Kemetic Resources

[Erebos]

Which books, websites and other resources are recommended for learning about ancient Egyptian religious practices?

I've read a lot of books about Egyptian culture and religion in general, and of course I've studied the gods. What I'm personally looking for is more specific information on festivals and festival calendars of various cities, but any kind of recommendations are appreciated. I've read things like Shafer's Religion in Ancient Egypt, Siegfried Morenz's Egyptian Religion, and Rosalie David's Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt, Gods and men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE, by Françoise Dunand, Christiane Zivie-Coche, David Lorton, and various others, as well as parts of the Book of Coming Forth by Day and the Coffin and Pyramid Texts. I'm past the 101 type of books, and what I would really like is information on festivals and/or domestic worship, if possible.

[Devo]

Honestly, I don't have much advice for you on this. I've been looking for books that are part of the "next level" and have yet to find anything. There is talk that Suida (the head honcho of KO) is going to be publishing a book about various festivals/holidays and the ways to go about celebrating them.

The only other book that comes to mind at all would be Richard Reidy's "Eternal Egypt" which is a collection of rituals that have been tweaked for modern practice.

Otherwise, I've got nothing else- I practice based off of my gut, and what little tidbits I can find. I'd love a list of resources for this sort of thing myself.

-Devo

[Caesar]

Well if you are referring to modern Egyptian practice, that is because most of these are held in occult matter. Since I noticed you ask for Kemetic(A word which has been redefined by Kemetic Recons) Resources, you could ask a Kemet Orth/Recon or shop around a kemetic forum.

Ancient Kemet on the other hand, there are some, but very few on the internet.

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ceremonies/index.html

http://www.aelives.com/holidays.htm

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/festival.htm

[Erebos]

Otherwise, I've got nothing else- I practice based off of my gut, and what little tidbits I can find. I'd love a list of resources for this sort of thing myself.

That's what I do, as well ;)


Ancient Kemet on the other hand, there are some, but very few on the internet.

http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/ceremonies/index.html

http://www.aelives.com/holidays.htm

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/festival.htm

Oh, excellent. Those are exactly what I was looking for, especially the second one. Thanks!

[David19]

I'm not sure if I can help out too much, but, maybe try Kemetic Orthodox (http://www.kemet.org). They have a Beginner's Class you can sign up for (which is done over emails), which cover Holidays, among other things, plus, you do get to participate in the forums (although, I think you can do that even without signing for the class), where
I'm sure some people can help you.

Also, you may want to try Neos Alexandria (http://www.neosalexandria.org/), which might be good for you, as aren't you interested in a Greco-Egyptian synthesis or something similar?.

This page (http://www.neosalexandria.org/ges.htm) of their site has quite a few articles on Festivals, how to celebrate them in the modern world, Domestic Worship, Rituals, etc. There used to be a lot more articles on Neos Alexandria, but, for some reason, Sannion left the group, and took a lot of his articles with him (I've no idea what went on).

That said, you can find his articles (and the ones that were on Neos Alexandria) on his new site, The House of Vines (http://www.thehouseofvines.com/), especially on his essays page (http://www.thehouseofvines.com/essays.htm).


Hope that's of some use :).

[Annyka]

They have a Beginner's Class you can sign up for (which is done over emails), which cover Holidays,



Not a lot of information is covered regarding holidays in the Beginner's Class. I've been Kemetic Orthodox for 5 years now and still am at a loss for what to do some times. I am patiently awaiting the festival book that Devo mentioned.

I find that if you are looking for 'modern' way of practicing/celebrating the festivals, the best way to start is to get a hold of The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook (by Tamara L Suida). It has a list of the major festivals/ancient Egyptian calendar (You may be able to source these elsewhere, but I don't know of any other sources).

Then I go on instinct. I may 'Google' the festival to see if anyone has written about how they celebrate it, otherwise I make up stuff. :P

If you are looking for more traditional/ancient practices, so far all the books I have read (and I've read many) don't really go into detail. If you find one, let me know also!

Sorry I haven't been of much assistance.

[Erebos]

I'm not sure if I can help out too much, but, maybe try Kemetic Orthodox (http://www.kemet.org). They have a Beginner's Class you can sign up for (which is done over emails), which cover Holidays, among other things, plus, you do get to participate in the forums (although, I think you can do that even without signing for the class), where
I'm sure some people can help you.

Also, you may want to try Neos Alexandria (http://www.neosalexandria.org/), which might be good for you, as aren't you interested in a Greco-Egyptian synthesis or something similar?.

This page (http://www.neosalexandria.org/ges.htm) of their site has quite a few articles on Festivals, how to celebrate them in the modern world, Domestic Worship, Rituals, etc. There used to be a lot more articles on Neos Alexandria, but, for some reason, Sannion left the group, and took a lot of his articles with him (I've no idea what went on).

That said, you can find his articles (and the ones that were on Neos Alexandria) on his new site, The House of Vines (http://www.thehouseofvines.com/), especially on his essays page (http://www.thehouseofvines.com/essays.htm).


Hope that's of some use :).

Thanks, I'm actually a member of Neos Alexandria, although I don't post much there anymore. There are a lot of smart people there, and they have a lot of interesting things to say, it's just hard to keep track of those listserv kind of things. The website is great and very helpful, though.


Not a lot of information is covered regarding holidays in the Beginner's Class. I've been Kemetic Orthodox for 5 years now and still am at a loss for what to do some times. I am patiently awaiting the festival book that Devo mentioned.

I find that if you are looking for 'modern' way of practicing/celebrating the festivals, the best way to start is to get a hold of The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook (by Tamara L Suida). It has a list of the major festivals/ancient Egyptian calendar (You may be able to source these elsewhere, but I don't know of any other sources).

Then I go on instinct. I may 'Google' the festival to see if anyone has written about how they celebrate it, otherwise I make up stuff. :P

If you are looking for more traditional/ancient practices, so far all the books I have read (and I've read many) don't really go into detail. If you find one, let me know also!

Sorry I haven't been of much assistance.

Not at all, it's helpful to know there isn't a lot if information out there, and that a lot of people go with their intuition.

[Devo]

I'm not sure if I can help out too much, but, maybe try Kemetic Orthodox (http://www.kemet.org). They have a Beginner's Class you can sign up for (which is done over emails), which cover Holidays, among other things, plus, you do get to participate in the forums (although, I think you can do that even without signing for the class), where
I'm sure some people can help you.

I have to agree with the other person (the name escapes me) that says that the beginners course of KO doesn't cover much- because it doesn't. If you're beyond 101 Kemeticism, the beginners class will bore you to tears. However, it's worth taking to get into the private areas of KO, because that's where you can learn more about festivals, holidays, and how others celebrate them. So for that alone, it might be worth looking into.

-Devo

[David19]

Not a lot of information is covered regarding holidays in the Beginner's Class. I've been Kemetic Orthodox for 5 years now and still am at a loss for what to do some times. I am patiently awaiting the festival book that Devo mentioned.

I find that if you are looking for 'modern' way of practicing/celebrating the festivals, the best way to start is to get a hold of The Ancient Egyptian Prayerbook (by Tamara L Suida). It has a list of the major festivals/ancient Egyptian calendar (You may be able to source these elsewhere, but I don't know of any other sources).

Then I go on instinct. I may 'Google' the festival to see if anyone has written about how they celebrate it, otherwise I make up stuff. :P

If you are looking for more traditional/ancient practices, so far all the books I have read (and I've read many) don't really go into detail. If you find one, let me know also!

Sorry I haven't been of much assistance.

That's actually true, it's been a few years since I took the Beginner's Class, but, I thought that Festivals were covered, but, I was mistaken.

That said, it might be possible to ask the Nisuit, so, taking the Beginner's Class, just to get into the Private sections of KO might be a good idea.


Thanks, I'm actually a member of Neos Alexandria, although I don't post much there anymore. There are a lot of smart people there, and they have a lot of interesting things to say, it's just hard to keep track of those listserv kind of things. The website is great and very helpful, though.



Not at all, it's helpful to know there isn't a lot if information out there, and that a lot of people go with their intuition.

No problem, I'm not sure if this book will be of much use, but, there's a book called 'Religion in Roman Egypt' by David Frankfurter (http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Roman-Egypt-David-Frankfurter/dp/0691070547) (you can preview it on Google Books if you like (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Y6VJgeU28lQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Religion+in+Roman+Egypt&source=bl&ots=Bqp72Y73KX&sig=MI3Tw6Xd8bwUYh33wObNVnLto7s&hl=en&ei=WowqTNzgG4v00gTnkbzpAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)), but, it's, apparantly, a great book on all things to do with the Greco-Egyptian religion, so, there might be something in there about Festivals.

I also found these sites:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/festival.htm
http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.2.html

Maybe just use your intuition, a lot of the Festivals seem to have been in celebration of a specific God, so, maybe pray to the Gods for hints on how celebrate, pay attention to your dreams or any omens, etc.

Anyway, good luck :).


I have to agree with the other person (the name escapes me) that says that the beginners course of KO doesn't cover much- because it doesn't. If you're beyond 101 Kemeticism, the beginners class will bore you to tears. However, it's worth taking to get into the private areas of KO, because that's where you can learn more about festivals, holidays, and how others celebrate them. So for that alone, it might be worth looking into.

-Devo

True :).

[Erebos]

No problem, I'm not sure if this book will be of much use, but, there's a book called 'Religion in Roman Egypt' by David Frankfurter (http://www.amazon.com/Religion-Roman-Egypt-David-Frankfurter/dp/0691070547) (you can preview it on Google Books if you like (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Y6VJgeU28lQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Religion+in+Roman+Egypt&source=bl&ots=Bqp72Y73KX&sig=MI3Tw6Xd8bwUYh33wObNVnLto7s&hl=en&ei=WowqTNzgG4v00gTnkbzpAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)), but, it's, apparantly, a great book on all things to do with the Greco-Egyptian religion, so, there might be something in there about Festivals.

Oooh, that sounds interesting. I'm very interested in Egyptian religion and I agree with a lot of its concepts and ideas, but my practice is primarily rooted in Hellenism. Anything that combines the two is definitely up my alley.

[David19]

Oooh, that sounds interesting. I'm very interested in Egyptian religion and I agree with a lot of its concepts and ideas, but my practice is primarily rooted in Hellenism. Anything that combines the two is definitely up my alley.

Hope you like it then. It sounds like something that might be quite useful to you. I also like a lot of the concepts and beliefs of Kemeticism.