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[kemetickid]

The Gateway

"I need an icon, an image of my God(s), it's $300 I can't afford it."

Hold up.

Just... hold up.

Go out into the world.

Yes, leave your computer. I believe in you.

Go outside, and walk as far as you need to walk, until you find: a rock.

What kind of rock? It's not for me to say. A small rock, a big rock, a jagged rock or a smooth rock, a beautiful rock, a rock only a mother could love -- the kind of rock is entirely up to you, and you will pick this rock from all the rocks because it calls to you and says "I am the rock". Trust me. It will happen. No, not… not verbatim. It's a vibe. There are no talking rocks in this equation.

TL;DR: a rock.

Take that rock home.

You're going to need some limited supplies and procedures.

First, you're going to want to wash your rock. Get all that dirt off of it, make it as clean as a little rock can be, though a little bit of dirt is certainly not going to be a dealbreaker. It's just a good idea not to bring a bunch of outdoor dirt inside unless you have intimate knowledge of the area the rock was in. Dirt may have more than just "earth" in it. In addition, I would recommend purification. Bury the dry rock in salt or clean sand for the next 24 hours before bringing it "into service" on your shrine or altar setup.

Second, you're going to need writing or painting implements. This could be a pen (if you feel it can actually, successfully write on your rock), a sharpie (very good for writing on rock), or paint! But if you're like me and can't paint in a straight line to save your soul, don't worry, use whatever you can use to write on this rock. I recommend steering clear of the color red in terms of paint and ink when thinking about my own Kemetic practice, but if your personal practice has no holds barred in terms of color selection, I am certainly not going to be a person to stop you.

Next, you're going to need a word, set of words, or phrase. Often, the word or words is going to be the name of the Deity you are trying to represent, but it could easily be something else if you feel so moved to go in a different direction. I am not teaching you how to be a cookie-cutter magician here, I am encouraging you to navigate your life and your choices on your own; but, for the basic guidance, a name is certainly sufficient. It's important to note that this name needs to be one you understand. Writing is one of the most powerful forms of magic in this universe, but if what you are writing is meaningless to you, you are losing a functional amount of this power because you are putting a lot of energy into basic comprehension. Choose a language or symbolism for the name you will be writing that holds meaning to you within your own mind and your own heart. You should see this name, these words, or this symbol or set of symbols, and immediately feel your Deity within the moment you see it and within yourself. It should be recognizable at a glance every single time. If you want it to be extra special in another language (particularly one of ancient origin), you want to ensure you comprehend it in this one-glance way. You should not have to sit and think and remind yourself "What does this mean". Instant recognition is what you are looking for.

Finally, you are going to paint or write this name, phrase, symbol or set of symbols, onto your rock, and while you are writing, you are going to be putting your energy in the form of 'intent' into this creation. There are a lot of ways you can do this. You could be thinking of the Deity in question while you do the decorative aspect of this project. You could be playing music, you could be singing, you could be chanting, you could be reciting a phrase or poem or set of words that holds meaning between you and your Deity. What is important is that you focus your intents into the writing of your Deity's symbolism whereby that rock is the focus point of this intent, and that rock in turn becomes your intent.

Yes, it's true: this simple, lowly rock, will be your icon, and it will be just as if not more effective than any other store-bought icon you could have possibly found on the internet because of the process you are undertaking now. Because it isn't about how closely your icon resembles your Deity. It isn't about how much money you've spent on your iconography, either. It isn't about new materials or old materials, it isn't about one person's interpretation or spelling of a name or another, it isn't about one particular kind of phrase or the exact words of a spell or chant or song. You do not need to spend $100, $300, $2,000 on a shrine icon, because the point of a shrine or altar or ritual icon is not what it looks like or who crafted it or what materials went into it.

The purpose of a shrine icon is all about:

Representation

Intent

Focus

Energy

Connection

Bond

And as you impart your focus and your intent, coupled with one of the most powerful forms of magic -- writing, you are creating and inscribing and imbuing a representation and embodiment of the Deity you follow, issuing a bond between you, Them, and that object that cannot easily be broken. This icon is going to be with you, on your shrine or altar or in your ritual setup, representing the powerful presence of your Deity and giving you a focus point for your communication, intention, energy, and direction.

Once completed, this icon should be treated with the same dignity and respect you would treat any altar or shrine icon that is representative of a Deity. You should keep it relatively clean, decently protected from harm or accident, in a purified state (which can include re-doing the salt or sand purification if needed), packed with care when moving, and deprecated in an appropriate manner if you will no longer be using it (probably a post for another time).

This is no longer just a rock.

This is a gateway, that you have created, and the bounds are limitless.

[kemetickid]

Sekhmet first born of Ra. Goddess of war and vengeance. Symbol of power and strength.

[kemetickid]

my internal monologue when Ancient Egypt is mentioned: [don't talk about imhotep and the first codified diagnostic manual. the fact you know so much about it is deeply weird and nobody cares about medicine that much]

[kemetickid]

New Kingdom (Egypt) spoon - 3,500 years old

[kemetickid]

Painting blood-soaked fur is pretty difficult.

[kemetickid]

[kemetickid]

[kemetickid]

Day 9 - Ra

God of the sun and king of all gods

[kemetickid]

[kemetickid]

Controversial Truths About Ancient Egypt Masterpost

The pyramids were built by contemporary workers who received wages and were fed and taken care of during construction

The Dendera “lightbulb” is a representation of the creation myth and has nothing to do with electricity

We didn’t find “““copper wiring””” in the great pyramid either

Hatshepsut wasn’t transgender

The gods didn’t actually have animal heads

Hieroglyphs aren’t mysteriously magical; they’re just a language (seriously we have shopping lists and work rosters and even ancient erotica)

The ancient Egyptian ethnicity wasn’t homogeneous

Noses (and ears, and arms) broke off statues and reliefs for a variety of reasons, none of which are “there is a widespread archaeological conspiracy to hide the Egyptian ethnicity”

[kemetickid]

Sekhmet first born of Ra. Goddess of war and vengeance. Symbol of power and strength.

[kemetickid]

Tarot Readings

So!! Due to a boost in confidence and feeling some good vibes in this area of my life. I have decided to begin offering Tarot readings. I have been practising for some time now and with the responses from friends, I have finally felt I am at that point where I can offer them to more people! 

The price list will be as follows:

£5 for a three card reading(centred around any area of your life)

£12 for the creation of a spread that focuses on any topic you desire. 

If you wish for me to do something more or would like to discuss the readings given, please do not hesitate to message me, tarot readings are very personal and I would rather that we discuss prior to doing the reading :)

[kemetickid]

My soul leaves my body every time I read “X is the Roman version of a Greek God/dess”

[kemetickid]

Photographer: Sandip Choudhary

[kemetickid]

Honestly, it really bothers me how people insist that a god has to act a certain way. This especially applies to Set, because even when people say He's not evil (which He isn't), they also have to say that He's not nice either.

But you know what? The Set I know is nice. He's not exactly soft, but He's gentler than people say He's "supposed" to be and more patient than anyone thinks. Because that's what I need from Him.

We, as people, act differently around certain people. The way we move, the language we use, our tone of voice, those are all things that we change depending on the needs of who we're with at that particular moment. We can accept that humans change and adapt in those ways.

But we insist that our gods are static, that They must always be harsh or always be kind and that They cannot change. We can't accept that They're able to soften Themselves or become harsher based on what a specific person needs, and that's upsetting to me. I feel like we do Them a disservice when we treat Them that way.

[kemetickid]

I was thinking of building a shrine to wepwawet and i was wondering if it would be appropriate to use one of the many Anubis statues as the center piece or am I better off finding a statue of his standard or getting a statue commissioned?

Hello anon!

Quick disclaimer: I believe very strongly in the importance of things like high quality, fine details, and the use of ritually pure materials, as well as the value of hand-made/custom work when it comes to shrine statues. I loathe resin and mass-produced items. Custom-made is always better. Custom-made using ritually pure materials is better still. Custom-made using ritually pure materials by a master artisan is best. I am, however, putting aside these things in my reply because I know not everybody can afford a custom hot-cast bronze statue or has the time to seek out the perfect artisan who may or may not have a waiting list, etc! :) So that said…

The iconography of a standing jackal on a platform is virtually exclusive to Wepwawet and I think he would really appreciate anybody taking the time to get something specifically made. But is it a requirement? Certainly not. You would be absolutely fine using most of those statues “of Anubis” which are out there because a) Wepwawet is just as much a black jackal as he is, b) spends almost as much time as a couchant jackal as he does a standing jackal, and c) with the exception of a few very specific postures, Anup and Wepwawet are absolutely identical in anthropomorphic form. Unless a statue actually has INPW written on it somewhere, or is in a heart-weighing or mummy-tending posture, there is literally nothing keeping it from being a statue of Wepwawet.

If you choose to go with a more generic statue, I do have some tips though! Generally speaking, Wepwawet seems to prefer full animal form. If you did want to use colour to differentiate him from Anup, go with gold or bronze. Wepwawet is a very solar deity, so warm golden tones are particularly appropriate. If you go with a couchant jackal, consider getting one which isn’t on a shrine/box/coffin. I know there are ‘free-floating’ ones out there, or ones where he’s on a flat base. (Although Wepwawet does appear on top of a shrine/box/coffin quite frequently, the imagery and context is nonetheless something more broadly associated with Anup.) Also, the neat thing about the couchant posture is it has a sort of ‘at home, settled, resting’ connotation which would be entirely appropriate for a shrine.

If you wanted to customize your statue, painting the glyphs for Wepwawet somewhere on it is an obvious way of establishing it as being him. You could also supply him with a miniature bow, arrows and/or a mace. If you are at all the crafty sort and you’ve bought a couchant jackal, try building him a raised standard-platform to rest upon. (Add red streamers to the pole for an extra level of detail!) Alternatively or in addition to, you could sculpt a shedshed to go in front of his paws or provide him with a pair of uraei that sit on either side of his legs. A single uraeus between his paws would be fine too, but in three-dimensional models it is almost always two uraei. Completely unrelated to the actual task of finding/customizing a statue of any form, please consider buying a white linen handkerchief to tie around him as a cloak. No statues in AE were ever naked, they always would have had a linen cloak. :)

Last but not least, you know all those faux stone plaques “of Anubis” which feature a jackal deity holding a combined ankh-djed-was sceptre in one hand and a crook/flail in the other? That’s totally Wepwawet, from the temple of Seti I. Nothing says the focus for your shrine has to be a three-dimensional statue and it would certainly be a quick and easy way of getting something which is specifically of Wepwawet.

[kemetickid]

THEBAN TRIAD

Khonsu, Mut, Amun

This drawing was made for @khenti-amenti

I hope you like it!

Humans suffer only because they take seriously what the gods did for fun.

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