A spiritual journey in review.
Early November 2004. I went to my first pagan ritual - a public Samhain ritual run by the local ADF grove. I was impressed and intrigued, and started to identify hesitantly as vaguely Christian and vaguely Pagan at the same time.
December 2004. I went to the local ADF grove's Yule ritual. I saw the gods as they were called - I never see visually, and it freaked me out. It shattered my thinly-stretched Christian paradigm and left me drifting, uncertain of where the line between fantasy and reality fell, uncertain of anything. I felt distinctly drawn to Heimdall, who (in ADF's ritual at least) is the guardian of the way between the worlds. Hmm.
Imbolc 2005. On a spring break cruise with my family in the middle of the Caribbean ocean, I finally made a decision after a while of giving Christianity one last chance and a few (hypothetical) discussions with my father (a Southern Baptist pastor). I was alone in our suite, and I cast a (neo-Wiccan-style) circle, and dedicated myself to self-discovery and growth. That is still my path; I go where it leads, wherever that may be. Right now, it's Kemet. Someday it may go elsewhere. We'll see.
April 2005. A cat ran across my path and I started looking into feline deities. That led me to looking up information on Bast and Sekhmet, which led me to definitions of monolatry, which led me to Kemet. It clicked. And the more I read about it, the more it clicked, and I started identifying as Kemetic.
I thought I was Sekhmet's for a while. I didn't want to be Bast's, She was so overpopular, and seemed kinda gentle and just not all that interesting. But there was someOne feline and solar and female, so maybe it was Sekhmet. Maybe. Yes?
July 2005. I started researching Set and started looking into a lot more about Kemet, the Netjeru, etc. I looked at Kemetic Orthodoxy but didn't feel 100% comfortable with them (the idea of a Nisut felt like a red flag), so I lurked on their forums instead, and lurked on Per Ankh's forums, and joined a few YahooGroups and LJ communities.
August 2005. The gods started seriously poking at me to concentrate on one or two of them. Figure out who was my "patron", so to speak. I was hesitant, I made a lot of lists, I did a lot of research. I finally made my choice to stick with Kemet.
September 2005. I did a lot of research. I bought a few egyptology books. I took extensive notes.
November 2005. Another Samhain ritual with the local ADF grove. I felt distinctly drawn to Manannan Mac Lir. Psychopomp, connected to the mists between worlds, trickster, guardian of the gateways between worlds. But the Celtic worldview didn't resonate much with me; Kemet fit better than anything.
November 2005 again. Still narrowing down the deity list. I looked at Anpu finally and everything fell together, everything clicked so hard I was in tears.
November 17, 2005. I took vows to Anpu. Fairly serious vows at that.
The entire next year consisted of more lurking on various forums and doing a lot of quiet research on Kemetic Orthodoxy, Per Ankh, and a few other Kemetic groups. It also consisted of a lot of getting to know Anpu - and slowly I began to think of Him more as Wepwawet, and experience that side of him rather more predominately.
Finally, in October 2006, I put in my application to the House of Netjer's beginner's course. I discovered that taking the course didn't commit me to anything; it was informational more than anything, and I did want more information on the House than I was getting from half-lurking on the boards and in the AIM chat. The course began in I think November (maybe December? I'm fuzzy on the dates; I actually didn't journal about it until my first formal senut on 12/10/06).
I'm not sure when it ended, either. I became a Remetj in either January or February, but I told myself that I wouldn't decide whether to become Shemsu or not for at least another year - and not until I'd met the Nisut and some of the priests in person, so I could judge Hemet's veracity for myself. Serendipitously enough, the first Ritual of Parent Divination intensive became available, just in time for my class to get Divined! I jumped at the chance and booked a flight for Chicago.
I spent nearly a week in Tawy House at the end of February/beginning of March, doing work study to pay for my RPD (and, more importantly, to get more time talking to Hemet and some of the priests in person). I met my "twin", enigmaticmagpie. I met a number of fascinating people and was impressed by everything I saw and the answers to many of my questions and concerns.
Then, a year ago today, I was divined a child of Wepwawet-Yinepu and a beloved of Bast-Mut.
Not much of a surprise, looking back now, is it? But I held to my promise and have waited a year, watching and observing, thinking and listening. I've been a Divined Remetj for a year now, and soon I'll decide whether or not to take Shemsu vows.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing a thorough analysis and evaluation of the House of Netjer. Complete with sources, even. At the end of it, I'll make an official decision. So expect to see a few posts about Kemetic Orthodoxy this month.
December 2004. I went to the local ADF grove's Yule ritual. I saw the gods as they were called - I never see visually, and it freaked me out. It shattered my thinly-stretched Christian paradigm and left me drifting, uncertain of where the line between fantasy and reality fell, uncertain of anything. I felt distinctly drawn to Heimdall, who (in ADF's ritual at least) is the guardian of the way between the worlds. Hmm.
Imbolc 2005. On a spring break cruise with my family in the middle of the Caribbean ocean, I finally made a decision after a while of giving Christianity one last chance and a few (hypothetical) discussions with my father (a Southern Baptist pastor). I was alone in our suite, and I cast a (neo-Wiccan-style) circle, and dedicated myself to self-discovery and growth. That is still my path; I go where it leads, wherever that may be. Right now, it's Kemet. Someday it may go elsewhere. We'll see.
April 2005. A cat ran across my path and I started looking into feline deities. That led me to looking up information on Bast and Sekhmet, which led me to definitions of monolatry, which led me to Kemet. It clicked. And the more I read about it, the more it clicked, and I started identifying as Kemetic.
I thought I was Sekhmet's for a while. I didn't want to be Bast's, She was so overpopular, and seemed kinda gentle and just not all that interesting. But there was someOne feline and solar and female, so maybe it was Sekhmet. Maybe. Yes?
July 2005. I started researching Set and started looking into a lot more about Kemet, the Netjeru, etc. I looked at Kemetic Orthodoxy but didn't feel 100% comfortable with them (the idea of a Nisut felt like a red flag), so I lurked on their forums instead, and lurked on Per Ankh's forums, and joined a few YahooGroups and LJ communities.
August 2005. The gods started seriously poking at me to concentrate on one or two of them. Figure out who was my "patron", so to speak. I was hesitant, I made a lot of lists, I did a lot of research. I finally made my choice to stick with Kemet.
September 2005. I did a lot of research. I bought a few egyptology books. I took extensive notes.
November 2005. Another Samhain ritual with the local ADF grove. I felt distinctly drawn to Manannan Mac Lir. Psychopomp, connected to the mists between worlds, trickster, guardian of the gateways between worlds. But the Celtic worldview didn't resonate much with me; Kemet fit better than anything.
November 2005 again. Still narrowing down the deity list. I looked at Anpu finally and everything fell together, everything clicked so hard I was in tears.
November 17, 2005. I took vows to Anpu. Fairly serious vows at that.
The entire next year consisted of more lurking on various forums and doing a lot of quiet research on Kemetic Orthodoxy, Per Ankh, and a few other Kemetic groups. It also consisted of a lot of getting to know Anpu - and slowly I began to think of Him more as Wepwawet, and experience that side of him rather more predominately.
Finally, in October 2006, I put in my application to the House of Netjer's beginner's course. I discovered that taking the course didn't commit me to anything; it was informational more than anything, and I did want more information on the House than I was getting from half-lurking on the boards and in the AIM chat. The course began in I think November (maybe December? I'm fuzzy on the dates; I actually didn't journal about it until my first formal senut on 12/10/06).
I'm not sure when it ended, either. I became a Remetj in either January or February, but I told myself that I wouldn't decide whether to become Shemsu or not for at least another year - and not until I'd met the Nisut and some of the priests in person, so I could judge Hemet's veracity for myself. Serendipitously enough, the first Ritual of Parent Divination intensive became available, just in time for my class to get Divined! I jumped at the chance and booked a flight for Chicago.
I spent nearly a week in Tawy House at the end of February/beginning of March, doing work study to pay for my RPD (and, more importantly, to get more time talking to Hemet and some of the priests in person). I met my "twin", enigmaticmagpie. I met a number of fascinating people and was impressed by everything I saw and the answers to many of my questions and concerns.
Then, a year ago today, I was divined a child of Wepwawet-Yinepu and a beloved of Bast-Mut.
Not much of a surprise, looking back now, is it? But I held to my promise and have waited a year, watching and observing, thinking and listening. I've been a Divined Remetj for a year now, and soon I'll decide whether or not to take Shemsu vows.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing a thorough analysis and evaluation of the House of Netjer. Complete with sources, even. At the end of it, I'll make an official decision. So expect to see a few posts about Kemetic Orthodoxy this month.