Ma'at
The Understanding of Ma’at | Term Paper | Amit Randhawa |
With Ma’at having such an importance, I’ve grown to embrace it as a guiding way for my life. As one sacred writing says: the Honorables live on Ma’at. Yet, one will find many different explanations of Ma’at in modern writings. Some define Ma’at as a “goddess.” Some define Ma’at as a set of principles or ideas. Some define Ma’at as truth, justice, order, or even all three. But even among such definitions, there is little explanation given to the fundamental importance of Ma’at to the Kemetic ways of life. My aim is to share from what I have learned about Ma’at, that it may assist others on their road to discovering the full reality of Ma’at for themselves -- what I hold to be the only way to (truly) understand Ma’at.
The following is more a task presented to me than a chosen endeavor, given the lack of clear and comprehensive information on Ma’at. As a student, some may say a mystic, of the range of Kemetic spiritual teachings, I have been moved to make many changes in my life. The choice of Ma’at was simple: despite the range of life approaches throughout Kemet (often called ancient Egypt), one thing was almost always, if not always, present is Ma’at. I stress that there was no one overarching Kemetic religion. Many scholars, usually from Western European cultural paradigms, interpret the spiritual components of Kemetic ways of life through their own conceptual lenses. Thus “Egyptian Religion” or “Egyptian Mythology,” as they often call it, is interpreted in ways that mirror Christianity: having one set of core principles which are dominant in all the sub-sects that break off from this main core. In reality, each city and village usually had their own primary Honorables (often translated as gods or goddesses) who occupied the most important places in their approach to life. One city may be designed to honor a covenant with one local Honorable who may not be widely known beyond that city, while
With Ma’at having such an importance, I’ve grown to embrace it as a guiding way for my life. As one sacred writing says: the Honorables live on Ma’at. Yet, one will find many different explanations of Ma’at in modern writings. Some define Ma’at as a “goddess.” Some define Ma’at as a set of principles or ideas. Some define Ma’at as truth, justice, order, or even all three. But even among such definitions, there is little explanation given to the fundamental importance of Ma’at to the Kemetic ways of life. My aim is to share from what I have learned about Ma’at, that it may assist others on their road to discovering the full reality of Ma’at for themselves -- what I hold to be the only way to (truly) understand Ma’at.
The following is more a task presented to me than a chosen endeavor, given the lack of clear and comprehensive information on Ma’at. As a student, some may say a mystic, of the range of Kemetic spiritual teachings, I have been moved to make many changes in my life. The choice of Ma’at was simple: despite the range of life approaches throughout Kemet (often called ancient Egypt), one thing was almost always, if not always, present is Ma’at. I stress that there was no one overarching Kemetic religion. Many scholars, usually from Western European cultural paradigms, interpret the spiritual components of Kemetic ways of life through their own conceptual lenses. Thus “Egyptian Religion” or “Egyptian Mythology,” as they often call it, is interpreted in ways that mirror Christianity: having one set of core principles which are dominant in all the sub-sects that break off from this main core. In reality, each city and village usually had their own primary Honorables (often translated as gods or goddesses) who occupied the most important places in their approach to life. One city may be designed to honor a covenant with one local Honorable who may not be widely known beyond that city, while