May 27, 2010
After the Beautiful Feast
The Beautiful Feast of the Valley has just ended, the great twelve-day festival during which the holy triad of Gods from Uaset, the city of Thebes — Amun, Mut, and Khonsu — sail to the western bank of the river to pay Their respects to Hethert and Wesir, and during which the people of Kemet would honor their Akhu, their beloved dead, with picnic feasts among the tombs. I think this is one of the festivals that loses a lot in the modern day — even if we could take a twelve-day holiday from work or other responsibilities, most of us would still be missing out on the processions, the revelry, the sheer emotional force of an entire populace joined in rituals of celebration and remembrance.
That said, it’s still worth celebrating. Last weekend, I enjoyed a lunchtime feast before my Akhu shrine, during which I talked with them about the past and also about my life right now. I actually spent quite a bit of time talking to my mother; and I was finally able to express my regrets that we probably had never understood each other very well, and to work through some of the ambivalence that I’ve been feeling toward her lately. At the end of the feast, I played my sistrum for the Akhu, which she seemed to think was a fun idea — I had the sudden mental impression of her shaking her own sistrum and doing the funny, awkward little bobbing dance that she used to do. It made me laugh. I’m not particularly adept at communicating with the dead, but I feel that we made a connection there, or perhaps cleared up a connection that was in danger of growing occluded.
Last night there was an online celebration in the House of Netjer chatroom, during which we named all of our Akhu and made offerings to them. Not quite the same as a live ritual, but powerful nonetheless to see that list of names scroll upward, to speak aloud the names of my own Akhu as I typed them in, the ripples of single drops falling into that great river. This year, unfortunately, daily life caught up with the Northeast region and we weren’t able to organize a get-together for the festival, but I hope we’ll be able to manage it again next year. The more that we can share in the great festivals of our religion, the better.
I’m also planning a personal Kemetic Memorial Day observance for this coming Monday, as a sort of addendum to the Beautiful Feast of the Valley. I’ll post about it here afterward.
May you and your dead be at peace, and may they bless you with good fortune and the everlasting comfort of their love.
Dua Akhu! Nekhtet!
A shrine for the online Beautiful Feast of the Valley ritual, featuring offerings of peonies from the garden, cool water (three glasses for the Theban triad, and a shot glass for the Akhu), and white chocolate (divided as well between the Gods and the Akhu). Note too the modern appurtenances: a binder serving as a windbreak to keep the air conditioner from blowing out the candles and a squirt bottle to chase away the cats.