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The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (May 2012) |
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Kemetism (also Kemeticism; both from km.t, the native name of Ancient Egypt) is a term for Egyptian neopaganism, i.e. neopagan revivals of Ancient Egyptian religion which developed in the United States from the 1970s onwards. There are several main groups, each of which take a different approach to their beliefs, ranging from eclectic to polytheistic reconstructionist.
History and demographics[edit]
Kemetic revivalism appeared in the 1970s with the rise of neopaganism in the United States. The Church of the Eternal Source, promoting New Age receptions of Egyptian spiritualism, was founded in 1970; and the Ausar Auset Society, promoting Pan-Africanism, was founded in 1973; Tamara Siuda's Kemetic Orthodoxy followed in the late 1980s. By the mid 2000s (decade), there have also been "Kemetic" movements outside the USA, with Ta Noutri arising in Podensac, France, in 2004; and Kamitik in Aulnay, France, since 2004. The black supremacist group in Paris, Tribu Ka, was described as having Kemitic views.
The movement is composed of a mixture of New Age, Wicca, and Afrocentrism, the latter in the context of "Afrocentrist Egyptology" which emerged in the United States in the 1990s.
Black nationalism[edit]
Ausar Auset Society[edit]
The "Ausar Auset Society" is a Pan-African religious organization founded in the early 1970s by Ra Un Nefer Amen. It is based in Brooklyn, New York with chapters in several major cities in the United States. The organization was created for the purpose of providing members a societal framework through which the Kemetic spiritual way of life can be lived daily. The organization provides afrocentric-based spiritual training to the African American community and to the African diaspora. The religion uses the "Kemetic" Tree of Life (Paut Neteru) as the basis of its cosmogony and philosophical underpinning. It seeks to reunite the traditions of the founders of civilization into a spiritually empowering way of life that aims at the awakening of the Ausar principle (the Divine Self) within each individual.
Ancient Egyptian Order[edit]
The Ancient Egyptian Order or "Nuwaubian Nation" was a black supremacist quasi-religious movement, active during the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade), centered at Tama-Re, an Egypt-themed compound which housed about 100 adherents. The compound was demolished in 2005, after the conviction of founder-prophet Malachi York to a 135 year prison sentence for child molestation.
Kemetic reconstructionists[edit]
Polytheistic reconstructionism is a tendency within Neopaganism, apparent since the 1990s, to aim for greater historical accuracy or authenticity.
Church of the Eternal Source[edit]
The Church of the Eternal Source (Burbank, California, since 1970), and the affiliated Temple of Ptah and Circle of Anubis (since 1975, based in Portland, Oregon) are "open to all interested Pagans and Wiccans who have an interest in the Ancient Egyptian Religions."
Kemetic Orthodoxy[edit]
Kemetic Orthodoxy is a modern religion based on ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices. It was in 1988 by Rev. Tamara L. Siuda, known formally within her faith as "Her Holiness, Sekhenet-Ma'at-Ra setep-en-Ra Hekatawy I, Nisut-Bity of the Kemetic Orthodox faith".[1] It gained federal recognition in the United States of America as a religion under the name "House of Netjer" in 1994.
Kemetic Orthodoxy is a Monist approach to polytheism in translating Netjer (the Egyptian for "deity") as "the supreme being" and considering the names of the various Egyptian deities as "names of Netjer".
Neo-Atenism[edit]
Modern Atenism is a revival of the monotheist faith developed under the reforms of Akhenaten. While a number of Neo-Atenist websites appeared on the internet during the 2000s (decade) such as (atenism.org since 2001; kamitik.com 2004-2008), it is unclear whether it is being actively practiced in any form.
References[edit]
- Marilyn C. Krogh; Brooke Ashley Pillifant, Kemetic Orthodoxy: Ancient Egyptian Religion on the Internet: A Research Note, Sociology of Religion (2004).
- Ellen Cannon Reed, Circle of Isis: Ancient Egyptian Magic for Modern Witches (2002), ISBN 978-1-56414-568-0.
- J. G. Melton, Encyclopedia of American Religions, 5th ed., Detroit (1996).
External links[edit]
- Afrocentric
- Wiccan and esoteric
- Revivalist and Reconstructionist
- Neo-Atenist
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Kemetic religion
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