Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 30-31, 2001

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

Wednesday evening, 42 people (an online record!) gathered in Dua ceremony to witness the Kemetic Naming Ceremony for Shemsu and children. We want to give congratulations to:

Benretibenhethert of Canada
Tasheritsekhmet of California
Nitimai of Texas
Djedetmiwesir of Utah
Khaiptah of Utah
Raemnisut of Washington, D.C.
Sobekqebet of Texas
Uashsekhmet of Australia
Hethertweret of Illinois

We also congratulate Kai-Imakhu Nakhtdeshretiu on his adding a Shemsu name to his priestly name: Niwt-itw, "Crossroads of His Fathers."

In addition to our Shemsu Namings, five minor Remetj were given Root Names corresponding with the Name of Netjer in charge of their day of birth, to be held until they come of age for Shemsuhood. Each Remetj was sponsored by one or more Shemsu godmothers or godfathers belonging to that same Name, or in some special cases by the Nisut Herself! Welcome and Nekhtet! to:

Ma'atemhebet of Washington state (age 12), sponsored by the Nisut (AUS)

Wesiremheb of California (age 6), son of Tasheritsekhmet and Storm, sponsored by Iatut-Serqet, Yashu-Senu and Djedetmiwesir

Amunemheb of Missouri (age 6), nephew of Heru-em-peryt, sponsored by Nubtshepsut and Seshmetitues

Heqatemheb of Texas (age 3), son of Nitimai, sponsored by the Nisut (AUS)

Raemheb of Texas (age 4 months), son of Nitimai, sponsored by the Nisut (AUS)

We give great thanks for such a large addition to our Shemsu family, and ask the blessing of all the Gods and Goddesses of Kemet on Their Children newly consecrated. Nekhtet!

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

Please bear with us as issues with the Blogger server that posts Her Holiness' devotions are resolved. We will resume the Purifications lessons as soon as we are able. Thank you for your patience.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 29, 2001

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

It is so good to be home again amongst the children of Netjer. We had a wonderful weekend at the Kashi Ashram celebrating H.H. Ma Jaya's birthday, and finishing up the Feast of the Beautiful Valley with an offering for the Akh of Shambo Shankara, one of Ma's chelas and a Remetj of our faith, who went West last fall after a long battle with AIDS. May his ka have all good things in the West and may he return to us often.

Today is the Feast of Purifications. It is one of my most favorite holidays of the year, and I intend to honor it tomorrow in our biweekly Dua services with the Remetj and Shemsu of our faith, as well as give Kemetic names to a number of new Shemsu. May Ma'at be with you every day. May She bring you all blessings and purifications. I'll resume teaching about one particular set of purifications tomorrow.

Dua Ma'at! Nekhtet!

A full selection of photographs from Her Holiness' trip to Kashi will soon appear in our Events section! In the meantime, here is a photo of our Nisut with the "birthday guru" and Dr. Jean Houston.

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Em hotep!

The Nisut (AUS) will be at Kashi Ashram for the birthday celebration of Guru Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati until May 28th. The teachings of Her Holiness on the forty-two Purifications will resume then.

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 23, 2001

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

Purification 30

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Lord of Faces, coming forth from Nedjfet, I am not impatient.

"To hurry my heart," that is, to be impatient, is the phrase of the thirtieth Purification. The guardian god of the purification is Heru, "Lord of Faces," honored in the 14th Nome alongside Hethert of the Sycamores. As a god of passionate means, He is a good guardian to invoke, as it is very easy to get ahead of yourself in anxiety, to want something before its time.

On this day of the Pesdjentiu (New Moon Festival), and as we close the festival of the Beautiful Valley may the Akhu and all the gods and goddesses bring you all you desire, in its good time and with the sacrifice of your impatience regarding it.

We also send a warm and loving heru em meses nefer enek to Kai-Imakhu Nakhtdeshretiu, whose birthday is today. Nekhtet!

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 22, 2001

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

Purification 29

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Foreteller of Speech, coming forth from Wensy, I do not cause tumult.

While yesterday's purification was about "talking trash," today's is about "doing trash" -- often translated as "I have not stirred up strife." The verb in the purification hennenu, can mean "to cause an uproar" or "to make strife." All the meanings are related to the idea of creating a situation of Isfet where one did not previously exist, or acting in a way that brings isfet upon oneself and/or others.

The purification itself is dedicated to the local god of Wensy (Per-Medjed, or classical Oxyrhynchus). The mormyrus fish symbolizing the god of this town is often associated with Set, a god of confusion and masculine aggressiveness, the one called "Creator of Terror." Who better to overlook the stirring of strife than the Original Stirrer?

It is important to remember, however, that Set is here not protecting in a hypocritical way against His own work, but that Set's "strife" always has a beneficial end in mind. Once through Set's storms, necessary changes will happen. What Set is protecting against is causing of violence for its own sake, or making attacks on others that end only in hard feelings and heartbreak, causing more isfet than they relieve. I pray in Set's name that discretion wins the day over the desire to "stir up strife."

On this day of the Living Children of Nut, may They all offer you blessing and protection and may you find yourself purifying as we continue reading this wise text together.

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 21, 2001

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

Purification 28

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Bringer-of-His-Offerings, coming forth from Sau, I am not spiteful.

Our twenty-eighth purification dedicates itself to Heka, son of Nit the goddess of the city of Sau (Sais in the Delta). It is directed against peri-'a, literally "to go out with an arm," often translated as "malicious," "spiteful" or "deceitful." It indicates a condition where one goes on the offensive against another, and being directed to Heka, probably also concerns itself with spiteful or malicious speech.

It seems in our purifications we deal with many variations on a theme. We have talked about hurtful speech before this purification and before we're done, we're likely to revisit it again. Why is this important? In a world where people are encouraged to "say what they mean" and "get it all out," what's wrong with a little venom spat at your least favorite so-and-so, or a few dirty words muttered at an enemy?

In this purification, spitefulness is compared to a directly physical act -- to go out "with an arm," raised to do battle, perhaps? Could it be true that "names will never hurt me," the second half of the childhood rhyme, might not be true? Much to ponder as we purify again.

I pray to Heka and Ma'at that your mouths remain pure and your arms remain softly at your sides in all of your interactions with others.

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 19-20, 2001

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

Our Nisut's lessons on the 42 Purifications will resume on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend. Our festivals as part of the major Feast of the Beautiful Valley continue with a day (Sunday) honoring the "judgment of the Great Ones," complete with oracles and "trials" before the icons of the gods and goddesses, Who appear "throughout the land repeatedly." Be on the lookout for Netjer's direct appearance in your life!

As part of our weekend rituals here at the main shrine, I will be conducting rituals for prosperity on Saturday evening and rituals for protection on Sunday evening. If you have any particular prayers you'd like to share with me as I perform these rites, click the button below and send them along! It is always a blessing to hear from you.

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Weekend:
"A beautiful soul has no other merit but its existence."
von Schiller

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Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 18, 2001

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

Purification 27

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Shrouded One, coming forth from the clouds, I do not cause suffering.

Again, a purification that probably requires little elaboration, Number 27 invokes Amun as the "Hidden One of the Clouds" against persons who "cause suffering" or "cause sadness."

On this day of Amun's major festival of the year, I ask that He come forth from the clouds in glory, to illuminate injustice and to create a barrier of His rich light around those who have not caused suffering, that it might return only to those who inflict it, that they might bear their isfet alone. I pray to Wesir, Who along with the Akhu also receives offerings and prayers on this day, that each of you might be free from isfet in all the forms we have read in the purifications thus far.

Dua Amun! Dua Wesir! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 17, 2001

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

Purification 26

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Young One, coming forth from Wabui, I am not neglectful of Ma'at.

The 26th purification, often also translated as "I do not make myself deaf to the words of truth," is similar to previous purifications about not deliberately misleading oneself or engaging in isfet through lying or misrepresentation.

It is to be remembered that this purification and the others are about deliberate misleading, not acting in a way that is mistaken, or a way that is ignorant of the truth. If you didn't know the truth before you did something, you aren't in isfet. However, it is expected in the Kemetic ethical worldview, that once you do know better, you will, as the Gospel injunction states, "go forth and sin no more." Once you know something is false, misleading or a lie, if you engage in it again or spread it further, you are in violation of this principle and therefore subject to the punishment of Wesir, the "Babe" of the nineteenth Upper Kemetic Nome (Wabui).

May your coming be Ma'at, your sojourn be Ma'at, and your going forth be Ma'at. If you encounter isfet in your life may you learn from it and not spread its poison further than its first mark, whether it comes from you or from another source. On this day of the Festivals of Menhyt and Bast, and the Purifications of Sekhmet, may you release all isfet in your life and let its place be filled with love, peace and Ma'at. I pray to Sekhmet in all of your names that the love of Netjer fill you like the Eye of Ra's brilliant light.

Dua Menhyt! Dua Bast! Dua Sekhmet! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 16, 2001

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

Purification 25

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Binder-of-Speech, coming forth from the Inundation, I do not enflame myself.

Purification number 25 concerns itself with ta'a-i literally "making myself on fire." It is a purification against allowing oneself to be consumed with anger, just as a fire utterly consumes its fuel.

Many Kemetic wisdom texts concern themselves with "the silent man" or "the calmed one," who is said to be like the trees of a temple courtyard: reaching upward toward Netjer, unmoving, unbending, and taking the days one at a time. These texts advise that if a man is angry with you, you should let him vent if it will make him feel better, but not raise your hand to chastise nor your voice to rebuke him; his anger will be dissipated in its sharing, or, if his anger is feeding on itself like an angry fire feeds on the oxygen in the air, it will burn itself out eventually on its own.

Ptahhotep writes of how to respond to the angry retort of three different kinds of people: to those higher than yourself, you are to "lower the back and bend the knee" and let time reveal if his anger with you was justified or not; to those equal to yourself you are to act as a sounding-board and resist the urge to respond in kind; and to those lower than yourself, you are to "remain silent as his foolishness comes to equal his mouthiness." In all three cases restraint, not "enflaming," is seen as an ideal, a way to Ma'at.

On this day of the Half-Month, I pray to Amun, Mut and Khonsu who are in Festival that the fires of anger be quenched with the Inundation of Ma'at.

Dua Amun! Dua Mut! Dua Khonsu! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 15, 2001

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

Purification 24

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Overthrower, coming forth from Qis, I do not lead myself astray.

Occasionally we have a purification that requires very little explanation or elaboration. Number 24 is one of these. For those who are interested in the linguistics, the word (tehi) here translated "lead astray" can also mean to trespass, to attack (oneself), to lie to oneself or to mislead oneself. It is, however, a fairly straightforward purification, asking Heru-wer as the "Overthrower of Qis" (Cusae, in modern day Middle Egypt) to protect and perhaps remind us not to lie, either to others or to ourselves.

May Heru-wer's example encourage you to stay on your personal path. I pray to Him and to His wife, Hethert-Amenti on Her day of celebration during the Beautiful Feast of the Valley.

Dua Heru-wer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 12-14, 2001

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

[Note: the service which posts our devotions was down all weekend. We apologize for the lack of updates until now.]

Purification 23

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Heru-wer, coming forth from Yam, I do not terrorize people.

Today's purifcation invokes Heru-wer of Yam (an area now known as "Lower Nubia," part of the modern-day Sudan). It would be appropriate for a god known as the Lord of Terror to verify whether a man or woman had engaged in "making terror."

"Terror" is defined as "a state of intense fear," "a person that inspires fear" or "violence used to inspire fear." Not making terror would include acts of physical or mental violence, using influence to attempt to intimidate others, or simply acting in ways that inspire fear in others. In a world where often people tear other people down to make themselves feel better, this purification is an important one.

It is also timely; we note this purification on the day of the Udjat, Heru's sacred Eye. May His Eye find you innocent of "making terror."

Dua Heru-wer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 11, 2001

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

Purification 22

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Looking-upon-His-Offerings, coming forth from the House of Min, I do not engage in careless sex.

In number 22, we confront another purification about sexuality. My translation is wordy here because I wanted to use moderate language and because I wanted to have an opportunity to explain the vulgar term used here for sexuality that is not the same as the vulgar term used in previous purifications.

This purification, and the vulgar verb used in the second half, speaks specifically toward having sex in an indiscriminate or wanton manner; true promiscuity in the sense of not caring who, where, how or when one engages in sex with another person. It is not some sort of Puritanical prohibition on sex before marriage (in antiquity, remember, "marriage" was a social contract, not a moral one); nor is it a description of illegal sexual acts such as pedophilia (Purification 11) or adultery (Purifications 20-21). It is a simple word meaning to spend out one's lust.

The purification is dedicated to Min, a very obvious choice, as with His image carrying His erect penis, it's obvious He has something to do with sexuality! Min governs the fertility of sex, the growth that comes from the seed of the male. In a less literal sense He also oversees the growth that comes from positive actions, in this case positive relationships engendered in sexual contact between consenting adults. I choose not to read this purification as some sort of Victorian pronouncement on the evils of masturbation or "fornication," as others have sometimes translated it, but as a simple reminder that sexual intimacy is a powerful, important gift from Netjer and as such it deserves to be approached with safety, honesty and our full attention, not thrown around for a moment's amusement or given lightly.

Perhaps we can reword this purification like Number 19, and call it I do not have sex without a reason. May Min bless your lives as pertains to sexuality, and may you in turn bless your partners with that gift. And may the Holy Family Amun, Mut and Khonsu currently in festival bless your unions, sexual and otherwise.

Dua Amun-Ra! Dua Mut! Dua Khonsu! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 10, 2001

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

Purifications 20 and 21

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Evil One, coming forth from Ity, I do not have sex with a man's wife.
Hail Blazing Snake, coming forth from the execution place, I do not have sex with a man's wife.

This purification was important enough to the society that wrote it down that it was written twice, invoking two separate forms of Apep, the Uncreated Itself. Stands to reason that if the Uncreated is associated with making sure the act didn't happen, the act described in the purification was a pretty dangerous one, indeed: the act of adultery, literally "intercourse with the wife of a man" in both 20 and 21.

The proscription against adultery was very important in the ancient Egyptian mind, not because of some Puritanical concept that sex was bad or wrong, but because the idea of a contract, in this case the legal contract of marriage between two spouses, was considered very important, and Ma'at to uphold.

Adultery, like rape, is really not about sex; it is the violation of a vow. In a land where inheritance and other legal benefits were very closely tied to a person's children, being certain who those children's parents were was paramount. Children contracted during affairs could upset the entire economic system of a house, as all children and parents had to be acknowledged in inheritance, and an illegitimate child could take the rightful property of other legitimate brothers and sisters. As a result, through different periods of Kemetic history, adultery was one of the most highly-punishable crimes, up to and including the execution of the adulterers.

How are we to read these purifications today, when marriage is not the only legal way two partners, of either sex, can share housing and economic status, and when we have birth control methods effective enough to cut down on the problem of illegitimate children? Adultery is still, within the framework of the breaking of a vow between two adults, a serious offense against Ma'at. If a marriage vow explicitly states partners will have no sexual activity outside the union, to break that vow would invite serious emotional, psychological and other problems (such as divorce, etc.).

As such, adultery, as any other break of promise, is to be avoided: through honoring the vows one makes and through making sure one does not make vows one does not intend to keep. As we've already learned from other purifications such as speaking the truth, making sure one's actions are in keeping with one's speech, and simple honesty, these two purifications should be easy to keep even in a modern, less childbearing-driven world.

I pray to Amun and Mut, husband and wife in Their Festival, that all your vows, marriage or otherwise, are fruitful, honest, and open.

Dua Amun-Ra! Dua Mut! Dua Khonsu! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 9, 2001

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

Purification 19

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Goose, coming forth from Iunu, I do not argue without reason.

Shu, the Goose of Iunu (Heliopolis) is invoked in Purification 19, to confirm that one has not argued is-her-khayut, or "except as concerns things" -- that is to say, one has not argued for the sake of argument alone.

What an amazing statement for a Western mind. Are not philosophy and mathematics and theology themselves based upon intellectual debate, "arguments" turned toward elucidating more facts? What of knowledge? What of the pursuit of truth? How will we ever find out where people stand if we can't question them? Isn't it fun to pick fights with people who obviously have no idea what they are talking about?

I do not argue without reason.

Before Netjer today, in this day of the Beautiful Valley Festival along with a second Holiday of Ra and His Shemsu for the month, examine those reasons. Examine them carefully. Allow the winds of Shu to blow the ones that aren't fully founded away, and feel your ka soar.

Today I also thank Netjer for Imakhu Djedankhesenaset Inibmutes, priest of Aset and my personal scribe, on her birthday. Nekhtet!

Dua Amun-Ra! Dua Mut! Dua Khonsu! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 8, 2001

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

Purification 18

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Backwards-Walker, coming forth from Per-Bast, I do not babble.

We invoke "the one who walks backwards" in the eighteenth purification. Another name for this spirit is "Confusing One." Both names make sense in light of the verb used in the end of the sentence: shemi-ra-i, meaning firstly "to babble" but literally "to send my mouth out." The phrase also means to confuse, to go against (another person) in speech, or to talk in a deliberately confusing or meaningless manner.

Be clear in your speech. Do not use it to harm another, and do not permit it to be twisted into harm by being vague or confusing. As in yesterday's purification, do not speak secret things, or allow secrets to fall out of your lips in careless speech. "Speech is the rudder of the ship of Ma'at," said the Eloquent Peasant (and they didn't call him eloquent for nothing)!

It's also a day to review appropriate behavior of all kinds, being the Day of the Executioners of Sekhmet. Be on the lookout for justice in unexpected places!

Dua Sekhmet! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 7, 2001

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

Purification 17

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Lord of Ma'at, coming forth from [the hall of] Ma'ati, I do not discuss [my] secrets.

Number 17 invokes Djehuty, the Lord of Wisdom, Who sits at the scales of Ma'at in the Hall of Two Truths (Ma'ati) at judgment. As "Lord of Ma'at" He is over all affairs of wisdom and truth in speaking and thinking, so He would be most appropriate to judge one's performance regarding the knowing and keeping of secrets.

"Secrets" have a fairly dim reputation in the Western world. They tend to be traded like commodities: who knows what about this person, who can tell you this about this private matter, who can get you copies of "secret" documents or books or pass along "secret" knowledge....we have an entire industry dedicated to "exposing" the private lives of celebrities or public figures. The "mysteries of Egypt" are certainly up there, with thousands of books purporting to be keeping them, revealing them or obscuring them. For secret matters, we sure know a great deal about things!

Think about what a secret is. Why would you be entrusted with one, and why would it be important for you to keep one? I look forward to discussion (although not discussion of secret matters!) on our boards!

And here's something that isn't secret -- it's the Feast of the Beautiful Valley, beginning today and continuing through the waning moon! Make sure to spend quality time with your family, both living and dead, and honor Amun, Mut, Khonsu, Hethert-Lady-of-the-West and Wesir-Ra during this special time, and if you are Shemsu or Remetj, be sure and join us for our celebrations to be announced this week and next! Nekhtet!

Dua Amun! Dua Mut! Dua Khonsu! Dua Hethert-Amenti! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 5-6, 2001

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

Our Nisut's lessons on the 42 Purifications will resume on Monday.

Enjoy the weekend. We're getting ready for a major festival in the House, that of the Feast of the Beautiful Valley dedicated to Amun, Mut, Khonsu and the Akhu. Think about giftgiving and celebration ideas -- it's a time to get in touch with your ancestors. Nekhtet!

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

Thought for the Weekend:
"Duty is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less."
Robert E. Lee

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 4, 2001

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

Purification 16

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Swallower of Intestines, coming forth from the Thirteen, I do not plunder cultivated lands.

Another agricultural purification, coupled with yesterday's: not taking from cultivated lands. If a land is cultivated it can be assumed it must belong to someone else...so this purification is against appropriating the fruits of someone else's labor.

In this Kemetic season of harvest, may your labors bear their own fruit. I pray to Ra on this festival day of His, along with His Shemsu, that each one's lands bear his own fruit and that no man might plunder them from another.

Dua Ra! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 3, 2001

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

Purification 15

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Swallower of Blood, coming forth from the chopping-block, I do not commit usury with grain.

It is tempting, although far from secure, to translate the protector of this invocation as a form of Sekhmet. The "Swallower of Blood" is being asked to verify that the speaker has not committed usury with grain (hennuwit).

Usury (lending something, in this case grain, at outrageous, unethical or illegal interest rates) is a "sin" in the Kemetic societal conscience. Usury is still forbidden in Egypt today, under Islam where to lend at any interest at all, let alone more than the legal rate, is often considered to be wrong. For us, "grain" might not be our personal stock in trade, and as we might not be bankers or otherwise rich in funds, this purification might seem obscure.

However...go deeper. Have you ever loaned something and expected more than you gave in return, consciously or subconsciously? Or to put this into intangible terms: do you feel the world "owes you" something for what you put into it? Do you expect more from the world than you put in? Have you ever offered assistance or done a favor for another person, then used said assistance or favor as a "bargaining chip" for bigger and better returns, to put guilt on the recipient, or continued to use a favor already repaid for future gain?

Perhaps this purification isn't so obscure after all. I pray to Ma'at, keeper of our balance, that your balance might remain stable when giving and receiving "grain" from others and from the world you live in.

Dua Netjer! Nekhtet!

I invite your discussion and participation in this teaching in the Devotions boards.

Email our Nisut (AUS) with a private prayer!

Daily Devotions from Her Holiness
Nisut Hekatawy I (ankh udja seneb)
May 2, 2001

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

Purification 14

For an explanation/introduction to this lesson, click here.

Hail Hot-feet, coming forth from the dawn, I do not damage myself with lies.

Purification 14 is often translated "I do not transgress" or "I do not tell lies." It is important to note there is an extra hieroglyph after the word ikhekh ("to damage with lies"): the pronoun i, meaning "me" or "myself." Since we've already had a purification about lying in general (Number 8), it makes perfect sense that this would not be a repetition of the same purification in a different way, but a new thought: not damaging one's own character with falsehoods.

Geregu, lies, are the language of Isfet. Once you tell one lie, often you find you have to tell more to keep yourself from getting into trouble. There is an African proverb that states "there is no such thing as a small lie." Misrepresentation may hurt others. It may cause serious problems in society and it may even cause physical harm, but the most damage done by lying is the damage done to the liar himself.

"Hotfoot coming from the dawn" is clearly Set, the dawn fighter against the Uncreated, source of lying. May He find you to be pure and may your words always carry Ma'at. On this first day of the Kemetic Month, dedicated to Khnum, Nit and the Eye of Ra as Hethert, may you remember to consider speaking truly as one of your monthly goals. I'll be seeing some of you at the Dua service tonight, where we will be in the Presence of Nit. Nekhtet!

Dua Khnum! Dua Nit! Dua Iryt-Ra Hethert! Nekhtet!

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