/r/Setianism

Photograph via snooOG

A subreddit dedicated to the Egyptian God Set/Seth/Setesh/Sutekh

A subreddit dedicated to the Egyptian God Set/Seth/Setesh/Sutekh

Rules

  1. Any discussion, art, questions, resources, etc. related to Setesh are welcome.

  2. Be respectful all around.

  3. Support and promotion of fascist ideology will result in an immediate ban.

  4. If you simply repost someone else's post it will be removed and result in an instant ban.

Recommended Resources

  • A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu by Penelope Wilson

  • Ancient Egyptian Astronomy: Ursa Major Symbol of Rejuvenation by Allan Ernest

  • Blueprint for Immortality by Harold Burr

  • Cain: A Mystery by George Byron

  • Children of Lucifer by Ruben Luijk

  • Deconstructing the Iconography of Seth by Ian Taylor

  • Early Dynastic Egypt by Toby Wilkinson

  • Egyptian Interests in the Oases in the New Kingdow and a New Stela for Seth from Mut El-Kharab by Colin Hope and Olaf Kaper

  • Everyday Life in Egypt in the Days of Ramesses the Great by Pierre Montet

  • Fantastic Animals Scenes at Beni Hassan by Samar Kamal and Engy Kilany

  • Flint and the Northern Sky by Carolyn Graves-Brown

  • Fragments of a Faith Forgotten by George Mead

  • From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism by Attilio Mastrocinque

  • Hidden Lore: Hermetic Glyphs by Kenneth and Steffi Grant

  • Horemheb the Forgotten Pharaoh by Charlotte Booth

  • Images of Set by Joan Lansberry

  • In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and The Occult by Robert Hicks

  • Interpreting Ancient Egyptian Narratives: A Structural Analysis of the Tale of Two Brothers, the Anat Myth, the Osirian Cycle, and the Astarte Papyrus by Martin Pehal

  • Matmar by Guy Brunton

  • Mindstar by Michael Aquino

  • Motivation and Personality by Abraham Maslow

  • Naqada by Flinders Petrie et. al.

  • Nehushtan, the Copper Serpent, Its Origins and Fate by Richard Lederman

  • On the ‘Immortality’ of the God Seth by Francois Gaudard

  • Pesesh-Kef Knife by Joan Lansberry

  • Philosophy of Religion by William Rowe

  • Qabalah, Qlipoth, and Goetic Magic by Thomas Karlsson

  • Redeeming the Egyptian God of Darkness by Ryan Scott (Three Purple Scarabs)

  • Sad Satan’s Children by Karolina Hess

  • Serpent Symbolism in the Old Testament: A Linguistic, Archeological, and Literary Study by Karen Joines

  • Seth as a Foreigner in Protodynastic Egypt by Rachael Mayoh

  • Seth is Baal by Niv Allon

  • Seth, God of Confusion by Herman te Velde

  • Seth, God of Power and Might by Eugene Cruz-Uribe

  • Seth: A Misrepresented God in the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon? By Philip Turner

  • Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition by John Turner

  • Seven Faces of Darkness by Don Webb

  • Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard

  • The 2001-2 Excavations Mut El-Kharab in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt by Colin Hope

  • The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts by Raymond Faulkner

  • The Badarian Civilization by Guy Brunton and Gertrude Caton-Thompson

  • The Black Riders by Stephen Crane

  • The Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley

  • The Collected Works of Carl Jung

  • The Command to Look by William Mortensen

  • The Conflict of Horus and Seth from Egyptian and Classical Sources by John Griffiths

  • The Dark Lord by Peter Levenda

  • The Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt by James Breasted

  • The Devil’s Party Satanism and Modernity by Per Faxneld

  • The Early History of Heaven by J. Edward Wright

  • The Egyptian Was-Scepter and Its Modern Analogues by Andrew Gordon and Andrew Gordon (not a typo)

  • The Lords and the New Creatures by Jim Morrison

  • The Monuments of Seti I by James Brand

  • The Nag Hammadi Library

  • The Priests of Ancient Egypt by Serge Sauneron

  • The Psš-Kf and the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ Ceremony: A Ritual of Birth and Rebirth by Ann Roth

  • The Pyramid Texts by Samuel Mercer

  • The Role of the Lector in Ancient Egyptian Society by Roger Forshaw

  • The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses by George Hart

  • The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics by Jean Doresse

  • The Sites of Seth by Maria Martinez

  • The Sky Religion in Egypt: Ots Antiquity and Effects by Gerald Wainwright

  • The Subjective Universe and Life After Death by Richard Murad

  • The Upper Paleolithic Revolution by Ofer Bar-Yosef

  • The Works of H.P. Lovecraft

  • Theban Desert Road Survey in the Egyptian Western Desert vol. 1 by John Darnell

  • Two Decorated Blocks from the Temple of Seth in Mut El-Kharab by Olaf Kaper

  • Which Seth? Untangling Some Close Homonyms from Ancient Egypt and the Near East by Lloyd Graham

  • Tour Egypt

  • Ancient Egypt Online

  • Ancient Egypt dot Org

  • Gathered Images of Set

  • World History

  • Pyramid Texts Online

  • Temple of Set

  • Wandering In Darkness (Three Purple Scarabs)

  • Desert of Set (GB Martin)

  • r/LeftHandPath

This sub has no connection to the Temple of Set

/r/Setianism

1,727 Subscribers

3

I'm curious about what Setians think about this.

4 Comments
2024/03/13
00:43 UTC

2

Application process taking too long?

I applied 3 weeks ago to the temple of set via snail mail but still haven’t received a response… Is the temple still active?

8 Comments
2024/03/06
18:08 UTC

2

Hello everyone

Im a newbie

Where can I find the organisation in Spain?

Thanks!

0 Comments
2024/02/23
02:04 UTC

3

Hello everyone, starting fresh

0 Comments
2024/02/16
15:11 UTC

4

Set: Redeeming the Egyptian God of Darkness - Wandering in Darkness podcast ep6

0 Comments
2024/02/14
02:37 UTC

3

Creating Ka during Workings

I am curious what methods people are using to create their Ka during workings. I’d prefer to hear from ToS priesthood regarding this, but any Setians will do!

7 Comments
2024/02/07
15:30 UTC

3

Crystal Tablet?

Just a quick question here. Has “Black Magic” / “The Crystal Tablet of Set” been updated at all since Michael Aquino wrote it, or is it a document that he wrote and it is kept the way it was in it’s original form? I have a copy that says it is copyrighted 1975-2010 so I was curious.

I’d prefer to get any answers from current Temple members.

10 Comments
2024/01/30
11:26 UTC

3

Can I I be a solitary Setian?

So I’m a long time satanist and as of recently I feel a connection with Set. I was hoping for resources and further knowledge seeking is my goal.

I am not looking to join the temple of set as I live outside the US and cannot join. I also don’t want to start out as a beginner in an occult organisation.

Help would be much appreciated friends…

10 Comments
2024/01/29
23:25 UTC

8

New to Setianism

I'm thinking of joining the Temple of Set. I went through the interview process over email with their Magister Templi and was told to re-apply in 3 years. I was instructed to keep studying and practicing in the mean time. I continue to read Don Webbs material and any other information I can find. It's kinda hard being from Salt Lake City, UT. I am yet to meet another Setian. I'm still new to occultism in general. The Temple of Set and Thelema seem to be re occurring in my reality. I literally found Don Webbs Uncle Setnakts essential guide to the LHP in a old small library. And since I read it I've been hooked. I looked into freemasonry but since I have a history with addiction and a record they won't accept me which makes no sense because isn't the practice and fraternity all about building your fellow man along with self? Anyway, I am willing to take any and all feedback/advice and constructive criticism so the next time I apply for membership in the Temple of Set I have a better shot at being accepted.

32 Comments
2024/01/28
03:05 UTC

3

✌️

Dear Reddit,

I greatly appreciate the love and support over the years, without the positives of this community I likely would have quit the path that's now made me who I am. I even started trying to screenshot them to reference when self doubt overwhelms me, and I'll always be thankful to those who have reached out.

I can't help but notice how unbelievably awful Reddit has become. I've been banned from Satanic subs and pagan subs alike for things like daring to be a theist or daring to oppose the colonial importance given to skin color. I've been banned from conservative and democratic subs for only agreeing partially with some of their values, but not entirely. I've tortured myself against trolls and probably bots trying to give value to things our "postmodern" world couldn't value any less, and it's impossible to ignore anymore the negative impact of a garbage dump like this on my life, relationships, and those of others. It's not like these petty bans are exclusive to Reddit, they happen everywhere all the time, how many have rejected you already for not blindly sharing their beliefs, values, and practices?

Reddit makes me a sarcastic, lazy, frustrated jerk, and consumes so much time that can be spent on things and people that matter in any way. And you start to think your experiences here describe real life, which makes you misanthropic as all hell because this place is trash. I've been on reddit a long time, far too long. I recently started my MA in religious studies, plus took some grad philosophy classes for fun, and it made me realize how useless the debate side of reddit is. Nobody in a million years would take such dedicated subs seriously outside of the website itself. But hey there's more than debate, there's also community. Except reddit is a nightmare, where even so called progressive or pagan thinkers insist on upholding the values of Christian colonialism.

It's not the first time I've tried to leave Reddit, but it's the only "social media" that remains for me so eventually it will take. And I recommend you leave as well. Each time I leave I've taken some with me and always feel gross when I come back. Do something with all this time. Read, write, record, draw, play, communicate. Disconnect from the hivemind because it's bad to start with and worse the less you agree with it. Watch any dope video about how Reddit is evil (the one i was going to link is gone lol) and this one on how social media is ruining everything..

Community is important. Collaboration is important. You can reach me via my blog or email, found through my sub which will stay up. I'll check in here for pms and stuff, might even keep the sub updated, but otherwise I'm pretty over it at this point. If I can't stay off I'll delete the account. Thanks again for everything, I hope to hear from you and wish you the best.

1 Comment
2024/01/22
05:08 UTC

5

Michael W Ford book and other good read please?

Hi, Iv ordered Michael W Ford after I got Egyptology as a gift and Egyptian book of death, could You advice me on other very good preferably new titles that are in stock please? Thank You very much, my other request is how to worship and how to practice magic, if there are also good online resources, esp though would love more to read.

Thank You very much!

7 Comments
2024/01/14
22:39 UTC

3

In regards to Set and the Serpent

Would the serpent be Apep? With both Set and Apep being related to chaos, I would interpret this as two aspects of the whole, Be/Bin. Set being chaos manifest and Apep being primordial chaos.

I'm interested in hearing other people's ideas and particularly where the combined form of Be/Bin comes from.

My analysis is at a cursory glance, so I'm very open to critique and criticism.

1 Comment
2023/12/22
16:07 UTC

3

Seeking the Imperishable Constellations of Ancient Egypt (Powerpoint)

0 Comments
2023/12/21
18:52 UTC

11

A Brief Intro to the Temples of Set(esh)

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.

Temple of Nubt

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

Temple of Dakhleh Oasis

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).

Temple of Matmar

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

Temple of Avaris

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.

Pi-Ramses, City of Setesh?

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).

Misc Temples

“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).

Praises from his Temples

”...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

References

  • 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.

2 Comments
2023/12/18
18:28 UTC

5

Ideas for little everyday devotional acts for Sutekh?

Like, connected with His domains, not just praying and meditation. There is telling other people and admiring yourself in Mirror for Het-Heru, there is enjoying mighty Sun for Ra. What suggestions can you give?

4 Comments
2023/12/07
03:43 UTC

3

Divine/Paranormal Experiences/Practices (requested topic)

This has been a highly requested topic for a while now, and was requested again for the podcast. I decided to write this one out for many reasons, including some personal, but also just because I feel they should be articulated in the best way possible, which for me is writing. I plan to use this as a script for a podcast episode at a later date though.

Warning, 5,000+ words.

Today I want to talk about my first, paradigm changing experience with Setesh, my early and current interactions with the gods, how I connect with them (most highly requested topic), and just talk in general about related topics and practices. Then I will dive into the paranormal experiences I have often referenced or briefly touched on, including my life living in a haunted house, my time as a theater projectionist in a building supposedly built on a burial ground, spirits of the forest and desert my group and I have experienced, synchronicities, second hand accounts, and several other paranormal experiences.

First Interaction with Setesh

When I first interacted with the god I had no expectation of doing so. I was rather notoriously opposed to “Setianism,” the ToS, and all related things, not only criticizing but childishly mocking them. I was a staunch atheist, physicalist, determinist, and nihilist-trying-to-be-existentialist, though I did dive into new ageism now and then, even ancient alien theory for a while. But I would have called myself a “gnostic atheist” and was certain we lived in a godless, meaningless universe. My self-image was equally pessimistic, having no hope in my abilities, finding love, maintaining my friendships, overcoming my flaws, I was very much fed up with life and myself.

The event itself was part of an intended psychodramatic ritual to “prove” gods didn’t exist. For a while I had a pastor friend who insisted you just needed to reach out to Yahweh and he would get back, which like many I tried to do and it did not work. My thought was to apply this to all gods I could think of, to give each and every one of them a last, desperate chance before I gave up all hope in them. Long story short, name after name yielded no recognizable results (though to be fair I was hardly giving it the right kind of time or care). As you may predict, the story was different when I called out “Set.”

Since the very day it happened, the best way to describe the immediate response was a light switching off. I specifically say off because it was as if the world “fell away,” like you may expect in a psychedelic trip despite being sober. There was not an illumination in the way of mystics, it was more like a luminous-darkness, with an almost purplish hue. I felt the presence of a being, whom I now know to be Setesh, join me as an equal, again differing from the overpowering nature of most divine experiences. People always ask things like “do you speak to the gods,” and the answer for me is an absolute no. Indeed let it be known, the only voices I hear in my head stem from my own mind. Nor was there some sort of burning bush scenario. I have always described the feeling as “understanding,” like just an innate wisdom passed from Setesh to myself about my nature, the world, and my place in it.

All of this surely happened in moments, and it faded as quickly as it came on. The impact of it, however, has not faded to this day. I remember immediately after the event I went to take a shower, I just felt the need to “start fresh,” not even then knowing Setesh was associated with rain and storms. And I remember my perspectives rapidly shifting by the time I got out. I was not some worthless accident of biology, nor was anybody else, but we were unique, divine individuals far greater than anything of this world. I was not a slave to my genes, biology, and brain, but had the strength and will to fight against them in favor of happiness and growth. Along with this I, again within a few minutes of an experience, rejected determinism and accepted the existence of my free will, rejected physicalism in favor of, at the time, a type of dualism. And while I cannot say I was fully convinced of literal theism in that moment, I certainly knew my anti-theism was objectively wrong. The best part is as the years went on these changes remained, have been observed by more and more people, and I understand them more deeply with each passing year. So perhaps the best way to describe my first interaction with Setesh was him sharing his wisdom of the human condition with me, and it forever changed my life.

Early Interactions with the Gods

One of the two main ways I connected with the gods in the early days was intoxication. This was the lesser of the two, and it was only things like alcohol, valerian root, marijuana, and other less intense substances. Personally I do not recommend this as a long-term method of spiritual development, especially once you get to psychedelics and worse drugs, but that is a rant for another time. More than helping me actually reach the gods, I think intoxication helped me break through my materialist/anti-theistic/anti-paranormal/etc biases more than anything.

What really worked at the time, and which I can in fact recommend, is yoga. I mean this is a very traditional sense, such as simply sitting/laying still and clearing your mind or focusing on a specific goal. Yes, it can be as simple as laying flat and not letting your physical body move, don’t let anyone tell you it must be more complicated. Due to the pain I was having at the time this was much easier to achieve than sitting or standing. Specifically I utilized chakras and kundalini visualizations, which first started my relationship with the divine serpent as well. I sometimes wondered if my pelvic problems could have been related to my “awakening” without preparation, the serpent kind of “busting through” those chakras, but in the end the question wasn’t very relevant.

When I was able to raise the snake all the way to the top (which I attribute more to a visualization than a metaphysical requirement, I used the image to focus my mind and let the world fall away), I would be able to enter what I came to call the garden of the gods. Note that I am not saying this is some objective metaphysical/astral place, I am sure our own psyche plays a huge role in what manifests. Essentially it was this garden floating in space, beautiful beyond belief, stars everywhere, with people and gods walking the aisles, and each having their own throne somewhere within. Here I would mainly interact with Setesh, Djehuty, and Ra at the time, and these interactions were always similar in nature to the first, if expectedly less impactful. The garden was likely an “astral” place to use the term, at least that is always how I understood it. And I remember that if you tried to wrap your mind around the place it would start to fade away, like my concentration was broken.

Current Interaction with the Gods

Intoxication no longer plays a role in my practices, and I would not really describe what I do as yoga anymore. One of the main acts I engage in is utilizing the magic of ancient Egyptian homes and temples. For example keeping a small altar for your patron sheltered away from outside eyes, in my case I have this altar behind the bedroom door. Having altars to the dead is also important throughout the house, as well as invoking basic household gods such as Bes, and we even have a small false door as well for spirits and gods to come and go more easily.

Rather than yoga I would say I practice visualization and what some call “astral projection,” though I never liked that term. Rather than the garden of the gods I have my own place I bring the gods to dwell in. I will not describe this in full, but for instance it consists of a great temple on a forested cliff overlooking a vast desert, the desert being filled with all sorts of cultures and wonders. While I could (but will not) describe the location in detail, upon entering the temple I still experience that overwhelming pandemonium of beings beyond myself, free of this world. In other words I could not describe the inside of the temple, that space is not really mine. Another benefit of this is being able to do magic anywhere at any time. No actual acts or instruments are needed, it can all be done from this “astral” location which is both powerful and extremely useful. Something worth noting is that I am a terrible visualizer, I couldn't even picture the couch on the other side of the room, I cannot picture characters in books, etc, probably due to being on the spectrum. But this realm I could describe clear as day, could even vaguely sketch it. This, to me, lends validity to the objective existence of "astral" temples, it is a real place I observe and visit.

Another thing I will do is things like burning incense before the statues of each deity, not so much to “please them” but because the ancients believed the gods would come to dwell within the smoke, the smoke was itself the god. At our local renaissance festival I managed to find a 6 foot walking staff Was Scepter (unintentional, they had no idea what I was talking about which made it even cooler). Sometimes I will take this throughout the house and instill its energy into the altars and the home itself, almost in the way that some use sage.

My group and I have been formatting plans for a group ritual, and an example of a “formal ritual” I may use is my previously published “Rites of Meskhetyu.” I also recommend reading the Pyramid Texts from a first-person perspective. These more closely resemble classical/ceremonial ritual/magic, which is generally not my main focus.

I would describe actual interactions with the gods in the same way as above, the presence, the innate knowledge, the explicit lack of actual material interaction such as voices or a burning bush. One of the main changes in my years of polytheism is what I have come to think of as “divine hauntings.” In other words, like a friend or mentor would, the gods, ancestral spirits, etc simply come around sometimes. It took several moves for me to realize this, originally I thought I was just doomed to live in haunted houses! Yet with more experimentation it was directly related to the altar being set up and respected, or me engaging in magical acts or priestly duties. Note this is not something only I realized, but multiple friends, exes, and my wife. In my book I actually included this as a danger of stellar magic, for it can be quite spooky if one is unprepared or doesn’t realize the gods are objectively real independent entities.

Finally, studying the stars is a critical act of magic for me, to understand the divine through the maps they leave on our reality. I wrote extensively about this “High Stellar Magic” both on its own and as the final section of my free book.

I would add that in the tradition of ancestor worship, I utilized certain techniques and verses from the pyramid texts to help my best, four-legged friend ascend and stick around. Without getting into detail this included putting his ashes in a canopic jar and keeping them on my altar, as well as reciting verses for the dead in the PTs. Now one important thing to note about me is I only have nightmares when I remember my REM sleep, nobody knows why. The exception to this has been since he passed and these rituals were done, he will come in dreams when I am at my absolute lowest. He further engages in the aforementioned “hauntings,” to the point where our other dogs often react to and give away his presence. The most insane manifestation of this was my wife and I listening to a dog drink from the dog bowl, including his collar hitting the bowl, only to realize both our dogs were on the couch with us staring over to where the food was.

A Haunted House

As mentioned before, I grew up and have lived in a haunted house for the majority of my life. I am not speaking of some sort of family myth, dozens have experienced hauntings over the decades there, some are even afraid to be there alone. As with all paranormal experiences we will discuss, each event has had significant time and energy dedicated to “debunking it,” rarely with success.

Far and away the most common haunting in the house is whoever is in the hallway. Even as a kid I remember being really scared by seeing/hearing someone walking in the hallway at night when everyone was asleep. This has been reported by almost every single childhood friend of mine. Even my most skeptical friend has a memory of being scared by the hallway in the middle of the night. You ask my family or friends and it is unbelievably casual, “yeah there is a ghost in the hallway there.” Simply seeing a shadow or hearing a footstep may not be that interesting of a ghost story, but the consistency of it, plus how many independently have reported it, is what I find really interesting.

Much more convincing and interesting, apparitions are known in the house, and I mean full body solid apparitions scaring the shit out of many different people. The first I remember was a shadow on the living room window of a man wearing an old-school looking detective’s hat. This shadow was there over and over again, seen by family and friends. It was really creepy because we spent hours in the end turning lights off and on, moving things around inside and out, trimming the trees, literally not one thing affected the shadow. Worse was that even when it was not there the living room had this awful energy at night, both myself and friends would not sleep out there alone, and it was during this time a friend and I awoke in terror at what we later found to be identical nightmares. It was well over a decade later that we learned “the hat man” is some sort of widely reported haunting across the world. After the shadow was gone a while the living room no longer felt sketchy.

The most common apparition is that of a little girl, and we have no idea what that is all about. Again this has been seen by numerous people, it especially harassed a specific friend of mine, and he would always freak out reporting that he saw her looking out the dog door at him when in the backyard. We only told him about the ghost after he had seen it several times. She is also known to whisper people’s names when in a room by themselves. The girl became the most interesting of the ghosts because a friend and I actually ran a classic “knock once for yes” experiment with her, to surprising success. Not only did we receive knocks to our questions, but consistent ones. For instance asking if you are a girl got one, asking if you are a boy got two, and both several times over. It was easily one of the most convincing experiences of my life and we still talk about it to this day.

In the miscellaneous category there is too much to even cover. A printer destroying itself when a ghost was asked a question, apparitions walking by doorways, most recently not a month ago my wife saw a full person walk by the back door when nobody was outside, and now will not stay in the house on her own. While there are friends and family who have not experienced anything they are by far in the minority. That said, as my relationship to the gods has deepened and their presence is more known, random hauntings are much lower. Also note that I have left out some of the most personal examples, my father having passed away when I was a child and his presence making itself known quite often, along with my grandfather now.

The Projection Booth

The movie theater I worked at was on one of the only non-native-owned developments on tribal land here. The local reason for this is that the enemies of the tribe had a burial ground underneath the development, and so the natives were never going to use the land anyways. That said everything that opened still had to be blessed by the tribe’s shaman and the whole nine yards. I previously wrote my first weird fiction story based on the booth while in it, "My Time as a Movie Theater Projectionist." There were tons of reports from that place when I got there: tech issues, hearing people running on the roof of the building, and the projection booth was notoriously haunted with the general manager even refusing to leave the lights off when up there. There were dozens of different hauntings so I will just touch on the most widely reported and influential for me.

First is the ghost keys of the booth, a phenomenon everyone who spent any time up there heard and tried to explain away. Essentially in one spot people would always think a projectionist or manager was coming up right behind them because they would hear footsteps and keys right behind them suddenly. Of course they would turn around to find themselves alone. The place was open for at least 5 years under those owners, and both before my time and with me there we tore the place apart trying to explain the sound but never could.

A much more creepy, but equally common experience up there, is what I call the shadow man, and it is also something many people witnessed (or I would not share it here). Basically the booth was a long dark hallway with projectors on either side. Often when on a specific end of the booth one would look down the hallway and see a shadow being peaking around projector #10 watching them, darting back behind it when you saw it. Not only could cameras confirm nobody had gone up to the booth, you could literally keep your eyes right on the projector and walk over there to find nothing. People were also freaked out about the far, back corner of theater 10 (closest to the booth) and ushers would not want to clean in there by themselves. Perhaps weirdest of all, the theater later ended up developing black mold, and the connected theater next door ended up legitimately inhabited by a bat.

The last and most significant example I will share was the port window. Next to each projector is a large, heavy window you lift up and open into the booth. This allows you to poke your head in, check the sound in the theater, etc. These were heavy to the point where the strong air draft could not open them at all, otherwise any time the air came on or off you’d hear the booth in the theater during quiet scenes, which is very annoying. Our theater held a special needs event once a month, and cleanup always required the entire staff, including myself and the available managers. This means that while cleaning the theater the booth was entirely empty, as later confirmed by camera, and there were at least 10 people in the auditorium with all the sound off, lights on, etc. Every single one of us in there was shocked when suddenly the port window slammed down as if someone had opened it all the way and furiously slammed it closed. It was absolutely crazy because at first they thought it was me, but there I was as shocked as the rest. It definitely caused a buzz that only increased throughout the day as we checked cameras, asked around, and realized there was no explanation for what had happened other than the booth ghost(s).

The Forests and Deserts

My friends and I have spent a wealth of time in the forests around us, and have encountered several mysterious things. One of the most significant I remember was going to a cabin in the forest and just doing what I would call some casual ritual in the woods. Jumping around, wooping, singing, etc and so on. It was only then that a trip would truly kick off, and we would often see things moving through the forest from the cabin at night. What I find really interesting is that everyone would report feeling there were “extra people” in the cabin after the events. For instance we would all be at the table waiting to start a board game, and realize we were waiting on nobody. This has periodically cropped up at other times as well, such as a house party in the city.

Once while camping I found myself inclined to build a giant altar, including chopping a few logs, tying things together, seeking out unique branches, drawing in the dirt, and so forth. This was surprising as I am more the “sit around the campfire and eat” type of camper, and I decided to take a few pictures of it. For no real reason, one of the middle pictures was extremely glitched and filled with artifacts, the only time my phone ever did this in the time I had it. These were the pics I previously shared on the blog and sub.

Likewise we have all spent a great amount of time in the deserts, and seen an equal strange number of things. There is one specific area I personally have not gone back to, and would actively recommend people away for it. On my first trip out there we had 4 or 5 people in the car, all of us familiar with being out in the desert, off roading, etc. It had gotten dark and we stopped to smoke, gathered near the jeep just enjoying the quiet of the night, the desert is sometimes absolutely silent. It was then that I heard a bizarre noise, almost like a clicking sound extremely far off. I am familiar with the animal sounds here, and remember trying in vain to place it. Looking around I noticed nobody else seemed to react so said nothing, though later learned one of the other people heard it as well. Not a moment passed and I heard the sound again, extremely loud and right behind us as if it had sped across the massive distance and closed in on us. Everyone reacted to it this time, and instinctually, without one word, we all bolted for the car, jumped in, and sped off. None of us had heard anything like it, and we could not explain our fear considering we were very used to our deserts.

I was stupid enough to go back at a later date, I had told others the story and some were interested to see for themselves. We decided to go camping out there, arriving rather late in the evening and trying to quickly set up before we lost the light. While setting up camp all members of the group felt extremely uncomfortable, reporting the feeling of something watching us. The feeling of paranoia and fear grew so rapidly that not long after sunset we decided to pack up and leave, that hour or two was convincing enough, and we were now hearing weird sounds. Upon trying to start up the car, however, it was dead, and we are not the type of people to go out in the desert expecting car trouble, so the paranoia increased. Despite not being too far out of the city we could not reach anyone on our phones, and were generally beginning to freak out. By sheer luck we saw the lights of another car and flagged them down. They were happy to help us, but would have to return as they were giving a ride to the people in the back of their car, since within a past hour their vehicle had randomly died further in. Suffice to say we were well packed when they came back and helped us out of there, and I have not been back.

Synchronicities

I have touched on these 3 big ones before so will only briefly recap them. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it is when two events gain significance only through subjective meaning. For instance, if your partner’s favorite animal was a roadrunner, and at their funeral there was a roadrunner, this would only gain significance through you. We will look at three more examples as well.

The first starts with my early interest in scarab beetles, which I was discussing with some friends one night in the backyard. We were very into the symbolism of the rising sun and therefore the scarab, and while talking about it one of them noticed an actual scarab crawling on the ground, something we had never seen here before. I brought up how this was a synchronicity, something we had been talking about in psychology regarding the ideas of Carl Jung. Intrigued, we decided to look up the concept and investigate further. We found a story where Jung had an affluent patient and they were discussing his theories of synchronicity. The woman had dreamt of a golden insect brooch the previous night, and while discussing it the two heard a tapping on the window. Low and behold it was the same insect from her dream: a synchronicity. The truly crazy part was that the insect was a scarab, the very synchronicity which had driven us to the story. It may not be surprising to learn I have a scarab tattoo, and one of my magical names is Kheper Khemtu, Three Scarabs.

One day in high school, a friend of mine realized that he was always looking at the clock at 11:37, and started mentioning it every time he saw it. I started mentioning it back, and soon more and more in our group would notice and report it. The mechanism behind this was obvious, once you start noticing X, and get others to, it will be noticed more and more. The question we asked was, why “1137”? It would be over a decade before we stumbled upon the importance of 1/137 in physics, a constant which is fundamental to the material universe being what it is, known as the fine-structure constant. This constant has some sort of influence on photons and electrons that is far beyond me! It is a number physicists are apparently obsessed with, even joking that this is the first pin number you should try for a physicist. In more esoteric terms, 1137 turned out to be a demiurgic number, one could say. It is part of the blueprint for our little prison here, as if such forces were attempting to make themselves known. It makes sense, we were mostly atheists, physicalists, and determinists at the time, we would have been extremely tuned into that undercurrent. The number is still noticed on a weekly basis I’d say, at least, and has spread to even more people.

The smallest, but no less significant, synchronicity came at the start of 2023, when my esoteric group was considering a project to study a god we were not familiar with. This fell through in the end, but for the first month I held onto it and began studying our native god Coyote, even writing an essay about my findings on the blog/sub. The problem was there was no connection at all, no spark, no deeper interest like when I had started with the Egyptian gods or even others, such as Veles. I was very torn between not quitting on a goal but also not wasting my time and energy. That very day I had gone to Reddit’s popular sorting, something I almost never do, and on a random sub I saw a very interesting picture: a donkey holding a coyote it had killed by the throat. If you do not know, one of Setesh’s main animals is a donkey, and the message was clear as day.

Trusted Second-Hand Accounts

For this last section I will share only a few experiences I was not there for, but have no reason to distrust the sources. I already mentioned that everyone had experiences in the family house, and many did at the theater as well. There are only a few specific things I want to mention further. These are also only stories related to everything above, not any of the hundreds of random one offs we could gather from around here.

The clicking heard in the desert has been attributed to a native local myth I will not name here, a horselike being that harrasses outsiders or those doing wrong. This being was so commonly reported the reservation police supposedly have records dedicated to encounters. A manager I was close to at the theater, who also heard the port window slam and saw the booth ghost(s), had been chased by the being when younger and drinking on the reservation. Another member and now peer in the same esoteric group saw what he thinks to be the creature chasing horses who were drinking from a small pond. These stories are extremely common around here, and I would love to be able to document them better in some way one day.

Finally, skinwalkers are well known and feared in this area. One acquaintance of a friend reported some sort of fight with one, but I cannot remember the details and will have to follow up on that. Another story I vividly remember was that a friend had been riding in the backseat of a pickup truck. He had noticed a strange looking dog running along the highway with them, even though they would have been going at least 80mph. After looking away to tell his dad the kid looked back and saw a man casually sitting on the back of the truck, causing him to scream. The dad pulled over but neither a man nor dog could be found. But most convincingly, a trusted friend of one of our group member’s captured footage of something insane looking running through the forest. I would almost describe it like the tanks from Left for Dead, just this thing running through the trees with huge arms and small legs, very chilling and unnatural. A possible fake, but I have no reason to believe it was. Unfortunately they are unwilling to let anyone post the video, which is common with skinwalker stuff around here.

0 Comments
2023/12/01
20:23 UTC

1

What's his name mean?

ZEPER I SET

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2 Comments
2023/11/08
02:20 UTC

3

My good friend Anon on Qliphoth Quest

0 Comments
2023/10/01
16:17 UTC

5

Crowley talks about the subjective universe

"Self-sacrifice is a romantic folly; death does not end life; it is a temporary phase of life as night and winter are of terrestrial activity. Many other conceptions are implied in this word, Thelema. In particular, each individual is conceived as the centre of his own universe, his essential nature determining his relations with similar beings and his proper course of action."

https://www.beyondweird.com/crowley/liber/confess/chapter81.html

"And after all, everyone has surely the right to have his own Universe the way he wants it."

https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_07

"We may readily concur that the Augoeides, the “Genius” of Socrates, and the “Holy Guardian Angel” of Abramelin the Mage, are identical. But we cannot include this “Higher Self”; for the Angel is an actual Individual with his own Universe, exactly as man is; or, for the matter of that, a bluebottle. He is not a mere abstraction, a selection from, and exaltation of, one's own favorite qualities, as the “Higher Self” seems to be. The trouble is (I think) that the Hindu passion for analysis makes them philosophize any limited being out of existence. "

https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_42

.... And just for added fun, Robert Anton Wilson talking about it too:

"This vision of the infinite in everything is common to East and West; what is distinctly Western, out of the Jews, is the voice of honest indignation against every institution which would deny or demean the infinity within each human soul. The release of our full human potential — to let the light of Prometheus shine everywhere — is the distinctly Western mystic tradition and does not appear in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism or any Eastern religion."

--Robert Anton Wilson, Prometheus Rising

The more I look the more I realize that many occultists have said it plainly, but Aquino's book MindStar was the first place I ever saw it figured as the "subjective universe" in such an open and readable way.

There's probably many quotes out there like these. But I just thought I'd share.

7 Comments
2023/09/20
15:05 UTC

4

Honestly Aquino is not the second beast.

The book of coming forth by night is extremely flawed, he did not solve the code, he says they are integers but Aiwass left markings to Crowley only reading numbers and letters. He was marking 24 and 89 to show they are together and not separate,they are not integers and simply computing it to x for the year is much to simple and of no value spiritually. Also he speaks of "Set" as very disrespectful to other Gods and prophets and his words are all politically attacks and have no spiritual value. I say this objectively as Aquino is on to the fact that Set is undervalued but not the be all and all. Also the inverted pentagram is his sign. Set is very important but misrepresented in this work by the man's ego. It is not divinely inspired I am sad to say...

7 Comments
2023/09/19
15:05 UTC

3

Set by Derek Fiechter

1 Comment
2023/09/12
21:35 UTC

10

Wandering in Darkness: The Book (freely available)

1 Comment
2023/09/11
17:28 UTC

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