RPD Results!

On Friday I underwent my Rite of Parent Divination. (For those who don't know, the RPD is a divination meant to determine one's patron gods.) It was a great experience, and now I'm thrilled to introduce myself as the daughter of Bast-Mut and beloved of Nut and Wepwawet-Yinepu.

In the couple of days it's been since my RPD, my thoughts have yet to settle down. The results were both expected and unexpected, but I am of course very pleased with the turnout. I have so much to say about the experience, but I think I need a few days to gather my thoughts and get to know these Netjeru as Parents and Beloveds.

I wish I was able to say more about it now, but rest assured, there will be more posts on the subject!

Until then, dua Bast-Mut! Dua Nut! Dua Wepwawet-Yinepu!

RPD, Anyone?

My beginner’s course is over, and I’ve decided to become a Remetj of Kemetic Orthodoxy and undertake the Rite of Parent Divination.  Part of me wishes I could say that I struggled with those decisions, that I thought long and hard about them before coming to some great understanding that I lacked before. But I have to say, they were two easy decisions to make.


I like KO. I like what it is all about, I like the people I’ve met, and I like performing Senut. I really feel that it is a place I fit in spiritually, and being a Remetj gives me that place without requiring any of the ties that comes with official conversion or vows. So why not become a Remetj, a friend of the faith? I’ve got no answers for that one.

As for the RPD, there was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted it done. Yet Hemet (AUS) has advised those of us in the beginner’s course not to rush into the decision, so I’ve tried stepping back and giving the matter a closer look.

I am immensely curious about the RPD. It might sound bad to say, but that curiosity is the driving force behind my decision. While there are Netjeru who I am close to now, I don’t feel anxious about the prospect of not having them show up in the divination. But who will show up? Will it be one of the gods that I am currently familiar with, or someone completely unexpected? Will they in any way reflect the Celtic gods that I am close to, and if so, how? Most of all, I want to see if my RPD is on the mark. Will I have, or find, a connection to those deemed to be my Parents and Beloveds? Will I see something of myself in them? Or something that I want to become?

I should say at this point that I don’t see the RPD as something that I need. I know that I would be able to find a patron (or Parent, if you will) and build strong relationships with the Netjeru on my own. So why bother? Because the RPD is like advice, is suppose, and I see no point in refusing advise if it is offered. I intend to take it to heart, to see where it leads me and what I can glean from it. Yet in the end, RPD or no, the relationships that I cultivate and how I choose to do so is up to me, and me alone.

Netjer

At the start of KO's beginner's course, we were advised to take a temporary hiatus from the worship of individual gods to focus on the concept of Netjer, the One and the Many. I have to admit, I didn't really like the idea. But I joined the class to learn something new, to expand my horizons, blah blah blah. So I told myself to get over it and give this Netjer thing a chance.

At first, praying to Netjer only reminded me of why I'm a polytheist. Gods I understand. I can talk to them, they can talk to me. They have strong and distinct personalities, things they like and things they don't. When I pray or make offerings, I connect with them. We have ourselves a moment, and it's all very touching.  Netjer on the other hand....

How do you connect with something that vast? How do you know that it's out there, that it cares? Or that it is even aware of us? Giving offerings to Netjer was very disheartening. I felt like I was just throwing words out there; that they just floated off into the ether until they disappeared from my plane of awareness, forever lost and forgotten.

I think a person's natural inclination is to humanize something that they don't understand.  If you give it a face, a personality, you can begin to understand it. But I couldn't give Netjer a face.  That would make It too akin to the Christian's god, and my inability to accept such a concept is one of the many reasons I left the Catholic faith. Needless to say, I was frustrated. Why even bother with Netjer? We have the Names, the gods, after all.  They seem like more than enough for me.

I believe that everyone and everything is made out of the same stuff spiritually.  It's not an original idea, I know, but it is a very beautiful one nonetheless. It reflects the interconnectedness and significance of all things. Considering this, I have often played with the idea of a sort of "divine source," for lack of a better word. I see it as the roots of some grand divine family tree, or the sum of all things, or any number of random concepts. It was never important for me to define this thing. In fact, I've always liked the mystery of it... it's like a philosophical toy that I get to play with whenever I want.

I mention this because in the course of my "communications" with Netjer, this is how I have at last, on some level, been able to understand and ultimately connect with It. It is too big to be personified, to be defined, or packed into a tidy parcel. It just Is. And I am perfectly content with that.