SHOMU-season (Harvest)
Third Month: Ipt-hmt
 
Day 1 – 15th May: A great feast in the southern Heaven. Every land and everybody starts jubilating. The Mistress of Heaven (Hathor) and every land are in festivity on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 16th May: Every god and every goddess spends the day in festivity in the sacred temple. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 17th May: Anger of the divine Majesty. Do not do anything on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 18th May: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 19th May: Do not go out of your house. Do not proceed on a boat. Do not do any work on this day. It is the day of the departure of the goddess to the place from whence she came. The heart of the gods is sad. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 20th May: Do not fight or make uproar in your house while every temple of the goddess is in like manner [mourning]. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 21st May: Sailing of the gods after the Majesty of the goddess … a flame which takes place in front of everybody on this day. [All the gods depart and a consecrated flame should be allowed to burn to guide their passage.] Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 22nd May: Do not beat anybody. Do not strike anybody. It is the day of the massacre of the followers of the Majesty of the goddess (Sekhmet). Sun rises in Gemini. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 23rd May: The gods are content (i.e. have returned to their respective temples) and they are happy because Re is at peace with the Akhet-eye. Every god is in festivity on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 24th May: The gods who are in the shrine, their hearts are sad (at having to return). Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 25th May: Do not perform any ritual on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 26th May: Holiday … reception of Re. His followers are in festivity, and everybody is in festivity. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 27th May: The Majesty of this god proceeds sailing westwards to see the beauty of Onnophris (Osiris) on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 28th May: Do not burn anything in your house in the way of flame with any of its glow on that day of the anger of the eye of Horus the Elder. [Traditionally all fires in the house should be extinguished for a day of fasting until sunset.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 29th May: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Horus hears your words in the presence of every god and every goddess on this day. You will see every good thing in your house. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 30th May: It is the day of the transmitting of Ma’at to the shrine by the Majesty of Re. The gods learnt that she was much blamed for this. [Justice is sometimes seen as blind even though it follows due process of the law.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 31st May: [Obscure entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 1st June: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. The Going Forth of Ma’at and Re in secret on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 2nd June: Do not do any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 3rd June: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 4th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 5th June: It is the day of Sepa in Tura coming from Heliopolis. [Sepa was a centipede-god who was invoked in charms and spells against dangerous creatures. Carry a talisman with this image for protection.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 6th June: It is a day of quarrelling and reproaching. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 7th June: [Obscure entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 8th June: Do not go out at mid-day, the great enemy [Apophis] is in the temple of Sekhmet. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 9th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 10th June: Do not go out of your house on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 11th June: Creating misery, and bringing terror into existence in conformity with the custom of what is in the year. [At this time of the year the Nile was at its lowest and this entry deals with the misery of the land when disease and pestilence were at their most dangerous.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 12th June: The Feast of Mut in Shera (a lake at Karnak) on this day. It is the day of feeding the gods and her followers. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 13th June: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
​

 Following the absorption of Egypt into the Roman Empire it was the cult of Isis that was transformed out of all recognition into a religion of mysteries, although it was still strongly influenced by Greek tradition.  Among the philosophers who accorded credence to the Egyptian mysteries, Philo, Plutarch and Plato probably feature the most. The consecration ceremonies of the Isian Mysteries are described in detail in The Golden Ass of Apuleius which contains a wealth of rituals, rites and festivals to celebrate the goddess.
 
Wallis Budge picks up on an interesting detail from Apuleius’s writings which demonstrates the views held by Isian worshippers of the time and just how many ‘foreign’ goddesses had been identified with her’.  He goes on to explain that The Golden Ass illustrates that Apuleius had no true knowledge of the actual position which Isis held in early Egyptian mythology, having ascribed to her the attributes which belong to Khepera, Atun, Re and Osiris.  “In short, he turned the Almighty God of the ancient Egyptians into a goddess …”
 
It is difficult to assess how far Isis was Hellenised in iconography and art when her cult was taken over by the Greeks (Isis in the Graeco-Roman World).  Author R E Witt suggests that she first became Greek and then Graeco-Roman, a statement supported by a quotation from Plutarch: “Isis belongs to Greece.”  The appeal of the Isis cult in the early centuries is persuasively presented and documented, especially its impact on budding Christianity with Witt suggesting that Isis was ‘the forerunner of Catholicism’s Mary, Mother of God’.  
    
The cult of Isis also made enormous strides in Italy.  In Vol. II of Osiris & the Egyptian Resurrection, Wallis Budge gives a long description of a ceremony from the temple of Isis at Pompeii around 65BCE.  From Rome the cult of Isis naturally spread to the provinces, and then to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Gaul and finally by way of Marseilles to Carthage and the countries of North Africa.  Although the Edict of Theodosius I (378-395CE) banned the worship of pagan deities, the worship of Isis continued at Philae until the reign of Justinian (527-565) when the temple at Philae was closed and its statues removed to Rome.
    
By the time the Graeco-Egyptian Hermetic literature had reached Rome it had also absorbed a wide range of cultures. Many of the original Egyptian gods, by being given Greek names, were more easily identifiable with the Graeco-Roman pantheons, not to mention Jewish, Persian, Babylonian, Gnostic and Christian influences.  As Christianity became the dominant religion in Egypt most of the ancient temples were closed down, although some Christian intellectuals were prepared to accept Hermes Trismegistus as a pagan but pious sage.  The Hermetic writings which are derived from copies of the Byzantine Period have, according to Geraldine Pinch, usually been purged of their magical elements.
    
After the Arabs conquered Egypt in 7AD the charms written by Coptic magicians (i.e. Christian Egyptians) were highly esteemed by the conquerors.  Both Arab and Coptic magic was strongly influenced by the introduction of the Qabalah, the magical tradition developed by the Jews, and so Solomon became a central figure in magical texts of the time. 
    
A different type of magic was preserved by the Arab scholars, including the famous Emerald Tablet which generally excites many gullible modern practitioners of the Egyptian Mysteries; Geraldine Pinch tells us that this is probably the work of an Arab alchemist from around 9AD.  From 12AD, European scholars began translating Arab sources although few genuine Hermetic manuscripts were known at this time in the West. Dr Christian Jacq maintains that the Coptic Christians of Egypt have never forgotten the ancient magic since there is evidence (Egyptian Magic) of them re-using many aspects of the rituals and magical practices which were used in Pharaonic times.
    
By the early medieval period the ‘Egyptian Hermes’ was being quoted as an authority on magic and astrology, continuing to inspire magical theory and practice right through the Renaissance to the early 17th century.  According to Pinch:  “Although the West still had no real knowledge of ancient Egyptian magical texts, Egypt retained its reputation as the source of magic and arcane wisdom during the 17th and 18th centuries ... and it was natural for movements such as the Rosicrucians and the Freemason to adopt Egyptian imagery for their secret rites.”
    
In 1781 a book was published which claimed an Egyptian origin for the tarot pack.  According to its author, Court de Gebelin, the 22 major trumps formed a ‘Book of Thoth’ which preserved the esoteric wisdom of ancient Egypt in complex symbols, whose meaning could only be recovered by contemplation.  In 1822, the French linguist, Jean Francois Champollion broke the key to the Rosetta Stone thereby making the hieroglyphic script accessible and by the late 19th century many dubious editions of Egyptian texts were available.  The French magus Eliphas Levi, considered to have produced the most important interpretations on the tarot, opined that there was a strong symbolic connection between the 22 cards of the major arcana and the Qabalah - which brings us full circle to the supposed Egyptian Mysteries of Iamblichus!
    
Echoing modern Egyptology’s disapproval of Wallis Budge’s continuing popularity with occultists, Geraldine Pinch comments:  “The only one to make a real impact on followers of the occult was a translation of The Book of the Dead by E A Wallis Budge, the Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum.  In the popular imagination this heterogeneous collection of funerary texts wrongly came to be regarded as the sacred book of the Egyptians.”   
    
Here we return to the age-old battle between historian and magician for the true esoteric meaning behind the ancient words.  Although scholars now refer to the  translations by R. O. Faulkner against Budge’s less reliable interpretations, it’s the latter’s work which appeals to the seeker after god-power.  It’s still Budge who can speak the ‘utterences’ that make the dead live again - not Faulkner.
    
Religious movements and secret societies of the 18-19th centuries continued to utilise Egyptian symbolism with many of them treating extracts from The Book of the Dead as the basis for initiation rites. In The Hiram Key, two Freemasons in search of ancient antecedents for their organisation claim that modern-day Masonics can be traced back to the concept of ma’at purely on the grounds that there could be no ‘clearer and more succinct description of Freemasonry’.  Ma’at in its pure form  symbolises  order,  truth and justice - a  concept  not  alien  to  many  other  Orders  of differing denominations.  Knight and Lomax also claim the sacred pillars representing  the  unification  of  the Two Lands of Egypt suggest another link  with  the  past  for  Freemasonry,  omitting  the  fact  that  dual columns also represent the ‘Pillars of Equilibrium’ in a magical Temple.
 
At best, Freemasonry might be able to claim certain parallels which have been adapted from translations available at the time but they remain firmly in the queue, along with other Orders whose scholarly founders were drawn to the esoteric splendour of ancient Egypt.  They also seem to (deliberately?) overlook the introduction of the ‘Egyptian Rite’ into Freemasonry by Cagliostro in the 18th century.  The fact that their Order uses Egyptian symbolism, ‘secret words’ and the ‘Universal Architect’ [E=Ptah]  merely proves accessibility to neo-classic Egyptian texts by those constructing the original rituals.  The organisation has no greater or  lesser claim to authenticity than the most famous ‘descendant’ of all - The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
    
The Golden Dawn, or Stella Matutina, was formed in 1887 and adopted a considerable amount of ancient Egyptian symbolism as part of its tradition - the temples or lodges being given names of Egyptian  deities.  The Order, studying the highest practical magic where men and women were admitted on equal terms was, according to esoteric author, Alan Richardson: “The genius of Moina and Samuel Liddell Mathers who formed a syzygy, which might be defined as the conjunction of two organisms without loss of identity.”
    
Occult legend claims that the Mathers met in the Egyptian Room at the British Museum and subsequently the temples had names such as Isis-Urania, Alpha et Omega, Amen-Ra, Osiris and Horus and although the Order expanded rapidly, membership only ever remained in the hundreds.  As Richardson observes in Priestess, unlike the Theosophic movement, the Golden Dawn demanded an extremely high level of academic ability in addition to discipline, commitment, imagination and ‘no little flair for the psycho-drama of ritual’. Each temple sported its own set of inner contacts which were manifestations of the individual or collective power of the deities to which the Temple was dedicated.
    
Dion Fortune, who later founded the Society of the Inner Light, was a member of the Alpha et Omega Temple (1919) as well as having apparently contradictory affiliations with The Science, Arts & Crafts Society, the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society and the Hermes Temple.  Richardson suggests that her Christian mysticism did not actually die; it merely retreated when her late marriage awakened her ‘dormant paganism’. It wasn’t until the late 1930s, however, that her strong mystical pagan-subconscious turned directly towards Egypt but students of the Egyptian Tradition would do well to read her novel Moon Magic as an introduction to the subject.
    
In taking the lease on The Belfry in West Halkin Street, off Belgrave Square, Fortune created her very own Temple of Isis. She still gave lectures but only ‘those entirely in tune with the Egyptian nature of the magic’ were admitted.  It was at The Belfry that she wrote Moon Magic, her last (1939-40) and one of the finest esoteric  novels ever written, which successfully blends Western Ritual Magic with the Egyptian Mystery Tradition as a blue-print for the 1900s and beyond.  For those with the eyes to see, Moon Magic does indeed act as a magical guide despite its highly readable fictional overtones.
    
In modern magical practice, the sympathetic multi-embodiment of the goddess-form is possibility nearer to traditional ancient Egyptian sources than the constrictions of the triple-goddess often found in contemporary Wicca.  The quadruple aspect makes a more coherent whole as a deity who waxes and wanes in a continuous cycle, as does her heavenly symbol, the moon. There is no abrupt change from crone to maiden as is the case when focus is directed towards a triple-goddess.
 
The maiden (new moon) opens the door between the worlds and steps through into our world.  As the moon waxes to maturity, her symbolic fertility grows and she becomes the mother, who stands in the place of power at the full moon. As the moon’s light wanes, her beauty dims and fertility fails; she becomes the crone who opens the door to the underworld but magically her age wanes, she grows younger, her dark beauty grows and strengthens.  The dark-queen rules the underworld, barren herself yet she gives the same gift of magical renewal to all souls who pass through her kingdom.  Her face is dark, black as the dark of the moon - Isis veiled and the Black Isis of Dion Fortune’s Moon Magic - but gradually as she grows ever-younger, the Maiden is once again revealed.  The maiden who opens the door from the Underworld and brings new life with her through into the physical world.”
    
The Western traditions of maiden-mother-crone can equally apply to the Bast/Hathor/Isis aspects within Egyptian mythology but for the Dark One - the Black Isis - the Adept should look towards the  primordial goddesses of Tefnut/Nut.  The dark goddess is the symbol of things in the shadows beyond ‘normal’ sight; of the vision  of the night, the dream; things seen by inner sight and the ability of  being able to sense happenings on the astral - all realms of the Dark One. 
    
In Western Ritual Magic the three days prior to menstruation is when the woman’s magical energies are at their most potent and it would be naive to suppose that this condition was unknown to the Egyptian priesthood.  The orgasm has often been called ‘the little death’ and so sexual magic is also one of the attributes of the dark– goddess. Temple sleep and astral travel also gives access to these realms, and by using scrying instruments we can develop the ability to see into this world. Perhaps this aspect of the goddess is ‘hidden’ and appears to live in darkness because people are blind to her possibilities. Tefnut/Nut is the key to greatly expanded awareness in all senses, but until we become aware of those  possibilities, they remain hidden in the darkness.
    
During the ‘dark of the moon’ (when many students are taught they should never attempt magical workings), things are broken down, re-absorbed, patterns are broken into chaos when they have outlived their purpose and are re-made; the dark of the moon is like Death in many ways and is symbolically the process which precedes birth. On the other hand, if the Adept naturally associates the dark of the moon with his or her own form of positive magic, then you will always be able to use this dark time for positive working, regardless of what anyone else may say.

The Gateway to the Temple – Part I
 
Much of modern-day Egyptian-based magico-philosophy stems from the mingling of religious and philosophical literature which developed between the 1st century BCE and the 2nd century CE.  In reality, the Hermetica, which is often passed off as the font of all classic Egyptian wisdom, is a collection of writings by an unknown Christian scholar, combining neo-Platonic, Qabalistic and Christian elements. 
    
As a result, no one is sure of their origin (or even if they are fakes, according to Eva Shaw), since there has been a continuing debate about their authenticity from the time of the Renaissance.  The works are referred to as Hermetica because the principal character in them is usually Hermes Trismegistus.  The name Trismegitus (thrice-greatest) shows that this is the Egyptian god Thoth (Tahuti) who, by this period in history (500BCE), had been equated with the Greek Hermes.  The epithet relates directly to an inscription in a temple at Isna, near Thebes: “Djeyeuty pa aa, pa aa, pa aa = Tahuti, the great, the great, the great”
    
Hermetic writings are in the form of dialogues in which the chief characters are Thoth/Tahuti himself in his Egyptian guise, the healing god Asclepius and his Egyptian counter-part Imhotep, Osiris, Amun, Isis and Horus.  Their purpose is to teach the understanding of God, man and the universe, with the authority of the ancient wisdom of Egypt.  But they rarely make full use of the pretence that the speakers are Egyptian gods and demi-gods, and there is little genuine early Egyptian tradition contained in the text. 
    
According  to  the  Hermetica  there  are  three  grades  in  the Egyptian  Mysteries  of  Hermes/Thoth/Tahuti, which do bear a remarkable (if unintentional) insight into the old stellar beliefs of the pre-dynastic period:
 
Mortals - those who are instructed but who have not yet gained inner vision.
 
Intelligences - those whose vision enabled them to tune into other life forms within the universe
 
Beings of Light - those who have become light.
 
The entry in the occult encyclopaedia, Man, Myth & Magic, openly states  that  originality  is  not  a  virtue  of  the  Hermetica since the writings contain scarcely a paragraph which cannot be considered as a development or continuation of older and more original ideas.   “Almost all the material is drawn from Greek philosophy, with a little from ancient Egyptian beliefs and Mesopotamian astrology ... often debasing or even mutilating the original thought.  Like most magical or mystical writings it is not remarkable for consistency of thought or uniformity of terminology, and the versions which have come down to us are crowded with obscurities and contradictions.”
    
Other widely used source material comes from the Egyptian Mysteries of Iamblichus (first published in 1911) which are another series of ‘dialogues’ although little is known about the author or precisely  when  it  was  written.  Occult  lore  appears  to accept the author as being a ‘representative of the Alexandrian School’ and a neo-Platonist, giving the date of the text as being 4CE.   Modern research into the text refutes these claims, however, since the content ‘deals with eternal mystical and philosophical questions of the creation of the cosmos …’ neither does it contain any fragments or references to an initiation ritual as is often claimed by occultists.
    
Iamblichus was recognised as an accomplished sorcerer who would have been familiar with the initiation rites of Egypto-Coptic mysteries, the theosophical doctrines, religious beliefs and magical rituals. Nevertheless, contemporary scholars find that his work bears no  resemblance  to  the  famous  initiatory  text On the Mysteries, particularly  those  of  the  Egyptians,  Chaldeans  &  the  Assyrians, usually attributed to him.  Neither do the translations of Iamblichus by Taylor (1821), Quillard (1895) and Hopfner (1921) contain ‘a single passage which is related to or identical with’ the text claimed to have been preserved by the 4th century CE sorcerer.
    
This is not to say that there is nothing worthy of note in the Weiser version of the Egyptian Mysteries.  It does smack, perhaps too conveniently, of a massaged text that now identifies easily with the 22-Paths of the major arcana of the Tarot.  Especially when the translator is identified as Jean-Baptiste Pitois, a student of Eliphas Levi, the great 19th century magus whose greatest contribution to modern occultism was - the Qabalistic discoveries relating to the 22-Paths of the Tarot!  Unlike the translation of the The Leyden Papyrus, which  dates  from  around  the  same  time, Egyptian Mysteries must be viewed with a hefty pinch of scepticism.
     
The  Hermetica,  The  Egyptian  Mysteries  and  The  Leyden Papyrus  offer  up  Greek  influenced  records  from  the beginning of the Christian era and therefore only reflect magico-religious practice from a decayed Egypt. Judging by the confusion from the end of the New Kingdom over the country’s traditional cultural identity, it is highly doubtful whether these late records can claim any degree of authority as to the ‘pure’ esoteric practices of the Early Period.  The Leyden Papyrus is believed to be the textbook of a practising sorcerer of the period, including spells, sex magical rituals, incantations and various other occult information which may be of more practical use to the neophyte interested in magic rather than philosophy.
 
Part II to follow …
 
 

​In Magic in Ancient Egypt, Geraldine Pinch records that although the colours of clothing, utensils or ingredients used in magic were carefully chosen, Egyptian colour-terms do not directly correspond with our own.  Shades of yellow, red and orange can all be described by one word because they all occur in fire.  Black and green were positive and powerful colours linked with growth and regeneration.  Blue and turquoise were heavenly colours.  Red was a very powerful colour linked with the solar deities; this power  could be harnessed  by the magician by using the red ribbons of the seven Hathors. The colour was also associated with Set and the ink made from flaming red poppies was used in writing spells to invoke him.
​[British Museum Press]

​SHOMU-season (Harvest)
First Month: Pakhons
 
Day 1 – 16th March: Feast of Horus, son of Isis and his followers on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 17th March: Do not sail in any wind on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 18th March: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 19th March: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Follow Horus on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 20th March: Feast of Ba-neb-dedet on this day. [Ba-neb-dedet was the ram-god of Djet wrongly translated by Greek historians as ‘the Goat of Mendes’.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 21st March: Coming of the Great Ones from the House of Re, rejoicing on this day when they receive the Wedjet-eye, together with their followers. If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Spring Equinox (Autumn in Egypt). Sun rises in Aries. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 22nd March: The crew follow Horus in the foreign land … Every land is happy, and their heart is glad … Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 23rd March: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 24th March: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 25th March: The proceeding of the White One of Heaven [Feast day of Osiris]. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 26th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 27th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 28th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 29th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 30th March: Do not go out of your house until Re sets in the horizon. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 31st March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe –not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 1st April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 2nd April: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 3rd April: A feast day of Thoth and Ma’at. All the gods are in great festivity. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 4th April: Ma’at judges in front of the gods who became angry. The Majesty of Horus revised (over-ruled) it. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 5th April: [Obscure text.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 6th April: Anyone born on this day will die of old age. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 7th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 8th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 9th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 10th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 11th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 12th April: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 13th April: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 14th April: Feast of … happiness. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
 

The Egyptian Book of Days provides an insight into both the religious and everyday aspects of ancient Egyptian life. It also introduces the seeker to genuine religious texts (in the form of prayers or invocations, including prayer times), and offers a general overview of Egyptian belief that makes it possible to see a living, breathing people – not just exhibits in a museum.
 
The new edition of the Calendar has been extended to include mini-biographies of the deities whose feast-days are being celebrated on each particular day, details of ritual offerings, holy places and sacred sites – not to mention the gossip and harem scandals that were recorded on ostraca – fragments of pottery shards - that were scattered the length and breadth of Egypt.
 
The Egyptian Books of Days has been compiled from the Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri lodged in the British Museum; the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris; the Staatliche Museum in Berlin; the Rijksmuseum in Leiden; and the Sallier Papyrus IV (No.10184); The Cairo Calendar (No.86637) currently lodged in the British and Cairo Museums and the Temple Festival Calendars of Ancient Egypt by Sherif el-Sabban.
 
 
The Calendar of Ancient Egypt - the revised and expanded edition compiled by Melusine Draco, is published by Ignotus Press UK ISBN 978 1 78876 583 1.   Order direct from the publisher to qualify for the special price.   https://www.feedaread.com/books/The-Calendar-of-Ancient-Egypt-9781788765831.aspx

PROYET-season (Emergence)
Fourth Month: Pharmuthi
 
Day 1 – 14th February: Great feasting in heaven. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 15th February: The Majesty of Geb proceeds to the throne of Busiris to see Anubis, who commands the council on the requirements of the day. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 16th February: Do not do anything on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 17th February: If you see anything it will be good on this day. The gods and goddesses are satisfied when they see the children of Geb sitting in their places (i.e. at peace). Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 18th February: Feast of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 19th February: Going Forth of the stars. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 20th February: The Going Forth of Min in festivity. The gods are jubilating. Pay attention to the incense on the fire smelling of sweet myrrh. Sun rises in Pisces. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 21st February: The Ennead is in adoration when they see this eye of Horus (the Elder) in its place. A feast day for Horus whose magnificence stretches into infinity. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 22nd February: Do not go out at the time of darkness when Re goes into the West. If you seeanything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 23rd February: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 24th February: The gods are in the shrines of the temples. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 25th February: Feast of Montu. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 26th February: It is the day of conducting Osiris on his ship to Abydos on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 27th February: Do not be courageous on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 28th February: A great happy day in the Eastern Horizon of heaven when instructions were given to the followers of the gods in their temples in the presence of the Great Ones in the Two Horizons. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
[The ancient calendar made no allowance for Leap Year.]
Day 16 – 1st March: The Going Forth of Khepri. Every town is in joy. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 2nd March: The Going Forth of Set, son of Nut, to disturb the Great Ones. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 3rd March: Do not approach when the Majesty of Re goes forth. Do not wash yourself with water on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 4th March: The Majesty of Re goes forth in his barque of heaven. If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 5th March: Do not do any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 6th March: Do not go out on any road on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 7th March: An unlucky day. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 8th March: It is the day of offering victuals … invocation offering to the spirits. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 9th March: Do not mention the name of Set in a loud voice on this day. As to anyone who mentions his name forgetfully, fighting is made in his house forever. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 10th March: Do not eat anything which comes from or on water on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 11th March: [Damaged entry.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 12th March: Do not go out of your house until Re sets because the Majesty of the goddess Sekhmet is angry. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 13th March: If you see anything it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 14th March: The gods are satisfied when they give adoration to Onnophris (Osiris), incense being on the fire; offer to your local gods myrrh which is pleasant on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 15th March: Offer to Ptah-Sokar-Osiris … Atum, Lord of the Two Lands… to all the gods … on this day. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.

PROYET-season (Emergence)
Third Month: Phamenoth
 
Day 1 – 15th January: It is the day (of jubilation) in heaven and earth and everybody likewise. Feast of entering into heaven and the two banks. Horus is jubilating. Feast of Horus the Elder. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 2 – 16th January: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 3 – 17th January: [Damaged entry] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 4 – 18th January: A Feast of Propitiation for Set. Announcement of fighting; call in Heliopolis by Set, his voice being in heaven [thunder], his voice being on earth, through great fury [storm]. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 5 – 19th January: Neith goes forth from Sais when they see (her) beauty in the night for four and a half (hours). [Possibly referral to an eclipse] Feast of Neith. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 6 – 20th January: Jubilation of Osiris is Bursiris … Going Forth of Anubis, (his adorers) following him … he has received everybody in the hall. Mayest thou make the ritual. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 7 – 21st January: Do not go out of your house until Re sets. It is the day when the eye of Re called the followers, and they reached him (in) the evening. Beware of it. [Marking the day when Sekhmet punished mankind for rebelling against Re.] Sun rises in Aquarius. Prayer or divinatory time: at noon.
Day 8 – 22nd January: If you see anything, it will be good on this day. It is the day of making way for the gods. Khnum who presides over those who remove themselves from him. The Feast Day of Khumn, the creator-god, who fashions human beings on his potter’s wheel. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 9 – 23rd January: Judgement in Heliopolis. The anniversary of the judgement of the gods between Set and Horus. Sun rises in Aquarius. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 10 – 24th January: It is the day of the coming of Thoth. They guided the very great Flame into her house of the desert of eternity (along) the way which she found among them. The celebration of Thoth bringing 40
 
Sekhmet, the lion-goddess, back from her self-imposed exile. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 11 – 25th January: As to the dead who go about in the necropolis on this day, the dead are going about in order to repel the anger of the enemy who is in the said land. A Feast of Osiris in Amenti. A day for honouring the Ancestors in the Otherworld. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 12 – 26th January: Wsr [the Nile] comes from Nun on this day. Traditionally a celebration of the first appearance of the life-giving waters at the Creation. The Feast of the Nile. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 13 – 27th January: The coming of Thoth (with his spirits) on this day. A Feast of Thoth. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 14 – 28th January: Do not go out of your house (on any road) on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 15 – 29th January: Rebellion in the shrine(?). Do not do any work on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 16 – 30th January: Opening of the windows and opening of the court, and looking into the doorways of Karnak, where his place is. Do not look into the darkness on this day. Reference to the cleaning of the temple. [There is a dark, inner sanctuary of Sekhmet in the Temple of Ptah at Karnak.] Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 17 – 31st January: Do not pronounce the name of Set on this day. As to him who pronounces his name without his knowledge, he will not stop from fighting in his house eternally. Set was the god of Chaos who was always at odds with his siblings. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 18 – 1st February: Feast of Nut who counts the days. Make a holiday in your house. Prayer or divinatory time: at dawn and in the afternoon.
Day 19 – 2nd February: Birth of Nut anew … Do not go out of your house; do not see the light (sw). Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 20 – 3rd February: Do not go out of your house on any road. Do not see the light. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 21 – 4th February: [Damaged entry] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 22 – 5th February: Birth of the mysterious one (Apophis). Do not get the thought of pronouncing the names of the snakes. [Obscure meaning but some snakes were unlucky and Apophis is the serpent-god of the netherworld.] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 23 – 6th February: Feast of Horus on this day of his years in his very beautiful images. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 24 – 7th February: Do not go out of your house on any road on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: dawn.
Day 25 – 8th February: Do not do anything on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: do not observe – not a suitable day.
Day 26 – 9th February: [Obscure meaning] Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.
Day 27 – 10th February: Do not do anything on this day. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 28 – 11th February: Feast of Osiris in Abydos. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 29 – 12th February: If you see anything it will be good. Prayer or divinatory time: throughout the day.
Day 30 – 13th February: Feast in Busiris. The names of the doorways come into existence. House of Re, House of Osiris, House of Horus. Prayer or divinatory time: in the afternoon.