This post is part of the Kemetic Round Table, which aims to answer some of the most common questions and provide a wealth of diverse options for the Kemetic novice to explore.

How does being a Kemetic affect your daily life, if it does?

I am going to take this question as seeking more concrete ways that Kemeticism influences my life, rather than going with my first reflexive response of “being Kemetic changes my entire outlook, which affects every second of every day.”

I do not currently perform a daily rite, but my being Kemetic does affect my day-to-day. I say my morning prayers every weekday on the way to work. I dress myself in jewelry that symbolizes and links me to my gods; they are marks that show me as Theirs, as well as objects that I can touch when I am in need or in praise. I review the Kemetic Orthodoxy calendar to see what holidays occur each day, and if I am able and eager, I set aside time to do something to celebrate, be it a quick offering or an elaborate devotion of art-making. I reach out regularly, if not everyday, to my Kemetic community, through forums and through email and through this blog. I seek my gods in the sky, in the sun, in the wind, and in Their colors.

Do you do things differently than you used to because of your faith/religion?

Yes, though trying to quantify that is a challenge, even ignoring the intangible ways that Kemeticism has altered my behavioral patterns and ways of thinking. I am certainly more active in community now, since before I had none; I am having to learn how to be social, which is an ongoing challenge, but I have found such good people that the work is worth the time and effort. Also, before becoming a Kemetic, I did not grok the concept of service, and now I think I do, at least in part. I serve where I may, and I find joy in it. As well, I have learned to understand the passion that monotheists and polytheists can feel and express towards their gods, which had baffled me to some extent before I became Kemetic.

More concretely, I paint now. I write songs now; I put guitar chords to those songs; I sing. I study hieroglyphs and history and ancient mythology; I hoard college-level textbooks on Egyptology. I write hekau and litanies and prayers. I make sacred jewelry. I do all of these things because I am Kemetic, because I am intertwined with certain Netjeru Who love music and beautiful things and creativity, Who create language, Who ask studiousness of me in exchange for Their acceptance of my never-gonna-be-a-hardcore-ritualist. While I may have wound up going this far with music-making and art on my own, without being Kemetic, it would not be anything like what it is now, and I love my crafts as they are—and as they will grow to be.

The easiest way to describe how being Kemetic has changed my life, how it affects my every day, is to say that I see more colors in everything than I did before. Imagine walking into and through a rich watercolor painting—that’s my day, right there.

If you enjoyed this post, please check out the other takes on daily life as a modern Kemetic by my fellow Round Table bloggers!