Category: quote

O White Toothed One, with Your bright eyes,
O Raging One, with Your fury,
O Fertile One, with Your Creations,
Dua Lord of the Nile, Lord of the Marsh, Lord of Waters!

trueriptide

The power of telling the future does not give rise to the role of prophetic seer, found in other cultures. In literary writing, the ability to see the future may be presented as a remarkable virtue but without superhuman associations; in the Tale of a Shipwrecked Courtier, a crew is said able to forecast a storm, but this does not save it from perishing at sea. However, an inscription of 1900 bc does seem to ascribe divine ability to King Amenemhat II for forecasting a miraculous catch of fish (Altenmüller and Moussa 1991). Such marvels (Egyptian biayt, “wonder”) indicated the intervention of divine powers into earthly events; quarry inscriptions for King Mentuhotep IV (2000 bc) record a flash flood that revealed a desert well and a gazelle giving birth on a block, taken by the quarrying expedition as marking the stone for the sarcophagus of the king, on which the gazelle was then sacrificed in thanks (Vernus 1995).

Procedures for foretelling the future begin to legitimate official action in writings after 1500 bc, when select kingship inscriptions refer to movements of an image of the creator-god being carried in procession, as endorsement of a future king (Hatshepsut, Thutmes III). After 1300 bc, festival processions became more regular opportunities for any person to put a yes-or-no question to a deity, through the image being carried, most often in a boat-shrine on carrying poles (Černý 1962). In these consultations (Egyptian nedjut-re), a movement of the bearers of the image in one direction or another would give the answer, received as declaration (Egyptian kher-tu) or wonder (biayt). The procedure seems to have complemented the regular judicial tribunals, with no structural opposition; high officials of state appear on oracle witness lists.

Only later, and perhaps briefly, out at the oases did oracles become decisive even in local land judgments (Gardiner 1933). Nor were oracles automatically accepted; in one dispute between two men, Amenemwia brought an accusation of theft a total of five times before three different forms of Amun, but Patjaumdiamun felt able to reject the verdict against him before finally declaring his guilt (papyrus document, 1250 bc, Blackman 1925).

Exploring Religion in AE, Stephen Quirke, pg196

Looks like even AE had discernment in terms of oracular woo.

Finally, Theophile Obenga (1990, 158) affirms the wide range of interrelated meanings of the Maatian ideal, noting that “(t)he notion of Maat is complex and rich.” It expresses itself in four basic areas (1990, 158, 166-167):
(1) the universal domain in which Maat is “le Tout ordonne,” the totality of ordered existence, and represents things in harmony and in place;
(2) the political domain in which Maat is justice and in opposition to injustice;
(3) the social domain in which the focus is on right relations and duty in the context of community and;
(4) the personal domain in which following the rules and principles of Maat, “is to realize concretely the universal order in oneself; to live in harmony with the ordered whole” (1990, 158).

Ma’at the Moral Ideal in AE, Karenga, pg 8

Thus, the model person is not the warrior or even priest, but the gentle person who serves and is responsible.

Ma’at, the Moral Ideal in AE, Karenga, pg 38

Maybe this is why Set is so divisive. He goes against this ideal.

Icarus. The original myth had two parts. Daedalus said to his son, ‘I fashioned these wings for you. Two rules. Don’t fly too high, or the sun will melt the wax. But, more important, son, don’t fly too low. Because if you fly too low, the water and the waves will surely weigh down the wings, and you will die.’ We’ve left out the second part of the myth. We don’t say to people anymore, ‘Don’t fly too low.’ All we do from the time they are 4 years old is warn them against hubris. We have created this industrially led structure that says: How dare you.

Seth Godin (via petrak)

flying too high melted his wings, yea, but it was the ocean that killed him in the end

(via xekstrin)

So, how can you develop a personal and intense relationship with a God? Ideally, start with the source materials about the Gods, mythology. Learning about different facets of Them from available mythos should be one of the first things you do. Pick a deity you are interested in, and read all the stories that you can find on Them. If you don’t know which deity you will be interested in, start with a pantheon or culture, and do some brief study of that pantheon. For example, if one were interested in the Greek deities, picking up a copy of Edith Hamilton’s “Mythology” would be a good first step. In there are common stories, major deities and basic information on those Gods. From there, more in depth study can be done on those Gods that you are interested in including learning Greek to understand how translation can change stories, sometimes radically.

Once you know what has been written in the past about the God of your choice (and please understand that I say God in the most general of terms) the next step, meditation, needs to be taken. If you know how to meditate, you can simply start meditating on the Gods at that point, especially the one you are interested in. Invite that deity into your meditations, talk to Them, be respectful and, above all else, listen to Their response. I think you would be truly shocked a the number of people who talk to the Gods but never stop talking long enough to listen to Their response. To me, that is just as disrespectful as ordering them to be present.

At first, Their voice will not be a big booming thing, it will not manifest as a burning bush, but most often it will simply be a feeling in your heart. You may hear one of those thousand voices in your head telling you what you need to know. Most often, this is the voice of your God talking to you. Don’t immediately dismiss this voice as a manifestation of your unconscious mind. You will KNOW when your own mind is supplying the words you are hearing, and so long as you are not hearing exactly what you want to hear, then it’s likely that you are hearing the God you have chosen. This is the same technique you can use, incidentally, to talk to your guardian angel or Guide and Teachers.

From there dreaming about Them, studying Them, inviting Them into your rituals and rites, calling upon Them to help you in your times of trial, and doing things for Them is no huge step. If things are done properly, you will want to write poetry to for and about Them, share with the world all the things you discovered about the Deity of your choice. And that is a means of worship too.

“On deities“ © Daven – http://erinsjournal.com