In Tarot the figure of Justice is not blind, she sees quite clearly beyond the counting of money to determine guilt or innocence. In her right hand, Justice holds a sword to signify her clarity of mind and her ability to parse truth from fiction. In her left hand, she holds a scale. In modern western cultures, we are inclined to understand the balancing of the scales of Justice to occur when the punishment suits the crime, but the significance of these scales goes back centuries to a fairly different philosophy on the nature of Justice.
…when Ra created the world by speaking it into existence, Ma’at was born and her spirit fused both harmony and balance into creation itself thus making the operating system of our world based on rationality and purpose.
The Ancient Egyptians knew justice as a concept within the principles of Ma’at, which is creation itself and generally represented as a goddess of the same name. As the myth goes, when Ra created the world by speaking it into existence, Ma’at was born and her spirit fused both harmony and balance into creation itself thus making the operating system of our world based on rationality and purpose. Human life, at this time, existed in an earthly paradise made possible by adherence to the principles of Ma’at which are truth, balance, harmony, and justice. Though both order and law fall under the principle of justice, neither is created by man nor can they be sorted by his systems or measured by his metrics.
Ma’at sees each person as responsible for choosing their actions in accordance with right-attitude. This, according to Ma’at, is achieved by living in a manner that offers deep consideration for other people and the earth. In the same way that the gods care for humanity, so should humans care for each other and the earth with which they have been provided. Everyone is in possession of free will and may choose to ignore the principle of Ma’at, but eventually all will face the same final trial. Every heart and soul will be placed on a scale opposite the Ma’at’s white feather. If one’s heart and soul weigh no more than the feather thereby balancing her scales, the spirit is moved back to paradise. If, however, the scale tips, the spirit is obliterated, eliminating it from time for forevermore. May we consider others, ourselves, our more than human kin, and the earth we require for life itself. Michelle Embree www.michelleembree.com
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