Em hotep!

2003 NOTE: Kemetic Orthodoxy is a living religion, and the definitions of terms and practices mentioned in this document and their applications in our faith may have changed or evolved since this document's original writing in 1999. Please refer to more recent documents for clarification on any information that is unclear. This letter will be updated to reflect changes in our practice as soon as possible.

It has been quite some time since I have penned a Wehem for these pages. My reasoning is rather complex, and I am convinced is due to Netjer's intervention. Every day I sat down to write the next week's article, and many days I did this, nothing came out. Even though I have a list of potential articles pinned to my message board, even though members and priests have offered marvelous suggestions, questions and encouragement — nothing.

At first, I thought it was due to outside stresses (graduate school, other research and work for the House proper, etc.), and simply resolved to keep trying. Eventually I came to realize that Part II of the Shemsu Q&A wasn't coming out because there was something wrong with Part I, and I endeavored to set everything aside until I figured out what it was.

In exasperation I decided to go back and read some source material about Shemsu in antiquity, and see what I had missed, to see what wasn't clicking and why, so I could rectify it. At first, reading English translations, I found nothing and grew concerned that perhaps my writer's block wasn't related to the documents being wrong at all. And then I found it.

I had not been looking at the real sources.

Here I am, the leader of a faith that puts as its highest ideal the reading of actual ancient sources, and I had not even gazed upon the very language, the "words of God," in which the texts we hold so dear are written. Encouraged, I set to the task and sat down with some dictionaries, the private linguistic notes of a leading Egyptologist (the late Dr. Klaus Baer) published in the archives where I work, and some priestly texts and found my error.

I came to the conclusion that the reason I felt my original definition of "Shemsu" was not quite right, was because it isn't. I had been looking at the term from a modern standpoint, from my own lifetime biases having been in religions with only two divisions of labor (congregants and priesthood) and a culture (which every day I leave a little further behind) having none, and coming up empty. The answer was, to me at least, both simple and profound.

As a result, I can't really call this Wehem "Part II of Shemsu Q&A." It will be much bigger than that, and it will say some things very liable to offend some people, or at very least, I hope, to cause them to question blind acceptance of some things. I will start with the remainder of the questions I originally intended to answer, and then expand into a discussion of the meaning of terms.

Q. Let's try it again. What is a Shemsu?

A. "Shemsu" is the participial form of the Kemetic verb "shems" that means "to follow," "to submit to the authority of," or "to be in the entourage of." A Shemsu, then, is one who performs the act of shems.

What does it mean to follow, and what does a Shemsu (or Shemsut, to give the feminine version of the participle) do?

The Shemsu(t) in Kemetic Orthodoxy is a Shemsu(t) Netjer: a follower of Netjer. This definition speaks only to Shemsu in the House of Netjer and its concomitant faith of Kemetic Orthodoxy. I believe personally it is only applicable here, because of a need for meaningful terminology, more of which I'll explain after I finish explaining the term.

At this point in time, I consider this to be the only meaning of Shemsu, and would ask you to take what I wrote about it in my previous Wehem with a large grain of salt, if you do not decide to simply throw it out the window entirely. That was written with modern, and in many ways non-Kemetic, bias.

This, however, is not.

So, Shemsu means "one who follows." What does it mean to follow, and more specifically, to follow Netjer?

First of all, following is a specific action, not just a word indicating collective existence. Some define shemsu as "anyone who believes in ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses," or even more generally, as "anyone who is Kemetic" or "any people." (That is to say, not Netjer.) This is not accurate. In actual practice, the Kemetic language simply does not bear this out.

The Kemetic people had explicit, well-defined words for each of the states of personhood. Rekhyt or Rekhyet, written with a bird called a lapwing with its wings bent upward, means "people" in the sense of the ordinary, general public. It is often used in a pejorative sense (as "the rabble" or "the unwashed masses" in English). The Rekhyet in antiquity are shown giving obeisance to Kemetic kings, gods and armies with the upward-bent wings gesture remarkably similar to a Kemetic gesture of submission.

In antiquity, one did not even have to be Kemetic to be considered Rekhyt. The word is used and pictorially designated for foreigners, prisoners of war, and even seen in the form of the lapwing being herded up or hung from divine standards during Predynastic times to represent conquered cities.

The citizens of Kemet, "People" with a capital "P," were called Remetj or Remi (Remenkemi in Coptic, "People of Kemet"). In a profound play on words, the People (rem(etj)) were directly evolved from the Creator, as He wept (rem(en)) in joy over finding Himself not alone in the universe. The People, the Tears of God, were the cultural and spiritual inheritors of Kemet: all its People, both geographically and spiritually, from the fisherman to the vizier, with the ruler serving as the First Person.

It would seem then, from the above, that the word remetj would suffice for definition of those persons in Kemet who were not full citizens of the nation. And on at least one level, it does (and in Kemetic Orthodoxy, all persons who are not Shemsu are Remetj).

So then, why need another term, and additionally, what differentiates a Shemsu from a Remetj? It comes back to the very meaning of shems the verb: the meaning of Following.

Q. How does one "follow Netjer"?

A. Let's continue the previous thought. To follow Netjer implies that Netjer is

1) in front/leading; and
2) worth following.

1) Netjer is in front or leading; and Shemsu are behind, or following. This means that Netjer is in charge. In becoming Shemsu, a person renounces spiritual control to Netjer. (But not spiritual responsibility: if you are following someone, you trust them to lead the way, but at the same time, you cannot expect to be carried and you must reach the destination on your own two feet).

Netjer is in charge. Shemsu do not "work with" Netjer or even "choose" Netjer; they follow Netjer, where it leads, without questioning and in implicit trust that Netjer will lead them where they need to go. Netjer leads the Shemsu, not the other way around. The only thing that will happen if a Shemsu does not take Netjer's lead will be that the Shemsu gets lost. Netjer will certainly double back — It always does — but Shemsu go nowhere unless and until they let Netjer lead.

2) Netjer is worth following. The person who becomes a Shemsu is no longer a Rekhyt or Remetj. (S)he is effectively saying to Netjer, "I'm here and I'm ready to go." Life is a journey, and how better to travel it than with the Ultimate Guide?

Q. What isn't a Shemsu?

A. As stated above, being a Kemetic Orthodox Shemsu requires trust and willingness to follow Netjer, on Its terms, without question. A person who expects to dictate terms to Netjer, either in his or her life direction or in terms of what (s)he will or will not do if Netjer requests it, is not following. Following is not a relationship of equals. There is nothing shameful in allowing Netjer to direct one's steps: if anything, being a Shemsu is as close to divinity as humans get, because when you take the responsibility to follow Netjer, Netjer shows you Its responsibility to lead you, and an incredible personal relationship is the result, with equally impressive benefits.

Q. How does a person become a Shemsu(t)? Is intention enough? How is a Shemsu trained?

A. Intention is important. In fact, without intention, there is neither need nor reason to become a Shemsu, but that is not the end of the responsibility. Just as "I want to be a doctor when I grow up" does not make a person magically become a doctor on his or her 18th birthday, intent to become a Shemsu does not a Shemsu make.

Beginning with intent, the Remetj (person of Kemet; a member of the House of Netjer who has not yet made any formal commitments to Kemetic Orthodoxy) then goes through an initiation process with the priesthood and Nisut and learns the roles and responsibilities that go with becoming a Shemsu. When probationary training is finished, a Remetj can go through a Rite of Parent Divination, to be paired up with the Name of Netjer Who is his or her Parent (and therefore his or her guide upon the path of life); and, after learning that information and deciding to pursue a dedication in a formal vow to serve that Parent or those Parents, the Remetj is henceforth a Shemsu, confirmed by Netjer as Its child and practicing the faith of the People in a deliberate and direct manner.

Q. What's the difference between Shemsu and Priest? Between Shemsu and Nisut?

A. All Kemetic Orthodox, after their probationary training, are Remetj unless and until they take the Shemsuhood vows. Priests are also Shemsu; the only difference between a Priest (either a lay W'ab, "pure one," or a legally-ordained hem- Netjer, "servant of Netjer"), is that the latter has taken on additional vocation and training (entirely at Netjer's direction; remember, the Shemsu is in the following, not in the lead) to serve both Netjer and its Shemsu and Remetj. The differences between Kemetic Orthodox Shemsu, Priests and the Nisut will be explained in later Wehemu.

Q. How do I find out more?

A. By contacting any House Shemsu or Priests, you may learn about becoming a Shemsu yourself, if you believe you are so called. Additionally, an application for membership to the House of Netjer (which, upon completion of the probationary period, confers the role of Remetj, with the role of Shemsu to be considered after the Rite of Parent Divination) can be found on the website.

Onward to Part Two >>