Kemet Online: Followers of The Religion of Ancient Egypt: Kemetic Orthodox VS Kemetic Traditional

Hotep Lilairen

As far as I know, the only restriction the KO place on individual worship with regards to parents is that only children of a particular netjer may become priests of that netjer.

Yes in KO one may become a Priest only of ones own "paren" as divined by their leader.

That is correct. We find that some people are called to a particular Netjer who seems to have been with them always--for others changes in relationships happen throughout their life. The Ancient Egyptians did not divine a "parent" Netjer" the practice is completley a modern HON practice

In Per Ankh we can and do do divinations when these are appropriate. I have divined on which Netjer a member most resonates in their own energy and way of being in the world.

At times it is this same netjer whose lessons and way of being are most needed...other times a different, complementary or even oppositional sort of personality is more effective and we find the Netjeru do not hesitate to make contact as They find to be effective regardless of the first divination

We do divations to discover if one is on track on their path and a variety of other things.

Sometimes we will not do a divination when asked because to do so would short circuit the individuals process of development:) They hate when we pull that.

HOW we decide when these are appropriate tells you a lot about our worldview but that is another thread.

In Ancient times people were not viewed as having a single parent to whom you are "child" for life in the way HON describes. This practice is one common among certain modern syncretic African traditions and is not found in either Ancient Egyptian or African Traditions

and in Per Ankh the call to serve as Priest is not necessarily connected to the Netjer with whom one most resonates! Given that Priestly roles were often changed and such we do not see placing such a limitation on Netjer as making good sense.

The KO do strike me as placing more emphasis on the One and the KTR on the Many, yes, but that wasn't quite what I was referring to.
Well some of you Per Ankh folk place more on the Many ! *pout* heh Drives most of the PRIESTS NUTS-- Just kidding...sort of. All members of Per Ankh believe that Netjer is both One and Many. In Ancient times there were a number of different ways the relationship between the One and the Many was described, understood and worshipped we maintain this same flexibility

It's my understanding, for example, that the KO consider Hethert and Sekhmet to be one entity with two 'faces', as it were, and while a person may be more strongly aligned with one or the other face, it's all one netjert, whereas the KTR recognise Het-herw, Sekhmet, and the syncretic Hetharu-Sekhmet, strongly interrelated, capable of transforming into each other, but distinct.

I think that is basically correct and really important. Let me elaborate a bit.. They began the practice of naming the netjer served of any "Aset Priest" -- Priest/child of Aset/Serqet or any Sekhmet Priest/Child -- Priest or chikd of Sekhmet/Hethert any Hethert priest/child priest/child of Hethert/Sekhmet

In Ancient times though some netjer may have closer relationships to certain other netjer.. there were numerous and very different manifestations of the different Netjeru. Relations differed some with different manifestations

You will not find such a concept in Ancient Egyptian materials as a rule. You will find certain temple Priesthoods or cetain individuals to describe manifestations that have these netjer so deeply interwoven that when one is present the other is never far behind. You will also find three's like these. But you will find the same Netjer which appear in two's and three's in many other configurations. You will also find manifestations of Sekhemt and of Hethert where when one is present the other stays far far away.

This diversity of manifestation and experience seems true in modern Kemetic Traditionalist experience as well as it was in Ancient Egypt

Again, in African religions because of the understanding that EVERYTHING is an interconnected matrix of powers and forces a whole lot of variety is possible.

It was my experience of Hon in the past and with these recent beliefs and practices that they do not live in a worldview of this African sort of dynamic interactive matrix of forces and energies. In such a worldview the practices discussed above would not make sense. But they DO make sense to them

Here is where I believe the "divine" Nisut issue is a MUCH bigger difference than whether one has or does not have a 'Nisut" or the role of that Nisut.

Think for a moment. If you REALLY believed that the leader of your organization IS Divine-- that her (they would say Her) divinity is what let's God lead the group, That She had knowledge of 196 other Nisut's in Her head and was given the task of rebuilding the Ancient Egyptian faith in the modern world...that her members are her "children" and your temple is THE nation of Kemet, your elders its princes and princesses--how would that affect your organization?

I mean if You were among the 12 apostles following Jesus and other religious folks did not recognize Him as divine-- even IF Jesus said (as he is reported to have done in scriptures) "Hey you guys cut it out respect those of other faiths" (no not a direct quote) would this not affect your sense of who YOU were and who THEY were?

Would it not affect your religious rites in some drastic ways? Would not your desire for the love and approval and teachings of this divine being in your midst start to take central importance in your faith, in decisions about everything the organization would do, what rites would be added to a new young faith and so forth?

Well take a look at how the rites they have chosen to make central to their temple flow so naturally from this and all serve to concentrate religious experience in and through the center-- the mediator-- the Nisut:

1. Divination ---
2. Naming --
3. Coronation renewal major event of retreats
4. Special Oaths of loyalty and even willingness to die for the leader required as a step to the level before Priesthood
5.Saq viewed as ABSOLUTE word of Netjer not mediated by the person in Saq

(Side note: though in recent years they have been saying partly divine almost implying her humanity and divinity can be separated at times I have letters from their leader denying that she ever speaks as anything other than the Nisut and that her shemsu should always hear their parents voice in her voice because she is always in a sort of saq of their parent Netjer)

All in all I see in all this a strong atmosphere of a sort of attitude and level of control that could only be justified by the idea that Tamara Suida is divine.

I have spoken elsewhere and been very upfront in stating that these characteristics step over the line from a hierarchical or "orthodox" religion to the dynamics associated with cults

You can find posts on the various practices discussed here in the KOL members area (use the search function)

How does one decide between temples? Well you think about what it is YOU feel called to learn and how you want to grow in Netjer and you pray a lot..and most of all..sit back a while. There is no rush. Don't jump one way or the other at the first event or experience...sit back and let time reveal your path to you..let Netjer reveal your path

From a Per Ankh perspective this is a process of getting to know yourself and Netjer and living into a worldview for a while and then seeing how it "fits". Of course sometimes Netjer provides inspiration in the form of a two by four to get us moving.More often though we live and grow and learn in our own way at our own pace...whether we want too go faster or slower:) Life is powerful and we are all a part of a matrix of energies and forces and beings which are constantly interacting. Over time patterns emerge and we may take steps to maintain or to shift those patterns through our actions.

In any one moment we do not have a complete picture of all options and possibilities. There is abundance there...in ALL circumstances-- whether we recognize it..or not. But Life continues, Netjer Continues, Ma'at continues and our Ka continues to strive for fulfillment. At some point we rejoice in the striving itself and it is at that point..we have arrived home.

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Rev Renee Levant, Hemet Sekhmet & Aset
Founder & Wehemu & Educational Director
Per Ankh: The Traditional Religion of Ancient Egypt
http://www.per-ankh.org

Edited by RevRenee (11/18/04 05:09 AM)

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