*This post was originally written 5/6/2011 and never posted as I was still contemplating and playing with it. I found it recently and it syncs with life both outwardly and inwardly right now so I thought it was time to put it out there! Here we go...
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Let's explore some words, looking at their etymology and meanings we've derived from symbols in previous posts.
Weighed = moved, lifted, carried, a vessel/carriage
Heart = center, middle
Against = opposite, toward
Feather = wings (breath, scent, sense, faculty of perception, to travel, know, feel, journey, to go), rush, fly, drive back or down, petition, seek, go forward, pray, request or require, desire, wish
under- = beneath, between or among
-world = mankind, human existence
law = layer, measure, to put down (lay)
judgement = discern, separate, divide, perceive
I've had judgment and the underworld on the brain. I'm attempting to dive deeper into the meaning of Maat weighing the heart against her feather. I think this is commonly interpreted as a comparison of the purity (lightness) of the heart with that of a feather, but this has me imagine the scenario similar to facing judgement before the pearly gates of heaven. This traditional image is just unsatisfactory to me. I find myself wondering, "Why? and What for? What purpose does this serve in the natural order of things?" So I've started breaking down the meaning of the words to get a bigger picture that can be interpreted in more ways, as for some reason having more questions, and having more options of paths to run down is what brings me peace and understanding. So here is one such scenario I have come up with so far:
The feminine divine ordering principle of the universe (Maat) : carried (weighed) the wish (feather) toward and from (against) one's center (heart).
To me, using these alternate words brings new meaning to the symbol. A symbol of the law of creation, that what we dwell on we also dwell in. That what we see, think, feel, and do is informing an inner part of us on what to make manifest.
"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those to love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true"
*Interesting that the above song is from Disney's Pinocchio, about a wooden boy who longs to be REAL and his nose grows when he tells a lie/untruth.
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those to love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true"
*Interesting that the above song is from Disney's Pinocchio, about a wooden boy who longs to be REAL and his nose grows when he tells a lie/untruth.
By the way, I'm not saying that the above IS the meaning, or is THE meaning, but as usual I am just exploring meanings and possibilities surrounding Maat, the goddess of Truth.
What we deem as "true" is what we perceive as real, something that appears well formed, accurately shaped, and as steadfast and true as a tree. Truth is an exchange of faithfulness. Because the truth has proven to be faithful/constant we believe and trust in the truth, which perpetuates the truth, and the cycle continues. In fact, the FACTs that we believe are true, are really actions, events, occurrences, doings, experiences, and even "evil" deeds that have taken place. Evil is bad and wicked. But BAD is just being inferior in quality. When we look at the hierarchy in the process of creation: inspired from the all pervading mindstuff, to feeling, to thought and finally to the physical/material (as expressed by the Tetragrammaton), the material is actually just the lowest, most inferior piece of the puzzle. Below the superior inspiration and design. Wicked is a word derived from wizard. A magician uses the divine principles of creation to bring wishes into form. We are all wizards, witches and magicians, most of us are just casting our spells unconsciously. So a fact is a magical act.
The universe was created when god spoke. So what god had to say was really important to what was to be formed. What are you saying in your own life? It's interesting that the word "addiction" means devotion, tendencies, habits. You could call it ritual. Even more revealing is that it comes from "ad- "to" + dicere "say, declare". This is important, because it shows that anything that you devote yourself to is an "addiction", it is what you continually, habitually perform, think, hold dear and thus becomes what you are saying because it yields results in the formation of your life.
We create our universe, and yet what we have created is simultaneously creating us. I was looking at trees (trues?) the other day, thinking about how the direction they grow is based upon their environment - the way the wind blows, what is blockading them from growth in a certain place - such as a structure of some sort, dependent on the quality of the soil where they are located, how much sunlight and rain they take in, etc. But trees influence their environment too, their growth changes the landscape, their life creates oxygen which is crucial to the life of all other things. We are the same way, we grow where the energy flows, if there is a blockage of some sort, our growth is stunted in that area and we will grow in another. Growth doesn't always imply a "betterment" either, it's just a building upon wherever the most energy is placed. Yet we are creating and shaping our environment all of the time too. There you have it, you are as divine as a tree. That's the truth.
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Food for thought. It's 2017 and I'm contemplating this all once more. Questions I'm facing are - Where have my "facts" that inform my life come from? What is my source? Have I learned from experience, by action and work? Or have I only listened and read the experience of others and attempted to create based not on my own physical, first hand, inner knowing but on the truth of others?
To be continued...
