MANDATE
The House of Eset and Set is a temple that provides a variety of services to the public. These services include dream analysis, counselling and temple products. Execration rites and curses are not services this temple provides.
The House of Eset and Set is modelled on an Ancient Egyptian temple. In ancient times, the non-mortuary temple was the residence of the local god or gods and its inner workings and festivals played a vital role in the community. The temple, its staff and the public all had an important role to play in maintaining MAAT.
People sought the help of the temple for almost every aspect in their lives. People visited the outer temple court yards to obtain consultations with the priesthood. The temple priesthood provided medical attention for the curing of ailments of the body and mind, as well as cures for ailments of the non-corporeal nature. Temple votives were sought for a myriad of reasons.
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“Thus, although never a place of worship accessible by all in the sense of modern religious structures, the Egyptian temple
nevertheless stood at the heart of all Egyptian life.” Wilkinson
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The House of Eset and Set emulates this model of a temple for the living and a house of the Gods. Its function is to provide to the seeker answers they seek and tools to help them discover more about themselves and their inner potential. Services provided for a fee are done through email, mail correspondence and video consultations.
HEKA and MAAT
HEKA and MAAT are two very important concepts in understanding Ancient Egyptian spirituality.
They are two of the fundamental
principles underlying Ancient Egyptian thought and how they lived their lives.
From peasant to Pharaoh. From the mundane to
ecclesiastical. HEKA and MAAT are interwoven into everything.
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While volumes can be written on both, it is only when put into practice does a deeper understanding of these two principles manifest, that will give the seeker wisdom beyond what textbooks can tell us.
"Heka may be defined as the Egyptian conviction that a knowledge of words and actions of power can confer the capacity to alter radically the world of normal experience, whether it be the normal experience of gods or men.”
A. B. Lloyd
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The Ancient Egyptian believed that HEKA was the medium in which the divine communicated and facilitated its will. One element missing from this definition that was important for the Ancient Egyptian practitioner is the fact that their fundamental belief and genuine desire in their practice gave their work effect. This belief is reflected in the following…
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“The concept of magic to us involves an attempt to subvert the natural order of the cosmos whereas to the Egyptians Heka was an intrinsic part of the fabric of the universe which they physically and mentally inhabited” A. B. Lloyd
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“Magic uses modes of causality and procedure that go beyond those which are understood as instrumental, by invoking forces that have always existed and that are shared by the deities, the dead, the king and humanity, but are most easily accessible to the deities. Access to it is specialized and often privileged, but it is not ‘forbidden’ or ‘taboo’. While the force of magic is part of the constitution of the cosmos, its availability is not simple.” J.Baines
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While HEKA is the medium that can influence existence, it was the principle of MAAT adhered to by the Ancient Egyptians that kept existence functioning for the betterment of every living being. We find examples of the Ancient Egyptian view of MAAT in many autobiographies. These
are in the form of papyrus writings, on stele, on tomb walls and on ostraka.
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“While the word ‘maat’ translates readily into ‘right/rightness’, ‘truth’ and ‘justice’ Egyptian thinking about maat resulted in
formulating the systematized attitudes which in modern languages are called ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’. Studying the ethics of the Ancient Egyptian means examining maat in the context of the Egyptian experience with ‘knowledge/wisdom’ and the Egyptians sense of the divine, his piety.” M. Lichtheim
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“The Egyptian was well aware of the distinction between a prayer and a magical spell; but he did not view the ethical-religious approach as incompatible with magical manipulation. Not being inimical, the two approaches could join forces; and their combination in the literary context was something that practiced scribes could evidently do with ease.” M. Lichtheim
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HEKA and MAAT are practiced, invoked, adhered to, upheld and praised every day in the House of Eset and Set. It is imbued in every temple talisman, candle, ritual scarf, amulet and jewelry. It is upheld in every rite performed, prayer recited, meditative narration and words shared in counselling.
In the same spirit as a Great Houses of Life of Ancient Egyptian history, the House of Eset and Set emulates services for the community that helps with healing, self knowledge and mental wellness. Initial consult (via email) is free to see if the House of Eset and Set can offer service.