I performed the Wesir Mysteries Night Vigil for the first time this year. It was a very powerful ritual, one filled with prayers and offerings over six hours. We’d start the prayer and offering at each hour and when we were done, we’d do fellowship or talk about the ritual itself like ask questions of “What does that symbolize?”
The ritual marks Wesir’s passage from death to His re-birth as King of the Ancestors. Wesir is not a God who comes back to life. He dies and then transforms into the King of the Dead. This is so we can do likewise once we die. Everyone who dies is called a Wesir (Name) for this reason.
The holiday commemorates Wesir’s death, but it is also about ours as well. Not only our death when it is time, but about the Akhu (ancestors) and about what needs to die in our own lives. What needs to die so that new growth can occur? What needs to be swept away, cleansed by Aset’s tears purifying Wesir as He transforms into the King of the Dead? What needs to be washed away?
When I was doing this ritual these things popped into my mind and heart:
*anger (anger at my family, anger at myself)
*fear (fear of everything: procrastination coming from this as well as low self-esteem)
*I kept wondering “Where are the Goddesses?” during the ritual. No mention within the liturgy was made of any Goddess, just Gods. I guess the Lamentations make up for it, but I still wanted Aset to be mentioned. (The Lamentations were not a part of this ritual, btw)
*Shame about past mistakes
*Letting go of regret and anger and things not done
*my heart needs to be cleansed and healed
And for those, who don’t click with the ancient rituals or don’t want to use them for other reasons here are things to consider: When adapting a holiday for modern times, I think it depends on many different things. What is the symbolism for the holiday? Who are the Gods and Goddesses of that holiday? Are those deities you normally worship? What is the myth behind it? What is the natural event (sunrise, sunset, night sky etc) behind it?
How can we feasibly celebrate the today without taking the original meaning from the holiday (then it wouldn’t be that holiday, it would be something else).
For the Mysteries of Wesir, I would focus on the agricultural aspects of it. Wesir’s death is the Harvest, the cutting of grain for food. And it is also about the Living surviving on the blessings of the dead and vice versa. The plants die, leaving children (seeds) behind to birth the new generation (compost helps feed the plants). So I’d make a feast of food consisting of vegetables, fruits and grains, breads or other baked goods. The baking could symbolize Wesir’s rebirth into the Duat.
I’d offer it to the Holy Family (Wesir, Aset, Nebet Het, Heru-sa-Aset; and possibly Yinepu as a possible son of Wesir and an embalming God) and eat it! I’d also offer a small portion of the feast to the Akhu.
Fiercely Bright One 