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One of the figures that I have not really mentioned or spoken much about that has been imporant to me is Maat. Maat is a rather intresting figure for a couple of reasons, for one thing though she was indeed one of the Egyption goddesses on the other hand, she was not seen as being an acutal being like Isis, Horus, Orisis, and so forth, but rather she was viewed more as being a concept, yet at the sametime, she did have a form, usually that of a winged woman of which she was portrayed. Maat is the personification of truth, justice, balance, order, right, hamorny, and of the the way all things should be. It was beleived by the Egyptians that without Maat Chaos would rule the world once more. Maat is something that everyone must carry within them as a part of themselves and unlike the other Gods, is not just something completely outside of us, but rather is a part of each of us. The Egyptians beleived that Maat was in everything, here is a passage reguarding Maat that I thinkg is a good representation of how Maat was viewed and just what she is.
Ma'at was reality, the solid grounding of reality that made the Sun rise, the stars shine, the river flood and mankind think. The universe itself, all the world around them, was sacred in the ancient view. "Ethics" is an issue of human will and human permission. It is a function of the human world of duality. What is "ethical" for one group is sin for another. But Ma'at, the reality that made all groups what they are is transcendent of ethics, just as a rock or a flower is amoral, a-ethical, without "truth or falsehood." How can a flower be "false" or "ethical." It just is. How can the universe be "ethical or moral, right or wrong"? It simply is. That is Ma'at.
I think that no matter what a person beleives they carry Maat with them though they might call it by a different name, I beleive that I am ruled by Maat in many ways, and in every desicion that I make.
11:36 AM - 4/13/2007 -
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