Aset Luminous

On July 2, 2012, eleven Northeast-region members of the House of Netjer (and one friend) came together for a festival gathering for Aset Luminous at my house in north-central New Jersey (a.k.a. The Eye of Ra Watches over Them Shrine). After snacks and the first round of socializing, we settled in to perform a heka prayer ritual for Hemet and her family, asking for Aset's blessing on them during a difficult time. The ritual, featuring libations, bell ringing, and a card signed with well-wishes, was deeply powerful and moving. Wasi, who created the heka, also led a thought-provoking discussion, inspired by Aset, on the meaning of brotherhood and how to encourage and deepen it among members of the faith.

After dinner and some preliminary set up of the outdoor shrine, we began folding origami paper into prayer boats. Once we got through the first chaos of relearning and demonstrating how to do the folding correctly, the boats began to pile up. We filled a large basket with prayers for ourselves, our loved ones, and our temple.

With darkness fallen and our prayers assembled, we arranged ourselves into a processional formation outside the house and proceeded to the shrine, singing and shaking sistra, bearing incense, our folded boats, and an image of Aset. Once we arrived at the shrine and installed Aset's statue, we performed readings in Her honor, and then began lighting the candles and setting them afloat. Dozens of tiny boats in all different colors, each one filled with light, echoed the stars in the night sky and the flickering of fireflies as we sang for Aset. We spent quite a while after that simply watching the boats float and the candles burn; then while a few people remained by the pool, eager to see which boats would catch fire (a special blessing from Aset!), the rest of us went back inside to partake of the offerings. The evening ended in a warm feeling of peace as we all embraced and said goodbye; surely Aset was satisfied.

Dua Aset--nekhtet!