Maat: The Egyptian Goddess of Truth and Moral Integrity
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I’ve often been asked what my name, Daughter of Maat, actually means. The majority of people mispronounce the name as “daughter of mat.” I’m not the daughter of a doormat, honest. It’s actually pronounced “Mot.” Maat is an Egyptian Goddess who also happens to be my patron Goddess.
Patron Gods and Goddesses
The term patron Goddess or God is also known as a tutelary Goddess/God. This means the God or Goddess is a guardian, protector or patron, of a particular person place or thing. People, like myself, who consider themselves to be pagans often have a patron God or Goddess with whom they work. This patron God or Goddess is usually one to which the person feels extremely drawn.
To the Egyptians, Maat was the Goddess of truth, justice, balance, order and moral integrity. She was the daughter of the sun God, Ra, and kept the fundamental order of the cosmos from slipping into the chaos surrounding it. She is often depicted with a large ostrich feather on her head. This feather sometimes appears alone to symbolize Maat, and was called the “Feather of Truth.”
Maat was well known for her role in the funerary practice of the weighing of the heart with Anubis. The heart, the seat of the soul to the Egyptians, was weighed against the feather of Maat to determine if the soul was allowed to journey to Aaru (the Egyptian reed fields). If the soul weighed the same as Maat’s feather, the soul moved on to Aaru; if not, it was destined to stay in Duat, the underworld, and suffer a “second death.” These souls were devoured by the female demon, Ammut. Ammut was part lion, crocodile and hippopotamus and the embodiment of everything the Egyptians feared.
Interestingly, Maat was also the study of cosmology, including mathematics, astronomy, astrology, political and other sciences. In order to understand the universe and all it's hidden secrets, these sciences had to be studied. One of the sciences of Maat resonates with me specifically. She was also the Goddess of pharmacology. Herbs were part of the cosmic order, and all medicines, at that time, were herbal.Thus, pharmacology became part of her domain.
Maat's Significant Other and Polar Opposite
Maat’s consort was Thoth, the Egyptian God of scribes, writing knowledge and wisdom. He was also God of the Moon. Because Thoth was the Lord of Wisdom, Maat was the expression of divine wisdom. Her “opposite” God, was Setesh (also written as Set, Seth, or Setekh) the God of the desert, storms and most importantly, chaos.
Maat was also the personification of the principles, or neter, truth and justice. The pharaohs believed Maat was their authority to govern Egypt. It was the pharaoh’s job to maintain Maat, or the order on earth which included the annual flood of the Nile. If a pharaoh failed to rule justly, they were believed to upset the balance of the cosmic harmony Maat provided. The same applied to individuals as well. A lack of integrity caused an offset of the balance of the cosmos. Egyptians feared that in order to restore balance, famine or flood may be their punishment.
Truth and moral integrity have always been values dear to me, so Maat as my patron Goddess was rather appropriate. As I walked my pagan path, I was always drawn to Maat. Her symbology resonates with me; the idea of order out of chaos is fascinating.
I have to thank Kittythedreamer for unknowingly giving me the idea for this hub as well as another hub that is in the works. Thanks Kitty!
© Copyright 2012 by Daughter of Maat ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
More on the Egyptian Pantheon
- The Egyptian God of the Dead: Anubis
Anubis was the original Egyptian God of the Underworld and God of funerary rights. There is more to Anubis than meets the eye, however.
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What a wonderful lesson about your name! I agree about truth and moral integrity. The TRUTH REIGNS! Many times when someone shares a circumstance with me and asks what to say to another, I reply, "Just tell the truth." The most important thing about a human being is not how successful an individual is. It is all about character. Sincerely, Blessings, Sparklea :)
Wow! I really enjoyed reading this Hub, I have always found the ancient Egyptian mythology so fascinating, so please consider writing more on this type of subject because I know I personally would love to return and read them.
Voted up and gave it a tweet.
Thank you mark! You'll be happy to know I do have another hub in the works on the God Anubis. So stay tuned, I'll most likely write a hub on each of the Gods and Goddesses! :D Thanks for the tweet!
I look forward to it, I just love ancient mythology especially Egyptian and old Celtic lore’s, much knowledge is hidden in them both. :)
I agree, to me, where there's smoke there's fire. There's a reason the Egyptian Pantheon of Gods has the characteristics they do, and the same goes for the Celts, the Norse etc. Either they knew something we don't, or they knew these were lessons humanity would struggle to learn during its existence.
I totally agree and would even take it further by saying that they were guided and amongst the Gods of old that played many parts throughout history, today they are known better as the Annunaki, this is what I have found through my journey of learning and esoteric studies.
I love the so called mythology of the Celtic Cauldron if we hear about it now most would think it’s just an old tale, but in fact that was a real term used for a special Elixir that the Celts used to repair there warriors to fight again the next day, to them it was magical and it did work, they had learned to make that potent repairing Elixir from the Snake Cult during that era, interesting to note as well that Saint Patrick had banned all the snakes from Ireland, could it just be that they were trying to get rid of the old snake cults?
Sorry I could talk about these subjects all day LOL.
I could too actually. Interesting that you bring up the Annunaki! The Goddess Inanna has been linked with the Goddess Isis in the Egyptian culture, which of course would link her to the Roman Venus as well. Obviously, there was something to these "myths" if similar myths evolved worldwide!
It's quite interesting how the ancient pantheons were obliterated, and (I believe) mainly to force conformity on the people. Unfortunately, by doing so, the magic, herbal remedies and so on that actually worked have been lost to humanity, along with the great majority of oral traditions that could have been passed down through generations. That's many, many lessons we missed out on, and for no good reason, really.
Yes you are correct about (Innana, her real Annunaki name) also being known as the Goddess Ishtar, Isis and many more no doubt.
I believe she is the beautiful daughter of Annu king of the Annunaki and half sister to Lord Enki, she is associated I believe also with Venus the goddess of love, lust, beauty and the feminine that seem to match her personality traits as I am aware of.
It’s just amazing how she can live as one Goddess and see it through let’s say a thousand years or so and then reappear in another faith or religion and continue and repeat it all over again.
I heard the Annunaki are immortal compared to us but it still amazes me to try and fathom how long they really can live for? We know they can prolong there lives with anatomical gold or O.R.M.E.S (Orbitally-Rearranged Monatomic Elements) or even known as the white manna stone that was given to the Israelites to sustain them in the long stay in the dessert and keep them alive, just like in Egyptian Lore as they used to make it, I guess for you know who.
Funny that really because it is now making a come back as are many esoteric teachings of old, 21st of December 2012 will herald in the Great Age of Aquarius and I believe you will be seeing another come back of Innana, cool stuff really I just love it.
Have you read the book ‘The Lost Book of Enki’ it’s an amazing book that really does open your eyes to the Annunaki and how it all began and how it all played out over history really puts things into perspective, I really love it, I must try and get hold of a copy again.
Your name is what really attracted me to your hubs. I was saying that's a really powerful name and invocation. Maat is the expression of mathematics and astrological studies.
A lot of the aspect of Roman and Greek influences was from the study of Maat (Math). Pythagorean philosophies is intimately intertwined with the technologies of Maat.
That is true about the math and astrology, and I think I forgot to mention that in my article. That's another reason she's my Patron Goddess, I'm also an astrologer. I'd like to think she sees me as a daughter :D I've learned quite a bit from studying her and the Egyptian concept of Maat. Thanks for reading and comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the hub! I'll update it with the astrology info. I knew I forgot something, thank you!
Wow, that was great thank you for you wonderful writing, I enjoyed it very much, I think I will share this on my fb page too..I look forward to reading more, so much I coul say..but I will just say AWESOME!!!!
Thank you so much Loladusk, I love your screen name btw, does it have anything to do with the Run Lola Run movie? That's one of my hubby's faves, mine too. I do have another Egyptian God article on the way, it should be done soon! Thanks again!
Daughter of Maat - Awesome! I'm so happy I could inspire you to write these wonderful, informative hubs. I've always been drawn to the Egyptian pantheon and religious practices and I could really learn a lot from your writing, friend. Blessings to you and keep up the wonderful hubs!
Awesome hub. I am always fascinated by ancient Egypt and its archaeological findings. Voted up
I get asked often and actually it is from a magickal story called The Wake World A tale for babes and suckling by Aliester Crowley written in 1907.. I much later saw the movie and was indeed pleased with my choice of Lola, as for Dusk.. it is the opposite of my actual middle name Dawn.. after some additional reseach I found that Lola also was referance to Light.. compared to Kerri which means Dark.. so there you see..is how I came to be me.. Balance-d.. :) I look forward to your next hub on Eygpt as well as some of your other work.. Cheers KDLD
Very interesting hub. Egyptian history is so fascinating and rich. There is a lot in a name and your choice certainly says a lot about you. Voting up and sharing on facebook! Have you considered starting or joining a facebook group on Egyptian history to share such hubs on? It would help bring in a whole new readership!
Thank you Krystal! No I hadn't thought of starting a group on facebook, but that is a brilliant idea! Thank you!! I'll do that before I publish my hub on Seth. I'm glad you enjoyed the hub, and thank you for sharing! :D
Pcunix Level 7 Commenter 3 months ago
I've seen that drawing with the ostrich feather many times and never knew what it was.. thanks!