Hieroglyph (𓊹𓌃𓏪) Dictionary

This is a work in progress. I’ve been teaching myself Egyptian hieroglyphs just for fun, I don’t really know how far I’ll get with it but it’s nice to at least have some sort of a grasp on it. I feel that it brings me comfort, just learning things. I’m always happiest when I’m learning. It brings me closer to Djehuti, or Thoth, The One Who Makes Writing Speak. I’ve been putting together a dictionary for my own use, and it’s gotten rather long. So, I’m saving it on my blog so I have access to it wherever, also in case I ever lose it somehow (Apple Pages is finicky and I’ve lost documents before on it). I’ll keep adding to it the more words I come across. I might also post the many pagan prayers and rituals I’ve come across in recent months too, that’s another document that’s getting pretty long. 

The dictionary starts with a few basic grammar rules, the phonetic hieroglyphs (which only account for a small fraction of the total hieroglyphs that existed), the names of the Netjeru as written in hieroglyphs, and finally words. Learning Armenian actually has helped me in learning ancient Egyptian because they share a lot of the sounds that don’t appear in English. Because of the nature of the unicode block hieroglyphs, I’m forced to write them out in a straight line, but in reality the glyphs would be stacked or grouped together a lot. Also they might be read right to left, or vertically up to down, depending on the situation. They normally face whichever way the person or Netjer on the papyrus/carving is facing.

𓅝 𓁟 𓏺  𓂝𓅓𓄈𓅓𓏏𓏥𓀐

Hieroglyph (𓊹𓌃𓏪) Dictionary

𓌃𓂧𓅱𓀁𓊹 - Hieroglyph (Divine Writing) - MDW-NTR (Medu-Netjeru)

 Endings and Determatives

𓏪 , 𓏦 - Plural, Two or more

𓏭 - Two, Double 

𓏺 - indicative of a logogram; a picture that represents a word on its own rather than as a phonetic letter. May precede the word sometimes. 

𓏏 - feminine ending, represents a bread loaf and the “T” sound

𓆇 - often appears in female names, represents an egg

𓀭 - King or God

𓁐, 𓆘- Queen or Goddess 

———-

Phonetics

Symbol-English Equivalent-Armenian Equivalent 

𓂝 - A, Ā, Ա (a swallowed A sound) 

𓄿 - A, Ա, ȝ (glottal stop, like in Cockney accent)

𓃀 - B, Բ

𓂧 - D, Դ

𓆓 - Dj, Ճ

𓆑 - F, Ֆ

𓎼 - G, Գ

𓎤 - G, Գ

𓉔 - H, Հ

𓎛 - H, Հ

𓇋 - I, Ի (reed)

𓎡 - K, Ք

𓃭 - L, RW, Լ

𓅓 - M, Մ (who is/who is in)

𓐝 - IM, ԻՄ

𓈖 - N, Ն (of - nj, water)

𓋔 - N, Ն

𓋋 - N, Ն (Neith’s determinative)

𓍯 - O,/WA, Օ/Ուա

𓊪 - P, Պ

𓈎 - Q,/K, Ք (made in back of throat)

𓂋 - R/ L, Ր/Լ

𓊃 - S/ Z, Ս/Զ

𓋴 - S, Ս

𓈙 - SH, Շ

𓏏 -T, Թ

𓍘 - TI, ԹԻ

𓍿 - Tch, Ջ

𓅱 - U/ W, Ու

𓏲 - U/ W, Ու

𓐍 - X, KH, Խ

𓄡 - KH, Խ (German ‘ch’)

𓇋𓇋 - Y,/II, Յ

𓏭 - Y/J, Յ/Ե (two, double)

Bilateral Phonograms, Etc.

𓉐 - PR, Պր (house)

𓉻 - A’a  (great)

𓎟 - Nb/Neb(t) - Lord/Lady, Possessor, All

Practice

(𓋴 𓅱 𓂋 𓈖) - Suren (Swrn)

(𓂧 𓃀 𓍯 𓂋 𓄿) - Deborah (Dbora)

(𓆓 𓄿 𓂋 𓏏) - Jareth (Jart)

𓎛 𓄿 𓇋𓇋 𓄿 𓋴 𓏏 𓄿 𓈖 - Hayastan

(𓄿 𓊃 𓅓 𓄿 𓁐 ) - Ozma

——

 Netjeru 𓊹𓊹𓊹

Note: Most of their names have several different spellings adopted over the 3,000 years of ancient Egypt, I just picked the ones I liked best. 

𓂝 𓃀 𓂝 𓋴 𓏏, 𓂝 𓃀 𓊨𓏏𓁥 - Abaset, Hedgehog Goddess (two possible spellings I came up with)

𓂝𓅓𓄈𓅓𓏏𓏥𓀐 - Ammit the Devourer

𓇋𓏠𓈖 - Amun

𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏺𓇳 - Amun-Ra

𓂝𓈖𓏌𓅱𓍘𓇋𓏏𓆇𓆗 - Anat

𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓏏𓁐 - Anput, Anupet

 

𓇋𓈖𓊪𓁢 - Anubis - Anpu

𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢𓐩𓏌𓏏𓏭𓂡 𓅡𓇾𓈇𓏺 𓊪𓈖𓊪𓏏𓎛 𓃡𓂓 - Anubis the Protector, Soul of the Earth, He the creator, Wolf Spirit - Ȧnpunudjety Bata Penptaḥ Unishka

𓂝𓈖 𓈎𓏏𓁐 - Anuket - Netjeret of the cataracts of the Nile

𓄿𓈙𓁣 - Ash

𓂝𓊃𓍘𓇋𓏭𓂋𓍘𓇋𓏏𓆇,  𓉻𓂝𓊃𓍘𓇋𓂋𓏤 𓆼𓄿𓃭𓏤, 𓉻𓂝𓋴𓏭𓍘𓇌 𓆼𓏲𓃭𓏤 - Astarte - Ishtar/ Inanna, 𒌋𒁯, 𒀭(dingir), Saris (Urartian)

𓂝 𓋴 𓏏 𓂋 𓇋 𓎡 - Astghik, Armenian Goddess of Love and Water - Աստղիք

𓃀𓂝𓏭𓂋𓁐𓀃 - Ba’al

𓎯𓏏𓏏𓁐 - Bast - Bastet

𓅡 𓄿𓏏𓏣 - Bat , Cow Goddess of Femininity and Music

𓃀𓋴𓄜 - Bes

𓇼𓅐 𓏏𓆑 - Duamutef, Jackal-Headed Son of Horus, Protector of the Stomach, Large Intestines, and Hands

𓇴 𓂧 𓊹𓊹𓊹𓅆𓏪  - the Ennead

𓅭 𓃀 𓀭 - Geb

𓅞𓅞 - Hapi, Baboon-headed Son of Horus, Protector of the Lungs 

𓎛𓂝𓊪𓏭 - Hapy, Netjer of the Nile

𓉡 - Hathor - Het-Heru (House of Horus/ House of Heaven)

𓎛𓂝 𓇋𓇋 𓎡 - Hayk

𓁨 - Heh

𓎛𓏘𓏏𓆏 - Heket, Frog 

𓅃𓏺𓅓𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢 - Hermanubis

𓅃,𓅃𓀭  - Horus - Heru

𓎛𓅱𓀭 - Hu

𓄿𓇉𓇋 - Ihy

𓐝 𓊃 𓍘𓇋𓀭 - Imsety, Human Son of Horus, Protector of the Liver

𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 - Imhotep

𓊨𓏏𓁥 - Isis - Aset

𓏘𓃀𓎛𓏂𓅱𓏏𓊾𓆓 - Kebechet/Kebewet

𓆣 𓂋𓇋𓁛 - Khepri

𓎸𓅱𓁠 - Khnum

𓐍𓈖 𓋴𓅱 - Khonsu

𓆄 - Ma’at, feather, air

𓅖𓆓𓂧𓐦𓀭 - Medjed the Smiter

𓌻𓂋𓏏𓆇𓇉𓁐 - Merit

𓏏𓄿𓀭 - Mut

𓅘𓎛𓃀𓏴𓂓𓏥𓂕 - Nehebkau

𓈖𓈟 𓅓𓏏𓂝 𓍯 𓇋𓇋𓆗 - Nehmetawy, “she who embraces those in need”, consort of Djehuti 

𓈖𓏏 𓋋 𓀭 - Neith

𓈖𓐍𓃀𓇑𓏏𓅐 - Nekhbet

𓉠𓏏𓆇 - Nephthys - Nebet-Het

𓏌𓏌𓏌 𓇯 𓈗 𓀭 - Nun

𓏌𓏏 𓇯 - Nut

𓁹𓊨𓀭- Osiris - Asar

𓊪𓏏𓎛𓀭 - Ptah

𓏁𓌢𓌢𓌢 𓆑 - Qebehsenuef, Falcon-Headed Son of Horus, protector of the Intestines. 

𓂋 𓂝𓇳𓀭 - Ra

𓂋𓈖𓈖𓏏𓆇𓆗 - Renenutet

𓂋 𓈙𓊪𓅱𓀭 - Reshep

𓃃𓇼𓄿𓀭 - Sah (Orion/Hayk)

𓌂𓐍𓅓𓏏𓁐 - Sekhmet

𓋇𓏏𓁐 - Seshat

𓊃𓏏𓈙𓁣,  𓇓𓍢𓏏𓐍𓃩𓀭, 𓋴𓏏𓈙𓁣, 𓐤  - Set/Seth/Setesh/Sutekh

𓃩𓃪𓃫𓁣 - Shas (storms, chaos determinatives)

𓆷𓄿𓇌𓀭 - Shay/Shai, God of Fate, Destiny and Luck

𓈙 𓇋𓅱𓀭 - Shu

𓋷𓄿𓀭 - Sia

𓋴𓃀 𓎡𓆋 - Sobek

𓋴𓏏𓏚𓇼 - Sopdet (Sothis/Sirius)

𓏏 𓆑𓈖 𓏏𓆘 - Tefnut

𓅝 𓁟, 𓆓𓎛𓅱𓏏𓏭𓁟 - Thoth - Djehuti 

𓄋𓈐𓃧 - Wepwawet 

——— 

Words

Hieroglyph - English Word - Kemetic Word (if known)

𓅓𓇋𓏲𓂋𓎺𓀭 - Abyss - Mir(w)

𓐍𓈖𓅓𓏬 - Amethyst - Khenumet

𓂝 𓐍𓅱 - Ancestor - Akhu (approximate spelling)

𓎛𓊨𓅓𓏏𓃥 - Animal - Htm

𓂝𓏺 - Arm/Hand, State, Region  - Xps

𓏞 - Artist, Scribe, Writer, Sculptor 

𓄤 - Beauty, Good, Perfection - Nefer

𓄿𓍘𓇋𓏲𓏏𓆱 - Bed

𓆎𓅓,  𓆓𓂝𓃀 - Black, Coal Black - Kem, Djab

𓍿𓂋𓏞𓈒𓏥 - Blood, Blood-Red - Tjur

𓇋𓁹𓏏𓄿𓏸𓏥 - Blue - Artyu; 𓐍𓋴𓃀𓆓𓏸 - Lapis Lazuli, Blue-Black of Hair - Kheshbedj; 𓇋𓆛𓈖𓌰𓅓 - Sky Blue - Anum

𓂋𓂋𓇋𓃟 - Boar - Sow

𓎛𓂝𓄹𓏪 - Body (living) - Hāu

𓄡𓏏 - Body ( the physical form) - Khat

𓊃𓂝𓎛𓅱𓋩𓁀 - Body (dead, mummified) - Sāhu

𓈎𓄿𓄿𓏏𓆱 - Bolt - Kullat

𓄑 - Bone, Tooth, to bite - Ibh

𓏛 - Book, Writing

𓐝 - Border, Half - GS

𓌔𓏏𓏤 - Bow (for arrows) - pdt (pi.ti)

𓊭 - Box, coffin

𓏒 - Bread, offering

𓏏 - Bread loaf, female

𓈖𓈙𓊪𓂉𓀁 - to Breathe - Nashap

𓅱𓃀𓐍𓏴𓏜 - to be Bright, to emit light - Wabach

𓏎𓈖 - to Bring - Ini

𓈔𓏤𓈒𓏦 - Bronze - Hesmin

𓅱𓋴𓐍𓎺𓋝 - Broad Collar - Wesekh

𓂓𓂸𓃒 - Bull - Kal

𓈎𓂋𓋴𓏏𓊭 - Burial - Karast

𓂋𓎡𓎛𓊮 - to Burn - Rakah

𓈎𓂋𓋴𓊭 - to Bury - Karas

𓎡𓄿𓈖𓂝𓈖𓂝𓌙𓈉 - Canaan - Kina-ana

𓀋 - Carry, lift

𓅓𓇋𓅱𓃠 - Cat - Mau/Miu

𓃒𓏦 - Cattle

𓎛𓊨𓏏𓆱 - Chair

𓊃𓇋𓆑𓅨𓏏 - Chaos, Violence, Injustice - Isfet

𓀔 - Child, young - Alw

𓋳 - Clothing, linen

𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆘 - Cobra

𓇍 - Come, Arrive, Return

𓇋𓃹𓈖𓏌𓅱𓁸𓏥 - Colors - Aunu

𓊪𓋴𓊮 - to Cook - Pisi

𓊪𓊃𓋴𓏏𓊮 - Cooking - Pst

𓈔𓏺𓏧 - Copper - Hemet

𓎛𓃀𓋴𓋳 - to Cover - Habas

𓅓𓐠𓎛𓆊𓉼 - Crocodile - Msh Aa

𓁿 - To Cry, weep - RMI

𓆎𓅓𓁸 - Dark Brown - Kheme

𓉔𓂋𓏲𓇳𓏺 - Day - Haruu (Haruu Nefer - Good Day.) 

𓀼, 𓀽- Dead, exulted one

𓀿 - Dead, laying down, buried 

𓀐 - Death - Xpyt (related to the German word Kaput, interestingly)

𓅓𓏏𓏱 - Deceased

𓊃 𓏏 𓈊, 𓂧𓈙𓂋𓏏𓅟𓈊  - Desert - Smyt, Dšr.t , Tesheret (The Red Land)

𓅓𓏏𓀐 - to Die - Mawat

𓎛𓊨 𓏏𓅯 - to Disappear- Htm

𓐎 - Disease, tumor, odor (see stink)

𓁹 - to Do - Iri

𓍿𓊃𓅓𓃡 - Dog - Tzm

𓉿 - Door - Sba

𓃘 - Donkey - Aa

𓊃𓅨𓂋𓀁 - to Drink - Zhawar

𓄲𓂋𓏏𓈒𓏦 - Drug - Pakhrat

𓄔 - Ear, to hear - Idn

𓇬𓀁 - to Eat - wanam

𓋴𓅱𓎛𓏏𓆇 - Egg - Sawkhat

𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 - Egypt- Kemet, the Black Land

𓆎𓏏𓀀𓁐𓏪 - Egyptians, people of Kemet

𓂺 - Ejaculation

𓍋𓃀𓅱𓃰𓏪 - Elephants - Abu

𓂘,  𓎛𓊪𓏏𓂘 - to Embrace, hug  - Hapat

𓀏, 𓀐 - Enemy  - Xrw

𓎼𓂋𓍅𓏛 - to Equip - Garag

𓆖 - Eternity

𓁹 - Eye, to see, to watch, to do - Ain

𓁷𓏤 - Face - Har

𓋴𓈖𓃀𓏏𓇋𓏭𓀀 - Farewell, good bye - Senebty

𓇋𓏏 - Father - Eet (Grandfather = Eet-Eet)

𓎱 - Festival, Holiday

𓄿𓎛𓏏𓈇 - Field - Lahat

𓇋𓄿𓂋𓅱𓆰𓆰 - Field of Reeds (afterlife) - Sekhet Aaru

𓅠𓅓 - to Find - Cmj

𓂷, 𓂭 - Finger, Toe, nail - Dba

𓊮 - Fire, heat, to cook - Khet

𓌗𓀜 - to be Firm - Rawat

𓇋𓆑𓄹𓏥, 𓄹 - Flesh, limb - If

𓌞𓋴𓂻 - to Follow, Serve - šms

𓂾 - Foot, leg - RD (foot) Sebek (leg)

𓄂𓏏𓏤 - Front - Ht

𓇭 - Garden, vineyard, vine - Kamw

𓅓𓂝𓅓𓂝𓃱 - Giraffe

𓏙 - to Give - Di

𓏙𓋹 - Given Life, 𓏙𓋹𓆖 - Given Eternal Life, 𓏙𓋹𓊽𓌀 - Given Life, Stability and Strength

I was excited when I could understand “Given life, stability and strength” on the above without consulting my dictionary. This is Sutekh and Heru. The hieroglyphs are read in the direction each God is facing.  

𓊹𓏏, 𓆘   - Goddess (sing.) - Neteret/Netjeret

𓊹𓊹𓊹𓏏 -Goddesses (pl.)

𓊹 - God (sing.) - Neteru/Netjeru

𓊹𓊹𓊹 - Gods (pl.) - Neteru/Netjeru

𓋞𓃉𓃉𓃉 - Gold - Nebu

𓄤𓆑𓂋𓏏 - Good - Neferet

𓇠, 𓌽  - Grain

𓇋𓄿𓂋𓂋𓏏 - Grapes - Iarrt

𓂬  - to Grasp, hold, punch

𓉻 - Great (size or importance)

𓅨𓎛𓂓𓂓𓂓𓃫 - Great of Magic (title of Set)

𓎛𓋴𓍄 - Green - Hes-Bia; 𓇅𓆓𓏛 - to be Green - Walat

𓅱𓄞𓂧𓀁 - to Greet, to Worship - Wšd

𓋴𓆎𓅓 - Grey - Sekem

𓁸 - Hair, Mourning

𓂧 - Hand - Dt

𓆣𓂋 - to Happen - Khapar

𓃀𓈖𓏏𓏢 - Harp - Bajnat

𓅓𓈖𓏏𓆑 - He, His - NTF (she/hers = NTS)

𓍑𓄿𓍑𓄿𓁶, 𓁶𓏺 - Head - Dada

𓄣𓏤 - Heart - Ib

𓀄 - Hidden 

𓊶𓊪𓀄 - to Hide - Kalap

𓇓𓅱 - Him/He - Suw

𓉐𓏺 - Home, building  - Hwt

𓆤𓏏𓏌𓏥 - Honey - Bit

𓇋𓊸𓅡𓂋𓏤𓃗 - Horse, Stallion - Ibr

𓉗 - House, Mansion, Estate

𓉔𓇋𓂸𓀀 - Husband - Hj

𓅓𓅓𓃡𓏦 - Hyenas - HTT

𓏌𓎡, 𓇋𓈖𓎡𓀀 - I, I Am - Anak

𓏏𓐍𓄣𓅜 - Ibis -  HBY (Hibuy)

𓏏𓅱𓏏 - Image, Picture - Tut

𓊹𓌢𓂧𓊸𓈓 - Incense, Natron - NTRYT 

𓂋𓈎𓂢 - to Incline - Piki

𓄚𓈖𓏌𓉐 - Inside - Khaneh

𓊠𓂝𓍢𓂡 - To Interpret- Wahal

𓍋𓃀𓅱𓌟 - Ivory

𓃥 - Jackal- Sahb

𓃥 𓂓 - Jackal Soul - Sahbka

𓎯 - Jar, ointment, oil

𓄡𓂧𓃀𓀜 - to Kill - Khatab

𓆣𓂋𓈙𓋙 - Khepresh Crown

𓌪 - Knife, to cut

𓋷𓀁 - to Know, percieve - Sia

𓇾, 𓈅  - Land

𓋹𓈖𓐍 - Life - Ankh

𓃭𓏤 - Lion - Ar

𓆄 - Ma’at, feather, air

𓅓𓆑𓂓𓏏𓈓 - Malachite - Mefek 

𓀀 - Man, Person, Action 

𓆈 𓏦 - Many

𓈙𓅓𓈙𓅓𓏏𓆰𓏥 - Marijuana, Hemp, Hashish - SmSm TW

𓆼𓄿𓌽 - to Measure - Khili

𓋹𓏤𓈔 - Mirror - Maw Hr

𓎟𓏏𓉐𓏺 - Mistress of the House (A title of Nephthys)

𓍋𓃀𓐍𓏴 - to Mix - Labach

𓇹 - Moon - Iah

𓈋 - Mountain - Dw

𓈉 - Mountains, Foreign land, desert - Khast

𓅐𓏏𓁐, - Mother - Mwt, Mutef

𓀾- Mummy, form, likeness 

𓉔𓇌𓆸 - Music - Sma

𓂋𓈖 - Name - Ren

𓎡𓈖𓎛𓅱𓇰, 𓇰 - Night, Darkness - GRH (Gereh/Kereh), KKW (darkness)

𓂊,𓂉 - Nose, to Smell, Joy, Contempt - Fendj

𓇋𓅓𓂜, 𓂜 - Not, Isn’t, Negation - Imi

𓄊𓋴𓂋𓆱 - Oar - Wsr

𓋹𓈖𓐍 𓀁 - Oath - Ark

𓏏𓐍𓈖𓉶 - obelisk 

𓈖 - Of - en (also phonetic letter N)

𓂠 - to Offer, to present

𓀙 - Official 

𓀗 - Old man - Aku

𓋞𓃀𓇋𓇋𓏏𓊖 - Ombos- Nwt

𓌉𓆓𓏲𓆰𓏥 - Onions - HDW

𓄋𓊪𓀁 - Open

𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 - Papyrus roll

𓃹𓈖𓂻 - to Pass by - Wini

𓊵,  𓊵𓏏𓊪 - Peace - Hotep

𓂸 - Penis, ancestry - Bah

𓀀𓁐𓏥,  𓂋𓅓𓍿𓀀𓁐𓏥 - People, Humanity - Rmt

𓀭 - Pharaoh, King

𓉐𓉻𓏦  - Pharoahs (pl)

𓃀 - Place

𓆰 - Plant, flower

𓇋𓈖𓉔𓏠𓆭 - Pomegranate 

𓀃, 𓀢 - Pray, Prayer - Nahti

𓊹𓍛 - Priest - Ham-Netjer

𓅓𓂝𓎡𓀜 - Protector - NDTY

𓍬𓂻 - to Pull, Drag - Soteh

𓇋𓏌𓍱 - Purple - Anu

𓎝𓎛𓏜 - to Put - Walah

𓎛𓅱𓏏𓇲 - Rain - Hawat

𓅟 - Red, Flamingo - Desher

𓅖𓂋𓈙𓏪 - (light) Red - Mrs

𓀠 - Rejoice 

𓄙𓅓 - to Repeat - Waham

𓏏𓎡𓈖𓂻 - Repel - Takan

𓍚𓀜 - Repel - Khasaf (two completely different words meaning the same thing? I saved both just in case.)

𓄪 - Respect - Ima (also can be a determanitive abbreviation for Respectful/Imakhu)

𓇋𓌴𓄪𓐍𓅱 - Respectful/Revered - Imakhu (note the similarity to the word “akhu” for ancestor)

𓇋𓌴𓄪𓐍 - Revered One - Imakh

𓐍𓄪𓅱 - Reverence

𓇋𓈖𓂋𓈙 - Rock

𓈓 - Sand, numerous 

𓅱𓋴𓌪 - to Saw - Wisi

𓆣 - Scarab - Kheper

𓏟𓀀 - Scribe

𓏞𓀀𓊹𓏜𓏏𓍼𓀀 - “Scribe of the Divine Book” (a title for Thoth)

𓎼 - Seat, throne

𓈒 - Seed, pebble 

𓆄𓅱𓏏𓇳𓋼 - Shadow (of the soul) - Sheut

𓄡𓂝𓈎𓍜 - to Shave - Kha’ak

𓋴, 𓊃𓋴𓏏 - She/Hers/it/its - Sz

𓋠 - Silver - Het

𓌢𓈖𓏏𓁐 - Sister - Sanat

𓊃𓈙𓈙𓏏𓏣 - Sistrum

𓎅 - Shrine

𓇯 - Sky, above

𓅪 - Small, Weak, Bad, poor body function 

𓆙, 𓇋𓂝𓂋𓏏𓆘𓏪 - Snakes - Sata

𓐠𓏤𓂋𓏤𓈎𓅱𓇲𓏥 - Snow - Salku (they knew what it was, apparently)

𓎼𓈖𓈖𓀉 - to be Soft - Canan

𓅭𓀀 - Son - Sa

𓅽 - Soul - Ba

𓂓 - Soul - Ka (Soul Double,  vital Essence)

𓎛𓈞𓅱𓋴𓏏𓌍 - Soul - HMWST (Ka, female)

𓅜 - Soul combined with Ba and Ka - Akh

𓂓𓂓𓂓 - Souls

𓐍𓈖𓌰𓅓𓏏𓏒 - Sourdough bread - xmmt

𓀁 - to Speak, Think

𓊪𓋴𓎼𓂐 - to Spit - Pasac

𓊪𓈙𓈖𓏴 - to Split - Pšn

𓊽 - Stability

𓌀 - Staff (with head of Sutekh) -  Djem 

𓊢𓂝𓂻 - to Stand Up - Aha

𓊍 - Stairs, Throne

𓇼 - Star - Sebah

𓄚𓈖𓏏𓏭𓀾, 𓂙𓈖𓍘𓀛 - Statue - Ssp, Xnty

𓐍𓈖𓈙𓐎 - Stink - Khanash

𓊌 - Stone

𓃫 - Storm - Sha 

𓌀, 𓄖𓏏𓏭𓄇𓄇 - Strength - Pahteh

𓂧𓃹𓈖𓂻 - to Stretch - Tawan

𓂡 - to Strike, hit, violence

𓈙𓈗𓇳 - Summer, harvest season - Shameh

𓇳 - Sun, Time - Ra

𓈌 - Sun on the horizon - Akhet

𓇛 - Sweet (taste, smell, disposition) - Ndm

𓆼𓄿𓃭𓏤𓌙𓀀 - Syrian, Hurrian - Hrw

𓇥𓂋𓇋𓏲𓏛𓏪 - Tan, Stain - Djriu

𓂧𓊪𓇋𓇋𓏌𓏏 - Taste - Dpt

𓉞𓏏𓉐 - Temple - HWT

𓋴𓂋𓏏𓇮 - Thorn - Sarat

𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 - Today

𓌃𓂧𓅱 ,𓄓 - Tongue - Md-d-w

𓇋𓐫𓊃𓉐 - Tomb - Mahat

𓏏𓂓𓊮 - to Torch - Takal

𓊖 - Town, Location - Nwt

𓊪𓏏𓊪𓏏𓂻 - to Trample - Pat-Pat

𓅖𓈙𓂝𓂾𓂻 - Travel, Journey, to March - Masai

𓆭 - Tree - sny

𓄲 - Turn, fold, twist 

𓂽 - to Turn Around 

𓅓𓂝𓆑𓄿𓎡𓏏𓈓 - Turquoise - Mefkat

𓎸 - to Unite

𓀜 - Violence, Effort - Gns

𓈎𓇋𓋴𓂐𓀁 - Vomit - Kis

𓈖𓂋𓏏𓅐 - Vulture - Narat

𓂻 - to Walk

𓈗 - Water, liquid 

𓃀𓂧𓂧𓅱𓂓𓂸𓆰𓏥 -Watermelons - Baddoka

𓈐𓏏𓏥- Ways, road - Wat

𓇋𓀁𓈖𓈖𓏥 - We - Inn, Anan

𓀉 - Weak, Tired

𓂋𓅓𓁿 - to Weep - Rimi

𓏠𓈖𓂝𓏏𓂑 - Wet Nurse - Manat

𓌉 - White - Hedj

𓅓- who is/who is in

𓍿𓂋𓏏𓆭 - Willow - Trt

𓊡 - Wind, sail, air

𓇋𓂋𓊪𓏉 - Wine - Irp

𓆃 - Wing, to fly

𓂑𓏏𓁐 - Woman - ST

𓆱𓏏𓏺 - Wooden

𓇼𓄿𓀢 - to Worship

𓏟𓏜 - to Write - Sikhil

Sources:

https://seshkemet.weebly.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Hieroglyphs_(Unicode_block)

http://vega-vocabulaire-egyptien-ancien.fr/en/welcome-page/

https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/texts/corpus/pdf/Dispute.pdf

https://mjn.host.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/egyptian/texts/corpus/pdf/

Mixtape Reflections: Tsovinar’s Fury ~ Ծովինարի Զայրույտը

 

The first video is just on the mix to be a cover image. Art by Andranik Asatryan.

I felt like sharing another of my mixes. Mixtapes continue to be one of my many creative outlets, and the one through which I chronicle my life. I made this as a YouTube playlist and not a mixtape because the tape deck on my boombox went rogue and started eating up my tapes (relatively rare two hour ones too, bah), despite my attempts to clean it and demagnetize it. Maybe it’s a belt problem, but I lack the time and expertise to fix that, so I will try to buy a new one of the same model while offsetting the expense by selling my old one. Anyway, I have a mighty need to make mixtapes, so until I get that new boombox I will keep making playlists to record to cassette later. I’m not sure if it will fit on a 90 minute tape, I still need to do the math, but if worse comes to worse I may have to cut some songs, leaving the playlist as the complete version (as long as videos don’t get taken down, a big reason I make physical copies of my playlists). The ones with lyrics that closely fit the theme of the mix are the safest. 

The mix is called Tsovinar’s Fury, or Ծովինարի Զայրույտը in Armenian. Tsovinar was the Armenian Goddess of the Sea, and of Violent Storms. The story behind this mix is that She has awakened Her wrath at humanity for harming the Earth, and is stirring up hurricanes to punish them. It’s a pagan interpretation of climate change. A few of the songs have an environmental message, notably “She Speaks” by Ceremonial Leather, and “No Tomorrow Only Today” by Mystic Priestess. Others are just there for the vibe, either the chaotic turmoil of a hurricane, or the gloomy inner-sadness that comes with living in a slowly collapsing dystopia on a dying planet and knowing that things are only going to get worse. In German they call this feeling weltschmerz, or “world pain”. 

I hope that my mix pleases Tsovinar. I don’t know if it will spare me from Her wrath, or if I even deserve to be spared just thanks to me being a human, but it’s worth a shot. I made this after being on the outer reaches of Hurricane Idalia and still being awestruck by the wind gusts and heavy rain, with the knowledge that the ocean is experiencing record heat, and this may only be the beginning of a disastrous hurricane season. I hope that She will instead direct Her energy and fury toward helping the people of Artsakh who are being blockaded and starved to death by Azerbaijan, which is something I personally can do little about save signing petitions, sharing Facebook posts and basically offering “thoughts and prayers” (to pagan Gods of course; maybe it won’t achieve anything but we know Yahweh isn’t going to lift a finger), so I sadly try not to think about it too much in order just to function. Some of those feelings found their way into the mix too.

Ծովինարի պառք:

Tsovinar’s Fury (click for the playlist)

Track Listing

1. Trade d’union - Marche Nocturne

2. Cashiari - La Joven con l Rostro de Marmel

3. Ceremonial Leather - She Speaks

4. Mystic Priestess - No Tomorrow, Only Today

5. Troll - Mirror

6. Exces Nocturne - L’echo des Lumiéres

7. Pillhs Castle - Repeat the Death

8. Vacios Cuerpos - Inevitable 

9. Damien Hearse - Easy Martyr

10. Alien Skin - The Beautiful Dead

11. Hante - Waiting for a Hurricane 

12. Jurimurmur - Ծովն Է Լիzoom

13. Simulacixn - La Todo Esta Muerto

14. Aux Animaux - Lost Souls

15. Harsh Symmetry - Pugilist 

16. Moonvampire- Vampire II

17. Dark Grey Houses - Drown You

18. The Lucy Show - The Price of Love

19. Antaios Nocturne - Don’t Forget to Smile

20. Saiph - Room of Fire

21. Cashiari - La Ultima Vez

22. Clustersun - Emotional Painkiller

23. A Transition - Strangers

24. Bax Taylor - Dukkha

Top 5 Songs of the Month ~ August 2023 ~ Allie Frost, Скубут, Moonvampire, Austin Spence

This blog is so late, but I wanted to at least get it out before August ends. I’ve had a very busy month, on top of working on my webcomic, my kid not being in school, and I have a new novel in the works, I’ve been doing it scene by scene rather than from beginning to end. It’s been a hard summer in general, and particularly hard to be a goth when the heat index outside is 115+ degrees Fahrenheit, but I’ve managed to survive when most of my clothes is black by trying not to be outside. My kid forces me to go outside though, and it burns. Must I become a victim of nature’s wrath while the people responsible for the rising temperatures are cozy in their mansions and yachts? I suppose the answer to that is yes. Even though all I did was have the misfortune of being born during this particularly difficult time in human history. I suppose I’m not completely guiltless, I’ve used plastic straws and such. I just hope my area doesn’t get hit with a bunch of hurricanes this year.

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been listening to, as of mid-August. If everything goes as it should I’ll do the next music blog in mid-September about three weeks from now, we shall see what life throws my way. And I listed what music I was into in past Augusts at the bottom as well.

Allie Frost ~ Abandoned Ghost

The voice clip at the beginning of this song is so profound, about how when you die you either walk into the light and become a part of it forever, or you might get lost on your way to the light and become a ghost. It’s just a whisper so you have to really pay attention to it, especially when the drums start to kick in before the clip is done. I’ve just been discovering Allie Frost and I like her singing a lot. Another track of hers I’m fond of right now is “Deadly Desert”. 

This song came out last November, and was released as a single including a remix and instrumental version. 

https://alliefrost.bandcamp.com/album/abandoned-ghost-maxi-single-release

Sin Razón Zoocial ~ Crucifixion

I’m a simple man, I see a video that says “post-punk Mexicano” on it, I click it. I know it will be good. Mexico has amazing goth music, and has for some time, as evidenced by this song from 1990. I uncovered a few new-to-me songs while remaking my “1990 in Music” mix CD, adding a lot more underground goth music that I’ve discovered since making the first mix CD probably 6 or 7 years ago. The vocals on this song are zany and outlandish, lots of guttural growls and shrieks. Toward the end of the song the singer makes me think of Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit when he gets the Dip squirted at him and he melts. I love it though. I do not speak Spanish so I don’t know what he’s saying. But it doesn’t matter to me. 

This song is off the album Contracultura, and was a self-release. 

Скубут ~ Холод (Cold)

Skubut, in English letters, has been a mainstay on my lists for a couple of years now. They are an Austria-based Russian post-punk band in a similar vein to Molchat Doma, although they also remind me of like a Russian Slow Danse with the Dead. A new music video for this track just came out on the 11th of August, although the song is from 2022. It reminded me of this song again though and I developed a new appreciation for it. 

This is off their July 2022 album Безжизненный (Lifeless)

https://skubut.bandcamp.com/album/--6

Moonvampire ~ Night

This song is what people who don’t listen to goth music think goth music sounds like. Vampires are a classic topic in post-punk and deathrock going back to Bauhaus. A little stereotypical too, but I don’t mind. Seems to me they’re making a sly Lebanon Hanover reference with the line “Dance with me, it’s not Gallowdance”. The music video is fun, with clips from classic vampire movies. Moonvampire is a band to look out for, I’ve liked their recent release a lot. 

And despite the fact that it’s out and you can buy it now, the single officially releases September 23. Oooh, music from the future!

https://moonvampire.bandcamp.com/track/night

Austin Spence ~ Black Dress and a Backwards Cross

I mentioned Skubut sounds a little like Slow Danse with the Dead, but this sounds even more like that band. A dark minimalist track with droning vocals, it seems like it would fit into the “misery goth” subgenre pretty well, if not just Minimal Wave or Coldwave. I look forward to hearing more from Austin Spence. 

This was released as part of a demo album Sect of the Triple Six in July of this year.

https://austinspence.bandcamp.com/album/sect-of-the-triple-six-demo

TOP SONGS OF AUgust THROUGH THE YEARS

20 Years Ago ~ August 2003

It was either black metal or power metal in the summer of 2003 for me. And songs with “of Eternity” in the title. Cradle of Filth’s “Dawn of Eternity” was a favorite for its badass epic instrumental opening, I was still loving Kotipelto’s ancient Egypt-themed solo album, and I had just discovered Dornenreich, a very heavy German black metal band that still had moments of soothing melody in between the screams.

1. Cradle of Filth ~ Dawn of Eternity 

2. Kotipelto ~ Lord of Eternity

3. Dornenreich ~ Hasses Freigang

15 Years Ago ~ August 2008

My musical tastes were still rather directionless in 2008. I rediscovered the Depeche Mode track “Behind the Wheel”, which I first heard when I recorded it on a mixtape off the radio in around 2001 or so, not knowing who made the song. Mindless Faith was still soothing my dark side, and I still had a fascination with jazz and swing, thus the Squirrel Nut Zippers. The music video for the song had an entertaining Fleischer-esque 1930s animation style. 

1. Depeche Mode ~ Behind the Wheel

2. Mindless Faith ~ Canaan

3. Squirrel Nut Zippers ~ The Ghost of Stephen Foster

10 Years Ago ~ August 2013

Ayria’s “Box Under my Bed” was a very relevant track and still is, about keeping your memories in a box the same way I keep my memories on mixtapes, both good and bad. And One and Depeche Mode are very much the same genre really, synthpop was my vibe at the time. Depeche Mode had just come out with a new album “Delta Machine”, which I liked a few tracks off of.

1. Ayria ~ The Box Under my Bed

2. And One ~ Don’t Get Me Wrong

3. Depeche Mode ~ Secret to the End

5 Years Ago ~ August 2018

Daron Makakian’s “Lives” is a stirring anthem to the resilience of the Armenians, a people “kicked out of history”. Malakian is a member of System of a Down, so it has that same kind of sound to it. I had just discovered Lebanon Hanover, five years later than I could have but better late than never. And I was attracted to “Welcome to the Machine” by Pink Floyd because I was working a soul-crushing call center job while my wife was pregnant with my son, who I knew I was going to have to introduce to this awful system we live under one day.

1. Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway ~ Lives

2. Lebanon Hanover ~ Gallowdance (as referenced in Moonvampire’s “Night” above, how ironic).

3. Pink Floyd ~ Welcome to the Machine

Holy Calendar of Armeno-Kemetic Neopagan Pantheism (AKNP)

 

 Holy Calendar of Armeno-Kemetic Neopagan Pantheism (AKNP)

A modified ancient Armenian calendar incorporating Armenian, Kemetic, and Wiccan Holidays

Years

The Armenian year is calculated from the date of the original founding of Armenia, August 11, 2492 BCE. The Gregorian year 2007-2008 correlates with the year 4500 on the calendar. An easy way to convert the current year from Gregorian to Armenian is with the equation: 4,500 + (current year - 2007). So, however many years ago 2007 was plus 4;500. The coming year as of this post will be 4516. 

Months

The Months of the Armenian calendar are the chief ones observed by this calendar. The Kemetic months are noted, however, and each dedicated to a different Netjeru (𓊹 , Egyptian Deity; Armenian dieties are called Astvadz, Astvadzner in plural). There are twelve months of thirty days, and extra five days at the end of the year (six on a leap year, which in AKNP coincides with the Gregorian Leap Year for simplicity). To properly convert dates to the Gregorian calendar on a leap year, move everything a day back from February 29 to August 9, with August 10 being the “leap day”, after which the calendar will sync up again. 

Each day of the month has a different name, rather than a number:

1. Areg	16. Mani
2. Hrand	17. Asak
3. Aram	18. Masis
4. Margar	19. Anahit
5. Ahranq	20. Aragats
6. Madegh	21. Grgor
7. Astghik	22. Kordouiq
8. Mihr	23. Tsmak
9. Dzopaber	24. Lousnak
10. Mourts	25. Tsron
11. Yerezkan	26. Npat
12. Ani	27. Vahagn
13. Parkhar	28. Sein
14. Vanat	29. Varag
15. Aramazd	30. Gisheravar

In Armenian letters:

1. Արեգ	16. Մանի
2. Հրանդ	17. Ասակ
3. Արամ	18. Մասիս
4. Մարգար	19. Անահիտ
5. Ահրանք	20. Արագած
6. Մադեղ	21. Գրգոռ
7. Աստղիկ	22. Կորդուիք
8. Միհր	23. Ծմակ
9. Ձոպաբեր	24. Լուսնակ
10. Մուրց	25. Ցրօն
11. Երեզկան	26. Նպատ
12. Անի	27. Վահագն
13. Պարխար	28. Սէին
14. Վանատ	29. Վարագ
15. Արամազդ	30. Գիշերավար

Կյանքի Ռիտմ; The Rhythm of Life

“History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” - Theodor Reik.

The rhythm of life (Gyanki Rritm) refers to repetitive cycles in life. Time is a coil, not a straight line with a beginning and end. The present is a culmination of the past. One can look at the present as the past happening all at once. The overlapping coils of time create cycles of four and ten years, doubling as eight, twenty, etc. During this cycle, life and world events will repeat themselves in some way, as a “rhyme”, not always a direct repitition. Two similar events four to ten years apart might not always sync up to the exact date, but may appear within a few months of doing so. This is a pattern I have noticed since childhood. Its most obvious appearance is during leap years, where every four years we once again have events such as the Olympics and presidential elections in the US, although these events are deliberate, and the rhythm of life also covers non-deliberate events over which we have little to no control. Noticing this pattern helps one learn from past mistakes, and at the beginning of the year, anticipate whether or not it will be a difficult year. It will not always manifest as expected. The events cannot be accurately predicted, but forecasted, like a weather report. (Leap years in particular have been increasingly difficult years lately, as forewarning.)

The ancient Armenian calendar, upon which most of this is based. Although this particular calendar starts on the Birth of Vahagn, Spring Equinox, while I follow the Navasardian calendar which begins August 11th.

Holidays of the Armeno-Kemetic Calendar 

Armenian Dates/Gregorian Dates

You know what most calendars are missing? Holidays where you sit around and contemplate your own mortality. So I made my own. Because I know the rest of society isn’t going to follow most of these holidays, most of them are days to prompt private reflection and make offerings to the Gods. Some holidays are political in nature, but I focus on the spiritual aspects of them. I also include Wiccan holidays on my calendar, not because I’m strongly Wiccan (my practice might fall under some form of Eclectic Wicca, but I’m not trying to follow traditional Gardnerian Wicca), but just because I like their holidays, especially Samhain and Yule, and the idea of the Wheel of the Year. The Gods of Armeno-Kemeticism are the Netjeru 𓊹𓊹𓊹 from Kemet, and the Astvadzner Աստվաձներ of Armenia/Urartu (Biainilli). I have used the Kemetic names of the Netjeru rather than their better-known Greek names. Anpu=Anubis; Asar=Osiris; Aset=Isis; Djehuti=Thoth; Heru=Horus; Het-Heru=Hathor; Nebet-Het=Nephthys; Sutekh=Set(h). 

Հրոթից Նպատ/August 5 ~ Wep Ronpet (𓄎, Wp-rnpt) : Kemetic New Year, coincides with the rise of Sothis (Sirius), and in Kemet before the Aswan dam was built, the flood of the Nile. This date varies depending on one’s latitude; in Kemet it’s generally agreed to be July 17, August 5 is the date in Aisland (colonial name: Brevard County, Florida, formerly home to the Ais people), and it happens to sync up with the Armenian calendar quite well. The month of Wep Ronpet is sacred to Ra, who in Armeno-Kemeticism can be merged with fellow Sun Deity Aramazd (Ar in earlier Armenian beliefs) to become Ar-Ra. 

Top 7 Songs of the Month 𓃩 July 2023 𓃩 Slow Danse with the Dead, Pretty Addicted, FEVR

June still doesn’t feel very long ago. Already the year is over half over, and from this point on the days shorten, and we slide back into darkness once more. For me July is kind of a transitional month. The last month in both the ancient Egyptian and ancient Armenian calendars. The hits have still been coming though, of course. And I’ve been working on more mixtape projects. 

I do still plan on finishing that neopagan manifesto I started in my last blog entry, I just need time. I wrote a bunch of it out actually, and Blogger glitched out and deleted most of it. That was why I uploaded it unfinished in the first place. I think I better write in a separate document and then copy and paste it into the blog from now on. 

As per my new tradition, be sure to have a look at the Top 3 songs of past Julys at the bottom. It’s always fun to see what patterns emerge. 

Alone in the Hollow Garden ~ Aeon of Set 𓃩

This is a 12+ minute long dark ambient track dedicated to the Egyptian God of Storms, Deserts and Chaos, Set. It’s mostly instrumental, but it does contain a prayer to Set, even calling Him by His Egyptian name, Sutekh. I came across it not long after it came out in December 2021, an odd upload from the YouTube channel Ghostshadow Shadowghost, outside of their usual genre. But it stayed around on my playlist of meditation music until I rediscovered it during my ongoing Egyptian mythology binge, and developed an appreciation for it. It even uses a duduk, a native Armenian instrument, although the musician behind Alone in the Hollow Garden is from Bucharest, Romania. So that gets bonus points from me. And the album cover is very aesthetically pleasing. 

I made it the first song on my meditation playlist for Set, 𓃩Dua Sutekh 𓃩. I want to do one for all my favorite deities eventually. It’s my newest ongoing mix project after having finished the Wizard of Oz one. Those are hieroglyphs of little Sha animals, the possibly-mythical, possibly-extinct creature that Set has the head of. I found that on Wikipedia and I love using Shas instead of punctuation now 𓃩 Okay maybe not. You know, Set wasn’t always considered a bad guy in Egyptian mythology, despite what you might have heard. The myth about him killing Osiris came about later on in Egyptian history. He also helped the Sun God Ra navigate the underworld every night and defeated the Chaos Serpent. He saves the world every night from a malevolent eldritch abomination, and yet everyone hates the poor guy. 

This is from the album Desert of Set, which includes two other, even longer tracks dedicated to Set.

https://aloneinthehollowgarden.bandcamp.com/album/desert-of-set

Slow Danse with the Dead ~ Dark Ritual 

The first official music video from Slow Danse with the Dead is finally out, done to the title track from their newest album. I’ve already been listening to this song for a few months, but a good music video always renews my interest in a song. Now is an exciting time for the band, as they are an official band now and not a solo project, and they’re starting to play local live shows. Nothing in my neck of the woods yet, but if it does happen I will be there. 

Here’s their latest album which this song is from, also called Dark Ritual.

https://slowdansewiththedead.bandcamp.com/album/dark-ritual

Pretty Addicted ~ Am I Sick?

As promised, Pretty Addicted has been releasing a music video a month since January. Their upcoming  album, due out in October, is full of deeply personal songs. I’ve covered the song “Heather” before, which at least to me is the most relatable of the tracks that I have heard so far. This song is another great track, about having hypochondria. Too many people treat that condition like some kind of joke, but it’s definitely no joke to those who suffer from it, who might even know on an intellectual level that there’s nothing wrong with them, but they still can’t shake the feeling that they’re sick, or even terminally ill. 

You can find the track here, buying it helps finance the new album.

https://prettyaddicted.bandcamp.com/track/am-i-sick

THAL ~ Bei Mir

This sing has a groove to it. Very dancey. All I know about this band is that they’re from South Germany, I was only able to find their Soundcloud page through the description on this video. Soundcloud is like a foreign country to me, I’ve never really used it. So if anyone has any additional leads I’d be grateful. They do have their albums up on YouTube, but all I found on Bandcamp was a stoner rock band with the same name from Ohio. Perhaps we’ll be seeing a repeat of the Covenant vs The Kovenant feud soon?  

https://soundcloud.com/user-689628599

Lost Loved Ones ~ The Dark

Here’s my retro pick this month. From their 1984 EP of the same name, “The Dark”, the UK post-punk band Lost Loved Ones. This song is infectious. My favorite part is that little yodel where his voice goes up, “Iiiii, would die for yooooOOOUU!” You’ll know it when you hear it. This is one of those songs you have to sing along to, and it’s okay if you suck at singing, it will still be fun. I don’t know why it isn’t more famous of a song. The best songs from the 80s are the ones that never ended up on MTV, I swear. And the fewer albums a band had the better the band was. The truly great ones just released a demo tape and disappeared. And I’m always uncovering stuff I haven’t heard yet. 

As with a lot of older bands, I don’t think their stuff is on Bandcamp. 

Грань ~ Кассета

It’s been a good while since I latched onto some Russian post-punk. And in the middle of summer too. I always found that Russian post-punk just feels more right when you listen to it in the winter. You can listen in the summer, but you can’t truly feel the song. It has to be cold outside to truly appreciate it. But, this particular song had such a beautiful gloom to it I could enjoy it even when it’s humid and miserable outside here in Florida. This band is called Gran, or Edge according to Google Translate, from Chelyabinsk, Russia. And I didn’t know that the song title was going to translate to “Cassette”, but I had a feeling it might. One of my favorite things, of course.  I’ve been trying to learn to at least be able to sound out the Cyrillic alphabet even if I don’t understand much Russian. Learning Russian by listening to Molchat Doma, about as effective as learning German by listening to Rammstein, I guess.

And this was another of those cases where I was able to find the band on Bandcamp, but not this song in particular. They have a bunch of albums up on there though. 

https://granpostpunk.bandcamp.com/music

FEVR ~ I Think I’ve Fallen For You

A catchy love song rarely graces my blog, but here one is. At least it’s goth. I first got into the Los Angeles, California band FEVR late last year when I heard the song “I Can’t Do it No More”, one of those songs where the lyrics are much sadder than the upbeat music suggests. And I think I’ve fallen for FEVR. 

This is off their brand new album Fate, which came out on July 6. It’s out in cassette too! I need to get me a copy. 

https://fevr.bandcamp.com/album/fate

TOP SONGS OF JUly THROUGH THE YEARS

20 Years Ago ~ July 2003

I got out to the record store a lot that summer, always coming back with new CDs of bands I already knew I liked, and bands I was taking a risk on because they had cool album cover art. Kotipelto was one of the latter. Their album Waiting for the Dawn was ancient Egypt themed, and had this Egyptian guy standing in this colorful temple. See, even back then I was into ancient Egypt. I hadn’t quite heard of the band Stratovarius just yet, who Timo Kotipelto is the lead singer of, this being a solo album. The song “Chosen by Ra” is about the reign of Ramses the Great. Pretty nerdy thing to sing about. You’ll never hear that Post Malone guy singing about ancient history. “Dawn of Eternity” by Cradle of Filth is one of those songs with a badass epic opening. I can still rock out to that song today when I’m in the mood. And “Acid Theater” is back, it stuck around for two months in a row.

1. Cradle of Filth ~ Dawn of Eternity

2. Kotipelto ~ Chosen by Ra

3. The Kovenant- Acid Theater

15 Years Ago ~ July 2008

I was just starting to get into dark electro more. I had first gotten into Das Ich back in 2005, but I hadn’t really sought similar sounding bands until around this time. Mindless Faith is a great band that I would say are the same genre as Das Ich although the vocal style is very different. I found them through buying their CD at the record store as well, which was already the old fashioned way of doing things in 2008. And “Destillat”, still one if the best Das Ich songs. But I am always annoyed by how everyone loves the VNV Nation remix better than the original, and it gets played at all the clubs. I like the original, specifically the version with female backing vocals. There’s also a version without that and it’s kinda “meh”, but I still like that better than the VNV Nation version. And then there’s Hanzel und Gretyl. There was a time I really liked that band, although now I see them as a bit problematic. They try to get away with things by saying they’re a parody of German stereotypes, not sure if I buy it.

1. Mindless Faith ~ So Much for Salvation 

2. Das Ich ~ Destillat 

3. Hanzel und Gretyl ~ Kaiserreich

10 Years Ago ~ July 2013

This was the month after I went to that Ayria concert with my fiancé and I was still enjoying the CDs I bought there. One was of course Ayria’s newest album at the time Plastic Makes Perfect, and another was a freebie that was given out to everyone at the concert by one of the local opening bands, The Break Up. I liked a few of the songs on it. I think their band name has since sadly become a self-fulfilling prophecy, last I checked. And I was still into Zombie Girl at the time too. Yay. 

1. Ayria ~ Friends and Enemies

2. The Break Up ~ Who’s Crying Now? 

3. Zombie Girl - Creepy Crawler

5 Years Ago ~ July 2018

While yes I was miserable at the call center job during this time, this was the month I got to see Das Ich in concert in Tampa, Florida. And that remains to be one of my favorite concerts of all time. And it’s interesting to see Das Ich as a running thread through this look back at the Julys of my past. Maybe five years from now I’ll have another Das Ich craze, seems to happen every ten years. Too bad I hadn’t heard of them yet in 1998. Crazy to think that I could have. Anyway, Buzz Kull is a great band too, still like a lot of their stuff. Although it’s been a while since they came out with a new album. And then yes I was still working my way through The Cure’s early music at this time too. When I had time and wasn’t chained to a desk in a cubicle being harassed over the phone. 

1. Das Ich ~ Von der Armut

2. Buzz Kull ~ Dreams

3. The Cure ~ 100 Years

An Introduction to Armeno-Kemetic Neopagan Pantheism (AKNP) ~ Part 1

 

Above is my religious symbol; an Egyptian ankh, symbol of eternal life, and an Armenian symbol of eternity within it. Totally going to get a tattoo of this one day. 

Prepare to read a crazed religious manifesto. I call my belief system Armeno-Kemetic Neopagan Pantheism (referred to from here on out as AKNP), as it mainly incorporates deities from the ancient Armenian and Egyptian pantheons (Kemet is what the ancient Egyptians called their country). It is “soft” polytheism, meaning that I see the Gods as personifications of natural forces or concepts, or psychological archetypes that reside deep in the collective subconscious of humanity, rather than literal beings that physically exist somewhere. But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to them, or seek solace from them. I have been teetering between polytheism and pantheism for quite some time now. They don’t necessarily contradict one another, but I’ve still leaned closer to one than the other at various points of my life. 

Panpsychism, Gods and Science

If I had been asked late last year what my thoughts were on God, I would say that endless eternal oblivion is the ultimate God that will consume the entire universe one day and erase any evidence that anything ever existed, at the Heat Death of the Universe, trillions of years from now. I call it the Abyss, as described by Nietzsche, and it is higher and stronger than any God. The Abyss, as far as us mortals are concerned who aren’t going to be around for the end of the universe, is our deaths. It’s the end. While undeniably true from a certain point of view that everything in the universe is going to be undone eventually, I have other points of view too. That’s not the only God, nor does it need to be the only God to focus on. Life exists too. There’s more to a story than just how it ends. I’ve managed to put the Abyss on the back burner for now, not to ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist but to compartmentalize it; just like death itself, it’s always going to be there looming in the background, but I can’t do anything about it. I live with it. It is important to acknowledge it, but dwelling on it is unproductive. 

I also believe the stars are the closest thing to Gods that physically exist (and there are other ways to exist than just physically), and have a consciousness of their own which we are all part of. This is called panpsychism, or stellar consciousness. Our souls come from the Sun, or occasionally other stars, ancient stars that went supernova billions of years ago for example. After death, our souls either reincarnate after a period of rest, or return to the Sun, the Source. Something like nirvana in Buddhism. Our lives are almost like simulations that our souls undergo, for the purpose of growth and learning. It is how the universe knows itself. We are basically the Universe observing itself. We learn hard lessons, and suffer terribly, in an unjust and indifferent world. I sometimes wonder why my soul wants to be on this planet. Surely there are easier planets to live on somewhere in the universe. There have been times when, in a deep meditation, I almost felt like I had the answer, like my soul was almost awakening from the simulation, but something didn’t want me to unlock the truth and I was pushed back into this dream. I still feel like I’m more hyper-aware of reality than I’m supposed to be. Certainly more than I used to be. 

There’s one thing I want, and that’s the truth, no matter how unpleasant it might be. Many people who turn to religion are actually fleeing the truth. No one wants to think they’ll cease to exist after they die and everything they ever did was meaningless. So, many people believe any outlandish fairy tale they’re told, and if a lot of other people say they believe it too, that’s enough comfort for them. They’ll become so afraid of thinking deep thoughts about existence and so desperate for their fairy tale to be true that they will even kill anyone who says differently. I will never be one of those. I’m a pantheist, so I believe that God is in all things, it is the consciousness of the universe, and that our souls are indestructible energy and we reincarnate. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I will go into nonexistence peacefully. Because I don’t take my pagan religion literally like Abrahamic monotheists do. They’re fables to draw lessons from, symbolic interpretations of reality, not literal history. 

Anyway, I consider pantheism/panpsychism compatible with current understandings of astronomy, quantum physics and the like. I agree with atheists like 99% of the time. I just don’t agree with materialistic thought. I think that the concept of dark matter is science desperately trying to keep materialism from being disproved. Panpsychism holds that the universe and everything in it has some kind of consciousness. In science, it can also explain why stars oribit their galaxies at a faster rate than should be possible with gravity alone; which was what prompted scientists to come up with dark matter to explain it. I think that the stars are moving of their own volition because they are alive, and yes there are some scientists who take it seriously as a hypothesis, although an untestable one. I think that might be true at least with living things, planets, moons, stars and galaxies. Anything that is born, grows, ages and dies, which all of these things do. Perhaps mountains count as well, and crystals. I know what I felt when I gazed upon Mt. Ararat. That mountain is like a God watching over the landscape. Anyway, I view panpsychism as a feature of pantheism. 

By the way, I believe in evolution and all that. No problem with monkeys in my ancestry, I accept it.  But I believe in the mystifying aspects of evolution. There’s a kind of inherent intelligence to it when you look at the animal kingdom and see how specialized each species is, almost as if it’s being guided by some higher being. It’s a kind of magic. Heka, to the Egyptians. Our species gaining higher consciousness and self-awareness may have been some kind of cosmic fluke. Only happens every few million years somewhere in the galaxy. But it is supposed to happen, that’s the end goal of life. Sometimes it takes a few billion years to finally get there, it has to be in a very stable environment, and then you’re lucky if the species doesn’t nuke itself, like humanity is probably going to soon.

So, what exactly are Gods, in my practice? Let’s go back to the Sun, for example. As far as we’re concerned here on Earth, the Sun is God, even if it is a mediocre star compared to others. The rest of the universe could disappear and as long as the Sun still existed we would probably be fine (until it goes Red Giant. Then we would be in trouble.) Anyway, the Sun was seen by the ancient Egyptians as Ra, the falcon-headed deity who created all of the other Gods asexually. Every polytheistic religion has a Sun God. The Armenians and the Peruvians both called themselves Children of the Sun, despite being separated by oceans, continents and centuries. Deep down we all know it’s true. The Christian God is really just a Sun God in disguise. But Ra was Egypt’s interpretation of the Sun. Gods are a bit like mascots, in a sense. Mickey Mouse doesn’t physically exist, but Disney is a real entity. 

The truth is like a mountain. What you see as the shape of the mountain depends on what direction you view it from. Take a mountain with twin peaks, one higher than the other, like Mt. Ararat, or Mt. Diablo, in California where I grew up. One might view it from one direction, and say the smaller peak is on the left side. Someone from the opposite direction sees the smaller peak on the right side. Someone from yet another direction might see the larger peak from the side and be unaware of a smaller peak hidden behind it. They’re all correct from their standpoint. But you can be correct and still not see the whole picture. This is my view on polytheism. Each culture had their own interpretations of the world, of the truth. I latch onto these symbols sometimes, those of Gods. There are more ways to exist than just physically, as I mentioned. Gods represent things and concepts that are real: the Sun, death, love, motherhood, etc. They are personifications and interpretations of those things. Personifications that make for good back and forth conversations in your brain. 

My Religious History

I grew up Christian, but my immediate family was never super devout. Plenty of religious extremists in my extended family, but luckily I wasn’t indoctrinated like that. I was christened under the Armenian Apostolic Church as an infant, obviously without being given much say in it. Then I was talked into getting baptized at a Baptist church when I was about 11 years old. Also too young to truly consent to it. As a teen I started wishing my enemies would burn in Hell, and the religion didn’t do anything positive for me, it just fed into my hatred and spite, like it does for a lot of people. I fell in with a circle of friends who were Wiccan, more or less, and while they made no effort to convert me I started to see how different religions worked. How they can be positive. Not to mention the more I started to learn about Christianity, the less I liked it. A history of colonialism and cultural genocide around the world. In Egypt, they burned down the Library of Alexandria and destroyed many ancient temples. Armenia in particular has been trapped in an abusive relationship with Christianity since 301 AD. They destroyed all the ancient records, burned and ransacked the pagan temples, and made it so much easier for the Azeris to say we aren’t ancient centuries later. Armenia could have had monuments and ancient wisdom as great as Greece and Egypt, but they are lost. And Jesus didn’t lift a finger to help Armenia in 1915, during the most infamous stage of the Armenian genocide (which is an ongoing process that began around 1000 AD and continues to the present, but that’s another topic). The world simply does not work the way Christianity says it does, and yet people still blindly follow it out of fear. Islam is just as bad if not worse. 

I loved Egypt as a kid, I always felt connected to it somehow. Particularly the God Anpu/Anubis. I’m pretty sure I’ve had some past lives in ancient Egypt. Egypt came back to me a second time in my early 20s, which was when I converted away from Christianity and started to instead follow the Egyptian Gods and Wicca. Wicca can be eclectic, meaning you can incorporate any deity from any religion and have them as stand-ins for the Horned God and the Moon Goddess. But I do feel like it still has a naïve idea of how karma works. People get away with horrific, gruesome acts all the time. I don’t want to wait until they reincarnate for them to get their comeuppance! The way I see it, there is no inherent justice in the universe. Justice is a man-made concept, just like good and evil. No higher being or force is just going to carry out justice for you. Overall though, Wicca gives a good starting point, it can even provide the backbone to your own unique pagan practices. Just take what you feel is true and leave the rest. Later I started learning more about the Armenian Gods, of which very little is written sadly, and I gravitated more towards them so that I could follow the religion of my ancestors, leaving both Egypt and Wicca behind. But I did learn a lot with the Armenian Gods, and I got that direct ancestral attachment I couldn’t get with the Egyptian pantheon.

Then in my 30s, I went through that existential nihilism period, and while I maintained a passing interest in it, I dropped out of paganism for a number of years, and no longer felt very spiritual. A lot of this coincided with the 2020 Artsakh War and its disastrous results, and just 2020 in general, which was a depressing year for everyone. But it was also the call center jobs I had in the preceding two years that sucked the life out of me and killed my optimism. I might just be finally starting to move on from this, if this renewed interest sticks around. I strangely don’t feel like I control how long I stay interested in things. But I will try. We’ll see how my Seasonal Affective Disorder goes this year. 

Thanks to my webcomic, which involves Egyptian Gods, a couple months ago something rekindled in me after years of dormancy. A renewed interest in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. In particular, the God Set, Sutekh in ancient Egyptian, and Thoth, Djehuty in ancient Egyptian, called to me. I feel happier when I’m learning new things and being a nerd, and I’ve been learning all sorts about the Egyptian pantheon that I never knew before. It’s a welcome escape. 

Maybe once you fully accept existential nihilism as the truth there’s not much further you can go with it, unless you become an absurdist, and just say “screw it, nothing makes sense or has any meaning, the universe is absurd, we’ll never fully understand it, I’m just going to do what I want and live life in spite of its meaninglessness”. Maybe this is what me becoming an absurdist looks like. Returning to paganism. No one can really say what’s real, we only have the minimum senses it takes to survive in the world. There are other layers of reality which we are unaware of and unable to interact with, quantum science proves this. Then again, maybe paganism is all a comforting delusion. Maybe the “Gods” are just voices in my head. Imaginary friends. But if there really is no inherent meaning of life, why not? It’s not hurting anyone. I’m not out to convert people. I’m not going back to the dogmatic bigotry of Christianity either. That’s not what AKNP is about. I’m not going to shove my head in the sand that deeply. Or at all, hopefully. 

I am going to wrap this blog entry up, I have a LOT more to talk about, but this blog is going to be a mile long if I don’t stop somewhere. Join me next time when I discuss the pantheons and Gods I follow and why I’m drawn to them, and what holidays I observe in my practice.