Hetepu (Peace & Blessings) Family
You know, there are a lot of people leaving organized religion because they are tired of the religious dogma, religious fear and guilt about God, and religious social control. Since many of the Judeo-Christian beliefs were adopted or borrowed from the Kemetic spiritual system like Ten Commandments which were modeled after the so-called 42 Laws of Ma’at; the entire birth, life and death of Jesus was borrowed from the life of Hru (Heru or Horus in Greek), and so on. Many people are embracing Kamitic or Kemetic spirituality because it appears to be an unadulterated form of Christianity.
Although it is true Judaism, Christianity and Islam borrowed many of their concepts from the Kemetic spiritual system, it is important that one does not err in practicing Kemetic spirituality as if it is a western religion because Kemetic spirituality is based upon understanding the difference between Ma’at, Maa and maa.
First, Ma’at, Maa and maa all translate to mean balance, order, justice, righteousness, truth, etc. but they do not mean the same thing.
Capital case, Maa refers to Universal Truths. These are basically truths that affect us all regardless of color, race, ethnicity, beliefs, creeds, etc. For instance, gravity falls under Maa because it does not matter where you are on the planet, if you throw a rock up in the air, it is going to fall down regardless of who you are, your social status, whether you believe in it or not, etc. Maa is often referred to as Universal Laws, God’s Laws or Universal Principles. Note that the Supreme Being did not write these laws down and instruct that humanity follow them or else. It is just that over the ages, sages from all over the world, since the beginning of time studied the cosmos and conceived universal principles. In fact, all of the great spiritual teachers, ascended masters, etc. are actually students of the Maa, which is the reason most religions have the same core principles and talk about love, peace, prosperity, compassion, wealth, charity, etc.
Lower case, maa refers to personal truths, personal way or la manera (Spanish). This is basically truths that pertain to an individual based upon their beliefs, experience, maturity, cognizance, etc. From this perspective the 42 Laws of Ma’at (42 Negative Confessions, 42 Declarations, etc.) are actually the scribe Ani’s personal affirmations. It would not do me any good to affirm “I have not swindled offerings, I have not stolen from the Gods/Goddesses, I have not stolen anyone’s land,” etc. because I do not live in those times so they do not directly apply to my life. So, maa pertains to doing what is right, orderly and just in regards to perspective.
For instance, I love vegetables but the one vegetable I cannot stomach are brussel sprouts. I have tried to eat brussel sprouts steamed, boiled, grilled, baked, smothered in sauces, etc. and they still incite a gut jerk. Now, is that to say that Brussel sprouts are bad for everyone because of my reaction. No. It is just me and maybe others as well, so if I say “Brussel sprouts are nasty and not good.” I am speaking from a subjective perspective and is based upon my experience and opinion.
A lot of people confuse Maa with maa and vice versa, which is one of the main reasons there are so many religious fundamentalists in our world today. For instance, some people will say that drinking alcohol is evil because of drunk driving, alcoholism, etc. But if that were the case everyone that consumes alcohol would be a drunk driver and alcoholic, which we know is not true. It does not affect everyone the same. However, we know drunk driving and alcoholism are real also.
This leads us to ask why does drunk driving, alcoholism and other evils regarding alcohol exist? It is because of imbalance. When alcohol, like most of the things in our world, are abused and not used or consumed in moderation, it creates an imbalance and this introduces us to Ma’at.Ma’at is the personification of both Maa and maa. She is the archetype of righteousness, the divine protector of the Law, the goddess of truth, and the guardian spirit of balance and order. Ma’at is both merciful and vengeful at the same time.
I was taught to never leave an open drink alone and if you do, do not drink it. To always look at your food and drink before and if you sense you should stop to do so because that next bite or next sip could be your last. Of course, these are old folk beliefs and practices but every time I have disobeyed them I have ran into problems.
If you think about that last bite of chocolate cake, the last shot of alcohol, that last bench press, etc. you know that you were toying with the scales of Ma’at and moving from moderation to excessive-ness.
For the record, Ma’at is merciful and forgiving, so when this is done a couple of times, she may smack you on the hand and remind you not to do it again. But, if you do this too often, well you know the consequences.
Understand, Ma’at does not punish you for making mistakes. Ma’at punishes you for not living in moderation by reminding us that we reap what we sow. Ma’at is cherished because she helps us to find the middle ground or moderation and this is what invokes her mercy. Ma’at is an essential ally in our spiritual development because she helps us to align our personal maa with the Universal Maa.
Hetep.