Category: Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris

Aset Luminous, Auset Luminous, Isis Luminous, Aset Neferset, Auset Neferset, Isis Nepherses, Aset of Pharos Lighthouse, Auset of Pharos Lighthouse, Isis Pharia, Aset, Auset, Isis, Aset-Serqet, Auset-Serqet, Isis-Selkis, Awakening of Aset, Awakening of Auset, Awakening of Isis, Calendar, Candles and Lamps, Devotional Practice, Festivals, Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris, Rhodophoria, Rituals

So, I have thinky thoughts

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So, I’ve been thinking about festival cycles and how to come up with a good cutic practice for Aset.

Obviously there are Feasts, Festivals and Processions of Aset. But there are also cycles. Yearly cycles. I’ve been looking at the worship of the Virgin Mary recently and she has feasts year-round and a monthly feast on the 21st of each month in the Coptic Orthodox Church. And these feasts are all about her life (birth, temple, immaculate conception, Theotokos, her mourning of Jesus etc).

This got me thinking about the yearly cycle of Aset life I did here: Aset’s Yearly Cycle and how I could build something from it.

She has tons of holidays and some of them are more low-key celebrations like for Feasts of Aset you could offer Her a feast or for Processions they could be oracle or divination times (unless they are specifically for Wesir, maybe). But Her Mythic Cycle is the point. Her stories are the point. These are Her Mysteries.

I think the holidays that need to have a separate festival ritual done for them are only a few times a year. Looking at Her divine relationships and Her stories and Her cycles, I’d have to say Her High Holy Days could be:

Natural Cycles
1-New Year (Sopdet appears and inundation)
12 to 24-Festival of Roses/Rhodophoria
20-Procession of the Goddess of Heaven Goes South to the Road (Sopdet; half-way point)

Her Mythic Life Cycle
4 to 21-Aset, Mother of God Gives Birth to Heru-sa-Aset
8 to 16-Festival of the Marriage of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses), the Great Goddess
9 to 26-Entering the Temple of Aset-Shentayet (not sure if this is redundant as the Mysteries are in the same month)
18-30-Mysteries of Wesir
26 of 3 Shomu to 15 of 4 Shomu-Festival of the Birth of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses), the Great Goddess (and a ritual can be adapted to be used for the other Birth of Aset festivals throughout the year)
2-Aset Luminous: Procession of Aset, the Brilliant, Mother of God (searching for Wesir; bright goddess festival)
Extra Day 4-Birth of Aset

I’m not sure what to do with these either. They aren’t Her Myth cycle or natural phenomena, but Her stellar and solar aspects and light aspects are very important.

Bright Festivals
Her Various Birth Festivals Throughout the Year
5 to 6 of March-Navigation of Aset/Isidis Navigium
21-Sacred Festival of Aset of Pharos (Isis Pharia)
25 of April-Sacrifice to Aset of Pharos (Isis Pharia)/Sacrum Phariae
26 of 3 Shomu to 15 of 4 Shomu-Festival of the Birth of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses), the Great Goddess
28-Appearance of Sopdet
30-Burning the Widow’s Flame
2-Aset Luminous: Procession of Aset, the Brilliant, Mother of God

Here is a link to the festival calendar if anyone wants to see it: Aset Holidays.

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Aset, Auset, Isis, Calendar, Devotional Practice, Festivals, Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris

Reminder: Festivals for Aset for October

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Here are the rest of Aset’s Festivals for the month of October.

3rd Akhet/Hethara/October
17-Lamentations of Aset and Nebet Het
17 to 20-Festival of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses)
20-Sacrifice to Aset/Isia
24-Procession of Aset and Appearance of Aset and Nebet Het in Jubilation
28 to 31 October-Festival of Aset/Isia

This month is full of festivals pertaining to the Death and renewal of Wesir.

For the Lamentations of Aset and Nebet Het you can recite the lamentations in ritual.

For the 3 Day Festival of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses) you can honor Aset as the widow of Wesir as this festival is believed to be another rendition of the Mysteries of Wesir.

For the Sacrifice to Aset, you can offer what they offered Her in antiquity: two chickens, fruit, barley, wheat, a dove and lights. Today you could offer Her your favorite chicken stir fry or a fruit salad or a chicken sandwich. Light candles for Her too.

For the Procession of Aset you can honor Aset as a solar goddess and/or do divination for Her. For the Appearance of Aset and Nebet Het in Jubilation you can have a joyous celebration.

For the Festival of Aset/Isia on October 28-31, Aset mourns Wesir’s passing into the Duat. In this half of the festival, Aset is the Mourning Goddess, weeping and searching for Her slain husband. On November 1-3, the Rejoicing part of this festival is celebrated.

Calendar, Festivals, Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris, Sarapis, Wesir, Asar, Ausar, Osiris

Festivals of Serapis

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The god Serapis is a syncretic deity comprised of Wesir/Osiris and Apis; he also gained attributes from Greek deities such as Hades and Zeus. He became the consort of Isis within the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. To read more about Serapis here is the Wikipedia entry: Serapis.

Festivals to Serapis were called Serapia or Serapieia. During these festivals, Serapis (along with Isis in some cases) was honored with libations, sacrifices and offerings. There is mention of one festival in Alexandria including a procession with torches in his honor. I included some Osirian festivals in the list since the Perpillou-Thomas’s book did the same.

The Egyptian and Classical dates for these festivals are listed below. The Egyptian ones have the number of the days corresponding to the Egyptian month on the calendar and the Classical ones have the Julian dates associated with them. l

I also began my New Year in August. If one begins the New Year in a later month, then Pachons isn’t going to be in April.

Some dates for these festivals are:

3rd Akhet/Hethara/October
17 to 20-Festival of Aset, with the Beautiful Throne (Isis Nepherses)

4th Akhet/Koiak/November
26-Festival of Serapis/Serapia
24 to 29-Mysteries of Wesir

4 Peret/Parmuthi/March
30-Festival of Serapis/Serapia

1 Shomu/Pachons/April
7-Festival of Serapis/Serapia
10-Festival of Serapis/Serapia
mid-Month of April-Festival of Serapis/Serapia
mid-Month of Pachons-Festival of Serapis/Serapia
25 of April-Festival of Serapis/Serapia

Extra Day 1-Birthday of Wesir/Osiris

Sources

Bricault, Laurent. Les Cultes Isiaques Dans Le Monde Greco-romain (La Roue a Livres / Documents Book 66). Les Belles Lettres, 2013. pages 371-375.

Capron, Laurent. “Déclarations fiscales du Temple de Soknopaiou Nêsos: éléments nouveaux,” in Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. Bd. 165, Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn (Germany). (2008), pp. 133-160.

Perpillou-Thomas, Francoise. Fêtes d’Egypte ptolémaïque et romaine, d’après la documentation papyrologique grecque. (Studia Hellenistica Series 31). Peeters Publishers, 1993. pages 129-136.

Aset, Auset, Isis, Calendar, Festivals, Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris, Navigation of Aset, Navigation of Isis, Shrine

Aset’s Festivals from Late Antiquity

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Here are the Aset (Isis) festivals listed in this book: Bricault, Laurent. Les Cultes Isiaques Dans Le Monde Greco-romain (La Roue a Livres / Documents Book 66). (Les Belles Lettres, 2013), 376-378.

The festival of Aset Pharos (Isis Pharia) does not have a specific date attached to it besides the month of April. Some place it on the 21st of April while others place it on the 25th of April coinciding with the Sarapia (Festival of Sarapis).

The two Isia Festivals (October 28-31; November 1-3) have to do with Aset mourning the death of Wesir (October 28-31) and then rejoicing at finding Him (November 1-3). Isia is also a generic word meaning “Festival of Isis”.

March 5: Navigation of Aset/Isis

March 20: Festival of Peluse (Pelusia)

April 25: Festival of Aset (Isis Pharia)/Sacrum Phariae and Festival of Serapis (Serapia)

August 12: Festival of Lamps (Lychnapsia)

October 28-31: Festival of Aset (Isis)/Isia

November 1-3: Festival of Aset’s Rejoicing/Isia

Ancestors, Aset, Auset, Isis, Festivals, Hymns, Links, Mysteries of Wesir, Mysteries of Osiris, Mystery, Nebet Het, Nephthys, Tamara Siuda

Mysteries of Wesir

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I’m re-posting this from a few weeks ago. The Mysteries of Wesir are fast approaching.

Some celebrate the Mysteries of Wesir during this time. Here is Devo’s ritual to observe this holiday: Osirian Mysteries: A Ritual

Here is a series of posts about the holiday by Rev. Tamara Siuda, Egyptologist, author and spiritual leader:
God is Dead: Thoughts About the Mysteries of Wesir (Osiris)
Advance with Your Ka: Mystery Vigil
Stirring in the Third Hour: Mysteries of Wesir
Water for the Dead: Mysteries of Wesir
Mysteries of Wesir: Fifth Hour Vigil
Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!

Links from Rev. Raheriwesir, a Priest of Wesir within the House of Netjer:
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five

Author Kiya Nicoll has her own write-up about the Mysteries.
Here: Mysteries of Wesir

Links from Isidora Forrest, author and Priestess of Isis:
Bewailing Osiris: Lamentation Magic
The Corn Osiris of Isis Oasis

Here is a copy of the Lamentations of Aset and Nebet Het which can be recited during this festival. Lamentations of Aset and Nebet Het.

The Lamentations are also available in The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook by Tamara Siuda. The book is available in E-Book Paperback and Hardcover formats: E-Book: The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook

Paperback: The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook

Hardcover: The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook