Wep Ronpet - Egyptian New Year

Our observance of Wep Ronpet, or the Egyptian New Year, took place this year according to the date given in Juno Covella. I like to periodically rededicate the main altar, particularly on the anniversary of our founding, and Wep Ronpet seemed like another excellent time for this; so our rite was the Dedication of a Shrine to Isis.

Here you see a photo of the altar set up for the Dedication rite, and I apologize for the reflections obscuring bits of the print above it. (Although the rite does not call for knives, the co-founders of this Iseum are very knife-conscious, and like to  have them around! They are very useful for dispelling isfet and slaying Apep, both of which are appropriate actions at the beginning of a new year.)

Certain of the items remain in place at all times, such as the icon, the vases, the small cat figures, and of course the print above; other things change as necessary for the type of rite taking place. For the simplest devotions, I may add nothing more than a candle and some incense; more elaborate ceremonies call for more elaborate trappings, and may include various tools, more statuary, extra candles, special altar cloths, and more.

This photo shows the altar set-up more closely, so that the ritual objects are visible. Many of them have been in our possession for years, and have stories behind them--but that's a topic for another, probably quite lengthy, post. The large yellow candle is filled with herbs and resins and carries the scent of Kyphi, so its fragrance blends nicely with that of the incense we burn. The brightly-colored flowers make a fine offering, as well as a reminder of the bright summer days that are coming to an end for us here in the not-so-distant future.

The Dedication rite is a deceptively simple one, but carries a lovely depth and warmth to it that makes it a pleasure to perform on a periodic basis. Because the version given in Dea is a bit different from the one given in Maya, I've elected to use the Dea version for the main Iseum shrine and the one in Maya for smaller personal shrines and temporary shrines. Either way, it never fails to bring a sense of peace and serenity to the temple space, and to the celebrants.

Isis Luminous Festival - The Lychnapsia

The Iseum celebrated the festival of Isis Luminous--also called Aset Webenut in antiquity and the Lychnapsia in later times--a bit late this year, owing to a health issue with one of the temple cats.  Our celebration was small and low-key, but still quite lovely. Here are a couple of pictures of the altar:

Isis Luminous altar.

The bowl at Her feet is a copy of a faience bowl in the Turin Museum, bearing a design of Hathor-faces and papyrus reeds. In it are tiny flower-shaped floating candles, each one carrying a prayer or wish; some people like to create origami boats for this festival, on which they write their petitions and in which they float small candles, but space being at a premium we went with the floating candles. (My flash was malfunctioning, so I wasn't able to photograph the altar in darkness with the candles burning.)

Here's a closer shot, in dimmer light:

You can see the Hathor faces in the bowl more clearly, as well as the eye of Horus on the cloth beneath it. The offerings were pure water, held in the cup to the viewer's left, and kyphi incense in the burner on the right. I will say that, for those who read the omens in the way a petition candle burns, that one of them drowned its own wick and the other had a long, clean burn, and that the results in each case were exactly what you'd have expected!