/r/Kemeticism
Welcome to r/Kemeticism, a subreddit for discussion of historical and modern Kemetic religion. Our focus is on historically-informed practice for modern religious revival. We encourage topics that highlight ancient Egyptian sources and how those can be applied in modern practices.
Rules:
Related subreddits:
/r/Kemeticism
Honestly a burner account BCS I don't know what else to do and my question might be very unmoral.
So some information: I've been actively practicing since about 2018. I work a lot with nut, ammit, and sekhmet.
In 2019 my grandmother died, I was very close to her, but things had happened and I was quite angry and did not grieve quite well. It took a few years, and some dreams about her, to finally grieve in a healthy manner. Anubis and ammit have been helping me a lot with that, and I'm very thankful.
Problem is, about a year ago I started dreaming about her again, I reflected on my grief, asked Anubis for advice, even asked her in my dreams to please leave me alone. (Yes, I have a therapist too and we worked on that for quite a while as well, and both of us are sorta stunned too BCS nothing helps.) And nothing that I tried worked, I have frequent and very distressing dreams about my dead grandmother, and I find myself incapable of leaving her house, or leaving her behind. It's to the point where I have dreams about her multiple times a week. My sleep has become very unrestful and I'm sorta sick and tired of these dreams.
For unrelated reasons, I had asked Ammit to protect me in my sleep last night. (I have done that multiple times before, and she has been a great help to keep me calm and save, as well as help me with recurring nightmares.)
And who would've guessed, I found myself back at my grandmother's house, with her following me around. But for the first time I was able to just. Leave the house. Take the car. Drive back home. And she didn't follow me.
For as stupid and morally questionable as it sounds. Should I ask Ammit to,,, I dunno,,, eat my dead grandmother from my dreams? They're not visitations dreams, and I am rather certain that these dreams aren't about grieving, loneliness, guidance or anything else. They're extremely distressing and I'm tired. I virtually did everything I know. Asking ammit to eat her is sort of. The last thing I believe could work?
Should I ask Ammit to do that? Is that even moral? What's our consensus on eating dream dead relatives?
Any opinions or advice is very much appreciated.
This is a post about Bes. My observation is there aren't many worshippers online, so this is an encouragement for people to invite him to your home.
I invited Him into his statue around 7 years ago. Bes isn’t your typical deity—he's less "celestial" and you can feel his presence more often. He loves and helps people who take care of children. He is perfect to be worshipped by couples. Here are some powers I was shown Him having:
Plus, he’s the ultimate reminder that even small tasks can involve his help. He's a God of small things. The pharaoh used to have his image at the feet of his bed, so when he rises he "rises towards Bes', meaning protection from evil in sleep.
Some offerings he adores: coins, goat milk (the milk children were fed in Egypt), dates, wine. He a cheerful God, so historically his worship most likely involved dancers and musical instruments. It's hard to replicate nowadays, not that it is important.
Note: if you have a statue, make sure you ritually wash his statue under the open sun once a year. It brings renewal to the God and you will receive blessings.
What do you think of Bes? Would love to hear your thoughts!
Hello, Im new to this and am wondering if anyone has any advice.
Little back story- Whenever I do spiritual work I am greated by Egyptian hieroglyphs and Gods. I never really looked into what it could be, I just let it happen. I have always been fascinated with the pyramids but never fully dove into it. After talking to someone about these experiences they recommend I read The Law of One: The RA Matieral. This book made all of my experiences click for me.
I started looking into Kemetism. It was like all my beliefs and experiences made sense. I am not of Egyptian decent (That I know of), however I feel incredibly drawn to their beliefs. I am a little nervous about the fact I am a white redhead because I know some spiritualitys/religions discriminate, But I feel so strongly pulled to this.
What is some advice you have for people just starting with Kemetism? Where should I start? Should I be worried about my race?
Thank you.
I provide incantation, text and images in a TikTok (I’m an Egyptologist). Can I share it here?
I am a lot interested in Egyptian pantheon. When I was 12 I found a book of spells of ancient Egyptian gods. It was in English and I read the spells a few time. I could only remember sections dedicated to Osiris and sekhmet in that. I did it to get rid of problems of mine and the weird part is I got rid off and after it the phone in which I had downloaded the mysterious spell book got stolen in a journey and I could never find the book again. Solution came to me as dreams where everytime I had like a journey which ended up by stopping the bad deeds of some ancient Egyptian figures one was tutankhamum ( even though the deed wasn't real) but I had 5-7 such dreams and in the end of every dream I would die and wake up in real world and i would be different from night before. I started laughing began caring those scary hallucinations stopped, I started expressing myself, people around me became caring and started showing love to me and biggest of all a horrible event that I thought happened because of me that threw me in guilt got repaired or reversed like nothing happened and it was the end of my journey and those dreams stopped. I had found my forgiveness but a payment was taken that left a void in me .
I then came across the name aker in my mind and using it as an alias helped me a lot and years I came to know that it's an Egyptian god.
I wrote the above stories because my paths cross again and again with Egyptian gods. I am very sceptical towards them and not respectful but I am always attracted to them in some way or other. I have now decided to give it a try. I want to know which god could I connect with. I don't feel like a connection when I look at them. Even though I felt a little with aker and sobek. In a personality analysis with AI my desires corrosponded with sobek more. I just don't know how to find my solace a connection that could get me rid of the chaos help me get my passion back and help me fill my void
So when i was doing some research on Sobek it said is personality is violent and animalistic but for me that hasn't been the case at all yes he's very protective and caring but i haven't seen him get violent so question for the people here who worship/work with Sobek what have your experiences been like with him.
Relatively new to paganism, recently I have been looking into Egyptian Mythology and felt a rather unique¿ pull towards the path but more specifically Isis/Aset. How could I tell if this is actually a sign, or if I am just being hopeful.
Recently read in ka, ba, ab etc and realised unlike other philosophies I have no knowledge of kemetic philosophy. Hell didn't even knew something like that existed even though now I think about it, that was obvious😅
So I wanna communicate often with Anubis and receive his answers and Input. I used to do tarot cards and they were very effective for Him to communicate with me easily and quickly but at this point in my life I cant do divination of any kind at all for safety reasons. How else can I communicate with Him but most importantly What can I do to be able to hear what he has to say in a fluent way and also have him answer a lot of my questions and receive those answers on the spot like when I used to do tarot cards?
Hello I am an ex catholic who is exploring other religions and this one stuck with me. I grew up listening to the exodus story and all of that and how the egyptian culture was portrayed in that and instead of it leading me away from kemeticism it got me more open to how this religion works. Even looking at photos of the God's makes me feel like something is trying to call out to me but I don't know what. I was wondering what was the best way to dip my toes into this religion and see if it is what I beleive? I'm open to prayer to these God's like I said I no longer believe in catholicism and am open to other possibilities.
I am wondering if there are any Bes followers in this community. I have not had any luck in finding any historical information on him. So I was wondering if any one would be willing to share any links or books they found on him. As far as I know he is a dwarf and a protector of homes, children and during childbirth. So any reading recommendations would be lovely. I’m doing my own research but I would like to see other peoples findings and perspectives.
Off the bat, my guess is no. I've run forums and orders before (not kemetic ones), and there's a reason I don't run them anymore.
Obviously this sub is rather slow, but at least content is generally good. I doubt I'm alone, though, in saying more communication with other kemetics would be nice (but in a manageable way, not the chaos of discord).
At the same time, this becomes counterproductive when the forum gets popular enough to attract the new agers, emanation/monist revisionists, people playing 15th century card games, literal physicalists who are shocked polytheism is literally still believed, I'm sure you get the point.
I'd love to hear ideas for some sort of middle ground. I have several kemetic friends off Reddit who talk about a forum (but wisely avoid this site), and they have the will and knowhow to make it happen, so if you have any thoughts perhaps it could be a reality. Some of my own needing feedback:
Diverse group of moderators, no bad blood but not everyone can be BFFs or unfair in some way.
Some sort of standard for content, such as citations for historical claims, or descriptions of images instead of just blindly posting them for social credit.
No vote system, no fake internet points of any kind. If ANYTHING then only positive stuff, if you can't say anything nice...
Few but strict rules (e.g. no support/promotion of fascist ideology is always a good one).
Hi all This is my first ever post on Reddit and I’m a bit stressed, so please bear with me. Basically, what gifts would be suitable for Aset?
For context, I normally worth with Anpu. I haven’t been working with him for long (because I’ve been deaf to him for about 15 years, but that’s another story), but I’m feeling my way forward, this group have been super helpful in others questions so thank you all!
My friend and I are meant to be going to Cairo in a few days. I knew Anpu was basically excited for me (in his own quiet way) as that’s where I first met him when I was 13. However, my friend has very recently become really sick. The Drs aren’t sure what it is, it only started on this week. Last night they had to call a dr. Of course we’re both a bit nervous, so I was talking to Anpu and he bought Isis to me. She told me some things she’d take as an offering to see what she could do about my friend, which I’ve nipped out and bought for her, but I also bought some other things to eat tonight (for my spa night lol) like
I also have some Scottish honey?
Would she like these? I’m dairy and gluten free so I haven’t got any bread or milk. She wants me to use a homemade candle (rose scented with rose petals - said friend and I made it for Him but He prefers one of the others we made and told me to use it for Her). She also said she take fizzy rosé instead of red wine so I have some. Any other better suggestions I can rummage for? Thank you all for any help!
My patron belief is hellenic but i want to worship egyptian gods too.. can i do that? bc some people say that "if you are not egyptian you cannot be kemetic"
It appears that there is very little known about the Temples of Setesh overall. I am already old enough to remember getting into modern polytheism and the Temples of Setesh being seen as a myth, with esotericism often being slower moving than even academia in my experience, and the god having an overall negative image. While some Temples were already known in Egyptology (such as via Petrie and Brunton), it is hard to imagine or remember how challenging it was to obtain such knowledge before the growth of the internet. It makes sense, time is not only unkind, but Setesh was actively targeted, in specific, after the 20th Dynasty. In my studies I have not found too much on the Temples of Setesh, and am always looking for more, but here I just wanted to compile some of what I have found. All credit goes to the amazing individuals cited, this is a bare bones introduction and the references contain more details such as dimensions, more thorough inventories, materials, and anything else not directly tied to to the god.
This is likely the oldest Temple, with Nubt being one of the original sacred sites to Setesh. Petrie et al (1896) found pottery dating to at least the 4th Dynasty, as well as the 12th (66), though Petrie believed the Temple to have been built in the 18th. Ian Taylor (2016) argued that the 4th Dynasty pottery and mudbrick walls likely implies that the Temple had been worked on since the Old Kingdom (113), which fits considering it was one of the god’s original homes. The small Temple and related pyramid sat at the edge of the desert (Petrie 1896, 65), which Setesh was associated with. The site contained images of hippos (66) who were sacred to Setesh, as well as Setesh giving life to Horus, which was added in the 18th Dynasty by Thutmose III during his restoration of the Temple (67, 70) where the king was blessed as "beloved of Setesh" (68). Amenhotep II did further renovations in the 18th Dynasty. Ramses II worked on the Temple in the 19th Dynasty, and from these two Dynasties we find many beautiful items related to the god, including a copper ax, several tablets, and a seven foot tall Was Scepter (68). Ramses Ill may have been the last to work on the Temple, and during that time in the 20th Dynasty lintels were carved giving praise to Setesh, Amun, and Ra (70), who were often worshiped together in the New Kingdom. Setesh is also shown as a winged, bull headed god here (Martinez n.d., 11). An offering table from Seti I, showing Setesh on a throne and Seti before him “adoring the god four times,” possibly comes from this Temple or at least locale as well (Brand 2000, 211-212).
Temple of Setesh at Nubt: https://imgur.com/wphowZs
Pyramid and Temple Town at Nubt: https://imgur.com/9txVRHy
Lintel of Thutmose III at Nubt Temple: https://imgur.com/U9i2Ova
Setesh and Amun at the Nubt Temple: https://imgur.com/JigVL9w
Items related to Setesh at Nubt Temple: https://imgur.com/q51JEsA
Seti's table: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/549218 and https://www.joanlansberry.com/setfind/seti1.html
Possibly now the most studied Temple of Setesh is that of Mut eI-Kharab, capital of the Dakhleh Oasis, where Setesh worship survived into the Late Period after being driven from the Nile area in the Third Intermediate Period. We have confirmation that the main Temple here was dedicated to Setesh as “Lord of the Oasis,” along with several other deities (Hope 2003, 51). This Temple was in full swing by at least the 21st Dynasty, possibly being founded in Dynasty 18 (73), though pottery at the site goes back to the 6th (51). The site may even date to the 4th Dynasty (73). Whether there was an official Temple there the whole time or not, worship of Setesh in the Oasis dates back to at least the Old Kingdom (73). Here the Libyan connections to Setesh (with one of his original forms, Ash, possibly being Libyan) were strengthened (74). As was common in the New Kingdom, Setesh was worshiped alongside and in relation to Amun, Atum, and Ra, as well as Thoth, who took over the positive aspects of Setesh once demonization hit the Oasis (74).
In their followup, Hope and Olaf (2011) confirm that the Temple was functioning at least in the Ramesside Period (143), and reinforce the strong connections between Setesh, Amun, and Ra (146). We even have confirmation of “prophets” to Setesh, and that the priesthoods were shared between these deities (146). Due to its isolation and separation from the Nile, the worship of Setesh survived here through the Roman Period without issue (153), providing one of the most “recent” insights into Temples of the god. Finally, Nephthys was worshiped at Mut el-Kharab alongside her consort, and the most common offering to them was wine (Long 2015, 98).
The Temple of Setesh at Matmar was established during the 19th Dynasty, likely by Ramses II, when he tore down a Temple to the Aten at the same site (Brunton 1948, 65; Taylor 2016, 116). A stela of Setesh, Tauret, and Ptah was found here (Brunton 1948, 61), Setesh was shown as a winged deity with Hittite features (61), and we have written confirmation Setesh was the patron deity (62, 65). Within the Temple, Ramses was praised as "beloved of Setesh" (63), and the whole thing really highlights how important Setesh was in defeating Atenism. Within the Temple and city, the most frequently used colors for Setesh are red, blue, and yellow (61, 62, 65, 72). The city was also devoted to Setesh, and many had personal items revering the god, including plaques, scarabs, statues, ivory, items equating Setesh and Baal, and Setesh is even seen wearing the double crown (Brunton 1948, 65, 69, 72; Taylor 2016, 119). While it was not found in the Temple area, and predates it by many centuries (Dyn 5-10), I always found it interesting that we find one of the earliest uses of a pentagram I have seen for a personal symbol, as a potter's mark, here at Matmar (plate XXXIV).
Temple at Matmar: https://imgur.com/zTuyZev
Setesh Items: https://imgur.com/XgkLPqR
Setesh, Tauret, and Ptah: https://imgur.com/1E9hGet
Pottery Marks Dyn V-X: https://imgur.com/dMd4TY3
While it is known that Setesh worship blossomed at Avaris under the Hyksos, the 400 Year Stela suggests this area was sacred to the god before the Hyksos even arrived or gained power. Indeed his worship may date to Dynasty 12 in the area (Martinez n.d., 21). Either way, the Hyksos king Apep built a temple to Setesh, his “father,” there (Martinez n.d., 21; Taylor 2016, 122), which may have been where Seti l and Ramses I served as priests to their patron. This Temple rested South of the other Temples (Martinez n.d., 21), as we would also see in Pi-Ramses.
In Priests of Ancient Egypt (reprint, 2015), Serge Sauneron stated: “…wearied of Thebes and of its too enterprising priests, he went to build a new capital, Pi-Ramses, in the Eastern Delta, where he could worship at his ease the gods dearest to him, and accord to Amon only second place” (183-184). This city was located in the Nile Delta near Avaris, a sacred city of Setesh discussed above, tying its creation to the worship of the god. While technically founded in the 18th Dynasty, with the Temple of Setesh being restored by Seti I (Bard 1999, 953), the city became the capital under Ramses II, and was inhabited through the 20th Dynasty before demonization of the deity began (Taylor 2016, 123-124). The city was broken into four parts, each dedicated to a deity: Setesh in the South, Amun in the West, Wadjet the serpent goddess in the North, and Astarte in the East. Astarte was a Syrian goddess and foreign wife of Setesh with many deepening ties to the god in the New Kingdom, Setesh himself being the god of foreigners, and other foreign gods or forms were worshiped in the city, including Setesh as Baal (Bard 1999, 789; Taylor 2016, 124). Pi-Ramses housed many foreign citizens who all lived in peace with each other, including the formerly enemy Hittites (Bard 1999, 219, 788; Taylor 2016, 124). It has been theorized that part of the reason Pi-Ramses was abandoned was due to the demonization of Setesh (Bard 1999, 922). It is possibly from this Temple of Setesh that we get the 400 Year Stela, as it was found at Tanis but dates to at least Ramses II, so was likely moved when Setesh worship was driven out of Pi-Ramses. (921-922).
“They see how Seth is fallen on his side, robbed of land in all his places, Sw laments, Wns mourns. Lamentations goes round in Oxyrhynchus. The oasis of Kharga and the oasis of Dakhla are in affliction. Disaster goes about in them. Cynopolis makes plaint; its lord is not in his territory. wADt (10th Nome of Upper Egypt) is a desolate place. Ombos is pulled down. Their temples are destroyed. All who belonged to them, are not. Their lord is not, he who thinks of enmity is not.” - Lamentation for Setesh from “Seth: God of Confusion” by Herman te Velde, page 115
There may have been a Temple of Setesh at Saka, where he was linked to Amun and worshiped as a Bull (Martinez n.d.,16). I believe this was related to Bata the Bull in the Tale of Two Brothers but am not 100% sure.
At Sw, said to be where Setesh was born, there was a Temple to the god starting in the 12th Dynasty (19). Ramses III made a record of there being such a Temple as well (19).
At Sepermeru there appears to have been Temples to both Setesh and Nephthys (17-18; Bard 1999, 718; Taylor 2016, 119).
A Temple to Setesh is said to have existed in Medjem (Martinez n.d., 22).
Finally, there is a Temple to Thoth in Ankh, which may have overwritten a Temple to Setesh there, or at least had a significant chapel/shrine to the deity (Taylor 2016, 146).
”...Set of Nubit, son of Nut, very valorous, at the front of the sacred barque…” - Nubt
”Set Nubit lord of the South land, great god, Lord of Heaven, fair Child of Ra. Giving praise to thy Ka, Set, the very valorous…” - Nubt
”Homage to your Ka, Seth… [of Ombos, Lord of Upper Egypt, Great God].” - Mut el-Kharab
”Year 400, the fourth month of the season of Shammu, the fourth day of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Seth-Great-of-valor, son of Re whom he loves, Nubti, beloved by Re-Hor-akhty, may he live forever… Hail to thee, o Seth, son of Nut, great of strength in the boat of millions of years, in the bow of the ship of Re, the great screamer… [ mayest thou ] give me a good time for following your Ka…” - 400 Year Stela
Bard, Kathryn A. Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge, 1999.
Brand, Peter James. The Monuments of Seti I: Epigraphic, Historical and Art Historical Analysis. Leiden: Brill, 2000.
Brunton, Guy. Matmar. London: Bernard Quaritch LTD., 1948.
Hope, C. A. "The 2001-2 Excavations Mut El-Kharab in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt." The Artifact. Pacific Rim Archaeology 26 (2003): 51–76.
Hope, C. A., and Olaf Kaper. "Egyptian Interests in the Oases in the New Kingdom and a New Stela for Seth from Mut El-Kharab." Essay. In Ramesside Studies in Honour of K.A. Kitchen, edited by Mark Collier and S. R. Snape, 219–36. Bolton: Rutherford Press, 2011.
Kaper, Olaf. "Two Decorated Blocks from the Temple of Seth in Mut El-Kharab."
Long, Richard J. “Ancient Cultures at Monash University .” In Proceedings of a Conference Held between 18–20 October 2013 on Approaches to Studying the Ancient Past. Oxford, England: Archaeopress, 2015.
Martinez, Maria Jose Amor. "The Sites of Seth." Thesis, University of Manchester, n.d.
Monfort, R. (2011, June 6). Tour Egypt. The 400 year stela. https://www.touregypt.net/400yearstele.htm
Petrie, Flinders, James Edward Quibell, and F. C. J. Spurrell. Naqada and Ballas. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1896.
Sauneron, Serge S. Priests of Ancient Egypt - Classic Reprint. London: Forgotten Books, 2015.
Taylor, Ian Robert. "Deconstructing the Iconography of Seth." Dissertation, University of Birmingham, 2016.
Velde, Herman te. Seth, God of Confusion. Leiden: Brill, 1967.
Hi a lot of my pagan friends says that I can't choose a god unless I'm part of there heritage is this true
You bring up the validity of your traditions from ancient egypt or decide to discuss the one of the abrahamic religions?
Hi, i’m new here, should i introduce myself ? okkk i’m Nathan and i am from France 🇫🇷 hahha “oui oui baguette” 🥖
btw, i recently started thinking about hellenism and kemetism. I love both !! Both have Gods ans Goddesses awesome and soooo interesting !! and i wonder if a can choose and work with different Gods : as for exemple, Apollo (my favorite one) and Maa or even like Seth and Hera … a lot of combinations
soo, i’m sorry if my english isn’t so perfect, and hope so you’ll guys respond me !
I ask because I want to see if I'm the only ine who's proud of being one
I’ve recently felt compelled to make a kind of a general point here about the expected outcome from this practice (or religion, or path, or spirituality) that we call Kemeticism.
Mainly, I’ve seen a lot of posts here (and pagan subs generally) about fears, and concerns, and “Am I doing this right?” and “Is it okay if I…?” and “Am I allowed to …?” and so on.
Remember why we’re here. This is all supposed to be a source of happiness, enjoyment, and contentment, maybe even illumination.
I think many of us came from a background that was filled with fear, concern, and regret. Maybe we thought “I’m going to hell because I [didn’t go to church / did drugs / upset my parents / some other thing].” Eventually it all becomes unbearable, and we flee to something else, some other faith that we hope will give us some respite.
But if we’re not really careful, we’ll fall back into the same habits. Before we know it, we’re saying “I’ll be thrown into the mouth of Ammut because I didn’t make the proper sacrifice!”
Well folks, that’s the same religion, with different names. We’re walking in circles.
This is not what the gods want.
The gods have prepared an oasis in the desert, an island of life in a world that often feels like a bleak sea of dunes. It is not a place where you have to fret about the size of your altar, or whether you’re being punished, or if your offering was acceptable. If you want to honor them, then recognize the purpose of the place that they have made, and use it for that purpose.
There will ALWAYS be time to worry and be concerned. Take a break. And if these traditions aren’t helping you get to that relaxed, happy oasis, then find something that does. The gods won’t mind a bit.
ANKH, WEDJA, SENEB
Sekhmet approached me almost a year ago in the very beginning of my practice. I started seeing stuff about her a lot and felt drawn to her. When I brought her in she had this protective energy about her. Almost like a guardian? I’ve definitely gained more confidence since bringing her in and my health has improved miles from where it was. But she didn’t necessarily push me in my confidence from what I can tell. It was almost like she came in as a guardian. It’s hard to explain.
I’m not able to be open about my practice in my current situation and I almost feel like that side of my life has her protection.
Has anyone else experienced this side of her? I mostly see things about her pushing you and teaching you but I haven’t entirely gotten those vibes from her.
I have always felt a calling to the spirituality and have now officially converted. But I have no idea what I’m doing or what prayers I need to know or how to do rituals and offerings. I need help and research said to reach out to other Kemetics so here I am. Is there any tips you can give me?
I’ve been Kemetic for a while now since converting from major religion after what seemed like a spiritual calling from the Egyptian pantheon. I was beginning to feel unsatisfied and dissociated with my previous religion People I know randomly started mentioning ancient Egypt and my close friends started talking about the different gods. Various Egyptian items popped up when looking in second hand shops and even looking in my own home So I decided to begin looking into and then following the kemetic path. I’m still new to it but have already found great peace and respect to the gods doing it, especially Anubis or Anpu as he is personally known. Even Before converting to kemetic formally, Anubis was always a god that appealed to me for some odd reason and after converting I have done a lot of research finding out ways to connect with him. I am looking forward to getting to know people, make some colleagues here who know their stuff and are good to talk with. Always happy to talk too! Planning on doing a lot here so just saying hi!
Blessed be -Hebu’Sab