To Kemetic Devotees!

(And anyone else who'd like to chime in!)

How did your relationship with your deities start out? How has it evolved since then?

For myself, I started out pretty insecure in my practice. I was still in the broom closet, so there wasn't much I could do in way of worship and offerings at first.

As time went on, I started to grow a lot more confident in my skills, and also became more open with my practice when I finally started to open up with my deities as well.

Originally, I was mostly interested in witchcraft. I grew up atheist and had gone to the UU church so I had always seen myself as spiritual and not religious. Learning witchcraft was a way I could take action in my life for things that I couldn't do much else about.

One day, I was contemplating deity work because of tiktok (I know I know) and I couldn't stop thinking the name "Thoth." I eventually investigated this, set up a little candle for him and began to do magic with him. It felt so real, I couldn't deny it anymore and converted to polytheism. Now, my practice is much much more religious and I only do magic from time to time.

Kemeticism is a religion of constant study. When I first began, I absorbed a ton of books and was constantly writing new rituals and spells. Now, I know kind of what works for me and stick to that. I'm more focused on my fiction writing and as a result, I've been reading mostly fiction too. I've been requesting help from Tehuti for that and my studies for religion have been kind of put on hold. I want to continue researching once I finish my book but for now I'm doing what I know! I have time to explore even more later.

Likewise, background in witchcraft, had built a small coven and was looking into dieties associated with different elements. (Our coven is still very element focused, but now secular). Saw Sekhmet in a list associated with fire, and while found her intriguing at the time we ended up going a different route and so she was just in the background, fondly, as we did more with our coven. Later on I learned more about Kemeticism here on Tumblr and decided I enjoyed the research heavy aspects of the religion. At which point Sekhmet let me know that she was interested in a working relationship again. Which eventually grew into a devotee relationship, and has lead to where we are now. about 7 years on :)

Thank you Megan for the commission!🧡

(The art in question is below. I will most likely redraw it for print optimization, but it will be very similar.)

Remember to uphold ma'at and that the ma'at of ancient Egypt was playing the puppet to what the government demanded and claimed but the ma'at of our diaspora is protecting everyone's rights to bodily autonomy, marriage equality, and fighting against millennia of ingrained racial injustice.

As an Egyptologist, this is incoherent if we’re adhering to the ancient Egyptian definition of ma’at, but sure, if we change its entire cultural context, that works.

I can’t tell if I like this or not. It makes me uncomfy to change the fundamental of an ancient concept because then it’s not still that thing, but I also like pretending that it’s fine to just do that because yay ancient history being applied in modern times, kind of!

Part of the problem may just be though that ma’at most closely translates to our concept of “order”, which for ancient Egyptians was synonymous with goodness and whatnot, and as an anarchist this is no bueno for me.

This post is going to live in my head rent free, I can already tell.

i can give you some insight to the rationale behind this if you're interested. i can tell you that many of us came to this conclusion from reading original texts and drawing different conclusions than AE did. we didn't just change the meaning on a whim.

i think the best definition that we have for ma'at comes from Stephen Quirke, who basically defined it as "what is right." he argued that "order" and "justice" or "what is just" is placing a value that isn't inherently there, that "what is right" is more correct. if we use that definition, i think it highlights how easy it is to manipulate ma'at into whatever you want it to be. which the egyptians did regularly imo.

karenga as a person sucks, but his book is a good reference to see a list of ways in which "what is right" was interpreted in AE. whether we're talking feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the widow, not stealing offerings, not being a hot head, honoring your parents/family, etc.

for many of us, when you get down to brass tacks, "what is right" really sounds like being a decent human being, not being shitty to others, actively removing sources of isfet from creation and replacing those isfetian things with "what is right." showing up for others, sharing your wealth with those who don't have it.

and, by extension, this would translate into removing systems that harm people, that cause injustice, that destroy the earth. from there, its not a far jump to "we should probably not have kings or capitalists or rampant exploitation". i know AE may have disagreed with us, but tbh, i think their rendition of "what is right" was pretty flawed in practice compared to their idealized versions of "what is right" were on paper. but it's super easy to write it down and call it truth and never bother with actually acting it out.

idk if that helps, but i gotta admit i've spent far too much time thinking on this to simply leave it with "yeah we just decided to redefine it with no basis" XDD

__

also for clarity of tone, because i'm kinda used to ppl getting the wrong tone from me, i'm not mad, this is lighthearted and genuine, i just want ppl to understand, i'm not trying to start shit with anyone.

Sunlight entering the inner sanctuary of Amon-Ra in the Temple of King Ramses III (r. 1186-1155 BCE) in Karnak, Egypt

Quick rant about African homophobia but the fact that white people will really say "ooh X country hates gay people, they're so backward and barbaric" is incredibly insulting.

As far as Africa is concerned, homophobia can't be disconnected from Christian colonizers. The erasure of queer history can be tied to them and has led to some of the most radical shifts toward homosexuality I've ever seen.

Take Uganda, everyone's favourite homphobic punching bag. Few would believe that Uganda had a gay king. If you've only heard of Kabaka Mwanga through European writings you would believe that he was gay (which the Europeans claimed he gained from the barbaric Arabs) However, some modern Ugandan scholars believe he was bi as he slept with his wives and male pages. The missionaries used this narrative to claim he was possessed by demons leading him to burn Christian martyrs.

While the killing of the martyrs was obviously wrong, the British used his sexuality to undermine his power and colonize Uganda. ( This was around the same time Oscar Wilde was put on trial ) This is just one example of the British weaponising homophobia as they spread it throughout Uganda.

Other examples include the erasure of lesbian marriage in certain tribes and the condemning of male wives and female husbands (given my lack of resources on them, I can't say they were trans but they certainly didn't fit the mold that colonialism forced on them) The fact is that modern homophobia in Africa can be traced back to colonialism and Christianity.

While this does not mean Africa was a woke™ haven, it does show how insidious remarks about it's homophobia can be. With the knowledge that these attitudes have been stoked throughout the past two centuries, it becomes easier to divorce African identity and homophobia. This goes against the stereotype that non-white communities are socially regressive, often having sexist/homophobic structures.

This doesn't absolve any Africans of their homophobia but rather seeks to explain some of it and add nuance to the discussion of LGBT rights in Africa.

TLDR: Colonization erased queer history in Africa. this doesn't absolve Africa of its homophobia but it's necessary to understand the role of colonization in it

Message to all my fellow spoonie worshippers out there:

It's ok if you originally had plans to celebrate a festival or do something for your god(s), but now you don't have the spoons for it.

The same applies to mental illness and the like; your gods aren't going to hold it against you - they're not up in the Heavens or down in the Underworld or wherever they are, keeping score of each time you weren't able to do what you wanted to for them. They're not going to hate you for it; it's ok to not be ok sometimes and not be able to worship the way you wanted to.

Original art.

Sekhmet, the Lady of Slaughter. ENNEAD, Mojito

The conversation

“i want to worship a/pep because some destruction and chaos is necessary for life and can be helpful, it should be considered sacred not evil”

“i think it could be cool to honor ap/ep because death and decay is natural and should be honored, not shunned”

Might I add that if you’re interested in a Netjeru/Netjeri (it’s sort of unclear which She was thought to be) that literally does “take out the trash” and that is seldom revered or worshiped by modern-day Kemetics, I have Someone I think you may want to consider:  Ammit. 

^^^

“I just really like snakes though!”

Wadjet, Renenutet, Uraeus

“okay but what if i just wanna be EDGEY????”

theres a fuck ton of obscure netjer/netjeri too, and also, the Known Ones are always in need of new devotees like why dont your work with the very Essence of Nothingness: Kekui and Kekuit?

Remember to uphold ma'at and that the ma'at of ancient Egypt was playing the puppet to what the government demanded and claimed but the ma'at of our diaspora is protecting everyone's rights to bodily autonomy, marriage equality, and fighting against millennia of ingrained racial injustice.

Ma’at is perfect balance and justice. That includes kindness and mercy to people that are different to you! Just because you don’t like the way they live or how they present doesn’t mean you can treat them badly!

Your breath fills my nostrils,

your arms embrace me,

strengthening my ka.

O’ Lady of the Two Truths,

your honesty,

your justice,

it fills my heart with joy.

My arms are raised,

my feet stand firm against isfet,

for Ma’at fills every ounce of my being.

Dua Ma’at!

Sekhmet

since i saw a post promoting him, this is your regular reminder that henadology/edward butler works for a hindutva think tank.

which is to say, he works with a think tank that is working to promote fascism in india.

Historically accurate furry

Ascending the steps of Dendera

i made a version of this way back in 2013 or so. i felt it was a good time for an update.

Ancient Egyptian depiction (gold with stone inlay) of the ba. One of the components of the multipartite soul in Egyptian thought, the ba, normally depicted as a human-headed bird, represented an individual's distinct personality. Artist unknown; early 3rd century BCE (=beginning of the Ptolemaic period). Now in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. Photo credit: Walters Art Museum.