A few weeks ago I had approached Set about handling a certain situation within our online communities. I had asked him if he could help with this situation, and he told me that he would if I would perform another formal execration in his name. However, unlike last time, I was to invite other members of the online community to join in. They could petition him execrate whatever they wanted and I would perform the rite on my Wep Ronpet, August 2.
I agreed, though I was unsure as to why I needed to go about it this way. I placed out a notice for other people to join in and I slowly began to prepare for how I would smite a/pep. I had learned from my last formal execration that I didn’t really care for the talking from a book method, and the candle wax thing was way too messy for my tastes. I knew I wanted to try a different way, something that was uniquely my own.
The Setup
I chose to make a different kind of effigy for a/pep this year. I went with something that I have explored fairly in-depth over the past year- the usage of fabric in different magical applications. I decided that I could create what would essentially be a sock in the shape of a snake, and I would fill said snake with everyone’s petitions. It seemed simple enough, so I waited until I had a fair amount of petitions racked up, and then I set to work.
On the evening before the first epagomenal day I wrote each petition down on a slip of white paper. I utilized red ink because it seemed like the whole theme of this particular execration was red. Whether red for fire, red for blood or red for Set (or a mixture of all and more), I couldn’t say. But everything I did, I kept feeling as though red was the color I should be aiming for. On the back of each petition I wrote the name of the petitioner (where applicable) and I placed it into my execration pot. Each of these petitions would become the “guts” of my snake, so I kept them long and lean so that they would fit into the snake pretty easily.
Because I had started early (not sure why, I was driven to do so, so I did), I decided to make an altar space where the petitions could swirl and stew and build up potency before I destroyed them the following Saturday. The execration pot was placed on top of a sigil, aimed to keep the juju inside of the pot, and the lid and knife on top of the pot ensured nothing could escape.
Click the image to see more pre-execration altar pictures.
The pot is also placed on top of a very big sun. I have developed this sort of…. belief that Creation falls within the sun. Most of the ruling deities within our pantheon are solar in nature, plus the sun can burn the hell out of anything and everything, so I felt it was a good symbol to place the execration pot on. Nothing escapes the watchful Eye of Ra. Nothing that tries to exist within Creation can escape the rays of the sun.
I also placed offering dishes on the altar that would be used to house water on the day of the rite. There is also incense and Re-Ment offerings to last my mini-Set until the following Saturday. As I’m sure is obvious, there is a lot of red.
The night before the rite was to occur, I finished writing out all of the rest of the petitions I had received. I also gathered up the materials to make my snake. I tied all of the petitions together, and used 4 black cords knotted 7 times to keep them together. The black cord and 7 knots are suggested in Reidy’s book for execration, and I chose to use 4 cords, as 4 is a symbolic number for death in my personal codex. To the ancient Egyptians, 4 was a number for totality, so I chose to interpret this as total control over a/pep and complete and total destruction of the petitions inside of the snake.
I began to sew my snake. I used red fabric and orange thread (closest I had to red). I was told while making the snake, to take care and time in the construction of my snake. I think the natural impulse would be to make a shoddy-built effigy, since we’re just going to rip it apart anyways. But Set reminded me that many times, the things we execrate, the things we have to destroy, they were once loving parts of our lives. They were things that suited us, that we needed in our lives. Things that we loved and cared for that have reached the end of their usefulness. So, too, was the snake I was creating. I had spent hours writing petitions down and coming up with the method for making this happen. Don’t short change the quality of my effigy because I would be destroying it 12 hours later.
I stuffed the snake full of everyone’s petitions and sewed up the mouth. I then placed the snake inside of my execration pot and returned the knife and lid to their rightful places to await the next day’s rite.
The Execration
The final altar setup wasn’t too different from my initial setup. There is still a lot of red. Still a lot of solar. And now there are the additions of my large Set statue, extra cutting and burning utensils, and “real” offerings of fancy lemonade and a cookie because I didn’t know what else to give him.
I had no formal script for this rite. I decided to use music to fuel everything I did for this execration. I listened to it while I wrote the petitions, while I made the snake, and while I did the execration itself (Fall Out Boy’s “Save Rock and Roll” album, if you’re curious). I got the fortune of mirroring this ritual in the Unseen as well, at Set’s request. And even though I was doing my lines on the fly, I felt like I was going to do well.
We started off the ritual with an exchange of position. “I am now you, and you are now me”. I removed the effigy from it’s prison and set to work slowly destroying it’s body and it’s contents. I had originally hoped to destroy the snake entirely, and then set it on fire entirely, but I had too much snake and too small of a pot. So instead, I would destroy some of the snake, and then set it to burn while I destroyed other parts of the snake. I went in this pattern until the snake was completely decimated.
“You shall be hunted down and struck where you stand.
You will be shown no mercy and given no quarter.
As sure as the sun rises, we will prevail.”
I learned from my last formal execration and decided to burn everything outside on the balcony. This way I didn’t have to worry about catching fire to my carpets or ruining my wood furniture. I made sure to grab every piece of thread that I could as well as any piece of paper that might have missed it’s mark in the execration pot.
Once the pot had cooled down, I turned the ashes out into one of my plant containers. Sometimes death can serve as a means to enrich our soil and give us firm foundations for rebirth and growth. It is my hope that this execration creates the death that fuels your rebirth and growth into the new year. May you all reach new heights over the next year.
Di Wep Ronpet Nofret
The Twisted Rope 