Their cult teaches them that the world is full of scary monster people who hate them for being so good and loved by god. If you swear at them and call them names or get in their face youāre just doing the cults work for it.
Iām not saying you have to listen to their presentation or try to debate them (and really getting into a debate without thoroughly understanding what theyāre being taught will just make things worse)ā¦ I am just saying to be polite and say no thank you like if they were trying to hand you a flyer for something you donāt care about.
Itās easier for them to see the world outside their bubble as less scary if they see everyday people just going about their business and being as nice to them as you are to everyone else. This goes doubly for anyone who happens to dress modestly, not swear, and not drink or smoke because whatever you believe, theyāll see you as a āgoodā person who happens to strangely have no interest in their āmessageā, and that might be enough to get some curious about the possibility of themselves living in the real world.
Itās sometimes hard to be nice to people who seem to represent something you dislike. Just remember these āeldersā are sheltered young men, some of which are getting their first real contact with people of other/no faiths.
Ancient Egyptian have eight different parts of the soul.
The Khet, representing the physical body.
The Sah, representing the spiritual body.
The Ren, representing the name or identity.
The Ba, representing the personality.
The Ka, representing the "double".
The Ib, representing the heart.
The Sheut, representing the shadow.
The Sekhem, representing the power.
These eight parts are what make up your soul.
Khet
The Khet represents the physical body, which had to exist for the rest of the soul to have intelligence and the chance to be judged by the guardians of the underworld. This is the reason why bodies in Ancient Egypt were preserved the way they were. In the Old Kingdom period (circa. 2700-2200 BC) only the pharaoh were given the ability to be mummified, although all dead were given the honor during the Middle Kingdom period (circa. 2040-1782 BC).
Before you were allowed to be judged by the Netjer, your Khet needed to be "awakened". This manifested itself in the various funerary rites designed to reanimate the corpses in the afterlife. These rites were described in various texts, such as the Pyramid Texts, the Book of the Dead, and the Coffin Texts.
Sah
If every funerary rite was successful and Wasir finds the deceased person worthy, the Sah is formed. This spiritual body is your own body, but able to interact with the various beings in the afterlife.
The Sah was sometimes considered to also be a vengeful spirit, seeking revenge against those who wronged them during life.
Ib
Considered the most important part in Ancient Egypt, your Ib (heart) is the key to the afterlife. Without it, you wouldn't be able to survive death in the underworld. Ancient Egyptians didn't distinguish between the mind and the heart when it came to emotion or thought: the heart was the throne of emotion, thought, will, and intention.
The Ib would be examined by Anpu and the 42 Assessors of Ma'at after crossing the Duat. To gain entrance to the Kingdom of Wasir (Aaru), you would address each of the Assessors by name and recite each of the 42 Divine Confessions, and that you did not break them. Then your heart would be weighed against the feather of Ma'at. If your heart balanced with the feather, you would be able to continue to Aaru. If it was heavier, it was then devoured by Ammit, and your soul would be either eternally restless, or permanently destroyed.
More on the Weighing of the Heart ceremony later.
Ka
Your Ka is what distinguishes between a living person and a dead person, also called your "essence". When Khnum creates the bodies of children and places them in the mother's womb, either Heqet or Meskhenet gifted the baby with their Ka upon their birth, making them alive. Ancient Egyptians believed that you were truly alive after your birth, when either goddess breathed your Ka into you.
Your Ka is sustained through food and drink. This is why many coffins often have food and drink offerings.
Ba
Your Ba is your personality, and it takes the form of a bird with a human head. Not only is the Ba your personality, it is everything that makes an individual unique (in this sense, inanimate objects could also have a Ba).
Sheut
This is your shadow. Because your Sheut always follows you around, it is said to represent something important about you. Because of this, statues of people or the Netjer were referred to as their Sheut.
Sekhem
There isn't much known about the Sekhem. Scholars sometimes define it as the life-force of the soul that exists in the afterlife after all judgement has taken place. But the Book of the Dead describes the Sekhem as the "power", and also as a place where Heru and Wasir dwell in the underworld.
Ren
Your name was given to you at birth, and the Egyptians believed it would live for as long as it was spoken. This is why there was so much effort to preserve names in writing
The Ren is a person's identity, experiences, and an entire life's worth of memories. A part of the Book of the Dead was a means to make sure the name survived. Cartouches (more coming in Important Kemetic Objects) often surrounded names to protect them from harm. On the opposite side, the names of enemies were hacked from monuments and had their recordings destroyed.
Akh
Although not mentioned before, the Akh is a belief that varied throughout the years of the Egyptian Empire. It was associated with thought. Not as an action of the mind, but as intellect as a living entity. The Akh also played a role in the afterlife: following the death of the Khet, the Ba and Ka would reunite to form the Akh. The reanimation of the Akh was only possible if all the proper funeral rites were executed and followed by constant offerings.
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!
Hello hello! I recently saw a Discord Bot that offered hieroglyphics as a form of divination and then I ended up on a very deep dive about hieroglyphs for divination because the source for that bot was a site on Wicca and it was literally the only one that I could find. I'm not going to name either the bot or the website because I don't really think that we should like, shit on them and frankly that's not the intent of the post lol. Anywho!
Hieroglyphs have, historically, not always been used for divination, but in today's world they absolutely can be used! If you're interested in learning more, the rest is below the cut so that it wouldn't be a crazy long post on your dash lol
So, there are like a couple hundred to a couple thousand different hieroglyphs in total that we've found, and it would be incredibly impractical to use all of them for divination. There are 23 ones that are used by the bot and that are listed on the website (though their names are wrong lol), and then there are a bunch more that I, personally use, so I thought I'd make a post to share them!
All of these names (with the exception of one, which I will note in the list) are the names that Egyptologists have given them, and the hieroglyph meanings are derived from both their general like, appearance, and the esoteric meanings that Egyptologists have been able to discern. The letter-number combination in parenthesis beside each one references the Gardiner code and the unicode associated with it.
So the 23 that are listed on the website and the 23 that are used by the bot are as follows (these are the correct names, and not the names used by either the site or the bot):
The Mouth (D21, U+1308B): communication, meetings, working out details with others
The Forearm (D36, U+1309D): receiving something positive; a gift of fate, the help of another, things falling into place unexpectedly without any effort
The Hand (D46, U+130A7): personal skill and ability, being able to make the situation however you want it to be
The Leg (D56, U+130BE): travel, movement, influences from other locations or people
The Egyptian Vulture (G1, U+1313F): a need for emotional distance from the situation, stepping back, not getting caught up, the emotions of the moment may be blinding, looking at the situation from a distance
The Owl (G17, U+13153): wisdom, insight, knowledge, having an overview of the situation and seeing it clearly
The Quail Chick (G43, U+13171): new beginnings, new directions, new doors opening, opportunity, potential
The Cobra (I10, U+13193): power and authority, taking a humble role and working within a system controlled by others
The Reed (M17, U+131CB): growth, expansion, business with many projects, creativity, self-expression
The Double Reeds (M17A, U+131CC): over-extension, too many obligations and too much to do, taking on more than you can handle, a need to cut back and simplify
Slope of Hill (N29, U+1320E): challenges and difficulties, an uphill battle
The Door Bolt (O34, U+13283): safety, protection, lack of fear
The Stool (Q3, U+132AA): help and support of others, good advice or aid from others will be helpful
The Lasso (V4, U+1336F): unseen problems obstacles or challenges, approach with caution, second looks at a situation
The Waters/The Ripple of Water (N35, U+13216): the divine is guiding one, relax and go with the flow, divine providence
The Lying Lion (E23, U+130ED): bravery, courage, self-confidence, strength to face the situation and strength to stand up to challenges
The Tethering Rope (V13, U+1337F): wealth and prosperity, solidification of wealth and having things you desire
The Twisted Wick (V28, U+1339B): letting go of the old to make way for the new, eternity, long lengths of time, let go of what you've outgrown
The Metal Vessel (W6, U+133B5): change, transformation, development from one thing to another, from chaos to order
The Loaf of Bread (X1, U+133CF): taking care of others, fulfilling duties or requirements in a situation, necessary details, doing your part to make a situation successful
The Cup (W10, U+133BA): pleasure, joy, enjoyment, good friends ad positive situations
The Palm Branch (M4, U+131B3): success, positive attention, admiration of others, reward of effort and honor, recognition
The "Slug" (there is no hieroglyph that is named the slug, but it looks like a slug so I'm calling it the slug, and that's what the bot and the site call it) (L8, U+131AC): slow movement, patience, the situation needs to develop at its own pace, things need to fall into place before they move forward.
Other Hieroglyphs
The Crouching Man Behind the Wall (A5, U+13004): concealment, secrecy, hiding, obscured truth and lack of honesty and transparency
The Seated Man Under A Vase (A6, U+13006): cleansing your space, purifying surroundings and heart, return to a situation refreshed and with a blank slate
The Man with A Basket (A9, U+1300B): overworked and underpaid, being weighed down by too much with nowhere to rest, burnout
The Man with Tied Arms (A13. U+1300F): traitorous, harmful behavior, needing to reconsider who one trusts
The Woman Suckling Child (B5, U+13054): nourishment, concern, taking care of others, looking to others for support
The G-d with Jackal Head (C6, U+13062): Anpu, abrupt ends, weighing one's decisions carefully, considering outcomes
The Goddess with Horned Sun-Disk (C9, U+13065): Hathor, feminine joy and liberation, sexual liberation, radical joy
The Goddess with Feather (C10, U+13066): Ma'at, order, balance, stress from disorganization, anxiety of disorder
The Horns (F13, U+1310B): new beginnings, clean slates, fresh new start
The Backbone and Spinal Cords (F40, U+1312B): length, strength, extension, long-lasting, welfare
The Bee (L2, U+131A4): Neith, sweetness, unification, productivity
The Stack (M35, U+131E4): abundance, growth, reaping the benefits of what you've sown, creating abundance
The Brazier (Q7, U+132AE): light, clarity, illumination
The Loaf on Mat (R4, U+132B5): offerings, boons, pleasing experiences, pardons, being pleased or happy, at peace, count your blessings, revel in the good things in your life
Two Bows Tied Vertically (R24, U+132CB): Neith, need for protection and order
The Ankh (S34, U+132F9): life, eternal life, nourishment, protection, the soul
The Sekhem Scepter (S42, U+13302): power and control, take control of your situation, work towards the end goal of what you need
The Bow (T10, U+13314): stretched and over extended, step back and re-evaluate priorities, what is most important?
The Divided Cartouche (V11, U+13378): division, exclusion, disconnecteness, loneliness
The Crossed Diagonal Sticks (Z10, U+133F5): breaks, division, overload, getting rid of what you must.
These are not all the hieroglyphs one could use if they chose to, in fact you have a whole plethora of hieroglyphs at your disposal! Research any meanings they might have had, if they resonate with you, and then add them to your practice if you so see fit :D
Hear me now, hear my prayers, O Forgotten Ones, The Restless Dead, The Unknown Dead, The Nameless Dead,The Spirits Unvenerated. I come to you in the name of Ptah. I come to you in the name of Sokar. I come to you in the name of Wesir. I come to you in the name of Ptah-Sokar-Wesir, Lord of Souls, Lord of The Dead, Ruler of The World Inbetween, Who Oversees The Movements of Spirits.
A thousand offerings I give to you, o spirits, so that your heart is gladdened, your bellies filled, your hunger sated, your thirst quenched, and your longings answered.
A Thousand Jars of Water
A Thousand Loaves of Bread
A Thousand Casks of Beer
A Thousand Bowls of Fruits
A Thousand Vessels of Wine
A Thousand Rolls of Silk
A Thousand Change of Linen
A Thousand Fish Baked to Perfection
A Thousand Oxen Cooked to Perfection
A Thousand Geese Grilled to Perfection
A Thousand Ointment of All Kinds
A Thousand Oils of All Kinds
A Thousand Incense of All Kinds
A Thousand Unguents of All kinds
A Thousand Palette of All Kinds
A Thousand Garment of All Kinds
A Thousand Apparel of All Kinds
May the Four Winds carry your souls to the West and into the Field of Reeds, may you find Peace, may you find Respite, may you find Closure to the things you have left behind. Rest now your weary bones and tired mind, rest now your aching heart and vengeful needs, rest now in the Grace of the Netjeru and let your soul find Freedom and Serenity.
I donāt know about anyone else, but the Netjeru have always been so accepting of lapses in physical devotion from me. The love I felt when I stepped back into shrine yesterday for the first time in a while is honestly almost overwhelming.
I think part of the reason Iāve avoided shrine is the anxiety and guilt Iāve felt, that I donāt deserve positivity or love and that Iām Wrong and Bad and should just give up and āacceptā that Iām always going to be that way.
Anyone who has mental health issues or past experiences with abusive relationships might get what I mean. Sometimes I think the pagan community hypes up how hard and difficult ādarkā and āstrictā and whatnot entities can be.
And I donāt doubt they are for those people. But every once in a whileā¦ can we acknowledge love is hard? Happiness is hard when youāre so used to being shot down and treated wrong youāve almost convinced yourself that you liked it that way? Unending acceptance is hard when youāve braced yourself for rejectionā¦
Youāre being proven wrong and having this light shone on you and feeling this otherworldly hug and likeā¦ this pure stubbornness that your gods will never give up on you.
May Hurricane Ian Diminish In Strength, Swiftly, Quietly, Kindly.
hear me, my Lords, Ptah, Ptah-Ra-Atum, Ptah-Sokar-Wesir, Ptah-Tatenen-Nun, Ptah-AmunRa-Atum
hear me, all you Netjeru, known and unknown, remembered and forgotten
hear me, all you Netjeri, known and unknown, remembered and forgotten
hear me, all you Akhu, Blessed and Restless, known and unknown, remembered and forgotten
may the hurricane sweeping through Florida and surrounding areas diminish in strength and power, swiftly, quietly, kindly
may all the hurricanes, floods, storms, and environmental disasters in Florida diminish in strength and power, swiftly, quietly, kindly
may the magic and majesty of Ptah and his countless emanations seep into this prayer
and let this prayer become a fortress that shields through disaster
I offer to you, my five Lords, 1/3rd of my Ka, please make way for my friends, for safety and peace, swiftly, quietly, kindly.
This is my third commission, requested by the lovely @arcreads.
I hope you like your drawings of Ptah-Sokar-Wesir and Ptah-Tatenen-Nun
Thank you for commissioning me and for being too kind with me.Ā
To everybody else who commissioned me, right now Iām working on your drawings in the order you arrived :) I will let you know when I start and when I finish.
2087
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