The Egyptians' gods were ever present – and not only as passive deities called to action by the prayers of their devotees. On the contrary, the Egyptians believed that their gods were active players who could – and did – interfere with affairs of daily life at any time. In order to make sense of the immediacy of the divine in Egyptian life, it is necessary to explore how the gods made their presence and will known.

Texts indicate that Egyptians believed that they could sense the presence of a god through smell, sight, and intuition. For example, Queen Hatshepsut claimed that her mother, Ahmose, had determined that the figure who appeared to be her husband was in fact the god Amun by the sweet odor of incense that emanated from him. But more frequently, the presence of a god was conveyed through a vague sense that ill heath or some unfortunate event had been brought about by divine action. In many cases, a person who recorded an unpleasant encounter with a god admitted that some personal fault or action precipitated the god's action. While the divine–human encounters described in the previous chapter planned and invoked by worshippers were often positive, unsolicited meetings with a god could be a frightening event warning of the impending wrath of the deity on account of some personal misstep or shortcoming.