Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
October 13, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Today we enjoy no special practices in shrine. Spend your shrine time contemplating Netjer and Its blessings.

Today, I consider one blessing I had while the guest of the Kashi Ashram this past week. Within ten minutes of our arrival I was asked by one of the teachers of the River School to come and talk to his sixth-grade class about ancient Egypt. Through this talk, I met some really wonderful young people who asked good questions, listened attentively and above all displayed respect for and genuine interest in the ancient Kemetic culture and its modern keepers, the modern-day Egyptians.

Sometimes people treat children as if they are a waste of time -- always moving, talking, "not paying attention," generally being a nuisance. Children who are treated this way come to believe that it is true, and eventually will metamorphose into the troublemaking brats they are characterized as, if this tendency to misrespect the young is not checked.

Remember always, that the young are Netjer's most obvious gift to the world. The young of any species represent the future. If we cannot respect the future, how can we reach it?

I bless the children of the House of Netjer today as well, two of whom I had the opportunity to meet at our New Year's Retreat. They are my spiritual teachers and my inspiration and I love them all very much and enjoy hearing stories and seeing pictures sent to me by their parents and loved ones. At the Parliament of World Religions in 1999, on the last day when all of the spiritual leaders were to be in the final closing ceremony, the Native American elders present opted not to sit on that stage, but to put the children they had brought along with them into their seats instead. They made a very powerful statement (and those kids were great!).

There is no greater gift than the child. May Netjer bless and protect them all, and may we always remember that in their innocence, trust and faith, children are closest to the holiness we seek.

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

Images of Our Nisut (AUS) at the River School

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
September 29, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Last evening, one of the Children of Netjer, a son of Sokar, was Named before a gathering of Shemsu and Remetj in honor of His Father's festival today (and His beloved's festival yesterday).

We give a hearty Nekhtet! in honor of Sokarseneb who joins the company of Netjer's Shemsu in the modern world, the brothers and sisters of the Kemetic Orthodox faith.

Celebrate! Netjer has claimed another Child!

Dua Sokar! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Day:
"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want."
Ben Stein

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
September 28, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Opet Festival continues in its eleventh, and final, day. Dua Amun, Mut and Khonsu for another happy year!

Last night we had a record 3-hour Dua session, honoring and sharing stories of Akhu. We heard about Akhu from all walks of life, some who lived long lives, others short. We heard about Akhu who made the best against adversity -- or were taken from us too soon.

What we heard is that we all have a family in the West, and that our family in the West hears us. We shared stories that were touching, sometimes bittersweet and always uplifting. We shared them like we share the Letters to the Dead with our friends and family both in the West and here among the living. We honored them well.

I wanted to add one more Akhu to our consideration for the Feast of the Beautiful Valley.

His name is Shambo Shankara (although he had been born as "Gary.") I met him once -- for less than the space of one day -- but his gift to me is now my gift to you.

Shambo looked at me with eyes that spoke volumes of lifetimes past and lifetimes to come. While he had experienced pain, loss, and sadness in ways that would make most people blush, there was no regret in his gaze, except maybe that he knew his remaining time on earth was short. It was clear that he intended to use it to the fullest though his ailing body might not permit him to do so.

This holy man told me he was ashamed his illness would not permit him to travel with his friends to deliver shoes and other items to children in a homeless shelter so that they could go to school with other kids.

This holy man told me the best thing in life was to be able to love God and love others through God.

This holy man convinced me that I will never work another job again outside this temple. I will be eternally grateful for that teaching -- the teaching that there is no higher service than the service of the Children of God and that all else is secondary, even your own life.

Shambo gave me a gift I will never be able to repay to him -- but I intend to repay it, over and over again, to all of you, for the rest of my life. Nekhtet to Shambo in the Beautiful West. May his spirit rest safely amongst the Imperishable Stars and hold me to my vow!

Offer all the gifts on your shrines for the Opet Festival today to your Parent Name(s) and to your Akhu, and to all the Akhu of this beautiful House, as we close the festival for another year.

Dua Netjer! Dua Akhu! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Day:
The purest offering of all is in the shedding of a tear -- the natron and water of your very soul.

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
September 27, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Opet Festival continues in its tenth day.

I look forward to this evening with the Shemsu gathered in Dua for the Feast of the Beautiful Valley,, our celebration with the Akhu of the marriage feast of Amun and Mut.

This is just another reminder to me of how important our ancestors are to us. We share the marriage festival of God with those Who have gone before us, assuring the continuity of tradition. We also acknowledge our link with the ancestors through celebrating the festivals they celebrated, in honor of them and also in honor of Netjer.

How wonderful it is to know your ancestors and to carry on their traditions to new people!

Whomever you call ancestor, may They be honored today!

Dua Amun! Dua Mut! Dua Akhu! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Day:
"The only thing you take with you when you're gone is what you leave behind."
John Allston

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
September 26, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Opet Festival continues in its ninth day.

What is an appropriate offering to Netjer?

Some people offer their time or service. Others offer money or objects. Others offer the fruits of their labors and the works of their hands.

Still others offer their very flesh, their entire bodies, to be used by Netjer in whatever form It sees fit.

Each of these is a valuable and honored offering. Even a whispered prayer of thanks is an appropriate offering when it is offered with an open heart and sincere love behind it.

What have you offered to Netjer today? What offerings have come to you from Netjer and/or from others? Have you honored them?

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Day:
"We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right."
Madiba (Nelson Mandela)

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
September 24, 2000

Bless all the children of Netjer, known and unknown!
May your coming be peaceful.

Opet Festival continues in its seventh day, with additional ceremonies honoring Meret, "The Beloved," a form of Nebt-het, today.

As we reach the center of the Opet Festival our celebrations turn to honoring those on the Other Side of life -- our Akhu, the Blessed Dead who are in the West. It is only appropriate that as we shift our attention to the Akhu that we honor the Beloved Nebt-Het, Friend of the Dead, Who enables them to begin their journey westward, placing their hands in the hands of Yinepu as well as providing for the comforting of grief of those left behind.

While She can be terrifying -- after all, Nebt-het does represent for the Kemetic Orthodox the process/transition of death -- She is indeed our strong mother, Her dark wings enfolding the souls of those She loves, devouring their sins and sadness and transforming them into the shining souls that are the stars of the evening sky. To those who understand death to be a transition point between two kinds of life, She is indeed Beloved.

Know that Nebt-het is there for those who die as well as those who go on living and be blessed in this knowledge. Make special offerings to Her and to your Akhu of cool water today, particularly at the base of a tree or at a cemetery gate.

Dua Meret! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Day:
"...for life's not a paragraph
and death i think is no parenthesis"
ee cummings

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