I didn’t expect them to be back to back.

January is a big month for me. I had my long, dark night of the soul, which resulted in Aset, Hathor and Nephthys coming to my aid, as I’ve related in more than one blog post (this early post is the only one I can find right now: https://kemeticvsatheist.com/2015/05/28/the-power-of-religion/). And I also had my eye-opening, “Saul on the road to Damascus” moment with Sekhmet in January too, as I’ve written here: https://kemeticvsatheist.com/2019/11/26/year-of-rites-so-far/. Well, one thing I hadn’t done until recently, but which I’ve wanted to, is actually put both dates on my Google Calendar as anniversaries to celebrate. So I finally did that recently.

And what do you know: They’re back to back. The conversion anniversary took place on January 22nd, whereas Sekhmet hitting me upside the head with a two-by-four actually took place on the 21st.

That’s interesting. But either way, I had to celebrate. I ended up doing rite to Sekhmet on the 20th (a day early), and to Aset, Hathor and Nephthys in celebration of my conversion anniversary on the 23rd (a day late). But They seemed to roll with it. Actually, Sekhmet and I came to an agreement to celebrate on the 20th; I forget exactly what my reasons were, and I certainly can’t speak for Sekhmet, but either way, it worked. As for why I was late celebrating my conversion anniversary, I’m not sure but it may have been because the poetry meeting I attend two Mondays a month wiped me out, as it sometimes does. I don’t have the option of not going because I run the Zoom part of our meetings. And we can’t attend in person anymore, at least not fully, because one of our members lives in San Diego now (instead of Tallahassee, Florida, where the rest of us live). At any rate, the goddesses I call my saviors were also okay with having our celebrations on a different day.

I was unprepared for this, but somehow putting it on a calendar, having solid dates in my head, looking at my shrine in both cases and feeling not only my joy but Theirs – it really made it feel like both parties were celebrating. Both rites were joyous experiences, and I found myself smiling widely. I’m glad I did this – sorry it took me so long to do something so simple, but it was worth the wait.

Do you have something special and unique that you celebrate as a part of your religious observances? If you’re not religious, feel free to chime in with any special observance you celebrate.

Be well.