Random Number Game!! (Read 1st post for a chance at 20k!)

[WebenBanu]

We use sistra during the procession of our Bast ritual each year, and at specific points during the ritual itself.^_^  

[WebenBanu]

At first I was disappointed- it turned out to be someone just shaking it, rather simplistically I thought. And some unknown whooshing sound about halfway through.  

[WebenBanu]

After reading the description (which, as it turns out, is always a good idea), it seemed much more interesting.  

[WebenBanu]

"Egyptian music, after the description given by Lucius Apuleius in "Metamorphoses" (2nd c AD). Apuleius described the rhythm performed on the sistrum at the apparition of the goddess Isis as a "triple shake of the arm." Hans Hickmann interpreted this rhythm as three equal notes followed by a rest in order to separate each group of three. *sistrum, pouring of libation from a situla"  

[WebenBanu]

Seems like it wasn't just random playing after all- it was an offering rhythm. And that whooshing sound? A libation being poured.  

[WebenBanu]

I should work this into my ritual form somehow.  

[WebenBanu]

The only problem is that I'm already using one hand for holding the offering, and one to alternately pour and use ritual gestures- a kind of sacred sign language deciphered from reliefs and hieroglyphic script.  

[WebenBanu]

I'd need a third hand to play an instrument, too! ^_^'  

[WebenBanu]

The only instrument I'm using right now is my cat's purring. I think it probably resembles the sacred mnjt necklace-rattle closely enough.^_^  

[WebenBanu]

And it doesn't really seem to require the use of my hands- she usually follows me into rite, and frequently begins purring on her own.^_^  

[WebenBanu]

Incidentally, that was the first time I'd ever typed mnjt in transliteration.^_^ It's a necklace sacred to Hwt-Hrw, made up of a special kind of bead which rattles as the necklace is shaken. It usually has a long, frequently papyrus or lotus-shaped counterpoise which would hang down your back if you wore it.  

[WebenBanu]

Normally I've seen it written out as "menat," but I double checked it in my dictionaries and it is definitely mnjt in the standardized computer transliteration system.  

[WebenBanu]

One homonym of mnjt- or at least a word with the same consonental frame- which I noticed while looking it up is the word for "Mooring Post."  

[WebenBanu]

It's a reference to a docking pole- the place where you'd tie up your boat when you landed.  

[WebenBanu]

It's also a common title for AE funerary goddesses.