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MAAT-- Goddess of Truth and balance.

Invoke her for justice and problems within the court system.

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!

The ancient Egyptians believed in many

different gods and goddesses. Each one with
their own role to play in maintaining peace and
harmony across the land.

Some gods and goddesses took part in creation,

some brought the flood every year, some
offered protection, and some took care of
people after they died. Others were either local
gods who represented towns, or minor gods
who represented plants or animals.

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was

important to recognise and worship these gods
and goddesses so that life continued smoothly.
!

!
!

Ma'at
Wife of Thoth

Ma'at - Goddess of Justice

ostrich feather in her hair

Ma'at was the goddess

of truth, justice and
harmony.
She was the wife
ofThoth, the god of
wisdom, since you
need wisdom to find
truth and justice.
Both Ma'at and Thoth helped at the Weighing
of the Heart.

When the dead were looked over, it was Maats feather that was
sticking up from her head that helped her judge them.

If the person's heart was as light as a feather, that meant that the
dead person would live forever in the underworld,

but if the persons heart was heavier then the feather,

then Anubis would slice them up into pieces and they would not live
in the underworld.

The feather of Ma'at was an ostrich plume.

She wore it on her head.
The chief judge in charge of the Egyptian law courts was known as
the "priest of Ma'at".
He began court hearings by wearing the feather of Ma'at.
The judge gave the feather to the person who won his case in the
law courts.

The pharaoh had to promise that he would follow Ma'at. This

means that he would be a just pharaoh, and keep order in Egypt.

Symbol of Truth, Balance,and Cosmological Order.

Mat is ethical principles collectively embracing the values of truth, justice,
harmony, balance, cosmological order, reciprocity and propriety.

Personified as a goddess, Mat is depicted as a woman wearing an ostrich

feather on her head, a symbol of the principles she represents.

Controlling the movement of the stars and the seasonal flooding of the Nile
River, Mat also had codes of tradition and customs.

For all Egyptians to live in a happy, prosperous and peaceful environment,

they had to live within the order established by Mat.

The pharaoh, as absolute ruler, was the individual most responsible to

manifest in life, through all his actions, the entire concept of Mat.

Deviation from the tenets of Mat could prove disastrous for the pharaoh.

Ma'at, unlike Hathor and Nephthys, seemed to be more of a concept than an

actual goddess.

Her name, literally, meant 'truth' in Egyptian.

She was truth, order, balance and justice personified.

She was harmony, she was what was right, she was what things should be.

It was thought that if Ma'at didn't exist, the universe would become chaos,
once again!

For the Egyptian believed that the universe was above everything else
an ordered and rational place.
It functioned with predictability and regularity; the cycles of the
universe always remained constant; in the moral sphere, purity was
rewarded and sin was punished.
Both morally and physically, the universe was in perfect balance.

Because of Ma'at, the Egyptians knew that the universe, that everything in the
universe, worked on a pattern, just as, later on, the Greeks called the
underlying order of the universe logos (meaning, order, pattern).

Egypt, then, was seen to be nothing without Ma'at.

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.

There is a small temple dedicated to Ma'at (in ruins) at Karnak.

The temple is inside Precinct of Montu, the smallest of three enclosures at

Karnak.

The temple seems to have been built by Hatshepsut, then reconstructed by

Thuthmose III..

Ma'at did not exist until Ra rose from the waters of Nun (various gods and
goddesses of Chaos).

She was known as a Neter goddess, and as such, was described as a daughter
of Ra.

But without Ma'at, Egyptians believed that Nun would reclaim the universe.

She was also thought to be the wife of Thoth, moon god and god of the
wisdom.

She was, really, the most important deity of them all.

The Egyptian word for this balance was the Egyptian word for
"truth," ma'at; this is perhaps the single most important aspect of Egyptian
culture that you can learn.

For once you really understand this concept, the whole of Egyptian culture
begins to make sense.

The order of the universe (ma'at ) functioned with unswerving accuracy; it

was maintained by the goddess Ma'at.

This meant that the concept of "truth" meant for the Egyptian the the
rational and orderly working of the universe rather than its diverse
phenomena.

The Egyptian, then, believed that he or she understood how the universe
operated; all phenomena could be explained by an appeal to this
understanding of the rationality of the universe.

Egyptian Papyrus Painting

This is the goddess Maat with her wings of protection spread out. She is the
goddess of cosmic order, justice, law, and truth. Shes identified by the ostrich
feather in her hair. She had the power to regulate the seasons, movement of
the stars, and relation of men and the gods.

She also presented the people with a code of ethics.

SYMBOLS:
The feather, used to weigh the heart of the dead

The rose - a sweet smelling flower full of brilliant red color, the color of the feather
in Maat's hair.

The aloe, which is bitter, as justice can sometimes be.

The scales of justice, for Maat is a Goddess devoted to justice.

IMAGE:
Maat is often portrayed as a young, beautiful woman with feather over her left ear.
The feather is upright and tied on with a binding knotted at the back of her head. .

PLACE OF WORSHIP:
The halls of justice are sacred to Maat, who is closely associated with truth and
justice.

All judges were her priests.

It was believed there was no escape from the justice of Maat in this world or the
next.

Princesses of the royal families often wore the red feather of Maat in their hair in a
similar manner to indicate they were priestesses of Maat.

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FORM OF WORSHIP:
Maat was honored even by the monotheistic Pharoah, Akenaten. Perfumes were
offered up to her - rose, galbanum or Kyphi. The stone sacred to her was the
emerald, reputed to turn opaque if a lie was told near it.

RELATIVES:
Maat is the daughter of Ra in some mythologies, the daughter of Shu and Tefnut in
other. Her siblings are Thoth (her husband), Nut (sky) and Geb (Earth).

SYNODEITIES:
Minerva, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom. In America Justice is blinded by a fold of
cloth across her eyes and carries the scales of balance long associated with Maat.

DETAILS:
Maat is associated with bringing order from chaos.

In addition to her main function, the honorable judging of the deeds of the
deceased, she was established as The Light of a Million Years by Ra

he was the sun, she the light of the sun - and she determines his course as
the sun.

Because of her vast power, all deities, including Ra, are subject to her.

Maat is, above all things, truthful and honorable.

Candle colour

White
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starlighto
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www.sstarlightowl.com

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