November 15, 2003
Today Julia and I had fun tromping in antique shops in Old Town. I had that 'gut feeling' something would be there.
I found a long tin titled 'Egyptian' on the back, 'exclusively for The Gidumal Organization', made in China. My attempts to learn how old it was didn't reveal much.
The Gidumal Organization is based in Hong Kong. Also a ''GM Metal Packaging Ltd, established in 1991, imports raw materials for tins from the UK, [South] Korea, Japan and Brazil, according to director Sunil Gidumal. The base metal steel plate is iron. They call it tin sheeting because of the top coating, the shiny silver, which is tin. We receive it plated, the mill has got to do that directly," Gidumal says.
"The plate is formed into cookie tins, candy tins, basically, containers, for either stationery or liquor bottles, bottles of wine, for chocolates, those kinds of things. We actually manufacture metal packaging, we don't only use tin, we use galvanised sheeting." ''
This was the likely manufacturer, although the piece looks older than ten years old. A few nicks and scratches can do that, however. I suspect it originally contained sticks of incense.
9 7/8 in. by 2 3/16in (25C by 5 1/2C)
Most of the 'big names' in the Egyptian pantheon are present. Notice who's at the far left of the line up, however:
Also, Khepera is there. 'He who is coming into being of himself' is a Creator god in the form of a beetle or scarab, mentioned only as far back as the 5th Dynasty (ca 2494-2345 BC) in the Pyramid Texts, compared to Set, who is much older. Although scarabs were produced in mass quantities in the Middle Kingdom and beyond, this deity never developed a cult following. Notice the scarab head in this detail:
Set detail
Khepera/Xepera detail
I also found a brass deer with antlers from India which I rescued. According to Sacred Source, ''The Stag God has symbolized fertility and abundance since Neolithic times.'' By this icon's inclusion in my sacred space, I further honor the masculine aspect of deity.
the 'Stag God'
What surprised me is that I should be so surprised. I DID put a call out to the Mystery and I was answered. I have a genuwine, bonified accurate Set image, quite in relation to the others in the pantheon, which is what I wanted. I was looking for this desire to be answered in some other way, like a statue of Set. But this answer serves well.
Note of February 8, 2004. The magick doesn't end here with this acquisition. Learn more in The Cutting Edge Of The Mystery!
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