shelby_danvers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shelby_danvers) wrote2011-03-22 08:57 pm
shelby_danvers) wrote2011-03-22 08:57 pm
Entry tags:
Finding Faith, Part Three: The House of Netjer
Part One
Part Two
I'm going to be honest. At first, I thought the House of Netjer and the Kemetic Orthodox Faith was kinda...iffy when I first learned of it. I'm not sure that I had the CULT! feeling that I've seen other people do. More like...I just didn't get it. I didn't understand. And in the grand tradition of refusing to educate oneself on things one doesn't understand, I did just that. I just shook my head and walked away.
A few months later, I had settled on Kemetic Recon as being the right path for me. But being a solitary believer really kind of sucked. Kemetic Recons, I found, were few and far between. And the ones I did find, had a very eclectic, anything-goes style that just didn't jive with me. I was really looking for something that had a bit more structure to it. And that led me right back around to the House of Netjer. Only this time, it was starting to look more appealing.
I was still kind of iffy, and I talked at length with my pagan friends on the R&P. They advised me to just take the plunge and register on their forums to get an idea of what it was all about. Hey, they have a free, no-obligations beginner's course? Go ahead, sign up for that, too. I lucked out, and managed to get into a course that was starting right away.
Needless to say, I fell in love. The Kemetic Orthodox community is one of the most welcoming and supportive groups I've ever encountered. I never once got the feeling that I was "doing it wrong", as I had in so many others. The priests that taught the course were always ready with a kind word, ready to support the beginners as we contemplated this new path.
After a Kemetic Orthodox Beginner's class ends, those who take the class are given the option to stay on as Remetj - part of the community, but not necessarily converts to the faith. I didn't care, though. I was excited to finally be a part of a community, people who believed a lot of the same things I did. I was a Remetj for around four or five months before I decided to undergo the Rite of Parent Divination, Kemetic Orthodoxy's first rite of passage.
During my time as just a general Kemetic Recon, I had taken to honouring Bast as a sort of personal deity. She was the one Kemetic goddess that I had known for a long time, all the way back to when I knew her as merely a mythological figure. No big surprise why I paid attention to her at first - She's a cat. I liked cats. There you go. Thankfully, I grew a little bit more mature when I began to honour Her as the goddess She is.
But as I took the beginner's course, and then in my subsequent time as a Remetj, Bast seemed to grow more distant. And in Her place, a new Name of Netjer came forward: Yinepu. I doubt there's anyone who doesn't at least know of him (though most probably know him as Anubis instead), but I had kind of avoided him. The guide-to-the-dead thing, you know. Doesn't really jive with the fluffy bunny, love and light approach that I was trying hard to leave behind. So, rather than wait for me to come to Him, Yinepu planted Himself right in my path and refused to budge. Well, fine.
Time wore on, and finally, the announcement came: a new round of RPDs were about to begin, and all Remetj who wished to undergo the ritual were free to sign up. I still remember the excitement with which I filled out the questionnaire and sent it in. I grabbed one of the earliest time slots on the very first Saturday on the list.
I was ready.
Part Two
I'm going to be honest. At first, I thought the House of Netjer and the Kemetic Orthodox Faith was kinda...iffy when I first learned of it. I'm not sure that I had the CULT! feeling that I've seen other people do. More like...I just didn't get it. I didn't understand. And in the grand tradition of refusing to educate oneself on things one doesn't understand, I did just that. I just shook my head and walked away.
A few months later, I had settled on Kemetic Recon as being the right path for me. But being a solitary believer really kind of sucked. Kemetic Recons, I found, were few and far between. And the ones I did find, had a very eclectic, anything-goes style that just didn't jive with me. I was really looking for something that had a bit more structure to it. And that led me right back around to the House of Netjer. Only this time, it was starting to look more appealing.
I was still kind of iffy, and I talked at length with my pagan friends on the R&P. They advised me to just take the plunge and register on their forums to get an idea of what it was all about. Hey, they have a free, no-obligations beginner's course? Go ahead, sign up for that, too. I lucked out, and managed to get into a course that was starting right away.
Needless to say, I fell in love. The Kemetic Orthodox community is one of the most welcoming and supportive groups I've ever encountered. I never once got the feeling that I was "doing it wrong", as I had in so many others. The priests that taught the course were always ready with a kind word, ready to support the beginners as we contemplated this new path.
After a Kemetic Orthodox Beginner's class ends, those who take the class are given the option to stay on as Remetj - part of the community, but not necessarily converts to the faith. I didn't care, though. I was excited to finally be a part of a community, people who believed a lot of the same things I did. I was a Remetj for around four or five months before I decided to undergo the Rite of Parent Divination, Kemetic Orthodoxy's first rite of passage.
During my time as just a general Kemetic Recon, I had taken to honouring Bast as a sort of personal deity. She was the one Kemetic goddess that I had known for a long time, all the way back to when I knew her as merely a mythological figure. No big surprise why I paid attention to her at first - She's a cat. I liked cats. There you go. Thankfully, I grew a little bit more mature when I began to honour Her as the goddess She is.
But as I took the beginner's course, and then in my subsequent time as a Remetj, Bast seemed to grow more distant. And in Her place, a new Name of Netjer came forward: Yinepu. I doubt there's anyone who doesn't at least know of him (though most probably know him as Anubis instead), but I had kind of avoided him. The guide-to-the-dead thing, you know. Doesn't really jive with the fluffy bunny, love and light approach that I was trying hard to leave behind. So, rather than wait for me to come to Him, Yinepu planted Himself right in my path and refused to budge. Well, fine.
Time wore on, and finally, the announcement came: a new round of RPDs were about to begin, and all Remetj who wished to undergo the ritual were free to sign up. I still remember the excitement with which I filled out the questionnaire and sent it in. I grabbed one of the earliest time slots on the very first Saturday on the list.
I was ready.