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 Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:22 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:44 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:53 pm
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Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:24 pm
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You don't have to follow Kemetic Orthodoxy in order to be Kemetic- there are many different sects, and not everyone would agree that KO is the most traditional version out there. There are many aspects of it which are modern innovations- though I believe the leadership is sincerely committed to revitalizing the religion in a form of which the Egyptian gods would approve... I don't agree with everything they teach or do, myself. wink
The Egyptian calendar is a complex construct, actually made up of three calendars: a stellar calendar, a lunar calendar, and a solar calendar. The stellar and lunar calendars are use for most of the religious holidays, and the solar one was mainly used for agriculture and government. But the stellar and lunar calendars do not correspond exactly to a solar year- and so the dates of the holidays shift about a bit from one year to the next. This is why, whenever you find a site which gives you a precise date correspondence for an ancient Egyptian holiday and suggests that this is the date on which this festival was held, you can know that they are either being extremely misleading, or they don't really know what they're talking about. Because that can't happen. sweatdrop
There are a lot of festivals on the calendars used by modern Kemetics, however- this is because each temple had their own set of holidays. Not all of those holidays were celebrated at every temple- most would only celebrate those directly involving their particular deities, perhaps along with some with widespread cultural significance, and leave the others to be celebrated by those devoted to the relevant gods. The dates were also keyed to the alignments of certain stars over the temple for whom each particular calendar was being formulated. The Egyptians were specialists in many things, it seems. wink
However, in modern Kemetic communities not everyone has the necessary training or equipment to plot their own calendar- and those who do are usually doing so on behalf of a large and diverse community. So they have compiled every known calendar into one single calendar- hence the overwhelm, heh. And they have keyed all of those dates to one particular location- usually the site of the founder's shrine or temple. So here is what I suggest that you do:
If you are studying with any particular group, I suggest you use their dates. If not, I suggest finding a group which you respect and adopt theirs- the main groups with regularly updated calendars are the House of Netjer or Akhet Hwt-Hrw. I have found that following a calendar is a wonderful way of aligning yourself with the natural cycles of a community's growth and development. I am following the KO calendar, these days, since I am also studying with them. And I suggest that you pick out, from that calendar, the festivals which involve the deities with whom you feel a strong resonance. In addition to this, you might look into festivals with general significance- the New Year, Wep Ronpet, is coming up soon (or already past, depending on your calculations), and that will be a big deal for everyone regardless of their particular affiliation.
This calendar, though it has not been updated for four years and is therefore seriously out of date, has put culturally significant holidays in bold/italicized font- making them easier to pick out. But of those which have been marked, I think the most important are Wep Ronpet, Wag, Opet, and perhaps the Mysteries of Wsyr. All of which are conveniently located on the link which Vertigo gave us- thanks for that, btw, Vertigo! I've seen that site before but somehow missed that particular page of it!
Good luck!
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:46 am
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:02 am
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:18 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:59 am
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:46 pm
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:59 pm
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bleak eternity Rennie` Vertigo_Kiwi Wow, I didn't even realize how complex it could be! But, since I'm about to enter college (and will be really busy) I'll just focus on the main celebrations. Probably the ones that were listed on the website that I posted, and some Aset celebrations which I've found on other sites. Alot of people today have busy life styles, like us. I work and I'm hoping that I'll go back to college in September to continue my A Levels, so I would like to celebrate as many festivals as I can. I especially want to celebrate Thoth's festivals because at the moment I am writing a novel (slowly ... but surely) and I hope He will help me through college in September and my novel. yeah.. i've been making many offerings to Tehuti at the moment.. im a poet and he's helped me quite considerably.im most likely going to land a publishing contact too! |
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Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:35 pm
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bleak eternity hm..i am a Kemetic Pagan as well..im trying to learn all of the holidays.but, its quite difficult..i know that Eoster is always on the first day of harvest.. it mostly celebrates Bastet.
I've heard some folks associate Eoster with Innana, but most sources describe it as either an Anglo-Saxon or Norse/Germanic celebration of spring. It has been associated with a goddess of the same name- in various different spellings- who has occasionally been described as having rabbit ears or a rabbit head, which supposedly is the origin of the rabbit as one of our modern icons of Easter. The actual existence of this goddess is a bit controversial, however, and it may be that Eoster was simply a holiday name.
But it was not an Egyptian holiday, and it has no historical or cultural associations with Bast. In fact, as a celebration of fertility even if we were going to assign an Egyptian goddess to this holiday Bast would not be the best choice. She was a goddess associated with children and pregnant women- but not necessarily in a fertility aspect. She was primarily a protective goddess, entrusted with the guardianship of these vulnerable members of society. 3nodding Of course, most Egyptian gods and goddesses could do practically anything- they were not limited to one or two roles, but I suspect a modern Pagan association of Bast with fertility comes from the Greek's misconstrual of Bast as ancient Egypt's answer to the Playboy centerfold.
If we were looking for an Egyptian fertility goddess, we might look to Taweret or perhaps Heqat. I can't seem to think of any official fertility rites or festivals other than the one for Min, although there are many votive objects from tombs and such requesting fertility, and there is a certain shrine of Sekhmet which is still visited by Egyptian women even today who hope for children. |
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