Posts Tagged ‘religion’

I just got this feeling to pull a tarot card today.  I’d like to say that I’m going to do this every day, but if you know me, then you know that as soon as I decide to do that, I will never do it again.  So, instead of saying I’m going to do this everyday, I’ll just say I’m going to do it when I feel like it… which may be once a day or maybe once a year.  LOL!  Sorry I can’t be more steadfast and consistent, but I’m really not good at sticking to something for long.  So i hope you’ll enjoy it while it lasts!  hehe Read the rest of this entry »

I changed my store page and added some widgets.  The store is through Amazon, which for now, is the easiest way to add books and other items to my site.  So I hope that you’ll visit it.

The first thing you’ll see, underneath the link to the main store page, is the specials that are available.  It’s four books that are on sale for around 35% off.  I don’t know if those are randomly seleted, so you’ll have to check it out often.

Under that little widget, you’ll see what I consider to be the “Best of the Law of Attraction” & “Books No Pagan Household Should Be Without”.  Most of these books are ones that I personally own and has guided me on my own personal journey.  Some are ones that I would like to own, but haven’t had a chance to purchase them yet, however I do know enough about each of the books to recommend them to you!

Lastly what you will see is a lovely slideshow of different products for your spiritual journey.  Jewelry, altar accessories, herbal products, and much more.  I’ve selected many things that I hope will inspire you and help you along your journey or at least will make your journey a little nicer.

Brightest Blessings

Christine

To understand Ma’at, balance a feather on its tip in the palm of your hand.

Ma’at literally means “Truth” in Egyptian.  In Ancient Egypt, Ma’at was not
just a Goddess, but was a concept as well. The concept, Ma’at, was that which
all of the people of Egypt had to adhere to. From the lowliest of the peoples up
to the Pharaoh himself. And each class of people had a different amount of
responsibility to uphold the concept of Ma’at. The Pharaoh was the most
responsible because he was the ruler of all of Egypt, so he must be exemplary in
this matter. Whereas the poorest people who were struggling from day to day had
little to no responsibility towards upholding the laws of Ma’at, because they
had enough things to worry about. The concept of Ma’at, was why the Goddess
Ma�at was so important to the Egyptian culture.

The Goddess Ma�at was that which kept balance and order in the entire Universe!
Not just the people of Egypt, but everything in the heavens and the earth bowed
down to the rules of Ma�at. She was what controlled the seasons, she controlled
the water flowing in the oceans, and she controlled the circle of life among the
animals. She controlled life and death, and all that was. And she kept it all in
balance.
The story of Ma�at starts at the beginning of creation. When the God Ra settled
the waters of Nun (the gods of chaos), Ma�at was born. She was his daughter, and
yet she did not answer to Ra, he answered to her. Because she controlled the
entire Universe. And being the Goddess of balance, she is not only there at the
beginning of life, she is also there at the end.

Her greatest duty of all is that of judging those who die. When the Egyptians
died, they went to the Hall of Ma’at (double halls of truth). There they found
the Goddess Ma�at, with her scales and her Ostrich feather. The myth of this
event is somewhat confusing, because in some legends she is the Wife of Thoth,
who has the head of the Ibis, and he is the one who weights the heart of the
dead on her scales. Where as others say that she is the wife of Anubis, who has
the head of a Jackal, and it is he who weights the heart of the dead on her
scales. After the heart is placed on the scales, it is weighted against her
Ostrich feather. If the scales do not tip, then the heart is light and the
deceased may pass on to heaven. But if the scales tip towards the heart, then
they have not lived a life of Ma’at, and will be eaten by the demon Goddess,
Ammuti. This is where we get the phrases �light hearted� and �heavy hearted�.
Another important part of Ma�at�s legends are the 42 Admonitions of Ma�at. These
are 42 rules of how to live your life according to the concept of Ma’at. These
were written 1500 years before the Ten Commandments, and some scholars believe
that these are what inspired Moses to write the Ten Commandments. I see the 42
admonitions as much more detailed, and some more realistic in what makes a
person�s life balanced and just. Some of the admonitions include, �I have not
made anyone to weep�, �I have not turned the earth without cause�, �I have not
exploited the weakness of any man�, �I have not demanded undo praise for my
name�, and �I have not turned away from any god in fear or shame�. These are
principles of how to live your life in balance with man and nature.

Because of the Goddess Ma�at being both a Goddess of truth and justice, and a
concept of balance and order, she was the main icon of Judges and Courts. In
Egypt, the judges would wear a feather on their heads, and most of them were
also priests of Ma�at. The courts were often temples to Ma�at. Because of this,
when the Greek culture took over power, they used the word �Logos� for Ma’at.
Logos was what they used to judge a person�s life. In the bible, �Logos� was
used instead of �Word�, which was also another name for �Jesus�. John 1.1: �In
the beginning was the logos*, and the logos* was with God and the logos* was
God.�

The representation of the Goddess Ma�at was that of a teenage, winged girl.
Sometimes also depicted as twin girls. She always wears the Ostrich plume on her
head, and hold the scales in her hand when weighting the hearts of the dead. She
is wife to either Anubis or Thoth, and has no children of her own. She is a
Goddess of the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are of equal length, and when
the seasons are in the waning. Her name literally means �Truth�, and she is the
Goddess of truth, justice, balance and order. She is the Goddess for Libras. She
is the Goddess Themis in Greece and the Goddess Tiamat in Babylonia. She is
neither good nor evil, because nature needs both to exist, she is neutral.

Sources used for this report:
Invocation of the Gods; Ancient Egyptian Magic for Today by Ellen Cannon Reed

http://www.kemet.org/glossary/maat.html

http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/maat2.htm

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/EGYPT/MAAT.HTM

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pds/Maat.htm

http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/egypt/anubismaat.htm

http://www.per-sekhmet.org/perankh/maat.html

http://www.susanlevitt.com/ar-equnx.html

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/maat.html

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9999/pantheon/maat.html

http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/egypt/maat.htm

I was asked by someone, to answer the question “Why am I a Christian Witch?” My
first thought was that I am because it fits me. There’s really not much more to
explain than that. After all how do answer the question “Why is a rose a rose?”
You can’t, it just is!
 
But then I let it stew in the back of my mind. I realized that there is a lot
more to it than that. My beliefs aren’t just arbitrary beliefs that I just came
up with on a whim! The beliefs I have today are because of all the learning and
growing I’ve done my entire life. And they will continue to change as I learn
and grow in the coming years.
 
I was raised Christian, but with an extremely open minded ideology. My mother
taught me and my siblings to question everything, including the bible and her,
and figure things out for ourselves. When I was a teen ager, my mother, my
sister and I started learning more about Christianity and other religions and
beliefs.
 
I started reading about using crystals for meditation, and about past lives.
things started clicking and making sense to me. And all of it fit into
Christianity. I never believed in trying to be a perfect person.. I always knew
that you couldn’t fit that mold.. you could try, but being human meant NOT being
perfect. I believed in Jesus, and I knew that this was all that I needed to hold
onto, and I did.
 
So I started exploring more and more into “New Age” stuff. Reading everything I
could get my hands on, practicing the things I found. There was so much that
spoke to my heart and soul. I discovered some books on witchcraft. I devoured
every page. This touched my heart like nothing ever had!
 
Now I realize that everyone talks about how the bible says tons of things
against witchcraft. there are several ways to look at that. One main thing is to
recognize that not everything is supposed to be taken literally. So why start
with witchcraft when there are plenty of other things in the bible that are much
better to take literally. And really if you’re going to take one verse literally
then you have to take it all literally.
 
Another thing most people talk about is the whole commandment of “Do not worship
any other gods before me”. Ok.. first of all, right there God is saying there
ARE other gods!!! OK, so I do ALREADY believe that the Christian “God” is what I
call “The Universe” which is that higher being that has no limits and no gender
and is *ABOVE OTHER GODS*. So I am following that commandment.
 
No, the commandment does not say “do not worship any other Gods but me”, it says
“Before Me”. And THEN the commandments say do not worship “false” gods. Yeah,
that’s like money, drugs, sex, ect. Things that control you that shouldn’t have
control over you… even religion can do that! Which is why you should take
EVERYTHING in moderation!
 
Anyway, the more I learned about witchcraft the more I loved it and felt like I
was coming home to it. I never felt like witchcraft and Christianity were in
opposition. I felt like they combined beautifully, and I still feel that way. So
basically I’m right back where I began this little entry, I *am* a Christian
witch because that’s what fits me.

I didn’t realize it, but there are quite a few pagans out there who have accepted and are practicing the Law of Attraction. It’s wonderful! I knew I couldn’t be the only pagan in the world who felt like the Universe and the Goddess were pushing me forward. So I’ve decided to make this more my personal page than a commercial page, although don’t be surprised if i have stuff for sale sooner or later . Especially after I write my book. hehehe

Anyway, I have been gathering up some links of pagans who use the Law of Attraction and adding them. But if you own, or know of a website, please leave a comment, and I’ll take a look and add it as quickly as I can.

I’ll write more later!

Goddess Bless