A few Questions

[Darkwater Stone]

I am sorry if some of these questions are mundane, but just recently, (like, in the past hour) I have been googlin Kemet and such and I was wondering on some basics.

Do they believe in reincarnation?

What are their views on mind altering substances?

Are their beliefs on life similar to the wiccan rede or are they more focussed on achieving balance between things light and dark?

What are their opinion on witchcraft?(how often they practice it, any guidelines, ect.)

thanks for all imput.

[instinct]

I am sorry if some of these questions are mundane, but just recently, (like, in the past hour) I have been googlin Kemet and such and I was wondering on some basics.

ok. I can only answer this from my point of view and from a Kemetic Orthodox point of view. but then my views should be as valid as anyone elses :)


Do they believe in reincarnation?
generally we believe that when we die we head West. we go through judgement (the weighing of the heart) and then, provided we're good boys and girls, we go to the afterlife to be with our gods and ancestors.

we don't have an "official" stance on reincarnation, however it is entirely possible and it's believed our "soul" can choose to be reincarnated if it so pleases. :)

What are their views on mind altering substances?
no official stance that I know of. what you do in life is really your choice.


Are their beliefs on life similar to the wiccan rede or are they more focussed on achieving balance between things light and dark?
our beliefs are centered around ma'at as a concept. the concept of truth, justice, what's "right" and what "must be". ma'at, in itself, is balanced. I guess you could say that ma'at is widely open to individual interpretation, but then.. i'd like to think that everyone "knows" inside them what is good. and what is bad. ma'at is choosing to do good and to make the most of our lives. and to help others where we can.
ma'at personified is the goddess Ma'at, who wears the feather of truth on her head.
I don't know enough about wicca for a comparison

What are their opinion on witchcraft?(how often they practice it, any guidelines, ect.)
this i can't really answer.. I guess the closest thing to witchcraft in Kemet is heka. But I don't feel wise enough to talk about that right now, lol

[Zephyrstorm]

Instinct answered better than I can about most of it.

But as a practicing Witch who is also Kemetic Orthodox, I think I might be able to shed some light on it.

If you are refering to the practice of Witchcraft, instead of using it as a word for Wicca, then I would say that I am unqualified to answer. Personally, I keep it separate and treat the practice as completely unrelated. When I'm doing magic from a Kemetic perspective, I use the principles (what little I know) from Heka not the principles of Witchcraft.
Though I have noticed some overlap (i.e. the importance of the Law of Names).

If you are talking about a more religious view of Witchcraft, be it Wiccan or other, then I would say that so long as you keep the two practices separate, then there is no problem.

Hope that helps.

[Darkwater Stone]

All information so far is GREAT.
I also have another question:
Can anybody give me the pronuntiations for the main Kemetic Gods and Goddesses? (I don't expect someone to name them all, there's TOO many.)
Just the main ones will do. THANKS ALOT!

[Zephyrstorm]

Well, as you'll notice some of us use different names for Them than the common ones. This is because most people learn the Greek names for the Gods rather than the Kemetic Names.

I'll start, and my friends will continue to add I'm sure. others will, I'm sure have different pronounciations.

Wesir (Oo-e-seer is how I say it) = Osiris
Aset (Ah-set) = Isis
Bast (Bahst)
Amun (Ah-moon)
Het-Hert (Het - Hert or Het-Heret) = Hathor
Heru (Hehroo) = Horus

(left out Yinepu so that one of His kids can happy bound up and share. ;)

something that you might want to keep in mind is that different groups of Kemetics have different spellings of the words from Kemet. Some use the Greek names, others use the Kemetic. Since the Egyptians used a different kind of writing system than what we use, the heiroglyphs go through a process of transliteration. Not all scholars use the same system of transliteration because there is debate about some of the different glyphs and how they should be approached.

So for example, HetHert will also be given as Hathor, Het-Heru, Hwt-Heru, Het-Hor, Hat-Hor, HetHeret, Het-Hert, etc.
Makes for some confusion when you are just starting off, but until we have a greater understanding of Kemetic writing, it's not going to change.

Good Luck.
Neheti

[instinct]

hello :T
I did plenty of talking at retreat, so i like to think i have a fair idea :)

Wesir seems to be pronounced 'weh-seer'
Yinepu - yih-nuh-poo (with the stress slightly more on the first syllable), also yih-NAH-poo works.
Mut - Moot (it does NOT rhyme with book)
Ptah - you just.. say it.. like it's written. ends up sounding like puh-tah
Nebthet - ergh. i'm not sure. maybe a few possibilities. neh-bet-het. neb-tet. neb-het. i've heard all three.

were there any others you were wondering about?