After getting through a few years of worshipping the netjeru and developing a strong practice there seems to be a natural progression in one’s polytheism. A renewed sense of discovery as you begin to explore your deity with a new lens. What I mean is, as a practitioner and devotee you have grown. You have learned more, experienced more. You have potentially gain new skill or new ways of understanding. With all this growth you may feel a shift in your personal connection or understanding of your deity.
Now, the cycles of connection and disconnection within a spiritual practice is common. What I mean is with all the experiences and research you have potentially gone through your understanding of your deity may have deepened. Perhaps where you only saw the most popular aspect of the deity presented, you now connect with them in a whole new or unheard of way. For myself, this happened with Sekhmet.
I began my journey connecting with Sekhmet in her popular expression of war and plague goddess. However over time she shifted and changed for me. As my devotion and connection with her deepened, so did her manifestations change. You can nearly see the shifts in my blog posts as I expanded into some interesting territories and research. (By the way next year, 2025, will be my 10th year for this blog. omg.)
Anyways… back to the point.
After years of worshipping a deity you might notice the changes. And sometimes with these developments, you may see certain other netjeru added into your practice that fit together with your main deity. Whether they are the children of your main deity, siblings, or consorts they start to show bonds or strings of connection with each other. These connections can be researched, often you can find a sliver of historic precedent. But they could also be part of your personal unverified gnosis that is unique to you and/or your region.
Two types of common patterns or collections of netjeru that may show up in this way are…
Enneads and Triads.
Enneads are groups or sets of nine. In a kemetic setting this would be a set of nine deities that connect to your main deity and includes them. So your deity plus eight more. In research you might come across the term ennead in relationship to certain regional temples or cities. Such as the Heliopolis Ennead or Memphite Ennead. But in general these added eight deities will be like the planets encircling the sun that is your main deity.
Triads are a different number. Three to be exact. A triad is a set of three deities honored or worshipped together. This means it would be your main deity and two more. Or your two main deities and one more. Triads are often a netjeru, their consort, and a child of theirs’s. That is at least what has come up in historical precedent.
You may even find that if your practice and deities develops into an ennead there are still a triad or two included in there. With consorts and the deity’s child/children as part of it. Whatever combinations arise, these can be completely new combos or could have some form of historic attachment. Such as the deities that have come into your practice all have connections to Esna or Memphis or other region. They could all be connected to various manifestations of Ra or Tefnut. They could all be similar deities, such as all being Eyes of Ra or related to death.
These are all new discoveries to explore. After being in a practice for however many years, it is common to feel like your epiphanies are behind you. But there are always more surprises in store, especially when the netjeru are at play. Enjoy the new paths that open up!
Iryt-Ra 