As some of you may have guessed I follow the old Kemetic faith, which is what the ancient egyptains followed (Kemetic is not what they called it actually, Kemet is what they called egypt, it translates roughly into black land). This wasn't really a choice of mine, I was called. The defining concept of the ancient egyptian belief could be summed up in the word, Ma'at. A few months back I wrote my interpretation of this concept and I feel like sharing it here.
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What is Ma'at?
Most places you look will tell you it's the ancient egyptian belief of order and truth, but that is actually a bit misleading. Not only doesn't the full meaning of that word really translate into english it doesn't really translate into modern western cultural thought. A closer translation of the idea of Ma'at is 'the way the world should be'. Now confusion and conflict probably fill your head, for there are countless ideas of 'the way the world should be', but that's really not true. The reality is that we all know 'the way the world should be' but we try to know that with the wrong part of ourselves. We try to know with our brains, with our logic, with our intellect... with our emotions.
While I'll be the first to tell you how useful those tools are they will never help you understand Ma'at. To understand Ma'at you have to use that, dusty part of yourself that you probably rarely look at or feed, your heart or soul as it's called in modern times. It's that scary thing deep within yourself that doesn't have any logic, reason or emotion, but instead just 'Knows'. It's that part of you that 'knows' when you're drinking too much during a party, that 'knows' who really is your friend and who isn't, the part of you that 'knows' what you truly need to live a happy and fulfilled life.
Deep down in our heart of hearts we all follow Ma'at. Be we black, white, purple, young, old, tattooed, pierced, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim we all want and need the same thing... to be full and happy in our heart of hearts.
When I see some greedy obscenely rich person who is hording more money, possessions and worldly power than they could ever possibly use in a dozen lifetimes I don't see an evil monster hell bent on world destruction, what I see is someone who isn't getting what they truly need. Their heart 'knows' that money and power isn't what they really need, but while their heart 'knows' they don't know their heart so all they feel is a deep unhappiness which they try desperately to fill with the only thing they will allow themselves to understand...
As long as the world is full of people who refuse to 'know' what their heart knows there will never be peace, there will always be war and there will always be suffering.
I hope this helps.
Looksfar, thank you very much for posting this. I so know what you mean about the part of us that Knows......it takes sometimes too many years of NOT listening to this Voice to finally realize, it never tells us wrong.........once we listen, the path flows much more smoothly. I found your post very interesting, and am glad you have found the right path for you.
ReplyDeleteLooksfar: Conscience KNOWS what is right and what is wrong. But rarely do we hear it speaking within ourselves. But the story you narrate about this rich person hoarding so many things in life.. Ahhh.. it's one of the wounds inflicted upon my heart.. I was given money because they had no hearts to love. I threw it back. I survived. No amount of cold lifeless paper/metal can fulfill a person's innate need to be loved.
ReplyDeleteI am learning to love myself and to listen to what my conscience needs. Many times, we do what we ought to do, rather than what we want. I am changing that now. :) Thank you for such a nice post. It feels good to know about new cultures and new faiths. ~Punam
Sherry: It took me many years to start listening myself. For most of my life not only didn't I listen to my heart but I deeply feared what it was trying to tell me. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePunam: You are right it does know and it is always speaking to us, we just need to let ourselves listen (I know far too well how much easier it is to say than do that). I have a talent for making money myself, it's how I'm able to live off my savings and explore myself right now. I also found the money empty and unfulfilling and walked away from my high paying job. I can always get another job but I have only one me to love and explore.
Loving ourselves is one hardest things to do (I speak from great experience here) but if we can it is one of the most fulfilling.