Maat The Egyptian Goddess

Areas of Influence: Maat the Egyptian Goddess stood for truth and justice. In fact the name Ma'at means truth in Egyptian.

Her followers believed that after death their hearts would be weighed against her white feather of judgement. If the heart weighed the same they would be allowed to cross into the kingdom of Osiris (Paradise). However those that failed the test would be devoured by the crocodile headed God Ammut.

She also represented the the primal laws of the universe that supported creation and prevented it from falling into choas. 

In this crucial role she stood for balance and harmony. Her power was beyond the Pharoah's who declared themselves beloved of Ma'at and upholders of her laws.

This Goddess helped the sun God Ra/Re steer his boat across the sky each day, guiding his direction.

Her roles were later absorbed by the Goddess Isis.

There is a temple dedicated to her in Carnac which unfortunately lies in ruins.

Origins and Genealogy: The Goddess of truth, justice and reality was the daughter of Ra.

Maat the Egyptian Goddess was the consort of Thoth and bore him eight children known collectively as the Chief Gods and Goddesses of Hermopolis. Her most famous child was Amon.

Strengths: Balancing and just.

Weaknesses: Very exacting in her standards. There were no second chances.

Symbolism of Maat the Egyptian Goddess

Portrayed as a woman with a white ostrich feather on her head carrying a sceptre in one hand and an ankh in the other.

Ma'at was also sometimes shown as a winged Goddess.

The symbol of the prime evil mound was also used to represent this Goddess. This is the mound upon which the creator Gods stood at the beginning of time.

Sacred Bird: Ostriches.

Ma'ats Archetype

The Judge

The Judge's role is to balance justice with compassion. Ensuring a distribution of power that provides realistic and fair boundries that encourage people to take responsibility for their actions.

Shadow Judge misuses his power to enforce rules over others by manipulating laws. They are over critical and very judgemental of others, the sort of tyrant that makes you feel you are tip toeing round on eggshells trying not to draw their wrath.

This is an obvious choice of Archetype for Maat the Egyptian Goddess as her name means truth and her principles became partly codified in Egyptian laws.

Please follow this link to the Archetypes page to discover which other Goddess Archetypes resonate with you.

How To Work With This Archetype.

The Judge

The Judge is one of your Archetypes you work in roles where you are often called upon to mediate between different sides. You may also have high standards and ideals which you encourage others to adopt.

This Archetype is an excellent one to work with if you are facing any legal proceedings or other situations in your life where you want justice to be done.

This Goddess Archetype should only be invoked if you wish to work with the universal laws of harnony and justive. If you are trying to enforce your own standards or seek revenge for perceived wrong doings you will be working with the Shadow aspect of the judge.