Tamara Siuda
| Tamara Siuda | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 19, 1969 New Buffalo, MI |
| Residence | Los Angeles, CA |
Tamara L. Siuda (born 1969) is an American Egyptologist and author of nonfiction, historical and religious books. She is also the founder and current spiritual leader of Kemetic Orthodoxy and the House of Netjer Temple, and since July 2000, she is an initiated priestess (or mambo) in Haitian Vodou.
In 1998, she enrolled in the Egyptology program at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, obtaining a master's degree in Egyptology with a concentration in ancient Egyptian Philology in August 2000. She earned a second master's degree in December 2007 through the Coptic Studies program at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Coptic Studies via Claremont Graduate University.
Siuda founded the group that would become the Kemetic Orthodox Faith in 1988. She reports that she had previously had an experience during a Wiccan initiation ritual in which she was called by the ancient Egyptian deities to revive their worship. After that experience, she left Wicca immediately, and began study and worship in ancient Egyptian religion with friends and students. In 1993, this group of people had grown substantially, and gained legal recognition in the state of Illinois as the House of Netjer Kemetic Orthodox Temple. In 1999, the House of Netjer, and the Kemetic Orthodox Faith, was granted nonprofit 501(c)(3) status by the federal government.
In October 1996, having received, according to her testimony, divine approval via oracles and ritual, Siuda traveled to Egypt and underwent coronation rituals to assume the religious title of Nisut, meaning "Authority" or "Incarnation". In this capacity she is considered the vicar of a divine spirit, by way of an aspect of the god Horus, referred to by Egyptologists as the "kingly ka." As Nisut, Siuda provides spiritual guidance and leadership to the members of Kemetic Orthodoxy. Siuda represented the House of Netjer and Kemetic Orthodoxy at the 1993, 1999, and 2004 Parliament of World Religions, and acts as the faith’s delegate to the World Interfaith Congress.
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