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"The Way of God": walking with the Netjeru

To walk on the road of God is to be filled with light,
Great are the advantages gained by those who
Discipline themselves to follow it.
It’s a monument raised by them on this Earth,
Those who follow the Paths of God,
Those who cling to the Ways of God,
Spend all their lives in joy,
Gathering riches without equal.
(…)
The West is the dwelling place for he who has not transgressed the Rule.
Happy is who reaches there!
Nobody can reach there unless
Their hearts have conformed exactly to the Rule.
Down there there is no distinction between rich and poor,
Unless it is in the favour of he who is found to be righteous
When weighted in the scales of justice before the master of Eternity.

-- The inscriptions from the tomb of PetOsiris, high priest of Thoth (4th/3rd century B.C); quoted from: Cristian Jacq, “The living wisdom of ancient Egypt”


Living as a kemetic is walking your path of life together with Netjeru.

Come to the Netjeru with open heart, embrace Them with joy, let Them help you to get better when you are in sadness. Bring Them flowers, water, bread, say Their names, dance for Them, dedicate to Them your actions, listen to music you associate with Them and assemble your devotional playlists. Look at the images of the Netjeru - online or in art albums you may have, marveling at Their beauty. Sit before the shrine and just think about Them. Share with Them your thoughts, your worries and doubts. Don’t be afraid of asking questions.
Look at the wonders of nature and see the manifestations of Netjeru in the sky, in the sun and moon, in every flower and every bird.

Your goal in the kemetic religion is to maintain Maat and keep relationship with the Netjeru.
Religion should bring happiness and fulfillment, and while trials and tests happen, the Netjeru are not here to make your life miserable. In turn, they are loving and caring, and They are willing to help you on your path of spiritual growth.
Devotion begins in the heart;
And “going in Ma’at” is the primary “way”. It’s the way of life; it’s not “practicing religion”, but Living the religion.
The first step in walking in Ma’at, walking with the Netjeru, however simple it may sound, is: “Place God in your heart”.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
First steps in Kemetic Religion

"Come, let me cause you to know them,
namely, the four principles of life…
to bind with them -
Set your heart upon god!
Adhere to the law!
Make revenge!
Go in ma'at!"

Be small of wrath!
Be thoughtful!
Be a good man!.."

"Conversations in the House of Life" ("The Demotic Book of Thoth" - 388-390)

 

If you feel called to Kemetic religion and wonder what should be your first step, my answer always is “Just make that step”. Come before the Netjeru to walk on the path of Ma’at and prepare a place in your heart where your honored Gods will reside, making your body and soul into their temples; guiding your boat on the waters of life.

If you have attraction to certain Netjer, by whatever reason, try talking to that one.
Even if you just consider the deity to be handsome. This also is a valid reason :)
If you are attracted to the pantheon as a whole, address them all, as one divine family… and ask if someone wants to take a larger role in your life, to “step in”.

Once you let them in (as living gods- they may reside in your heart), even if you don’t think about them often, they think of you :)

It’s not required to think about the Gods every single minute of your life, but it makes one happy when you know that deities are loving, caring, helpful and ready to hear your prayers, your praises, and the sharing of your concerns and worries with them. They are like your family and friends; think about your prayer/shrine time as about divine phone call or skype chat with a close friend who is not physically present, but always ready to answer your call and listen.

If you are drawn to several Netjeru already, then start doing more for them and learn more about them.
 
You do not have to have one central Netjer to work with. There is more likely to be several. In Ancient Egypt it was not common to choose only one Netjer to serve/“work with”. People had personal devotions, and may be had their favorites between Netjeru; but more common case was that there was a group, or “family” of the Netjeru who were closer to that particular person.

Frequently it was defined by the place they lived in and other circumstances. We know accounts of ancient Egyptians who had Netjeru appearing to them in dreams, and this causing their focus of devotion to significantly change. There are recorded stories of people who were called for intense devotion by Mut, Aset/Isis and Djehuty after the Netjeru making clear appearance in a dream. But most of the people simply followed their hearts, natural attraction, tradition of family and home town.

Choosing one “primary” Netjer doesn’t mean that you can’t have “many”. Historical example again: even the high priest of one temple could also have priestly ranks and offices in other temples, dedicated to other Netjeru. So, Egyptian priests could bear titles “high priest of NN, and priest of NN, and NN, and having a shift in the temple of NN”, and it totally worked.

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  • helmsman of inepu
    helmsman of inepu says #
    Well done! I'm glad to see someone else suggesting using an image on a cell phone or laptop if you can't afford or find a statue.
“I want it all”: Entering the Joy of Priesthood

* To: A.K., E.H., P.N-U, M.M. – hmw-Ntr & my friends


If you’re not Kemetic but feeling “the call” of this religion, it can be said that any aspiring Kemetic is called for two simple and important tasks:
- Maintain Maat and oppose Isfet (help keep the Universe running by maintaining the Balance and All-Things-Proper – even on a small level of your simple things and daily life)—this is not simply our duty; this is also the duty the Netjeru undertake in far grander scale.

- Commune with the Netjeru – and from simple honor, veneration and worship, driven by love and attraction to their perfection and beauty, achieve the blessed afterlife (that may come in many various forms – there are a lot of things to do in the Duat besides watching your crops in the Aaru/Hetep fields grow!) Choices for eternity are indeed very important.

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Djehuty and Set devotional: calling for submissions

DJEHUTY AND SET: NEED YOUR SUBMISSIONS

Me (Intaier) and my friend Ash are putting a devotional together for Djehuty and Set, both separately and in their combined functions (Such as the Divine Avengers). We're welcoming all you verbose and talented types out there to write, draw or otherwise compose stuff for this (sure to be awesome) book.

Title: A Silver Sun and Inky Clouds : A Devotional Anthology for Djehuty and Set

Editor(s): A. D. Kent, T. Matveeva (an official editor from Neos Alexandria will be added for final work)

Publisher: Bibliotheca Alexandrina (our devotional will appear on the projects page as soon as we have enough material to assemble a rough draft, so get to working!) You can see their catalog of work on Lulu and Amazon.

Djehuty (Greek: Thoth), our beloved ibis-headed Lord of Wisdom and bridegroom of Ma'at, and Set (Greek: Seth), everyone's favorite long-snouted Byronic champion of truth, are the subject of this devotional.
You the contributor are encouraged to focus on:
Djehuty's role in the Hermopolis cycle of myths;
Djehuty's many forms and epithets;
Djehuty's interaction with his consorts Nehemtawy (Horit), Sheshat and Ma'at;
Djehuty's place as the originator of Hermetic thought;
Djehuty and Set's syncretic acts in which one becomes the other;
Djehuty and Set's team activities, in which they function as a team- as with the Divine Avengers, or as the keepers of the divine Laboratory;
Djehuty and Set's roles together in the Contendings (and other myths of the Osirian cycle);
Djehuty and Set's roles together in the Pyramid texts;
Set's roles in the Heliopolis cycle of myths;
Set's many forms and epithets;
Set's interactions with his consorts, spouses (his wife in her many forms) and lovers;
Set's interaction with his children.
Set's place in early Coptic Gnostic Mysticism as a vehicle for salvation from evil;
And any lovely devotional gushiness about these two fine Lords you might feel inspired to make.
We are seeking:
• poetry
• rituals (either devotional or magical)
• prayers
• devotions
• essays
• academic or scholarly articles (with endnotes and bibliography)
• songs
• oracular pieces
• modern myths (5,000 word limit)
• artwork (300dpi; black and white only)
• translations of ancient works (must have permission of the copyright owner or translator if not translated directly from the original language- hieroglyphs, what have you)

You can begin sending your submissions officially since March 1 2016 (but if you have some things ready, you can send right now!)

Deadline for Rough Draft: August 1, 2016

Submission Form: Word document or odt file pasted within the body of an email or as an email attachment. PNGs for pictures, please.
Please put THE DIVINE AVENGERS on the title section of your email, so we know that you aren't just sending us love letters.

Rights: Worldwide, non-exclusive for print book and e-book formats (contributors retain all rights to their work except to retroactively remove their work from the finished product, we will not issue recalls for already sold material);

Contributors: You're not getting paid with money. If you're a contributor whose work is selected, you'll get a PDF copy of the book for personal use and a coupon code to purchase the book at a discount. A permission form will be sent out to all selected submitters once the book is ready for initial assembly.
Email: inity.tm@gmail.com (Intaier), marduksdragon@hotmail.com (Ash)

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Soul, ignited with your light

The last year was very happy one for me, and full of wonderful travels, meetings with new friends, and blessings were poured like rain.
I really hope that the coming year will be also fulfilling and peaceful; and "let the God/s you honor, will send you everything you wish for, and gives their blessings to your friends, families, children and neighbors"...
For my first post in 2016, I want to share some of my devotional poetry again - written in honor of Thoth-Hermes-Djehuty.

I have my soul
ignited with your light…

*

when I whisper the words of love
I feel your wings
around, protecting me;
when I speak your praises -
it’s the only reason to know how to speak,
when I live for you -
it’s the only reason to remember again,
how to breathe…

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The flight to Egypt; dancing in the moonlight

I just recently came back from my [5th, this time] pilgrimage-journey to Egypt; and, I want to tell many stories about my journeys to the land of Netjeru, and my experiences and my spiritual findings and illuminations… so, this would be the first post dealing with the topic, and I need to begin with a story of how I went to Egypt first time ever, and what happened after.

I’ve been drawn to Egypt since my childhood. It was a connection deeper than just fascination by Egyptian art, history, and mythology. In fact, I didn’t like Egyptian mythology much, even, because there were not enough myths in books for children in Soviet Union available, and the myths that were, lacked the adventures which make Greek and Norse myths much more dynamic.

I loved Ancient Egypt as a whole thing. I studied the history, and enjoyed historical fiction; I taught myself not to be frightened in the dim lit Egyptian Hall in the Hermitage, and taught myself not to be disappointed that Egyptian deities look rather obscure, compared to their greek/roman counterparts in the museum halls “next door”. Greek and roman statues of Gods looked like statues of humans, just having all the beauty and perfection. The Netjeru guarded the mysteries.

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May you spend the eternity…

May you spend lifetime with your gods, pleased with you without displaying anger.
May your reward be received after old age.
[…]
May you enter your tomb of the necropolis and mingle with the excellent Bas. May you be judged among them and be declared righteous in Busiris before Wennefer and be well established in Abydos before Shu-Onuris.
May you cross over to the district of Peqer in the god’s retinue and cross the divine region in the retinue of Sokar.
May you join the crew of the Neshmet barque without being turned away. May you see the sun in the sky when it initiates the year.
[…]
May you be triumphant in the sky, a shining one.
[…]
 May you transform yourself into whatever you wish, like the phoenix, with each of your forms being that of a god, just as you desire.

—    Quoted from: Ancient Egyptian Tombs: The Culture of Life and Death © 2011 Steven Snape.(Translation from Papyrus Anastasi I, based on that of Wente 1990:100-1 (Wente,E.(1990) “Letters from Ancient Egypt”)




Is your ultimate idea of paradise to spend your eternity with chosen deity, to enter the sacred marriage, hierogamy of the soul? Some people follow the path of spells that will make them take permanent residence on the fields of Offerings with Osiris but Coffin text spells of the Book of the Two Ways were written especially for "hermopolitan devotion". The selected few CT spells are precisely aimed at making your residence "in the mansion of the Moon" and joining the suite of all devotees of Djehuty who want to "admire his beauty all the time". And why wouldn’t you? When you start a devotional relationship with a deity, it means you align your soul and desires with that deity’s values and personality - and, with all deep and core aspects, not simply something that lies on the surface. You undergo a transformation with each divinity you touch.

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