Random Voice 1

Most snake bites are survivable. The first thing you must do, is determine whether the snake in question was venomous.

Snake venom is made of proteins that can be separated in four main categories: cytotoxins (for local tissue damage), hemotoxins (which cause internal bleeding), neurotoxins (to hit the nervous system) and cardiotoxins (get you right in the heart).

The tjesu heru has all of those toxins in its saliva, plus one more – youarescrwedtoxin. It affects your staying alive system.

If you've been bitten by a tjesu heru, you may notice any of the following:

Intense pain at the site of the wound

Stiffness or joint pain

Muscle spasms

Fever or chills

Convulsions

A plan to overthrow you

Isis giving you the Evil Eye on the lowkey

TjesuHeruBite first aid myths:

Don't try to cut open the area

Don't try to suck out the venom

TjesuHeruBite first aid:

If you or someone you know was bitten by Tjesu Heru, call a healer. If your healer is out of reach, for example because they are at the verge of death, it is always good to have memorized the "Formulae for repelling poison on the first occurrence" yourself.

This is the story of the divine god who came into being of himself. Maker of heaven and earth, of water, of the breath of life, of fire, of the gods, of men, of beasts, of cattle, of reptiles, of the flow of the air, of the fish. The king of humans and gods, Who exists in one Form, to whom periods of one hundred and twenty years are as one, whose names by reason of their multitude are unknowable, for even the gods know them not.

Our second participant is the goddess Isis. She is a wise woman, who has the knowledge of words of power. More rebellious in her heart than a million men, braver than millions of gods, worse to reckon with than millions of spirits. No knowledge is out of her reach, so she decides to learn Ra's secret name.

Yeah, I know, a big bite to swallow.

Now we are on a royal barge, on a dock in Duat. Darkness is surrounding us from all sides, threatening to swallow everything into oblivion. Keeping it away, like a nightlight, is the image of the sun disk, glittering in red and gold. Little orbs of light, little fireflies of thought, buzz around the deck.

Look, over there - a hut inlaid with copper, silver and gold painting the Solar Barque's Journey and invoking the power of the sun.

Ra himself is sitting upon the double throne of the two horizons, made out of tamed fire.

It could have been the perfect picture, had Ra not grown old with the day. His skin is as crumbling papyrus. His bold head is covered in liver marks. His veins pop against thinning skin, the blood inside them glowing hot-white like a flame. Only the Lord's kohl-lined eyes, full of pain and weariness, give any indication he is still alive.

He groans and props his leg on a pile of cushions. Two puncture wounds ooze through the bandages on his shin. As Ra kneads his leg, green venom spreads up the veins of his thigh.

Then the great god summons up his courage. With eyes, molten yellow like his throne, averted upwards, he cries out to the heavens:

"Come to me, you who exist from my body. Pain has struck. My heart knows it, but my eyes cannot see it, nor my hands make it, nor do I recognize it from all I have made. I have never before felt any pain like this. Nothing could hurt more than this. I am the eldest of the eldest, divine seed who came into being out of a god. I am a Great One, the son of a Great One. My father determined for me my name. I have multitudes of names, and I have multitudes of forms, and my being exists in every god. My father and my mother uttered my name, and they hid it in my body at my birth so that none of those who would use against me words of power might succeed in making their enchantments have dominion over Me. I went outside to see what I have made, and wander in the two lands which I created, when something I do not recognize struck. It is not fire. It is not water. My heart is ablaze, body trembling, every limb under the effects of attack. Have the child of the gods brought to me, effective in words, expert in speaking, whose wisdom reaches the sky!"

A shadow ripples under the canopy. Answering the call, Isis appears with her words of magic. Her speech is as the breath of life, her phrases are able to repel pain, her words bring to life those with choked throats.

Her luminous wings shimmer like a rainbow against her elegant white dress. She bows her head, long dark hair hiding her small smile.

And she says, "Lord Ra, I live to serve you."

Ra narrows his eyes. "You live for power, Isis."

"O divine father, the pain has clouded your thoughts. What is this? Is this a snake that has bitten you, one of your children that has raised his head against you? The venom can be overthrown with benevolent words of power. I can cause it to retreat with the sight of your rays."

The sacred god opens his mouth:

"Enough! I know your magics created that snake." Ra makes the mistake of moving his leg. He yelps in pain as green venom spreads farther up his veins. "I feel colder than water and hotter than fire. All my limbs are in sweat, my eye is unsteady. I cannot look at the heavens and rain is pouring down on me as in the time of the Inundation. I am weary of this world. Enough! Just cure the poison."

"Gladly. Tell me your name, my divine father. For he who is able to utter his name lives."

"I am the maker of heaven and earth, the binder of mountains, creator of everything which exists upon them." Warning blazes like a wildfire in Ra's eyes. "I am the maker of the Waters, and I have made Meht-ur to come into being. The maker of the bull for the cow, of pleasure. I am the maker of the secret heaven of the horizon, the one who placed the souls of the gods within it. I am he who opens his eyes and brings light, who shuts his eyes and there is darkness, he at whose command the the waters of Hapi flood, whose name cannot be known by the gods. I am the maker of the hours and the creator of the days. I am the cleaver of the year, who creates the seasons. I am the maker of the fire of life, whereby the works of the houses are caused to come into being. I am Khepri in the morning, Ra at noon and Temu in the evening."

But Isis can't be fooled. "Your name is not among those you have told me. Say it. The poison leaves a man when his name is pronounced."

As if on cue, the poison bites with its pain, more powerful than the burn of a blazing flame.

"Promise to heal me," Ra says in desperation. "And you will receive all you desire... and more."

"I swear to heal you," Isis says.

"Then give me your ears, goddess."

Isis leans forward, eyes misted by her upcoming triumph. She yelps in surprise when the god grasps her hand and places it against his withered brow. Smoke begins to rise underneath her fingertips, curling from her dress, fire spreading up her arm until her entire body is wreathed in flames. The goddess screams as images flood her mind, knowledge so powerful and heavy, it made the sun glow. The first dawn. The last dusk.

Isis screams, the fires die, the goddess collapses in Ra's feet.

Isis rises unsteadily, her breathing heavy. A fiery hieroglyph burns on her palm, an entire existence in one word.

"Flow on, poison, and come forth from Ra." she says. "Burning of the mouth, I am the one who made you, I am the one who sent you. Fall to ground, poison, I have power, the name has been taken away from the great god. Let Ra live, and let the poison die. And if the poison lives, then Ra shall die. And { }, the son of { }, shall live and the poison shall die."

The words are to be spoken over an image of the bitten patient, written on the hand of the bitten patient, and drawn likewise on a strip of finest linen, placed at the neck of the bitten patient.

Lovely story, lovely spell, right reader? But what happened afterwards? This is only known to Ra, Isis, Bast and Sadie Kane, whose ba is apparently nosy. And me, of course, the incredible Random Voice who gets paid $480/hr.

Once the sun god has relaxed, pain no longer flooding his brain, Isis decides to strike like her snake.

"My lord needs rest," she suggests. "A long, long rest."

Ra opens his eyes, looks out at the world like a man, whose life no longer belongs to himself. His fire, once so bright it illuminated the sky, so hot it burned the land, flickers for one last time and smokes away.

"Bast!" he calls.

Bastet appears at his side, a warrior loyal to the end.

She gives Isis a sideways look. "My lord, is she bothering you?"

Ra shakes his head. "Nothing will bother me much longer, my faithful cat. Come with me now. We have important matters to discuss before I depart."

"My lord? Where are you going?"

"Into forced retirement." Ra glares at Isis. "That is what you want, goddess of magic?"

Isis bows.

"Never, my lord!"

Bast draws her knives and steps toward Isis, but Ra holds out his arm.

"Enough, Bast. I have another fight in mind for you-one last, crucial fight. As for you, Isis, you may think you have won because you mastered my secret name. Do you realize what you've started? Osiris may become pharaoh, but his reign will be short and bitter. His royal seat will be a pale reflection of my throne of fire. This boat will no longer ride the Duat. The balance between Ma'at and Chaos will slowly degrade. Egypt itself will fall. The names of her gods will fade to a distant memory. Then one day, the entire world will stand on the brink of destruction. You will cry out to Ra, and I will not be there. When that day comes, remember how your greed and ambition caused it to happen."

"My lord." Isis bows respectfully.

"Let us go, Bast. We are no longer wanted."

In the dead of night, Isis stands alone, her laughs escort the last fire orbs into the sky and cover the splash after splash as oars fall in the water.

Soon she leaves, too.

The sun boat drifts down the river, unmanned.