  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!
Mysteries of Wesir (Day 5: Feast of Sokar-Wesir) When I stopped overnight at Tawy House during the holiday yesterday, I had many reminders of Wesir to keep me company during the long nights of vigil. From the corn kernels I found strewn across my bed (probably the lunch of a passing mouse, but oddly appropriate things to find as I readied for some rest); to a beautiful wreath of dried flowers, grains and small farming implements handmade by and given to Tawy by our Djedetmiwesir; to a drive across Indiana fields and farmland to visit with our Mawy, Meteru, Maubet, Saheb and a little one very soon to be joining the world, to the effect of my offerings sinking into the ground surrounded by piles of dried leaves on Yinepu's altar stone, Wesir was very much with me these last few hours. His rising to the throne of eternal life is honored today with much feasting and celebration. Enjoy the holiday -- the long-awaited sprouts are beginning to ascend. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day:  Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Mysteries of Wesir (Day 4: Night Vigil) Today is the day we've been waiting for in our Mysteries, quite literally. Beginning at sundown, we will pray the hours together, as Aset and Her sister Nebt-het mourn the loss of the beloved Wesir, and Djehuty and Yinepu assist in putting Him aright for His funerary transformation. I invite all of you to join me in these prayers, whenever and wherever you are. Our lights will be burning for you and for Him. All things that grow require a time of waiting. And now, we wait for our growth. I pray in the name of Wesir that your growth comes right on schedule. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Mysteries of Wesir (Day 3: Mourning; Destroying the Ass and Serpent) In the United States, many people, myself included, will be celebrating this most somber day of our Kemetic calendar with a rather non-somber festival, that of Thanksgiving. While originally perhaps its intention was to spend a holy day praying and giving thanks for one's bounty, these days we celebrate Turkey Day with lots of food, football and general family enjoyment in one manner or another. There is no reason why the modern Kemetic Orthodox cannot strike a balance between the two festivals. While we are thoughtful, and prayerful, at this time, we also know that the Feast of the risen Wesir is coming very, very soon....so we're getting ready! Enjoy your festivals today whatever they might be. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Mysteries of Wesir (Day 2: Night of Death) Our green candles are lit and shining in the dark of the shrine, as Wesir goes to His final earthly rest. Yet another year has passed. Outside, the ground "died" yesterday in a shower of snow. Now I can no longer see the earth, but only its funeral blanket. The only color is from the evergreens framing my window, and the browns of tree trunks awaiting their spring. While the snow was falling and the land was being prepared for its long sleep, I was taking part in ritual with our people, celebrating the life of Wesir and the pending transition into the land where life is eternal rather than sporadic, where the ancestors are. We shared our offerings with each other and the silent earth that now sleeps quietly under Nut. May you find in the silence of this day new purpose, so that the seeds within you begin to sprout. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Mysteries of Wesir (Day 1: Defense of Wesir from Set) The celebration of our holy days of Kaherka is upon us. Today we meet in Dua to celebrate the life of Wesir, mighty king, as He prepares for His shift from the land of the living to the land of the dead. I look forward to seeing many of you and sharing our prayers and heka together. Things are growing busy here (pun intended) as we prepare for a feast at the end of the ceremonies this coming weekend. We've started to string lights around the shrines, and begun to plan the menu and purchase the food. I'd love to know what you're planning to do in your homes. Share it with us on the message boards or in the Daily Ma'at! May Great Wesir smile on you and your family in this His time of greatness. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: And a very Heru em meses nefer (Happy birthday!) to Imakhu Ankhkaseshat Seshagemseger! Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Sokar (Day 15) The gods are out there, listening, providing small signs of Their presence and love. This evening as I was looking out onto a snowy street, through the leaves of a large Douglas fir tree, I started to think about Wesir's symbol of the evergreen, and what it means in a northern clime. The tree that never loses its leaves, the arbor vitae, or tree of life, grows outside my window and shades my home. As I stood there, I caught a twinkle of light and realized that further up the street, neighbors were hanging white electric lights in their yard evergreens to create a sparkling show in the darkness against the snow, and I thought of the light sparkling across the green in the darkness and gave Wesir thanks for His brief but beautiful message. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Sokar (Day 14) I am getting ready for a big ritual at sunrise. Today we observe the Cutting of Earth, as the sun streaks across the horizon and makes a line between this world and the next. As the light comes, I will take all of your prayers before the gods and goddesses. I will ask Them for Their attention and blessing, love and generosity. They will give us the blessing we need as we enter the time of the dark earth. Sleep well, and know that the gods and goddesses love you and will speak to you in your dreams and visions, in chance encounters and shrines, in the simplest of things and the most ordinary of places. Know Them and know you are loved eternally. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Sokar (Day 13) The threefold forms of the Creator are honored today, as we begin the holy days of this season. Ptah Who made all with His heart and tongue; Sokar Who held all within His dark potential waters; and Wesir Who traversed eternity and gave the Akhu a permanent home, all three of these gods are with us today as the preparations are made for our mystery celebration. May you feel Their presence today, within and without yourselves, as we take time to breathe and quietly approach the place of the gods. Dua Ptah! Dua Sokar! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 16; Feast of Closure) We complete the feast of Heru-wer with the Closure. Dua Heru-wer for His gifts to us in this holy season! Today continues the procession of Sokar, moving into the holy week of Wesir's mysteries. We've started a discussion of Wesir and His meaning to us in the Daily Ma'at, and I hope that our other lists and message boards will also take up His discussion as it's a wonderful time to get to know Him. When you are in your shrine, close your eyes and conjure up an image of green, green grass, green leaves and trees. Go into the grass and trees and meet Him for yourself. Take His greenness into yourself and know growth and joy. I pray in Wesir's name that you are as green as His living reeds. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar-Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 15) After a wonderful evening sharing the celebration of Tepy-Semdet and the Soaring Falcon with my people, I went outside. The cloud cover that has been present all day broke one time, in one small patch, so that a perfect, white, shining moon could peek through unhindered. I give thanks to Heru-wer for reminding me that even when He cannot be seen, He is closer than ever. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Tepy-Semdet (Full Moon Feast) Heru's healed, complete eye, the mighty Udjat, rises white and whole this evening over our skies. I am looking forward to celebrating this with my people at our biweekly Dua services and also our continued discussions on the Daily Ma'at about Heru-wer. We could not have picked a better time to talk about this great god, than His festival and His moon. Heru-wer is a very powerful, important god. If you don't know Him yet, give Him and offering and get to know Him. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed! Share your Heru-wer stories with us on the boards, too -- He enjoys the attention. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 13) Even in the dark and cold of the pending winter, we can feel Netjer's presence. In the slow, soft heartbeat of the rain upon the ground, or the whispering of wind through trees and eaves, the quiet promise of a return to warmth, to light, to the time when the Wandering Goddess wanders no more is held out. All we have to do is reach for it to feel its warmth inside. There is no place where Netjer is not. Know this, and never be alone again. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 12) Khentiamentiu, the Foremost of Westerners, is honored on this day of continued feasting. It is also an excellent day to make offerings to your ancestors and gods, and I will do so on behalf of all our ancestors this evening after sunset and encourage each of you to join me in your homes at that time so that we might honor them with our combined strengths! Snow has come to our city; a beautiful white blanket that would have made any ancient shout in awed joy. Beneath this blanket, Khentiamentiu slumbers, waiting for His days of special festival coming very, very soon. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Sekhmet! Dua Bast! Dua Wesir-Khentiamentiu! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Half-Month Sekhmet and Bast, two of the greatest protectors of our people, are celebrated today along with the festivals already happening for Sokar-Wesir and Heru-wer. We could not hope for a more potent combination of gods at such a turning point in our year, or on the special half-month festival day! Enjoy the day in any way you see fit and dedicate some of your enjoyment as an offering to the gods Who protect us all. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Sekhmet! Dua Bast! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 10) I'm sitting here watching the sun rise...inadvertently, I worked through the darkness hours so diligently that I forgot to get up to go greet it! Somehow, today, this seems an appropriate way to greet Ra, with a private "hello" before the formal Rite of the House of Morning. I haven't seen a sunrise this bright in many days, due to the overcast and misty November skies in our locale. It's nice to look out into the sunlight and see the green grass and trees outside the window. They remind me of today's festival, where we open the earth in preparation for putting in the seeds. Even as some might suggest we have no frame of reference in a much more northerly clime than most of ancient Egypt, we do indeed put some kinds of seeds into the ground at this time of year, as well as the bulbs of many perennial flowers. So there are farmers who will be spending this weekend cultivating, clearing, readying for the winter wheat or soybeans, or gardeners lining up their tulips and lilies and crocuses. My thoughts are with them, as they are also upon the seeds I have been readying up to this time in my own projects: courses for Imhotep Seminary and formal temple instructions and research, various writing projects, even contemplating when to resume my doctoral studies. These seeds are all being readied for the time when Wesir, the deep rich earth, will accept them and transform them into what they should be. I pray in Wesir's name, in Sokar's name and in the names of the two great ladies Hedjhotep and Tayet who are over the white linen wrappings and cleaning cloths, that all of you are able to complete your work and reap its benefits many times over your wildest expectations. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Hedjhotep! Dua Tayet! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 9) The gods continue to come about. We are very blessed in this time when They are so close, as close as the breath of prayer. Yesterday I spent a very rewarding day with my people. First it was the Internationals and a discussion about our upcoming celebration of Wesir's Mysteries at the end of the month; later, I came back to join a discussion of the Kemetic Book Club on a very recent volume by Erik Hornung. In the between-time I managed to have dinner with some of our Shemsu-Ankh, and all in all had a very relaxing, and happy day. I haven't really had a chance to have a relaxing day recently with so much going on in our temple -- even this was more "busy" than many people would consider a relaxing day -- but I really enjoyed it. It's important to take out time from your schedule, no matter who you are or what you have to do, to do things like this, to talk to people and get out from under your workload. (And if I can say this and mean it, then there really must be some blessing involved!) Make time for yourself today, in honor of the gods we celebrate. You won't be disappointed. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Hethert-Hedjet! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 8) Three birds fly today. Heru as soaring falcon, Sokar as the falcon at night, and the benu, the shining sparkling god-bird emanating from the Self-Created, form of Ra called "phoenix" by the Greeks, born and bred in fire and flame. As the benu makes an appearance today, so does transformation in all its forms. Before growth can happen, change sometimes is necessary. What is the benu transforming for you? Take hold of its fiery wings and take flight! Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Benu! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 7) Heru soars; Sokar makes His presence known in the festival of the creator Who molds from clay (Khnum); the power that makes the grain rise (Min); and the potential hidden growth behind it all (Wesir) in His moveable shrine. It is a day when the lifegiving potential of gods is most manifest, a time when we should feel the hidden currents forcing things to come up, come out, and come through. There is no better time to join yourself to this strong pull towards growing, towards the sun. I pray in the names of all these gods that you find that strong pull within yourself and answer its call. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Dua Khnum! Dua Min! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 6) Today appears to be a falcon/hawk day. We'll honor Heru in the International Dua this afternoon, and the Daily Ma'at List is sharing a special lesson/interactive ritual experiment about Heru-wer this week. This evening, I'll say more prayers for the Sokar festival, and then we'll continue on with both festivals into the rest of the week. In many of my thoughts and meditations today I kept coming back to the image of the noble bird, the raptor -- whether it is hawk or falcon or (in the US in particular), the symbol of the eagle. It is a time even outside our religion when national strength is being tested and checked. May the god behind the symbol remind us all that strength comes with a necessity for its proper use; and that justice should be done above all. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 5) Heru-wer's lovely wife Hethert joins Him in the processions today. Beauty and strength are once again unified in celebration. May They ever be so! Today we also begin the first of the celebrations leading into the Mysteries of Wesir: a procession of Sokar, a form of Wesir and/or Ptah associated with darkness and the absence of movement. Sokar sits in the silence of potential and ponders creation. He is neither the shaper (Ptah) nor the one that supplies the power of growth (Wesir); Sokar represents the space, the quite literal "pregnant pause" of time between the conception of a thing and its coming into being. Honor Sokar as you contemplate what you are beginning to grow at this very holy time. Dua Heru-wer! Dua Hethert! Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Feast of the Soaring Falcon (Day 4) So many leaves were falling in the rain last evening. The brown and yellow leaves on the black asphalt behind our building were falling, making a loud rushing sound in the wind. I went to the window to watch them for a while, and think about the cycle of ending and beginning, leaves on the ground followed by snow that covered the leaves and helped them to go into the ground and become food for next year's trees and their new leaves. Later on, I saw fireworks in the distance, green and gold lights in the sky. I don't have any idea what was being celebrated wherever, and with whomever, they were lit...but I know what I celebrated. Happy season of return. Dua Heru-wer! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Winged Disk (Day 3) The celebrations of victory, stamina, strength, courage and perseverance continue. As we near the holy time of Wesir's Mysteries, contemplate how Heru's traits honored in this festival will help you to accomplish the goals you set forth during the mysteries' time, the time of beginning growth. Consider making a list of your personal strengths and placing it on your shrine altar as a gift to Heru, and a reminder to yourself when it comes time to offer up your beginnings and goals. In the name of the golden god, protector of millions, may you be capable of feeling, and knowing, His great love. I leave you today with a quote I had hanging on the wall next to my desk for many years, the years in which my religious calling was formed. Dua Heru-wer! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Feast of the Winged Disk (Day 2) The Great Falcon is soaring, soaring with the Winged Disk of Victory. All lies, all evil intentions, all guilt, all sadness are burned away at its intense bright light. Open your life to the Great Falcon's shining beams and be forever transformed. Dua Heru-wer! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Amun (Day 5)
Hail to the great Falcon, Whose Eyes are sun and moon!
Hail Hethert, Mistress Great of Love, Behdety's wife! All these gods are honored in the midst of a great Amun festival.
Could we get more blessing than we've been getting the last few days? Pour libations, sing praises and honor the gods and goddesses; the Inundation has come! Dua Amun! Dua Heru-wer! Dua Hethert! Dua Heka! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Procession of Amun (Day 4) As I step offline to enter my shrine for a few hours' vigil, I wanted to share with you a beautiful meditation I had this evening while discussing the meaning of a word with a priest. The name of the fourth month of Inundation season in the Kemetic calendar is "kaherka," which I translated a few days ago when it began as "power upon power." This isn't literal. Literally, the month means "Ka upon ka," a ka being that part of the soul that is the personality and "hidden being" of a person. This month, the ka of Wesir is given to Heru, in order that He might become a King; the central mystery of the Wesir festival we will celebrate at month's end and also celebrated in two other major festivals of Kaherka, the Soaring Falcon Festival and the Winged Disk Festival. It is the same placing of "ka upon ka" that we are remembering today, the anniversary of my answering Netjer's call to become your Nisut. What a revelation....and one that makes very much sense to me in light of my current religious activities. It's going to be a very good day. I pray to Sobek, shining protector of Ra, in thanks for His protection of our faith and its people and ask His continued protection and guidance in the future. Dua Amun! Dua Sobek! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown! Procession of Amun (Day 3) Amun's image continues to appear amongst the people, giving oracles and blessing. Where has He appeared in your life? Did you notice Him? (Don't worry; you'll get another three days of chances.) I pray in the name of the Hidden One that your hidden blessings multiply, over and over, until they spill out into the seen world like the flood that has now crested its wave. Feel those blessings, and bring them into being. Dua Amun! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Pesdjentiu (New Moon Festival) New Moon brings with it a quiet time, as the Eye of Heru begins Its healing, growing into strength. This week is a quiet time for me as well, as it marks the anniversary of my coronation trip to Egypt in 1996. On this day six years ago, I was beginning the sets of ceremonies and gradual enlightenment that led to the bestowal of the kingly ka before the coronation dais of Djoser on what is now Nov. 6. It's not easy for me to put the things that happened to me this week into words, but let it suffice for now for me to say that this anniversary is deep and meaningful for me, as a reminder of my duty to you and to Netjer. As we celebrate this anniversary during Hethert's year, the year of the royal female, and the tenth year of the House of Netjer temple itself...it's a very powerful time. Thank you for sharing it with us! I pray in the name of Heru, Whose Eye is returning, that He blesses this very holy week for Kemetic Orthodoxy in all ways. Dua Khnum-Ra! Dua Amun! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
First Day of the Kemetic Month (Kaherka - IV Akhet) Again, many gods come: this time, to herald the beginning of Kaherka, the month of Sekhmet, "power upon power." At the end of this month we change seasons, and with that change of seasons comes the great festival of Wesir, honoring His death and rebirth into the land of the ancestors. Make a special offering to all your gods today, and ask for Their blessing and guidance in this very holy time. I pray in Sekhmet's name that all appropriate actions are multiplied, and that power upon power is yours throughout Her month and beyond. Dua Sekhmet! Dua Khnum-Ra! Dua Amun! Dua Hethert! Dua Heru! Dua Shu! Dua Nebt-het! Dua Menhuy! Dua Sobek! Dua Hemon! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Hethert's Festival Month - Final Day (House of Heru, Wesir, Ra) As we close out the month of Hethert, we are visited by Heka, speaker of powerful words. What can you say to another person that will change his or her life for the better today? What can you say to yourself that can do the same? Think carefully about the words that come from inside you today, whether they are spoken aloud or within the voice of your own conscience. Honor Heka as you honor His gift of words. Dua Hethert! Dua Heru! Dua Behdety! Dua Nebtu! Dua Heka! Nekhtet!
Thought for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
Hethert's Festival Month It is a day of many gods. The last Hethert festival in the month bearing Her name begins; Heru completes His welcoming of Inundation. Another Heru, Behdety the Winged Disk, enters into procession with Set, Lord of Gold-land; three Eyes of Ra, Wadjet, Nekhbet and Sekhmet, also take Their places in the processional train. Could we be more blessed as we enter the last month of the Kemetic first season?
All these gods love you. What are you waiting for? Enjoy the procession! Dua Hethert! Dua Heru! Dua Behdety! Dua Nebtu! Dua Wadjet! Dua Nekhbet! Dua Sekhmet! Nekhtet!
Reminder for the Day: Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!
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