  About From 1994-1999, the daily devotions had been available exclusively to followers of the House of Netjer. We share them now with the general public so that all may learn from these enlightening and thought-provoking missives. See Also |
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! As we reach the end of the Kemetic Year, we feel the age of the year upon us. In the northern hemisphere, where Kemet of antiquity and of today are located, we feel the summer heat, the nearness of the sun that is nurturing as well as scorching, and we feel parched, needing the return of moisture and the beneficial nature that will make our crops grow and ready them for harvest. Mentally we feel the age of the year, too. We're ready to make new goals, get geared up to do new things. The last of the things we promised we'd do in the previous year are working themselves out, perhaps more so than usual for us in the faith this year since this past year has belonged to two powerful goddesses of change, life and time. It can be an uncomfortable time, but it can also be a quietly exciting time filled with promise. I pray for each and every one of you to hold the last days of our year tightly to your hearts, and carry yourself forward into the newness which is our annual Zep Tepi with joy and with open hearts and minds ready for the next set of challenges -- and blessings! -- which will come along with the changing of the year. Whether I will be seeing you in person or in spirit on Wep Ronpet, may you find this day to be most holy and most nourishing. Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! The Gods are established in front of Ra's Crew In ancient times, all the icons of the gods were beginning to progress to the places They would herald the new year, starting in one Kemetic week. In modern times, we're gearing up for our seventh annual Kemetic New Year celebrations here at the temple...the very first time we're having them entirely in our temple, on our own sacred ground. This is very, very exciting, humbling, and terrifying all at once -- but I can't wait! As we near this holiest of holidays, make a holiday in your house with your gods, spirits and ancestors. Think about everything you have planned for the New Year, and start to make it happen. Even the gods are getting ready! Dua Netjeru! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Feast of Yinepu
Purification 42 Hail White-Tusks, coming forth from Lake-land, I do not slaughter divine cattle-herds. Our forty-second and final purification contains a pun (the words for "slaughter" and "cattle-herds" are both pronounced smaam in the final section). It also contains a proscription, making a fourth purification to add to the last three, of taking for oneself what has been dedicated to Netjer -- in this case, poaching herds of livestock kept on temple grounds for the gods' daily meals (and, eventually if one were patient, the daily meal of all people associated with the temple through the "reversion of offerings" rituals already discussed). This is a particularly important statement if, as has been theorized by many, the Purifications began not as ritual notes of innocence for the deceased, but as a list of "purification requirements" for priests on duty. Priests had direct access to these offerings, where a person who did not work in the temple very likely would not, and so pocketing profits from divine offerings would not be as serious a problem as it would for someone with daily access to the piles of food, cakes, drinks and other rich offerings coming in from the cities and palaces. The "bottom line" of all four purifications? Remember your god (or goddess) first. All else can then follow. On a festival of Yinepu heralding the closing of one Kemetic Year and the opening of another, I rejoice that we have completed our reading of the 42 Purifications and hope they will present a new source of inspiration and wisdom for each of you. I look forward to our upcoming Wep Ronpet and pray to all gods and goddesses that each of you find appropriate and happy relationships in your lives and that you celebrate all love and abundance with each other. Dua Yinepu! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Procession of Mut (Day 3)
Purification 41 Hail Carrying-in-His-Portion, coming forth from Ma'ati, I do not carry off the offering-cakes for the children; I have not tied up the god of my town. A third purification goes with the previous two: Purification 41, overseen by the "Carrier of Portion" coming from Ma'ati, "Two Truths," which is the place of a ka's final judgment (making this guardian Yinepu as the one Who oversees that judgment). In its first line, one is purified from taking offerings intended to feed children. (Has anyone noticed we have a progression, from the gods to ancestors to children? Something to think about...) Its second line is a bit more enigmatic ("I have not tied up/fettered the town god,") until one realizes that at the time when this purification was originally written, each god or goddess of a locality probably had a theophany, an animal symbol. Many people mistakenly believe the ancient Egyptians worshipped these animals. The Greeks and Macedonians who came into Egypt during this period poured much time and many resources into expanding these "animal cults" as they are often called, as they found it fascinating and interesting that "Egyptian savages" put so much of their religious interest into a bird or a cat or a monkey or a bull. A few years ago in a museum I overheard a conversation between a mother and her young daughter, as they were staring at a votive cat statue. "And that, honey, is the cat those Egyptians worshipped." I turned to her and asked if she were a Christian (she was) -- then asked if she and her family worshipped sheep! "Of course not!" came the confused reply. "But Jesus is called the Lamb of God," I countered. About a minute later, she corrected her daughter into knowing that the cat was a symbol of a god, not the actual god itself, any more than a "graven image" is a god, or a rock or a tree or a river is a god. "Untie" your god by understanding that while you may have a particular experience of Him or Her, others may have very different ones -- and this is right and good, as Divinity cannot be "fettered" by the human imagination. As we near the Kemetic New Year, may you "let Netjer loose" in your own life so that abundance can come forth! May Mut, golden Lady of Amun's house, bring you all prosperity in Her feast. Dua Mut! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Mut (Day 2)
Purification 40 Hail Holy-of-head, coming forth from his shrine, I do not carry away offering-cakes from the Akhu. I am glad to be back in my office and returning to a regular schedule of devotions after a long but very productive trip to Barcelona for the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions. Thank all of you for your kind wishes and notes that I read while "on the road." It was a blessing to take all of you with me in my heart as your delegate before the religious leaders of our planet. In relation to the thirty-ninth Purification, Purification 40 discusses the disposition of offerings made to the Akhu, the blessed dead or ancestors of the people. Just as one does not abscond with Netjer's offerings before they have been blessed and shared, one also does not divert the offerings given in honor of the Akhu, lest their favor and help in our lives be passed by. I invite you to share an offering with your ancestors at our Online Ancestral Shrine modeled after the field of offerings at Abdju (modern-day Abydos, Middle Egypt). May they receive you warmly, happily and in all blessing. May the great goddess Mut, Who most recently visited with the Akhu in the Feast of the Beautiful Valley, bless you richly also on this holiday of Hers. Dua Akhu! Dua Mut! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Posting from Barcelona, Spain Defending Heru-sa-Aset (Day 2)
Purification 39 Hail Neheb-nefret, coming forth from his cavern, I do not cancel the offering-cakes of Netjer. Purification 39 is dedicated to a Netjeri (a spirit) called "the One Who harnesses good things," and protects against taking back what one has already pledged, in this case, the patu netjeru or the "divine offering cakes." The verb here translated as "to cancel" or "to annul," hedj, can also be translated "to destroy" or "to damage." Given the context of the established offerings (the "cake offering" describes an offering always given in a temple by priests to a god or goddess, every morning, as part of His or Her standard ration), I believe this purification is not about destroying offerings, but refusing to give them or somehow diverting them before they reach their intended Source. For the ancient Kemetic as well as the modern Kemetic Orthodox, offerings make a specific journey: from their point of origin to the hands of the offerer, firstly to an intended deity, and then, once He or She has enjoyed the offering, back into the hands of the offerer to be used or shared by him or her and his or her family and friends. Offerings are never wasted. Tables in ancient scenes piled high with food, flowers and luxury gifts were not set aflame, left to rot, or thrown away in the temple trash -- they were shared with Netjer, Who then shared them with Its children. We give, in order that Netjer give to us. May we not interfere with the offering cakes, lest Netjer find less reason to share with us. May you share your offerings, whatever they are, with the gods and goddesses that They share an offering of blessing in return. Dua Netjer! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Posting from Barcelona, Spain Jubilation in the Entire Land
Purification 38 Hail Nehebkau, coming forth from his cavern, I do not cause grief. The thirty-eighth purification is dedicated to Nehebkau, "the one Who harnesses the spirits," son of the goddess Serqet-Aset. He is personified as a snake-headed deity, although given hermaphroditic features that often cause people to mistake Him for a snake goddess rather than a snake god, and He is powerful in ancestral heka. The verb here is written in a very sloppy manner, and a number of translators have disagreed on its meaning. I have found this purification translated in several ways, including "I do not make extollings" and "I do not commit theft," and after consulting a corrected image of the original papyrus I am using for my translations here (the papyrus of Ani currently housed in the collection of the British Museum), I believe it is a Late Egyptian writing of the word saqyt, the causative form of the verb aqyt, meaning "grief" or "grieving." This means nothing in terms of its religious meaning, but I realize some of my readers might be following along and wish to know how I have arrived at various translations. Grief is a natural human reaction to loss or negative news. While it can have a calming effect on a person in shock, it is generally not something we wish to inflict on each other; we get enough grief without having to make more in this world. On this day when the entire land celebrates, do not cause grief, and resolve not to cause it any day of your life in the purity of maŽat. Dua Nehebkau! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Posting from Barcelona, Spain
Purification 37 Hail Wadjet of the people, coming forth from Sau, I do not revile Netjer. Companion to Purification 34 ("I do not revile the Nisut"), purification 37 invokes Wadjet as the sacred cobra coiled about the kingly crowns against those who would revile Netjer, the gods and goddesses Themselves. Here, Wadjet is described as coming forth from Sau (Greek Sais) and with the epithet "of the people" (em rekhyet): the masses, the subjects of the crown She sits upon. I pray to Wadjet, spitter of flame Who guards the shrine of the icons of our faith, that She drive away all isfet from the gods and goddesses She protects. May She also rise in the hearts of all the people Who love Her. Dua Wadjet! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Posting from Barcelona, Spain
Purification 36 Hail Ihy, coming forth from the Nun, I do not exalt my own voice. Purification 36 invokes Ihy, the sistrum-playing son of Hethert and Heru-Behdety, for His guardianship over sound and volume, in this case, the volume of kai kheru-i, or "[putting] my own voice high." This can be interpreted as a literal statement ("I did not yell,") or it can be interpreted as not using oneŽs voice as a weapon, not attempting to talk over another person or to assert oneself by drowning out all other voices. Given our past purifications about the power of words and the usefulness of harmony in the human community, it is a fairly obvious purification that shouldnŽt require much of my voice to clarify for you -- I leave you to contemplate it for yourselves in the harmonious melody that Ihy brings. Sometimes, the best thing to say about something is nothing at all. Far from being tolerance, a dodge of real issues or deliberate vagueness, sometimes one realizes that one just doesnŽt need to comment on everything. May MaŽat teach you just how powerful your words are so that you find appropriate places to use them, or not, as the case might be, and that you find yourself purifying as we continue the 42 purifications. Dua Ihy! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Saq-Min Posting from Barcelona, Spain
Purification 35 Hail Working-in-His-Heart, coming forth from Tjebu, I do not wade in waters. The thirty-fifth purification is governed by the local god of Antinaeiopolis (Tjebu), a city in Upper Kemet. Bearing in mind that Upper Kemet is an arid area with a thin strip of cultivatable land, the river and irrigation canals at this point are critical for maintenance of life -- both for drinking water and for pure water to flow into the fields. Thus, it would be extremely important to keep those waters clean -- to not wash clothes or to go swimming in potable water would be important. For those of us who do not live in a desert community, the importance of clean water might not seem so large. Any of us who have lived through a drought, however, know that the appropriate use of the liquid life that is water is akin to the preservation of life itself, and not to waste natural resources (as water is an unrenewable resource) is still an important thing even in a world where most get their water from pipes rather than directly from natural sources. I pray today to Hapi, the moving river Nile of Kemet, that He continue to feed His people in modern Egypt even if His powers are somewhat abated by the Aswan Dam; and that everyone, everywhere, when pouring a ritual offering of water realize how precious and important an offering it truly is. I pray also in the name of Min, Whose festival is celebrated today, that water continues to retain its lifegiving qualities and blesses us all. Dua Min! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Aset Webenut ("Luminous")
Purification 34 Hail You-Who-Leaves-Nothing-Out, coming forth from Djedu (Busiris), I do not revile the Nisut. Wesir, the Nisut of the Akhu and the first mythological ruler of the people of the Two Lands, He Who "leaves nothing out," is the guardian of Purification 34. The verb here translated "to revile," iry shenty, also means to curse, to dispute, to oppose or to speak badly of someone, in this case a Nisut. For the ancients this purification needs little explanation. In a country where religion and politics is completely united, and where the Nisut is the First Citizen symbolizing all people, it makes sense to state one had not cursed Him or Her. To do so would be to curse oneself. But today, when the people of Kemet no longer have political sovereignty and the office of Nisut-bity is generally one of spiritual rather than political leadership, how are we to understand this purification? As the Nisut for my people, I would ask that each of you prayerfully consider this a purification against badmouthing any person having authority, whether a parent, a teacher, an elder, a political figure, or a spiritual teacher -- either yours or someone else's. This is absolutely not to say there are not authority figures who abuse their authority, or that it is wrong to think for yourself. It is to say that in the spirit of Ma'at we should consider all persons children of Netjer capable of teaching us something, and therefore worthy of our respect in some way, even if not in all ways. In addition, all the purifications we've already discussed, and will continue to discuss, about the futility and potential for isfet related to saying bad things about others should stand -- there are far better ways to assert Ma'at than character assassination and verbal pot-shots, the types of "reviling" discussed here. In the name of Wesir, I pour cool water for all spiritual teachers, past and present, and for all spiritual students, including those teachers. May we always respect each other and honor the gods and goddesses through Their children, all teachers and students in their own way in this House of Life we call Earth. Dua Aset! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Reunion, Day 14 (final)
Purification 33 Hail Nefertem, coming forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I do not wrong myself, I do not do evil. The thirty-third purification is guarded by Nefertem, the son of Ptah and Sekhmet, from the temple Het-ka-Ptah, "The House of Ptah's ka" at Mennefer (Memphis). It describes two kinds of wrongdoing: iuty, or "wrongdoing" directed at oneself; and iry bin, literally "the making of evil." Bin is an evil action or thought, sometimes translated "bad" or "negative," as opposed to isfet, an entire state of being opposed to Ma'at. One could say bin can lead into isfet, so here the purification is hoping to stop evildoing before it even reaches that point. This purification singles out wronging oneself as well as general acts of wrongdoing. Why? And why does the comment about not wronging oneself come before the one about doing any wrong at all? Thoughts to contemplate on this first day of the last month of our Kemetic year. I pray to Ra, the owner of this month, and Nebt-het and Aset Who blessed this year, that all your actions multiply Ma'at, for yourself and for everyone around you. Dua Hethert! Dua Heru-wer! Dua Unnefer! Dua Min! Dua Tasenetnofret! Nekhtet! I invite your discussion of and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.
Thought for the Day:
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