Egyptian Paganism for Beginners: Bring the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt into Daily Life [Paperback]

Jocelyn Almond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2004 | Series: For Beginners (Llewellyn's)

Bring the sacred rites and rituals of ancient Egypt into your Pagan practice today. This beautifully written guide, by noted scholars Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon, presents a compelling overview of ancient Egyptian religious and magical beliefs.

Egyptian Paganism for Beginners is unique in its focus on specific rituals for individual gods and goddesses. For solitary practitioners who want to perform daily devotions, it offers genuine invocations and prayers for each of the main Egyptian deities. There are translations of authentic religious texts, along with insightful commentary on relevant Egyptian history, myth, and lore.

Also included in this comprehensive guidebook are practical instructions on how to cast a circle, make a shrine, consecrate statues, and channel oracles. The reader will learn how to safely evoke entities, invoke deities, and "assume the Godform"-a major tenet of ancient Egyptian religion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Disappointingly inaccessible, this primer contains none of the handy reference tools normally associated with a beginners' guide. Nowhere is the "Getting Started" list of things to have on hand: altar accoutrements, offering items, sacred texts. Also missing are a "Know Your Deities" chart and a glossary of terms. Instead, the authors provide more of an advanced fireside chat on Egyptian Paganism. They provide some guidelines, but even these can be unclear: "The shrine or altar should preferably be placed in the east, the direction of sunrise, or else so that you are facing towards Egypt; but if this is not possible, it does not really matter, as all directions have some sacred significance." The text is peppered with odd references to other religions: the writers compare the concept of heka (Egyptian magic) to the Christian Logos (Word of God); and later, while discussing the assumption of a "godform," they encourage spontaneity by quoting the New Testament letter of 2 Peter. Though the authors devote a chapter to the invocation of each god or goddess, here too, the first-time reader becomes more muddled than enlightened. Mythology mixes with seemingly stream-of-consciousness musings, and the authors sometimes drop various oh-by-the-way suggestions that seem disjointed, as when they encourage readers to use the same incantations with other neteru (gods). Better organized, this text could provide an interesting and useful tool in pursuing pagan worship. Unfortunately, as is, it more likely will discourage even the most diligent of beginners.
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About the Author

Jocelyn Almond and Keith Seddon were born in 1956 in England, and met at school in 1975. They married in 1977, and each attained a BA degree with first class honors in Studies in the Humanities from the University of Hertfordshire in 1982, and a PhD in Philosophy from University College, London in 1986.

In the early 1990s they became members of the international Goddess organization, the Fellowship of Isis (FOI), in which Jocelyn trained for the priesthood. In 1995 she became a Priestess-Hierophant and began to run FOI Magi Degree courses by correspondence through her Lyceum of Isis Myrionymous within the Fellowship. In 2001 she was appointed to the Archpriesthood Union, the custodial body of the FOI. Keith furthered his studies in Ancient Philosophy, and founded the Stoic Foundation, through which he runs a correspondence course in spiritual well-being. He also works as a correspondence tutor for Warnborough University, Canterbury, England, where he is Professor of Philosophy, teaching MA and PHD programs in Ancient Ethics, Metaphysics and Philosophy of Religion. They live near to London and together run a local moot of the Pagan Federation-the leading Pagan organization in Britain.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (May 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738704385
• ISBN-13: 978-0738704388
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #698,169 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad start, August 17, 2004

By 

Psyche (spiralnature.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Egyptian Paganism for Beginners: Bring the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt into Daily Life (Paperback)

It should be noted first off that this is not a book of ancient Egyptian paganism as it would have been practiced, but rather a modern interpretation using Egyptian godforms in a modern neo-pagan setting, helpfully divided into two sections.

In part one, Egyptian concepts of God are related with the authors' understanding that 'each of the major neteru can represent the Supreme Being, each showing a slightly different facet of the One who is unknowable and inconceivable in his or her entirety. The neteru retain their individual identities, so the devotee is able to encounter the One in a very personal and intimate way.' (pg 7) Briefly described are a few Egyptian-specific terms such as the ka, sekhem, and the Heavenly Trine, and fortunately the authors honestly note that one 'cannot be sure that the ancient Egyptian words?mean the exact equivalent of terms we use today for such concepts' (pg 11). Also described are the elements involved in creating a shrine, the opening of the mouth ceremony, and further notes on Egyptian magick; as well as general pagan and magickal concepts such as casting a circle, totem and assumption of godforms.

The second part is dedicated to the various Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Following various descriptions of their histories throughout the dynasties are invocations, replies, calls, meditations and commentary for many of the major Gods and Goddesses. Though they do state that it is '?not intended to be a dictionary of gods and goddesses the neteru are not presented in alphabetical order, but in the order that we believe is going to be the most helpful for explaining the nature of ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and practices, showing an overall view of the religions' further noting that 'only a small selection of the neteru is featured' (pg 8).

There are, however, a few points of contention. For one, the understanding of chakra and kundalini lore was very simplified, and not really relevant to the text at hand, having no sensible place in Egyptian religion. Also, there did seem to be an overabundance of comparisons to Judeo-Christian mythology, perhaps they're trying to provide a reference point for those coming from such a background, but I found it more of a distraction than useful. There's no need to equate the two, as they come from completely different mythological and ritual backgrounds.

While not an expression of ancient Egyptian religion and ritual as it may have been practiced, it does provide a basic introduction to modern Egyptian paganism, not a bad start to one's exploration of this path.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but Misleading, April 15, 2006

By 

Kevin Wilson "and Amanda Greathouse" (bowing down to Auset in wosrhip in the temple of Philae) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Egyptian Paganism for Beginners: Bring the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt into Daily Life (Paperback)

After reading this book, I was left a little confused. It is a good book, but the names are hellenized, the practices greatly altered, and it is just about the gods and goddesses, it does not contain a lot of the information that someone looking for a genuine egyptian spiritual practice is looking for. This does not contain a great deal of the medu neter of the egyptian spiritual practice, not to mention anything about the nome spirits, the cosmological resonance, the difference between egyptian and wiccan elemental/directional correspondences. If you are looking to worship the egyptian pantheon with a wiccan devotional system, this is an exce;;ent book, is you are interested in the actual beliefs of the egyptians and how to authentically recreate their spiritual practices, I would highly recommend The Sacred Magic of Ancient Egypt, and The Esoteric Wisdom of Ancient Egypt, both by Rosemary Clark, when I received these 2 books, and read them, I was bowled over by how interesting and informative they are.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Egyptian Paganism for Beginners, April 13, 2005

By 

J. "@Occult World Ledger.com" (Eureka, CA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Egyptian Paganism for Beginners: Bring the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt into Daily Life (Paperback)

I found this work to be very easy to understand. It holds a wealth of information

on the Egyptian religion, their gods and their rites and rituals. The authors have made

the information accessible to all who want to follow the pagan rites of the Egyptians.I found the work easy to understand and filled with sharp insight into the heart of

Egyptian paganism and magic. I recommend this book to anyone starting out on the Egyptian path

as well as any general student of the occult as this work makes an excellent addition to the

occult library.