A clash of ideologies

[XanderAmon]

In meditations some time back, I started to see some new images, a couple of which were a red ribbon and a feather headdress. Some research showed these both to be attributed to Min (http://www.egyptiandreams.co.uk/min.php), an Egyptian god of fertility. There were other things about him that appealed to me as well: another attribute of him, Amun, is quite similar to one of my "magical" names *points to username*. He is associated with lightning and the constellation Orion, both of which I feel a connection to. It seemed rather clear he was calling out to me as a patron god. I'd never worked with an Egyptian god before, but I'd always had an interest in their ancient culture, so it didn't seem too weird.

Fast forward a few months, and me attending a sader at my cousin's. Now, I'm hardly Jewish in practice. I was never even Bat Mitzvah'ed, and I don't neccessarily worship the Hebrew god (though I do believe in an over-arching power greater than any archetypal god or goddess). But I have grown up very close to the Jewish side of my family, and the biggest part of that has been the holiday traditions.

So I'm sitting there having a grand old time, and we start singing "Daiyenu", a song about all the great things God did for the Jews in bringing them out of Egypt. And suddenly I realize there's a line in there about Him "destroying their gods".

And in the back of my mind I start to realize that I'm getting very close to a god of a society which, if the Torah is to be believed, enslaved my ancestors.

Worse, I find out later that Rameses II was closely associated with Min. Rameses II is the pharoh who supposedly enslaved the Jews.

So, that's a bit odd, eh? I'm trying not to freak out too much about it for the time being, but rather think: wonder what it may mean, how it might affect my faith... and whether anyone has gone through something similar.

How 'bout it?

[Redshire]

I'll pipe in and say that there is no real evidence that the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. Now, I can't quote a direct scholarly source on that, but it's something I've read in numerous books thus far. *shrug*

[XanderAmon]

I'll pipe in and say that there is no real evidence that the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. Now, I can't quote a direct scholarly source on that, but it's something I've read in numerous books thus far. *shrug*

This has occurred to me :) On top of that, my family isn't too Orthodox by a long shot; if I mentioned this to them they'd probably just laugh it off and go "oooo scary egpytian god" :lol: But I thought it was something to ponder, regardless.

[Redshire]

I was just reading a book that proposed the idea that the Hebrews left Egypt after... oh I forget his name, that Pharoh who worshiped only the Aten... after his rule ended and the origional polytheistic religion was reinstated by Rameses II. They thought that perhaps those people weren't happy that a monotheistic religion similar to theirs wasn't going to fly as the official state religion, and left to do their own thing.

Now, that also leads me to wonder if the Hebrews in Egypt at that time weren't the victims of some persecution, or at least ill-treatment... why else would they leave so suddenly and hold a grudge so fiercely? Perhaps they were targeted not because they were of a different faith altogether, but because their faith so closely resembled that of the Aten and the new Priesthood and Pharohs didn't want to be usurped again.

Who knows.

But I really know almost nothing about this sort of history, so I'll shut up now. I'm sure someone from the Kemetic boards will see this and give you sounder advice. :)

[David19]

I don't know too much about Hebrew history, or Ancient Egyptian history, but i am interested in Kemetism (and i am half Jewish), I don't think the Kemetic gods would care whether you were Jewish or not, (i don't think any of the gods would care, but who knows?).

I think i've heard that the Hebrew's came into Egypt and for a time, lived peacefully with the Egyptians, but a Pharoah (i don't know which one), taxed them heavily for money to build the Pyramids (maybe he also enslaved some of them too).

I don't think Yahweh 'destroyed' the gods, probably just some of their worshippers, maybe the Kemetic gods and Yahweh might not get on, but i've also heard King Solomon and David had Egyptian wives who worshipped the Kemetic gods.

Anyway, sorry i can't help some more, if i find something out, i'll post it, but maybe others know. I'm also interested in Hebrew/Jewish history and Egypt.

[SilentDreams]

I see one possible messages from all this.

(Mind you, these are my opinions and "guesses" so please feel free to take all of my ramblings with a big *handful* of salt. Hehe)

Okay so one of the messages I got was that Min is speaking to you to clear their names in your own mind. You've been raised to believe that he and his fellow Egyptian Gods enslaved the Jewish peoples when he believes strongly that no such thing happened. So he's coming to you because he see's potential in you and he's hoping to "fix" whatever negative stigma you've been raised with.

(A little out there, eh?)

So yeah, that's what I got from it.

[coeur]

I tend to see any enslavement or historical rifts between religious groups to be a product of people. Not deities.