New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc)

The New Year festival at the Temple of Hathor at Dendera was one of the most ritually elaborate of all Egyptian temple festivals, and the Dendera Temple (built primarily in the Ptolemaic period but preserving much older liturgical traditions) contains the most detailed surviving account of it. During the five epagomenal days and at the dawn of Wep Ronpet, the sacred golden image of Hathor was carried in procession from her sanctuary to the rooftop of the temple while it was still dark. At the precise moment of sunrise on New Year's Day, the face of the statue was exposed to the rising sun — a ritual of the Eye of Ra being reunited with Ra himself, the restored divine vision meeting its source. The ceremony is depicted in famous carved reliefs on the interior ceiling of the upper temple chambers, showing the procession up the staircase and the solar rite on the roof. This festival represented the annual renewal of the covenant between the Eye (in her Hathor form, gentle and loving) and the solar creator.

Here is how to celebrate New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc): - Perform this as a sub-observance within Wep Ronpet — specifically a Hathor-dedicated dawn rite on New Year's Day - Rise before sunrise and carry a candle or lamp (representing Hathor's face) outside at dawn - At the moment of sunrise, lift the flame into the light — the eye meeting Ra - Offer to Hathor: copper mirror held up to the sunrise, fresh flowers, sweet wine, gold and turquoise, a song or chant offered to the rising sun - Anoint yourself with perfume or oil as Hathor's priests anointed her statue — the body is a sacred image - Sing or hum as the sun rises — music is Hathor's prayer language - Set your intention for the new year through Hathor's lens: what beauty, love, and joy do you wish to call in?

The spiritual theme of New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc): The Eye of Ra is carried to the roof to meet the sun. She is not subordinate to Ra — she is his most powerful aspect, his own eye, returning to his face after her wandering. When the eye and its source are reunited, light is restored. What part of yourself has been wandering, separated from your source, and what would reunion with your own center look like?. Reflection prompts: Hathor carries music, beauty, and love as sacred weapons against darkness. What beauty have you been neglecting that is, in fact, a spiritual necessity? At the dawn of a new year, what is the most loving and honest thing you can say to yourself about who you are and where you are headed?

New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc) is a Kemetic festival. The New Year festival at the Temple of Hathor at Dendera was one of the most ritually elaborate of all Egyptian temple festivals, and the Dendera Temple (built primarily in the Ptolemaic period but preserving much older liturgical traditions) contains the most detailed surviving account of it. During the five epagomenal days and at the dawn of Wep Ronpet, the sacred golden image of Hathor was carr

Historical sources for New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc) include: Dendera Temple (Ptolemaic, ancient material) — staircase reliefs of the New Year procession to the roof chapel; Dendera Temple, Wabet (the pure place) — New Year festival texts; Dendera astronomical ceiling — Sopdet and the solar calendar; Temple of Hathor crypts — New Year festival equipment descriptions.

During New Year Festival of Hathor at Dendera (Feast of the Union with the Solar Disc), meditate on: The Eye of Ra is carried to the roof to meet the sun. She is not subordinate to Ra — she is his most powerful aspect, his own eye, returning to his face after her wandering. When the eye and its source are reunited, light is restored. What part of yourself has been wandering, separated from your sou