To use these files in your Emacs config drop the following two lines in your .emacs file: (add-to-list 'load-path "<path_to_checked_out_emacs_files>") (require 'my_config) Obviously, you'll need to replace <path_to_checked_out_emacs_files> with the actual path to this code tree :) Note: If you're using Aquamacs Emacs its version of .emacs is: ~/Library/Preferences/Aquamacs Eamcs/customizations