Ma'at Judging of the Souls Ritual

Temple Ankh

Worshiping the ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses through Rituals, Prayers and Spells dedicated and directed to the Old ones who still hold the power of the universe.

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Ceremony of Ma'at
Judging of the Souls

This Ceremony honors the great Goddess Ma’at in her role as judge of the souls of dead. This should take place at night, within your Temple and within Sacred Space. This ceremony is in the form of a trial, with a member being accused by another and being tried by the court of Elders.

Cast Sacred Space in your most formal manner. The Roles and best people to play them are as follows:

Ma’at – High Priestess
Thoth – High Priest
Soul of the dead – member who has been accused of a crime
Temple Guardian plays himself and acts as a court bailiff
These seven Gods should be portrayed by elders, they will ask the accused questions to narrow down his exact crimes, as well as other duties as mentioned:
Anubis – checks that the scales are ready to be used
Osiris – reads the list of crimes
Isis
Nephthys
Bast
Sekhmet
Set

Props Needed:
A set of two scales	Two feathers, one toed to a rock and one not
A representation of the accused heart	Sword for the Temple Guardian
Pen	Paper

Props needed:
A set of scales
Two feathers, one toed to a rock and one not
A representation of the accused heart
Sword for the Temple Guardian
Pen and Paper

The Ceremony begins right after Sacred Space has been cast. Ma’at and Thoth stand to each side of the altar, towards the back side. The accused stands or kneels in front of the altar with the Temple Guardian standing directly behind them, ready to strike the soul down if it tries to run away. These are symbolic positions only and no real harm or threat should be directed towards the accused.

One by one, the seven Gods and Goddesses, come forward and ask the accused if they have committed any of the 42 negative confessions. The accused, unless they are willing to admit their crime, shall answer “This I have not done.” When the God or Goddess gets to the question which deals with the crime in question, the accuser shall shout, “He lies, this he has done.” After the accused says he has not done it. The God or Goddess shall make a note of it and return to their place after all of their questions have been read.

Once each of the seven Gods have finished their questions, Osiris steps forward and reads a list of the crimes of the accused. Both the accuser and accused shall then be given an opportunity to give their version of events. Each of the seven Gods and Goddesses confer with each other and come to a conclusion. They write their conclusion down and hand it to Ma’at. Thoth whispers his conclusion to Ma’at as well.

Ma’at considers the conclusions she has heard and then says:

“Are the scales of justice ready?”

Anubis checks the balance and declares them ready. Thoth takes the representation of the heart from the accused and places it in the left side of the scales, at the same time Ma’at places her feather in the right side. Thoth checks the verdict and writes it down in the book of Truth while saying it out loud.
“The verdict is guilty.”
Or
“The verdict is innocent.”

Ma’at directly chooses the verdict based upon the conclusions she was given and her own intuition regarding the crime and how the evidence was presented. She places a weighted feather in the scale if she has chosen innocent, and a non weighted feather if the verdict is guilty. Her choice should remain hidden in her palm until she drops it into the scales pan.

The Gods and Goddesses should then openly converse in a formal manner as to what the punishment for the crime should be. The choice of punishment should be something that fits the nature of the crime. Consider such punishments as extra volunteer work for someone who has been found guilty of not doing their share of the work. Or being forced to miss the next 1-3 rituals if they have been found guilty of disrupting a ritual. Hopefully, you will never have to use this ritual in it’s most serious aspect, that of banning a member forever due to being found guilty of a malicious crime.

If no one has actually committed an offense against another member, you might choose to accuse each other of humorous crimes which would fit one of the 42 negative confessions.

Crimes such as withholding passion, not paying enough attention, and other trivial issues work well. Then you can use this ritual as a form of Kangaroo court and play it over the top instead of serious.

The Gods have a sense of humor too, and if nobody has offended anyone else in the last few months, then you should be happy enough to celebrate by doing something totally goofy.

News & Upcoming Events

March 16-20 - Spring Equinox celebration. Main ritual will be on the 18th starting at 10:00 a.m. and lasting until we get sleepy.

April 29th - Beltaine celebration beginning at 7:00 p.m.

June 20 - 25 - Second annual Trial of Set game!

June 24 - Midsummer celebration beginning at Noon and lasting until 11:00 p.m. Main ritual begins at 6:00 p.m.

September 22 - 24 - Autumn Equinox Celebration. Main Ritual will be on the 23rd beginning at 7:00 p.m.

October 26 - 29 - Harvest celebration. Main Ritual will be on the 28th, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

For more information on any of these events, please email Nydia. Please put 'Rituals' as the subject line of your email.