Well, maybe. Maybe not. Here are some little things that may help you figure out if it was really a grand message or not! The more of these you have, the more likely it is.
š¦Itās unusual. Letās say you saw a deer. Sweet! Thatās cool, but if you live in a wooded area and deer are really common, itās really not that profound. It could be a message, or it could just be a deer.
š¦You asked for a sign. If you asked the universe or a certain deity for a sign, perhaps this is the follow through! For this type of thing, itās usually good to ask for something specific enough that you couldnāt expect it every day, but not so much that itās impossible. (My go to is a rose or a purple feather.) That way, you know that X thing is your sign without worrying too hard about it!
š¦It feltā¦ different. Maybe the event isnāt terribly wild on its own, but it just really hit you, or the feeling was incredibly profound. Especially after doing research, and seeing how many things are symbols, your brain will make connections really quickly. That means sometimes we make something out of nothing. A strong emotional response is a good sign of a sign.
š¦It immediately felt like a sign. Letās say you see a rainbow, and itās really pretty. You enjoy it for a few minutes then go back inside. Later, you think, āHm, that could have been a sign.ā Maybe. But it also could be your brain going hey, I know things associated with rainbows! (In my opinion, this is the most important one. I feel like if you have to wonder if it was a sign, it wasnāt a sign. You might not know what itās a sign of, but you will know itās a sign. Thatās just my UPG, though.)
š¦Any post-research lines up. If you get a neat vision and run the details through Google, you may find details that line up with certain lore. Maybe you knew this before, maybe not. If you didnāt, and connections keep happening with surprising accuracy, itās a pretty good indicator!
š¦Think of why you want it to be a sign, if you do. Thereās a big narrative that everybody involved in magic, Paganism, etc. is constantly having these profound religious experiences. This simply isnāt true. Thereās no shame in wanting a story to share, or to feel special, or to āfit inā by getting signs from the universe. Sometimes we want signs for the sake of receiving signs, so if youāre trying to manufacture them by pulling on every little thing, youāre distracting yourself from enjoying the world exactly how it is. Donāt worry about signs and enjoy yourself. Animals and rainbows and all that are still pretty great even if every little thing doesnāt have a personal meaning.
change is difficult, but itās inevitable, like the movement of tectonic plates. let the earthquakes give you a chance of rebuilding everything, in a better way
A ritual to invite the presence of a Netjer(u) to a designated space.
Step 1: Designate/Create a space for the Netjer(u)
Step 2: Cleanse the space
Step 3: Set up space/shrine
Step 4: Present offerings
Step 5: Invoke the Netjer(u)
I invoke you, Ā _____ here and now. Let Your Presence be known to me, let Your Strength permeates this area, let Your Might fill this space. I have call upon You, ______, in this moment and time to come forth and let your presence be known.
Hear me now, ______, and come forth to this domain.Ā
Hear me now, ______, and descend down to this domain.
A sanctuary I have created for you _____ to imbue with your presence and power.
I have made for You, _________, a sanctuary to rest your weary bones and your tired mind. I have made for you a sanctuary to rest thyself, a place to call home. Let this space become your domain so that I may worship you and bask in your presence.
Hail to thee Ā ____, a sanctuary I have created for you, so fill it with Your Might and Power, Your Glory and Greatness, so that I may bask in your Divine Presence.Ā
Step 6: Say thanks to the Netjer(u)
You have deign to imbue Your Presence here in this sanctuary, to call it home, so that I may bask in your Glory and Greatness, Hail to thee O _____ Let your stay here be peaceful, let your stay here be fruitful and I give to you my thanks and devotion.
This is a great guide!
I personally tend to invoke then present offering, but whatever works right!! š
Iām a fan of Set, as long-time readers of this Tumblr have probably guessed, but I think I might also be a little bit of a fan of Apophis. I figure that when itās time for the universe to be broken down and remade from scratch, someoneās got to take out the trash. So like Set, Apophis has a role to play in the cosmic machinery; in fac, without him, we wouldnāt be here now. (I have a bunch of reading to do, so this idea is subject to change.)
While Iām saying something a bit controversial, let me add that it did my bitter soul good to Block a call-out blog. (I wonāt call it a āsocial justiceā blog, because social justice is never the goal of these things.) Being followed by such a blog is a direct threat: weāre monitoring you and we will punish you if we decide youāve transgressed. The heck with you.
But heās literally the killer of the gods. Itās your practice but Iām just confused how can you put the two together
I really hate to step in on this, but this is a very dangerous idea youāre considering and the points youāre making donāt align with canon. a/p/e/p doesnt do anything to help us. a/p/e/p doesnt take out the trash, it IS the trash.
and the notion that we wouldnt be here now within it is quite opposite of whatās been established. a/p/e/p is trying to bring us back to nonexistence through misery, unjust violence, and self-destruction. it doesnt want to help you. it wants you dead, it wants your sweet pets dead, it wants us all dead. and not just dead, but nonexistent.
the type of destruction a/p/e/p brings are things like ruining the lives of the innocent, breaking hearts, and acts of bigotry. a/p/e/p is what drives so many of us to suicide. a/p/e/p is whats killed so many innocent people at the hands of racists, homophobes, transphobes, islamphobes, antisemetics, nazis, ableists, etc., etc., etc..
a/p/e/p does not care about you. its only motivation is to destroy everything we know and love and keep it that way.
i understand that i sound harsh but i do so out of concern for your safety and the safety of others. if you welcome this entity into your life you will suffer.
From a Kemetic point of view, of course, what Iām saying is strange and probably (and I apologise) offensive. However, Iām not Kemetic; Iām Wiccan, and I suspect this is the source of a sneaking acceptance of Apophis and his role in remaking the universe. In Wicca, death, destruction, and decay all have a natural and sacred role, and are not identical with evil; their personifications, as the Dark God and the Crone, are welcomed, not execrated.
Serious question ā are there controversies within Kemeticism over whether Set should be accepted? He seems popular with modern worshippers, and yet was pretty much The Devil for part of Egyptās religious history.
not trying to sound rude but you didnāt seem to get what we were saying. it has no role in remaking the universe. it wants the universe undone, to have never existed. it wants the end of all things and regardless of your personal religion, to welcome it is to welcome an undoubtedly evil force. there is no philosophy of death or decay to be considered here. it is a horrible force, period. not just from a kemetic point of view. there are just some entities you do not mess with.
set is accepted. He in no way compares to that horrific beast and we know His role.
Also like, Set slays apep and is more a god of necessary chaos. Think a cooling storm after a 40c day.
Would it be fair to say, then, that the Kemetic Orthodox religion, or Kemeticism in general, is based on the religious thought of a particular time and place in Ancient Egypt, or a particular strand of religious thought, one in which Set was integrated rather than execrated as the enemy of the cosmos? That would have implications for how other gods are viewed and worshipped (and perhaps for You-Know-Who, but on that point, I shall say no more and do my homework :).
correct me if iām wrong, but if youāre referring to the villianization of Set, that has a hold in the conquering by the Hyksos, whose forced rulers twisted Sutekh into something He has never been. in spite of the Hyksos, Set was defamed, and that is where i believe youāre getting your opinion of Him. a/p/e/p is pure, unbridled evil, and Set is actually (in most cases, the only, but others, one of few) capable of destroying it. this is a god that guards the solar barque and should not be treated as any particular evil, in light of the downfall He faced when Hyksos rulers used His name to injure Egypt. there is no comparison between Him and the beast.
Here I think youāre mistaken; the execration of Set belongs to the Ptolemaic / Roman era, long after the Hyksos. I think youāre thinking of how Set became a god of foreigners, and thus enemies in general, once he was identified with the foreign god Baal. (Iām speaking off the top of my head here.) It does seem as though modern Kemeticism has chosen a particular version of Set to worship, one version of a deity worshipped in thousands of places over thousands of years. Thereās nothing wrong with that, of course, Iām just noting it ā itās possible to imagine a different Kemeticism in which Set was entirely villainous and excluded, and a different Kemeticism again in which Set was the chief deity, all based on Ancient sources.
Hmm, Iād say with the a/pep thing, any of the positives of chaos are associated with Set. A/pep is solely the negative destructive forces that seem to unbalance and destroy the universe. The wyrm has no redeeming qualities. The wyrm doesnāt help with remaking the universe and it seeks only to destroy. But others have pointed that out.
Regarding Set, I was under the impression that he started to become villianified when the cult of Osiris rose in popularity, which while I canāt recall exactly when that came to prominence, it was definitely preptolemaic and Iām fairly certain it was before the Hyksos invasions as well, but I could be wrong. (Iām thinking of Abydos being a cult center for Osiris and that site going back pretty far. Not sure off the top of my head on that timeline.)
I think even if Set were considered a villian by modern kemetics, weād still recognize the necessity of the chaos that he brings, and the role that he plays in protecting Ra. If there is ābad guyā to admire and to provide balance, it would be Set, never a/pep.
Oh, and to answer the question of whether kemeticism is based on a particular time and place in AE, I would say most modern practitioners draw from kinda the whole thing. Bits from this period, bits from that period, depending on the practitioner, the gods they work most closely with, and the information available on those deities.
To answer your question about Set: depends on the practitioner. But I think you may be mistaking not wanting Set to be seen as the devil as simultaneously not understanding that historically, there were times that Set was villified.
This attitude may exist, but more often I see people who acknowledge that Setās place in the pantheon fluctuated throughout the years. The opposition I see to Set as devil commentaries is based on the fact that the people equating Set to Satan are also shoving Ancient Egyptian beliefs and worldviews into Christian ones (an inappropriate comparison on many levels), while also demonizing depictions of Set in the modern day.
This same impulse to compare every mythology to Christian beliefs, regardless of whether or not itās actually a comparison that works at all, drives people to compare Osiris to Jesus- and anyone who has read Osirisā mythology knows that this just isnāt a good parallel to draw at all.
Many modern day practitioners do something that, in my personal opinion, is a wise option: know that Set can be both the enemy (against Heru, against people, etc) and the hero (the slayer of a/pep, the guard of the day barque). He is a complex god and chaos itself is rarely if ever pretty. I think Set is done the most justice when his various facets are talked about and respected.
As for a/pep, I agree with the other commentors. To quote thetwistedrope, itās hard to imagine something as complete as unexistence, simply because our entire lives are based on the opposite of it. A/pep literally seeks to uncreate all of existence- the gods, our lives, everything. He has no redeeming qualities, he is not the misunderstood puppy or the 2edgy4u god waiting to be worshipped. The gods face him, according to the mythology, every day.
Also, to briefly address your (in my opinion, unfair and brash) comment about the KC blog: having a public blog, and followers, by its very nature means youāre being āmonitoredā. People judge, harshly, fairly, or positively depending on your conduct and your words.
Part of life is learning that sometimes there are consequences to your words- whether those words are written or spoken. This can come from a call-out blog, it can also come from a person who follows you and disagrees with what you say.
In Kemeticism, one important belief is that words are extremely strong and powerful, and can have wide-ranging and almost unbelievable consequences: from literally being the cause of creation in at least one myth, to purifying oneself, to giving one the healing prowess of Sekhmet, and on.
If you do not wish to be faced with the reality that a public blog can mean friendship as much as it can mean censure, then I suggest writing in a diary.
And Iām honestly being sincere and not trying to be rude, Iāve had my words come back to bite me in the past and it was an extremely hard learning experience.
Going back to your earlier point:Ā ā
In Wicca, death, destruction, and decay all have a natural and sacred role, and are not identical with evil; their personifications, as the Dark God and the Crone, are welcomed, not execrated.
ā
We do have that, but that role is filled by Wesir/Osiris. Wesir is the Lord of the Dead, who has died himself. The rotting of his own flesh fills the Nile with nutrients that bring life to the farms that feed the people. Yinepu/Anubis cares for the dead and aids them in entering their new life after death. Cycles of death and renewal are very much present in Kemeticism.Ā
There is nothing anywhere that indicates that the snake is even slightly interested inĀ ārenewingā the Universe after he destroys it. He wants it to stay destroyed, forever. He is the constant creep of entropy that will one day suck all the heat out of every star in the Universe leaving only a cold and empty expanse of nothingness. He would be the god of nihilists, probably. If they bothered to have gods. Of course I donāt think even they really want everything gone.Ā
What people think a sign from the Gods is like: The heavens open up and an angelic choir sings while clouds part to reveal the magestic golden sun beaming down upon you
What a sign from the Gods is really like: Looking down at the sidewalk and seeing two Spaghettios stuck together to form the infinity symbol
Find Them in the first sip of hot coffee that doesnāt quite burn. Find Them in the rising sun and the safety of warm sheets. Find Them in the silver light that heralds the sun.
The gods are not kept to shrines or grand things. They are vast and wonderful and you can find Them in the smallest of things. Whisper prayers into the steam of your tea. Mutter praises under your breath when no one else knows youāre awake. Those moments-right before you sleep and just after waking-are the most intimate.
I feel I donāt say enough about my gods on here, but I saw a post saying essentiallyĀ āif youāre not terrified of your gods, youāre not doing it right.ā
Wow, what outdated, misguided thinking.
In many pantheons, the gods love us like our children. Yes, just like with little kids, you might need to scold them every once and a while. But scolding isnāt abuse, or it shouldnāt be.
I donāt know if these people making these warnings were abused by their gods, or else just took their scolding as harsher than how it was meant.Ā
But I hope they come to a place where they can have healthier, happier relationships.
Me, Iāve never had a problem with my gods, not even theĀ āscaryā ones.Ā
With the goetic demons, especially, they always felt welcoming, understanding, and patient.
Maybe that has a lot to do with the fact that I feel I once served them in my past life, that I live amongst them as a demon-form of my own. So yes, a lot of this is just my perspective, but itās shared by a lot of folks on here, too.
Let the gods love you, and donāt mistake tough love for hate.
Sometimes your gods donāt ever talk to you. Donāt let anybody tell you that thatās not normal, or that theyāre better devotees or more religious or any of that horseshit. Your friends arenāt āmore openā to the gods or anything like that. Your gods are not pissed at you. Silence from the gods is not an indicator of āsomething wrongā and if anyone tells you otherwise, they can fuck themselves with a pinecone.
This is the worst addiction to religious discussion since the Second Council of Nicaea. What the hell is the point of believing in personified dieties if you also believe they are always happy, never upset, and should constantly and consistently shower you with boons? What kind if millennial neopagan horseshit is this?
Me: āItās completely normal if you donāt literally have audio and visual hallucinations of your gods like people in this community like to perport. Itās fine to have faith in your gods even if youāve never received outward signs that they exist.ā
look, tomorrow you will wake up and feel a bit better, a bit calmer. you are going to figure things out eventually, it dosnt have to all be done tonight. take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, and get some rest. you will manage.
Goldnwulf 