Majesty daily

And Thy heart rejoices when Thou hearest our songs;

We rejoice when we behold Thee,

Every day, every day.

Our hearts are uplifted by the sight of Thy Majesty,

For Thou art the possessor of the garland of flowers,

The leader of the choral dance,

The bestower of the inebriety that knows no end.

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