My Foray into Kemetic Orthodoxy!

Firstly I suppose I should tell you what Kemetic Orthodoxy is.

" Kemetic Orthodoxy is one of a number of Kemetic Reconstructionist religions. It was founded in the late 1980's by Ms. Tamara Siuda. It strives to reconstruct the religious practices of the people of Ancient Kemet, now called Egypt. It also incorporates rituals and concepts unique to this particular sect, causing it to be called more of a revivalist religion than a strict reconstructionist faith. "
                       
                         Taken from the excellent Wepwawet Wiki (http://www.wepwawet.org/wiki/index.php?title=Kemetic_Orthodoxy)

That Wiki explains it a lot better than I ever could. I first got interested in KO when I was searching Kemetic Reconstruction. I have always had a passion (more like obsession lol) with Ancient Egypt ever since I was about 4-5 years old when I saw a Bast statue in a store known as Past Times(They closed down but have a website, check it out they have great stuff : http://www.pasttimes.com/).

So anyway I got heavily interested in Paganism at the age of about 14-15, At first it was Wicca but I didn't agree with their concept of duality, that there is a male and female in everything also I didn't really agree that all gods are connected to one e.g : Isis and Osiris are the same as Zeus and Hera. If it applied to God(esses) in the same pantheon I'd be fine but it applies to everyone. I also didn't agree with the concept of the great God(ess). Then after that I was searching for something more like "hard polytheism" where every God(ess) is a seperate entity. But I wanted something along the lines of Ancient Egypt. That was when I discovered Kemetic Reconstruction.

My search didn't last too long from there, at the time there were 2 major temples(correct me if I am wrong), Kemetic Orthodoxy and Per Ankh. I checked out Per Ankh, they offered a beginner's class, but you had to pay for it! That set off alarm bells in my head(not that I am saying Per Ankh is a cult its just I tend to avoid groups where they expect payment for beginner's information), Don't get me wrong I don't mind leaving a donation for the lessons but to expect payment for what should be free, I think is wrong.

So I ended up registering on the Kemetic Orthodoxy forums(www.netjer.org) and from there started learning from what I read in the forums(lurk moar amirite?). When I turned 18 I started the beginner's course(you have to be 18 to do the course, if you are dependant on someone else or under the age of 18, you have to get your parent(s)/person you live with to fill out the application form aswell).  So about a fairway into the course, I drop out (I couldn't focus with college) and I got pissed off with myself. So I do the next one, I drop out of that too(my aunt died and I got seriously depressed) and I'm practically kicking myself. Eventually I apply for the next one, totally expecting to be told go away and I get into this course.

The reason why I am so happy is, I've completed the course! Read every lesson, asked questions(not many it's pretty easy to understand once you get over the concept of monolatry - I'll explain that in a minute). Filled in the ending Questionnaire and I am willing to become a Remetj(a friend of the faith - meaning if I decide I don't want to be a part of KO I don't have to). Hopefully I'll also do RPD(Rite of Parent Divination - more on that in a minute) and work my way up, I would like to become a member of the clergy, not for the whole I am a Kemetic Priest aren't I cool! attitude(it's stupid to think that because you are a member of Pagan clergy, you are automatically better than lay people you aren't), I want to do it for the people. To be able to help them in times of crisis. Basically I'll see what happens!

Now I said I'll explain 2 terms, Monolatry and RPD so here they come!

MONOLATRY:  Monolatry is a form of polytheism. Adherents of monolatry believe that many gods emanate from one source. In the case of Kemetic Orthodoxy, all the Names of Netjer emanate from Atum

RPD (RITE OF PARENT DIVINATION):  The Rite of Parent Divination, commonly abbreviated RPD, is a ritual performed by the Nisut (AUS) to determine the spiritual Parent and any Beloveds of a follower of the faith. This is the first step towards Shemsuhood, but one is not obligated to take the Shemsu vows after going through the RPD. The ritual may only be performed by the Nisut (AUS), and is carried out by a form of objective geomantic divination. The rite is carried out in a binary fashion (meaning the answers are yes or no), and it is checked repeatedly. This Rite has caused some controversy between Kemetic Orthodoxy and other Kemetic Reconstructionist religions, as it has no historical basis. It was instituted as a kind of initiatory rite into Kemetic Orthodoxy, symbolizing a birth into the community.

Both definitions taken from the Wepwawet wiki:
Wepwawet Wiki