Udja
Good reflections.
ABOUT YOUR STATEMENT:
“It is hard to justify the understanding of ther groups even using the same arguments of Heroditus and others while ignoring the full scope of their work.
When information like this is presented it seems to be a similar argument that the brother who followed Islam had in the video.”
ANSWER:
In this area it is important to realize that when a person’s mind is dominated by anything other than openness to a higher truth than what they know, that is, when their mind (intellect) is closed to words that contradict their current understanding and their current capacity to expand, then that knowledge is rejected out of hand even if absolute proof were presented to support the argument. That would not matter because it is not about that. It is about a person’s level of intellectual purity or atrophy due to past living with fundamentalist ideals or erroneous notions that develop a level of comfort and have become actual scaffolding segments of the personality. Often when a new truth needs to be accepted it forces facing the falsehood of a previous one but if the previous one is part of the illusory identity of a person then losing that means losing the basis of the ego personality a person has become used to and comfortable with. So if a person has become accustomed to seeing themselves as a victim or a religious zelot, a doctor, president or whatever, and they are meant to see the illusoriness of their self-concept they would not accept that and even suppress that knowledge as if their life dependent on it and in a psychological way it does. This is how encrusted ignorance can become and such a person is neither fit for open spiritual training or even casual discussion about issues that may contradict their notions.
ABOUT YOUR STATEMENT:
“The other piece that was important through the lecture was the introduction of the disciplines to the Kemetian religion and the information of Jhuty being the founder and the one who introduced writing to the world (Known as the Mdw Ntr). I thought this gave very light detail of information that can be further dissected and broken down for better understanding of for a new Neterian.”
ANSWER:
We have found that in imparting the teaching of Neterianism (Shetaut Neter/Egyptian Mysteries) most personalities cannot successfully accept too much information because it will be misunderstood or because It will go over their heads. Also we have found that there are many who come to us from other African religions, or from masonic backgrounds, or from yoga studies or eastern religions or from western religions and a great majority here are also incapable of accepting what Neterianism really ultimately represents, a heretofore unknown paradigm that needs to be understood in its own context. Even so, many people come from varied backgrounds and traditions for the most part because the traditions they came from, for one reason or another, no longer fulfil their needs and they are searching for more. In order for the process to proceed there needs to be starting from a place where this new context may be started to be understood beside the context of where they are still residing so as to create a new space to expand into and move forward from the place they are currently. Finally, the Kemet University Asaru College is not primarily a history school but aspects of history are studied for context. Therefore a more detailed record may be found in our book African Origins but the focus of the teaching is the mysteries and that transcends all histories.
ABOUT YOUR STATEMENT:
“Side note: I was a Mason and one of the first lessons they teach is about the different columns (i.e. Doric, Ionic, etc.)”
ANSWER:
I understand you have studied teachings as presented in the Masonic orders. Shetaut Neter is presented in a mystery context as revealed truths in succeeding order of higher truth. However, it is also founded in a mystic context and taking into account the starting place of most students, which is having grown up or been affected by western cultural values that need to be, as was said before, set aside in order to explore the Neterian and thus be able to make since of it from the past perspectives learned but also in its own context and paradigm; therefore the starting points will be different and the lessons being prepared not for students growing up in Ancient Egypt but in the modern world, have attempted to adapt to those conditions.
ABOUT THE QUESTIONS:
1) In the context of actual history the Ancient Egyptian religion was practiced in Egypt until the fifth century ACE so well into the Christian era. After that the language usage in its Neterian context was dormant and the Copts continued though in a context of Gnosticism based on the Asarian Resurrection Tradition and then Orthodox Christianity. Thereafter other groups in Greece such as the Hermetic continued the wisdom while others continued to follow the tradition albeit ritualistically and thus forgetting much of the mystic wisdom into the enlightenment period of Europe even though some groups, such as masons, Rosicrucians, etc. kept some of the symbolism. I would not characterize what happened to the Ancient Egyptians as “letting conquerors have Egypt” any more than the Native Americans “Let” Europeans take their land, rape and pillage their culture, etc. As for those who might have gone south and become the Nok culture and later Yoruba or the Dogons, etc., they apparently also kept some remnants of symbolism and ritual and also forgot much of the mystery teaching.
Now, as for the last point, indeed, the religion of Neterianism did not die, as I just intimated above, but the most sacred mysteries went dormant and forgotten not until the decipherment of the Medtu Neter (which only revealed a literal interpretation through western cultural values) , but rather until it became recognized in the late 20th century that the objective of the Neterian teaching, though based in an African spiritual context, is not dedicated to symbol or ritual as ultimate eschatological goal but to a mystery teaching about mystic consciousness beyond ego consciousness. In this way, the Neterian temples along with their inscriptions and the Medtu Neter scriptures reflect and point to what is supreme and transcendental, beyond names and forms. Within this context the Neterian teaching reveals a paradigm and context removed from an orthodox religious perspective into a revelation of mastery over metaphor that reveals an existence beyond all names and forms and thus beyond all religions, rituals, symbols or paradigmns. The question then is how to impart such a revelation? The answer: step by step, with patience and with the mystic goal as the center of the teaching for those who are able to move beyond the paradigms and worldly contexts of ignorance, literalism, orthodoxy and strict historical interpretations of essentially metaphoric and mystic wisdom teachings.
2) As for the question about becoming an initiate and engaging the practices see this essay on the Egyptian Mystery School page.
The naming ceremony may have been mentioned in a context related to other traditions. In the Shetaut Neter culture we may think of a cultural name and the initiatic name. The cultural name is adopted by the individual and can be assisted by a knowledgeable initiate. The initiatic name is given for those who want to become temple initiates. As Shetaut Neter is a virtual Temple the names can be adopted by a person when they feel they are ready for such and they may seek counsel from a knowledgeable teacher on doing this and is only recommended for those who engage the teaching throughout the three main levels of iniaitaic study and practice as described in the web page.
3) The best ways to introduce the teaching is through myth and ritual and history. The course Kemet 101 tries to do more of the history context. Then at conferences the myth and ritual are highlighted along with the philosophy. That is for cultural level practitioners. For those who are interested in more intensive learning and practice the mystery school was setup.
4) Indeed Kwanza was started primarily by a professor of African studies by the name of Maulana Karenga with good intentions. However, that tradition, based on general African principles of social order and spirituality, is not primarily based on Shetaut Neter or in yoga. In Shetaut Neter there was an important end of Year festival and that is what our conferences have been based on since the beginning, even though the themes of the conferences have changed over the years. The original conception of the festival days was in honor of the goddess and a commemoration of the birth of the rising sun (Winter solstice) otherwise known as Heru and with him also the rise of higher spiritual aspiration leading to the redemption of the soul (Asar).
HTP
