Kemetic Orthodox – Aset Luminous Dua

Aset Luminous! This is the Kemetic Orthodox holiday that is based on the Edfu calendar festival of “Aset the Bright.” This particular one took place on the evening of July 6.

I hadn’t had any interaction with Aset, especially since she has a bit of a “reputation” amongst people who aren’t devotees.

But I’ve decided that I shouldn’t ignore her, especially since she’s one of the strongest Heka Goddesses. This Dua looked like the perfect opportunity to introduce myself, having the benefit of “safety in numbers.”

Something new has been added!

It was very well-attended. Most of the members who had Kemetic names had “Aset” in there somewhere, having her as a “parent” deity. I think if you’re an “Aset Kid” it’s a “don’t miss” event.

As you can see, mostly the same shrineware. I picked a LOT of daylillies so I added the dark green Owens vase. The water bowl was a ceramic project my mother did in 1967, so it has an Akhu connection. I thought the gold in the glaze was a good choice. It also matches the turquoise Rookwood “Zep Tepi” vase.

Bowl with practice boat.

I made a little practice boat beforehand, with a simple petition. I floated that during the ceremony. The flowers on the left are garlic flowers!

The Letter of Thanks and Petition.

This was the main Heka part of the Dua. It had a “modern” feel to it, but was a nice little project. We took a plain piece of paper, kissed one side, and wrote a letter of thanks and praise to Aset. It was, of course, supposed to be formal in tone. Those of us who were doing it for the first time probably would have benefited from knowing we’d be writing that letter.

After writing it, we set a lit candle on it for a bit, then picked up the paper, kissed the blank side, and wrote our Petition asking Aset for help. Formal, of course. Then we replaced the candle, and let it burn down. If I had known we’d be doing that, I’d have used a tea light instead of a votive. I set it on a piece of soapstone so I wouldn’t cover the letter with wax. We finished the Dua with our candles still burning.

Bowl with the petition boat.

The next morning the candle had burned down and gone out. I folded the paper into a boat, having the petition on the inside and the thanks on the outside. That way “The praise carries the petition”. Eventually the paper gets soaked and the boat sinks.

You could float the boat in a stream, but they suggest that you not do it with a lit candle. Burning up someones dock, boat, or oil-loading facility might be frowned on.

If it’s in a bowl, tub, or fountain, you can fish it out, dry it out, and burn it.

In my opinion, these Duas are one of the things that the House of Netjer does right. It would be nicer to do them as a voice or video chat, but when there aren’t any other Kemetics nearby it’s very nice to do something as part of a community.