Wep Ronpet When is it celebrated? Beginning of August. Also known as: Kemetic New Year, Opening of the Year, Wep-renpet, Wepet Senet Why do we celebrate? The rising of Sopdet (Sirius) marks the beginning of the new year for us, and it's a time for renewal and great celebration. Celebrations go on for 7 days, each with their own specific purpose. The "intercalary days" are of mythological and practical importance - they're the 5 extra days that make the 365 days of the year complete, and they're also the days Djehuty set in place so that Nut's Children (Wesir/Osiris, Heru-wer/Horus the Elder, Set/Seth/Sutekh, Aset/Isis & Nebt-het/Nephthys) could be born. For the record, Ra had said that Nut may not give birth during any day of any year, which is why Djehuty set in place a few extra ones. During these 5 days, strange or unsettling things seem to happen more than any other time of year! Day 1: Last day of the year Day 2: Intercalary day - Wesir's birthday Day 3: Intercalary day - Heru-wer's birthday Day 4: Intercalary day - Set's birthday Day 5: Intercalary day - Aset's birthday Day 6: Intercalary day - Nebt-het's birthday Day 7: Wep Ronpet Traditions & activities Things to do Wep Ronpet is one of the few festivals that seem to over-flow with things to do. ;) Day-specific things Day 1: Reflect over the past year, start thinking about resolutions and goals for the new year. Light lamps and candles for Khnum after sunset. Day 2: Light a candle for Wesir and pray to Him, with your own words or reciting ancient hymns or modern poems. Send greetings to Shemsu of Him, or people in some way connected to Him. Day 3: Same as Day 2, but honour Heru-wer. Day 4: Same as Day 2, but honour Set. Day 5: Same as Day 2, but honour Aset. Day 6: Same as Day 2, but honour Nebt-het. Day 7: Greet the sunrise, light a candle and pray for the New Year. Make resolutions, set goals. General activities Smite that Apep! A common thing, which is also done in the temple, is to bake a cake, either in the form of a snake or with one drawn on it. The snake symbolizes Apep, and since isfet is bad, we devour him in order to kick his reptile ass (well, tail). ;) Red filling is recommended for effect! (Start by cutting his head off when eating the cake.) Getting rid of evil. In the temple, those who attend the Wep Ronpet festivities, get to do a pot-smashing ritual. (I think you're supposed to draw a square or cross on the pot, and focus on it, thinking about everything bad you can imagine, that you really don't want to happen during the new year. Then you smash the pot, and throw the pieces in the fire, symbolically destroying those bad things.) For those of us who don't want to go breaking all our china, we can do something simpler. ;) Take a piece of paper, and either write down everything bad you can think of, or just draw an X on it. Blow on it, then burn it. Voila! Giving away gifts. I'd say Wep Ronpet is an excellent excuse to give away gifts or send cards to people. I've heard that people in Kemet used to give away little bottles with Nile water, so something in a similar theme could be nice. Decoration I'm not sure what may be appropriate, but I think fresh flowers in your shrine could be a nice touch. Different coloured candles (or other items) may be good for each day of the celebrations. For example: I can imagine green, black or brown candles being burnt for Wesir, and some black dirt or a thriving plant put around or in the shrine for His birthday. For Heru-wer, I'd decorate with feathers, and burn golden, red or blue candles. For Set, I'd use blood red. For Aset, gold, royal blue, red, deep purple or lush green. For Nebt-het, mellow blues, and shades of grey. White, to me, makes sense for Wep Ronpet. Use your imagination! Symbols & associations I'm unaware of any herbs especially connected with new beginnings and such, but something as classical as lotus might work. Not sure about incense. I associate the colours white, soil brown, red and lush or dark green with Wep Ronpet, but I don't quite know why. As for symbols - circles, to symbolize the annual cycle. Further reading None yet.