Daily Medu: Polytheism

I’ve been thinking a lot lately on working on making information about Modern Kemeticism more…accessable. I’ll be authoring a wiki located at http://modernkemeticism.wik.is/ for that very reason.

For years longer than I wish to count, I’ve been a strict polytheist. But one thing I’ve come to notice is that–thanks to Wicca, it seems–people have come to assume that simply because you believe in many Gods means you worship Them all.

Umm, no… o_O Whoever thought of that one was severely misunderstood. I worship the Neteru, the Gods and Goddesses of ancient Egypt. I speak to Them and serve Them, some more so than others. I also speak to a few of the Greek Gods (notably Apollo and Artimis), a handful of the Japanese Gods, some Hawaiian Gods, the Baron (yeah, Him…), and those of the Native American Spirits that speak to me as part of Their people.

And, just because I came across it and found a post in this blog amusing, seeing as it very well fits into what I’ve been screaming at some people for years, from a Hellenistic approach rather than Kemeticism: http://hellenismos.us/?p=61

Anyway, polytheism is not the worship of all Gods. It is the belief in those Gods. It does not mean you must worship Them all.

But, be sure to take a look at that article and read about religious obligations…

“Whose favor are you trying to gain?”

Medu Live: Episode 1 Update

Sorry for any of you who were looking for the first episode of Medu Live last night. I’ve been so busy working on getting the house straitened up that I completely forgot about the podcast.

I will be doing an offline podcast introducing Medu Live itself. It will probably be no longer than 15 minutes (the minimum that TalkShoe allows), and full of linkage and stuff to check out, but heck. It’s better than nothing for a first episode.

I’m also going to be setting up a blog dedicated to the podcast, as well as any future podcasts I host along with links to other podcasts concerning Kemeticism, so be sure to check that out at http://kemeticpodcasts.wordpress.com/

Netjer vs. Neteru

Here we go… Basically, today I’ve come to spot a lot of discussions/arguements over the so-called “monolatry” (Kemetic Orthodox/Reconstruction/etc.) or the “polythestist” view of the Neteru (personally, I don’t think They should be coined with either term, but feh).

The term ‘Netjer’ implies one unified Godhead to the Orthodox and many Recons. The only problem with this: they’re using a translation of the term coined by Budge, who is known to have made bullshit up when he didn’t know what it meant! *facepalm*

Let’s just get one thing strait. The ancients did not see their Gods as one big universal thing. Monotheism, in whatever form you wish to label it, did not exist. Hells, if you’re so damn uncertain about what you should and shouldn’t be doing in the eyes of the Gods, GO ASK THEM!!!

The Neteru are seperate individuals that can, when needed, syncronize with each other. For example, Re and Amun frequently syncronize with one another to form a new Godform we all call Amun-Re. When Amun-Re is present, you can feel His presence, plus the seperate presences of Re and Amun all at once! Personally, this always gives me a severe headache in trying to sense all three at once.

Also, I never have understood why anyone would go and judge anything “based on archeological evidence.” Okay, yeah, we have a lot of stuff that survived the sands of time here. But a lot more of it is still missing. Hundreds of royal lines are still unaccounted for.

And, perhaps most ironically, everything most people claim to know about the ancients is wrong. Why? They’re going off the interpretations from the tomb writings…that depicts the afterlife. It’s not necessarily a reminder to them of how things were done in life, but how they’re going to be done in the next.

The reason archeologists say the ancients worshipped the many Gods as one God is because…THEY…ARE…CHRISTIAN. Multiple Gods don’t compute in their minds. They try to make every religion to be their God worshipped by ignorant people who did not recognize him for what he was.

Now, if you doubt me, I ask that you seek out Djehuty, my patron and teacher. Most of what I learn of the ancient world, I learn from Him or within His libraries.

The Neteru want us all to learn all that we can. But They also want us to know what is truth, not misinterpretations or lies. They will not go and try to correct each and every one of us. This is why They assign some of Their servants to being scribes and teachers, and then offer Their own guidance to those who seek Them out.

Just think about it, okay?

Daily Medu

Well, at long last we’re able to finish unpacking and rearranging the house. Hopefully we’ll have most of it done by the weekend and next week I can call the mission center to come pick up all the unwanted stuff that can be donated to the homeless.

Other than that, I’m going through another severe bought of depression, made worse by our friends’ lack of involvement in anything lately, thus my upcoming disappearance from much of the web and even telephone may be coming around soon. It happens periodically. But, with Anpu around, it’s safe to say there’s no potential “easy outs” in the future…

I have a headache right now, and my back is starting to hurt from trying to lift boxes out of the way and into the closet, so I’m going to call this quits for now. I’ll check in sometime soon…

On Being His Priest

It has taken me some time to actually get around to writing about this. The primary reason for that is my own personal struggle with trying to determine exactly what it is that people were really asking me information about. In my experience, Anpu has His his overall priests/servants, and then there are…others within that group that possess something…else.

In that, I have decided to cover both topics, but first I am going to discuss the primary topic that applies in both cases. I would like to remind everyone that I use the term “priest” to describe a servant of a God regardless of that person’s actual gender unless the God uses the term “priestess” themselves for describing their female servants in my personal discussions with them. With Anpu, He refers to me personally as His priest, as do most of the Neteru (Aset refers to me as Her priestess, but then, with Her, the job description is very different as well).

Being a priest of any God is a full-time job, and it requires a lot of devotion, dedication and often sacrifice. When you are a priest, you are a servant of the God you serve. No longer are you simply a worshipper who may petition for help from Them, and make devotional offerings. You belong to Them, and They will set you on a path of many trials, and there will be many duties of which you must perform.

My daily duties include everything from making offerings to cleaning the house (as the whole of this house is as much Theirs as it is ours, if not more so as it took Their intervention to actually get in it in the first place). I am responsibility for the care of the altars and shrines, in comforting the wandering spirits who I may come across, and for the care of our pack.

Going about becoming a priest of Anpu is simply a matter of following protocol. Whether you approach Him or He comes to you, there are trials you must go through. Usually there are three, after which you are initiated into an apprenticeship as a votary. Anpu doesn’t mind so much if you come to Him seeking to serve Him, but be warned that the trials are more challenging, as they must not only test your heart, but also your sincerity, devotion, dedication and more. Be sure you know without doubt that you are willing to put all else aside for Him if you must.

A Recap of Old Thoughts

I wanted to bring a couple of the posts over from the old journal, so here’s what I’ve chosen to bring forth:

Many Pagans Discriminate Against Kemetics

I, perhaps, am one of the more lucky ones, so long as I carefully censor myself when speaking to others about my beliefs. I enjoy a good theological discussion now and then, but lately, it is growing more difficult to do such when you always have to watch for others to immediately shoot down anything you say as false because it doesn’t fit within their personal beliefs.

 In short, there are a surprisingly large number of closed-minded self-proclaimed pagans.

 It is difficult to feel a part of a community other than with those who worship the Neteru, as it always seems even though in comparison to most of their Gods, ours are more ancient. I think that might be one thing that makes them so unnerved by our practices. We do not require the “casting a circle”, and our Gods speak to us whenever They damn well please. They are not bound by ritual and rite, nor do they only take notice of us when we are actively worshipping Them. We are the rites, rituals, offerings and sacrifices to the Neteru; it is our love for Them and Their love for us that our relationships are built upon.

Despite my years of service to the Neteru, many local pagans try to look down on me as I do not know how to “cast a circle,” or “draw down the moon/sun,” or some other pomp and rite that they believe is necessary for magical workings. I know how to do it. I simply have no reason to do so, nor to I desire to go against what my Masters have taught me by using the “normal” magics rather than those taught to me by the Gods Themselves. I know the Gods protect me in my rites. I know that all it takes to recieve such protection is the mere utterance of Their Names.

I am a strict polytheist. I know all the Gods exist, and I have spoken personally to many of Them. I converse with Apollo periodically simply because I enjoy doing so. He doesn’t demand anything of me, and if He does need anything from me, He always approaches my Master first.

One thing that has always driven me crazy and to outright shouting batches with others is the “Godhead theory,” where all Gods are truly One God or whatever the way they choose to describe it that day is. The Kemetic Orthodox has its belief that all of the Neteru are “Names” of the one “Netjer”.  The Wiccans believe that all Gods are one God and all Goddesses are one Goddess. Some go even further to say that these two beings are in fact simply one being.

Whenever discussion comes up about the debates about the “Godhead theory,” if you don’t believe the whole “All is One and One is Many” thing, those people who do believe it often don’t want anything to do with you anymore. They close you out of the community, and some will go as far to being outwardly verbally hateful and abusive to you. I have been called many names, had been wronged, accused of false accusitions, and much more.

And for what? A little self-gratification in that they are right and I am wrong. Period. End of story. No multiple choice answers here.

 Hmm… Odd, since often times I’ll simply ASK the Gods what the truth of the matter is. And guess what?! Most of the time, They’ll tell me! You know, They hate it when Their lives are referred to as “mythology.” They hate it when people try to claim the Oneness of the Gods instead of simply talking to Them and seeing the truth for themselves, just because it’s written in some book some where. They hate it when people hide behind the illusions of religion and forget the fellowship of spirit.

So, basically, GET OVER YOURSELVES AND LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR GODS ARE TELLING YOU!

http://baketanpu.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/many-pagans-discriminate-against-kemetics/#comments

As I Came to Becoming

I admit that I should have known. My husband, Sabam, is a priest of Anpu, and thus I was used to feeling His presence on a regular basis. But it never occurred to me that He was spending a lot of time watching me, though He rarely spoke to me. I know now that He was determining if I was ready.

We moved into our new home and new city on February 1, 2007. Our third year wedding anniversary was approaching on February 4th, so we were taking our time in actually moving our belongings in to our new home. I was still adjusting to being in the service of my Patron, Djehuty, who at the time I thought was also my Master, as that is how it is with Sabam. I learned later that month that it is never safe to assume anything about the Neteru.

One thing led to another, through influences caused by Set’s “blessing” He gifted to us on our wedding day and manipulations of other mortals, and on the night February 21, 2007, Sabam and I were in a harsh arguement. For several days, I had had to listen to many of the Neteru, the ones I loved most dear and served when They asked something of me, tell me as gently as They could that Sabam and I were never meant to be with each other in marriage. My heart was breaking, and when They demanded during the arguement that I tell him that we weren’t meant to be…

I eventually couldn’t stand it any longer, and I spoke the words They commanded me to. I witnessed my beloved’s heart strain to breaking point as he immediately went into denial. I could not stand it. I collapsed to my knees in tears as he ran out of the room. It wasn’t long before I heard a kitchen drawer open.

I ran into the kitchen, fearing what was happening. I do not remember the actual movement to the kitchen. I remember being in the bedroom, then being in the kitchen on the other end of the house, quickly and gently trying to coax the knife away from my beloved as he prepared to save himself from further pain of his heart breaking.

I do not doubt that he would have done it. I know he would have if not for me getting in there and getting the knife away from him. Of course, only later did I discover that Anpu was preventing him from taking action as well. Though it wasn’t long until I found this out.

 Once the knife was set safely aside, Sabam’s eyes filled with fear. I could feel Anpu’s presence as Sabam plead with Him. Suddenly Sabam clutched his chest in pain and sank to the floor. Paniced, I pulled out my cellphone and started to call 911, but before I could hit ’send’, I heard my Patron’s voice quietly say, “Stop. Wait.”

Watching my husband being in such pain, I couldn’t follow that command. I started to press the ’send’ button when suddenly a sharp pain ran through my arm, causing me to drop the phone. With it’s little musical chime, it promptly turned itself off and laid useless on the floor.

I watched helplessly as my husband’s eyes scanned the room fearfully, and he began muttering that he wasn’t ready to go yet. It struck me what was happening, and I clung to him defensively as I felt the building presence of Anpu walking (well, stalking is actually more appropriate at this point; He was pissed, to say the least) towards us. As it turns out, this only ended up serving His intention as after a brief struggle that I tried to ensure no injuries occurred, the body went lax, the breathing tired but relaxing, and then the eyes opened.

Those eyes that I had thought to be so familiar, that I had looked into every day, looked back at me with such power that I couldn’t find the right mental commands to move. It wasn’t my husband that looked back at me in that moment. It was the Challenger, the Guardian, He Who Rests Upon His Mountain, the Foremost of the Westerners. It was Lord Anpu.

Due to the personalness of what was said between us over the next several hours, I do not wish to share that just yet. Maybe one day, but not right now.

Daily Medu

Out of curiousity, what does anyone who happens to read this think of Otherkin?

If you don’t know what that is, look it up on Google.

Daily Medu

First of all, I will freely admit that this isn’t likely going to work as I intend on it to, but hell, it’s worth a shot. Every day, during some course of it, I intend, just for a little while, to do nothing but write my thoughts and feelings of whatever is on my mind at the moment into this journal. These posts will be entitled Daily Medu.

Today, I find myself on the edge of depression. My house has fallen into disrepair because of the last bought that I suffered after moving in to this new home. I had been working on unpacking every day, by myself with no help, and my four-year-old son following behind me destroying the order that I manage to make… (Ironic, as he’s been claimed by Asar already. *sigh*)

I long to feel closer to Anpu, but it seems right now, His agenda keeps Him from being able to spend more than brief fleeting moments of time peacefully just being close. Yet those moments, I cherish dearly. Even feeling His amusement now, I find my heart lightening, and a smile playing at my lips.

It’s also times like these that I wonder if that is why some people believe they can not communicate with the Gods at any time. I’ll let you into a bit of knowledge that shouldn’t be secret, but for some reason, it seems that so few know it: the Gods ALWAYS know when you speak to Them, when you make offerings to Them, when you pray to Them, etc. Just because They don’t give you a responce of some kind doesn’t mean They’re not paying attention. They are always aware of such things. They don’t pay attention to everyone’s every waking moment, but such actions always draw Their focus to you.

Mayhaps that will be of help to someone…

Fresh Starts

As I said on my old journal, I have decided to start fresh with a new journal. I stayed with WordPress, as it is by far one of my favorite services. But I wanted to be able to have a less cluttered and less spammed journal, and starting new provides me more time to set up a little bit better defenses against such.

For those of you who didn’t already know, I have been spending the last several months tied up in trying to buy a house. Well, the good news is we got it, and we’re now moved in! Life has been slowly getting better, minus the bouts of depression and other such things. I have also been wanting to fully express myself and in the old journal was holding back the stuff from my full life, posting only of what happens to me on the spiritual level. Personally, I think that is unfair to those of you who actually read my journal looking for inspiration and support. I feel less…me, less real when I censor myself like that.

So here’s to fresh starts. I’m glad you’re along for the ride.