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Egyptian Goddesses - M
Maat
(Ma'at, Mayet) The goddess of True Order brings balance. Maat's ostrich
plume represents the delicate balance between order and chaos in the universe
as well as in the human soul. The daughter of Ra, she administered law
and justice. Pharaohs looked to her for guidance. The All-Seeing Eye,
Goddess of Truth and Judgment, Law Giver and Dispenser of Justice. She
weighed each man's soul against a feather. Lapis lazuli is Her sacred
stone.
The goddess Maat represents the ideals of law, order, and truth. The word
'Maat' translates into "that which is straight." It implies
anything that is true, ordered, or balanced. She was the consort or female
counterpart of Thoth. We know she is a very ancient goddess because we
find her in the boat of Ra as it rose above the waters of the abyss of
Nu on the first day. Together with Thoth, they charted the daily course
of the sun god Ra. She is sometimes called the 'eye of Ra' or the 'daughter
of Ra'.
Maat also plays an important part in the Book of the Dead. It is in the
Hall of Maat the judgement of the dead was performed. This was done by
weighing one's heart (conscience) against the feather of Maat. If a balance
was struck the deceased was deemed to be worthy of meeting Osiris in the
after life. If the heart of the deceased was found to be heavier then
the feather of Maat it would be devoured by Ammut.
Maat was depicted as a woman wearing a tall ostrich feather on her head,
or as an ostrich feather. She was present at the judgement of the dead;
her feather was balanced against the heart of the deceased to determine
whether their life was pure and honest.
According to Crowley's Liber 777 her Tarot card is Justice; her
gem emerald; her plant aloe; her animal is the elephant; her perfume is
galbanum and her magical weapon is the Cross of Equilibrium.
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Mafdet
("cat") Goddess of judicial authority and divine patroness of
executions. She is sometimes depicted leaping up onto a gallows, and she
is also spoken of as a functionary within the Hall of Two Truths. She
predates Bast and Sekhmet, she was known as the 'Lady of the Castle of
Life' as early as the 1st Dynasty. She was renowned as a slayer of serpents.
Mehturt
Goddess of the sky.
Menos
Moon Goddess credited with invention of writing.
Meshkent
A goddess of childbirth.
Meskhenet
Goddess of fate.
Metseger
An ancient snake goddess of Thebes, the protectress of desert tombs.
Mo
Sometimes the god, sometimes the goddess, of Truth and Justice, represented
with ostrich feathers on the head.
Mut
Mut was the divine mother, the queen of all gods. She was the female counterpart
of Amun. Mut usurped many of the other Egyptian goddess that exhibited
the attributes of motherhood. During the New Kingdom, The marriage of
Mut and Amun was one of the great annual celebrations. Amun would be brought
from his temple at Karnak; a great following would escort him to visit
Mut at her temple at Luxor. In spite of her marriage to Amun, Mut was
bisexual, perhaps to reinforce her position as the mother of all things.
Her hieroglyphic symbol was a vulture; it was worn on the crowns of Egypt's
queens to typify their motherhood.
She was depicted as a woman wearing a vulture headdress, with the double
crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. In some pictures the heads of vultures
project from her shoulders, and sometimes she holds a papyrus sceptre.
She was the mother of all the gods, the mother of all living things. (Golden
Dawn, Auramooth). The wife of Amen in Theban tradition; the word mut
in Egyptian means "mother", and she was the mother of Khonsu,
the moon god.
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