Important Kemetic Terminology
Em Hotep, everyone. Today I will talk about some important terminology used in Kemetic circles. I may or may not do a part two at a later date, but this is just the basics for now!
Sayings
Em Hotep - means "come in peace". Very common in Kemetic circles
Anudj har - means "hail to" (e.x. anudj har Ra means "hail to Ra")
Heru nofer - means "good day"
Religious Terms
Ma'at - when not referring to the deity, refers to the fundamental order of the universe
I/s/f/e/t - the opposite of Ma'at, pure chaos. Often censored to avoid giving it power
A/p/e/p - the giant snake that opposes Ra when he travels through the Duat. His name is censored to prevent giving him the power he desires
Heka - "magic", but not as we think of it. Heka is the magic of speech, as words are often louder than actions, but are actually the same thing. Thought and deed are united in the magic of heka
The Duat - the afterlife, ruled over by Wasir. To arrive, you must travel through the twelve kingdoms/hours of the night, the same journey Ra takes every night.
Conception of the Soul - this is a longer idea, and thus I will cover it in a separate post. There are eight different parts of the soul
Khet the physical body
Sah the spiritual body
Ren the name and identity
Ba the personality
Ka the double
Ib the heart
Shut or sheut the shadow
Sekhem the power and form
Important Texts
Book of the Dead - quite possibly the most important, and also called "Book of Coming Forth by Day" or "Book of Emerging Forth into the Light", the Book of the Dead is filled with spells and rituals that were used to assist a deceased person's body on their journey into the Duat
The Coffin Texts - spells and rituals to assist a deceased into the Duat. These were written on coffins when the deceased were buried. The Coffin Texts were later copied into the Book of the Dead
The Pyramid Texts - the oldest of the funerary texts, written on the underground pyramid walls. The Pyramid Texts were used for pharaohs only, and were quite similar to the spells and rituals of the Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead
The 42 Negative Confessions - a list of "sins" (for lack of a better term) that are used during the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony.
As I said before, I will most likely do more parts explaining more important aspects of Kemetic religion. A list of what I have planned is as follows:
The 42 Negative Confessions.
A more in-depth look at the afterlife, specifically the twelve kingdoms of the night and the Weighing of the Heart ceremony.
The Conception of the Soul
A history of i/s/f/e/t and a/p/e/p
If there's anything you'd like me to cover, feel free to ask and I'll definitely do so!
