As a member of Kemetic Orthodoxy, I have undergone the Rite of Parent Divination, a geomantic divination performed by the Nisut (AUS) of the House of Netjer that reveals my spiritual Parent(s) and my divine Beloved(s): basically, the Egyptian deities that fashioned my soul and those Who have claimed me as Their loved one in this lifetime. (More below, if you’re curious.)

My Parents are Nebthet-Nit-Seshat (Nephthys) and Hethert-Nut (Hathor-Nuit), and my Beloveds are Ma’ahes and Serqet. I honor these four Netjeru first and foremost in my life and practices.

I have also been devoted to Sekhmet for some 6 or 7 years now, and while our relationship is different than that of my Parents and Beloveds, I still adore and honor Her.

The Rite of Parent Divination

The Rite of Parent Divination, or RPD, is the major rite of initiation into the Kemetic Orthodox religious nation. Its function is primarily a spiritual rebirth into this new life as a member of this community with these gods. The RPD is never required of any member and is always voluntary and optional. It can be done over a distance, since Kemetic Orthodoxy members are in so many different states and countries, or in person at certain times; I opted for the distance one. The small fee it costs is A) used only for supplies for the ritual itself and B) waivable due to individual circumstance.

The RPD is a geomantic divination – click for the math! – and has been done hundreds of times with amazing success for each person. It is not always what one wishes or what one expects, but to my knowledge, it always works out very well. There are two parts to it – first, a divination to convey messages from the akhu, our ancestors, and then, a divination to discover which Netjeru or two is one’s Parent(s), and which Netjeru, if any, are Beloveds. (Note that there’s no gender limit here. I’ve seen more people with two fathers or two mothers than I have people with one father and one mother.) You can have one or two Parents, and the most Beloveds I’ve seen thus far is five, though I don’t know if that’s a hard limit.

As I understand it, Parents are the ones who shape us at the very core, those Netjeru with whom we are parallel in nature; our Beloveds, on the other hand, are more particular to who we are right now in this stage of our lives, may be Netjeru who have something specific to teach us, and are often complementary to our nature.

While the gods of one’s RPD are incredibly important, they are not the only gods in one’s life, nor even necessarily the most present or influential. While one can swear to serve the gods of one’s RPD first and foremost, they are never prevented from forming relationships with other gods (including those of other pantheons). One can even decline to accept the results of the RPD if they choose.

I think that covers the basics. Please do ask if you have questions – my email is emky at unorthodoxcreativity dot com – and I’ll do my best to answer them.