Category: photo
The Lord of the Horizon
He’s been hanging around. Has anyone else gotten the impression Ra likes listening to music in Spanish? Because he forced me to play it on repeat (Esp. La Temperatura by Maluma). Anyway it seemed fitting for Ra to have a newspaper and coffee, plus I loved this picture of Heru with them. Also crown bc King of the gods? And dad mug because World’s Best Dad?
Enjoy!
ANUBIS (/əˈnuːbᵻs/ or /əˈnjuːbᵻs/ ) ; is the Egyptian God associated with mummification. Though once the foremost god of the underworld, over time he became specifically tasked with the process of embalming and funeral rites. Being the adoptive son of Osiris, it is he who preforms the act of the weighing of the heart upon one’s entrance into the land of the dead, and thus determining the fate of the deceased. One of Anubis’s most notable tasks was the guiding of souls into the afterlife, and in this the abandoning of those deemed guilty to Ammit. His name is derived from the same root as the word for “royal child”, though it can also be determined to be closely related to the term for “ to d e c a y .”
HYMN TO ANPU
Hail Lord of the Western Lands
Hail Foremost of Westerners
Hail Lord of the Necropolis
Hail Chief of the Holy Dwelling
Hail Weigher of Righteousness
Hail Prince of the Divine Court
Hail Jackal Ruler of the Bows
Hail Anpu
Be welcome in peace
You who are lord of this shrine
You whose face is strong amongst the gods
In ancient texts you were all of these things
To me you are all of these things and so much more
To me you are like a father in so many ways
You have been there for as long as I can remember
I grew up under your watchful eye
From your painting on my wall
I always knew you were real
But I never knew you were really there
Watching me grow up from your painting on my wall
I called to you in times of trouble
When I felt weak and powerless
To right the wrongs done, to give me strength
When I felt lost and alone
To show me the way, and soothe my tattered heart
I never heard a reply, I didn’t need to.
I knew you would hear, wherever you were
With childlike certainty and innocence I knew
But I never knew you were really there
Watching me grow up from your painting on my wall
More grown up now, I know better
I feel your presence when I sit before your shrine
Like a warm cool darkness, a summer twilight all around me
And while still you do not speak
Oh Lord of the Lands of Silence
You guide me but softly
You teach me but gently
From the shadows in the Land of Silence
You reveal your guidance and warnings without words
Through my intuition you speak
So I do not know when it’s you, or if it’s just me
That I may heed and follow as I choose.
For you rule wit out ruling
You guide but do not force
You unlock the door but do not open it
That is left to me, so that I will grow
Into the kind of independent child any parent would be proud of
You compel my love and devotion without demanding
I’ve made no vows, no promises of service, of my devotion
Between us there is no need for overt assertions of proof
Oh Weigher of Hearts
You know the truth of the love and devotion within my heart
You know my dedication is already given
In what I know as your way
Without words
I trust you without question
And follow without tiring
For while in your presence I am at peace
The kind of peace that is so precious, so rare
The utter tranquility of all of my being
I ask for little other than you remain,
Guiding, teaching, and strengthening as you do
From the shadows in the Land of Silence
Until I cross the threshold and join you there
-A Devotional Month For Set-
Make a Joyful Noise and Shake the Skies
Or
Set the Shed-KheruSet’s a different sort of god and any of us who’ve worked with him or loved him know it. He’s not the ideal (the Ger Ma’a- who is characterized by his modest comportment and dress, his intelligent silence) by his manner, but is by his deeds. His manner (like that of Sobek) is described as Shed-Kheru which is loosely a very careful “Obnoxious” or “Overbearing” but could be extended to “Gregarious”. This isn’t a term used lightly, few Netjeru are ever described with it and never humans. The Shed-Kheru works divine khenenu. Khenenu is sometimes thought of as the non-isfet opposite of ma’at,– more an affront to social niceties and perfectly acceptable within cosmic Ma’at. Khenenu is the action of the fool, the clown, the soldier or the young child and determined with the Sha when written. What it means is “uproar”, “tumult” or “confusion” and using it as a weapon is almost the special domain of Set and Sobek. (Though to be fair to Sobek, he’s not described as Shed-Kheru as often as Set, just more often than Bes or anyone else. Shed-Kheru is actually one of Set’s epithets.)
This divine uproar is a good thing. It allows one to deal with things like the Worm which would not respond to negotiation or trade or law and is commemorated in a short festival cycle occurring in the month Rekh-Ur. Very little is documented about “The Festival of Thunder and Lightning”. It lasts for seven days, beginning with the “Going Forth of Set” and culminating in the “Killing of the Rebel by Set at the Prow of the Great Barque”. The object of those following Set’s procession was to be as garish and make as much noise as possible (khenenu!). Seven days from this point is the celebration of the defeat of Set by Heru-sa-Aset. What this tells us is not only that everything has its place—but that the charm of that much khenenu in pursuit of the Worm has an expiration date. Set goes forth into the world to complete his duty accompanied by his processional storm of wacky worshippers, destroys the Worm and all falls silent –his bride weeps, he rises again–, and then is returned to his peaceful state by the court triumph of Heru-Sa.
What this all really reminds me of is watching Fasching as a child. For those who’ve never lived in Europe, Fasching is a bit like Mardi Gras with wild costumes, loud music, parades but less overt sexuality and more pranks (like waking up the next day to discover your car is splattered with mustard- this happened to my family and my dad was super pissed). It happens before Lent (and the Catholics borrowed many things from existing Egyptian religious practice when codifying their services because of bitter competition with Isis worshipers and the need for ease of transition for converts, which is pretty obvious if you ever attend a traditional mass with the altar facing the god –not the people-, the bowing, the incense, the lighting of candles and the water aspergillum before the bread and wine offering is made then reverted to the people in the form of Communion. Also the Hellenized version of the Egyptian religion was widespread and had impact as far north as England.) and generally if you’re below a certain age you get to watch the party from your windows because being out in it would be a safety hazard. ( http://german.about.com/od/culture/tp/Fasching-In-Germany.htm – Notice the women dominating the men, a theme with Set, and the treatment of the “Nubbel” particularly. Now the “nubbel” itself may sound like compound of Nubti and Baal, but it is not. It actually means something closer to “lump” or “swelling” –as with a boil filled with pus- . And what does one do with a boil? One lances it like Set lances the Worm, in this case with flaming sticks to set it on fire!)
Now I know what you’re thinking, that’s so German and Egyptian religious processions were –by and large- solemn affairs with priests in their “Sunday best” being trailed by the temple chanteuses singing hymns. I must bring up the wildness of some of Min, Aser and Het-Heru’s processions and also the fact that the bulk of Set’s priests were soldiers. It’s a human truth– if soldiers know how to do anything better than make war, it is release stress between fights to maintain their sanity. What better to celebrate the seven days up to the destruction of the Worm than a non-stop party to mock the ultimate evil? Then you have seven days to be morose (especially as Aser’s death memorial falls directly behind) and nurse your hangover and contemplate what you did before Heru-Sa’s court triumph sends Set back to his own temple.
I personally do celebrate the Festival of Thunder and Lightning as a sort of Fasching. I wear horrible loud clothing, shake my sistrum, don chains of bells and bang my pots and pans all across our property at various times the mood strikes while warning the Worm that Set is coming for it. Do I look like a fool? YES. Is it kinda the point? ALSO YES. I also try to get anyone else who wants to be involved, involved. The more joyful noise our human “thunderstorm” has, the better to properly honor the Shed-Kheru himself and strike terror into his enemy. That it ends on day seven in potentially fireworks when night falls (depending on if I have any saved back from the 4th or New Years) or a bonfire to stick the Worm in is also nice.
I need to find out when this holiday is. It sounds so very awesome.
http://www.amazon.com/Egyptian-Religious-Calendar-CDXV-CDXVI-Great/dp/150528290X
This should help– although you may want to alter the dates through your own calculations for Wep Ronpet.
Goldnwulf 