Thirst for Knowledge @someonewhoseeksknowledge - Tumblr Blog

This year has been one of soul search and a lot is to with my affinity with Loki - he’s been there in times of strife yet dismissed until this year. I’ve lit candles and talked, burnt prayer. The response from him that I interpreted as “if you seek me, you must trust me, believe without doubt not say you do because you’re desperate”. That was two months ago and it’s as if blatant signs diverting my path are now screaming beckoningly. Okay, I’m listening - I am Lokean. Is there a manual?

Welcome!

Loki does tend to be very against devotees lying to themselves. It is unhealthy, and sometimes dangerous, to tell yourself you believe something when you have doubts.

But, while I’m not one to second-guess the spiritual experiences of random people on the internet, I do want to throw it out there that doubt is okay in Heathenry. The eddas and sagas are really clear that some historical heathens doubted and/or questioned the benevolence of the gods, and most modern Heathen groups welcome agnostic members. The focus is more on living a good life and doing right by those sharing the world with you than having the correct view on the supernatural.

Also, Loki himself is pretty much the embodiment of not following blindly. Questioning the gods is literally his job. Trust is an action, and you can offer it without completely ignoring your intellect and emotions.

You heard whatever it is that you heard, but I would encourage you to do some research on Heathen views of divinity and consider if that might recontextualize anything.

There’s no “manual” in the sense that there’s a single right way to do things. However, our FAQ covers the basics of getting started in a typical devotional practice. If you have any questions after reading through that link, feel free to get in touch again.

Best wishes on your new journey.

- Mod E

#lokean

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Anubis Mummiform

Decorative relief depicts the jackal-headed god Anubis, who is shown as a standing mummiform figure, detail of a wall carving in the Tomb of Ramesses IV (KV2). New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, reign of Ramesses IV, ca. 1155-1149 BC. Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

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Recumbent Anubis

The black jackal Anubis reclines on a shrine, a sash tied around his neck and a golden flail supported by his hind leg, detail of a wall carving in the joint Ramesses V and Ramesses VI (KV9). New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, ca. 1189-1070 BC. Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

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Votive Ram’s Head

This splendid bust of a ram with curving horns and stylized mane is placed on an inscribed pedestal. The top of the pedestal is marked by a cavetto cornice and a torus moulding. The front has a shallow incised decoration of Amenhotep I in front of an offering stand. He is identified as “Amenhotep of Karoi”, meaning of southern Nubia.

Other inscriptions mention the “priest of Amun of Karnak with right of access, the scribe of the barn of the temple of Amun, Penta-weret” as the donor of the statue. The offering formula mentions, of course, “Amun-Re, the Ruler of Thebes”, appearing in this statue in his form of a ram.

The ram’s head apparently played a special role during certain festivals in Thebes. It served as the hieroglyph for “majesty, respect”, especially used for Amun. This majestic, monumental votive gift, a donation from Penta-weret to honor the deified king Amenhotep I in the temple of Amun at Karnak, is one of the more important creations of the later Ramesside Period.

New Kingdom, 20th Dynasty, Ramesside Period, ca. 1189-1070 BC. Serpentinite, from Karnak. Now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

lokeanwelcomingcommittee

Offerings: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!

You see a lot of talk about certain types of offerings on this blog and elsewhere. Some of those offerings are popular because they’re attested historically, and others were picked up from other cultures because they happened to be especially convenient in modern life. However, just because an offering was very common, or specifically attested in the lore, does not mean it is the only valid way to worship the gods.

Whether you can’t make conventional offerings, you’re a beginner who’s unsure what to offer to begin with, or you’re just trying to find more ways to work devotion into your daily life, here are some ideas:

Keep reading

#offerings

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Relief of Ra-Horakhty and Ma’at

Relief depicting the god Ra-Horakhty and the goddess Ma’at, detail of a wall carving in the Tomb of Twosret (KV14). New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, reign of Twosret, ca. 1191-1189 BC. Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

#re #maat

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Soul House

Fired clay offering tray (‘soul house’) in the form an enclosure, with a two storey building set against the rear wall. An opening in the front wall provides access to a courtyard, in which an array of food offerings are depicted (including fish, vegetables, bread, cuts of meat and jars).

The house is accessed through an arched doorway, and a window is provided with a papyriform column as support. A doorway to the left of the house provides access to a staircase to the roof which has a vent to catch the cool breeze.

Funerary models like these, which represented the earthly dwelling of the deceased, were called 'soul houses’. Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, around 1900 BC. Now in the British Museum. EA 32610

bigbadjackal

I am really struggling to find much of anything which is particularly noteworthy in the current book I am reading (“Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice”), but did find these snippets worth extracting:

“If people conceded that they had been at fault in an action or event, whether or not they had been aware of it at the time, this recognition was itself a signal of divine favor and allowed them to return to a blessed state.” Baines, p.146

“The diversity of religious action implies that people's normal religious lives could be conducted away from religious centers. "Irregular" action not related to the official cult and responding to the circumstances of individuals or groups would be more important to people than regular action. It would take place in a private context, among small social groups.” Baines, p.150

#kemetic

dollopheadsandclotpoles

People really be like

Ace person: I’m asexual

Them: how do you know if you’ve never had sex

Ace person: I’ve had sex

Them: then how are you asexual lol

hieroglyphicstext

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Gold Dagger and Sheath of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun’s mummy was provided with two daggers encased in gold sheaths, one with an iron blade and the other with a blade of hardened gold. It is the latter specimen which is shown here.

The handle is exquisitely decorated with gold granulation and glass inlays and is fitted with a knob of rock crystal. Dagger length 31.8 cm; blade 20.4 cm, width 3.4 cm; sheath length 20.6 cm, width 4.3 cm.

From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62), Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 61584A, 61584B

#ae

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Statue of Hathor Protecting Psamtik

This schist statue depicts Psammetik standing in a posture of prayer, with the seal of his profession as chief scribe hanging from his neck.

He is standing beneath the figure of a cow representing the goddess Hathor. She was the goddess of love, music, and motherhood. Here Hathor wears her usual crown of the sun disk, with two tall feathers inserted between her horns and the uraeus, or rearing cobra.

From Saqqara necropolis. Late Period, 26th Dynasty, ca. 664-525 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 38927

#hethert

cheruib

pretty cow with a flower crown 🐄💌

#hethert

starsandepithets

Hi dear~ I'm not sure if this has already been answered, but how do you know if a deity likes something? Such as an offering or what's on their altar.

Hello!

This is a great question, that I don’t think I’ve actually been asked before :D

So, I would start off by asking what makes you want to give an offering in the first place, is there a feeling that comes attracted with it? For example, sometimes I’ll be eating something in the room with my shrine and I get a major feeling that the gods are eyeing up my dinner - at which point I will give them some food offerings and the feeling after offering is similar.

If you’re just starting out with a new deity, or offering new things to a deity that you already work with, I’d honestly recommend keeping a note of what you offer and when. Sometimes you’ll get a delayed reaction back, for example if I’m offering something with the hopes of having a good week - if I have a great week I can tentatively assume that they really liked the offering/ if I have a terrible week, I might not offer that thing again.

Alternatively, if you’re just not getting any reaction back from the offerings - you can cross reference with ancient offering lists of UPG offering lists to see if anyone else had offer that same or same sort of thing before and what their reaction was.

Or occasionally I might have offering something weeks ago, and suddenly get a nudge to offering it again. [And how am I going to find Halloween themed spider cookies in March Serqet??] Even if you didn’t get a nudge that the offering was good or bad the first time.

And on top of all that, deities will all have their own slightly different ways of telling you what they want, and their likes and dislikes. Divination is a really great tool to try to check, everything from the standard tarot cards to watching raindrops on a window or turning the radio on randomly and seeing if the songs have any meaning to you.

I tend to find that I get the strongest reaction when something is really wrong, so if I’m offering something that is ritually impure by accident or if my shrines got a little too dusty, the gods have no qualms about letting me know. So, within reason, I would say so long as you get no screaming alarm bells, then your offerings are probably great!

#offering #kemetic