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X-Yami-no-Ko-X
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:00 pm


I was just wondering if anyone knew any Kemetic Pagans. Or even just a list of books or sites that I could goto to learn more about it.
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:21 pm


There's not a lot. There's the House of Netjer or whatever, but apparently that place is soooper creepy once you actually get into it and they're not recon after all, despite implying it. But if it looks like your thing, there's that.

I dunno, they just make me uneasy. Not the people, just the person in charge and the upper hierarchy.

There's not much otherwise. You have to dig deep for recon stuff other than lore.

Edit:
here is a blog I found that might help somewhat. It's only new, but maybe they can help you with sources.
Then there's this blog which looks a lot better, and led me to this book which looks good.

(The Tamara something woman you may see a book by when browsing is the Pharaoh of KO. Keep that in mind one way or the other if choosing to buy her books, which may or may not be good or helpful.)

This one looks interesting.

I guess the main problem is that I'm really unsure which of these books are decent and which of them are the DJ Conway of Egyptian religion. You know?

Oh and this

Sanguina Cruenta
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X-Yami-no-Ko-X
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:57 pm


Sanguina Cruenta
There's not a lot. There's the House of Net or whatever, but apparently that place is soooper creepy once you actually get into it and they're not recon after all, despite implying it. But if it looks like your thing, there's that.

There's not much otherwise. You have to dig deep for recon stuff other than lore.
Do you mean House of Net'jer?
Anywhere's a start. I've always liked the mythology and I've felt like Thoth and Bast have been calling. That's why I was hoping to find some decent sources on the recon.

Though another question: if I can't really find a whole lot on the religion is there a problem with trying to find my own why to worship the Kemetic pantheon?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:07 pm


I have edited my post to be more helpful whee

I don't know. I am not familiar with Egyptian taboos. I think you're generally okay so long as you read up on the primary sources and a few archaeological books so you know where you are in relation to how things were then.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:53 pm


Thank you for your help.

And as for listing off "bad" books I would probably just read them anyway just to find out for myself. Everyone kept telling me to stay away from Silver Ravenwolf and I got some of her books from the library anyway to see why they were so against her.
But what's the story behind DJ Conway?
PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:16 pm


She wrote "Celtic Magic" and "Norse Magic". Like plug-in-god-and-go sort of books.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:23 pm


Ok I can see why there's a problem. I hate it when I read books on witchcraft and they're all like "Yeah just invoke Aphrodite to help you with this love spell. It doesn't matter that you two have never talked before. It's Her job to help you whenever you want her." >.>
PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:50 am


X-Yami-no-Ko-X
Sanguina Cruenta
There's not a lot. There's the House of Net or whatever, but apparently that place is soooper creepy once you actually get into it and they're not recon after all, despite implying it. But if it looks like your thing, there's that.

There's not much otherwise. You have to dig deep for recon stuff other than lore.
Do you mean House of Net'jer?
Anywhere's a start. I've always liked the mythology and I've felt like Thoth and Bast have been calling. That's why I was hoping to find some decent sources on the recon.

Though another question: if I can't really find a whole lot on the religion is there a problem with trying to find my own why to worship the Kemetic pantheon?


There's only a few Kemetic religions I know of, anyway, which is pretty much just HoN, the Fellowship of Isis, Thelema, and reconstructionism. They're more modern than ancient in nature. The lore is there, but it's hard to apply to modern life a lot of the time, and some of it's really hard to apply outside the Nile valley of Egypt. Maintaining ritual purity seems to be the main theme that remains through most people's practices, and making sure that the Gods and ancestors are kept well, and are fed. But mileage may vary.

Most of the Kemetic pagans I know are HoN. HoN goes out of their way to blanket the internet with their presence, despite claiming to be non-proselytizing. They do make it look, if you're searching the internet, that they're the only game in town. I don't know whether that's intentional or not.

It is nominally a reconstructionist religion, but really...there's a lot less there than people think. It is, in the end, very much a modern neo-pagan organization. I can't give you a lot about Thelema, other than it's ceremonial magic and was Crowley's baby. The FOI is all over the damn place - a mishmash of ecclectic Goddess worship, that started in Ireland.

Frankly, like San, the House of Netjer bugs the hell outta me. I can't get around the fact that it's really a cult of personality built around their 'Nisut' - some of them are more into it than others, but there's no getting around the fact that if you practice that path, you end in acknowledging that a white woman from Illinois is the reincarnation of the Kingly Ka. That doesn't bother some people, and is the dealbreaker for others.

They also believe that all the gods of Egypt are one - Netjer - and that each individual god is just a facet. It's not really something that's got any historical evidence, and I feel like perhaps it's an attempt to explain why there are multiple deities of the same 'portfolio' - rather than looking at Egypt as a series of shifting centrality and dynasties, whose deities changed with the ruling families and their locations over thousands of years. I guess in some ways it makes it easier to deal with the issue of older vs. newer deities in the pantheon, but at the same time HoN's Kemeticism becomes a form of soft polytheism - which is not nescessarily how the ancients viewed the world and their gods. I guess it all depends on whether you're comfortable with them crossing the line from henotheism into monotheism.

A lot of people also go into HoN already possessing relationships with Kemetic deities. But when one becomes a Shemsu, and is Divined, basically you have to accept the divination of your 'Parent' and 'Beloved' Gods - the Gods who created your 'ba', and those who may care for you. If the divination disagrees with the Gods you feel have called you, you still have to accept it if you want to remain with HoN. I've been told by the shemsu I know that rarely does the divination contradict people's relationships, and that few people leave because of it...but I really don't know.

The faith does have a lower level, called Remetj - basically people who want to hang out without joining in full - but it means 'Royal Subjects'. Again, you may or may not be comfortable with having to acknowledge the Nisut.

There's nothing wrong with you making your own path to Kemet, if you do it respectfully and well. Reconstructionism is just that - a reconstruction. It doesn't (or shouldn't) make you an absolute slave to lore or history. If a practice has no context and makes no sense in modern life, it makes sense to change it enough to give it relevance, or to discard it entirely.

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:02 am


I lived with a Kemetic Pagan for a little while last year- aside from a couple snide back and froths about Lower African v. Upper African gods (the Loa won that argument btw twisted ) there wasn't much to it- the only big thing we talked about was ritual purity and what that meant for her as a woman attending rituals- she mentioned some stuff here and there- the only thing I remember from it all was something about animal products and taboos- so the fluffy wool socks she would have worn to hike in to where we were going had to stay behind.
PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:49 pm


Thank you all for the help. I may look into HoN just out of curiousity. I'll probably look into Thelema first though. Are there any books I should look into on Thelema?

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:56 pm


X-Yami-no-Ko-X
Thank you all for the help. I may look into HoN just out of curiousity. I'll probably look into Thelema first though. Are there any books I should look into on Thelema?


All of Crowley's books should be public domain by now. I think you can find them all on Sacred Texts.
PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:07 pm


Ah ok. Thanks. I won't have to wait for them to come in at the library ^.^

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CalledTheRaven
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:40 pm


Sacred Texts and Inter Library Loan are two of my favorite things
PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:51 pm


Got another question for you guys. How did/do you guys keep yourself from burning out while trying to study? I've found myself not able read any of the books I've gotten for the library. When I go to my room with the intention of reading I pick up my yarn or a couple times I started playing on my DS. I won't even touch the books I got out for pleasure reading.

X-Yami-no-Ko-X
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Sanguina Cruenta
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 8:55 pm


I'm not sure I've really worked out how to do that yet. burning_eyes
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