Category:Netjeru
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
The veneration of ancient Egyptian deities was once believed to have ended with the coming of Christianity to North Africa. However, along with Roman gods and Greek gods, they have been partially retained and also deliberately revived as a Neo-Pagan tradition.
The netjeru, also known as the Egyptian gods or pantheon of Kemetic deities, are those honored in the North African religion of ancient Egypt and in contemporary Kemetic Neo-Paganism, including Kemitic Reconstructionist and Kemetic Orthodox denominations.
The Kemetic pantheon consists of sixty or more deities and spiritual entities -- many of whom began as local gods. The religion developed from primarily animistic and nature-centered worship in pre-dynastic times until, at its height, it become a theocracy, at the center of which stood pharaohs, or kings - rulers who embodied an earthly manifestation of divine power. Contemporary understandings of ancient Egyptian history recognize stages of both societal and religious growth and development stretching across three eras: the Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BCE), the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 BCE), and the New Kingdom (1550–1069 BCE) with Intermediate and Late periods between and following. The New Kingdom was marked by pharaonic forces significantly increasing emphasis placed on Sun gods and intentionally de-emphasizing the worship of other deities.
It is notable that many of the Kemetic deities are represented by totemic animals, and their spiritual roles are based on the animals' characteristics and habits within the landscape of ancient Egypt. For instance, Anpu, popularly known by his Greek name Anubis, is represented by a jackal, and his role as an embalmer and psychopomp or conductor of the dead mirrors the habits of the jackals who roamed throughout the graveyards of ancient Egypt. As Egyptian civilization urbanized, many of the netjeru took on more human forms, while still being recognized as animal spirits. Thus Anpu can be shown not only as a jackal, but a man with the head of a jackal, the latter often interpreted as a representation of a priest of Anpu wearing a jackal-headed mask.
Ancient Egyptian farming techniques, and thus the existence of Egyptian culture, depended upon the annual flooding of the Nile River, and thus water and agricultural deities, such as Osiris, also feature prominently among the Kemetic gods. As the reach of Egyptian civilization expanded in area, so also the pantheon grew, incorporating local tutelary gods and goddesses and elevating them to the status of netjeru in the process.
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Petitioning the Netjeru
Hoodoo psychic readers, spirit workers, and root doctors who practice in the North African religion of ancient Egypt and in contemporary Kemetic Neo-Paganism, and who call upon the netjeru on behalf of clients, may petition specific netjeru to help carry out their spells, according to the life-conditions with which the deities were associated in the days of ancient Egypt.
Popular Netjeru (Kemetic Deities)
Akhu
Akhu are the ancestors who once were alive but now reside in Duat or the underworld.
Amun
Amun is the king of the gods and a deity of creation. (Read More...)
Atum
Atum is one of the earliest and most important gods known to the ancient Egyptian civilization. He created himself from the primordial waters, ascending from the abyss in the form of a snake. (Read More...)
Anubis
Anubis, also known as Anpu, is an underworld deity associated with guiding the dead and weighing their hearts. (Read More...)
Apep
Apep is the snake-god associated with evil and eclipses of the Sun. (Read More...)
Bastet
Bastet is the cat or cat-headed goddess of protection, pleasure, sexuality, and fertility. (Read More...)
Bes
Bes, also known as Bisu, is a dwarf lion-headed god standing on his hind legs; he protects fertility, women in labor, and those engaged in the arts.
Geb
Geb is the personification of earth in both its life-supporting and terrifying aspects; crops grow from his body, but his laughter is manifested in the earthquake. (Read More ...)
Hathor
Hathor is the cow goddess of the Milky Way, also known as "The Lady of the Stars," who helps in matters of motherhood, love, and beauty. (Read More ...)
Horus
Horus, also known as Heru, is a hawk-headed god, who is the ruler of Egypt and slayer of Set. (Read More ...)
Isis
Isis, also known as Aset, is the goddess of mothers, magic, and fertility and the mother of Horus. (Read More ...)
Maat
Maat, often represented by a feather, is the goddess of truth. (Read More...)
Nut
Nut, also known Neuth', is the goddess of the sky, especially the night sky. (Read More...)
Osiris
Osiris, also known as Wesir, is the deity of the underworld though originally hr was a fertility deity. (Read More...)
Ptah
Ptah is the creator of the Netjeru pantheon. (Read More ...)
Ra
Ra is the creator deity and god of the sun. (Read More ...)
Sekhmet
Sekhmet is the lion-headed goddess of protection and vengeance of the gods. (Read More ...)
Set
Set is the deity of the chaos, desert sandstorms, thunderstorms, and the slayer of Apep. (Read More ...)
Shu
Shu is a sky god, the son of Atum, who represent air and wind, and is the brother of Tefnut. (Read More ...)
Sobek
Sobek, also known as Sobeq or Sebek, is the crocodile god who created the Nile river and is a consort to Tawret. (Read More ...)
Tawret
Tawret, also known as Taweret, Ipet, or Reret, is a goddess of childbirth, depicted as a pregnant hippopotamus with the paws of a lion and the back of a crocodile, standing upright. (Read More ...)
Tefnut
Tefnut is one of the twin children of the ancient Egyptian creator-god Atum, whom Atum produced by either spitting or masturbation, depending on the ancient Egyptian scripture one follows. (Read More ...)
Tehuti
Tehuti, the ibis-god also known as Thoth, is the deity of writing, magic, and record-keeping. (Read More ...)
