My religion has many creation myths and all of them are true. They tell us about creation. Atum masturbated and Ptah spoke and everything was created. The Celestial Cow as Mut or Hethert or Mehet Weret or Nit gave birth to the sun god Ra and as She spoke everything was created. Aset spoke the Word in the Beginning as did Nit and everything was created.
The other Gods, the air in the form of Shu, moisture in the form of Tefnut; Geb and Nut in the forms of earth and sky. Ma’at and Life in the forms of Ma’at, Tefnut and Shu. Ra, Shu, and the Eye Goddesses gave birth to light. Wesir, Heru Wer, Set, Aset and Nebet Het were born and thus more was created by them.
Do you not see? One became many. Creation cannot exist without differentiation. There are many Netjeru for a reason. For each job to be performed, someone must be equipped to do it. Some of Us have the same job, yet do it differently. To borrow a phrase: Diversity is Our Power; Unity is Our Strength.
All of nature is touched by these Gods and Goddesses. Sunbeams are Ra, Mut, Tefnut, Bast, Sekhmet, Aset and other solar Goddesses. The air you breathe is Shu or Aset. The earth you stand on is Geb.
Lady of Magic: Honoring Aset Today (Getting Edited)
Solar Lioness: Ancient Hymns for Sekhmet (Ready to Send to Formatter)
Solar Flares and Sunbeams: An Anthology for Ra. (Completely formatted. Waiting on the bookcover)
Creation Mother: Ancient Hymns for Mut (working title) is going to take longer as I’m hoping to be able to include the Crossword Hymn to Mut in it. (Work in Progress)
Lord of the Ways: An Anthology for Wepwawet (Work in Progress)
Mother of Nine: An Anthology for Oya (Work in Progress)
Lord of the Ways An Anthology for Wepwawet
By Chelsea Luellon Bolton
This book is an anthology for Wepwawet (Upwawet, Upuaut; Greek: Ophois). He is a guide to the living and the dead, a warrior armed with a mace and a bow, and a standing Jackal on his standard with the Uraeus and shedshed. He is a scout, a guard, a guide and a warrior. He is a god of strength, a guide for travelers, a protector of Kings, a protector of cemeteries, a protector of Wesir (Osiris) and a son of Aset (Isis). He leads the way in war, ritual processions and the path of the sun’s journey and the path of the soul through the Underworld.
Contributors are welcome to explore:
Wepwawet in His various roles as the Way-Opener, the god of war, god of pathways, guardian of the cemetery, Lord of the Roads, guide to the living and the dead, the protector of gods and humanity or any of His other roles.
Wepwawet as the son of Aset/Isis and Osiris; as the son of Ra; as the son of Nut
Wepwawet and his relationship to Anubis, Anupet, Sed, Horus (son of Isis), Hathor, Wadjet, the Uraeus or any other ancient Egyptian deity.
Wepwawet and his relationship to his mother/consort: Aset/Isis or Hathor, Lady of Medjed.
Wepwawet and his syncretisms: Wepwawet-Anubis, Wepwawet-Ra, Wepwawet-Horus, son of Isis/Osiris, etc.
We are seeking submissions of:
• poetry and oracles
• prayers
• devotions, rituals or magical practice
• essays
• academic or scholarly articles (with footnotes and bibliography)
• songs
• short fiction (5,000 word limit)
• artwork (300dpi; black and white only)
• translations of ancient works (must have permission of the copyright owner or translator if not translated directly from the hieroglyphs)
Deadline: January 7, 2020 Submission Formats: Word Document pasted within the body of an email or as an email attachment. Also please put Wepwawet Submission in the title of the email. Rights: Worldwide, non-exclusive for print book and e-book formats (contributors retain all rights to their work); projected release date is Spring of 2020 through Amazon KDP Print and Kindle; Lulu PDF ebook, Contributors: There is no monetary compensation for contributors. Contributors will receive a free PDF copy of the book for personal use and be able to purchase the book at a discount.
A permission to publish form will be sent out via email once all the submissions are received. Email: lotusjewel4@gmail.com
I posted this on my Patreon and thought people here would find it useful.
So I have a book that just came out with ancient hymns in it (see here) and it occurred to me that many people may not know how this works.
Once I find a hymn or quote I want to use, I look up the publisher and email them with the information of what I want to include (the hymn, the full citation of the book or article, including page number) and information about my book (title, publisher, rights, distribution, approximate cost). Then starts the waiting game. Sometimes it takes a few days, a month and some take years to get back to me. Yes, years. (I’m still waiting on some in fact).
Now, once I hear back, I can get different kinds of responses:
Got permission. It’s free. Just send us a copy of the book and cite everything completely. Sometimes, they’ll even give me a template to use for citations. So, literally cut and paste, just add the page number. (and no, you can’t abbreviate citations. Full citation for each hymn)
You may have permission if you send us money. $50 USD
You may have permission if you send us money. $200 USD
You may have permission if you send us money even though you asked for only 6 to 12 lines. $198 USD (Yes, this happened)
You may have permission to translate and include one hymn if you pay us. $350 USD (Yes, this happened too and I said no)
And I must include the books in the bibliography as well.
So if the hymn is in German or French, I have to ask permission from either the author or the publisher to translate it and include it in my book. If it is already translated into English, I ask permission from the author/translator or publisher to include it in my book. Sometimes, they will ask for a copy of the book in exchange which I am more than happy to provide.
If it is in hieroglyphs then I ask someone who knows hieroglyphs to translate it for me in exchange for a book copy or monetary compensation. If I knew hieroglyphs, then I could just translate it myself. (But I digress…)
So I hope this helped to clear up any issues about what I include in my books as far as content or footnotes.
Thank you to all the authors, translators and publishers who kindly gave me permission to include their works in my books.
Roses themselves were introduced to Egypt via the Greeks and Romans. The Goddess Aphrodite (or Venus) was born from the sea-foam and during her birth; a white rose was formed from the waves. This is why it is associated with Aphrodite. When Aphrodite’s lover Adonis died, she cried and the white rose became red with his blood. And this is why red roses are associated with the Goddess.[1]
Aset’s worship became greatly linked to Aphrodite so much so that there was a syncretic deity Isis-Aphrodite within the Ptolemaic period. Aset as a mourning Goddess would also be associated with the red rose.
Rhodophoria “Bearer of Roses” or Rosalia festivals were ancient Greek and Roman festivals to honor the dead, the military dead and various deities. It was also a spring festival about fertility and flowers, especially roses so many Goddesses were honored during this time such as Aphrodite, Venus, Hethert (Hathor), Aset, Isis and Isis-Aphrodite.
Some scholars think that a garland of roses may have been religiously associated with the Crown of Victory given to Wesir after his victory over death in the afterlife. Even though this was initially given to Heru, it was transferred to Wesir. Other gods associated with this festival are Heru and Ra. Other ways this occasion was celebrated was victory triumphing over enemies or protecting from harmful forces. During the Ptolemaic Period and later, the festival became more affiliated with Wesir’s mythos.[2]
A long Rhodophoria festival (lasting 13 days) is listed on the Temple Festival Calendar of Soknopaiou Nesos which was dedicated to the crocodile God Sobek and Aset as both Aset Neferset/Isis Nepherses (with the Beautiful Throne) and Nephremmis (of the Beautiful Arms).[3]
This festival for Aset comes from the Ptolemaic period. It is obviously Greek in origin, but was adapted to ancient Egyptian religion.
Roses were the flowers which were left on graves. Aset is honored here as the Lady of Beauty, Fertility of the Land and Abundance, Queen of the Land of the Dead (Amenti), Queen of the Ancestors and the Mourner of Wesir.
Make offerings to Aset and some family members such as Sobek and Wesir
Offer red roses in a vase or rose petals in a bowl
Make or buy garlands of roses to put in your hair or drape around the shrine
Offer red roses and other offerings to the dead in a separate ancestor shrine or at a graveyard
Sources
[1] J. Gwyn Griffiths, Apuleius of Madaurus: The Isis-Book: (Metamorphoses, Book XI) (Brill, 1975), pp 39; 159–161.
Forrest, M. Isidora. Offering to Isis: Knowing the Goddess Through Her Sacred Symbols. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 2005. (Rose entry: page 258-259)
[2] J. Gwyn Griffiths. Apuleius of Madaurus: The Isis-Book: (Metamorphoses, Book XI) (Brill, 1975), pp 159–161.
[3] 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. 142. 13 days.
Perpillou-Thomas, Francoise. Fêtes d’Egypte ptolémaïque et romaine, d’après la documentation papyrologique grecque. (Studia Hellenistica Series 31). (Peeters Publishers, 1993),127. From the Papyrus of Oxyrhynchos LII 3694. 12 day festival.
[4]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. 142. 13 days.
Perpillou-Thomas, Francoise. Fêtes d’Egypte ptolémaïque et romaine, d’après la documentation papyrologique grecque. (Studia Hellenistica Series 31). (Peeters Publishers, 1993),127. From the Papyrus of Oxyrhynchos LII 3694. 12 day festival. Hekster, Olivier. Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284. (Edinburgh University Press, 2008), 128. From the Feridale Duranum Calendar from the reign of Severus Alexander.
The question was asked: What drew you to Kemetic religion?
This is my answer. It just kind of came out more stream of consciousness.
As for what drew me to it, Aset (Isis) did. I’ve been fascinated by her since I was nine. She was fierce, compassionate, strong, smart, loyal and clever. She was magical and had all knowledge in earth and heaven.
I love the mythology and that the cosmos is renewed everyday. The evil in the world can be fought: as the gods themselves destroy the demon serpent every day, as the gods gave humans magic to ward off events and as we humans can choose to do good or evil based on our own hearts, our own choices.
Everyday is a new dawn. And every dawn is a victory. So there is hope. Aset mourned and lost her husband Wesir (Osiris). Wesir became the King of the Ancestors and thus the dead have a home. And we are connected to our dead through our ancestral lineages. And we honor them at ancestor shrines and the ancestors help us.
Aset gained a son, Heru-sa-Aset (Horus, son of Isis). Heru stands for us. He is god of Kingship, the linchpin between the worlds so that the gods and men can co-exist; Heru stands for everyone who is ill as his mother said she will help heal her son Heru and anyone who suffers likewise (in a papyrus). Heru stands for the community, justice and strength and perseverance over adversity as he had to win the throne of Egypt through trials.
The Eye of Ra goddess (who can be many goddesses including Aset) is angry and leaves. But she is always called back and she comes back. She turns from a raging lioness into another more pacified form (like a human or a cat). She is welcomed back. This teaches us appropriate action in rage and also forgiveness. For Ra forgives her and welcomes her home. For she forgives herself and returns.
There is hope in despair. There is strength and fortitude in adversity. There is compassion in the middle of pain. And there is joy once rage is appeased. There is determination, fierce love and fortitude in hardship. And there is love. So much love.
The gods fight for us everyday as the serpent is destroyed every dawn. Aset destroys it with Her magic; Set with His spear. In tandem, entropy is destroyed.
