My path is what I call Graeco-Roman Kemetic paganism, and I practice with a syncretised mix of Kemetic, Roman, and Greek influences and Gods. So I honour Aset and Isis, Sobek and Suchos, Heru-sa-Aset and Harpocrates. If I had room, I’d probably find a space for Serapis as well as Wesir. It’s very much my own path and a work in progress. It is not based on any particular tradition, though I am drawing on some Roman recon groups, as well as what Neos Alexandria is doing with regards to Graeco-Egyptian worship. I don’t claim to be reconstructing anything, though; I am more focused on syncretism, and forming a path and practice that is whole and cohesive and works for me. I write about my path over at Per Sebek, for those who want more information about how I practice.
This is my main devotional shrine, kept for Aset, Sobek, and Heru-sa-Aset, though there are icons here for other deities as well. I am a Kemetic pagan who experiences Aset and Isis as almost-but-not-quite separate and inter-related Deities, so Isis is represented by the statue of Her suckling Harpocrates, while Aset has the winged statue on top. It was Aset who pointed me at Roman Isis, and described Her as Her Roman face, and set off this whole Graceo-Roman Kemetic path I’m currently wandering happily along. I refer to Aset as my Mother; She won’t accept anything else from me.
The gold and blue altar cloths symbolise both Isis and Aset, and the Divinities I honour here. They are colours I associate with all my Gods, and I use them especially at Aset Luminous.
I use this shrine every day for daily morning rites. It’s a rite I’ve written myself, based loosely on Greek, Roman, and Egyptian rites. It contains prayers and has a space for offerings, and I do that every morning first thing, to unveil the shrine and greet the Gods.
I also use the shrine for magic and spells, and there is a pentacle and wand there that are part of the eclectic Witchcraft I do.
Sobek has the left side of the shrine. Here you can see His statue. Sobek is my Father, and so even if He is not taking centre stage here, He is still the most important God I honour. He will always come first. The grey horse represents Castor, one of the Dioskouroi.I honour the Dioskouroi as and protective Deities connected to Sobek and Heru-sa-Aset.The purple candle is also His, and the set of prayer beads there is in honour of Sobek, Heru-sa-Aset/Harpocrates, and Nit-Tem-Amun. You can read more about the two sets of prayer beads on the shrine here.
The ceramic bowl is full of sand and salt, and I see it both as a place to burn resin incense on charcoal as well as acting as a purifying and protective element. There are also a couple of tea-light holders, as well as a crystal offering dish.
This is Heru-sa-Aset’s side, with His statue, and a brown horse for Pollux, the other half of the Dioskouroi. Heru’s candle is the red one, and Aset/Isis’s prayer beads are in front of that. Heru-sa-Aset has always been very quiet for me, and very hard to get to know,which led me to suspect He is also more like Harpocrates, the God of Silence (misunderstanding as that was), and the symbolism of Harpocrates sitting on a lotus flower as the newborn Sun is one that I find more like the God I experience. It is not all of Him; He is still Heru-sa-Aset, Wesir’s avenger. But I also have this primordial creative aspect too.
Also in this photo is the crystal glass I use for offerings, and two more tea-light candle holders. There is also a bell, which I ring during my morning rites to awaken the Gods. (I did say this was a syncretic path, not a reconstructionist one.)
Sobek and Heru-sa-Aset here are both twins and Father/son, via some very complicated UPG you can read over on my blog. I am finding some tentative links back to the Dioskouroi though, but I’m not looking to find an absolute historical source for my UPG. I just find it utterly fascinating to look into this Graeco-Roman period of Egyptian history, because that’s where I’m being led, to discover how my Gods were worshipped and how They were syncretised with Graeco-Roman gods. .
The cat on the left belongs to a male cat Netjeri belonging to Bast. The other one is Faithful, the cat from the Alana series by Tamora Pearce. They were both gifts from two friends back when I was just beginning as a Pagan about ten years ago. Both cats protect the shrine, along with a statue of Bast-Mut that sits on the opposite side of my room, facing the shrine.
On top of the unnamed Netjeri are statues for Ma’at and Mafdet. On top of Faithful are Aset, and two statues for Bast. Behind them all at the back are seven stars for the West African goddess Yemaya. I sometimes find it weird to want to honour all these Goddesses here, but they are all Goddesses that Aset has led me to/introduced me to, so I feel like it’s appropriate to have Them here.
These are my two magical tools, a handmade pentacle and a serpent wand. This photo is actually older than the rest of this set, but it’s a better photo of them than the one I took with this set. I use them for my magical practice, most of which I do on this shrine. The pentacle has representations of the Nine Elements, my own personal elemental system. The wand also has these symbols scribed into it. It’s not a traditionally Egyptian serpent wand, though. I made it after the pentacle and in shaping the clay, it just sort of turned into the wand. It’s also left-handed, which I am not, because I clearly thought this through quite well when I decided to make it.
It’s a serpent wand partly because Kemetic tradition, and partly because of Sobek and dragons and reptile-y things. I’m taking a slightly broader view of serpent than just snake-like, if only because those are the associations I’ve discovered while working with it.
I keep the shrine veiled when it is not active. I unveil it in the morning during my morning rites, and close it again before bed. It’s a transparent starry material that echoes Aset as a stellar Goddess, and Her aspect of Sopdet/Sirius, as well as the veil between the worlds depicted on the High Priestesss card from Clive Barrett’s Egyptian Tarot deck, which is my favourite deck to read with. There’s a lot of symbolism with that, and Mysteries I am yet to figure out, and the veil is a good reminder of that for me.