Being a parent is not the easiest job in the world. Especially when you’re the parent of a five-year-old little boy whose nickname is Ronin (we call him that for a reason). But one question that always seems to arise from most people is how do I handle teaching him about Kemeticism and/or religion on a whole?

Well, in Ronin’s case, it was a bit easy from the start. From the time he was an infant, he recognized pictures and other images of Asar, who was the only Neter that he would readily respond to upon seeing. And he would always try to give Asar hugs and kisses. It wasn’t until he was about a year old that he started really paying much attention and affection towards the other Neteru or any other Gods.

We didn’t try to introduce Ronin to Kemeticism. He sees it as a part of his everyday life. He’s welcomed to get involved in most of the things we do, and he even keeps his own little shrine in his bedroom. He knows the traditional names of many Gods, those of the Neteru and of other faiths as well, and has been exposed to a wide variety of religions through friends and family.

Ronin is, for the largest part, an easy-going child. He accepts what he knows is truth and reality, and he knows without a doubt that there are Gods, and there are a lot of Them, and not all of Them are the ones that his Mommy and Daddy honor and serve.

There are some of the rites that we don’t allow him to be present at. The only reason for this is that he himself doesn’t like seeing the changes made in people when the Gods are speaking through them, especially when those people are his parents. So, out of respect for him, we ensure he is safe and at one of his grandparents’ houses before performing those rites when necessary.

Beyond that, Ronin has a wide exposure to many different religions. For example, he attended preschool at a local Baptist church. Many of his grandparents and other relatives are Christian of one denomination or another. We’re fairly active in the local Pagan community, which provides him exposure to many other non-Christian religions.

So, he’s not so much taught how to do anything within our beliefs or any other religion. He has observed the practices many times and has wanted to try it on his own. We allow him to keep his own shrine as he sees fit, though there are rules about candles and incense, obviously, as he’s not allowed to light them himself (though he does enjoy blowing out the flame on the incense and blowing out the candle after a while).

Really, you can’t teach religion to a child. It’s something that they’re brought up in. If you’re religious and devout in your worship, then they will follow by example. But you shouldn’t limit them to your own religion. Expose them to as many other faiths as you can. Teach them about diversity and acceptance.

As a parent, it’s not your job to teach them which God to worship, but to introduce the Gods to them. Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for. Here’s an example of a prayer I heard Ronin say the other night on his own:

Thank you, Ra, for the sunshine that makes the flowers grow so that the butterflies come for me to chase and play with.  Thank you, Jesus, for Miss P getting on to M for pushing me in preschool and not getting me in trouble too. Thank you, Anpu, for watching over me in my sleep so that the bad guys stay away in my dreams. Good night, sun. See you tomorrow!

(Obviously I left out the full names of his preschool teacher and the kid involved.)

That, from the mouth of a five-year-old. We never sat down and taught him to say prayers. He picked it up on his own from seeing us and from going periodically to church and chapel with family and friends. And no one can really teach you how to say your own prayers.

Religion isn’t something that is taught. It is something that is lived. When we expose our children to religion, regardless of what religion that may be, they will learn from that exposure. So the next time you worry about whether or not to teach your child about your faith, consider this: are you living your religion or are you performing it for them to watch?

I’d like to extend an apology for those who continue to look here for insight and guidance into Kemeticism. Lately, I’ve been struggling with some major concerns in my life, and it has been taking its toll on me. However, I will soon be starting a new series of posts that will include some insight into not only Kemeticism on a whole, but why we as humans truly need to find some form of divine being we can associate with.

Currently, I am working on getting enrolled at a university. My goal is to study psychology, with a minor in philosophy and world theology. I hope in doing this I will be able to better provide what I had originally intended with this journal. There are times that we all need to step back from ourselves to reevaluate our lives, and right now is my time for that.

You may notice a few changes in a few days with the pages of this website. Things are getting severely outdated, and I will be working on correcting this.

Also, please note that if you are reading this on LiveJournal or Dreamwidth that I do not receive any comments you may leave directly if you post them to those sites. If you wish to leave a comment, please visit the official journal at lotustouch.wordpress.com and leave your comments there.

I’m currently working on a few essays that I hope to have posted sometime in the next month. Again, thank you for all of your support with this journal. If you have any questions, topic requests, etc., I can be reached via email at lotustouch@nefermaatu.co.cc

I apologize for the extended delay on new posts. I hadn’t realized I haven’t posted since May 11th.

I’m afraid I don’t have much interesting to post about tonight. I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be posting soon, and that I’m sorry for having taken so long to do so. I’ve been going through some tough personally times recently, thus the inactivity. If anyone has any suggestions for topics, feel free to comment or email me at lotustouch@nefermaatu.co.cc

June 2009 is International Pagan Values Blogging Month!

It has been over two years, possibly nearly three now, since I first came into Anpu’s service. A lot has changed in my perception of Him from those early days of our relationship to now. It’s almost strange thinking about it, considering just how much of an influence he’s always been in my life, but that’s a story for another day.

Anpu calls me his daughter. It was never something I chose for myself, even though, deep down, I had always thought of Him as my father–but for different reasons than most. In short, He was the only positive male influence I had growing up in an abusive household, so let’s leave it at that, okay?

One thing that frustrates me, though, is when I hear people talking about Him as if He is a goofy puppy.

No.

Simply no. How on earth could anyone in their right mind think that Anpu, Guardian of the Dead, Foremost of the Westerners, is a hyperactive, bouncing fuzzball? I doubt He would have been so respected and worshipped in ancient times if this were really the case.

Now, He does love chocolate. And He loves sweet liquor. He also loves His children, and seems to let His daughters get away with more than He probably should sometimes. His expressions gives away a lot about what He’s thinking and feeling, and it’s never a good idea to piss Him off.

In my opinion, I don’t think He’s told that we love Him enough. I once whispered to Him that I loved him, and the expression on His face was one of gentle sadness. He smiled at me, trying to hide it, but my heart still picked up on the moment of sadness and it threatened to tear me in two.

Anpu is so kind, so gentle, and yet He doesn’t hear the words He truly deserves the most? None of the Neteru, or any God really, hears it as much as They deserve. People try to sugar coat the message, offering long amounts of poetry and prose. So many avoid the three simple words that mean the most to anyone. Why is this?

If I told you, even if I don’t know you, that I love you, that I care for you, that I am happy to see you, living you life, just being you, what would you think? For a moment, even if it’s just a split second at reading those three simple words, you would feel joy, right?

So think about it. And tell more people, and Gods, that you love them.

I love you. I always have. And I always will.

I’ve noticed, especially recently as there seems to be a rise in people interested in Kemeticism, and paganism on a whole, that people are trying to dig way too deep to find meaning in every little thing that happens to them as some sign of Divine intervention.

I’m sorry to break it to you, but no God is going to go out of Their way to send you a message or guide your life in every aspect of every day. It just doesn’t happen, okay?

Sure, sometimes one might step in to help out with something, or to set you on the right track for the direction you need to go to learn a lesson–most of these lessons aren’t arranged by Them either, they just find the circumstances useful to help you learn and grow, and set you on the necessary path. But this is not an every moment of every day experience.

Speaking from someone who knows, having any God around all day can be bloody frustrating as hell, okay? Gods, regardless of which culture They’re from, almost always fall to needing something to amuse Themselves with. And if one particular person has been singled out for Their attention, guess what. That person also becomes Their source of amusement.

I’ve seen several people who are like, “OMG, wow! I saw a hawk today! I wonder if it’s a sign from Heru?” And then they begin to go over everything with a fine tooth comb trying to find some meaning that isn’t really there. Hawks exist, okay? They can live just about anywhere. Now, if they show up in the Artic circle, then yeah, I pretty much would agree that it’s a sign. That’s not particularly normal–or probably very healthy for the bird. Anyway, you get the drift.

What it comes down to is quit trying to find oracles where there aren’t any. Not everything is a sign, or a message. When the Gods send you a message, you damn well know it, okay? There’s no doubt in your mind that it’s from Them. So just chill out!

I have a very strange relationship with Set. This much is obvious. Many people have picked this up already whenever He decides to start coming around while I’m talking to someone online. It’s just one of those awkward family moments between us, and one that I still don’t fully understand.

There’s not many people that could get away with calling him Gramps, that much is for sure. I love Him dearly, though some days I wish He wouldn’t pay quite so much attention to me. I’ve noticed, too, that there’s one of the major differences between me and many other Kemetics.

I willingly admit my love for the Neteru. Not just adoration or worship, but true love for Them. Without Them, I wouldn’t be here. I owe everything I am to Them, and I love Them as family and as friends. More often than not, I don’t really think of Them as Gods to be worshiped, but more family to be loved and honored. Occassionally, things take on a more traditional religious view, but that depends on how I’ve managed to get myself into trouble with Them.

If I were to try to tell you what lessons I’ve learned from Set, most of them would seem silly to most people. For example, the number one lesson I’ve learned is to NEVER ask Him for getting help in getting a new car. You won’t like the plan, and He won’t tell you there is a plan until it’s already over and you’re sitting there, sore, after a car has just backed out of its driveway into the side of your car on the very day you were going to look at taking it and trading it in somewhere.Yeah, it wasn’t a fun experience, I can promise you that.

Set was not one of my personal choices in a God to honor. In fact, I was terrified of Him to begin with. It took a long time for me to understand His intention and that He wanted to be a part of my life because His son (Anpu) is. Part of it might have been jealousy, and there continues to be tension between Them over it, but I can’t say I would rather Him not be here. He certainly makes things…interesting.

“May you live in interesting times.” That’s His motto, I believe. And boy, have my times been interesting… Especially since He’s been around.

But Set is not what many people think. He’s certainly not evil, but he’s not a cuddle muffin either. He’s not one to coddle you, and if He ever does coddle you, it’s for a damn good reason. His love is a harsh love. He’s going to watch you land on your ass, make you get up by yourself, and laugh when you fall again. But if it’s something you honestly can’t do, He’ll hold a hand out to you and help you through it, but only after you’ve gave it your best to try to do it on your own.

I’m working on collecting ebooks, videos, and websites that are useful within Kemeticism. I was thinking about using either del.icio.us or something similar to bookmark them and make them available in one easy place for everyone else who might be interested in this.

If no one seems interested, I’m just going to download what I can and bookmark the rest privately in my browser. So, if you would like a one-stop resource list, be sure to comment in reply to this post.

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of people talking about syncronized Neteru, where two or more Neteru have synced to become a new (and more complex and confusing) deity. Some examples of this would be Amun-Ra, Sekhmet-Mut, Heru-Set (yes, it has been known to happen), among others.

How this works, to the best of my understanding, is best described in the same way that the Power Rangers zoids did (thank you, Senneferet, for that anology!). The Neteru who wish to syncronize merge with one another, thus making a new deity, of whom we humans just refer to by a combination of both of their names (thus when Ra and Amun merge, They become Amun-Ra). In theory, any of the Neteru could do this with any other Neter. However, I’m not really seeing Set and Anpu doing this anytime soon… It’s hard enough getting Them both in the same room some days. (More on that some other time.)

In this syncronized form, They are still seperate individuals. Effectively, if you have Amun-Ra standing by you, you actually are in the presense of three Gods–Amun-Ra, Amun, and Ra. When They seperate, the Neteru are back to each of Their normal individual selves, and that syncronized deity form disappates.

Some people, myself included, are able to percieve all three at the same time (though it gives me a severe headache, just by them showing up synced like that, thanks to my mind trying to “see” all three of Them at the same time). However, it seems that most people either don’t percieve the multitudes of this, or they don’t admit to it, one.

Why the Neteru syncronize is something that baffles many people. What it boils down to is that while, yes, the Neteru are powerful, some are more-so than others, especially in certian spheres of influence. In order for one Neter to influence something outside of Their sphere, They need to sync with other Neteru to gain the necessary influence over that sphere.

Now as for why They sometimes interact with us in these syncronized forms is beyond me at the moment, but I’ll ask and see what answers or questions I might recieve.

It’s a rather frightening thought, but would things be better if the Neteru finally just up and said, “You know what, guys. Forget it. Most of you aren’t listening to a single word we’re saying, so we’re going to put an end to all this petty bickering between yourselves by putting an end to all the temples. Come find us when you’ve all grown up.”

Today, while looking for some resource material for the upcoming beginner’s series that will be provided through the Children of Kemet Learning Center, I was saddened by the sheer number of arguments over who is right and who is wrong among the Kemetic faiths. I am ashamed to say even I have participated in some of these arguments myself.

It really is petty, though. Let’s face it: we’re never going to know 100% how the Neteru were worshiped in ancient Egypt. Even if we had every ounce of documentation through the five-thousand years of worship, it is still left to our interpretations of what it all means. And most of the time, people on a whole are so wound up in trying to squeeze every religion into a nice little mold, all perfect and everything known about it, but it doesn’t work that way.

Even Christianity, one of the more well-documented religions of today’s world, is left to a lot of speculation. Everything about religion, regardless of which Gods are worshiped, how They’re viewed, is just left up to human interpretation. And as soon as one person says “This is the way it is,” someone else is going to go out to test that and try their damnedest to prove them wrong. It’s a sad thing about human nature. We just can’t leave well enough alone.

So, what do I think we should do?

Personally, I like the idea behind temples and churches. They provide a structure for a community of people with the same religious beliefs. They provide shelter for those who are in need of it, and it is a comfort to have that support. Many temples and churches provide community outreach services to try to help those just in the local neighborhoods, regardless of those people’s religious beliefs or attendance to the religious services.

The problem isn’t that temples exist. It’s that thanks to petty bickering, it is getting harder for temples to co-exist. If Temple A and Temple B are of the same religious faith, but Temple C isn’t, nor Temple D, who is of a different faith than Temples A, B, and C, then Temples A and B will likely gang up on Temples C and D, and Temples C and D will likely repel each other as well.

Really, the people I see getting along best of all are those who just gather, regardless of their religious and temple affiliations, to just enjoy each other’s company. This was largely what Children of Kemet was built upon. But now days, it’s getting more and more difficult to maintain a sense of community thanks to some temples strongly “suggesting” to their members to avoid places that are not on an approved groups list.

This is starting to go beyond the right that any religion has. People need to stop being led around blindly by their religious leaders and learn to think for themselves! The Gods gave us minds for a reason! We have the ability to think, to reason, to feel, and to learn. USE THEM! Don’t let that gift from the Gods be manipulated by someone else who wants nothing more than self-gratification, large congregation population numbers, and the like.

If you don’t understand something, ask questions. Don’t let anyone give you a round-about answer. If something doesn’t feel right, ask yourself why. If something makes you uncomfortable, there’s a reason for it, and you shouldn’t just try to brush it off as if it doesn’t matter.

But beyond all of this, if the Neteru did try to put an end to all of Their temples, would I try to protest? No. Really, I think it would probably do a great deal of good for everyone to have their foundations yanked out from under them and be forced to reevaluate themselves. All this petty bickering is why other religions don’t take Kemeticism seriously.

This is why I long ago gave up on the idea of “historical accuracy,” because hell, it’s not that damn important. What is important is that the Neteru are satisfied with our religions. If our beliefs are not sacred to ourselves, how seriously do you think They’re going to take them? The Neteru could care less if your morning ritual is done the same way as it was a thousand years ago, or if it comes down to you saying, “Good morning, guys. Ready for a new day?” As long as it is meaningful and sacred to you, They don’t really care how you do it, just so long as you do it.

I’m not asking for you to agree with me on any of this. I’m just asking that you think about, and form your own opinions. Comments are always welcome!