A Weekly Rite In Praise of Ra

This is something I ought to do more often, but it’s something I came up with in the last lot of messing about with practices and whatnot. It’s based off my generic solitary Kemetic rite, and I’m posting this here also so you can get a feel for what the rite looks like with hymns and whatnot in it, because I think sometimes it’s easier to get your head around a rite when it’s done out in full, rather than in ‘fill in the blanks’ mode.

You are also welcome to perform this rite yourselves, modified however you wish. The feeling I got from Ra was that it was best performed at noon on a Sunday, but that might just be His preference for me. He might accept other times from other people.

I … can’t remember which site I initially grabbed that translation of the Litany of Ra from, but I suspect it was probably Budge, and I don’t feel so bad about modding that. Which is half the reason I used it, and turned it into a litany from me. Feel free to change that if you want to use it yourself. (Actually, I think it was a Budge translation of the litany to Ra from the Papyrus of Ani? But I still can’t remember the site I found it on. Curse me and my inability to remember to bookmark important things like this.) The other hymns not part of the generic ritual I wrote myself, I think. It’s been a while since I put this together, and I can’t half remember all my sources, since I didn’t bother to write them in the first time round. Must stop doing that. I really ought to do some googling so I can properly source these things. I feel bad leaving them without proper citations. D:

Rubric:
As it is written, so there shall be praise to Ra once a week, to praise the great God and give thanks for all His blessings. Offerings shall be prepared, food, drink, wine, water, incense, all the good and pure things on which a God lives. Purified, clothed in linen, and scented with perfume, the rite shall be performed at the height of the day.

The Rite of Purification:
To be said over a bowl of water:
It is pure, it is pure, it is pure, it is pure,
This water belongs to Sobek,
This water belongs to Heru-sa-Aset,
This water belongs to Aset,
This water belongs to Bast-Mut.
Oh, water, may you wash away all impurities
Oh, Hapi, wash away all illness.
Wash away all that is evil,
So I may come into the presence of the Netjeru.

To be said over ten grains of natron:
It is pure, it is pure, it is pure, it is pure,
This natron belongs to Sobek,
This natron belongs to Heru-sa-Aset,
This natron belongs to Aset,
This natron belongs to Bast-Mut.
Oh, natron, may you purify my body
and remove all impurities,
So I may come into the presence of the Netjeru.

Combine the natron with the water. Wash the body, and all orifices. Pour the remaining water into a bath, or pour it on your body before you shower.

Preparation:
Prepare offerings and set up shrine.

Offering reverence:
Offer henu.

Anoint your forehead with a perfume, cologne or natural oil of your choosing:
Oh, Ra, your scent is pure.
Your perfume is upon me, purifying me.
Bathe me in your scent, oh Ra.
I have purified myself with the eye of Heru so I can make these rituals with you.
I am purified for Ra along with His cycle of Gods.
The King gives the offerings, for I am purified.

Opening Prayer:
All praise to Ra, who comes in glory!
He who faces the terrors of the Duat every night,
Welcome, Lord, you are to be adored!
Come, Great God, and shine upon us,
Let me feel your radiance on my body,
Filling the sky with Your light.
I come to you, purified.
I am the pure one, who comes to you in praise.
I come to sing praise to You, oh King,
All praise be upon you, great Ra
You who rises and sets in beauty,
Every God sing praise to You.
Every God is at peace when You are near.
Hail and welcome, Great Ra,
May You accept this rite, done in Your name,
That you may continue to bless me every day.

Open the shrine.

The Rite:
Lighting the shrine lamps:
Come, come in peace,
sweet Kheper-Ra-Temu
rejuvenate in peace.
Receive the Light
He shines brightly in the double horizon,
and before him strides the might of Set;
Receive the Light
Heru creates the voice with His eye,
the eye of Horus destroys the enemies of Ra, Lord of Karnak, in all their abodes.
Receive the Light
The King gives the offerings, for I am purified

Light incense and place it in a censer:
Hail to you, Censer of the Gods,
who is of Djehuty’s followers.
Both my arms are on you like those of Heru,
both my hands are on you like those of Djehuty,
my fingers are on you like those of Yinepu, chief of the divine pavilion.
Me, I am the living slave of Ra,
Me, I am the Priest, the pure,
For I have purified myself.
My purifications are the purifications of the Gods.
The King gives the offerings, for I am purified.

Offer Ma’at: (optional: present the God statue with a figure/image of Ma’at)
I have come to you.
Me, I am Djehuty, both hands together to bear Ma’at before You.
Hail to you, Ra, majestic God, master of eternity.
Great God, who is established in the sky as King of the Gods
Ma’at came to be with you;
Equip yourself with Ma’at,
Ma’at is in all places you are, so you can be on her.

Ring a chime or hand-held bell to focus your attention

Recite a litany in praise to Ra:
Adoration of Ra when he rises on the eastern horizon, with those who are in his following.

The servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, calls out:
O solar disk, lord of radience, rising on the horizon every day,
may you shine on the face of the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice.
He adores you in the morning;
he causes you to rest in the evening.
May the soul of the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, come forth with you to heaven.
May he travel in the Morning Boat;
may he be moored in the Evening Boat.
May he mingle with the Stars that Never Rest in heaven,
the servant Sobekemiti, peaceful and true of voice.
He worships his lord, the lord of eternity.

Homage to you, Harmachis.
It is Khepri who creates himself.
How beautiful is your rising on the horizon,
when you bring dawn to the earth by your radiance.
All the gods rejoice when they see you as king of heaven.
The Lady of the Hour is established on your head,
her uraei of the south and north on your brow.
She has made her place in front of you,
and Djehuty abides at the front of your boat to destroy all your enemies.
Those who are in the netherworld come forth in homage to you,
to see that beautiful image.

He has come before you;
may he be with you to see your Disk every day.
May he not be imprisoned,
may he not be turned away.
May his limbs be renewed when he sees your beauties like all your honored ones,
because he is one of your noble ones on earth.

The servant Sobekemiti, true of voice in peace, true of voice, calls out:
Homage to you when you rise on your horizon as Ra, resting on Truth.
You sail over heaven, and every face sees you as you travel, hidden from their faces.
You show yourself in the morning and in the evening every day.
The Evening Boat is vigorous under your majesty, and you illuminate all faces.
Your golden flame is hidden; your beams are not described in writing.
The lands of the gods see you, and the lands of Punt account you hidden.
You make yourself alone;
the Sem-priest opens his mouth;
your form is on the Celestial Waters.
May he go in the same way that you go,
ceaselessly like your majesty, in a short time.
You advance, far across the River of Millions of Years,
in a hundred thousand little moments, which you have made.
You have set; you have finished the hours of night.
Likewise you have travelled; you have finished it according to your laws,
giving dawn to the earth.
You give yourself to your work as Ra; you rise on the horizon.

As for the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, he says:
he praises you when you shine,
and he speaks to you when you rise.
You bring morning to exalt your forms,
and you ascend to magnify your beauties.
Advancing, you fashion your limbs in gold;
he who is without his birth gives birth as Ra, rising in the sky.
May you let him reach the sky of eternity and the territory of the favored ones;
may he come forth with them to see your beauties when you rise
and in the evening when you go to your mother Nut.
You turn your face to the west,
and my arms are raised in acclamation of your setting in life;
indeed, it is you who who is eternally praised when you set in the Celestial Waters.
He places you in his heart without weakness, more divine than the gods.

As for the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, he says:
Praise to you, rising as gold,
bringing dawn to the Two Lands on the day of his birth.
Your mother gave birth to you on her hand.
You have brightened the circuit of the solar disk with great brightness,
rising from the Celestial Waters.
His kin are tied together in the deep water,
causing every land, every town, and every house to celebrate,
protected by your beauties,
holding up your ka with food and drink offerings.

Great are the strong ones;
mighty are the mighty ones,
setting his place in order against the wicked.
Great of rising in the Boat of Evening,
great in length in the Boat of Morning.
May you glorify the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, in the underworld,
and give him existance in the west, free of sin.
Behold, the wicked are behind you.
May you grant that he may be dignified with the glorified souls.
May he mingle with the souls in the Holy Land,
and travel around the Field of Reeds, according to the commands of a glad heart.

As for the servant Sobekemiti, true of voice, you will come forth to the sky;
you will sail over the substance of heaven;
you will join with the stars.
Hymns will be made for you in the boat;
you will be called in the Morning Boat.
You will see Ra in his shrine,
and make his disk to set every day.
You have seen the Inet-fish in its forms on the stream of turquoise;
you have seen the Ibdu-fish in its time.
The evil one becomes downfallen when Set prepares his mutilation,
and his backbone is pierced.
The being of Ra is as a good breeze,
drawing on the Evening Boat to its arrival.

The sailors of Ra rejoice for the Lady of Life,
and her heart is sweet when she overthrows the enemies of her lord.
You have seen Horus on the lookout post, Djehuty and Maat at his sides.
All the gods rejoice when they see Ra coming in peace
to make the hearts of the glorified souls live.

The servant, priest, magician,
master of the secrets of Sobek,
master of heka,
scribe of the House of Life,
Sobekemiti, true of voice, is with them.

Recite (modified) offering formula: “An offering which the King gives to Ra, Lord of all Creation, who lives forever, so that He may give a voice offering in bread, beer, water, ox, fowl, alabaster, linen, and everything good and pure on which a God lives.”

Offer libations and food offerings.

Ring your chime or bell

Recite another hymn in praise of Ra
Homage to you,
You who are Kheper-Ra when you rise,
and who are Temu-Ra when you set in beauty.
You rise and you shine on the back of your mother Nut.
You who are crowned the king of the gods!
Nut welcomes you, and pays homage to you,
and Maat, the everlasting and never-changing goddess,
embraces you at noon and at eve.
You stride over the heavens, being glad at heart,
and the Lake of Testes is content.
The Sebau-fiend has fallen to the ground,
his fore-legs and his hind-legs have been hacked off him,
and the knife has severed the joints of his back.
Ra has a fair wind, and the Night boat sets out on its journey,
and sails on till it comes into port.
The gods of the South, the gods of the North,
the gods of the West, and the gods of the East praise you,
Hail, you Runner, Lord, Only One, you maker of the things that are,
you have fashioned the tongue of the company of the gods,
you have produced whatever comes forth from the waters,
you spring up out of them above the submerged land of the Lake of Heru.
Let me breathe the air which comes forth from your nostrils,
and the north wind which comes forth from your mother Nut.
Make my spirit-soul to be glorious,
make my Heart-soul to be divine.
You are worshipped as you set, Lord of the gods,
you are exalted by reason of your wondrous works.
Shine you with the rays of light on my body day by day, on me
Aset embraces you in peace,
and she drivs away the fiends from the entrances of your paths.
You turn your face towards Amentet,
and you make the earth to shine as with refined copper.
Those who have lain down in death rise up to see you,
they breathe the air, and they look on your face when the disk rises on the horizon.
Their hearts are at peace since they behold you,
Oh, you who are eternity and everlastingness.

Revert (consume) the remaining food and drink offerings

Closing:
Closing prayer:
Homage to You, Ra!
You who are Kheper-Ra when You rise,
and who are Tem-Ra when You set in beauty.
Welcome, welcome, You are to be adored.
Your beauties are before my eyes,
and Your radiance is on my body.
You go forth to Your setting in the night boat with fair winds,
and Your heart is glad; the heart of the day boat rejoices.
You stride over the heavens in peace,
and all Your foes are cast down;
The stars which never rest sing hymns of praise to You,
and the stars which are imperishable glorify You
as You sink to rest in the horizon of Manu.
You who are beautiful at morn and at eve,
You, Lord who live, and are established, my Lord!

Close the shrine

Offer henu.

Remove the foot to end the rite.