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Papyri
 Newsletter of the Church of the EternalVolumn 8, Issue 2, Season of Sowing, November 16 2009, to March 15, 2010
Welcome to the Fifth online issue of Papyri!
What's New in this Issue
Articles
1. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion for the Beginner Series, Part 2 2. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion for the Beginner Series, Part 3 3. Ancient Egyptian Temples, Sacturaries and Shrines. 4. Ancient Egyptian Calendars
Future Events and Activities
Covers the event schedule and activities of the coming year including Rituals, Festivals and Classes for the Temple of Ptah and the Temple of Renenutet in Portland Oregon. The Temple of Horus and the Temple of Sekhmet in Boise Idaho will also be covered..
Past Events and Activities
Past events and activities of the CESThe Hymns and Rituals
This issues collections of Hymns and ritual elements include those for the Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion for the Beginner Series Part 2 and 3: the 42 Negative Confessions,
Kitchen of Renenutet
The High Priestess of Renenutet will focus on Kamut, it’s history and reciepe.
Book Reviews
New and old books will be reviewed. The Good, the Bad, and the Awful.
Web Reviews
New web sites will be revealed
NEW: Archives of 2009 Papyri
Archives of the 2009 issues of Papyri of the following sections: Articles; Hymns and Rituals; Kitchen of Renenutet; Book Reveiews; Web Reviews
NEW: Full Moon Lunar Calendar:
Reverend Harold Moss presents the Full Moon Lunar Calendar for the next several years.
And as always
We would love to have people (including non-CES people) contribute to the Hymns and Rituals section, Articles, and book reviews as well as suggest new web sites for us to visit.
Who is this newsletter for?
Basically anyone interested in the modern practice of the ancient Egyptian religion or the ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. They can include history buffs, eclectic witches, Neo-Pagans, Tamerian witches or Kemetic worshippers.
What is the Church of the Eternal Source (CES)?
The CES is a federation of temples dedicated to the ancient Egyptian religion. Founded in 1970 in Los Angeles, the CES is the oldest Kemetic or Neo-Egyptian organization. The CES focus is on individual personal teaching of the ancient Egyptian religion and therefore we are a small group that currently has temples in California, Idaho, Oregon and New York. We have priests and priestesses and initiates to Hathor, Sekhmet, Bast, Horus, Anubis, Ptah and Osiris. Some, but not all temples teach individuals or run classes and all of us try to gather together to celebrate the ancient Egyptian New Years in July.
At present we do not teach through the internet, although in the future that could change. Each of the individual temples follow their own Egyptian path and celebrate their own festivals. Many of us had training in other paths and some still pursue them currently, such as Wicca, the Golden Dawn and others.
To find out more about the CES you can click on at the left entitled the CES Homepage. You can also read about us from Margot Adler’s book “Drawing Down the Moon.” If you have any questions about the CES email us at churcheternalsource@yahoo.com
Copyright January , 2010, Church of the Eternal Source 
Past News and Events Temple of Ptah and Temple of Renenutet/Seshat, Portland Oregon The Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat attended the New Years Festival and Ritual of Nepthys/Neith in Boise Idaho on July 17-18th of July, 2009. Reverends Michael Poe of the Temple of Ptah and Reverend Joanna Linsley Poe were invited to attend The Ritual of Knowing of What is in the Heart by Isidora Forrest and her Hermetic group. This powerful ritual was attended by about 16 people and headed by Isidora Forrest in her Isis Temple. Isidora Forrest is the author of Isis Magic as well as a member of the Fellowship of Isis Meet and greets: The temple of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat hosts Meet and Greet meetings at various coffee shops around the greater Portland Oregon area. If interested please contact us at the contact us page/Masterscribe.
Ritual of Isis held at Boise HorusTemples Happy New Year 4775! The birthday of Isis ritual was hosted by Rev.Harold Moss, priest of Horus on July 17th 2009. Attending were Dean Worbois, initiate of Osiris,Rev. Michael Poe, priest of Ptah and Rev. Joanna Linsley-Poe, Priestess of Renenutet/Seshat. Also present was Kathleen Tarantino, follower of Thoth. Ritual of Nepthys and Neith held at Boise Osiris Sanctuary Dean Worbois hosted the New Years ritual and party this year on July 18th. Rev Michael Poe wrote and acted as Kher-heb (lector priest), for the ritual of Nebhet-het (Nephthys), and Neith. Also attending were Rev Harold Moss, Rev Joanna Linsley-Poe, Rev Kathie Blakeslee, priestess of Sekhmut, Kathleen Tarantino and several friends of the temple of Sekhmut.
Upcoming Church of the Eternal Source Events 
Portland Oregon Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat
Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion
Sign up for the Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion to be held in 2010: 10 class sessions, one per month on Saturday (to be determined) is open for enrollment.
NOTE: On types of activities: Festivals and Feasts are usually open to the Public and consist of a ceremony/ritual followed by a potluck dinner. Ritual or Ceremonial: All ritual with perhaps some appetizers after. Classes: Open to the public, Request donation to class. Attendance: Due to limitation of space in the Temple and the fact that all participates will be doing some ritual it is generally required that the Temple Staff meet all interested parties who have not been to a previous event at least 1 week prior to the event. Open to the Public: Temple space dictates that 6 to no more than 10 people attend a ritual; therefore there is a limitation of how many new people can attend (subject to the Attendance rules above). There may be an occasional event that we can hold more than 10 people.
January 16:Feast of Ptah, Festival of IsisCeremony to Ptah and Isis, each person attending to participate in the ritual and to write an original hymn, invocation to either Ptah or Isis. Potluck dinner following, OPEN TO PUBLIC
March 20: Festival of Renenutet Harvest Festival to Renenutet as well as Nepri, Osiris, Min. Each person attending to participate in the ritual. Potluck dinner following. OPEN TO PUBLIC
May 15: Festival of Bast, Hathor and Wadjet, Day of Purification of house and temple. Ceremony to Bast Hathor and Wadjet; purification of all participates and purification incense to take to participates home. OPEN TO PUBLIC
July 17: Isis Ceremony, Egyptian New Years (we will Be in Boise to celebrate)
August 14: Ceremony of Thoth Ritual to Thoth, request from Thoth for magical power. Appetizers afterward OPEN TO PUBLIC
September 18: Feast of Ptah Brief ritual to Ptah followed by much Feasting, potluck. OPEN TO PUBLIC
November 27: Day of Ma’at TEMPLE CEREMONY, NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC
Dec 11: Priest/esses make offering to their god/dess For order and life. Ceremony of Neith OPEN TO PUBLIC
Dec 25: Birth of Horus, the child of Isis, Elevate the Great Goddess in all the names and manifestations. CLOSED CEREMONY
Boise Idaho Temples
Temple of Horus: The Horus Temple is currently open for private instruction and guided private worship. To do so, however you must:1) schedule your visit in advance, 2) accept instruction in the Egyptian Religion, and 3) be introduced to the altar by the Priest. As with any holy place, a donation is customary. Solstices and equinoxes events are by special invitation only. Please use the contact e-mail menu, for details of date, time, and place, or call Harold Moss at 208-455-5664
The temple of Sekhmet will hold a ritual for the goddess on November 1, 2009 at 7pm. If you are interested please e-mail Kathie Blakeslee
at Sekhmet.Idaho@ceswebhq.org or call 208-249-8384. Temple of Hathor
The High Priestess of Hathor is currently busy working on her dissertation and current O.T.O. activities.
Ancient Egyptian Temples, And Sanctuaries and Shrines…. Author: Rev. Michael Poe
We are all familiar with those large, imposing Egyptian temples, Temple of Isis at Aswan, Edfu, Esna, Luxor, Karnak, Abydos and others, many gone or currently underneath present-day towns. All of those originally operated under 100's if not thousands of staff. But even among those temples, notably in the Karnak and Luxor area were smaller temples, small three room types that probably didn't have more than a dozen staff associated with it. Lesser known were other temples, sanctuaries and shrines scattered throughout Egypt, some we know only by name, some we have excavated that have no name. This article explores different types and who used them.
Mystery Temples:
First and foremost and the most enigmatic of them all were the "Mystery" temples. Yes, the ancient Egyptians had temples that they called
"Mystery Temple" or "Temple of Mystery" but with no other words about what they were, how they were used, where they were located, and
occasionally not even whom (god or goddess) they were built for. These temples are found mentioned on temple rolls or offering dedications.
Some or all of them may actually refer to temples that we already know of by other names, some are so nebulous that they could be "Astral" temples.
This would make sense since the Ancient Egyptians regarded most of the heavens to be exactly like the physical Egypt but with perfect inundations,
overabundance of crops a perfect life. However in all material that the Egyptians do mention about the Egyptian heaven and how it is a perfection of
the physical Egypt they never mention any temples being in the heavenly Egypt, yet you would think that there would be. Did they perform mysteries in
them, hence their name? We don't know. Did they have a temple staff, we don’t know. For now they will remain the mystery temples, something we
are intrigued to know more of, and if you excuse the phrase, may remain one of the great "mysteries" of Ancient Egypt.
Temples:
The great Temples which we all know and love include Karnak, the Temple of Hathor at Denderah, and the Temple of Isis at Aswan. The Temple of
Heru at Edfu gives a complete list of its morning, afternoon and evening ritual, a list of all of its festivals, a list of the books in its
temple library, and even had a laboratory for making incense and oils. Each temple was surrounded by a wavy shaped wall, denoting Nun, the watery
abyss and made the distinction of sacred space within the walls to the outside world. Each temple had Pharaohs depicted on the outside walls (along
with god/desses) who defended the temple within. Each temple had at least 1 courtyard, an inner courtyard and a sanctuary within. A lot of what we
know about what went on in the temples is actually inscribed on its walls. Some temples had secret chambers and hidden passageways (the Temple of
Denderah is notable for its secret chambers with its fantastic carvings). While almost all temples followed a general architectural pattern there
were also variants. The temple at Abydos had 5 sanctuaries and an underground passageway to the Osirian, a large underground chamber that had
water surrounding its floor (originally it had a hill over it with a sacred grove of trees). The temple of Bast at Bubastis was actually lower than the town
and people could look into it (at least the courtyard) and see the sacred grove of trees growing in the middle of the courtyard. The temple of Ra at
Annu of the North (called by the Greeks Heliopolis) may have had an entranceway on the East and the West opening into courtyards and leading to a
central open air sanctuary. The Solar temples of the 5th and 6th Dynasty were open and did not have roofs over the altars. For every preserved
temple you can find today there are probably 5 more that are not well preserved or still hidden under fields and today's towns and villages. In some
cases the temples were dismantled and hauled away for another building project (in ancient Egypt the old temple was dismantled and incorporated in a
new bigger temple, but in the Greco-Roman to Islamic period they were hauled off to be incorporated in regular buildings which is why in some Islamic
mosques and forts you find blocks from old Egyptian temples.) Obviously we know more about what went on in those well preserved temples than we
do with the dismantled ones but they did similar rituals in most of them. In all cases the general public was not allowed any further than a certain
section of the outer courtyard (as indicated by a certain bird carved into the columns), everywhere else was for the temple staff only. Some temple
precincts such as Karnak and Luxor has smaller ancillary temples, sanctuaries and shrines within its grounds. Karnak and Luxor had small
sanctuaries/temples to Ptah and Sekhmet for example.
Sanctuaries:
There were two types of sanctuaries. The first was the room in the Egyptian temple that the shrine sat within. There were also those outside of
temples that were small, usually consisting of a courtyard, inner courtyard and sanctuary. The courtyard would do good to hold 30 people who
were very familiar with each other (or would be after gathering there). Sanctuaries could be built within another temples precincts (such as
Karnak and Luxor as stated above, or the Sanctuary of Hathor just outside the Temple of Ptah in Memphis), and a Sanctuary of Renenutet-Isis or
Thomuthis at Dedera, or they could be stand-alone sanctuaries. The sanctuaries within other temple precincts probably had a standing
priesthood and staff while the sanctuaries that were scattered around the countryside were more likely to be staffed by a family of
priests/esses that inherited the job. Here things were a little more informal. In some cases (from records of the Greco-Roman period mainly) the laity
or general public was allowed all the way into the sanctuary during certain periods. The temple staff may have one "High" priest (generally from the
family that inherited the office) but other magical workers occasionally were from a select group of villagers who got together for ritual (think coven in
this).
Some sanctuaries were not dedicated (we assume) to any particular god/dess since the sanctuary itself had no decoration. It is possible that
rituals were performed for the god/dess "of the moment" and depended more on what the ritual was about than who ran the sanctuary. There are a
small few Greco-roman references to some sanctuaries that were open to dedicated groups of people (here again, think coven more than temple staff)
during certain times and everyone during the other times.
Shrines:
There were two types of shrines as well. The shrine inside a temple was a small stone or wood shrine that housed the statue of the resident God
or Goddess inside the sanctuary of the temple. There were also small shrines that were occasionally found within temple precincts as well as
scattered about the countryside and even in the courtyard of estates (or any home that had a walled garden around it). Being smaller, generally of 1
room size or even just a standing stone or mudbrick shelter for a god/dess there was usually no temple staff to go along with them. Some shrines had
a resident or part time priest/ess (usually of the inherited family type) or had absolutely no person in charge at all and anyone or everyone could go
and do their own rituals. Those shrines in courtyards of family estates were for the family (and probably any invited friends) and were usually run by
the eldest son or any family member who also was a priest/ess.
Sacred Groves:
Sacred Groves: Even the ancient Egyptians had sacred groves of trees, and why not, it's damned hot in Egypt during the summer and trees
were highly valued. Osiris had a sacred grove of trees over the Osiriseion. Trees were also sacred to Bast (the sacred grove in her temple
courtyard), to Hathor (who nourished the dead from a tree), in Heliopolis (the Temple of Ra had a sacred tree in the courtyard), Isis and others. There
are no known temple staffs assigned to the sacred groves and were probably used by individuals, informal group get together, and maybe the
Occasional formal group (or circle they were usually called in ancient Egypt). Other that having sacred groves really nothing is known of their use.
Ancient Egyptian Ritual Calendar What to do, what to do?
Author: Rev. Michael Poe
If you have ever seen an ancient Egyptian ritual calendar on the web? Have you noted that not all the calendars start on the same day, even on the same month? Does that leave you wondering which one, if any, is right? And what do you do on the holidays/ritual days it names?
First to clear up things, or make them muddier, there were at least three different calendars being used throughout most of Egypt at any one time. The agricultural calendar is moon based and gets wonky because a lunar year rarely lines up with the solar (or Civil) year and could get progressively further away from the start dates of the solar (Civil) year. That calendar you don't normally find on the web and so we will ignore it. Then there is the Sothic calendar based on when Sirius is visible just before sunrise after the period it has been invisible. Most Egyptologists think the Sothic calendar started when it coincided with the solar calendar (or civil calendar) in mid July or when it occurred when the inundation started on July 19th. Since Sirius (Sothis in Egyptian) has a celestial progression (meaning each year the star is seen on a slightly later time), the Sothic calendar gradually starts farther away from the Civil Calendar. I'm not sure when it does "its thing" now, but it may be as late as mid or late December. Plus, add to it that it occurs slightly differently in Egypt then say in Portland Oregon on any given year. Many of the calendars you see on the web are based on the Sothic year and explains why the beginning of the year (and hence the holidays as well) is different.
The Solar or Civil year is based on the Inundation of the Nile, which happily is fairly consistent when it rises. The civil year starts on July 19 each year with 12 thirty-day months and 5 extra days. While some festivals and events may have used the Sothic or Lunar year and therefore changed dates from year to year, many of them are celebrated on the Civil calendar and occurs on the same date each year. We think. We’re not positive since many of the festivals are listed on temple walls and they don’t refer to which calendar system they are using. The problem you have on the Internet is that you might find a ritual or festival that you like but don't know if the date given (such as September 10) is based on the Sothic, Lunar or Civil calendar unless the web site specifies. If it is based on the Sothic or Lunar calendars then the question is, does the date on the web site correspond to the date it was celebrated in Ancient Egypt at the time (at which case it would be a different date now) or the date given for the year the web site was published? Such a quandary, especially since most sites don't tell you which calendar the date is based on.
However, if you find the civil calendar starting on July 19 (although I have seen a couple of web sites that start the Civil calendar as July 21st start date and I don't know why), then you know that the date of the event listed there is accurate each year, regardless of it being 2009 BCE or 2009 AD. This is the one the CES uses and you can find it at some other places on the web as well. You can find the civil calendar on our newletter under calendar.
Holidays, ritual days, what are they? Kind of a combination of both, most of the days were holidays for the common Egyptian, and ritual days for the priest/esses. Some days are more of one than the other so excuse me if I use both terms. Later in the article I will distinguish between the two.
Now that you are either more confused or slightly more enlightened the question arises, just how does someone celebrate these ritual/holiday dates? Unless you are rich enough to not work or you are retired, there are just to many ritual days to celebrate and besides I am sure that many may hold no interest to you anyway. So check over the calendar and note that ones that you are interested in. For instance Isis worshippers would have a fairly easy time of finding ritual holidays sacred to Isis or Isis/Osiris. Note that the Festival of Bast the Cat Goddess is held on the Celtic Hallows! Meow! Some people, who shall remain nameless, insist that all rituals were held on the full moon, presumably because so the ancient Egyptian people don't stumble on their way back from the temple. I find that incredible to believe as many of the ritual dates are for solar deities so the Egyptians would celebrate during the day (and who doesn't want a holiday off work.
Once you find the events listed on the calendar it's then pick and choose. There are a multitude of holidays, some are specific to god or goddess, some are not specific such as the Festival of all the Gods and Goddesses, and some don't appear to relate to any god or goddess. That’s okay. Those of the latter may be more oriented to the Pharaoh such as the Heb-sed festival or to the dead (think of an Egyptian Cinco de Mayo). One book, by Normandie Ellis titled "Egyptian Festivals" may be of some help but her book is strictly Goddess oriented, and even on those festivals she listed, her slant is Isis oriented, even if some of the festivals she has were not Isis oriented at all.
So here is a way to approach the holidays or ritual days that I use that is probably close to what the ancient Egyptians did.
Seasonal rites: the Egyptians had their harvest festivals in February through April and planting in October and November. Isn't that backward to our seasons? Yes it is, and here you can make an exception, or stay with the traditional Egyptian seasons or Gasp! Do both! Unless you are in Alaska, and even that may be possible you can have a planting ceremony in late fall, just find plants that do well as late plants such as bulbs and any winter vegetables. In February through April you can harvest the bulbs (flowers are especially welcomed by any god/dess as an offering). Think also beyond the tulips and daffodils to other bulbs such as garlic (another ancient Egyptian must have). Also think about growing some plants indoors, some herbs may do well, consult your local kitchen witch or plant nursery. These rituals can be done by individuals or a small group. You can plant a figure of Osiris, Min, Isis or Renenutet in the garden as part of your ritual. Social Interaction: low, how many people want to plant or harvest, depends on how much land you have to do it. Food: maybe after the planting ceremony, definitely after the harvest rituals. Music: perhaps, probably chanting and singing Ritual yes, small, simple prayer or ritual for sowing or the complete Sowing of the Earth Ritual. Harvest festivals can be Boisterous happy events during the harvest, solemn during the ritual, and boisterous during the feast.
Feast days: Such as the Feast of Isis and others. The main emphasis is FEAST. It is a time of rejoicing and eating (and usually drinking as well). Some of the ancient feast got quite Bacchanalian such as Hathors feast or Basts feasts. Music is also very appropriate. To do a feast day, plan a good meal or potluck, throw on some music (ritual or belly dancing or middle eastern), plan on a small ritual. Social Interaction: high Food: a lot of it and a major part of the ritual is the offering Music: ritual music during ritual, something gay afterwards (belly-dancing) Dancing: if you want Ritual: yes but small, it doesn't have to be perfect or formalized. Magic: little to none, more of a brief honorary to that god/dess
Festival Days: Similar to the Feast days. Make the ritual a little longer. Example Festival of Renenutet (a harvest festival) Social Interaction: high Food: a lot of it and a middl’in part of the ritual as an offering Music see Feast Dancing if you want Ritual: medium Magic: little to medium/honors the god/dess/ you can do things like make individual offerings or requests
Birthdays: Even gods and goddesses have birthdays in ancient Egypt. There are no descriptions that I have yet found that describe what goes on a deity’s birthday, even though there are many birthdays listed in the calendar. I would assume it would be similar to a Festival or Feast day. In a modern setting you could do a festival or feast and make a cake for the god/dess.
Days of the Dead: There are numerous days to honor the dead on the Egyptian calendar. If you don't feel any deceased relatives may like being honored in an Egyptian ritual, expand your scope to those pagans that you knew or knew about that may be honored. Scott Cunningham would, our CES has several "old guard" original founders who have died, and surely there must be somebody in magic that you would like to honor. Also you can further expand it to ancient Egyptians, a queen or king that you admire, an ancient Egyptian priest or priestess, or Egyptian person you also liked. For honoring an ancient Egyptian priest or priestess or Egyptian people here are some suggestions. Imhotep, a Leonardo D'Vinci in his day, priest of just about everything and deified by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Amonhotep-son of Hapu is another that was deified by the ancient Egyptians. Maybe one of their philosophers such as Ptahhotep. On the web you can probably find some ancient Egyptian priest or priestesses of your particular god/dess that you can honor. In these cases you can consider many of them to be a kind of Ascended Master and call upon them to guide or help you. You could even honor a pet cat (sacred to Bast) or dog (sacred to Anubis) that you care for. Social Interaction: Low Food: yes, first to the deceased, and then consumed (assuming it’s not Kibbles for the cat) Music: optional Dancing: no Ritual: yes, small to medium, honor them, offer the food, maybe ask for assistance or guidance Magic: Medium. Hymns, asking for them to be a guardian spirit (if you feel safe with that), but never assuming the Godhood.
Ceremony of …….: There are a few ritual days starting out as Ceremony of ….. Depending on what else it says this could be a full-blown ritual and may involve an elaborate ritual. It could also be a drama/mystery play, depending on what it is. Social Interaction: Low at first, if you have a lot of preparation for it, more after the ritual. Food: Occasionally, usually some offering (flowers, incense, bread, beer or wine, but the offering is usually not the emphasis) Music: Ceremonial music usually a must, or tambourine or sistrum during part of the ritual Ritual: Ceremonial rituals. Some of the holidays list what the specific ritual is, such as “Priests and Priestess’es help maintain order through Ma’at,” or “Opening of the Mouth Ceremony” or “Osiris Mystery” These are the most magical or ceremonial of the Holidays. Here you may be able to add a specific ritual type in such as initiation, dedications, divinatations, assumptions, Astral temple building, purification or deification of the body. Magic: On many of these rituals you can perform a lot of magic. See some suggestions in Ritual above.
In conclusion: Pick a calendar that is right for you (ours listed here in Papyri is one of the most complete I have found, since I have spent years developing it), experiment with some of the holidays.
Copyright January, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source
Articles Ancient Egyptian Religion for the Beginner, part 2
Ethics/Consciousness/Ma'at
Aleister Crowley had "Do what they will", wiccans have "Do what thou will as long as you harm none" Aleister Crowley probably hand wrote it (or maybe a typewriter), and the Wiccans later had a computer (so one would think it would be more verbose, but heck, you can tweet that phrase without batting an eye). The Egyptian would have gone along with the Wiccan phrase as being the one closer to Egyptian personal ethics.
One would think what with papyrus paper to make and write on, grinding your own inks and making your own writing utensils that the ancient Egyptians would have come up with something concise and to the point, but noooo, they had the Philosophy texts that were written and diligently copied and handed down]; they had a goddess that encompassed it all, Ma'at; and we find one other source for ethics, the famed 42 Negative Confessions for the dead (beats out the 10 commandments by 32!). This may seem somewhat overwhelming and well as over kill but we shall plow ahead, tackle all three concisely and come up with a basic philosophy.
Ancient Egyptian Philosophical Texts:
Ancient Egyptian philosophy texts did not consist of high philosophy of who are we, why are we here, what is the meaning of the universe sort of things (they probably left that to the Greeks to ponder while keeping the answers to themselves). Egyptian philosophy was all about how to get along with your neighbors, guests, boss, underlings, your family, yourself and your gods, all very important stuff to know to get along in the world. Most of the wisdom texts tells you to practice common sense such as don't be a glutton, don't raise you voice in anger, treat people well, don't covet your neighbors wife, don't shortchange people in transactions, etc. Hey, practical advice for practical people.. There are several of them that you can find to read, among them:
The Instruction of Prince Hardjedef: (possibly 5th Dynasty) “Cleanse yourself before your own eyes, Lest another cleanse you. When you prosper, found your household, take a hearty wife, a son will be born you. It is for the sun you build a house, when you make a place for yourself. Make good your dwelling in the graveyard, make worthy our station in the West. Given that death humbles us, given that life exalts us, the house of death is for life Seek for yourself well-watered fields. Choose for him a plot among your field, well - watered every year, He profits you more than your own son, prefer him even to your heir.”
The Instruction addressed to Kagemni (part of texts, also covers table manners, etc.) The respectful man prospers, praised is the modest one, the tent is open to the silent, the seat of the quiet is spacious Let your name go forth while your mouth is silent. When you are summoned, don’t boast of strength, Among those your age, lest you be opposed. One knows not what may happen, what god does when he punishes.
The Instructions of Ptahhotep: (excerpts from the Middle Kingdom wisdom text) Don’t be proud of your knowledge, consult the ignorant and the wise. The limits of art are not reached, no artist’s skills are perfect, Good speech is more hidden than greenstone.
If you are a man who leads, who controls the affairs of the many, Seek out every beneficent deed, that your conduct may be blameless.
Do no scheme against people. Live then in the midst of peace. Do not malign anyone, great or small, the Ka abhors it. Follow your heart as long as you live
If you are a man who leads, you should do outstanding things, Listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads.
Sustain your friends with what you have, you have it by the grace of god. If praiseworthy deeds are done friends will say “welcome” Concentrate on excellence, speak when you know you have a solution. If you are mighty gain respect through knowledge and through gentleness of speech.
The Instruction of Any (New Kingdom excerpts) Observe the feast of your god and repeat its season. Pray by yourself with a loving heart. Guard against the crime of fraud, against words that are not true, Conquer malice in your self, keep away from a hostile man Befriend one who is straight and true, one whose actions you have seen. Do not reveal your heart to a stranger, Offer to your god, do not eat bread while another stands by, Attend to your position; don’t rush to attack your attacker; do not control your wife in your home; Do not vex your heart,
Each man is lead by his nature, when your words please the heart the heart tends to accept them with joy.
Others include: The Instructions of Amenmope (New Kingdom, 30 chapters) The Instruction of Ankhsheshonq (Late Period) The Instruction of Papyrus Insinger (Late Period) Tomb of Petosiris: Petosiris is somewhat different. He and his relatives wrote for the aspiring priest to read….
Maat; the Goddess of Truth, Harmony and Balance
Ma'at: If you take the basic tenets of Ma'at and what she stands for you can't go wrong. Ma'at (you will also see her spelled Maat, old Egyptology texts may have her as Ma't) stands for harmony, order and balance.
Ma’at Balance and Harmony between
Heaven and Earth Humankind and Heaven Humankind and Earth Humans and Other Humans Individual and Heaven Individual and Earth Individual self
In every temple of ancient Egypt a small statue of Ma'at was offered to the god or goddess to help achieve balance during the daily ritual. The temple and the priesthood was responsible for maintaining order and the balance of Heaven and Earth, the Gods and Humankind.
The 42 Negative Confessions:
The forty-two negative confessions are found in the New Kingdom in texts of the Book of the Dead. The confessions were done by the dead to various gods after the deceased went through the Weighing of the Heart ritual. It reads like the 10 commandments plus (the confessions do not mention graven images or not worshipping other god/desses as these things are okay). I put the complete 42 Negative Confessions in the Hymns and Ritual section of this newsletter.
Basic Egyptian Philosophy: Keep order and balance in your life and between you and others, your gods and heaven and earth. Do anything in moderation as long as it harms none. What could be simpler and yet harder to achieve? (except us Libras, who are always balanced! Yeah, sure). So based on these maxims you should make a list of your own philosophy (task Number 2, reading them is Task number 1).
Here are some recommended books: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 1, 2, 3 by Miriam Lichtheim copyright January 1, 2010, Michael Poe
Articles
Different forms of Man Ba, Ka, Sahu and more A plethora of different parts of man and how to use them.
In metaphysics such terms as the physical body, the astral body and the soul may be familiar to you. The Ancient Egyptians had them as well (with Egyptian names) as well as some others you may not be familiar with. In your readings about the Egyptian religion you may have run across some or all of them before but we will go over them and explain what they mean and how to use them. And the top 10 list is:
Ab: The Ancient Egyptian name of the heart, the source of all that is good or evil in a person. It is the source of thought and ethics and consciousness (not the brain) and has a material and immaterial form. The ab could leave the body, live with the gods or if found wanting in the Judgement Hall after the weighting of the heart, be eaten by the monster Ammut (ugh, eeech). Why the Egyptians didn't consider the brain as the source of though is open to conjecture. Perhaps it was more poetic such as the phrases "makes the heart grow fonder""follow your hear", etc. Rituals to the Ab include a spell for the heart amulet, and rituals to Ma'at.
Akhu: One of the immortal parts of man, it represents the intellect and will of the person. It is a shining and radient being who lives in the Sahu (see Sahu below). The Akhu transfigures death and can ascend to heaven and live with the imperishable stars or the god/desses. Here we probably have the western civilization idea of the spiritual body. Rituals to the Akhu: There are a few 'Transformations" texts in the Pyramid, Coffin and Book of the Dead that would relate to this.
Ba: Represented as a human headed bird, the Ba flys around the tomb during the day bringing the body food and drink and goes with Ra's boat during the night in his voyage. Remember that any reference to Ba and Ka eating food and drinking is related to God/desses partaking of food offerings, they consume the spirit of the food, not the food itself. Rituals to the Ba. There are some rituals to the Ba in ancient Egyptian literature.
Ka: The Ka is the double, and hangs around the tomb inhabiting the body or the statues of the desceased, but was independent of a person and can move, drink and eat. There are two types of Kas 1. A Lower Ka that comes from knowledge learned while on earth. 2. A Higher Ka that is a guardian like angel.
The Question is, is the Ka or the Khaibit the equalivent of the astral body? My suggestion is that the astral body is the Khaibit. A ghost may not be an astral body but a Ka. In Ancient Egypt the conception of the Ka changed through time. The Higher Ka is a Guardian Angel in the western sense of the term. Rituals to the Ka: Do exist in the Coffin Texts and Books of the Dead
Khaibit: The Khaibit is the shadow of a person. It can eat the funerary offerins and is able to leave the body and travel at will. Some think it always stays near the Ba. I think the astal body is the Khaibit but I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. There aren't any rituals I know of for the Khaibit.
Khat: The physical form, the actual body that decays after death. It is the mortal outward part of the human body. Pinch yourself and you have pinched your Khat. The physical body is diefied during life and right after death. Rituals of the Khat: There are rituals or parts of rituals where parts of the human body is associated with various Gods and Goddesses. This are powerful purification and deification rites. Parts of the rituals can also be associated with the Chakras.
Ren: The Ren is the true name of a person. The Ren naming ceremony was a secret, since the Ren was a magical part that could be destroyed or the person taken over if the Ren name was destroyed or someone gained the power of the person if he knew his Ren. It was a vital part of man in life and his afterlife. Rituals to the Ren: We know they had them, we don't know what they are, except there are some instances called "Taking the Name". It's best to do this ritual by yourself to find out your real or magical name.
Sahu: The spiritual body that is incorruptible and can dwell in the heavens. It appears from the physical body after the Judgement was passed successfully and has all the mental and spiritual abilities of a living body. Closely associate with the Akhu. Here is the Spritual body of the person. Rituals to the Sahu: There are rituals to the Sahu but not many. The Sahu is related to the Sah, a spiritual power that resides in the statues of the god/desses.
Sekhem: The personification of the life force of a person, it lives in heaven with the Akhu after death. copyright January 1, 2010, Michael Poe
Rituals and Hymns
42 Negative Confessions (Translated by Rev. Harold Moss)
Individual: (strikes the gong or bell between each confession)
Name Giving and Invocation Copyright 1986 by Michael Poe
Using much meditation and reflection on Egyptian words you can arrive at least A temporary sacred name. You can substitute Ptah for your favorite god/dess for this ritual element. This ritual element is to be combined with a standard Egyptian ritual (Opening, 4 directions, purifications, hymns, closing rite)
Come Ptah,Bring to me messengers swift and speedy.They shall run like the wind of thy body.
Anoint forehead,
I, (your name) Have proclaimed myself to have the holy and secret name ____________
My name is hidden in my body.I will not let any have power over me who would not love me.I am a web priest/eess who will tread a path in the temple,To conduct holy daysTo present offerings.
Power of your Heart Retranslated from Book of the Dead, Spell 26 and 27 By Rev. Michael Poe, PHD. Part of a ritual element, use also when dedicating or consecration of a heart scarab
My heart is mine in the House of Hearts; my heart is mine in the House of Hearts, My heart is mine and it is at rest there. My mouth will be given to me that I may speak with it, my legs to walk, the doors of the sky are opened for me.
I shall have power in my heart, I shall have power in my arms, I shall have power in my legs, and I shall have power to do whatever I desire, My soul shall not be restrained at the portals of the West when I go in and out in peace.
O Hail to you, lords of eternity, founders of everlasting! You shall not take my heart wherever my heart may be. You shall not raise any matter harmful to me because my heart belongs to me and the one who is great, whose words are mighty. My heart is announced to the gods, for my heart is my own, I have power over it.
Spell for Soul, Spirit and Shade Retranslated from the Book of the Dead, Spell 91 and 92 By Rev. Michael Poe, PHD. Part of a ritual element for the soul, spirit and shade to go where the want (astral Projection) after Doing this rite go to bed for astral projection
O you who are on high, who is worshipped, whose name is great; a Ram greatly majestic. You shall make a way for me and my soul, my spirit and my shade, for I am equipped, I am ready. I am a worthy spirit, make a way for me to the place where Ra and Hathor are.
Open and close, O you, who sleep, open and close for my soul according to the command of Heru. O Eye of Horus, establish me on the vertex of Ra, make a way for me here.
I am Horus who protects his father, I am he who brought his father and who brought his mother with his staff. Open a way for one who has power, who sees the Great God within the Bark of Ra. When the dusk is in your sight, you wardens, do not restrain my soul or hold back my shade; open a way for my soul and my shade, that I might see the Great God within the shrine, and be able to safely return.
Transformation into a Falcon Ritual element used to transform the astral body of the priest or deceased into a Falcon, Ka or Ba From Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol II Book of the Dead chapter 77, retranslated for the living by Rev. Michael Poe 2009 Use by visualizing your astral body as a golden falcon during meditation; do again after laying down to go to sleep.
I am a great falcon who is come from his egg. I fly; I alight as a falcon of 12 feet wingspread, My wings are of greenstone. I have come from the cabin of the night bark, And my heart was brought me from the eastern mountains. And the oldest ones are brought to me bowed down. They kiss the ground as I rise who as a falcon of the gold, Heron headed, Whose words Ra enters to hear every day.
I dwell among those ancient gods of heaven, The Field of Offerings is laid before me. I soar above the great desert of Egypt, I soar above the great river Nile. Flying until someone or some god or goddess beckons to me to alight.
Address to the Ka From Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol II Book of the Dead, chapter 105 A ritual element to purify the Ka
Hail to you, my Ka, my helper. Behold, I have come before you. Risen, animated, mighty, and healthy! I have brought incense to you, To purify you with it, To purify your sweat with it.
Whatever evil speech I made, whatever evil deed I did, Be it removed from me! For min is that green amulet, fastened to the neck of Ra, That makes the lightlanders green. My ka greens like theirs, my ka’s food is as theirs.
O weigher on the scales, May Maat rise to the nose of Ra today For mine is an eye that sees and ear that hears. Let me pass by you, I am pure! My Ka is pure!
 Kitchen of Renenutet
Written by Rev. Joanna Linsley-Poe
Each edition of Renenutet’s kitchen will feature a recipe and information on one or more ingredients in that recipe. These ingredients will either have been documented to have been grown in Egypt or to have been available to the ancient Egyptians through trade with other lands.
While the ancient Egyptians did not write down recipes, they did leave us a record of what they ate and drank. These foods will be my focus.
I am pleased to share with all of you my new blog about foods from ancient world on wordpress as of last September. Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Kamut, Lentil, and Chickpea Soup
¾ cups kamut berries, rinsed 2 cups boiling water 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups finely chopped onion 1 cup finely chopped carrot ½ cup thinly sliced celery 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 2 cloves garlic, minced 4 (14 ½ ounce) cans fat-free, low sodium chicken broth 2 bay leaves 1/3 cup dried lentils (red are good) ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained ¾ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Place the kamut in a small bowl. Carefully pour boiling water over kamut. Let stand 30 minutes; drain. Heat oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, celery, tarragon, and thyme; cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring often.
Add kamut, broth, and bay leaves to the onion mixture; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add lentils and pepper; cook for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Discard bay leaves. Add chickpeas; simmer 2 minutes. Stir the chopped cilantro into the soup. Serve at once. Good with pita bread.
Yield 5 servings.
 Kamut
There is as much mystery as fact surrounding the cereal grain known as Kamut. The story of Kamuts discovery in modern times seems fairly well documented; the story of its ancient roots however remains elusive.
Sources agree that Kamut grain was found in a pyramid in Egypt (probably Dahshur or Saqqara). Some kernels were given, sold or maybe just found by a US airman who sent them to his father who was a wheat farmer in Montana. This first introduction was somewhere around 1940 and sad to say not a real success. This first introduction occurred before two trends that have done much to sustain Kamuts recent and enduring popularity. As an avid bread baker, I can attest to the fact that Kamut is more expensive than regular flour and to the fact that it has a very low gluten content which would have hardly made it a popular item for wheat farmers bent on selling to large bread producers such as General Mills. At the time Kamut was first grown in this country most people bought their bread at the grocery store not the local bakery and the artisan bread movement had yet to catch hold of the country, if it had indeed even started. The advent of the artisan bread industry (if it can be called that) was one factor that helped popularize Kamut and other “heritage” grains but it was not the most important.
The other trend that helped Kamut become a significant commodity, and the most noteworthy was the growth of the holistic and or the natural health movement. High in protein, containing many minerals necessary to a balanced diet as well as being well tolerated by those with wheat allergies Kamut is a natural alternative to modern wheat products.
As far as Kamuts ancestry maybe it’s all in a name. What the ancient Egyptians actually called this particular grain we do not know. Several sources I have found site the term Kamut as meaning wheat in ancient Egyptian and after checking myself I did indeed find the term in Budges’ Hieroglyphic Dictionary, however I also found 10 other words that meant grain, corn, wheat or barley all of which were probably used interchangeably depending on the occasion and context the term was being use. Kamut means wheat, grain, or wheaten bread, and a similar term Kamt-t means grain, plant. It is possible isolated communities in Egypt or nearby grew this grain and as a tribute it might have even made its way into a pharaoh’s pyramid in Dasher or Saqqara but the Egyptians never referred to this specific grain by any name nor do we have any other evidence that “Kamut” was grown therein Egypt. The grains common to ancient Egypt were barley and emmer, with einkorn having some popularity during the Third Dynasty. Certainly the grain Kamut, as we know it, was not anywhere near to being an important crop for the ancient Egyptians or any other major culture or we would have some sort of specific reference to it. Today Kamut is found in many multi grain cereals, as kernels used in salads and soups and can be found as flour in natural health stores or upscale markets. Kamut although low in gluten has a rich nutty taste which lends itself to many multi grain breads with delicious results. My own experience with Kamut has been as an ingredient in bread and I have always been happy except perhaps when I tried to use the Kamut by itself. Combining it with other flours has worked well for me.
Grain God of Ancient Egypt:
The grains that sustained life and indeed made possible in large part the stable existence of the ancient Egyptians were often lumped under the all encompassing title of “corn” and even had their own God. In Egyptian mythology Nepri (sometimes known as Nepra) was a God of great importance representing the very essence of life, corn (or grain). He is associated with barley and emmer and is shown as a man whose body is dotted with grains of corn. The hieroglyphs that make up his name include the symbols for grain. He is the son of Renenutet’s the harvest Goddess. Both of the Gods were of paramount importance to the ancient Egyptians and both worshiped from probably predynastic times.
copyright January 1, 2010 by Joanna Linsley Poe
Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Book Reviews Relating to the Beginners Article on the practice of the Ancient Egyptian Religions
Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume I: The Old and Middle KingdomBy Miriam Lichtheim Reviewed by Rev. Michael PoeRecommendation: Excellent This is part of a three volume series that covers a comprehensive selection of Ancient Egyptian works in English translation. Volume I covers the Old to Middle Kingdom.
Chapter I and 2 Monumental Inscriptions from private tombs: covers inscriptions, stela and autobiographies of various Egyptian individuals, as well a a royal decree. Not really useful
Chapter 3: From the Pyramid Texts: 26 example of Pyramid texts sections including but not limited too useable (but needs some reworking in some cases) laying out of the four directions, ascension or projection texts, purification rites, hymns and more.
Chapter 4: Theological Treatise: on the Memphite theology: a translation of the Shabaka Stone that explains the theological foundation of the Memphis religious traid.
Chapter 5: Didactic literature, otherwise known as the philosophical texts including those of Prince Hardjedef, Kagemni, Ptahhotep. Study these and you have a great idea of the ethics and morals of the Egyptian society.
Part II: Transition to the Middle Kingdom Covers monumental inscriptions from private tombs (there is one part that would be great incorporated into a ritual for the dead); prayers of a Theban King has two nice hymns to Ra and Hathor, and ending with the Instruction addressed to King Merikare.
Part III: The Middle Kingdom
Chapter I: Monumental Inscriptions include some stela where one can grab some excerpts to be used in ritual. There is also the mention of the Mysteries of Osiris on the stelas.
Chapter II: Has 2 spells from the Coffin Texts useful for conversion to ritual.
Chapter III: Didactic Literature includes some more philosopher texts as well as some satire.
Chapter IV: Has hymns to Ra and Horus, the Red Crown, Osiris, Min and Hapi.
Chapter V: Has popular stories of the Middle Kingdom, tale of the shipwrecked sailor, three tales of wonder, and the story of Sinuhe.
Over all the best source for a general introduction of Old to Middle Kingdom written material.
.
I give it +++++ for excellence in subject matter. + ++ For complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the beginning student
Recommendation: Excellent
Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume 2: The New KingdomBy Miriam Lichtheim Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
Part I: Monumental Inscriptions, Chapter 1 and 2: Inscriptions from private tombs and from Royal Monuments
Includes the Prayers of Paheri which has the prayer for offerings, the life in the beyond, personal morals and conduct. There is some use in the obelisk inscriptions of Queen Hatshepsut, hymns to Horus and Amun. The Great Sphinx Stela of Amenhotep II has a few useful lines for Amun, Harakhti. The Stela of Amenhotep III has some useful lines and a Amun blessing that can be used. The Boundary Stelae of Akhenaten has of course one of the hymns to Aten. Other historical texts such as the Battle of Kadesh inscriptions can also be found there.
Part II: hymns, prayers and a Harper’s Song
This section contains the Great Hymn to Osiris, 2 hymns to the Sun-God, the short and great hymn to Aten, hymns to Thoth and Ptah, Amun and Amun-Ra, Mertsegar, more to Ptah, Amun, Amun-Ra and others.
Part III: The Book of the Dead
8 Chapters of the Book of the Dead are presented including the Opening of the Mouth, the heart as witness, Transformation rite, Ka Rite, and others.
Part IV: Instructions
The wisdom texts of Ani and Amenemope are give; Part V discusses the scribes; Part VI the love poems, Part VII the tales and stories
I give it +++++ for excellence in subject matter. + ++ For complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the beginning student Recommendation: Excellent
Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume 3: The Late PeriodBy Miriam Lichtheim Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
The Late Period covers the 21st Dynasty to the Roman Period of Ancient Egypt.
Part I: Biographical Inscriptions:
There are 12 biographical inscriptions and the most useful ones are: Statue Inscription of Nebneteru: It contains ritual elements to Amen-Ra, Ra-Harakhti, and general ritual elements Statue Inscription of Montemhet: Hymn to Amun Statue Inscription of Udjahorresne: (a priest of Pe, Horus, Neith), hymn to Neith And lastly the tomb inscriptions of the priest Petosiris who I highly recommend to read. If you are looking for a priest/ess in ancient Egypt to honor than these biographical inscriptions from the three volumns is a good place to start.
Part II: Royal Inscriptions: not to relevant or that in the historical implications
Part III: Pseudepigrapha: These are works that are disguised as royal inscriptions of much earlier periods. One is the famine stela that parts are useful to be used as ritual.\
Part IV: Hymns and Lamentations: includes a hymn to Imhotep, to Hathor, 2 hymns to Khnum and the Lamentations of Isis and Nepthys.
Part V: Demotic Literature: Demotic Literature has the tales of Setne Khamwas, 2 other tales and the Wisdom Instructions of Ankhsheshonq and of the Papyrus Insinger.
I give it +++++ for excellence in subject matter. + ++ For complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the beginning student Recommendation: Excellent
Ancient Egyptian Religion
By Henri FrankfortReviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
Although this book has been around since 1948, Dr. Henry Franfort, a Professor of oriental Archaeology in the University of Chicago has written a book that is still relevant today about Ancient Egypt. Chapter 1 covers the Ancient Egyptian Gods and their symbols, sacred animals, cosmic gods and comparisions of Egyptian gods and humans. Chapter 2 has more to do with the Egyptian State and how religion is an aspect of it and really doesn’t have anything to do with todays worship of the Egyptian Religion it is worth going over since it covers the conception of Maat Chapter 3 goes over the Philosophy Texts and ethics and morals of the ancient Egyptians Chapter 4 covers the Egyptians and their preoccupations of Death Chapter 5 covers the Myth and drama of the Egyptian Religion
I give it +++ for excellence in subject matter ++ for complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommendation: although dated it is still a classic , buy it used if you want it.
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt
By R.T. Rundle Clark Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
This book is about the Mythology and Symbolism of the Ancient Egyptian religion. It starts off with the high god of the Old Kingdom and the in the age of the Coffin Texts. Following that is the God Osiris and originally conceived of and then later universalized. He also goes into the esoteric Osiris as well. Clark covers a few of the classic myths quite well including some of the myths regarding Ra, Set, Apophis, Horus, Isis and Osiris. He then turns to the mythological symbols of the Horus Eye, Nun, the Ka, the Djed Pillar, the lotus and the cosmic serpent.
I give it +++ for excellence in subject matter ++ for complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommendation: It covers a lot about Osiris and the Mythology surrounding him. It is better than E. Wallis Budge work on Osiris.
Web Reviews
Web Reviews Egyptology Sites
http://prophetess.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/egypt.htm
A great list of links to Ancient Egypt including: Ancient Egypt in General, specific periods, Museums. Put up by Ralph Klein of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
http://users.skynet.be/egypt/images/Links.htm
Michael Mafit's links to Egyptian Literature translations, a great site but note that some links are no longer any good.
http://www.plu.edu/~ryandp/egypt.html
Ryans list of links include institutions, research and other good links. Note some links are no longer any good but still a great link site.
http://www.sefkhet.net/Oxford-Net-Res.html
Sackler's Oxford links include Egyptological databases and Online Resources, excavation sites and foundations, Electronic Musuems and other online Egyptolgy collections, Egyptian Language resources including hieroglyphic and transliteration software, reading resources, libraries and online book sources, online journals and discussion groups
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
The New York Public Library has digitized many old photos and drawings of ancient Egypt. It's worth looking at if you need to find illustrations from tombs and temples of Ancient Egypt.
Church of the Eternal Source web site. http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com Joanna Linsley-Poe, our Priestess of Renenutets blog on ancient foods throughout the world.
If you have some to recommend send the urls and a brief description to me (with your name so we can give you credit) at churcheternalsource@yahoo.com
Copyright January 1, 2010
End of the Fifth online issue of Papyri!
and 1st issue of 2010
graphics courtsey of
 
Papyri Newsletter of the Church of the EternalVolume 8, Issue 3, Season of Harvest, March 16, 2010 to July 17, 2010
Welcome to the Sixth online issue of Papyri!
What's New in this Issue
Articles
1. Ancient Egyptian Traditions 2. Recent News in Egyptology 3. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion part 4 4. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion part 5
Future Events and Activities
Covers the event schedule and activities of the Temple of Ptah and the Temple of Renenutet in Portland Oregon. The Temple of Horus and the Temple of Sekhmet in Boise Idaho will also be covered.
Past Events and Activities
Past events and activities of the CES as well as Egyptology news since the last issue.
Hymns and Rituals
Kitchen of Renenutet
The Kitchen Witchery of Ancient Egypt, The High Priestess of Renenutet will focus on emmer, it’s history and recipe.
Book Reviews
New and old books will be reviewed. Some of them tied to books recommended (or not) to the Beginning of the Ancient Egyptian Religion class. Here is the Good, the Bad, and the Awful.
Web Reviews
New web sites will be revealed with the focus in this issue on ritual tools available on the internet.
And the usual subjects Archives of 2009-2010 Papyri
Archives of the 2009 issues of Papyri of the following sections: Articles; Hymns and Rituals; Kitchen of Renenutet; Book Reviews; Web Reviews
Archives of the 2010 Papyri Archives of the present 2010 issue of Papyri
Full Moon Lunar Calendar:
Reverend Harold Moss presents the Full Moon Lunar Calendar for the next several years.
Ancient Egyptian Calendar
The ever changing ancient Egyptian Festival and Ceremonial Calendar using the set Solar year Egyptian Calendar.
And as always
We would love to have people (including non-CES people) contribute to the Hymns and Rituals section, Articles, and book reviews as well as suggest new web sites for us to visit.
In Memory of Rev. Harold Moss - Priest of Horus Founding Father of the Church of the Eternal Source 1937-2010
 
It is with deep regret that the Rev. Harold Moss, the last surviving founder of the Neo-Egyptian Church of the Eternal Source died on June 8, 2010 in Boise Idaho after a long bout with cancer. Harold has entered the embrace of Osiris and has taken the Night Barque with the other gods and goddesses.
Harold Moss was born in 1937 to Theosophist parents and grew up in Burbank, California, and the oldest of four children. In 1954 the movie “The Egyptian” made a great impression on him, and he determined to serve Aten and began reading everything he could find on Ancient Egypt. He had gone to both Cal Tech and UCLA and tried writing science fiction but eventually got a civil service job. In 1957 he began to study astrology and first celebrated Egyptian sun rituals with a group of friends. In 1963 the first of the since annual Egyptian summer festivals was held and in 1967, having abandoned the "Amarna heresy" he joined Feraferia through which he met Donald Harrison. In 1970, they joined with others to found Church of the Eternal Source, which was incorporated in February of 1971; the first incorporated and operatering Egyptian temple and church in the United States. Harold was ordained Priest of Horus. He brought Jim Kemble, a gifted psychic and Episcopal deacon, into the Church as Priest of Osiris. He also was roving ambassador for the Church, visiting St. Louis, San Francisco, and Minneapolis to establish personal contact with other Pagan groups. Regular Newsletters and nine issues of Khepera magazine were published under his editorship and he also initiated Dr. Michael Poe as High Priest of Ptah (currently president of the CES), and Cherie Jamison as High Priestess of Osiris. In 1976, he and Donald Harrison traveled to England to visit the British Museum Egyptian galleries and then on to Egypt for a Nile cruise tour of all the important historic sites. The photographs he took formed the basis for a series of lectures at California State University at San Diego. During the next years the annual Egyptian New Year festivals became a main focus for Southern California Paganism, and featured sacred drama and high ritual.
In 1989, after thirty years working for the City of Burbank, Harold retired to Boise, Idaho, to establish an Idaho mission for the Church and to write, and there became friends with Normandi Ellis. In 1995, he resumed the editorship of Khepera magazine with issue #13. In 1996, he published his first book, a drama, Politics, Religion, and Sex: All the Things You’re Not Supposed to Talk About. After several years of regular services, the Church was officially recognized in Idaho, and in 1997 the Egyptian New Year was first celebrated in Boise. Recovering from successful cancer surgery in 1998 he published his second book, What Really Matters: Six Sermons on the Nature of Ultimate Reality and the Meaning of Life and Death. In 2003 he began a new profession as on-line music critic for MusicWeb-International, while still working on what the "Seventh Sermon" should be. He also began work on audio and video production projects, and was interviewed twice on local community television. In 2004 he arranged for a drop of his blood to fall upon the floor of the Isis Temple in Egypt, there to mingle with the blood of Egyptian martyrs spilled by the Christian armies of Rome when they closed the temple by force in 549 CE.
In 2006, after teaching several classes on Ancient Egypt one of his students, Kathie Blakeslee was initiated as High Priestess of Sekhmet .He also assisted in the initiation of an student of Rev. Lita Luise Chappell; Paul Madariaga as High Priest of Anubis, and the initiation of Joanna Linsley-Poe as High Priestess of Renenutet and Seshat, an initiate of Rev Michael Poe’s. In addition he held monthly gatherings and the New Years Festival. He has battled cancer off and on for several years with a few victories and took a sudden downturn in May 2010. His enthusiasm for the CES never ceased, he was the Church curmudgeon and yet pillar of the Church. All of the present Priests and Priestesses were either initiated by him or were initiated by the Priests who he has initiated. He made many friends and a few enemies, but his loss will be felt in much of the pagan and neo-Egyptian world.
May Anubis be by his side in all of the empty places that he will walk.
Rev. Michael Poe, High Priest of Ptah President, Church of the Eternal Source
Who is this newsletter for?
Basically anyone interested in the modern practice of the ancient Egyptian religion or the ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.
What is the Church of the Eternal Source (CES)?
The CES is a federation of temples dedicated to the ancient Egyptian religion. Founded in 1970 in Los Angeles, the CES is the oldest Kemetic or Neo-Egyptian organization in the U.S. The CES focus is on celebrating the worship of all Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Egypt maintaining Ma’at and individual teaching of the ancient Egyptian religion. We are a small group that currently has temples in California, Idaho, Oregon and New York. We have priests and priestesses and initiates to Hathor, Sekhmet, Bast, Horus, Anubis, Ptah and Osiris. Some, but not all temples teach individuals or run classes as well have public and private festivals and ceremonies throughout the year. At present we do not teach through the internet, although in the future that could change. Each of the individual temples follow their own Egyptian path and celebrate their own festivals. Many of us had training in other paths and some still pursue them currently, such as Wicca, the Golden Dawn and others. To find out more about the CES you can click on at the left entitled the CES Homepage. You can also read about us from Margot Adler’s book “Drawing Down the Moon.” If you have any questions about the CES email us at churcheternalsource@yahoo.com
Copyright April , 2010, Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Past News and Events
Temple of Renenutet/Seshat and Temple of Ptah, Portland Oregon Temple of Ptah Meet and Greets: The Temple of Ptah and Renenutet’s held 3 Meet and Greet meetings during February and March in the greater Portland Oregon area. We met seven with people and went over the CES Portland temples activities, philosophy, and future plans, as well as discussing their interests and background in paganism. The CES Portland Meet and Greets are meetings with various interested persons who practice the ancient Egyptian religion or would like to and wish to meet with other like-minded people. If you want to meet us at a future Meet and Greet please contact us on the Masterscribe page. Classes: The Temple of Ptah’s High Priest is currently planning a class on Beginning Egyptian Magic Other Activities: In addition to the usual arts and crafts the Temple of Ptah has started a Church of the Eternal Source Yahoo Group. Temple of Renenutet/Seshat Ceremonies and Rituals: The Temple of Renenutet/Seshat held its Renenutet festival on March 20, 2010. With 14 people attending it was the largest Renenutet festival we have ever held. Thanks to Isisdora Forrest we were able to move the festival to a different and bigger location to accommodate the larger group. The Renenutet festival is an Ancient Egyptian Harvest festival, one of several harvest festivals celebrated by the Ancient Egyptians in February and March. In addition to Renenutet other harvest gods and goddesses including Osiris, Nepri, Min and Isis were also honored. After the festival a great potluck feast was held. Other Activities: Joanna Linsley Poe, High Priestess of Renenutet and Seshat has been updating the CES website and continues her work on her blog Ancient Foods. Joanna has also started her first batch of mead (mead is perhaps one of the types of fermented alcoholic beverages made in ancient Egypt. Joanna Linsley Poe and Michael Poe attended the American Research Center in Egypt lecture at Portland State University by Dr. Robert Wenke. The subject was supposedly on the relationship between Old Kingdom Memphis and a small town in the western Egyptian Nile Delta. Needless to say he failed miserably. He spent the first half of the lecture on general Egyptology/Travel Log 101; not interesting and frequently wrong (he identified Horus as a Goddess, and that a pack of Anubis dogs will eat the deads soul if he failed the weighing of the soul, and that is some of the more glaring errors including identifying nome standards as Kings names. He also spent some time on his work dating Egyptian pyramids using carbon 14 and other methods, which I found somewhat interesting. The last third was actually on the subject of the lecture, somewhat… Basically he said that ancient sources said that the small town in the Delta was noted for its cattle. But almost no cattle bones were found. Well, duh! A cash crop for export is not going to be consumed at home! Did he check out the percentage of Barley ratio to other grains compared to other Old Kingdom towns? (barley was the chief crop to feed cattle and they did retrieve plant remains). You know a lecture wasn’t good if there weren’t any questions during or after the lecture. Oh well, we’ll try the next one, since they have had in the past Mark Lerner, Zahi Hawass, Kent Weeks and Lise Manniche.
Ritual of Isis held at Boise HorusTemples Upcoming Church of the Eternal Source Events
Portland Oregon Temples of the CES
Temple of Ptah
Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion
The Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion will be held in 2010. The classes will cover the different ritual elements, amulets and talismans, chanting, mudras and more. There will be approximately 10 class sessions, one per month on Saturday (to be determined). Open for enrollment. Inquire at cesoregon@yahoo.com to find out more information or to enroll. This is not an online class.
Temple of Renenutet and Seshat
Reverend Joanna Linsley-Poe, High Priestess of Renenutet and Seshat has started making Mead for the temple wine. Using both ancient and modern methods in two batches and using local organic honey, she will be posting her mead production photos on her ancient foods blog.
Joint Activities of the Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat
NOTE: On types of activities: Festivals and Feasts are usually open to the Public and consist of a ceremony/ritual followed by a potluck dinner. Ritual or Ceremonial: All ritual with perhaps some appetizers after. Classes: Open to the public, donations to class accepted. Attendance: Due to the limitation of space in the Temple and the fact that all participates will be take part in some way during the ritual it is generally required that the Temple Staff meet all interested parties (who have never attended a Temple event) at least 1 to 2 weeks prior to the event. Open to the Public: Temple space dictates that 6 to 10 people attend a ritual; therefore there is a limitation of how many new people can attend (first to respond will be priority until the spaces are full. A wait list can be made in case someone cancels). There may be an occasional event that we hold where more than 10 people will be participating, in that case the ritual will probably be held in another location.
August 14: Ceremony of Thoth Ritual to Thoth, request from Thoth for magical power. Appetizers afterward OPEN TO PUBLIC
September 18: Feast of Ptah Brief ritual to Ptah followed by much Feasting, potluck. OPEN TO PUBLIC
November 27: Day of Ma’at TEMPLE CEREMONY, Decision to be made if it will be open to the public.
Dec 11: Priest/esses make offering to their god/dess For order and life. Ceremony of Neith OPEN TO PUBLIC
Dec 25: Birth of Horus, the child of Isis, Elevate the Great Goddess in all the names and manifestations. CLOSED CEREMONY
Boise Idaho Temples
Temple of Sekhmet July 17: New Years Festival, Isis Ritual The New Years Festival will be held in Boise Idaho on July 17th. Further details will be forthcoming on location and times. If you are interested please e-mail Kathie Blakeslee at Sekhmet.Idaho@ceswebhq.org or call 208-249-8384.
Temple of Horus The Temple of Horus is currently closed due to the passing on of Reverend Harold Moss, High Priest of Horus.
Articles
Ancient Egyptian Traditions
Author: Rev. Michael Poe
Each of the current Egyptian religious traditions in use today, from the traditional Church of the Eternal Source and Kemetic Orthodoxy to the less conventional Tameran traditions have various ways of approaching and practicing the ancient Egyptian Religion. They do so by gathering traditional Egyptian and non-Egyptian practices and putting them into a new Neo-Egyptian tradition. How much of the Egyptian tradition is used is different with each.
The ancient Egyptian Traditions are a link to and from those that went before us. They had thousands of years of experience to modify and perfect their system. Along with the sense of history they also put power and balance in our practices. When doing a ritual in the ancient Egyptian language there is a feeling of the infinite by using words that have been used and resonated over millennia.
Without the ancient Egyptian tradition there would be no preservation of beliefs, no history. The chief purpose of the Egyptian tradition is to form a framework and provide a point of reference. As we grow and change the established Egyptian Tradition can be cherished even more as we include new techniques and practices to our personal practices. The use of magical techniques and practices both ancient and modern lead to self-discovery.
The debate becomes if you should go for a form of hierarchical or formal structure of leadership, leadership by consensus or self-discovery. In a hierarchy you have a defined formal structure of leadership. Hierarchy is supposed to help people do their best as well as give specific roles of each individual in a ritual. Hierarchy is to help in personal growth, have goals to aim for and have positions to attain. There should be a structure of what to accomplish and how to achieve each goal. A Hierarchical group can only be as good as it’s leadership and their abilities.
In a consensus group, each person has an equal voice but not necessarily equal abilities. Each member should be responsible to provide to the group their strengths and weakness, be honest and be concerned for the welfare of the group. This shotgun approach has both strength and weaknesses. You may have people strong on magical practices but weak on meditation and chanting. Some people may know a lot about 1 goddess but very little about any others. In such a group they should make a list of their strength and weaknesses.
For those who are into Self-discovery learn as much as you can on the ancient Egyptian traditions and add to it your own personal knowledge of magical practices, techniques, meditation, chanting and other items that would fit in. It will be a dimly lit path but potentially rewarding one.
Egyptology News
45 Tombs found at Lahoun in the FayoumMay 24, 2010
Egyptian archaeologists headed by Abel Rahman El-Aydi excavated one of the most important cemeteries dating to the second dynasty. The cemetery is located southwest of Cairo I the oasis of the Fayum at Lagoon where the team has spent the past four years digging. They have uncovered 45 ancient Egyptian tombs from varying periods. Each tomb contains a painted wooden sarcophagus with the mummy of the deceased still inside it. The discoveries include an 18th dynasty tomb containing 12 wooden sarcophagi stacked on top of each other with each sarcophagus containing a preserved mummy.
The mummies are decorated with religious texts from the Book of the Dead and scenes highlighting various ancient Egyptian deities. One of the most significant findings were 14 tombs, all from the second dynasty. One of the tombs was found intact inside with a coffin of the deceased known as a house coffin, because it has the shape of the palace or house facade of this period. Inside this coffin the deceased was placed in a twisted position and covered in huge amounts of linen. In the 2nd dynasty ancient Egyptians had no knowledge of the mummification process.
Other coffins were found placed in the southwest corner of this one tomb, and on the floor toward the east side was funeral furniture, huge alabaster jars, a wooden headrest and a polished wooden offering table. What is surprising is that this site dated to the 12th dynasty of King Senwosret the II's reign, but after studying the tombs and their contents, the archaeologists realized it dated 1,000 years earlier.
Statue of Thoth found at mortuary temple of Amenhotep III
May 10, 2010
A colossal statue of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth at the north-western side of King Amenhotep III's funerary temple at Luxor was was discovered by archaeologists.
Baboon Mummy Tests Reveal Ethiopia and Eritrea as 'Land of Punt'April 24, 2010 Mummified baboons in the British Museum could reveal the location of the land of Punt - a place to which pharaohs organized trading expeditions. To the Egyptians, Punt was a place of fragrances, giraffes, electrum and other exotic goods. It was sometimes referred to as Ta-netjer – 'God’s land' – a huge compliment given that the Ancient Egyptians tended to view outside cultures with disdain. April 19, 2010 Ken-Amun's tomb is the first Ramesside tomb to be discovered in Lower Egypt and is built from mud brick, consisting of a rectangular room with a stone-domed ceiling. Hawass said the inscriptions would aid in the understanding of Egypt's relationships with its neighbors to the east.
Copyright June, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source
Beginning Practice of Ancient Egyptian Religion Part 4
Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses Lions, Snakes and Crocodiles, oh My!
Brief History of the Egyptian Religion
The Ancient Egyptians, normally a fairly conservative lot, were not known for being conservative with the number of Gods and Goddesses they had. This is not a who's who on Egyptian gods and goddesses; we have limitations on how much we can put in the newsletter! But I will refer to some good books on the subject in the book reviews and some brief comments on them here. At one time the Sahara was a vast expanse of savannahs and rivers and lakes and the people were hunters and gatherers along with some cattle and goat herders with a variety of tribes who had a variety of gods and goddesses. When the Sahara started getting drier the tribes would congregate towards the remaining water resources especially the Nile. The tribes came from the west (from both the later Sahara desert and along the coastline from Libya, east from the Sinai and Middle East, and well as the south and settled along the Nile with their various pantheons. In the predynastic period they settled towns and established agriculture, although there were probably many that still practiced animal husbandry as they did in later Dynastic time. The Followers of Horus migrated in from the North (which raises a question of where did they originate, especially since they were occasionally described as red haired and blue eye!) Each major town had its own pantheon usually consisting of a Triad (and occasionally during a cities history one or more of the Triad may change). Memphis (Greek spelling) for example had Ptah, Sekhmet and Sokar (later Nefertum); Thebes had Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Some cities had Enneads, or groups of a major god and eight god/desses with the most famous being Annu of the North (Heliopolis in Greek) who had Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Shu, Isis, Nepthys, Osiris and Set, and secondarily Hermopolis (with Thoth and his group).
Changes of a God/dess powers in ancient Egypt
Sometimes a god/dess may get replaced or "downgraded." Sokar (mainly a god of the dead) in Memphis was replaced by Nefertum in the triad and played a lesser role (probably due to the rise of Osiris in popularity) and was incorporated with Ptah to become Ptah-Seker. While some gods and goddess were replaced or given a lesser role other gods and goddesses gained more popularity and more functions, so that in some cases you have a gradual evolution of god/desses in Egypt for some, devolution for others. I will give you three examples of changes, Bat, Bast and Isis. Bat was a goddess depicted in the palette of Farmer, a predyanstic king with Hathor type of head but curved horns. Her popularity started receding during the Old Kingdom and almost disappeared by the Middle Kingdom, having been taken over by Hathor who gained popularity. Bast was THE goddess of the city of Bubastis and was portrayed with a lion’s head (exactly like Sekhmet) from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom. During the New Kingdom her popularity was increasing and started being associate with cats, so she kept the Lioness-Sekhmet form but cat statues started to be popular. Her popularity increased during the late Kingdom and into the Greco-Roman period, and cat statues of her became the predominant form for her. Isis started out as wife of Osiris and wasn't particularly popular throughout the Old Kingdom, her main religious attribute was Goddess of Women and children but even so, there are few personal statues of her. Her popularity gradually increased in the Middle Kingdom when the Coffin texts be came available or used by non-royals. During the New Kingdom she also became a goddess of Magic (the story of Ra and Isis was popular then), and statues of her in peoples houses increased. But she still wasn't the most popular goddess around at the time (this is based mainly on statues found in peoples shrines in ancient Egypt and the number of amulets and goddess talismans found as well); the most popular was Renenutet’s and Hathor. In the Late Kingdom her popularity really increased and at the advent of the Ptolemy’s (which the Greeks really loved her), her attributes or functions (or powers if you will) became enormous. The Greeks associated her with just about every Egyptian goddess there was (and a few Greek Goddesses thrown in for good measure). Her temples expanded throughout the Greco-Roman world even as far as Hadrian’s Wall in England and into Germany, among other places. Some Egyptologists attribute the rise of Isis popularly in Greco-Egypt because she was always portrayed as a human female (most animal headed god/desses fared poorly). The Greeks appeared to be prejudiced against "foreign" gods and goddesses that were occasionally portrayed as animals, hence Renenutet’s, Hathor, Sekhmet never became popular with them (although it didn't stop the Greeks from borrowing their power and adding them to Isis). Least you think I don't particularly care for Isis, I do. Isis single handedly did more to bring ancient Egyptian religion to today's pagan movement than any other single Egyptian god or goddess!
Powers of the God/desses:
By powers we also mean attributes, for example Renenutet's powers or attributes was Goddess of all food, as well as Goddess of the Linen and of the name. Hathor powers including sex, fertility, music and the lotus and beer (otherwise sex, drugs and rock and roll!) When a person looks at the history of a god or goddess you find that they do have a tendency to increase the type of powers that they have with Isis being the best example.
Recommendations for books:
So a person who wants to use Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses would do well to get at least one or two books that describe most of them. I have recommendations in the book review section.
A Brief Synopisis of Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt and their Powers.
Amon: Major god of Thebes who name means “the Hidden One”. Personification of hidden and unknown creative power
Anubis: Jackel or Dog head, god of embalming, protective god of the dead and guardian and guide of those who embark on any path, spiritual or mundane.
Bast: Lion or cat headed goddess, the major god of Bubastis and Lady of the East. Protectress of women, pregrencies and birth. Lunar and solar goddess aspects.
Geb: God of the Earth including the Underworld. The equilivent of the goddess Gaia.
Hapi: God of the Nile and fertility and of plenty, creator of wheat and bringer of food.
Hathor: Sky Goddess with a head usually of a cow. A sky goddess shwe was the great power of nature, conceiving, creating and maintaining. And as a tree goddess, nourisher of life. Attributes include protective, regenerative, sexuality, joy and pleasure.
Heka: God of magic, the life force or Ka,
Horus: Sun God, Falcon God, and whose eyes represent the sun and the moon. Horus has many names and attributes. There is Horus the Avenger, Horus the Eleder, Horus, son of Isis and many more. Basically all protective dieties and some of them warrior gods. Heru-ur Lord of the Sun and Moon, son of Ra and Hathor. Heru-pa-khart or Horus the Younger, god of protection, son of Isis. Heru-Behutet, the great winged disk, protector. Heru-Khuti, or Horus of the two horizons, the sun who symbol is the sphinx.
Isis: By the Ptolemaic period Isis had pretty much all the attributes of most Goddesses of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures.
Khepri: Scarab or scareb headed god whose powers were of rebirth, regeneration and renewal.
Khnum: Major god of Esna, creator god, sacred to potters whose powers include creation.
Maat: The most important goddess of the Egyptian Temples Maat represented balance, order and harmony, including orer and blance between man and nature, man and the gods, men and men, and a person with himself
Montu: A Falcom headed god of war and vengence.
Mut: Great Goddess of Thebes, a mother goddess.
Neith: Both a warrior Goddess and a Goddess of weaving. Use her for protection, weaving and knot magic
Nepthys: sister of Isis, Represents a friend who will never desert you in your time of need or any other time.
Nut: The Goddess of the Heavens, Nut body was represented by the Milky Way. Also a goddesss of rebirth.
Osiris: Special god of Abydos and Busiris, Osiris taught humanity all of the arts and crafts, agriculture. He pretty much is to powers of the Gods that Isis is to Goddesses. God of the Dead, agriculture, learning, sexuality.
Ptah: The god of Memphis, creator god, he was also god of craftsmen, artists, alchemy.
Ra: The chief god of Thebes and quintessential solar diety. Creative and solar functions.
Renenutet: This snake headed goddess is the goddesss of all food parexcellence.
Sekhmet: Lioness goddess of Memphis. Sekhmet is associated with fire and causing sickness as well as healing. A powerful protective goddess.
Seshat: Goddess of writing and of the library.
Set: God of disorder, god of storms.
Shu: God of the air
Thoth: God of the moon from Hermopolis, master of writing, time, math, transmitter of knowledge, magic.
Copyright June 24, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source
Beginning Practice of Ancient Egyptian Religion Part 5
Amulets and Talismans …Take two and call me in the morning…
Amulets and talismans are found by the thousands in archaeological excavations in Egypt proving their popularity from the 1st dynasty to the end of the Roman period. We will briefly examine a few of the more popular ones that were used in ancient Egypt.
Amulets and talismans are the bridges between the reality of magic and normal or mundane life. The amulet would be magically charged to be an external bridge between the two realities as well as complete and separate from the ritualist and works independently for a specific purpose. Also the amulet can be viewed as representing a subconscious reminder to the magician that he/she as set up a magical work that is working independently of him. An amulet serves the purpose of being a magical act or ritual that is running in the background continsually without constant reenforcement or when the ritualist is in a normal state. With the amulet being the center of the operation, it allows the conscious mind to work on other things. While amulets are just tools, some of them, by virtue of shape or material may have powers of their own based largely by the traditions of other people (such as the Christian cross to Christians, an Ankh to ancient Egyptians). For those amulets who have no power of its own, the belief of the user when they are in a magical state and places their own power into the object can be just one of the factors of its powers. The attention focused upon the amulet by others could also add powers to the object. These are powers of the archetypes, which has its own separate existence.
Amulets have their power for several reasons.
The first is the actual image of the amulet. The image is an archetype of a power or a symbol of an archetypical god or goddess. Hence it acquires power by its affinity to a great power, the god/dess it represents. An amulet can also be a symbol of an idea as well. An amulet of a feather in ancient Egypt can stand for the idea of truth as well as the Goddess Maat.
A second reason is the power of the people who believed in and used them. Imagine millions of people over thousands of years using a sacred symbol.
Third is the color of the material. Many times color was important in specific amulets bringing on further associations of the amulet. Blue for example a color for water and dark blue could be the sky.
Fourth is the amount of power the user themselves puts into the amulet. A proper consecration, blessing and putting Sah (magical power) into the amulet is important. It gives more direction for the use of the amulet and link to the individual.
Fifth: The type of material used creates yet another link of power. The material could be sacred to the particular god/dess that is associated with the amulet, or has other psychic powers as well.
But First: Materials used! The basic material used in many amulets and talismans was faience, a blue to blue green material that looks like fired clay with a glaze of quartz and other material. As the most popular material, it was cheap and easy to use in moulds for amulets.
Gold was popular for those who could afford it, silver in Egypt was actually harder to find and more expensive so you don't see a lot of it.
Stones were popular because certain colors had associations with key gods and goddesses or meanings. Red carnelian and red garnet for example was the only material used in the Buckle of Isis (occasionally gold but not near as often) were used quite often. Other stones used were steatite, soapstone (easy to carve), Lapis Lazuli, malachite and occasional use of moonstone and amber (amber was imported from the Baltic Sea, Lapis Lazuli from as far away as present day Afghanistan.
Glass: glass may have been invented in ancient Egypt, but if it wasn't then when it first was being used it was more precious than the stones they represented. Although it was rare to find an amulet made entirely of glass, you could find glass in cloisonné amulets, or in pectorals (a pectoral was an amulet that had a multi scene on it, multiple god/desses, snakes, symbols, etc).
Ankh:
Later called the rose crux, the Ankh is the oldest amulet of Egypt. The hieroglyphic sign of the ankh means “everlasting life,” “life,” and “living.” This symbol and its meaning applied to life on earth as well as the afterlife and that of the spirit.
This cross with a loop was held by many a god and goddess in Egyptian art and small gold, faience and silver (rare) ones were worn by individuals and was popular from the New Kingdom on. In paintings of Egyptian gods and goddess there were either holding it by one hand at their side, holding it to the face of an individual with the loop toward the person, or symbolic pouring of ankhs over an individual or on the ground. Although basically a symbol of Eternal Life it also is symbol of protection.
Powers: Life, Eternal Life, protection
Eye of Heru, or Wadjet eye
The Eye of Heru (Horus in Greek), or that of Wadjet is usually the left eye, although ancient amulets can be either way. It symbolizes the Left Eye or the Lunar Eye. In mythology the left or lunar eye was stolen by Set from Horus and was later restored by Thoth. It also symbolized the eye of Wadjet, the snake goddess represented as the Uraeus on the brow of Pharaoh and his queen as well as being a representitive of Uatchet/Wadjet, goddess of the North.
It also symbolizes Protection, as the Eye of the Peregrine Falcon while in flight can see all that is going on in the world below (falcons also have a section of their eye that acts like telescopic vision). Heru (or Horus for you Greco-Roman enthusiast) is a protector God par excellence and was popular throughout Egypt and its history and one of the most popular amulets to have.
The Eye of Heru was generally made in faience, gold, rarely silver, and sometimes gem stones or cloisonné. It was an extremely popular amulet, probably the 2nd most popular in all of ancient Egypt. Its attributes was protection, power of light, symbol of Horus and Wadjet (Heru, Uatchet)
Powers: Protection and Light of Horus and/or Wadjet, Protection from Evil.
Scarab:
By far the most popular or at least most numerous of all the ancient Egyptian amulets was the scarab. This beetle, known for putting its eggs into a round ball of dung and rolling the ball near the Nile and then burying it was associated by the Egyptians to the Sun. The round ball representing the sun and the life contained therein, the orbit of the sun (pushed by an invisible scarab) and resurrection (the Beetles coming out of the dung ball). As odd as this sounds to have this entire process of the beetle being a religious icon the student should remember that the Egyptian were great observers of nature and would equate a natural process to deeper more symbolic processes.
The flat side of the Scarab amulet was great for writing or designs! Hot damn, you can do a lot with a scarab. The Egyptian kings had their names put on it, or celebrating an event. The people had gods and goddesses put on the flat surface, maybe added a prayer or request, or maybe put religious symbols on it or just cute designs. If you get a reproduction you can cover the flat side with paint and then put your own design on it!
The scarab was made in faience, or carved stone, no particular color was important to it.
Symbolic meaning is renewal and resurrection, and as being sacred to the sun, offered protection of the solar deities.
Powers: Transformation and Renewal, Protection by solar god/desses.
Djet Pillar:
The Tet represents either the backbone of Osiris (Osiris was cut into many parts by Set and dropped all over Egypt) or it could have represented the tree that Osiris was found in after his death.
The hieroglyph signifies stability. A large scale Djet pillar was erected ceremoniously by each new king to confirm stability upon his reign.
The ancient Egyptians dipped the Tet in water in which ankham flowers had been steeped before using the amulet. It also has four cross bars representing the four directions
Powers: Power in general, Protection of the back, spine, general protection, and strength against enemies, and most of all magical stability.
Knot or Buckle of Isis, the Tet:
The Knot of Isis, what is it? Good question. Some think it represents the female genitals; others think is a way of knotting the front of a ceremonial dress (as shown in Ptolemaic times, but that may be a merely a late development). Most agree that it represents the blood of Isis since it is always made in red carnelian or other red stones.
While the origin is unknown, it is often shown in conjunction with the Djet pillar, symbolizing the union and combined strength of Isis and Osiris
Powers: Protection, knowledge of Isis, Good will of Isis
 
God/desses:
Winged Horus Isis and Horus Bast Sekhmet Anubis Tauret
Amulets of gods and goddesses were very common and usually made of faience. The two most common ones are of Isis with baby Horus and Bes (god of the household), both sacred protection of mothers and children. Other common go/desses amulets were tauret (goddess of childbirth), Renenutet (goddess of snakes and food), Horus, Bast, and Sekhmet.
Pectoral:
A pectoral was an amulet worn as a pendent and depicted several different amuletic symbols or gods and goddesses. One ancient pectoral for example had a winged scarab as a centerpiece, flanked by Isis and Nepthys, 2 snakes, and 2 eyes of Horus.
Pick up any book on Egyptian jewelry or some photos of King Tutankhamen's jewelry and you find many types of pectorals. The vast majority of the ancient ones were of gold or cloisonné, a few of faience. You can find reproductions of them today. The advantages of a pectoral is that there will be several magical qualities to them based on the variety of sacred symbols found on the jewelry.
The odd ones
Lotus amulet mace Amulet Hand and Foot hand amulet finger amulets
Grape amulet Snake Amulet
Some of the odd amulets can be adapted for today's use! The Egyptians had many, many other types, some of which you may find useful. Some were very practical, if you lived in a desert or in Egypt, a scorpion and snake amulets to keep from being stung or bitten would work well. An amulet of a crocodile may not be all that useful in today's world (it keeps crocs from attacking a wearer), but a pagan living in alligator country may adapt one for their use.
The Lotus amulet was sacred to solar gods and all of their attributes and powers. The Mace amulet was an representation of the fiery eye of Horus and hence houses the supernatural power of Horus. Hand and foot amulets were for the protection of both limbs as well as the foot representing safe passage by travel or safe journey metaphysically, and the hand eventually became known in the Islamic period as the hand of “Fatima” with all of its protections. A Grape amulet is for “good harvest” and for Hathor, Goddess of wine and grapes. The Snake Amulet was protection from snakes as well as protection by snake goddesses such as Wadjet and Renenutet.
There are many more amulets and talismans but most of them cannot be found as reproductions today.
Menat:
Used as a counterpoise in necklaces, the meant was associated with Hathor. It is rare to find reproductions today however. Worn by women it was expected to foster fruitfulness and good health, while among men it signified virility.
Powers: Good Luck, Fortune, protection from evil and evil spirits
papyrus scroll amulet:
A more useful amulet consists simply of a piece of papyrus with magical words written on it, enclosed in a small container and worn around the neck. This type of amulet is something any practicing pagans can make for themselves today. A similar amulet consists simply of a piece of linen soaked in sacred oil and put in a small vial or container and worn.
If you buy or better yet, make your amulet be sure to consecrate and bless it before using. Following is an example of a consecration blessing rite.
Copyright June 24, 2009, Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Rituals and Hymns
EGYPTIAN TOOL CONSECRATION
Note: anything in red is where you need to substitute the name of the god or goddess that you are consecrating the tool to, or the name of the tool/amulet/talisman.
Before (name of god/dess) I bring (type of tool) to be dedicated to the service of (name of god/dess).
Pass tool three times through the smoke of the incense.
By the power of (name of god/dess) be thou purified. Be thou dedicated to purity of thought and wisdom that all intentions for which thou art used may none be harmed and be for the good of all. Be thou like the sweet breezes that cools the land.
Take a few drops of water and sprinkle or dab on instrument
By the power of (name of god/dess) be thou purified. Be thou dedicated to purity of emotion and giver of life that all intentions for which thou art used may none be harmed and be for good of all. Be thou like the generous life-giving inundation of the Nile
Pass tool three times through or over the flame of the candle or oil lamp.
By the power of (name of god/dess) be thou purified. Be thou dedicated to purity of desire, and that all intentions for which thou art used may none be harmed and be for the good of all. Be thou like the purity of the flames of Sekhmet, like the gentle fires of Bast.
Touch tool to a stone, salt or natron
By the power of (name of god/dess) be thou purified. Be thou dedicated to purity of purpose and steadfastness and that all intentions from which thou art used may none be harmed and be for the good of all. Be thou stability and growth of (Osiris or Rennutet).
No tools needed except those you wish to bless. Kyphi/Frankincense/Myrrh recommended.
Works best if done in a place that sun light can shine in (or if a lunar god/ess, moon light; full moon is best)
Place your hand under the tool to be cleansed and raise it to the god/dess (if you have an ankh, make the ankh sign over it; say:
O powerful God/dess (name), (add powers or attributes of the god/dess) Whose magic is blessed upon his/her people, Give me some of your magical power, To put in this object and cast out all impurities into the night. Allow it to be for the magical work of this and all other times. Fill it with your Heka and sah.
Lower hands and object down. Put your hands on the object and imagine a white light gushing around the object in light, saying:
Let all impurities be cast out, Let all negativity and evil out. Allow the great magic to soak in allowing this (name of tool) To be helpful for this and for all times.
Gather a gray light in your hands as you imagine a gold light soaking in.
This gray is the impurities. Throw the ball away. Imagining it disappearing. Touch the tool, feel the new powers within it, making it powerful
ISIS BUCKLE SPELL
Isis Knot – Tyet Amulet or Isis Buckle
The Isis amulet, shaped like a loop with tassels, is said by some to represent the tie on her girdle. Others say it represents her menstrual pad, the magical power of menstrual blood, a third explanation is that it represents female genitalia .
Ancient Egyptians sometimes fashioned it out of gold, but the amulet was usually red, made of red carnelian, jasper, or glass.
Wear the amulet on a necklace: For protection To avert the evil eye To guard yourself eternally against every kind of evil To enable you to move freely in the afterlife.
Empower the amulet: Consecrate it by steeping it overnight in flower water (rose water or pomegranate water is best . Or use consecrated water that has been poured over an Isis statue.
Recite these words of power over it:
The blood of Isis, and the strength of Isis, And the Words of Power of Isis shall be might to act as powers and protect me. They shall prevent wrong from being done to me.
(adapted from the Egyptian Book of the Dead)
CEREMONY OF THE SCARAB
Translated from an ancient Text Take the scarab and place it on a table. Under the table shall be a pure linen cloth Under it put some olive wood, and set on the middle of the table a small censer wherein myrrh and kyphi shall be offered.
And have on hand a small vessel of chrysolite into which an ointment of lilies, myrrh, or cinnamon shall be put. Take the scarab, and lay it in the ointment, having first made it pure and clean.
Offer it up in the censer with kyphi and myrrh. Leave it for 3 days, and take it out and put it in a safe place.
Use pure bread and fruits for sacrifice and celebration. Take the scarab out of the ointment, and anoint thyself with it.
Thou shall anoint thyself early in the morning and turning east shall pronounce the incantation.
Beneath the scarab carve Isis on it and after consecrating it, use it.
The proper days of celebrations are the following days of every month.
7,9,10,12,14,16,21,24,25
incantation:
I am Thoth, The inventor and founder of medicines and letters, Come to me, Thou that art under the Earth, Rise up to me, thou great Spirit. Modern Rendition
Take the scarab and place it on a table on top of a pure linen cloth set on the middle of the table a small censer wherein myrrh and kyphi shall be offered.
And have on hand a small stone vessel into which an ointment or oil of lilies, myrrh, or cinnamon shall be put. Take the scarab, and lay it in the ointment or oil, having first made it pure and clean.(see cleansing ritual above)
Offer it up in the censer with kyphi and myrrh. Leave it for 3 days, and take it out and put it in a safe place.
Use pure bread and fruits for sacrifice and celebration. Take the scarab out of the ointment, and anoint thyself with it.
Thou shall anoint thyself early in the morning and turning east shall pronounce the incantation.
Beneath the scarab carve Isis (or any other diety or design) on it and after consecrating it, use it.
The proper days of celebrations are the following days of every month.
7,9,10,12,14,16,21,24,25
incantation:
I am Thoth, The inventor and founder of medicines and letters, Come to me, Thou that art under the Earth, Rise up to me, thou great Spirit.
AMULET OF THE HEART
XXIX B chapter
Heart amulet usually made of carnelian
I am the Bennu, The Soul of Ra, And the guide of the Gods who are in the Otherworld.
Their divine souls came forth upon Earth to do the will of their doubles.
Let therefor the soul of Ra come forth to do the will of his double.
Prayer and Blessing of Eye of Wadjet
After cleansing and consecration of the Eye of Wadjet, its time to Dedicate it and empower the Eye before wearing. Hold the eye in you left hand with your right hand over it, Visualizing the golden light traveling from your third eye down into our arms and into your hands and collecting in the sacred Eye. Chant this:
A Prayer To The Goddess Wadjet
Hail to thee mighty Goddess May your beatiful being be blessed with offerings May your powers and magic be forever Protect me from my enemies Grant me happiness and fortune As I kiss the Holy grounds of your temple And bring you offerings of gold and silver
Hetep di Nisu Offering Ritual to the Dead In honor of Reverend Harold Moss, High Priest of Horus The items in red in the ritual are areas that you can substitute. An offering which we give and Anubis and (god/dess) gives, first of the god’s hall. May he/she travel on the good ways on which a revered one travels well. May offerings be given to him/her on New Year’s feast, the Thoth feast, the wag-feast, the Renenutet feast, monthly sadj-feast, the Beginning of the Month feast, the Beginning of the Half-Month feast, every feast, every day, to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess.
A boon which (priest/ess’s god/dess) grants and Geb grants: invocation offerings for all gods who shall bring into being all good things for to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess and who shall cause to endure, in accordance with what to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess wishes in the matter, for ever and ever. O all you gods who shall cause to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess to be effective, you will be strong, you shall have your souls, you shall have power.
An offering which we give to to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess. O you May they give a thousand of bread, beer, beef and fowl, a thousand of food-offerings, a thousand of drink-offerings, all the plants that sprout from earth, a thousand of all things good and pure, that are offered to the eternal lord, alabaster and clothing, incense and unguent, all things good and pure whereon a god lives, which heaven gives, earth produces, and Hapy brings forth, from the table of the Lord of Eternity, on the monthly feast, the half-monthly feast, on the Thoth feast, and on every feast, every day, to the ka of the one honored by (god/dess), the true, beloved to (name) High Priest/priestess of God/dess friend. It is pure! It is pure!
Kitchen of Renenutet
Written by Rev. Joanna Linsley-Poe
Each edition of Renenutet’s kitchen will feature a recipe and information on one or more ingredients in that recipe. These ingredients will either have been documented to be grown in Egypt or to be available to the ancient Egyptians through trade with other lands.
While the ancient Egyptians did not write down recipes, they did leave us a record of what they ate and drank. These foods will be my focus.
I am pleased to share with all of you my new blog about foods from ancient world on wordpress as of last September. Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Receipe
Emmer Salad 4 cups water 10 ounces emmer ( faro) about 1 ½ cups * 2 teaspoons salt-plus a pinch or two for the vinaigrette 1 pound tomatoes, seeded and chopped*** ½ onion, chopped ¼ cup chives, chopped* ¼ cup finely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) 1 large garlic clove, minced, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, * Freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Directions: Combine the water and the emmer (farro) in a medium saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the emmer is tender, about 30 minutes. Drain well, and then transfer to a large bowl to cool. Add the tomatoes, onion, chives and coriander leaves to the emmer, and toss to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, vinegar, a bit of salt, pepper and olive oil. Add the vinaigrette to the salad and toss to coat. The salad can be refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving
***Note: Tomato’s are a product of the New World and were not part of the Egyptian Diet. *Note: Although not a part of the herbs grown in Egypt, chives are part of the onion family. Emmer is also called Farro. Farro was the Roman name for this popular grain. The Egyptians had vinegar but probably not balsamic, at least not until Roman times.
Photos of Emmer Grain
Subject
Emmer Wheat
One of the oldest grains known to be cultivated by man, Emmer like all of its cousins is a wild grass, first collected and cooked as porridge by early hunter-gathers. Depending on your source, emmer is either the oldest cultivated grain, or a close second to einkorn wheat. For the ancient Egyptians it was their principal grain along with barley. Wild emmer has be found in early archaeological sites dating back to the late Paleolithic Age around17, 000BC. Cultivated emmer emerged as the predominant wheat along with barley as the principal cereals utilized by civilizations in the late Mesolithic, and early Neolithic Ages 10,000 BC (Helmqvist 1955; Harlan 1981; Zohary and Hopf 1993). Emmer was the principal grain grown in Egypt, as well as most of the ancient world, from the time it was just gathered as wild grain until the introduction of naked wheat’s sometime after 1000bc. Emmer continued to be the grain of choice until the Ptolamic Period. To the ancient Egyptians both emmer and barley were called “corn”. There is even an ancient Egyptian grain god called Nepri (as I mentioned in my last article on Kamut). Pictured in human form his body was dotted to represent grains of corn. As an ingredient in medicine emmer was use in bandages, with salt and barley it helped stimulate childbirth and even helped to grow hair! Emmer was also used in a remedy for a cough, constipation and to prevent a woman from conceiving. If that wasn’t enough, emmer was the principal grain was used to make the staples of the Egyptian diet, bread and beer. Bouza is a beer still made today as it was in Ancient Egypt. Today this simple beer (only two ingredients are needed, wheat and water) is probably made with modern wheat (Triticum aestivum) but in Egypt of the past it was made with either emmer or barley. Bread was made with emmer as the grain of choice (barley for the common man), until modern wheat supplanted it. The Ancient Egyptians made flat unleavened breads in the beginning but with the discovery of wild yeast they made raised breads as well. The Ancient Egyptian’s made over thirty different types of bread as documented on the walls of tombs and temples-but more on bread in ancient Egypt next time.
Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Copyright May, 2010, Joanna Linsley-Poe All rights reserved, no publishing of material including electronic form without permission
Relating to the Articles on the Beginners practice of the Ancient Egyptian Religions
Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art By Richard Wilkinson Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe Dr. Richard Wilkinson received his Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Ancient Studies and postdoctoral research as a scholar in residence at UCLA. This book covers in depth was the amulets and talismans section of the Beginners class covers. The book goes into the symbolism of shape and size, the significance of location, the color symbolism, the magical meaning of numbers, hieroglyphic signs and the language of the body (known as Devas in India, which we will get too in a future class chapter). This is a must have book for those interested in the esoteric aspects of amulets, color, numerology, hieroglyphics and devas.
I give it +++++ for excellence in subject matter. + ++ For complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the beginning studentRecommendation: Excellent
Egyptian Symbols By Heike Owusu Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
An amateurish attempt to explain ancient Egyptian symbols and drawings a third grader would do. Not recommended to anyone except a child or a real beginner reader of Ancient Egypt.
Not Recommended
The Great Goddesses of Egypt By Barbara Lesko Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
Barbara Lesko is the Administrative Research Assistant in the Department of Egyptology at Brown University. She is also author of “The Remarkable Women in Ancient Egypt” and co editor of the Dictionary of Late Egyptian. This remarkable book uses the available sources on the major Goddesses and has some insights into their origins and powers. Although she focuses on only 7 Goddesses she also mentions and occasionally details other goddesses as well. The goddesses she delves into include Nut, Neigh, Niche, Wadjet, Hathor, Mut and Isis. Some of these goddesses go back to Egyptian prehistory, some were later metaphysical creations and one (Isis) became a universally revered goddess of the Greco-Roman period. There is also a very handy and concise glossary of Egyptian and related Goddesses along with a chapter on their temples, rituals and the clergy of the Goddesses.
I give it +++++ for excellence in subject matter. +++ for complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the Beginning to Intermediate student Recommendation: Excellent
The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses By Clive Barrett Reviewed by Rev. Michael Poe
This book catalogues all of the greater known and many of the lesser known Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, over 30 of them. It gives their family history, their associations and powers and other quite useful information. Gods and Goddesses covered include Amun, Anubis, Aten, and Atum to Wadjet. The book also covers many of the ancient Egyptian symbols used.
I give it a ++++ for excellence in subject matter ++ for complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the Beginning student Recommendation: Excellent
.
Gods of Ancient Egypt By Barbara Watterson Reviewed by HP Ptahemankh
Background of the author: Barbara Watterson is a lecturer in Egyptology, author of “Introducing Egyptian Hieroglyphs,”” More about Egyptian Hieroglyphs”, “Coptic Egypt”, “Women in Ancient Egypt”, and “The Egyptians.” Gods of Ancient Egypt by Watterson covers much of the same gods as the Clive Barrett book, Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Watterson covers the god/desses in much more detail. For Example, Clive Barrett on Horus covers 4 pages, and In Watterson about 15 pages. In addition to a chapter on each of the 29 some gods and goddesses there are chapters on the Land of Egypt and its influence upon the religion, forms of religion in ancient Egypt and a short chapter on personal piety and popular religion. This is a step up from Barrett’s Egyptian Gods and Goddesses.
I give it a +++++ for excellence in subject matter ++++ For complexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the Intermediate student Recommendation: Excellent
Daily Life of the Egyptian Gods By Dimitri Meeks and Christine Favard-Meeks Reveiwed by HP Ptahemankh
Background of the authors: Dimitri Meeks is the Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at the Universite de Provence. And Christine Favard-Meeks is the Egyptological Researcher at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etude of the Sorbonne. Not quite a whos who of Egyptian Gods and Godesses, this book instead attempts to recreate the characters of the Egyptian gods, their relationships, conflicts, their origins, destinies, hierqarchies, groups, divine bodies and spaces, intelligence and knowledge. And that is in part I ! Part 2 explores the mediating between the gods and humankind, the universal god, the gods of earth, the gods of the Hereafter, the intercession between Gods and man.
I give it a ++++ for excellence in subject matter +++ for ecomplexity and difficulty of the subject Recommended for the late Beginner or early to middle Intermediate student Recommendation: Excellent
Web Reviews
Web Reviews Egyptology Sites
The best web site for Egyptian replica ritual products including incense and oil burners and statues. Many websites has their products for retail sale.
http://www.designtoscano.com/?dtpd&code=DTGOOGLEB The second best source for statues and other ancient Egyptian replicas. Also the original source for ancient Egyptian replica furniture, altars, temple columns, bookcases and other really great stuff.
http://museumstorecompany.com/index.php
The 3rd best source. Many of the items are from the top two sources above but also have many of their own material. Somewhat higher in price for many of their items, especially their jewelry, the museumstorecompany used to have shops around the country but is now strictly internet only.
http://www.egyptianmarketplace.com/
A kind of one-stop shopping, from blank papyrus to oodles of jewelry, perfume bottles, even a papyrus-sealed bottle pendent. A great source of material.
http://www.incenseguru.com/nu_essence.html Has the best and most authentic commercial “Kyphi” incense available. A bit pricey but worth it.
Church of the Eternal Source web site.
http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com Joanna Linsley-Poe, our Priestess of Renenutets blog on ancient foods throughout the world.
If you have some to recommend send the urls and a brief description to me (with your name so we can give you credit) at churcheternalsource@yahoo.com
Copyright May, 2010
END OF ISSUE
Papyri Newsletter of the Church of the EternalVolume 9, Issue 1, Season of Inudation, July 18, 2010 to October 17, 2010
Welcome to the Seventh online issue of Papyri!
What's New in this Issue
Articles
1. Egyptian Calender 2. Recent News in Egyptology May to November, 2010 3. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion part 6 Wall Decorations 4. Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion part 7 Setting Up an Altar 5. News in Egyptology Excavations
Future Events and Activities
Covers the public and private rituals and event schedules of the Temple of Ptah and the Temple of Renenutet in Portland Oregon, the Temple of Sekhmet in Boise Idaho and other temples of the CES.
Past Events and Activities
Past events and activities of the CES as well as Egyptology news since the last issue.
Hymns and Rituals
Featuring ritual elements……
Kitchen of Renenutet
Barley The Kitchen Witchery of Ancient Egypt, The High Priestess of Renenutet will focus on barley, it’s history in food and beer and a recipe.
Book Reviews
Here is the Good, the Bad, and the Awful in books relating to ancient Egypt and the practice of the ancient Egyptian religion.
Web Reviews
New web sites will be revealed with the focus in this issue on ritual wall hangings available on the internet and other great sites.
NEW!!!! GUESTBOOK
New, a guest book will be added soon for people to make comments and ask questions of editors and writers of the CES Papyri newsletter.
And the usual subjects
Archives of 2009-2010 Papyri
Archives of the 2009 issues of Papyri of the following sections: Articles; Hymns and Rituals; Kitchen of Renenutet; Book Reviews; Web Reviews
Full Moon Lunar Calendar:
Reverend Harold Moss presents the Full Moon Lunar Calendar for the next several years.
Ancient Egyptian Calendar
The ever changing ancient Egyptian Festival and Ceremonial Calendar using the set Solar year Egyptian Calendar.
And as always
We would love to have people (including non-CES people) contribute to the Hymns and Rituals section, Articles, and book reviews as well as suggest new web sites for us to visit.
Copyright July 18, 2010 Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Upcoming Church of the Eternal Source Events
Portland Oregon Temples of the CES
Temple of Ptah
Due to the death of Reverend Harold Moss, one of the original founders of the CES and High Priest of Horus, the Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat has become the repository of the CES historical material, the CES library and the Temple of Horus sacred material and equipment that was closed and deconsecrated on July 19, 2010. As a result we are renovating the Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat, which will be a process that should extend in the middle to end of September and all rituals during that time, are suspended.
In addition our library has expanded by about 2/3rds with the addition of the CES central library. Since we were just adding material to our library catalogue (now up to about 34 pages of material) the library catalog work will also be extended.
Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion
The Beginners Class for Practicing the Ancient Egyptian Religion will be held in 2010. The classes will cover the different ritual elements, amulets and talismans, chanting, mudras and more. There will be approximately 10 class sessions, one per month on Saturday (to be determined). Open for enrollment. Inquire at cesoregon@yahoo.com to find out more information or to enroll. This is not an online class.
Temple of Renenutet and Seshat
Reverend Joanna Linsley-Poe, High Priestess of Renenutet and Seshat has bottled her first two batches of Mead. Using both ancient and modern methods in the two batches and using local organic honey, she has produced both a medium and dry mead. More information can be found on her ancient foods blog.
October 5: Harvest Festival of Renenutet Being held at Pagan Pride Festival 2010
Joint Activities of the Temples of Ptah and Renenutet/Seshat
NOTE: On types of activities: Festivals and Feasts are usually open to the Public and consist of a ceremony/ritual followed by a potluck dinner. Ritual or Ceremonial: All ritual with perhaps some appetizers after. Classes: Open to the public, donations to class accepted. Attendance: Due to the limitation of space in the Temple and the fact that all participates will be take part in some way during the ritual it is generally required that the Temple Staff meet all interested parties (who have never attended a Temple event) at least 1 to 2 weeks prior to the event. Open to the Public: Temple space dictates that 6 to 10 people attend a ritual; therefore there is a limitation of how many new people can attend (first to respond will be priority until the spaces are full. A wait list can be made in case someone cancels). There may be an occasional event that we hold where more than 10 people will be participating, in that case the ritual will probably be held in another location.
November 27: Day of Ma’at OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Dec 11: Priest/ess make offering to their god/dess For order and life. Ceremony of Neith OPEN TO PUBLIC
Dec 25: Birth of Horus, the child of Isis, Elevate the Great Goddess in all the names and manifestations. CLOSED CEREMONY
Boise Idaho Temples
Temple of Sekhmet Further details will be forthcoming on location and times. If you are interested please e-mail Kathie Blakeslee at Sekhmet.Idaho@ceswebhq.org or call 208-249-8384.
The High Priestess of Hathor is currently working in her psychiatric practice and current O.T.O. activities.
Copyright July 19, 2010, all rights reserved
Egyptology News
Herbal Wines Healed Ancient Egyptians
The ancient Egyptians used to doctor their wines with medicinal herbs and other ingredients, according to a new study by Patrick McGovern, an archaeochemist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The oldest of the recently analyzed herbal wines dates to 3150 B.C. and the discovery provides the first direct chemical evidence for wine with organic medical additives. "The ancient Egyptians settled on adding herbs and other ingredients that had marked medicinal effects, probably just based on observational trial and error," Patrick McGovern, lead author of the paper said. Colleagues Armen Mirzoian and Gretchen Hall chemically analyzed residues found inside a jar excavated from the tomb of one of Egypt's first pharaohs, Scorpion I. They also conducted chemical tests on a later amphora, dating to the 4the to 6th centuries A.D., from Gebel Adda in southern Egypt. Both containers tested positive for wine with medicinal additives. The scientists determined Scorpion I's drink consisted of grape wine to which a sliced fig had been added, probably to start and sustain the fermentation process, while also adding flavor and sweetness. Terebinth, a tree resin known now for having antioxidant properties, was also found within a yellowish flaky residue scraped from the jar, which was decorated with swirling red paint "tiger stripes." While McGovern and his team aren't yet certain what herbs were in the drink, since many plants share similar chemical components, they suspect mint, coriander, savory, senna and sage were likely candidates. The researchers are confident, however, that the second, more recent Egyptian wine contained pine resin and rosemary. A previous study determined that an early beer-like fermented emmer wheat barley beverage from Spain contained rosemary, along with mint and thyme. All of these ingredients and more were outlined in Egyptian medical papyri dating to 1850 B.C. McGovern said the resin and herbal ingredients probably served three primary functions. "They helped to preserve the wines, while also adding flavor and medical benefits," he said, explaining that the last two frequently went together, since flavor was, and still is, often linked to health effects. "Bitter flavors in nature can signal danger, but they can also sometimes have powerful medicinal properties," he added. "Maybe we can even go back to the amphorae, jars and cooking pots previously excavated and now sitting in museum storerooms around the world and ask new questions of each artifact," said researcher Brendan Foley of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who worked on the Greek shipwreck project.
Ancient Tomb of father and son at Saqqara
Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni has announced the discovery of two important tombs recently uncovered at Saqqara. The tombs dating from the Old Kingdom, are a part of the necropolis to the west of Djoser's Step Pyramid known as Gisr Al-Mudir, and were discovered during excavations by an Egyptian mission that has been working in the area since 1968. Early studies have revealed that the tombs belonged to a man named Shendwa and his son, Khonsu. The upper part of the father's tomb consists of a painted false door depicting scenes of the deceased seated before an offering table. The door also bears the various titles of office of the tomb's owner, an important governmental official during the Fifth Dynasty (2465- 2323 BC). He was head of the royal scribes and supervisor of missions, as well as bearing other honorary titles. The tomb's burial shaft is located directly beneath the false door, 20 metres below ground level. "When I descended into the tomb I realised that it was intact and had not previously been plundered by tomb robbers," Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly. He pointed out that unfortunately Shendwa's wooden sarcophagus had disintegrated owing to humidity and erosion. Beside the sarcophagus was a collection of limestone jars including five offering vessels carved in the shape of a duck. When the vessels were opened the bones of the ducks were found still intact. Inside the burial shaft were a painted relief and a 30cm tall obelisk made of limestone. "This obelisk is a symbol of worship of the sun god Re," Karar said, adding that the ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom used to erect small obelisks in front of their tombs and inside temples related to the tombs of the queens' pyramids. Next to Shendwa's tomb the archaeologists discovered that of his son, Khonsu. This is a beautifully painted tomb with a false door bearing Khonsu's various titles, indicating that Khonsu apparently inherited the same titles as his father. Just opposite the false door the team located an offering table, together with a stone lintel on the floor. The lintel was engraved with symbols that dated it to the Sixth Dynasty. Over the false door was a small lintel in coloured relief depicting the deceased in various poses.
Relic of Harpocrates, the god of secrecy and silence, found at Silchester
Archaeological dig at abandoned Roman city in Hampshire yields earliest representation of an Egyptian deity found in Britain
A battered and corroded thumb-sized piece of bronze has turned out to be the earliest representation of an Egyptian deity from any site in Britain – and appropriately, after almost 2,000 years hidden in the ground, it is Harpocrates, the god of secrecy and silence. The little figure was found at Silchester, site of an abandoned Roman city in Hampshire, in last summer's excavation, but his identity was only revealed in months of careful conservation work. His Greek and Roman designation as Harpocrates, the god of spymasters, is actually a transcription error. "In Egyptian mythology the figure is known as Horus, the child of Isis and Osiris," said Professor Mike Fulford of the University of Reading, director of the Silchester excavation. "He is often shown with his finger in his mouth, a gesture that in Egypt represented the hieroglyph for his name, but was misinterpreted by the Greeks and Romans, resulting in his adoption as the god of silence and secrecy." He was originally an ornament on an object, which is itself unique. "The figurine was attached to part of a charcoal-burning brazier which would have been used to provide heating and lighting. This brazier is the only one found in England so we are doubly excited," Fulford said. "The brazier, the sort of thing you would expect to find in Pompeii, is the first evidence of such a luxurious item from Roman Britain." The context of the find suggests the brazier was imported, and later thrown out into a rubbish pit, in the first century AD. He now believes it was an iron age city of up to 10,000 people, the oldest and largest in Britain, built on the regular grid pattern which historians had believed arrived with the Romans. The evidence suggests Silchester never regained its wealth and power after the Roman invasion, and may have been burned to the ground and rebuilt in the Boudiccan rebellion of 60AD.
Egypt discovers 3,500-year-old oasis trading post
The discovery of a 3,500-year-old settlement in a desert oasis shows the existence of vibrant desert trade routes that stretched from the Mediterranean down into Sudan from the early days of the Egyptian civilization. The settlement at Umm el-Mawagir in Egypt's Kharga Oasis, more than 300 miles south of Cairo, has been excavated for the past year by a Yale University expedition, whose initial findings suggest it was an administrative post with massive baking facilities, possibly to feed local troops. "The amount of bread production was pretty amazing," said John Darnell, head of the expedition, citing discoveries of ovens, bread molds and storerooms at the site, far out of proportion to its size. "It's probably a good bet they were basically baking enough bread to feed an army, literally," he said. The site was home to a few thousand inhabitants and also includes remnants of mudbrick buildings, similar to those used for administrative purposes in the Nile Valley to the east, suggesting close contact between the two regions. The settlement sheds light on ancient Egypt's Second Intermediate Period (1600-1569 B.C.), when the Egyptian pharaohs were trapped between the Hyksos invaders of Asia in the north and a Nubian kingdom in the south. The oases and their trade routes were likely key to the survival of the Egyptian kingdom. The ancient routes stretched from the Darfur region in Sudan through the oases and the Nile Valley up to the ancient Palestine and Syria, with long caravans of donkeys bringing wines, luxury goods and wealth along with them. It would at least be 1,000 years before the camel made its appearance. "The oases were large well watered nodes along major Egyptian caravan routes that had traffic coming in from all over the known world," said Darnell, contrasting their importance in antiquity to their relative isolation in modern times. "2,000 years ago these (oases) were major trade emporia where you would have been passed everyday by caravans bringing in much more exotic material than you could find in Kharga Oasis today," he added. The discovery is part of Yale University's 18-year Theban Desert Road Survey which seeks to rediscover the old trade routes and ascertain the level of interaction between the peoples of the Nile and the Sahara Desert in ancient times.
'Huge' structure discovered near Snefru's Bent Pyramid in Egypt may be an ancient harbour
Archaeologists have discovered a large structure to the northeast of the 4,600 year old Bent Pyramid which may be the remains of an ancient harbour. It connects to one of the pyramid’s temples by way of a 140 meter long causeway. The discoveries were made by a team of the German Archaeological Institute and the Free University of Berlin. The team used magnetic survey and drill cores soundings to make the finds. The structure is mostly unexcavated and only a portion of the causeway has been unearthed. The structure itself is U-shaped, 90 meters by 145 meters. It was built with mud brick and has no wall on its east side. “Maybe this structure can be interpreted as (a) harbour or something like that,” said Dr. Nicole Alexanian of the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo. She said that it may have been beside water, “it’s possible that ships could enter by a canal in this area.” Harbours are known from later Egyptian pyramids and may have served as a receiving point for the body of the pharaoh. It is unlikely, however, that the newly discovered structure was used for the burial of the Bent Pyramid’s creator the pharaoh Snefru. It is widely believed by Egyptologists that his final resting place was the Red Pyramid, located two kilometres to the north of the Bent Pyramid. Snefru was the first ruler of the fourth dynasty and constructed two pyramids at Dahshur, one at Meidum, and one at Seila.. These were the first “true” pyramids – those with smooth sides. After he died, his son Khufu inherited the throne and began construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza.
A 140 meter roofed causewayThe causeway runs due east of the temple and has a vaulted roof. This appears to be the earliest known instance in which a roofed causeway was used in an Egyptian pyramid complex. “The walls - they built them to a really astonishing height, almost three meters,” said Dr. Alexanian. “It was like a tunnel - astonishingly it’s also very steep.” The interior of the causeway contained a passageway more than 2.5 meters wide. Its walls were lined with undecorated white and yellow plaster which appears to have been maintained for a long time. “Four phases of the plastering could be distinguished which attest that it was renewed several times,” said the team in a recent report. “From (the) state of weathering of the different plaster layers it can be inferred that the causeway was used for a substantial period of time i.e. at least 40 years.”
Statue of King Tut's Grandfather Unearthed in Luxor
Part of an ancient statue of King Amenhotep III, believed to be the grandfather of King Tutankhamun, has been unearthed, Egypt's Ministry of Culture announced on Saturday. The 4-foot (1.3-meter) by 3-foot (0.95-meter) red granite statue depicts the Egyptian pharaoh in all his power. Amenhotep III wears the double crown of Egypt, which is decorated with a sacred asp, or uraeus, and is seated on a throne next to the Theban god Amun. The ninth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep III (about 1390-1352 B.C.), reigned for 38 years during a time when Egypt was at the height of prosperity and cultural development. His mummy was found in 1898 in a tomb dubbed KV35 by French Egyptologist Victor Loret. The upper part of the more than 3,000-year-old double statue has been dug out at the site of the pharaoh's funerary temple in Kom El-Hittan, in the west bank of Luxor. Demolished during the Nineteenth Dynasty, the temple was apparently the largest of its class ever built. Originally, it had two entrances: one on the eastern side guarded by two (still standing) gigantic statues of the Pharaoh, known as the Colossi of Memnon, and one at the northern side, where the double statue was located. "The statue is one of the best new finds in the area because of its expert craftsmanship," Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said in a statement. He added that overwhelming amounts of statuary feature King Amenhotep III in company of different deities, such as Amun-Re, Re-Horakhti, Bastet and Sobek. A similar statue, which showed the king seated beside the solar god, Re-Horakhti, was previously unearthed at the site. Moreover, last February a massive granite head also depicting Amenhotep III was dug out at the same site. “It is possible that a large cache for King Amenhotep III’s statuary may have been buried in the area,” Egyptian officials said in a statement. Excavation work led by archaeologist Abdel Ghaffar is now focusing on unearthing the rest of the statue Ancient Egyptian Priest's Tomb Unearthed in Giza
Archaeologists have unearthed a more than 4,000-year-old tomb of a pharaonic priest near the Giza pyramids, Egypt’s authorities announced on Monday. Beautifully decorated, the burial site is located near the tombs of the pyramid-builders. It belonged to Rudj-Ka, a priest who lived during the Fifth Dynasty (2465 - 2323 B.C.) and was responsible for the mortuary cult of the pharaoh Khafre, also known as Chephren. The son of Khufu, or Cheops, the Fourth Dynasty king Khafre is best known as the owner of the second largest of the Giza Pyramids. According to Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Khafre’s pyramid complex and mortuary cult remained functioning well after the king’s death, thanks to a group of priests who conducted rituals and prayers in honor of the dead pharaoh. Rudj-Ka was one of those priests. An important member of the ancient Egyptian court, he was provisioned through a royal endowment to serve as a purification priest. Built from limestone blocks, which create a maze-like pathway to the main entrance, Rudj-Ka's tomb is cut directly into a cliff face and boasts walls painted with beautiful scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt. One wall painting shows Rudj-ka fishing and sailing. Another scene portrays the priest and his wife in front of an offering table loaded with gifts of bread, goose and cattle. According to Hawass, the discovery might indicate that an unknown larger necropolis lies near the three famous pyramids. "This tomb could be the first of many in the area. Hopefully we have located a new necropolis dedicated to certain members of the royal court,” Hawass said in a statement. He also speculated that the area could be a continuation of the western necropolis at Giza, which may have resulted from overcrowding in the Giza plateau.
Copyright June, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Articles
Rituals in Ancient EgyptBy Reverend Michael Poe
Eeek, I am actually going to recommend a book here that is sooo not Egyptian! In this article we are going to discuss the types of temple and personal rituals used in ancient Egypt and maybe a couple that were never done (that we are aware of)
Temple Rituals:
In ancient Egypt you had several types of rituals that were being utilized by the temples.
Foundation Ritual: The first ritual was the Foundation Ceremony that was done prior to building the temple. It consisted of several parts including the laying out of the foundation, the foundation deposits in each corner and a dedication. Some temple did them each year to renew the ritual and temple.
There are also those rituals done privately by the priests/esses or by small groups of priests outside of the main temple itself. During excavation archaeologists have found private shrines and sanctuaries for use by the priests within the priest precincts of the temple (in or next to the priests living quarters. There were also rituals done by the People of the Circle, a generally informal group operating outside the Temple precincts in smaller towns and villages in sacred groves, small shrines and sanctuaries. The priesthood did the private rituals only, the general public was never allowed into the sanctuary. Public rituals, usually Festivals and the occasional Birthday of the God/dess, were conducted by the priesthood within the privacy of the sanctuary while the public was located in the courtyard. Usually there was a procession out into the courtyard and occasionally beyond.
The daily rituals were mainly to establish and maintain Ma'at between Egypt, the King and the temple deity, hence an offering of Ma'at to the deity three times a day. The morning ritual was the longest consisting of up to about 52 ritual components, the noon ritual was shorter and the evening ritual was about the same length as the noon ritual.
There were other rituals (the Temple of Edfu lists all of them for Horus) honoring the birthday of the god/dess as well as special ceremonies. Nowadays of course the priest/ess no longer acts as the intermediary of the Pharaoh to the god/dess, but they can act for themselves as well as the intermediary between the people on earth and the god/dess.
We have hints of other rituals that took place through papyri and temple walls but not complete ones including the Mysteries, initiation of the priest/ess, deification of the priests and others. We know that Mysteries were performed since even from the Old Kingdom there are references by some priests/ess that they were shown the "mysteries of the temple". Other ritual components included identifying parts of the human body with specific gods and goddesses; invocations and evocations, calling forth a god/dess from without and within and melding the two together, and some literature (used to be called the Books of the Dead) like the Book of Gates and Book of Hours refer to the books and being "extremely helpful to the living."
Public Rituals: In Egyptian temples the public was allowed into the courtyard from time to time to observe and participate in the festivals, some if not all Birthdays of the god/dess and some special ceremonies. In many cases, after the private ritual in the sanctuary was over, the priests would take the god/dess out of the shrine, put it in a boat and carry it outside through the temple and then around it, sometimes with oracles taking place that the public could get involved in. In some cases a god/dess would leave the temple area entirely and sail to another temple, or be carried around to way stations. There usually was some form of feasting that will go on.
Today our temples still have private rituals but some, like the Temples in Boise Idaho and Portland Oregon have some public rituals as well such as the New Years Festival, Festival of Renenutet, Festival of Ptah and Isis and others.
You can do a similar Temple Ritual (check out the calendar portion of our newsletter to find out what rituals were done during the months) by writing a ritual for your group or a few choice friends followed by a meal. Going to and joining the Church of the Eternal Source Yahoo group and you will find some temple festivals ready to be used.
Personal Worship:
Because most excavations centered on tombs and temples during most of the history of Egyptology our knowledge of what constituted personal worship is lacking but is in the process of catching up. Unfortunately many ancient towns are now under present cities and villages but on the other hand excavations of ancient dwellings are increasing (starting off at the pyramid town of Hawara, then Deir el-Medina, then the Giza pyramid town, and now several places throughout Egypt).
Every house had a personal shrine, usually a niche in a wall in which statues of the families gods and goddesses were place along with a personal ancestor statue or two. Magical implements are occasionally found in their houses but more usually were buried with their owners.
The head of the house usually performed the rituals (with some participation by the other members). Probably the husband did many of the rituals unless it was to a goddess then the wife could be the head practioner. Also it could be that if a member of the household held a position in a temple than they probably was in charge of the ritual as well. In some estate houses (as opposed to multi-story apartment like buildings) there was land enclosed by a wall around the house and a small 1 room shrine in the garden and magical practice probably took place there.
The types of rituals that took place in people's house probably resembled what Witches and Wiccans practiced today as individuals and small groups; spells, rituals for gardening, protection or curing, etc.
Today there are some spells, ritual elements and small rituals from ancient Egypt that have been published that you can utilize. Also many Wicca or Witchcraft spells and rituals can be redone into an ancient Egyptian tone. I have a couple of books in the book review section that you can look at.
Divination, knot magic, kitchen or green magic, image magic and candle magic were all used in personal worship in Egypt. Tarot cards weren't used but feel free to get an Egyptian oriented deck of Tarot to use.
Also in ancient Egypt personal worship there were protection spells, healing, love, vengeance (not recommended), divination, planting, and well as other types of spells and rites.
Personal Worship with small Groups:
The least known is worship outside the temple and outside of the family unit which I call personal worship with small groups. Also one has to think that the vast number of priests and priestesses, who lived and worked in the temples only during 4 months of the year must have done something other than menial work the rest of the year, perhaps being the priest/ess for their family or performing a similar priest/ess function of one of the many shrines and sanctuaries scattered throughout Egypt. Plus you had Temple titles such as Magician or Oracle, which did not have a known ritual function in the Temple but may have been trained in the Temple and assigned to work outside the temple.
There are various hints that there were such groups with ancient references to people meeting in a sacred grove, meeting to perform agricultural planting rites, rituals for children (usually for protection or healing). Also there were shrines and sanctuaries in and outside the villages dedicated to various gods and goddesses (a great number of them are referred to in Late Dynastic to Greco-roman texts), usually headed by a person or a family but open to all who wanted to attend. Occasionally there is a reference to specific groups (found by translating offering stela in temples, New Kingdom on, and in legal documents of the Late Period to Greco-Roman era). Some of them were informal (in that there were some set members and some members that come and go) and some formal groups. A few even had names (Ausarmeses in the 18th dynasty in a stela referred to being in a Circle of Osiris, but was not a priest of Osiris himself). These "coven" like groups may have gathered together for a common purpose or gathered around a particular individual that led them. We know that some leaders were trained and others were selected from the group. Very little is known about them at any rate.
If you wanted to start such a group the organization and make up is up to you! An informal group or coven similar to a temple was all used in ancient Egypt. See our book review for a book that outlines how to start such a group. It's Witchcraft oriented but general enough for anyone to adapt to Egyptian ways.
Ones that probably were never done in Egypt.
There are types of rituals done in Wicca and other pagan religions today that were probably not done in ancient Egypt (that we know of, or have no copies of). But that doesn't mean you can't make your own. Please do. They include any life stages (youth, adult, crone) marriage or divorce. Rituals were done at the birth of a child, but so far no ancient records for achieving adulthood or old age (croning). There is some speculation about adulthood rite, which may not be a magical ritual. Marriages were civil affairs in ancient Egypt but I have seen some really good Neo-Traditional Egyptian marriage rituals out there.
Beginning Practice of Ancient Egyptian Religion Part 6
The Rituals
Bigger is Better! Well, maybe not
By Reverend Michael Poe, HP of Ptah
Eeek, I am actually going to recommend a book at the end of this article that is sooo not Egyptian! In this article we are going to give you an outline of a ritual and the components of a good ritual.
General Steps for a ritual:
1. Preparing yourself for the ritual 2. Preparing the temple 3. Attunement 4. Ritually purifying the area 5. Casting the circle (optional) 6. Calling the quarters (optional) 7. Invoking the God or Goddess 8. Stating your purpose 9. Doing an activity 10. Blessing and sharing food offerings 11. Saying farewell to the quarters (optional) 12. Thanking the deities 13. Opening the circle or ending the ritual
Preparing yourself for the ritual:
This includes deciding on the type of ritual to have, when to have it, participants in the ritual, and what ritual tools are needed. In addition to writing the ritual itself you also need to consider the environment of the ritual: The timing of the ritual The visual aspects of the ritual Music/speech and sound of the ritual Costumes or not in the ritual.
You need to decide these questions as well: What is the ritual for? Who is the ritual for? What should be the content of the ritual. Is the ritual ethical Is the ritual clear in its purpose or intent?
Purpose of ritual: What is the goal or intention of your ritual? Celebrating Ancient Egyptian Festival or God/dess Birthdays Aspecting or God/dess Assumption Astral Travel Blesssing, protections Charging magical instruments Cleansing and Purifications Devotional Ritual to a God/dess Celebration of the earth, sowing or harvest festival Exploring the Archetypes Getting Acquainted with a ‘new’ diety Honoring past ancestors Initiation Making a Path Mythic Mysteries or Mediations Rites of Passage Sacred Marriage Self-blessing Self-dedication Self-initiation Guardian of the Threshold Etc.
The Rituals Themselves: In later articles we will have a breakdown of the outline that I am giving you. It seems like a lot of steps but all of them are important to have a good ritual. Also there is a book in the book review section that outlines steps and gives a lot more explanation for each step. Although it’s non-Egyptian, it's general enough for Egyptian or about any other religion for that matter. I will give you two outlines
Suggestion for a book on making Rituals:
Ritual Craft by Amber K. Despite its Wiccan orientation, this is a great book for creating rituals. Sections include design and construction of ritual, rituals small and large; varieties of ritual; tools for ritualcrafting and more. You can easily adapt any procedure in it for Egyptian use.
Copyright June 24, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Copyright July 19, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source graphics by:
Beginning Practice of Ancient Egyptian Religion Part 7
Setting Up An Altar
Temporary or Permanent?
Those lucky people that have room enough to have a permanent altar set up, more power to you! However many people can only set up a temporary altar so here is some suggestions for all of you
One: keep your altar material together. If you have a temporary altar that needs to be broken down and put away occasionally (or if you are into more than one tradition and change your altar to put up your other tradition) it would be helpful if you can put all of your material away in one drawer or chest. Some people use a chest of drawers for their alter, keeping their material in the chest or part of their chest drawers until they need it and use the top of the chest for their altar.
Two: Altar clothes, Yeah or Nay? If you don't use an altar cloth and have a permanent setup than you can embellish the altar top. One way is to get rubber stamps with Egyptian motifs and stamp the top of the altar. You can find rubber stamps with hieroglyphics, gods and more. You can, if you are computer savvy with photo editing software, acquire one of the Dover Publications of Egyptian motifs (some have a CD Rom disk), upload the images you want, color them, then print them out on special clear labels (clear address labels of various sizes) and them cut around the image and press them onto the top of the altar. If you put clear turpentine over it should make them more permanent (do the turpentine outside until it is dry or have the windows upon).
If you want to use an altar cloth remember that more "busy" the design on the altar cloth the more distracting it will be on your altar. Using a solid color is best. You can use different colors to match the intent of the ritual or that is sacred to the god/dess you are using (red for Isis, Green for earth or Renenutet, Gold for anybody, tan for anybody, blue for water, etc). Occasionally at a yardage store (probably in the” ethnic" section you can find a cloth that would have Egyptian designs on it and that would work as well. They have basting cloth that eliminates the need to sew the sides, you just iron it on. Ask about it at the yardage store. You can also use, if you can find it, Egyptian design tablecloth. If you get a solid color cloth that is light in color you can use the Dover Egyptian with CD and something like Photoshop to make your design. Use a T-shirt transfer sheet (any Office Depot or Best Buy probably carries it, and iron on the designs after printing it!
Three: Statue. Back in the 1960-70s you were hard put to find a statue of anyone other than Bast or Isis, but now just about all the major god/desses are available, some in several different sizes (Isidora Forrestt has a statue of Isis that looks like its 4 feet tall!), and in different postures and painted or decorated in different ways. The two best sources I found are Toscano and Summitt, which has the largest variety and where most other metaphysical shops get theirs (and they do retail as well as wholesale). If you currently have a statue you can elevate it a little higher if you put a wood box under it (those you can get at a crafts store like Michaels) and then you can decorate the box as well using Egyptian design rubber stamps, handcrafted or Dover/.
Four: Candles: The ancient Egyptians had candles but used oil lamps as well so you can go either way with these. Unless the god/dess is associated with a particular color than white candles are the way to go. Either long stemmed candles, votives or tea candles can work. Two is best. Candleholders should be simple unless you can find lotus shapes or those from Toscano or Summit, which has candle and votive holders in the shapes of snakes, Egyptian god/desss, scarabs, sphinxes and others. Try not to use scented candles if you are working with people who are allegoric to incense (ask them if they are also allergic to scented candles). You can also stamp the larger candles with Egyptian designs with rubber stamps.
Five: Incense holders: You can now get incense holders in the shape of obelisks (great for an altar), as well as stick incense holders that have Isis and various other motifs from Toscano or Summit or your local metaphysical shop. A small cauldron works well as does a small ceramic bowl (hopefully in a faience blue color) but be sure to be enough sand on the bottom so the bowl or cauldron doesn't over heat.
Six: Oil burners: a good substitute for incense holders as well as having tea candles for light as well as providing heat for the oil/water mix. You can get them with Egyptian motifs or go for something simple.
Copyright July 24, 2010, Church of the Eternal Source Graphics by:
Rituals and Hymns
The hieroglyphic text from Amenirdis I's famous alabaster statue is below: "This is an offering for the Theban Amen-Ra, of Apet, to the God Montu-Ra, the Lord of Thebes.
By Rev. Michael Poe. 1969
By the grace of the great teacher and magician TehuitiAnd by Sekhmet, who guards the truth.
We have trodden a ramp to the heart of the living goddess Isis, Our body is the holy temple, our mind is the priest, and our soul the ba.
I close the temple with humble thanks and gratitude.
Turi en het
I purify this temple.
Horus Protection from Heliopolis Translation from French text, copyright by Michael Poe, 1974 From L’Institut Francais d’Archeologie Orientale du Caire
Words spoken by Horus, Protector of his father
I will overthrow all thy enemies in heaven and upon Earth. I protect thee from the evil doer. Thy will flourish in life, Thy respect is in the hearts of me, The whole Ennead of gods fear thee as they do the majesty of Ra.
You have power over thy Ka, You have power over the sustenance, You have power over the water and wind.
Hymn to Osiris Translated by Michael Poe From the stela of Amenmose, XVIII Dynasty
Turn your gentle face upon us Osiris
Lord of the life eternal, king of the gods, Unnumbered the names of his nature, Holy his manifold visible forms, Hidden his rites in the temples.
First in Busiris is he, that noble spirit, Splendid his wealth in Letopolis, Hailed in the ancestral home of Andjeti, Finely provided in Heliopolis.
God who still remembers down in the halls where men must speak true, Heart of the inexpressible mystery, Lord of regions under the Earth.
Worshipped in white walled Memphis, Power that raises the sun, Whose earthly form rests in Heracleopolis;
Long echo his chants in the Pomegranate Nome, Where the sacred tree sprang, a perch for his soul. Who dwells in the high Hermopolitan temple? Most awful god in Hypselis, Lord of forever, first in Abydos, yet far off his throne in the red land of death.
His tale endures in the mouths of men, God of the elder time, Belonging to all mankind he gave earth food. Finest of the Great Nine, most fruitful among the divinities.
Hymn to Sekhmet Adapted from Leiden hymn X By Michael Poe, 1999
In the beginning there was the waters and dry land, Then sands came to mark off fields to form her foundations on that high hill, Back when the world came to be; And all have names after their natures.
The Majesty of Annu of the South and Mennefer came down as the salvation to draw the world through her, The Great Goddess Sekhmet.
Please to dwell by the waters of Asheru is the likeness of Sakhmet, Mistress of Egypt. How strong she is, without contender, She honors her name as Queen of the Cities. Sharp-sighted, keen as God’s protector, Right eye of Ra, Disciple facing her Lord.
Bright with the splendor of Goddess, Wise upon her high throne, She is Most Holy of Places, A mecca the world cannot parallel.
Each city stirs into life at the breath of invisible Goddess, Burns to be great, Like Annu of the south and Mennefer, Hers is the light of perfection.
Incense Hymn 5-6th Dynasty, pyramid texts
I come to you (put in your god/dess)To anoint you with the unguent which sprang from the eye of Horus.
Anoint yourself with it, It will unite your bones, It will bind your flesh to you, It will rid you of the bad sweat so that it falls to the ground. Take its scent that your scent may become sweet like the scent of Ra when he rises to the horizon. And the gods of the horizon rejoice with him.
Copyright July 19, 2010, Michael Poe All rights reserved, no publishing of material including electronic form without permission. Kitchen of Renenutet
Written by Rev. Joanna Linsley-Poe
Each edition of Renenutet’s kitchen will feature a recipe and information on one or more ingredients in that recipe. These ingredients will either have been documented to be grown in Egypt or to be available to the ancient Egyptians through trade with other lands.
While the ancient Egyptians did not write down recipes, they did leave us a record of what they ate and drank. These foods will be my focus.
I am pleased to share with all of you my new blog about foods from ancient world on wordpress as of last September. Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Recipe
Creamed Barley-Prosciutto Soup ¼ cup butter or margarine ¼ cup finely chopped shallots 1-cup pearl barley 1 large can (about 49 ½ ounces) low sodium, low fat chicken broth, or part water ¼ pound Prosciutto or other dry-cured ham, cut into strips or small pieces * ¼ teaspoon pepper 1-cup half-and-half or whipping cream 1 package (about 10 ounces) frozen peas Ground nutmeg Grated Parmesan cheese
Directions: Melt butter in a 5-6 quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring often, until soft (about 3 minutes). Add barley: cook, stirring, until light golden. Stir in broth, prosciutto and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce heat, cover and simmer until the barley is tender to bite (about 30 minutes). Add the half-and-half (or whipping cream), and peas; cook, stirring occasionally, until just heated through. To serve, ladle soup into bowels and sprinkle with nutmeg and cheese.
Makes 6 to 8 servings
* The ancient Egyptians did not have cured ham, or shallots but they did have leeks and onions. As far as nutmeg- there are no references but they did trade in spices with their neighbors so who knows…
Photos of Barley Grain
Field of Barley Grain Pearl Barley
Subject
Barley
It is said the Ancient Egyptians believed that one day Osiris, god of agriculture, made a decoction of barley that had germinated with the sacred waters of the Nile, and then distracted by other urgent affairs, left it out in the sun and forgot it. When he came back the mixture had fermented. He drank it, and thought it so good that he let mankind profit by it. This was said to be the origin of beer. Like emmer and einkorn (ancient wheat), barley has been cultivated since the earliest of times. I say this without giving a specific date because archaeologists are at this moment pushing back the beginnings of agriculture with every find they make. According to Wikipedia: “Barley was the first domesticated grain in the Near East, approximately the same time as einkorn and emmer wheat. Wild barley (H. vulgare ssp. spontaneum) ranges from North Africa and Crete in the west, to Tibet in the east. The earliest evidence of wild barley in an archaeological context comes from the Epipaleolithic at Ohalo II at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. The remains were dated to about 8500 BC. The earliest domesticated barley occurs at Aceramic Neolithic sites, in the Near East such as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B layers of Tell Abu Hureyra, in Syria. Barley has been grown in the Korean Peninsula since the Early Mumun Pottery Period (c. 1500–850 BC) along with other crops such as millet, wheat, and legumes.” One of the earliest accounts of the distribution of barley can be found on a clay tablet from Mesopotamia, written in Cuneiform dating to 2350 BC. It called for a ration of 30-40 pints for adults and 20 pints for children. By all accounts whether it was in Mesopotamia, Egypt or later in Greece or Rome barley had a variety of uses as it does today. Barley is eaten in breads, soups and stews. In ancient Egypt as today it was made into porridge and sprouted barley was used as a base for beer. Barley was and still is today a major feed crop for domestic animals. Barley was used as a type of currency to pay royal workers in Ancient Egypt. Barley beer may have been the first fermented drink developed by Neolithic people although there is evidence that another drink,namely honey wine (or Mead as it is known), could have predated barley when man was still a hunter-gather and had not put down perment roots and turned to agraculture. According to Egyptian food and Drink, by Hillery Wilson, because there was no distinction in ancient egypt between barley and wheat it is inpossible to be certain which was the oldest cultivated grain; both were generally termed”corn”. Barley and other cereal grains such as emmer, einkorn and later modern wheat and rice (all members of the grass family) were the staples and probably the most important products of the world at that time or any other. The grass family with its many editable species including maze, from the new world, could be said to have created the world we know today.
Please visit www.ancientfoods.wordpress.com.
Copyright May, 2010, Joanna Linsley-Poe All rights reserved, no publishing of material including electronic form without permission.
Web Reviews
Web Reviews Egyptology Sites
An interesting site with a lot of useful information and some invocation or ritual elements. He does however go beyond his knowledge on occasion and misinterprets some lines to suit his own imagination. An example is the “ Invocation of Soul Memory” in which he has hieroglyphics translated as Akashic Records. http://www.spirit-alembic.com/egyptian.html
This site is a pdf file of a dissertation called ‘Do not celebrate our feasts without your neighbor, a study of references of feasts and festivals in non-literary documents. This is a useful text of dozens of feasts and festivals celebrated throughout Egypt. https://oa.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/46975/donotcel.pdf?sequence=1
The Internet Sacred Archives as about 19 complete books on ancient Egypt and its religion. Most are Budge but there are others including translations of the Pyramid Texts and a book on Egypt by Margaret Murray
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/index.htm
Another great source of ancient Egyptian texts online.
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/index.html
Church of the Eternal Source web site.
http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com
Joanna Linsley-Poe, our Priestess of Renenutets blog on ancient foods throughout the world.
If you havea site to recommend send the urls and a brief description to me (with your name so we can give you credit) at churcheternalsource@yahoo.com
Copyright July, 2010
Book Reviews July 18 –Nov 17, 2010
Eternal Egypt By Richard Reidy
Most books written about Ancient Egyptian rituals suffer from one or two major flaws. The first is that they present their information as being ancient Egyptian and don’t distinguish between their opinion and the viewpoint of the Ancient Egyptians. That is most evident in Rosemary Clark’s two books on ancient Egypt. Many times throughout the book there are references to the modern Zodiac, something the Ancient Egyptians never had and that Clark doesn’t mention that it is her opinion. The rituals in Clarks’ books are great. Some are from ancient sources, some are inspirations from ancient sources but she never says which one is which. The other major flaw in most “Ancient Egyptian Rituals” books is that either the rituals are derived from other religions; usually Wicca, or they are Wiccan in content. Why can’t authors say that their rituals are inspired, or just made up? Richard Reidy’s book, Eternal Egypt suffers from none of these foibles. Eternal Egypt is a revised and much enhanced version of his older work Ancient Egyptian Rituals for the Modern World, and a better book for it. The rituals are derived from ancient Egyptian sources, occasionally shortened (no one really wants to do the entire Temple Morning Ritual of over 32 ceremonies), some retranslations (many of the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts and Book of the Dead were retranslated by the ancient Egyptians themselves from working texts that have nothing to do with the dead) but overall all, really well put together. As Richard puts it in his book,
“As ritualists we attempt to be “creative conservators” of traditional rituals, using expert knowledge to modify the rites when truly necessary but always working to preserve their underlying ideologies. When we innovate, we do so within standard patterns from within the tradition.”
Well-said Richard!
Here are some the pluses of the book. Each rituals starts out with a commentary about the ritual that includes why it was used, when, where and the mythology behind it. There are directions of what to do in each stage of the ritual, including!!!! Gasp! Even down to the sacred Egyptian mudras (hand movements and body positions) to use. There is a list at the end of each ritual about the tools and equipment you will need for the ritual.
In Ancient Egypt these rituals were for use in the temples only. Since most of us don’t have the space for a full time temple and have only a temporary shrine, you may want to shorten or use only portions of these rituals. The morning rituals have 5 chapters for putting on various color linens, 2 chapters on 8 vessels of water. Obviously some people may want to cut down and slim down the morning ritual. The noon and evening temple rituals are not in the book, but are just shorten versions of the morning ritual. Personally I love having the morning ritual. It would take a lot of time and resources for find the morning temple ritual otherwise as references to it are scattered in obscure and hard to find texts, some of them translated in a foreign language. Thank god Reidy came along and convientatly put it in this book.
A commentary about some of the rituals Morning Ritual in the Temple Amun-Ra. Versions of this are on several temple walls, each following the same series of rites with some modifications for each temple. This is a fantastic ritual as it is extremely difficult to even find these rites translated. Richard puts them together. Suggestion: go over this, eliminate those elements that don’t apply (example, we don’t have a shrine for the statue so we have taken that out) and make it your own. Thank you Richard for finally making this ritual available to all. Nighttime Ritual of the Mystical Union of Ra with Ausar. This ritual is written around the basic great Egyptian work, the “Litany of Ra”. This is a nighttime ritual and even if you don’t want to worship Ra you can use the elements to do a nighttime ritual for your own god. Two Transfiguration Liturgies for the Radiant Spirits of the Blessed Dead. Excellent rituals for the departed. Book of Overthrowing Apep: This is a special section for the warrior priest in you. The ritual fight against Chaos. But on the other hand, it could be useful if a person feels that they are having a chaotic time in their lives.
Part Two is the new section of his book and makes it all the more worthwhile.
Morning Rite of Bathing: a short morning purification rite. Love it. Divine Identifications of the Parts of the Human Body: One of the several short rites that specific god/dess are associated with different parts of the body. A special purification or blessing rite. General Ritual for the Netjeru: Probably similar to the temple noon and sunset ritual, this is a temple ritual that has 4-5 parts and you can plug any god/desses into it. Beginners may want to use this one first. Great general rite. General Rituals for the Temple of Ra: While not a ritual to perform, this is an explanation of the various parts of the general rituals used and important reading for any beginning priest/ess. General Rite Honoring Sekhmet: Extremely useful ritual for Sekhmet General Rite Honoring Sutekh: Not the one I would have chosen to publish considering the all the gods and goddesses one could choose and what most leisure readers of Egyptology books would consider a god of Evil. He wasn’t. Set, or Sutekh was a dualistic god, and a helper of Horus during the Early to Middle Kingdom. It was Sutekh and Horus who held the ladder for the deceased to ascend to heaven. He was also one of the dualistic gods, meaning that he had 2 functions that were opposed to each other. For example the lioness goddess Sekhmet could smite a person with disease and well as cure them (almost all doctors were priests of Sekhmet). Conversely, Sutekh was a god of Chaos and the order that comes out of Chaos (among other things, such as God of storms, rain). Kind of like a Keeper of the Threshold. General Rite Honoring Djehuty: (or Thoth) any good ritual to Thoth is always handy. Opening of the Mouth Ceremony: The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony is familiar to the novice Egyptology student as the rite to open the senses and speech of the deceased after he has been embalmed. This ritual of transformation was also used on the statues of the gods and goddesses in their temples. A great thing to include in your blessing and consecration of your Egyptian god/dess statues. Also useful for initiation rites.
Cons: Well, almost none. If the rituals were also in phonetic Egyptian as well, it would go from being great to fantastic. But considering it’s already about 344 pages long and Egyptian would probably add another 100-150 pages, maybe it not such a great idea after all. Can’t really find anything wrong with it or any disagreements (and that is something considering, I also always find something to criticize).
Well, there you have it. It’s a great book. A must for any Egyptology ritualist.
***** Five Stars for Excellence in Content
***** Five Stars for level of content. Probably understandable for the beginning student, excellent text for the intermediate student who is already practicing, excellent for the advanced student and a must have for anyone wanting to start their own temple and do some rituals as the ancient Egyptian priesthood did them.
Ritual craft By Amber K and Azrael Arynn K
Let’s start off by mentioning that this book is not about Egypt. But it is pertinent in that it is a book on creating and leading rituals. Over 500 pages gives you a framework for creating rituals and ritual activities as well preliminary and post ritual items to consider step by step. Coming up with a purpose, correspondences, selecting participants, the environment of the ritual, timing, visual aspects, sound and speech, music and the feel of the ritual are all covered for preliminary work. That is followed by guided meditations, altars and rituals tools, and costumes. There are aspects for writing rituals for 1 or 2, families, small groups, and large groups and public gatherings. Also covered are rituals for the moon and the seasons, rites of passage, personal transformation, for the fun of it and teaching rituals. Appendices cover the basic ritual steps, ritual preparation worksheet, rituals theme ideas and many other items. There are many ideas and items that can be utilize into making and crafting your own ancient Egyptian rituals from scratch, or extremely useful for tilling in blanks if you have ancient Egyptian ritual elements that you want to tie together for a complete ritual. A must have non-Egyptian book.
**** Four Stars for Excellence in Content
***** Five Stars for level of content. Excellent for the beginning student as well as excellent for the intermediate student or anyone who has been a single ritualist in the past and is contemplating going to group or public ritual.
CovencraftBy Amber K
Although not an Egyptian book, this is a great source for those who wish to start or join a magical group, whether it’s Wiccan or Egyptian, this book has great ideas in it. It has tips on finding a group, organizing a group, ritual tools, group business and finances. Then it goes into group offices, new members, group calendar, and ritual, special activities within the group. This is followed by education and training, initiation, group dynamics in the group, group communications cooperation and how to deal with conflict. There is also pastoral counseling, children and young people, group elders, customs, traditions and how to serve a congregation. All helpful material. \
++++ Four Stars for Excellence in Content
+++++ Excellent for the beginner and advanced student who wishes to start their own magical group or a beginner who is looking for a group to join.
Copyright January, 2010 Church of the Eternal Source
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