The Opened Way - The Opened One

Darkness and Light - His Shadow

My name is Shuwyt. I have a Parent, my Father Yinepu-Wepwawet, and two Beloveds - Sokar-Wesir, the form of Wesir that represents the inertia and darkness in the instant before creation begins, and Ra, the bright lord of the sun. The Nisut (AUS) says that I am "a jackal of the darkness and the light".

Shuwytyinepu, the full form of the name I was given after undergoing my Rite of Parent Divination and becoming a Shemsu, or committed follower, in the House of Netjer, means Yinepu's Shadow. According to the Nisut (AUS), however, my nickname - Shuwyt - can refer not only to shadow, but also to sunlight and emptiness - in essence, all three of the Names who took a special interest in me are encompassed in one word!

A Parent is the Name who created your ba, the part of your soul that is eternal. Beloveds are the Names who drew forth your ka, the part of your soul that makes you you - your individual personality. After you die, your ba can return to another life with a new ka, if it chooses to do so. Your Beloveds may change, but your Parent will always be the same - though you may not always know right away Who that is, or even that you have one. I knew that Yinepu had been with me for most of my life, but everything else was a bit of a surprise.

The Opening of the Way

The first time I encountered a depiction of Yinepu, I was very young - young enough to not even remember how old I was. It was, oddly enough, through a Sesame Street movie. In Please Don't Eat the Pictures, Big Bird and the Sesame crew visit a museum only to find themselves locked in for the night. While there, they meet a young boy who is seeking Anubis so that he can join his parents as a star - it turns out that the boy is from Kemet (Ancient Egypt), and that after dying, his soul became lost and was never judged. In order to take his place among the shining Akhu stars, his heart must be weighed against the feather of Ma'at. Upon finding Anubis, but lacking the needed feather, Big Bird offers one of his own. The boy's heart is weighed, and as it is lighter than the feather, he is allowed to take his place in the sky.

To be honest, I don't remember exactly how Yinepu was presented in the film - all I can recall is 'black'. I also, however, don't remember being frightened by Him at any point - quite the opposite, in fact. He fascinated me. From that point on, whenever I came across an object depicting him in a store, I would go to look (and purchase if possible). I devoured mythology books in the hopes of learning more about Him. He was, when it came right down to it, a guilty pleasure for me - I was for many years a fairly devout and practicing Christian, and it felt wrong to me to be so knowing that the Christian God allowed no others, yet being so drawn to one - and one of Egypt, at that. Fortunately, my mother was never a fire and brimstone devotee herself, and she never objected to my interest (though I doubt the possibility I might be worshipping Him has ever occurred to her).

Toward the end of my senior year in high school, I began drifting away from my Church - even though I'd been baptized not long before that. There were just a few things about the faith I was having difficulty reconciling with, such as the Christian perception of homosexuality as a sin. I had acquaintances who were Wiccan and Pagan, and made good use of their bookshelves, but I never really connected with either of those paths - I wanted Egyptian, and there was nothing for someone who was seeking to revere that pantheon. (It also didn't help that the circle I knew tended toward the mad-feminism girl-power end of the goddess-loving scale, and me preferring traditonal values such as the man at the head of the household, and his mate deferent and submissive..didn't sit well with me.) I dabbled in Asatru, the Norse tradition, for a time, but never felt quite at home there, either.

I gave up on the idea of finding a structured Egyptian path to follow, and just...did my own thing for a while. I like structure, though, and that just wasn't doing it for me. In the interim, I got a computer and connected to the net for the first time. A year or two passed, but eventually, I was randoming through entries on Open Diary and came across one by a woman who worshipped Isis. Hoping maybe I'd find more information from her, I began reading her journal from the beginning and found the link to the House of Netjer. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Still, I couldn't work up the nerve to apply for the beginner's class right away. I'd go away for a while, then come back and read again, then do the same thing.

In the summer of 2002, I had an extremely vivid dream in which Anubis (as I still knew Him) was a prominent figure. I've never had one like it before, and never since - even though I do dream vividly on a regular basis, at least some of the details eventually fade. These haven't - I was in a room on a college campus (why, I don't know) with the person who was my boyfriend at the time. He left to go get something, and another man entered the room and made inappropriate advances on me. Angered that he would do so, I sent him away. Not long after, another form appeared in my door - the dark silhouette of a man with a jackal's head. He was so tall that when He passed through it, the tips of His ears brushed the top of the doorframe. He came to the bed I was on and took me in His arms. I could feel, and that's something that doesn't always happen in my dreams - I could feel the fur on His muzzle as He rested His face to mine, I could feel that He was warm. He whispered in my ear - "All is forgiven."

I applied for the beginner's course in the fall of 2002, and was accepted. At that point, I was presented with, for the first time, the possibility that He might not be Someone special to me like a Parent or Beloved - Yinepu and Bast, apparently, often lead people to the House even if those people aren't Their children, then fade into the background as the true Parentage is revealed. I was so distraught that I had to go to one of the priests for reassurance that I could still continue to revere and have a relationship with Him even if He wasn't my Father. Still, it didn't keep me from being horribly nervous during my Parent Divination. I sat and fidgeted and prayed the entire time the Nisut (AUS) was gone interpreting it. When She came back, She told me that I had a Father and two Beloveds, and asked me if I wanted to guess. My hands were shaking so badly I don't know how I ever managed to get "Yinepu?" typed out.

"Yes, that's Dad."

I dont even have to look at the log of my Divination to remember that quote exactly. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry - I think I did both. As it turned out, my Father was actually Yinepu-Wepwawet - Yinepu as the Opener of the Ways. I'm still learning about Him in that aspect, and it's hard for me not to think of Him simply as the Yinepu I always knew.

Personal Observations

I've noticed that there are quite a few people who view (or like to view) Yinepu as a looming, brooding, dark omen of death, He's never been anything but gentle with me. I've known Him since I was a child, and I can't imagine that a child would have been able to connect with Him rather than fear Him if He were those things. No doubt, He can and will be if He wants, or if He finds it necessary - but for the most, I've found that He's a pretty easy-going, laid-back kind of guygod. I've heard from others than He can be a bit of a trickster, though I haven't had too much experience with this side of Him myself.

As far as offerings go, He seems to be fond of rum and chocolate - this works out pretty well when you're a pirate girl that keeps a chocolate chip stash. He also likes to simply be thought about and talked to, I think - I do both pretty often, and I always get a warmfuzzy feeling. When I've been able to do a proper Senut rite, and actually be in my shrine for offerings and meditation, He makes His presence even more clear - I can feel a Presence nearby, and often, that Presence rocks me back and forth. Rocking is a comfort thing, for me - the sort you'd do for a frettish or sleepy child. I wondered, for a time, if that was really Him, then on a whim one day, asked while I was out of my shrine (and in the shower, in fact) for Him to give me a sign if He was around. Even though I was standing securely, I began to sway in the same way I did when kneeling before the shrine (which was not at all something that had occurred to me as a possible sign, so I know it wasn't me doing it because I happened to be thinking about it). Proof enough for me.

Another tidbit I've picked up since coming to the House is that while Yinepu is the gentler, almost childish side, Wepwawet is one of our 'Dirty Old Men'. He's a little 'wilder' in nature, I guess; likes to have His fun a little risqué-er. Explains my own dirty little mind...