Sobek

Sobek, my Daddy

I’ve known Sobek for a very long time, or so it seems. He was not the first god I ever had a relationship with; that honour goes to Aset/Isis. Nevertheless, Sobek was still one of the first, and our relationship has gone through many various changes over the years. I have always loved crocodiles and dinosaurs, and perhaps this was a sign I was always going to fall head over heels in love with a crocodile god, but there you go. I didn’t pick it, but I did suspect it very strongly. I felt closer to Him than I felt to any other gods.

It was because of Sobek that I set up Per Sebek as a dodgy Angelfire site ten years ago, back in 2004, when Web 1.0 was still a Thing. I hand-coded all my pages myself, and put it up for Sobek. I also put it up for other seekers, because I wanted them to have less of a hard time finding information about Him that I’d had, trying to scrape up what little I could find from a thousand different places. It actually doesn’t help that no one really writes about Sobek, not at length anyway, so you really do have little scraps and such to make do with. But it’s getting better. There are sources available now that weren’t available back then, and that’s great. There’s even an actual ~200 pg book about Sobek in the Faiiyum, which is probably the most anyone has ever written about Sobek absolutely ever in the whole world ever.

I don’t know if I really understood the importance of why I wanted to do that for Sobek moreso than for any other god, though. But Sobek was important, so I made Him a website, and it’s still going now, even though it’s outgrown Augelfire, and moved hosts about three times since before it settled down here on WordPress. And you might be wondering why I’m spending all this time talking about this website but it’s so central to my relationship with Him, in the sense that I’ve been doing this for ten years, and Sobek has always been the main priority.

I didn’t realise the importance Sobek held with me until I was divined within the Kemetic Orthodox tradition, and Sobek was revealed as my Parent. For me, that just made it even more important, because He became my primary god in a way that drove the rest of my practice ever since.

He’s a very interesting god to work with. He’s very patient with me, and while I know He’s always there, He isn’t telling me what to do. He’s guiding me, offering suggestions, and leaving the rest to me. The best image I have for what it’s been like working with Him over the years is that it’s like travelling down a long, meandering river you can’t see the end of. It goes on and on, and there are bends and twists everywhere, and it feels like you’re digging and forming the river as you go, making it up as you go along. Changing paths if you hit a dead-end or an obstacle, or finding a new and more interesting path as you go along. Sobek will introduce me to things just because He thinks I might like them, but there’s no pressure there, either. If it’s not my thing, we move on. I feel like there are many, many ways Sobek has to get me to where He wants me to be, so the exact route we take isn’t really important in the grand scheme of things. We’ll get there, one way or another. Sobek plays the long game, after all, and be assured that He has far more patience than you ever will. I mean, the process by which He turned me into a metalhead took fucking years. Like, half my life at least. (And even then, there are things missing from that account that I ought to add that have been significant. Like going to a Sabbath gig last year when they toured Australia. Which was nuts. And awesome. And nuts. And awesome. \m/) And now I play Black Sabbath for Him because Sobek is a Sekrit Metalhead.

The aspects of Sobek I’m most closest to are Sobek, Lord of Bakhu, and Sobek Shedety from the Faiiyum. Bakhu is a place on the Western horizon where the sun sets, and Sobek has a temple made out of carnelian. It’s become something of a place I go in meditation to meet Him, as well as meet with Hekate and Artemis (but that’s another story). Sobek as Lord of Bakhu is, for me, representative of the evening star, and the night boat. Crocodiles are actually nocturnal, so this makes sense to me. Sobek taking over at night to help bring Ra-Wesir safely through the Duat. He is said to be able to navigate the waters like no other, so I can see Him as being the only one with the knowledge and experience to safely navigate the waters of the Duat through the hours of the night.

Sobek Shedety is a form I am only just becoming acquainted with. This is Sobek from Shedet, a place in the Faiyum region. It’s one of those things that’s calling and nagging at me until I know why. I”m only just beginning to figure that out. I know that Sobek and Wesir, and Sobek and Heru-sa-Aset were conflated in that region, and for me, the links between these gods is the closest there. And this is important for me, because when I was divined a Shemsu, Hemet (AUS) told me that She thought I was a child of Heru, and argued with the divination, only to be told that no, it was Sobek, and Heru was just really close to Him. That was back in 2006, and I’ve been trying to figure that out ever since. I think with Sobek Shedety, I’m beginning to get close to figuring that out. It’s  not that I want historical precedence, but the fact that there might be historical precedence is making me seek it out, to better understand my gods and their connections.

Y’know, because no one writes about Sobek, except perhaps Marco Zecchi, to whom I will forever be indebted, since he wrote an actualfax book about Sobek Shedety. ❤ So it’s hard to find anyone who bothers to write much more than a few paragraphs, nor dig deeper into Sobek’s cult. Zecchi’s also written a book about hieroglyphic fragments in the Faiyum as well, but it doesn’t appear to be for sale anywhere, so. *cries* Maybe I’ll find that in a few years at a reasonable price.

But I digress. Because I could ramble on here all day if I felt like it, but I think I ought to be more disciplined than that, so I’ll leave this here.

Offerings
i.e. the important bit. 😛

If you’re wanting to get to know Him, and are looking for suitable offerings, the traditional offerings of water and bread go down well. He also likes chicken and fish, though I don’t offer fish because I’m not very fond of it.

Incense-wise, myrrh is a particular favourite, as He holds the epithets ‘He who rejoices in the incense’ and ‘Lord of myrrh’. I have also had good success with frankincense and sandalwood. I suspect He has a preference for the darker/woody fragrances/scents, rather than floral ones, if that helps.

He is fond of alcoholic spirits, such as rum and bourbon, and He likes midori because it is green. I haven’t tried Him with other spirits, or other forms of alcohol, though. I can really only drink spirits, since wine gives me migraines, and I don’t like beer. But if you have a favourite alcoholic drink you think He might like, offer it and see if He likes it.

Green and/or shiny is always a winner, too, if you’re at a loss. Cucumbers, since they were seen as an aphrodisiac, and they are green. But I wouldn’t offer it to Sobek unless you’re doing fertility or sex magic or things might get, well, uncomfortable. (I would also like to add that He also likes blue as well as green.) Shiny things includes jewellery, toys, gemstones, etc. Green and shiny tends to go down well.

You might also consider acquiring crocodile or alligator teeth or leather, skulls or skins. He seems to connect quite closely with crocodilians and I don’t think He’d mind having some representation there if you have the means to acquire it, particularly if it’s ethically sourced. I wouldn’t keep a sacred crocodile for Him, though, unless you’ve got a crocodile farm out back. 😉

I also do art and write for Him. Any devotional work is always appreciated. Write Him a hymn, or draw Him something. Write new myths for Him, or IDK make Him something out of clay or make some jewellery or something. Sobek’s good for creative works.

I also offer sexual things to Him, but that’s because I have that kind of relationship with Him. He likes leather and spikes and heavy metal and kink and given His Min-like sexual aspects, I think if you asked Him to help with a sexual problem, I think you’d be better off asking Hethert/Hathor, unless you just want to up your sex drive. I’m still exploring this aspect of Sobek myself, so don’t feel like I’m putting you off here, just trying to suggest that sex means different things to different gods and you should consider whether what you want is right for the god in question that you wish to petition, or things might turn out not the way you expected.

But yes. Play Him some of your favourite music, too, or go swimming, or explore marshlands. Learn about crocodiles. All these things can be good offerings and good devotional things to do if you want to grow your relationship with Him. I’m sure there are others I haven’t thought of yet, but that’s alright. It’d be a bit dull if I had the answers to everything.