Ancient Egypt truly has so much to teach us and by learning a little more about it, you can bring its magic into your own daily life....and without freaking out your friends and relatives who don't follow your spiritual path or way of thinking!
The Egyptian Goddess, Isis, was a master shape-shifter and was able to serve and minister to the people in villages all across Egypt without revealing her "true Self". This is such an important practice, especially when you're doing your best to live your life in a way that others may not resonate with. It honors them, too, by being with them right where they are and enriching their life in a way that they understand and appreciate.
I feel that THIS is what living within the Ancient Egyptian belief system is all about! Honoring the Divine in each and every person without feeling as if they need to agree or follow the same principals and beliefs. Its a freeing and liberating practice and one that can serve us well no matter where we are or who we're with.
In this Goddess Diaries, I share how I practiced an Ancient Egyptian celebration called the Opet Festival, embodied as Isis, the Great Shape-Shifter.
There's something about Egypt that's inexplainable....and that's part of the magic of it.
Yes, it's the light, the people, the sand, the temples, the water, the music, the food....but it's what's woven into the breath of the place that touches you.
There are many many feast days and festivals that the Ancient Egyptians celebrated and one of them during our month of September is known as the Opet Festival.
In the ancient city of Thebes, modern day Luxor, there was a triad of gods that were Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. Amun is the hidden god and a god of creation, Mut is his consort in vulture, serpent or lioness form who was a goddess of protection, motherhood and death, and Khonsu is their child often seen in the form of a baboon who was a god of beginnings, cycles and the moon.
During this festival, the statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were moved from their temples at Karnak and a grand procession along the Avenue of Sphinxes moved them to the Amun shrine at Luxor Temple. There was feasting and dancing and laughter and more feasting and drinking and celebrating during this festival that lasted about 3 weeks.
Recently I had the opportunity to feel this festival come to life....it happened like this.....
“What are you doing on Tuesday?”
My husband-ex-husband called one day and asked, “What are you doing on Tuesday?” I looked at my calendar and said, “Nothing that can’t be moved around if I need to. What’s up?”
He said, “I have our grandson for the evening and wondered if you’d like to grandparent with me.”
Oooh! Of course I said yes! He let me know what time and then we talked about what to do with the little guy and what to fix for dinner, who had what and what needed to be shopped for at the grocery. All the festivities were being laid for a fun time with the grand-baby and I couldn’t wait!
As the day approached and I kept thinking about what we were doing for dinner and trying to imagine the evening, the Opet Festival came to my mind. He was stopping by here to pick me up, then we were heading down to get the little guy and bring him back here for dinner and feasting then taking him back after a few hours.
It sure seemed as if Amun (my H-E-H), and Khonsu (my little grandson), were coming to the temple of Mut (whose name means Mother…so that would be my Granny Self) to laugh and have fun and feast together. Do you see the similarities?! I was loving it!
Now, I didn’t breathe a word of it to anyone I was with at the time because they would most likely just been like, “Okaaay then….” and in the big scheme of life it wasn’t really important for them to be made aware of it. For them, it would have actually lessened the experience …. they were enjoying it for what it was by all muggle appearances, and that was just fine by me. As a photographer and proud Granny I of course wanted to take pictures, especially when the little 2 y.o. neighbor girl joined my grandson in my backyard, bringing her balls and slide and they sat facing each other in a tiny little adorable yogi squat and had a jibber-jabber conversation about his little shoes! (OMG you should have see it!) I decided, however, to celebrate it in true Ancient Egyptian style and go without my camera…or even my cell phone…and just really BE in the moment with everyone. THAT felt more perfect and I’m really glad I did it that way.
So, no photos to show of our little Opet Festival celebration….no foodie pictures of our food on our plates or the red and white checkered picnic blanket on the table or the way he held his little tiny spoon and ate strawberries and guacamole, or the way he drank like a big boy with a straw (a reusable straw/cup because Granny is planet conscious). No pictures of him climbing up the slide by himself and sliding with a big smile on his face all 24 inches down and no video proof of him saying “Grandpa” for the very first time.
As with all festivals and funs before we knew it, it was time to go. My grandson knew it and brought Grandpa his shoes and we loaded up and headed along the imaginary Avenue of Sphinxes to take him home. The little guy had such a great time playing that he fell asleep in no time.
For a night, at least in my mind, we lived like Ancient Egyptians….and had the time of our lives.
You can do this, too!
Invite family and friends to come to your temple for feasting and celebrating. Or the next time you’re invited to someone’s house for a meal or out to dinner at a restaurant, imagine in your mind that you’re traveling along your own Avenue of Sphinxes for an ancient way of celebrating. Think about the families coming…the mom and dad and child(ren) (the moon had many phases).
You don’t have to explain what’s happening in your mind….just BE there, in the moment with them, enjoying…acknowledging Divinity in you and seeing the Divinity in everyone.
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How did this inspire YOU? Let me know in the comments!