Festival of the Beautiful Union: The Procession to Edfu

After the preparations finished in Dendera the procession to Edfu began. This procession took many days with some stops and rituals along the way. On the day of the procession the party, along with the statue of Het-Hert, set forth on a barque named nb mrwt (“The Mistress of Love”). While the party fit on the barque it was a considerable size.

In Dendera it seems the procession consisted of many parties who weren’t necessarily clergy. The priests, the mayor of Iunet, as well as other officials joined the procession. It seems as if there weren’t any pilgrims on the ship, but pilgrims did meet the ship along each stop.

During the few days of the procession several stops occurred. Some of the stops included Karnak, Pi-Mer, and Nekhen. At each stop pilgrims gathered. During this time they petitioned Het-Hert, called upon Her for divination, and witnessed a ritual at each stop. The particular ritual was called The Observance of the Renewal of the Earth and All Things That Come With It. While there were visits to the various gods at the respective temple of each stop the ritual consisted of visiting each god and honoring Them. It is known that the various forms of Heru from each stop joined the procession to Edfu.

However, the procession from Dendera to Edfu was not the only procession. Heru-Behedity had His own procession in Edfu. He is accompanied by Khonsu and the Edfu ennead, as well as other gods. The Edfu procession boarded their barque “The Brow of Heru” at Wetjeset-Hor, where it met The Mistress of Love on the new moon.

Sources
The Festival of the Beautiful Reunion.” Asetmeri, n.d.Retrieved from http://www.philae.nu/

akhet/BeautReun.html.(dead link).

Coppens, Filip. “Temple Festivals of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods”. In Jacco Dieleman

and Willeke Wendrich (eds.),UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Jan 2009. eScholarship.

El-Sabban, Sherif. “Temple Festival Calendars of Ancient Egypt. Google books.

Lloyd, Alan B. A Companion to Ancient Egypt. Google Books.

Ritner, Robert Kriech. “The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice.” Studies in

Ancient Oriental Civilization 54 (1993): 59. PDF.

Wilkinson, J. Gardner. The Ancient Egyptians: Their Life and Customs. New York: Bonanza

Books, 1988. Print.

 

Craft Friday: Lackadaisical Unguent

In Ancient Egypt annointing oils were commonplace. Some were worn as perfume while other oils perfumed the idols at temples during the morning ritual. These oils, because they weren’t distilled, bore a consistency of an unguent and took a lot of time to make. If you’re like me and don’t mind taking a few shortcuts this recipe is for you. I tend to split this amount into 7 very small parts for the sacred oils, but this can easily work for a single oil.

What You’ll Need:

1 oz of beeswax

1/2 fluid oz oil blend of desired oil

5-6 tablespoon olive oil (Note: this really can be any carrier oil)

Water

2 pots (Note: if you own a double boiler, use it)

Spoon

1 container (Note: use a big container. I wasn’t able to hold all of it in a small bottle.)

 

1. Fill one pot a quarter of the way with water. Turn on the stove and bring to a boil.

2. Place the other pot on top to create a double boiler. Make sure the bottom pot doesn’t boil over.

3. Place the beeswax in the top pot. Stir occasionally with the spoon until completely melted. Take the double boiler off the burner. Let cool for one minute.

4. Add the olive oil until the unguent is the consistency of petroleum jelly.

5. Add the oil to the unguent and stir.

6. Place in the desired container.

 

If you’d like some very pleasant oils, I recommend Setjy Netjerw.