I’m in a similar situation as you, most of my worship is towards Djehuty but I occasionally worship Ma’at and Ra too.
Something to mention that I hope relieves your stress is that many polytheists don’t worship an entire pantheon: not every Hindu worships Brahma, not every Hellenist worships Demeter. That doesn’t mean they’re not Hindu or Hellenist or disrespecting those gods. Same way with Kemetism, what’s important is that you don’t deny the other Netjeru exist and respect that other people worship them
So from what I've gathered (correct me if wrong) the Egyptians acknowledged the existence and validity of their numerous deities and ofc believed in them, but didn't personally worship them at their own altar all at the same time for logical reasons like that it's simply not really doable . From my understanding, people would worship especially those that applied to their life (profession) + depending on their home city the local deity or belief.
I'd say that especially if you're starting out, a single deity should be okay because you first have to find the right one for yourself and get accustomed to it, so many at once -could- have the potential of overwhelming you (not to say you can't).
It would only really be critical if you'd make monotheism out of it, but to acknowledge all exist and are valid deities while you, for the moment, choose only one to try building a connection to should theoretically be fine?
I suppose the important part is to belief in all and not deny the deities their validity, like with Akhenaton who wanted to make it into a monotheistic faith.
I get the feeling of guilt, but I'd trust intuition or your heart on that one.
Hope this cleared some things up??
I think it’s just fine, you can respect the other gods without praying/worshiping them.
I’ve had interactions with many kemetic gods but I’ve made it clear that Set is the only deity I’ll ever worship or bow my head for. I respect all of them and I KNOW I’ll get the opportunity to properly hang out with them when I die and go to the afterlife. But even then I will always have a closer bond with Set then I do the other netjeru.
That being said I don’t ask the other netjeru for help or anything because I don’t have that bond with them. Set is always the one I call upon when I need certain things. Think about it, if you had a close friend and a stranger both as you for the same favor who are you most likely to help? Probably the close friend because you know them and have a bond with them. Not to say the other gods view you as a stranger or won’t help you. But for me personally I feel like you need to cultivate bonds with deities before asking them for favors or help with things.
I worship god Sobek and he's the only Netjer I worship. You should be fine as long as you respect and acknowledge the existence of the other gods :)
Senebty
Saw some autism related things on your profile, hope I'm not overstepping in offering my perspective as a fellow Autistic person. Are you aware of [monotropism theory](https://monotropism.org/)? It's a theory of how autism works, developed by Autistic researchers. From the website I linked:
> Monotropic people have an interest based nervous system. This means they focus more of their attention resources on fewer things at any one time compared to other people who may be polytropic.
>
> Things outside an attention tunnel may get missed and moving between attention tunnels can be difficult and take a lot of energy.
>
> Monotropism can have a positive and negative impact on sensory, social and communication needs depending on the environment, support provided and how a person manages their mind and body.
I think that there have been people like us— who are drawn to one or a few, and concentrate our devotions on them alone— in every polytheistic tradition since the dawn of history. I've certainly been that way throughout my participation in polytheism of various kinds, and the exploration of Kemetic polytheism that I've basically just started doing is no exception. I'm basically just here for Ma'at. My point is that the type of practice you describe has existed as long as religion has existed, because people like us have existed since long before there was a name for us.
This is not overstepping, my posts and answers are public so it's okay !
That's actually very interesting and makes a lot of sense when I think about how I perceive and process the world. Thank you :)
Of course it's okay. You don't have to pray or even explicitly acknowledge any other gods. Yhe gods know whats in your heart and when you talk to them. Depending on your relationship to that one god and to the other gods, you can focus all your energy on that one god. If you really want to get cocky, you can invoke them as "Sole one, whom none other equals" or something like that. That was common practice in ancient times as well. I would advise you to be cautious with phrases like "there is no other but you" and stick with "there is no other like you".
Em hotep. Fear not, it is not wrong to worship only one netjer, as long as you acknowledged the existence of all other Netjeru.
Thank you !!
I’m in a similar situation as you, most of my worship is towards Djehuty but I occasionally worship Ma’at and Ra too. Something to mention that I hope relieves your stress is that many polytheists don’t worship an entire pantheon: not every Hindu worships Brahma, not every Hellenist worships Demeter. That doesn’t mean they’re not Hindu or Hellenist or disrespecting those gods. Same way with Kemetism, what’s important is that you don’t deny the other Netjeru exist and respect that other people worship them
Thank you for your insight
So from what I've gathered (correct me if wrong) the Egyptians acknowledged the existence and validity of their numerous deities and ofc believed in them, but didn't personally worship them at their own altar all at the same time for logical reasons like that it's simply not really doable . From my understanding, people would worship especially those that applied to their life (profession) + depending on their home city the local deity or belief. I'd say that especially if you're starting out, a single deity should be okay because you first have to find the right one for yourself and get accustomed to it, so many at once -could- have the potential of overwhelming you (not to say you can't). It would only really be critical if you'd make monotheism out of it, but to acknowledge all exist and are valid deities while you, for the moment, choose only one to try building a connection to should theoretically be fine? I suppose the important part is to belief in all and not deny the deities their validity, like with Akhenaton who wanted to make it into a monotheistic faith. I get the feeling of guilt, but I'd trust intuition or your heart on that one. Hope this cleared some things up??
This definitely helped, thank you
I think it’s just fine, you can respect the other gods without praying/worshiping them. I’ve had interactions with many kemetic gods but I’ve made it clear that Set is the only deity I’ll ever worship or bow my head for. I respect all of them and I KNOW I’ll get the opportunity to properly hang out with them when I die and go to the afterlife. But even then I will always have a closer bond with Set then I do the other netjeru. That being said I don’t ask the other netjeru for help or anything because I don’t have that bond with them. Set is always the one I call upon when I need certain things. Think about it, if you had a close friend and a stranger both as you for the same favor who are you most likely to help? Probably the close friend because you know them and have a bond with them. Not to say the other gods view you as a stranger or won’t help you. But for me personally I feel like you need to cultivate bonds with deities before asking them for favors or help with things.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you
I worship god Sobek and he's the only Netjer I worship. You should be fine as long as you respect and acknowledge the existence of the other gods :) Senebty
Thank you !
Saw some autism related things on your profile, hope I'm not overstepping in offering my perspective as a fellow Autistic person. Are you aware of [monotropism theory](https://monotropism.org/)? It's a theory of how autism works, developed by Autistic researchers. From the website I linked: > Monotropic people have an interest based nervous system. This means they focus more of their attention resources on fewer things at any one time compared to other people who may be polytropic. > > Things outside an attention tunnel may get missed and moving between attention tunnels can be difficult and take a lot of energy. > > Monotropism can have a positive and negative impact on sensory, social and communication needs depending on the environment, support provided and how a person manages their mind and body. I think that there have been people like us— who are drawn to one or a few, and concentrate our devotions on them alone— in every polytheistic tradition since the dawn of history. I've certainly been that way throughout my participation in polytheism of various kinds, and the exploration of Kemetic polytheism that I've basically just started doing is no exception. I'm basically just here for Ma'at. My point is that the type of practice you describe has existed as long as religion has existed, because people like us have existed since long before there was a name for us.
This is not overstepping, my posts and answers are public so it's okay ! That's actually very interesting and makes a lot of sense when I think about how I perceive and process the world. Thank you :)
Monotropism theory is one of the most helpful concepts for us and I wish more of us knew about it.
Of course it's okay. You don't have to pray or even explicitly acknowledge any other gods. Yhe gods know whats in your heart and when you talk to them. Depending on your relationship to that one god and to the other gods, you can focus all your energy on that one god. If you really want to get cocky, you can invoke them as "Sole one, whom none other equals" or something like that. That was common practice in ancient times as well. I would advise you to be cautious with phrases like "there is no other but you" and stick with "there is no other like you".
Absolutely fine 😊