Author, Scholar and Poet
Kiya Nicoll, author of The Traveller’s Guide to the Duat: Amenti on Two Deben a Week
wrote a blog post about the calculation of calendars and the position of Sopdet.
The post is here: I Love it when a plan comes together
What she found out was that the date where the sun and Sopdet are closest? Aset Luminous.
If anyone is interested, here are links to Kiya’s book:
From Megalithica Books: Traveller’s Guide to the Duat
From Amazon (Paperback): Traveller’s Guide to the Duat
Kiya Nicoll, author of The Traveller’s Guide to the Duat: Amenti on Two Deben a Week, wrote a post on her blog which inspired the musings below: Calendric Rhythms
After reading her post, I had these thoughts about Aset’s Yearly Cycle. So here are my musings.
And now I’m thinking of my own Aset Yearly Post where Akhet is Her in Mourning and Change (Transformation is a type of change). I am also reminded that Her Marriage Festival and the Mysteries are right next to each other. Peret is where Aset and Heru avenge Wesir and Heru is established at King. Aset here is the King-Maker and Avenging Goddess. Shomu are the months of the Heat of the Eye of Ra, the solar and stellar brightness permeate all of creation from both the Seen and Unseen realms (Aset has a lot of fire festivals here both solar and stellar ones). And the Days Upon the Year bring renewal, dissolution of the old and rebirth for Aset is born on Her Day and on New Year’s as the Star Sopdet bringing the power of the flood to being again.
Thank you for such a great post! I’m having thoughts!
Here are links to Kiya Nicoll’s book.
From Megalithica Books: Traveller’s Guide to the Duat
From Amazon (Paperback): Traveller’s Guide to the Duat
During a divination session, a group of Netjeru decided to give me this. So I share it in hopes that it will remind us how much They love us.
We are here.
We love you.
We love you.
Why do you doubt this, dear child?
Why do you doubt this?
We are your Parents.
You are Our children.
We love you.
Nothing you can do or will do can take away that love.
Nothing.
We love you.
No matter what.
We want to help you.
We want to see you succeed in all your dreams.
in all your hopes and ambitions.
We want you to succeed.
We love you.
All you need to do is ask.
And We will do Our best to help you.
We love you.
We love you.
And nothing, nothing can take that away.
You are always good enough.
You are always pure enough.
We love you.
We love you.
And nothing, nothing can take that away.
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.
How dare you cast them out!
How dare you cast them aside!
Disown and disregard your children
with your own child-like whims and child-like reasons?
How dare you dismiss My son!
How dare you cast aside your child
who is different or who is not a copy of yourself.
You made a child, another person
Not a clone
Not a band-aid to fix your broken lives.
Or a way to live your unfulfilled dreams.
You created a whole other being.
Love that being.
Love that being for who they are, not who you want them to be.
If you cannot do this, then do not have children.
Do not come to My table having cast away your son or your daughter for being different than you are.
Do not cast away your child.
For if you do, I will cast you out.
Do not come to My table having cast your child aside
for being disabled
for being autistic
for being a lesbian
for being gay
for being chronically ill
For these are My people
I aid the disenfranchised.
Do not cast them away,
or child,
You will be the one whom I cast aside.
Here is a great article on Khnum and Nit of the Temple of Esna (linked at the bottom). The Temple of Esna was called “Temple of the Two Souls” and Khnum’s Temple was called “Temple of the Father” while Nit’s Temple was called “Temple of the Mother”.
Khnum/Khnum-Ra Epithets
Earliest Primordial God
Good Protector
Lord of Esna
Lord of the Field
Lord of Life
Who Causes the Vegetation to Germinate
Who Creates All Beings
Who Creates the Gods and Forms Human Beings
Who Enlightens Egypt with His Rays
Who Exists at the Beginning
Who Keeps Creation Alive
Who Measures the Fields
Who is in His Great Place
Festivals
4 Akhet
1 to 6-Festival(s) (Article does not say which ones)
3 Peret
1-Festival of Installation of the Potter’s Wheel and Festival of Raising Heaven
3 Shomu
13-Festival of the Visit of the Goddess Nit
20-Festival of the Victory of Khnum-Ra
Source
Hallof, Jochen. “Esna”. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. 2011.
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6k78t4w9#page-1
I love my CCTV. For those of you that don’t know, a CCTV is a device that helps visually-impaired people read. There are newer versions, but mine is old school. It is huge and heavy. It is an old computer monitor on top, connected with a curved neck to a tray at the bottom which moves back and forth so that you can put a book on it and the pages project onto the screen. There is a light for this and a knob to turn on the monitor. This device enables me to do the work I am doing for Aset and other deities.
If I try to read printed work without this device, I have to pretend I am a microscope and look so close to the words that my nose just about touches the page. I also use an Ott Light to help me see the words. An Ott Light is a special, bright light that mimics sunlight. They are also used to help visually impaired people see. Specialty stores in places called Lighthouse (non-profit organizations that help blind and visually impaired clients) have these lights and other devices (such as my CCTV) available to help those who need them.
The ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria had a patron Goddess, Aset of Pharos/Isis Pharia who would help travelers find their way through darkness from the sea to the shore. I find this both comforting and meaningful as an analogy for a guiding light in darkness leading people to a safe harbor.
For the Panegyric Festival of Thanksgiving of Aset today, offer Her bread or some other grain. And perhaps if you are able to, donate to one of the charity organizations listed on my resources page: resources
And here is Lighthouse by Charice
This post has alerted me to some sad news: May Wepwawet Open the Beautiful Way in the West for Him.
Terence DuQuesne has passed away.
I did not know him, but I have read many of his works. He was an Egyptologist who seemed to specialize in the Jackal Deities of Egypt especially Wepwawet, Anubis and Anupet, among others. Due to his ground-breaking work on the subject-prolific writings spanning decades-many know more about Wepwawet and other Jackal Deities than they ever did before. His work will inspire and inform many future generations.
He published many books and articles. Among them are Black and Gold God, Jackal at the Shaman’s Gate, Jackal Divinities Volume 1, and Anubis and the Spirits of the West.
Other of his works include:
DuQuesne, Terence. The Salakhana Trove: Votive Stelae and Other Objects from Asyut. London: Darengo Publications, 2009.
DuQuesne, Terence. Anubis, Upwawet and Other Deities: Personal Worship and Official Religion in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian Museum of Cairo, 2008.
DuQuesne, Terence. “Exalting the God: Processions of Upwawet in Asyut in the New Kingdom”. Discussions in Egyptology, Vol. 57. 2003, pp. 21-46.
DuQuesne, Terence. “The Great Goddess and her Companions in Middle Egypt”. Mythos und Ritual. Festschrift für Jan Assmann zum 70. Geburtstag. 2008.
He was also a poet and published some poetry anthologies.
His books are listed here: Darengo Publications
The sky has an extra star tonight and always.
Hail to you, you imperishable star.
A thousand of bread
A thousand of beer
A thousand of every good thing
for your Ka.
May you ascend to the stars
shining brightly among the Gods.
Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson has passed away. She was the founder of the International, mutli-religious, Goddess-centered organization, the Fellowship of Isis. I always admired her for her dedication and her years of work for the Gods and Goddesses. She was a mystic, a Priestess and a great liturgist. I had hoped to meet her in person one day, but now that won’t be possible. She inspired me many years ago to follow Aset. May she rest peacefully on the other side enfolded in the wings of the Goddess Aset-Isis.
Here is her biography: Biography of Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson
And here is a tribute: Tribute to Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson
Tamara Siuda’s blog post about the passing of Lady Olivia: Nothing That is Original Can Perish: Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson 1917-2013
Galina Krasskova’s blog post about Lady Olivia’s passing: An Elder Passes: Lady Olivia Durdin-Robertson 1917-2013
Today is day 3 of the Procession of Nebet Het (which lasts 6 days in total). On my calendar, it starts on November 1–because I’m lazy and math hurts my head–so for me 4th Akhet Day 1 is the first of November).
Anyway, I’m cleaning my home. I also offered Her chocolate milk and a blueberry muffin.
What are you doing today for this festival for the Lady of the House, Temple and Tomb?
Fiercely Bright One 