Disposal of Offerings to Egyptian Gods

[agorman]

Hello, I'm trying to relate with Egyptian gods nowadays and I have a doubt about offerings. Can I eat the food after I offer it or do I have to throw it away or bury it? Thank you (any books you can recommend me about Egyptian polytheism will be welcome).

[Egyptian Phoenix]

You can and its recommended you eat anything you offer the gods. On the other hand, you shouldn't eat anything you offer an ancestor.

Anything else you need to know?

[Sylvan]

Hmmm... very interesting. Can you give me the Kemetic explanation of the difference?
Why is the ancestor food made inedible, and how do you dispose of it?

[agorman]

Thank you, so it's like in Hinduism, you offer normal food and you obtain blessed food, I like it.

Anything else you need to know?

Oh yes, thanks, I'd like to know something else about the myth of the Osiris trial. I have a conflict with a dream I had with Isis, where in a ceremony she called the "sands of time" to take a soul to a new incarnation. The soul had to pass through an oval shaped door, which symbolized the entrance to a womb. So according to my dream, "unworthy" (not evolved enough) souls are lead by Isis to reincarnate. I saw no Ammit. Maybe Ammit "swallowing you" it's a metaphor that refers to reincarnation?

So what I believe (also according to my dream) is that you reincarnate until you are evolved enough to end up in a Paradise with the gods. I mean, you end up being like one of them. Anyway, what I've read about the trial of Osiris and Ammit leaves me confused. Can anyone clarify? I don't really believe the gods are as stupid to annihilate us just because we didn't comply with the whole set of rules.

[Egyptian Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Sylvan

Hmmm... very interesting. Can you give me the Kemetic explanation of the difference?
Why is the ancestor food made inedible, and how do you dispose of it?

Because everything has energy to it. When you consume food offered to the gods its blessed because their some of their energy is in the food.

With your ancestors energy also goes into the offering, but its the energy of the dead, and hence not to be mingled with our energy as living.

[Egyptian Phoenix]

Ag I can only say that I am not sure what your dream means, because it was intended for you, not for me. However I think I can set your mind at ease about Ammit. That particular view of the afterlife is only one of many held by a culture whose beliefs evolved over millennia.

I and other modern Kemetics would say this isn't literal, it holds some metaphor about eating your heart/not obeying your inner voice.

[agorman]

Another question I have for you Egyptian Phoenix is, is it just me or these commandments list is not very trustable? Maybe it's influenced by Christian historians?

Declarations of Ma'at.

"26. I HAVE NOT CURSED GOD"? Which one of the gods?

"14. I HAVE NOT COMMITTED FORNICATION"? Was that just for priests? I thought the Egyptians didn't insist on sexual repression.

If that's a true list all of us are going to be eaten by Ammit in no time! LOL!

[Egyptian Phoenix]

I am not sure what list you're going on there. As for cursing God, it doesn't have to be a specific god. The Egyptians were Monist like Hindus are. They believed the gods were one. My translation says I do not revile Netjer, the Egyptian word for God.

[Sylvan]

Originally Posted by Egyptian Phoenix

Because everything has energy to it. When you consume food offered to the gods its blessed because their some of their energy is in the food.

With your ancestors energy also goes into the offering, but its the energy of the dead, and hence not to be mingled with our energy as living.

This has a resonance and parallel in many traditions I am familiar with of African origin. And there is well-founded speculation on the historical links between Egyptian religion and Orisha traditions in Yorubaland. There are some further complexities of course, but the basic idea is very much the same among Ocha (aka Santeria) practitioners in Cuba and elsewhere. I wonder.. is this tradition something that was acquired from a textual source or something "reverse-engineered" in the process of creating modern Kemetic praxis? I know there are some connections between the two communities, in that there are Kemetic practitioners whom are also Olorisha.

[Egyptian Phoenix]

I am not sure, but I could find out. You could PM Jacksnyte. He's a Reverend in the House of Netjer. He'd know more about it then me.

I am as they say in the common, a layman.