Egyptian Paganism dates back thousands of years. The Pyramid Texts, which is the oldest Religious writing in the world, which is craved on the walls of five pyramids at Saqqara, in Lower Egypt, has been dated to 2350BC. Recent research by geologist Professor Robert Schock estimated the Great sphinx at Giza could date from between 7000 and 5000BC. This estimate was based on the rain erosion, as there was heavy rainfall during that period, after that time the climate changed.
One of the names for ancient Egypt was ‘ta neteru’ which basically means; - Land of the Gods. Religion and Spirituality in Egypt was taken for granted, the Egyptians believed the Gods were everywhere, in everything, and influencing everything. Spirituality and Religion walked hand in hand with Magic, and the word for this was ‘Heka’. Heka was seen as a Spiritual force within the universe, and also a God in its own right, which was called ‘neter’ Divine principle.
So how does one begin contacting these Divine Entities? Sadly there is very little material available, however, some texts have been translated, and these are, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was complied around 1000 years after the Pyramid Texts, which as stated earlier, dates back to 2350BC, while the Coffin Texts are an intermediate version of similar material embellishing sarcophagi from the early second millennium BC. Reading these Texts are a must, as they will give a deeper understanding of Egyptian Religious thought.
On first view of these texts, it will completely baffle you, as you will enter a surreal world of concepts and happenings, everything keeps shifting, one things becomes another, one Deity is part of another, and an entity has many names and forms, and the Magician themselves becomes all of them. As in the domain of a Shaman or Priest Magus you must wrestle with the forces, the power of nature and your own conscious mind. It can be a blissful experience or a nightmare, one minute you will be a triumphant God, all powerful, the next you could be upside down in the underworld facing the forces of chaos, and the terrors of your own unconscious mind. But, through all this you must prevail, using the right invocation, knowing the right words to use, the right names, and the right way of saying them, but above all, you must have Spiritual purity.
The Festivals
March 5th Celebration of Isis
March 20th Spring Harvest Honouring Isis
April 1st Day of Hathor
April 15th Festival of Bast
June 16th ‘Night of the Teardrop’ Feast of the Waters of the
Nile, in Honour of Isis
June 24th ‘Burning of the Lamps’ at Sais, Celebration of Isis and
Neith
July 17th Birthday of Isis
July 18th Birthday of Nephthys
July 19th New Year. ‘Opet Festival’ Marriage of Isis & Osiris
August 6th Festival of Thoth
August 7th ‘Breaking of the Nile, dedicated to Hathor
August 12th Blessing of the Boats
August 29th Birthday of Hathor, New Years Day
September 13th-14th Ceremony of Lighting the Fire in honour of
Mephthys and the Spirits of the Dead
September 19th Day long fast to honour Thoth as God of
Wisdom and Magic
September 21st Feast of Divine Life to honour the Triple
Goddess in all aspects
October 26th Festival of Hathor
October 28th-November 2nd Isia Celebrating the search and
Recovery of Osiris
October 31st Feast of Sekhmet and Bast
November 3rd Last day of Isia rebirth of Osiris
November 16th Festival of Bast
November 24th Feast of the Burning Lamps in honour of
Isis and Osiris
December 8th Festival of Neith
December 21st Return of Osiris to Isis
December 23rd Day of Hathor ‘Night of Lamps’ final
Entombment of Osiris
December 26th Birthday of Horus
December 31st Lucky Day of Sekhment
Not all these dates are celebrated it is up to the individual, whether they celebrate them or not, and how they celebrate.
The neteru first came to Britain nearly 2000 years ago, in the cult of Isis, brought here by the Romans. Isianism had spread through the Roman Empire promising salvation and eternal life to all the Goddess’s devotees. Isianism was very much an urban form of the Religion, and the Goddess’s Temples were more often than not in the City Centres, near a market place, so they were accessible to the ordinary people. Where Isis had always been looked upon in Egypt as the patroness of pharaonic power, Isis adapted with great ease to become the champion of the poor, the suffering and the sick.
There for, this is a form of Paganism, for its emphasis is on balance, order and justice, even though there are areas which have been described as primitive, and as Egypt is in Africa this religion is very similar to the religious beliefs as a magical religion, and does have something’s in common with Voodoo. It is a nature religion, relating to the Sun, the Earth and the Stars and Moon. Although some of the teachings are quite complex, it is a very Nature based Religion.
