How much to you innovate?

[Bastemhet]

 
Can´t remember which post I saw it in, but you said you wanted to figure out a practice of how to live day to day life and a big part of that is focused on your understanding of the ka.  Have you read Maulana Karenga´s book on Maat?  He took the model of what behaviors are expected in everyday life from the wisdom texts and from there created a model that could be followed in a modern context.  I haven´t finished it (I´ve barely just begun) but it seems relevant to what you´re doing.

[SatAset]

BUT FIRST.

Which brings me around to gods.

I am not focused on gods. This is a really funny thing for a mystic who is obnoxiously god-bothered to say, but it's true. I have personal devotions, but those are just that: personal. The work I am doing is not about the personal.

I find this amusing.  You are being asked  to strengthen the community by understanding how people interact within the Kemetic worldview (is there a deity that assigned this to you?  Was it Set?)  and Aset is asking me to share Her Mysteries with the community so that they come to know Her.  

As for other religions, Shinto is helping me understand the concept of cleansing and renewal.  This helps me understand more about Aset-Tayet as a goddess of purity.  

Honoring Frigga has helped me understand the ancestral ka of a family line and Aset as a goddess of both inheritance and family lineage.  And also the importance of cleaning pertaining to purity.  

 The way she is explained in Neo-Pagan books seems to me like her Egyptian attributes are being dismissed in favor of a more All-Goddess or universal like figure who is everything to everyone without Her own boundaries.  And Her Greek and Roman attributes are emphasized.  Many people don't even realize there is a difference between Aset and Isis.  

There are many books on how to worship Isis in a Neo-Pagan framework and most of the sources for the "Egyptian" Aset/Isis are the Greek Hymns of Isidorus, a Roman's account of the Mysteries of Isis in Rome, and the Greek Areatologies, one of which was found in Turkey.

Even the calendars are based off of Greek or Roman sources.  An example of this is the Festival of Isis giving birth to Horus which many modern Neo-Pagan books will have at the Winter Solstice.  Within a Kemetic calendar, this festival is called Celebration of Giving Birth of Aset, Mother of God and on my calendar it takes place in March.  And these books completely ignore the connection between Aset-Sopdet, sacred time and aligning the festivals to the world so that the Seen and Unseen worlds merge, connect and interact so that the cosmic order is maintained and renewed.

Then I read about the "Egyptian" Isis being a moon goddess completely ignoring (or briefly mentioning) Her Egyptian attribute of being a solar deity who was also in charge of protecting the sun god (and devotees) as a flaming cobra/fierce lioness.  And then they go on to explain how Isis was worshiped on the monthly full moon festival (the 15th of every month) because she is a moon goddess.  And her "association" with the moon is more about Wesir and Heru-sa-Aset as moon gods and the mythical explanation of the moon phases rather than Aset/Isis being a moon deity herself.  

And there is no mention of the monthly festival of "ph Sopdet" (which I've seen as Rising of Sopdet, but I'm not sure what ph, which has a dot underneath the h means) which is more about Aset anyway who was associated with Sopdet as far back as the Pyramid Texts.  

And speaking of texts, I think a part of this knowledge gap is about the accessibility of materials.  I've been trying to find copies of Sylvie Cauville's books on the Temple of Dendera (which is in French).  One of them is about the Temple of Aset there.  And I can't get them through ILL.  

And I completely understand that not everyone wants to look at tomes of academic books in order to practice their faith.  And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I want this stuff to be accessible.  

And I also want Her worship to permeate all aspects of someone's life, not just something that you do in shrine or on festival days.  

 
And I'm not saying that worshiping Isis in a Neo-Pagan framework is wrong or not valid, but it isn't Kemetic/Egyptian.

[Darkhawk]

Can´t remember which post I saw it in, but you said you wanted to figure out a practice of how to live day to day life and a big part of that is focused on your understanding of the ka.  Have you read Maulana Karenga´s book on Maat?  He took the model of what behaviors are expected in everyday life from the wisdom texts and from there created a model that could be followed in a modern context.  I haven´t finished it (I´ve barely just begun) but it seems relevant to what you´re doing.

 
It's on my buy-list.  It does seem relevant; thank you, I'll move it up the priority tree.

[Darkhawk]

I find this amusing.  You are being asked  to strengthen the community by understanding how people interact within the Kemetic worldview (is there a deity that assigned this to you?  Was it Set?)  

Wepwawet, more or less.

Set stuck me with the fucking Mystery.

and Aset is asking me to share Her Mysteries with the community so that they come to know Her.  

Yup!  And we need people doing both forms of the work, so that everything can actually get done.

And speaking of texts, I think a part of this knowledge gap is about the accessibility of materials.  I've been trying to find copies of Sylvie Cauville's books on the Temple of Dendera (which is in French).  One of them is about the Temple of Aset there.  And I can't get them through ILL.  

Absolutely.  A lot of the stuff that would be awesome is buried in the marginalia of academic texts....

And I completely understand that not everyone wants to look at tomes of academic books in order to practice their faith.  And that's why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I want this stuff to be accessible.  

It matters.  So much.

[Bezenwepwy]

I've been trying to find copies of Sylvie Cauville's books on the Temple of Dendera (which is in French).  One of them is about the Temple of Aset there.  And I can't get them through ILL.

Have you tried Mariette's books about Dendera? When I was researching Anupet, I came across the same issue of Cauville's books not being accessible but was pleasantly surprised to find Mariette's books online.

[Chabas]

Have I mentioned lately how awesome you are? Seriously, that was great.

--Chabas

[Finn]

Even if it doesn't answer the question, I am immensely grateful that you wrote it all out and shared it with us, as it has given me a lot to chew on (and possibly blog about, or start new threads on.)

 
As am I. Thank you so much for this, Kiya. Have a drink on me. :cool:

[SatAset]

Have you tried Mariette's books about Dendera? When I was researching Anupet, I came across the same issue of Cauville's books not being accessible but was pleasantly surprised to find Mariette's books online.

 
No, I haven't.  I didn't even know that they were there.  Do you have the link handy?