Adventures with Raven...

As I have alluded to before, I have a special connection to Grandfather Raven. My wife says there seems to be one in my general area most of the time as well. The coincidence is striking. About a month ago, we were in the backyard. She was playing with the kids, and mentioned something about "the darned Ravens" and the weirdness that seems to follow them with me. As she said this, a very large Raven swooped down and let loose a birdy turd on her head. It was quite funny, and very synchronistic. Does it mean anything? You decide.

This is too cool!

This is great! A VooDoo doll in effigy of King George! I should have thought of this myself.

This wonderful little item is for sale at CrassCommerce.com.

Tao of EGWBT

Since this site is sort of a chronicle of my beliefs and way of looking at things, I present the following:
I am not a follower of any particular religious view, instead, I follow the train of thought that they are all valid in their own context. In fact, I draw upon just about whatever strikes my fancy that I feel a connection with. I have always followed a more or less culturally shamanic view of things, and was in fact, initiated into a mystery tradition as a teen.

With the growth of the Internet, I explored my Choctaw heritage a bit. Things that were impossible to find in the pre-Internet days have now become easily available with a good search. I have since discovered many previously unknown cultural items that had escaped me. As an adolescent, I also explored Buddhism for a while. At the time, I was hardcore into Martial Arts, and it seemed a good fit. I was also a diehard Punk Rocker for quite some time(1984-present?), and in fact, still basically have the same attitude and ideologies. All of these factors have influenced my views on the world, and how we create our own reality. I came to understand that divinity is not something external to us, but is in fact what we are made of. God is All, All is God - to put it in a Hermetic/monotheistic way.

Our subconscious mind seeks to create reality with what we think, see, hear, and do. If given a chance, it will do exactly that. Most religions are a mind game, with the true core elements being the same for all, once the limiting dogma is removed. Their myths are all variations of each other, and all basically say the same thing on an esoteric level. It is Magic(k) for the non-initiate. The real big stuff is kept hidden in most religions, for fear their followers will actually learn it and usurp the powers that be, or persons not sufficiently advanced will get hold of it. If you dig deep enough in any major religion (with the exception of maybe Buddhism, or Taoism) you will find the same thing. Maybe it is just my anarchistic view of the world, but I firmly believe dogma of any kind is a bad thing. How can a person grow and learn if there are rules before they even start?

I have found for myself, there is a difference in spiritualism and religion. Spiritualism is the path of the Shaman, Medicine Man, or historic "Witch". Religion is a set of rules and dogmas governing your beliefs to fit a certain memetic image. As such, I do not follow any one religious paradigm, it all depends upon what I feel I need to connect with or desire. On a side note, in Native American spiritualism, it is normally considered to be a very bad thing to be considered a "witch". A native "witch" is a bad Medicine Man who curses other people and does bad things. Being called a "witch" is normally a grave insult. As for myself, I do many things that go beyond the native practices. If someone called me that I would probably agree with them.

The God's are all creations of man so that we can connect to certain levels and aspects of divine energies. They are the personal face we put on something that is incomprehensible on our Human level. The true "God" is totally beyond comprehension and human understanding, and is certainly not an anthropomorphic idol on a throne throwing down lightning bolts to the cowering humans. Imagine what existed before the Big Bang, even before "God", and there you will find the true divinity. Once limitations are placed on it, it is no longer divine. Note: If it says it is god, it most definitely is not!

The true divine has NO limitations, neither should you.

Old Time Choctaw Religion

Just for history's sake I thought I would post this...

Bishinik June 1979 Page 10 & Page 11

By Len Green

Have you ever wondered what your Choctaw forefathers believed and how they worshiped in the days before they embraced Christianity and become followers of Jesus Christ? Probably the best source of information available today on the social and religious customs of the ancient Choctaws can be found in the scholarly works of the late John R. Swanton, who conducted a number of studies of Indian tribes for the United States Government.

According to Swanton, the Choctaws were originally worshipers of the Sun. If this is correct, it places the Choctaws into a possible racial relationship with the Mayans, Toltecs, Incas, Aztecs, Polynesians, Japanese and lost peoples of the Easter Island area. All of these people were or are Sun worshipers, believing that the Sun is the deity or the eye of the deity.

This also raises the question that perhaps the Choctaws were among those people escaping from the purportedly lost continent of Lemuria or Mu when that land was swallowed up by the Pacific Ocean, much as Atlantis sank into the Atlantic. One of the legends of Choctaw origin begins "The people came out of the water and spread themselves upon the warm sands and rocks to dry out... .", and the same legends detail a 43 year movement eastward from some unknown point to the Choctaw homeland around Nanih Waiya, the sacred mound in what is now the state of Mississippi. Hopefully, these legends can be retold in future issues of Bishinik.

The holy number of the ancient Choctaw religion was four, much as three in the holy number of Christianity. Why four? For the Choctaw all things come in fours. Did not the basic government unit ... the family . . . come in fours . . . the mother, the father, the sons and the daughters? There were four elements. . the earth, the water, the sky and the living things (animals and plants), four seasons ... winter, spring, summer and fall, and four directions, north, east, south and west.

The most popular and predominate word used for the ancient Choctaw deity as "Hashtahli," which Swanton says was derived from the word "hashi" which means sun and "tahli," which meant "to complete the action." Other words used by our forefathers when speaking of their God were Achafa Chito (great one), Chictokaka (might one), Hashi Ikba (sun father) and two terms, lshtahullo Chito and Nanishto Hullo Chito (meaning in English doubtful). In later years, as the original religion of the Choctaws waned and as Christianity crept in, the terms Uba Pike or Uba Pisku (our father) and Shilup Chitoh Osh (the great spirit) become more popular and began to make appearances in Choctaw stories or writings.

The moon was called "Hashi Ninak Anya" (little sun that shines at night), and was considered the wife of Hashtahli. The stars were their children, and fire was a blessing bestowed by Hashtahli upon his earthbound children. But it was a mixed blessing, as the fire would report any transgressions to Hashtahli even though it cooked their food and warmed them on cool nights. Once each month, the sun's wife would send the children out to play and begin cleaning house. The full moon was a clean house. And then the children would dirty it up again until (when the last quarter moon arrived) mother again started her monthly cleanup.

The ancient Choctaws recognized evil in the world, but rather than a full blown Satan or Devil such as is known to Christianity, evil and frightening things were invested in a number of lesser beings or spirits. Among these were:

Na Lusa Chito - A big black being which would pounce on and eat any person it found alone in the forest, particularly women and children.

Impashilup - The "soul eater," which if you allowed him through evil thoughts or depression, would creep inside you and eat your soul.

Bohpoli - "The thrower," a small man who lived alone in the woods and who would never let himself be seen by man. Bohpoli, also known as Kowi Anukasha (one who stays in the woods) was more mischievous than evil. He would make sudden noises to startle you or toss a stick or stone at you when your head was turned.

Kashehotopolo - A combination of man and deer, noted for great speed and agility. If you angered Kashehotopolo, he would race ahead of you and warn the game or the enemy of your approach.

Okwo Naholo or Oka Nahullo - The "white people of the water," who were almost transparent and invisible when swimming below the surface. These beings reportedly sometimes kidnapped children and turned them into beings like themselves.

Koklo Noteshi - A bad spirit which was able to assume any shape it desired and which had the ability to read men's thoughts.

Naluso Falaya - The "long black being," which resembled a man but had small eyes, long pointed ears and preferred to approach man sliding on his stomach like a snake. His powers were similar to those of Na Lusa Chito.

Hashok Okwa Huiga - "Grass water drop," a being connected with the will-o-the-wisp. Only its heart is visible at night, and if you looked directly at that heart you would become addled and your mind would be led astray.

Thunder and lightning was two great birds. The female, Heloha (thunder) would lay her giant eggs in the clouds and they would rumble as they rolled around atop the clouds. Despite his size, her mate Melatha (lighting) was extremely fast and left a trail of sparks as he streaked across the sky.

To protect himself from evil spirits and assure success in battle, each Choctaw male, upon reaching his manhood, created for himself a totem or medicine bag, which he carried upon his person at all times. Each medicine bag was different, being made, up of items the individual felt would word off evil or bring good fortune ... such as a claw from his first bear kill, a bit of earth from his house, etc. The warrior would never reveal to another the contents of his medicine bag, and if asked what the bag contained, he would probably, answer "You would not be any wiser thereby." If a Choctaw's medicine bag were ever,stolen, destroyed or lost, his effectiveness as a warrior, a hunter, a digger, a builder or whatever his profession was gone and he could not operate until he had found or built himself a new totem.

Religiously and politically, the ancient Choctaw Nation was a benign matriarchy. Upon marriage the husband lived with his wife's clan and their children were members of her clan, although the husband was never admitted to full clan membership but remained a member of his own (or his mother's) clan. Woman was considered "the giver of life." Did she not birth the children, cause the corn to grow, cause the vegetables to grow and prepare life giving food for her husband and children.

Conversely, the man was the "taker of life." Did he not kill the game for the family table, fight the enemy of his family and people and stand protectively between his family and the world? When a Choctaw, particularly of the hunting and warring iksas, made his first kill he was allowed to add the word "abi" (killer and pronounced ubbi) to his name. Thus you know when you meet a Choctaw whose surname ends in "obi" or "ubbi" that you are speaking of the descendant of a once mighty Choctaw warrior or hunter who earned the right to have "killer" added to his name.

The family unit was the basis of both political and religious life among the ancient Choctaws. Several families, one of which was hunters, one warriors, one builders, etc., would band together in an "iksa" or clan. The clan adopted a symbol, usually a bird or animal, and a clan color which was worn proudly as each Choctaw was proud of his or her clan. For mutual protection, several "iksas" (or clans) would band together to create a "moiety" (or town). Several moieties might then band together under a popular spokesman (or Minko) to become a nation, tribe or district. In this manner was created the three historic Choctaw districts: Ahi Apet Okla (potato eating people), Okla Hanalli (six people or six towns) and Okla Falaya (long people).

The ancient Choctaw did not possess a "soul" in the strictest Christian sense of the term. Instead he possessed an inner shadow or spirit, "Shilup" (which now means ghost), and an outer spirit, "Shilombish" (which now means soul). Upon the death of a Choctaw, the Shilup or inner shadow immediately began its long trip to the west toward the "Happy Land." And the Shilombish or outer shadow remained about the place of its abode in life for a more or less indefinite period of time. The Shilombish generally remained around the home until funeral ceremonies had been completed, and then if all were well with its family it would slowly fade away.

However, if the body to whom the Shilombish belonged had been troubled in life or was murdered, the outer shadow would remain around the family until the problem was solved. In this event, the Shilombish would let the family know at night that it was still about by issuing pitiful moans or barking like a fox or hooting like an owl near the house. How did you know that a Shilombish was about your house? When a fox barks or an owl calls, another will answer from a distance away. However, when a Shilombish cries, there is no answer from another fox or another owl.

In the meantime, the Shilup or inner shadow has made the long journey westward toward the "Happy Land." It has felt neither hunger nor thirst nor the need for sleep pressing on westward for days and days until it reached the gateway to the Happy Land. However, to enter the Happy Land, the Shilup had to cross a deep, dark canyon by means of a freshly-peeled and therefore slick "footlog." (This footlog was peeled pine according to what Peter P. Pitchlynn told George Catlin or peeled sweetgum according to Isaac Folsom.) As the Shilup attempted to walk across the slick log, it was bombarded with sticks and stones, thrown by the guardians of the gateway to the Happy Land. If the Shilup was brave and ignored the guardians, it reached the other side of the canyon.

Here was the Happy Land, where existed one continual day and a world where trees are always green and bear fruit and nuts eternally, where the sky has no clouds and where there are fine and continually cooling breezes. Feasting, dancing and rejoicing go on always, there is no pain or trouble and people never grow old but live forever young, enjoying all of the peaceful pleasures throughout eternity.

However, if you were a bad Shilup or were fearful of the guardians of the gateway to the Happy Land and tried to dodge the stones and sticks tossed at you, you would fall off the log into the canyon below. Here you would land in water "which is dashing over rocks and is stinking with dead fish and animals. There you are carried around and brought back to the same place again and again by whirlpools. The trees are all dead and bare and the waters are full of toads, lizards and snakes. The dead in the water are always hungry, but have nothing to eat; are always sick, but cannot die; are always in the dark smelly waters where the sun never shines. From this place, the dead may look into the beautiful country which makes up the Happy Land, see the sunshine from afar and hear the laughter and singing of the souls who reached there, but can never reach it themselves."

Students of religion have called the concepts of the ancient Choctaw "brilliantly conceived and encompassing every detail of existence to form a basic religion worthy of a civilized people." Comparison indicates that it was but a short step for the Choctaws from their ancient religion to Christianity, as there are no major basic differences. In fact, certain concepts of the ancient Choctaw religion . . . particularly in the area of the roles of men and women in society . . . may be superior to the male-rule concepts of Christianity.

Pictures From Home

Here are a few pictures from my home like I really like. One is a sunset from my backyard, across the mountains, and the other is my little building housing my telescope in the winter. Both turned out really well.

The Moon...

I took this with my new DSLR through my big 10" telescope. I really like the color on this photo.

Dead Babies are no Fun

I actually had a heated discussion with my wife several days back over the ethics of using graveyard dirt from dead babies. How many households in this day and age have that discussion over dinner?

Here is the reference...

Some cases of drawing trade to business places there are three babies
that are - notice, you kin go to work and hire 'em [their spirits] like today.

You hires 'em today, you takes nine thimblesful of dirt from each
grave.
You will tell them to be at your home on the third night.
When they come to your home on the third night, you make you
competition of a incent - [the spirits] come all around [you]. It's [incense is made
of] cinnimin, spice, cloves and allsipce.
[It] may be placed wit this, this whut we sieve [graveyard dirt], 18,
there's 18 - 27, 27 thimblesful of dirt from the graves made with incent and
put onto a coal fire. [This coal] is known to be mostly charcoal.

Burn it, creatin' people what you want to be drawed by it.
The place will be over-run by drawing people on it. You sending the
babies out to bring customers in to you - that's what you hired 'em for. But
you must talk and tell 'em that on the third night, when they come to your
home, what you want 'em to do. And you only use that customary, daily.

(That would be used largely by bootleggers?)
Any business - any business place, restaurants, drygoods places and all.


[Norfolk, VA; Informant #456 - "Doctor English"; Cylinders 432:2-445:2]

Wisdom from a Seven Year Old

Here are several poems written by my son. The are quite good.
The Padawon is progressing nicely...

All are the Same
All are the same
because
We are different.
Everyone is different
Because
we are the same.

That is the way we are.


The Dog
Once there was a dog
who sat on a log.
A hog sat on the dog
and all was lost!


Cheese
Cheese, Cheese
Cheese, Cheese
Cheese!

I have old rotten cheese.

Meat, Meat
Meat, Meat
Meat!

Why do I have some old rotten meat and cheese?

Christian Persecution Complex

First let me say that I harbor no ill feelings for whatever a person feels is the right religious paradigm for them. But, why is it that many members the dominant religion in this country would like us to believe they are being persecuted? This country is CRAWLING with Christians. They totally dominate 95% of the American culture. I would like to know who these imaginary people are that are persecuting them? If anyone is persecuting them, maybe it is because of incompetence, corruption, and the betrayal of their own values that they are witnessing taking place. Being Born-Again and professing a love for Jesus has become a cover to commit atrocities, crimes, and fraud in their religion's name.

It's OK if we steal from him, he's not one of us and Jesus will forgive me.

Start a war - Great! They are Muslim's not Christian's, it's OK to kill them you know.

Run the little Atheist child out of school, that's just dandy!

The real people being persecuted are the Atheists, Jews, and all the other non-christian religions.

I firmly believe that if the "Big J" were around today, he would probably be considered a crazy neo-pagan for his attitude of unconditional acceptance and universal love, qualities which seem to have been missed by the majority of Christians. These qualities have DEFINITELY been passed over by the major Christian political and religious institutions. The "Big J" was, after-all, the equivalent of a pagan in the Judeo-Roman world he lived in. More people and cultures have been destroyed and more slaves have been taken in his name than for any other reason in history. And the meme that drives it continues to this day...

War Sells!

Found this on the web. It sums up my feelings quite nicely!

Meet Takeda

This fellow is hanging above my desk. Don't fuck with him.

White Eggs and Eris...

Several months back, I felt a little un-creative and decided to do something about it. I longed to recapture that creative drive I had in my younger days, when I drew and painted and generally churned out lots of crazy artistic things (though I was so unfocused they never really went anywhere). I am fast becoming an old man, and my days of being able to do these sorts of things will eventually come to an end. Being the Hoodoo/Shaman/Magi insane person that I am, I naturally turned to what I seem to be able to do the best. I have always been, and still remain, a very good channeler of the Chaos and Discord current that runs through this world. (This became evident to me when I became involved in the old Punk Rock subculture of the early 1980's.)

At this point, I believe a short explanation is in order. The Chaos I am speaking of is not the Chaos one normally thinks of when this word is mentioned. It can be compared to the raw, creative force that drives the impassioned artist, or fills a child with uncontrollable energy. while they are deep at play. It is the force that preceeded all, before the world existed, even the Gods as we know them. In short, it is the unrestrained life force that empowers this reality, and follows no rules but it's own. I channeled this energy very well, sometimes too well for my own good. (Back when I was a snot-nosed Punk, I did not realize the gravity of this concept. Having the benefit of hindsight, I now can see how it all fit together.)

I thought for a while, and decided that I would just go for it and and meditate on the most powerful icon of Chaos that I could find, the Greek Goddess of Chaos herself, Eris. (Had I have thought about it a little more, I might have chosen someone different.) I figured she could give me the jolt of raw creativity which I was craving. I found some quiet time where I was able to get away from everyone, and meditated for about an hour. About 2/3rds of the way through, I consciously imagined myself looking at my impression of what her face would look like. It eventually became very vivid, but not unduly so. I stopped meditating and then went to sleep, thinking nothing more of it. I thought it would probably take several sessions of doing this to have an effect on me.

Boy, was I mistaken! I found myself in a very vivid dream, where I was kneeling on the floor, apperantly in some sort of strange ritual. As it progressed, I realized I was invoking Eris in my dream. It was very clear, and had a real strange feeling to it. Here is where the weirdness starts... at the point in my dream where I said I now invoke Eris, and pointed my dagger, I was rudely awakened by the building's Fire Alarm! I thought to myself, "Gee, this is really strange", and proceeded to go and silence it. Just as I silenced it, and went back to bed... the second my head touched the pillow, BUZZZ! it went off again. It did this three more times, and I eventually had to totally remove the offending detector from the system to get it to stay quiet. I thought it strange, but did not really think much else about it. This having taken place away from home, I got up and drove home the next morning, expecting to have a good story for the wife.

Here is surprise number two. I live in the country. We have a small flock of chickens we raise for the eggs. The chickens I have in my flock are genetic brown egg producers. Here is the surprise. When we went to collect the eggs the next morning, There was a mysterious White egg! After a solid year of egg laying, we have never had anything other than brown, or the green/blue from our single Aracauna hen. None of our hens should have been laying white. Yet another odd synchronistic event. My wife swears up and down it is due to my meddling with things beyond my control, and was more than a little ticked off. As for me, I am not sure what to think.

And last but not least, here is surprise number three. This happened several days after the egg incident. My wife calls me at work and informs me we have a severe ant problem in the dining room. I think nothing of it and tell her to call the exterminator. A few hours later, I get another call, this time from a fairly pissed off wife. She starts off by telling me what the exterminator found. He told her that in his twenty odd years in the extermination business, he had never seen anything like our problem. It seems, the ants were coming into the house to feed on the termite colony that was in the process of forming under our dining room table. He said it had only been there for about a week (about the amount of time since I did my Eris thing).

My wife says that while he is explaining this, she can see the kid's TV show playing in the background. It was an episode of "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy". Guess who was a character in the story... why it was my good friend Eris! She said she felt like she was being taunted by this obnoxious children's show, as the exterminator explained to her the mechanics of our ant/termite war and the resulting $350 dollars it was to cost. To say she was pissed was an understatement. Yet another set of unexplainable coincidences.

I did another meditation session, this time stating the goals with which I hoped to accomplish and what I expected as a result. No more general invocations for me, Thank you! This final thing seemed to do the trick. The general weirdness subsided, and things seem to be back to normal. At least, the normal which reigns around my house. I have since started producing artwork on a much more regular basis, and have even taken up sculpting, so it seems safe to say that I achieved my desired effect, though my bank-book is $350 dollars lighter.

One other thing did not change... we still have the mysterious white eggs. I also have a much healthier respect for dealings with Eris.

The Raven

The Raven shows up in many cultures. I am fortunate that the Raven is my Totem animal. This I know, finding out by trial and error. I know that when I see a Raven cross my path, and I get that creepy hairs on my neck standing-up feeling, that my day will soon take a chaotic turn. It never fails.

However, my adventures with Mr. Raven are a story for a different day...

This story is about the significance of the Raven in regards to culture, myth, and religion. The Raven appears in most northen cultures, generally worldwide. The Raven is a highly significant deity and totem animal with the Native American community, particularly on the West Coast. Raven also appears in other cultures as well, but since I know the most about the Native myths of Raven, this is what I will concentrate on.

Most Northwestern Native traditions consider Raven to be the bringer of light and knowledge to Mankind. He is also seen as the creator of our world in several of their cultures. In the myth of the Raven stealing fire from the Sun Chief, he is shown as an interloper between the world of the gods, and Man. He fills this role in most indigenous cultures, including those of Europe, as evidenced by his role as messenger to the War Goddess, Morrigan, in Celtic Ireland. He is also a "Trickster" deity, originally painted by the early Christian missionaries as an antagonistic figure, similar to Lucifer or Satan. This is a complete misunderstanding, since the viewpoint they shared was from a monotheistic religion and were unable to see the significance of Raven's different aspects, particularly how they are intended to teach us about ourselves. Raven's trickster qualities lie from the fact that he sometimes acts out of compulsion, with no real awareness of how it will affect him in the end. In many stories, Raven ends up on "the crap end of the stick", or is changed in some way beyond his control, even though he knew better to do what he did. The underlying meaning of this is of dynamic transformation. He is the dark journey of the soul that leads to enlightnement. Raven is the long, hard road that leaves the traveller changed forever, whom even if they have failed, have gained wisdom in the process. He "tricks" us into learning about ourself.

It is truly unfortunate that within my own Choctaw traditions, the Raven is simply seen as an evil, black, portent of doom.

In a "magickal" sense, Raven is useful to us as a direct connection to the great Void, or Spirit, which is the ultimate source of life and the universe. He can be visualized or meditated on to great affect, using his messenger of the Gods status. I typically use Raven for Sigil work, imagining Raven carrying my intent to its final destination after "charging" it.

Seems to work very well for me, however, mileage may vary for others....

The Douglas Adams / Egyptian Connection?

It seems that the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42 according the Mr. Adams. The ancient Egyptians had a similar idea with their 42 commandments. Is there a connection? Maybe Douglas Adams was really the Scorpion King? Coincidence?

These were later shortened to 10 commandments, I guess we don't have to worry about the other 32 anymore. They must have gotten in the way...

THE 42 COMMANDMENTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

I. Thou shalt not kill, nor bid anyone kill.
II. Thou shalt not commit adultery or rape.
III. Thou shalt not avenge thyself nor burn with rage.
IV.Thou shalt not cause terror.
V. Thou shalt not assault anyone nor cause anyone pain.
VI. Thou shalt not cause misery.
VII. Thou shalt not do any harm to man or to animals.
VIII. Thou shalt not cause the shedding of tears.
IX. Thou shalt not wrong the people nor bear them any evil intent.
X. Thou shalt not steal nor take that which does not belong to you.
XI. Thou shalt not take more than thy fair share of food.
XII. Thou shalt not damage the crops, the fields, or the trees.
XIII. Thou shalt not deprive anyone of what is rightfully theirs.
XIV. Thou shalt not bear false witness, nor support false allegations.
XV. Thou shalt not lie, nor speak falsely to the hurt of another.
XVI. Thou shalt not use fiery words nor stir up any strife.
XVII. Thou shalt not speak or act deceitfully to the hurt of another.
XVIII. Thou shalt not speak scornfully against others.
XIX. Thou shalt not eavesdrop.
XX. Thou shalt not ignore the truth or words of righteousness.
XXI. Thou shalt not judge anyone hastily or harshly.
XXII. Thou shalt not disrespect sacred places.
XXIII. Thou shalt cause no wrong to be done to any workers or prisoners.
XXIV. Thou shalt not be angry without good reason.
XXV. Thou shalt not hinder the flow of running water.
XXVI. Thou shalt not waste the running water.
XXVII. Thou shalt not pollute the water or the land.
XXVIII. Thou shalt not take God's name in vain.
XXIX. Thou shalt not despise nor anger God.
XXX. Thou shalt not steal from God.
XXXI. Thou shalt not give excessive offerings nor less than what is due.
XXXII. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
XXXIII. Thou shalt not steal from nor disrespect the dead.
XXXIV. Thou shalt remember and observe the appointed holy days.
XXXV. Thou shalt not hold back the offerings due God.
XXXVI. Thou shalt not interfere with sacred rites.
XXXVII. Thou shalt not slaughter with evil intent any sacred animals.
XXXVIII. Thou shalt not act with guile or insolence.
XXXIX. Thou shalt not be unduly proud nor act with arrogance.
XXXX. Thou shalt not magnify your condition beyond what is appropriate.
XXXXI. Thou shalt do no less than your daily obligations require.
XXXXII. Thou shalt obey the law and commit no treason.

The 42 Principles of Ma'at, the Goddess who personified the ideals of Truth and Righteousness, were known to all the ancient Egyptians. They have been rephrased here in Biblical Commandment form to make them more intelligible and familiar to moderns. In the original form they were preceded with "I have not" as in "I have not stolen." The Egyptians believed that when they died, their souls would be judged by these principles. Moses and the Israelites, who were originally Egyptians, would have been familiar with these principles, but after wandering for forty years they seem to have only remembered 8 of them (those highlighted in orange). Moses added three new non-secular commandments; the one about not honoring the other gods, the honoring of their parents, and the one that included their neighbor's wives and slaves as coveted chattel. The remarkable thing about the principles of Ma'at is not only how much more advanced they are in comparison with the Hebrew Commandments, but how most of them are strikingly relevant to this day.

Various translations of the Declarations of Ma'at exist and they do not all agree in phrasing, order, or even the total number of principles (since some have multiple statements and some are redundant). Versions are available at the following websites, where readers may compare interpretations.

http://www.ag-east.org/West/Maat.html
http://www.mobeinstitute.com/kmt2002/area.cfm?pi=6&xvc=2
http://members.aol.com/TAOofAPU/maat.htm
http://www.mich.com/~heru/maat42.html

For comparison, see these various versions of the Ten Commandments of the Hebrews, the Christians, the Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Moslems. It is most curious to observe the convoluted interpretations of these otherwise clearly stated commandments that those with other agendas or self-interest will often give, as if unlimited exceptions could be construed at will and intent was irrelevant. This interpretive susceptibility alone demonstrates the secular superiority of the Principles of Ma'at.

http://www.godstenlaws.com/commandments.htm
http://www.holidays.net/shavuot/ten.htm
http://www.duhaime.org/tencomm.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/pray/tenc.htm
http://www.therain.org/studies/ten.html
http://www.themiracleofstjoseph.org/tencmds2.htm
http://www.goarch.org/access/orthodoxfaith/commandments.html
http://islam-usa.com/e70.htm
http://www.ou.org/chagim/shavuot/aseret.htm

The Voice of the Raven...

I have set this site up as an outlet for my oddball ideas and art. In the process, maybe I can expose a different view of what is normally termed reality.

CAUTION: Your Sacred Cows will soon be ground to hamburger!