ISIS MOON TEMPLE
INFORMATION
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ISIS MOON TEMPLE IS A REAL WORKING TEMPLE AS WELL AS A VIRTUAL TEMPLE OF OUR WONDEROUS LADY OF EGYPT, GODDESS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, QUEEN ASET (ISIS). THE HIGH PRIESTESS AND HIGH PRIEST OF THE TEMPLE PRESIDE OVER ALL CEREMONY AND RITUAL OF CELEBRATION AND FESTIVAL THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, AND KEEP THE PERPRTUAL FLAME ON THE HIGH HOLY ALTAR OF ASET BURNING. THE PRIESTHOOD ALSO OFFERS INFORMATION, TRAINING AND GUIDENCE TO THOSE WHO WISH TO WORSHIP OUR GODDESS ISIS BUT DO NOT HEAR THE CALL TO THE PRIESTHOOD, AND TO THOSE WHO ARE NEW IN SEEKING THE GREAT GODDESS ASET. IT IS OUR PRIVILAGE TO OFFER THIS TRAINING AND GUIDENCE THROUGH THE SERVICES OF THE ISIS MOON TEMPLE OUTER COURT.
OUR BEAUTIFUL LADY, QUEEN ASET, IS KNOWN AS THE GODDESS OF THOUSANDS OF NAMES. WITH AS MANY NAMES AND FACES OF OUR LADY, COMES AS MANY PEOPLES, METHODS AND WAYS OF WORSHIP IN HER HONOR. ISIS MOON TEMPLE IS BUT ONE TRUE WAY OF HER PATH. THE PRIESTHOOD OF THIS HOLY TEMPLE DO NOT ASSUME NOR DECLARE THAT WE ARE IN POSSESSION OF THE ONE TRUE PATH TO AND OF THE GODDESS ASET. WE FULLY RECOGNIZE THAT ALL WHO SINCERELY AND HONESTLY WORSHIP OUR GODDESS ASET IN WHATEVER WAY OR METHOD, AND BY WHATEVER NAME, MAY BE VALID. THEREFORE WE DO NOT SEEK TO DISCREDIT OTHERS, NOR TO ARGUE WITH OR TRY TO CONVERT THOSE WHO ARE ON A DIFFERENT PATH OF HER LIGHT.
Few can admit to less than a fascination with the enigma of ancient Egypt. Something haunts the Black Land, something that colours the imagination of whoever seeks out her silent temples and monolithic monuments. Scholars of the last two centuries have consistently striven to understand Egypt on its own terms, by holographically reconstructing its religion and culture, its political and sociological history. But Egypt doesn't speak to the outsider. Its monuments were not erected to advertise its splendour to generations of tourists. Its temples were not raised to be raided and catalogued. Its glory belongs to the Time of the Gods, its wealth and wisdom to the children of the Neter (Gods). Our understanding of Kemet (Egypt) must come through immersion in the religion of its people. As we learn to read the heiroglyphs painted and carved on the walls, ceilings, and appointments of the tombs and temples, instructions for the dead in their own survival, we come to understand the Neter and their faithful, how they relied on one another for their existence. In time we begin to think of the Neter as distinct, living entities, no longer just strange syllables attached to animal-headed bodies. Their expressionless faces speak to something in us. The voices of the faithful rise once more, lamenting the dead and calling for the remembrance of their names.....of our names.
A human who dies and whose name is forgotten is forever lost to this world and the next. Only memory's power of evocation stands between a soul and its oblivion. The dead of the Black Land are starving, fading, and reaching for us in desperation. We must recite their names, give them food and drink, and make a place for them in our hearts. We must call to the gods, to remind them of their duty to their voiceless children lost both in the whispering sands of the desert and the glass cases of the museums. We give them life, and in return they give us meaning. Wisdom is a reaction to fear, a long-term strategy for the survival of the intellectual and spiritual creations of the human race. We understand our world only when we understand what has shaped it thus far. More than this, though, we make our place in the continuum of sentience meaningful by respectfully adhering to the spiritual imperative that is our birthright. Scholars look at the long, narrow beam of time and stake out their specialties, studying the progress of mankind in a linear fashion. The priest looks straight down the beam to its point of origin, seeing that we are all one, that throughout time our dreams and our selves have risen from the same source. We must not fall prey to the pseudo-objective stupor of the scholar. We cannot simply study; we must become.
This website is intended to serve both as an introduction and a guide to a way of life that serves this end. It also stands as a chronicle of our own progress in this endeavor. We have a great love and respect for the ancient Egyptians, but we live in a modern world. It is necessary that we translate who and what they were into a context that is suited to our place in the continuum. This having been said, understand that the liberties that we have taken with their deities, customs, rituals, and language are not the injustices inflicted by the dull knives of the character assassins of history. Rather, the materials on this site should reflect an introspective approach to the modernization of Egyptian spirituality.....a living, breathing system of legend and ritual that stands as an incredibly forward-thinking and concise approach to the archetypal elements of existence. We of the Priesthood of Aset of Isis Moon Temple have developed a personal relationship with Aset, our great Queen of Heaven, through the devotion of countless hours of meditation, ritual, reading and research. Each god or goddess is depicted as we ourselves perceive him or her. The ritual work that we outline is the very approach that has allowed us to come as close to the Neter as we have. It is our sincere hope that our work will open the way for others who seek to fall under the spell of the Black Land, to answer the call of Aset down the ages and to take possesion of their spiritual birthright.
This virtual temple is devoted to Aset (Isis), "Goddess of Ten Thousand Names." There are some who say that Isis, while coming from Egypt, was not soley an Egyptian deity, and that Greco-Roman influence transformed her predecessor into another goddess entirely. We at Isis Moon Temple postulate that the Great Goddess in whatever form or Name is still the same divine Goddess. We of Her true Priesthood will not, and dare not assume to restrict any of the many names, faces and worship of our Great Lady Goddess for any reason whether it be personal and research sector opinion, politics, or cultural diffusion. We prefer to worship the Great and Gracious Goddess in Isis Moon Temple under the name of Aset (Egyptian), because we have been lead by divine revelation to do so. However in our first seekings and returnings to Her, we were led to the more traveled, current, and widespread path of Isis, and therefore we also have a love of our Lady known as that name. If there had not been any information available on Isis, we would have found it much more difficult to find our Gracious Goddess, if at all. In addition, it has been through divine revelation that we have determined that for the purposes of the virtual Isis Moon Temple, and the real working Isis Moon Temple of bringing back the worshippers of Great Aset to her, and of attraction of potential followers, that both temples be named after our Lady who is called Goddess Isis, as in the later fashion, and as is now known and recognized by the world at large. Many times when a seeker searches the internet for the Goddess, they will search for the name Isis. Only a few (but growing) number will know to search for the name Aset.
If the strangly sweet and mystical spell of the ancient land of Egypt has drawn you to seek it's shores, if the pyramids and sphinx call to you from the faraway depths of time, if you long to sail the great Nile river and trod the sacred and holy island temple of our goddess, Should it be your desire to learn more about our Goddess Aset, more about the Goddess who created inspiration and countless tales throughout time, if all this fills you with a sense of wonder and longing and you want to get started on the way down the worshipful path of light of our Goddess Aset then you will enjoy the Isis Moon Temple Outer Court, and the Priesthood will gently and lovingly guide you with information and training and answers to your questions and seekings. If after the training, guidence, practice, and worship as a member of the Outer Court, your desire is to be a part of the Fellowship of the Priesthood of Aset, then the Isis Moon Temple priesthood will gently, lovingly and gratefully accept you and initiate you into their midst. In all Temple affairs and at all times in our dealings with you, we will respect you and your opinions and your station and situation in life, and we will asume that you are sincere and honest in your coming to our Goddes Aset, until you prove yourself otherwise. All that we ask of you before your acceptance into the Isis Moon Temple Outer Court, is that you be sincere and honest with us at all times, that you keep us informed as to your life situation and your progress, that you accept our training and guidence without reservation. You are of course free at any time to withdraw from our Outer Court, as we are free at any time to determine that you are not suitable for our particular Temple. This then is one of the purposes of your residing for your time in the Isis Moon Temple Outer Court: for you to determine if we are right for you, and for us to determine if you are right for us.
There are many, many webpages devoted to Isis, to stories about her, to myths and legends about her. There are very few who approach the Goddess of thousands of years from a worshippful, scholarly and philisophical standpoint. We attempt, in our small way, to provide insight into who exactly the Ancient Egyptians worshipped throughout the course of their civilization. An obvious question is, why do we refer to the Goddess Aset with a name lesser known than the popular Hellenized version of Isis. Why call her Aset, an approximation in English of a name that was most likely pronounced differently than even that, but was not Isis for over two thousand years. It is our opinion that in the wake of self-interest, the details often get shoved aside. Modern-day western civilization, for all of its pomp and culture, has traded culture and heritage for content. Why read books when you can watch the film. Why follow a religion as closely as possible, according to how it should be reconstructed when you can be fashionably ecclectic and choose bits and pieces from a number of self proclaimed variations of different religions and traditions. In the interest of conveying truth, of sharing wisdom, and in search of knowledge ourselves, our Temple exists to convey the facts that we have uncovered through research, through impartial inquiry, through honest learning, and through divine inspiration. There is no greater ignorance than to seek validation by inventing stories to post as truth. Creating history defies the purpose of having history in the first place. It robs our own culture of meaning. A house cannot stand without a foundation, and neither can a country or a people truly be a "people" without culture. Real culture. We must be who we are, not who we think we are. Therefore we offer a bit of forgotten culture for you. Far from modern-day America, and perhaps not so far. Certain ideas and beliefs have a timelessness to them. Just as poetry from a thousand years ago is still inspirational and still can move the human heart, so are the thoughts, beliefs, philosophies and religions of antiquity inspirational to the modern human.
