Happy Solstice!

Solstice offering to Heru-sa-Aset that used up the last of my gold paint gdi. Depicts the Eye of Heru. NGL, resisted the urge to give it feet as well as arms. Shorthand glyphs in the top left corner represent ‘Heru, Lord of the Two Lands’. I think you can figure out an ankh and an infinity symbol.

I shouldn’t feel like Solstice crept up on me, because I knew last week I needed to prepare, and I did fuck all, because I am clever, and did everything at the last minute like I normally do. IDK why I pretend I can actually prepare in advance anymore. But anyway. Solstice happened. Got my rituals done. Feeling good about all that. There’s a soft lingering scent in the air, too; incense I burn doesn’t usually stick around this long, but it’s nice. I’m taking that as a sign that the gods accepted the rite and the offerings.

The solstice was meant to happen at about 7am today (WAST, on the 22nd), which I promptly slept through (because who wants to get up at 7am for a long ritual? Not me!). But I’d decided to do my rituals during the day, rather than at night, so I spent last night preparing. Got the shrine all set up, picked out the offerings, did a painting (see above), etc. The plan was to do the ritual almost first thing, but I woke with a migraine, so fuck that. There was house cleaning and shopping for Christmas to do anyway, so I didn’t get around to it until about 4pm, in which I hurriedly wrote out my offering hymn and statement of purpose before I got started. But that’s alright. It went fine, though I think I did rush it a little. I need to remember to slow down when I’m doing ritual.

Also, I really, really need to get around to posting the Kemetic ADF style ritual structure I use, because I think I said that I’d do that last Solstice, and I haven’t, so. I’ll also post the two Solstice hymns I’ve written, since they’re kinda cool, and I like them anyway.

Have a cut, because rambly post is a bit rambly, and not entirely on-topic.

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Coronation of Heru-sa-Aset Day 1: Triumph Over Set

Welcome, Great Falcon!

Welcome in peace!

Welcome in triumph!

Welcome to You, Mighty One,

Who seizes His birthright from the rebel!

Come in peace, King of Kings,

The Two Lands are Yours.

Son of Aset, who rages because of Wesir,

You have driven the rebel from the Two Lands,

and overthrown the rebels who stand in Your way.

Lord of Ma’at, Justified One,

Stand tall, and claim the throne.

None will stand in Your way.

Great Lord, Your mother stands with You,

shrouding You with Her wings,

deflecting all that would harm You

As You soar across the skies,

surveying the Two Lands in peace.

Come, Great King,

Saviour of Your Father,

The Lady of the Throne crowns You.

The Strength of the King lifts You to the Heavens in triumph!

Rise, rise, rise, Great God,

Rise to the Heavens, Soaring Falcon!

Rise above the rebels and send them fleeing!

Your aim is true, perfect harpooner,

Brilliant Sharp-Eyed One.

None can hide from Your wrath.

Rise, Beautiful One, Perfect God, Lord of the Heavens,

Rise and claim the throne in peace,

Beautiful Lord, who wears the Double Crown in triumph!

–

Dua Heru-sa-Aset! Dua Aset! Nekhtet!

–

Written for the first day of the festival of the Coronation of Heru-sa-Aset, October 31, 2014, by Sobekemiti.

Coronation of Heru-sa-Aset

So this is the first day of this shiny festival, which is an extension, if you like, of the last day of the Mysteries of Wesir. I wanted a symmetry for my Wheel, and this seemed like the best way to mirror/echo the Mysteries, by having a six-day coronation festival for Heru, particularly at this point in time, when summer is a month or so away, the heat is growing as winter trails off at last. It feels like the best time to do this, so that’s what’ll be happening for the next six days.

So this will run from Oct 31 to Nov 5, mostly because Oct 31 is so strongly associated with Halloween in my mind, and I wanted to break that, and make new connections, hence the later date, which coincides with Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes in the UK, and sort of reflects some of those themes of authority/legitimate rule suppressing/triumphing over rebellion/chaos, with Heru triumphing over Set to claim the throne as legitimate King. It’s not a like-for-like association, but those themes, along with the fires, are still relevant, in their own way.

Hibernation

It’s nearly time for the Spring Equinox, and I feel like I might finally be coming up for air. Or, at least, emerging from the dark time. It’s been a very deep and introspective time. Not quite a Fallow Time, but more … introverted. Lots of internal stuff going on, as well as being busy with things in the mundane world. Trying and failing to write things, trying and failing to find a job, trying not to go mad and smash things because politics, the usual. It makes for a strange disconnect, sometimes, when I try to reconcile the normality of life, with all the other spiritual stuff. A lot’s happened, and I’m alright. It’s still been a weird winter, but it’s time to re-emerge, and I’ve felt that urge to write again, and re-engage with the world.

So, er, bear with me, if this post gets a little long, and rambly. I will probably need more posts to go into things in more detail, if necessary, but this is what’s on my mind at the moment. I hope this all comes out coherently. It’s still a little muddled in my head.

Cosmology and Practice

Apologies for the radio silence of late. I’ve been working, and I’ve been sick, and I haven’t had enough mental energy to think of anything substantial to update about. I do have some things I do need to post about, but they’re not quite ready yet. In the meantime, this is a post about cosmology and how it relates to my practice. I wrote it for the Kemetic study group formed over at The Cauldron, and I’m posting it here for posterity, and so others can have a read of it.

Usual caveats that I’m not a reconstructionist, and this is just my weird way of making things work apply. Definitely not a scholarly piece by any stretch of the imagination. This is ~4k words of anecdata. Treat it as such.

Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice, everyone! I hope your rituals and celebrations have been going well, if you’ve been planning them. I hope you northern hemisphere types aren’t burning up under the power of the sun. Can you send some down here? It’s been horrid today.

I’m doing final preparations for my ritual tonight. It’s been wet and raining all day, so it’s been impossible to go out and buy any offerings, so I’m making do with what I can find at home. There’s some leftover beef from our Yule Feast last night, and I thought I’d offer that, along with some sort of drink. IDK yet. Depends how eager I am to drink something cold on a cold night.

(It’s still raining. Sobek’s presence is great today.)

I’ll post photos of the Yule Feast hearth later, but it was a great night, and it’s always good to mark the time with others. It’s never particularly pagan, but good company makes up for that. My parents are away tonight, at a friend’s 40th, and they’ll be back tomorrow, so I’ve got the house to myself now. Perfect for long rituals.

I’m at that point where I’m trying to figure out where everything’s going. Yeah. That’s always fun. I’ve been shifting tiny libation bowls around all afternoon, but I think I’ve just about got it organised. I’ve just finished writing the solstice hymn I’m going to use during the rite, and I thought I’d share it here for your enjoyment.

Bookbinding, Isis, and Hekate

So, I’ve started making books, because Sobek said a scribe ought to know how to make books. Right now, I’m just concentrating on hardcover coptic stitch journals, but I’ll likely tackle case binding eventually when I am not so intimidated by it.

This is the first one I made; it’s since become my new ritual book, for my monthly festivals at least. I’ve made another A4 sized one with watercolour paper that I plan to use as a devotional art journal, and another A5 one for notes and other things. I’m planning to make a bunch of 4inx4in ones as presents for our midwinter feast next month. Everything’s been cut out, it all just needs to be assembled. I’m also going to get dad to help me put together a book press, and Sobek wants hieroglyphs on it, so. Part of my scribal kit, it seems.

I’m planning to get myself organised enough to sell them, because with coptic stitch, the books lie flat, which makes them good for ritual books if you want them to sit flat on a table or shrine. Plus, I think it suits Kemetic ritual books well since I believe it originated in Egypt with the Copts? I get a big sense of recognition and pleasure from Sobek when I make these books, as if it’s something He recognises and takes pleasure in seeing brought to life again. It may not have been an ancient practice used in the old temples, but He seems to really like it nonetheless. It’s always good when your gods like your work, I think.

Relating to this, Sobek’s also been throwing ‘lector priest’ things at me, seeing it as the other side of a scribe’s duty when serving in the House of Life of a temple. I think He’s emphasising it more in a sense of a context in which I’m doing rituals to Them, rather than as a role He wants me to take. It may be that this is ultimately why I’m not tending open statues, because I don’t have a high priest to tend to it. It’s not part of my duties. I just read (and write) the rituals. (If the gods see fit to change this, that’s Their decision.) It reminds me that I ought to get my hands on that book about priests in ancient Egypt when I have some spare money.

(Also, knowing how to do bookbinding will enable me to refill my current BoS/journal because it has a reusable leather cover omg, which was half the reason I bought it. The damn text block in there currently is even coptic bound. I mean, really. I will never need to buy another journal ever again.)

Shedety Shrine is finished

Thought it was about time I did a proper post about the finished shrines. They take up a lot more of the room than the old ones did, and I guess that’s a sign of my shift in priorities and whatnot. It’s still undergoing minor adjustments, but otherwise, it’s done.

Sobek’s named it the Shedety Shrine, so that’s what I’m going to keep calling it. It’s the name for the whole, as much as for the Sobek/Heru part itself. It doesn’t cover the other shrines around the room, but that’s alright. Those are kind of separate. This is a full working shrine, where everything is integrated into the whole. It’s nice to get used to using it, and lighting candles, and saying my prayers. Getting used to the new space, and what I can do with it, and when I need more space. What I want to show, and what can go away for now.

The festival shrine proved the hardest to place, but having it below the Sobek/Heru shrine seemed like the best place, and gave me the most space to work with. We’ll see how well it works over the course of the next year of festivals. I might make some adjustments as I go along as to how I lay things out, and make it work.

Anyway, have a gallery of images, because there are 17 photos, and I cbf writing a tl;dr post of photos. It’s under the cut, and you should be able to click through to larger versions. I’ve added in as many proper explanations as I can for what’s there, but if anything’s unclear, feel free to ask.

New shrines! :D

I’ve spent all day moving books and other things into my room omg. It’s all done. The floor’s done, the walls are done, the new light+fan is in, and now all I need to do is fit everything back in again. Bweee. ❤

There’s still a little out in the garage, and I still need cull some things, but at least I have a functioning room again. It’s so nice. I think it’ll take a few days to sort out where all the shrines are going, as well as all my other stuff. I have even sorted my Paganish books a little, though I might thin them out a bit. Might move all the generic fairytale/folklore books to the other shelves, and keep that one for proper Paganish things. Rae Beth’s Hedge Witch might be on the cull list, tbh, though, because it just didn’t agree with me, and I could use that space for another book I like much better. I think it has pencil marks in it, but otherwise, it’s in great condition. Has been to New Zealand and back in January 2012 or whenever it was I went to NZ. Do I keep the one book on astrology I bought in a supermarket for, like, $10, or ditch it because I never fucking do astrology. These are the questions that are plaguing my mind at the moment. Go me!

Anyway. I bring shrine pictures. 😀 I have the candles lit, and I found my frankincense cones, so I’ve got one burning atm. I have missed that smell, I really have. Myrrh just isn’t the same. (Well, yes, thank you, Captain Obvious.) I’ve got the Mysteries of Wesir shrine set up too. It’s quite pared back from previous years, but I think that’s also partly just getting used to using a new space, and figuring out what works. There aren’t any candles this year, because they’ve been stuck in boxes in my garage, but also because, well, it feels weird to, well, light up that space. Wesir’s all covered up in black, with Heru and Aset by His side, in His shrine box. I haven’t done any rituals for the Mysteries yet. I’ve been too busy fixing shrines and finding places for books and other assorted things. I want to do the Night Vigil at any rate, even if I just sit in shrine the rest of the week. But I hope I”ll have more of a mind for these things once this room is sorted out. I’ve hardly thought of anything else, and I want to get writing, and move on to other not-dealing-with-renovations things.

But enough babble. There will be moar under the cut with the photos, I daresay, so I might add the cut and get on with it.

A Blessed Equinox!

Autumn equinox shrine, set up by the window, with what I haven’t packed away in a box yet. Offerings are rum + Coke, water for libations, and a plate of stuff: pesto made from homegrown basil, roasted homegrown pumpkin, brie, crackers, and some sliced chicken.

It feels like too long since I last updated, but at least I’ve got a decent High Day to write about now. I’ll upload the ritual I used in a bit, since I finally settled on one I was happy with. It follows the SDF ritual format, but it’s more built around Kemetic gods and cosmology. And it took me about 20 minutes, which I think is pretty good for me. And knowing it’s a set ritual, and all I need to do is worry about offerings, and perhaps writing an appropriate hymn, it’s stress-free, pretty much, which is nice.

I was a bit worried about doing it today, since I drew Thorn this morning, suggesting I should make sure I’m properly prepared before going ahead with it. Which was fine, I felt that was a fair enough warning. But I made sure I was prepared and ready, and everything turned out fine. I lit some incense, actually, and had it on the sill near the open window on the right, so it could drift out into the air and not bother me so much. It was partly how I knew the whole thing had taken about 20 minutes, since the cones I use burn for 15 minutes, and I finished probably a few minutes after it finished. I did have to use sandalwood oil to anoint myself with, since I think I packed up my frankincense a couple of days ago. But that’s alright. It worked well enough, and I do like sandalwood.