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What's a meryBast? My Shemsu name is meryBast ("Whom Bast Loves"), which my handy dandy Egyptologists have told me is a phrase rather than a name. This is rather convenient, because my Imakhu name -- Sekhauesmutes or "She Remembers Her Mother" -- completes the phrase that is my Shemsu name (neat, hunh?). History and Lineage
I have also, in the past, taught introductory courses and acted in ritual capacity for numerous shrine openings and festivals. I have received instruction from two other senior priests in my temple: Heri-Tep Kai-Imakhu Antybast and Kai-Imakhu Nakhtdeshretiu. I have escorted Her Holiness to private shrines in Northern California, Zen Buddhist temples in Chicago, and Hindu Ashrams in Florida. I intend to be with Her in Barcelona, Spain at the Parliament of World Religion's conference in 2004. What is Kemetic Orthodoxy? Em hotep (in peace), XXXXXX, In answer to your questions.... The "What is Kemetic Orthodoxy?" essay at Kemet.org pretty much lays down the law as to what we are and what we do. You can find it at: We believe in God as a singular entity that expresses Itself as a multitude to our benefit. God, being as vast as It is, is Itself unknowable; Its expressions -- or Names, as we call Them -- are Its personalities that interact with other Names and with us. It's one of the multitude -- Bast -- that I serve as a priest and as Her daughter. We believe in our Ancestors, who we call the Akhu or "Shining Ones"; the members of our family who have gone ahead of us to the horizon. We do not worship them, but we do venerate them, meaning we appeal to them for help, we thank them for their efforts, and we leave them offerings in shrine for them. We acknowledge a leader Who represents the Living Heru (Horus); She is our Nisut (AUS), the living bridge between God and the Shemsu. She is invested with the kingly ka and is the authority of our religion. She is a holy person much in the way that the Dalai Lama is considered by His people to be a holy person; a living God -- or avatar of God -- given to us by God to help us in this world. We acknowledge a community of people who are the Shemsu ("Followers"), who have dedicated themselves to our religion, and Remetj ("People of God"), who have yet to decide if this is the place for them. We treat this as something of an extended family, and we expect interaction between people in that community. Within the community are the Imakhiu (or "Revered Ones") who are the Servants of God (Hem(t)-Netjer). They teach the religion, answer questions from the Shemsu and Remetj, facilitate problems, and act as leaders while also following the requests of the Name(s) Who is/are their Parent(s). Finally, we believe in ma'at, which is hard to define -- if you've studied Egypt, though, you probably know what ma'at is, or have an idea of what it is. It is comparable to the Taoist belief in "The Way", and it is both a concept of the ultimate cosmic order that must be preserved, sustained, and obeyed, and a Netjert Who appears with a feather on Her head. It has been our experience that without the above five -- Netjer, the Akhu, the Nisut (AUS), the Shemsu community, and ma'at -- the religion is impossible to resuscitate. We follow what we feel is a very close version of the religion as it was practiced in antiquity, and we consider the religion to be an African Tradition in that it bears similarities to other faiths that originated in Africa (such as Ifa). We understand that we're not for everyone, and some people do find our structure a little too strict for them, however we feel (from experience) that the religion does not work without the hierarchy in place. I hope that answers your questions. If you have more, please do ask. I'm always happy to talk about my faith and respond to any inquiries they may have. Ankh udja seneb,
Copyright 1998-2005, S.D.S. |
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