Lessons Along the Nile: Chosen Fear-Frozen

“Ma’at herself came to Djer, not to shame, but with pure aim to reach his heart and teach his mind, and in this the fierce goddess of truth was kind,” Maftet explained as I remained in her arms in the cool, refreshing waters of the jewel of Egypt. “Ma’at came to explain wiser farming and fielding, yielding to mercy in not harming Gaia. She tried to show him how his people cried for honesty and justice, modesty in governance to unharness his subjects from the crushing weight of too great a load of obligation to his crown that would eventually drown his realm.”

Arms charmed over her shoulders, latched at her upper back, I was attached to Maftet — ever-hovering lover — and would not let go even if heaven should beckon me so. “If I reckon rightly, then, Djer did not listen to the wisdom of Ma’at, and must have shot down every lesson offered, though by them he would have profited… But surely Ma’at said more, for she always has in store great treasures of the pleasures of pure knowledge.”

“Yes, of course,” Maftet ran her hand across band of my waist, and slowly continued without haste, “Ma’at tried to tell him stories of the past, and teach him principles that last; what it means to cast one’s mind into the sea of curiosity with humility; to burn to learn without thick hide of pride; to be adept and accept truth wherever it is found without being swept away by stray winds of blind arrogance that bind heart, mind and soul… But Djer would not hear, and it was fear that drove him into an ill-illumined cove of anger; therein lay the danger to his entire empire.”

Maftet led me back out of the waters and bade me slip on thin robe to begin our stroll along the rolling bank of the Nile, from which I no longer shrank. “His mind was closed and opposed to an intrusion or profusion of new ideas. Djer continued to plunder the soil, ripping asunder Gaia in greed for gold and precious stones beyond any need. He would not let his people read for fear of planting any seed of doubt in what he taught them to believe. Voices of reason were repressed and people oppressed, and thus his whole kingdom depressed.” She looked at me, now so intimately familiar, “Sound similar to your own clime and time?”

“So the more truth neared, the more he feared? He chose to be blind and bind himself to his own notions rather than disturb his emotions?” I had to strenuously try to repress laughter at the pleasantly wry smile of Maftet.

“Ah! You are not so mentally sickly as once you were; you’re learning more quickly. Good for you; what you say is true!” She brushed my cheek with lush-perfect fingers. “What is more tragic still was his shrill denouncement of any deviation from his religion; thus he turned his subjects into compliant pigeons feeding on bits of shallow doctrine cavalierly tossed on the ground for them to eat instead of the meat of unadulterated truth. This more than all else did grieve Dyēus and cause him to leave, while Djer made pretense of worshipping him still, though under different name, but the god he reverenced was no more than hand-shaped sod.” Her face brightened then to lighten the sky. “But Meryet-Nit did sit at the feet of Ma’at, replete with wisdom, and listened and learned. This is why, by and by, she came to be ancient predecessor of Sulaymān the Wise, son of Dawud,  though her reign was ill-fated… Still, she could not be baited by dollops of rancid scallops.”

Maftet laid us down, then, making her body my bed. “When you very first described the realm of Djer, I thought of hell and fire, of … well, shire of Şeytan, muck and mire of dæmons.”

“And so it was!” fiercely she struck and pierced my soul. “Evil is pitch dark, leaving no niche for light; wickedness is the blight of unsighted knowledge and wisdom; iniquity is the ubiquity of vain and shallow religion, bane of self-righteous hypocrisy, autocracy of unfounded moralism and ungrounded regulations thrust upon whole nations, an aberration of what is truly good, an abdication of sense and sensibility!” Maftet’s chest was heaving, breast profusely sweating; cheeks burning, her whole body churning … then someone seemed to apply balm of calm.

“Love drives out all fear, and where there is pure love, wisdom is near. Love and truth from above are open and free, and freely open the hearts and minds of those who lovingly open to love and free their hearts and minds to eat from the Tree of Life, which is free to all who will willingly partake, not for their own sake alone but to be shown and given freely to sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers around the world… Do you see now, my bride, how Şeytan prefers to hide beneath layer of pretentious religion and appear ever-so fair? Therein lies his subtlety wherein he gains custody of so many unsuspecting souls. His dæmons are trolls of ‘right doctrine,’ and thus there are those who, thinking they serve heaven, are evil and but leaven of evil and wickedness … and all in the name of Dyēus.” I felt her tears running between our cheeks, leaking out the sadness that lay within. “Do you comprehend?”

“Yes … I’ve rightly received and believe I now correctly conceive.”
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Maftet: Lessons Along the Nile, Part VI

“Do you see the hot sands blow?” Maftet quietly asked. “It was not always so.” She basked in the bright sunlight — strong, radiant beauty, as if Sol himself might belong to her — then she turned to me, and my heart churned under gaze that burned a hole in my soul. “There was lush green here, and myriad flowers, not only near the river, beside the water, but far and wide, much further than long day stride for even the most able horse. Nature flourished freely here, not by force, then came the curse worse than the plagues of Mūsa and Hārūn.”

“When did this curse, so perverse, befall the land of the Nile, turning fair garden into burning desert sand? Was this an awful reprimand of Dyēus?”

“No, this was the blight of Isfet in his fight against Dyēus and the bright heavens, as well as Sélená, Ma’at and all bearers of light and goodness, of what is right and true.” The face of Maftet was sadness, with no gladness, so that it tore my heart asunder. “It was during the reign of Meryet-Nit, beloved of Neith, whose pain was overwhelming as she prayed for the rain imprisoned in the sky by Şeytan, whom Milḉah had driven from her realm of the Chaldeans, lest he overwhelm her people … but much to the distress of her sister-queen to the west.”

Maftet let slip her robe to dip in the now clear, cool waters of the Nile, and steered me to do the same in pool of peace and calm, serenely flowing yet queenly, too, as Sol bejeweled her with dancing diamonds across her ambrosial breast. And across the crest, so near, dear Maftet: Gold-tan skin over span of well-toned body; smooth-rippling muscles, sharp-hard nipples, mystic-starred eyes, and silk-raven hair … all laid bare for me to see, but more beautiful yet was her inner-core. Wizened mind and resilient heart so kind, and both that bind truth and justice with love and mercy in soul worthy of such an heavenly god who through this world does trod.

“Milḉah, of course, never meant to send hell-bent dæmon west, lest he should wreak havoc upon this realm of Meryet-Nit and whelm her with grief of no relief,” Maftet continued. “Meryet-Nit knew this, tis true, and never laid blame upon Milḉah, for it was the shame of her father, Djer, whose four-generation rule was wicked and cruel. Djer grieved Dyēus and did, in truth, beckon God to leave… No matter; the pleas of Meryet-Nit were of no necessity to appease Dyēus, who already loved her with an undying love.”

“Ah, then how is it Dyēus did not reply to the cry of Meryet-Nit on behalf of her peaceful and feeble people?”

“You assume, my lovely groom,” Maftet swam the short span to hold her lamb. “Her people were not peaceful nor feeble; spiritually cripple, yes, and deceitful yet lethal in evil and filled with foul fecal. They had, you see, been tutored by Djer and thus neutered of all purity and virtuous maturity. So did Dyēus take great pity and intervened as he could; he saved the holy city. And Gebeb of earth and fields, hearth and homes, aided father Dyēus in saving many crops of grain through strain of Isfet’s reign of terror — much like Jozèf of forthcoming lore — but in no wise could Dyēus even the score… And so now you see so much sands and wandering bands.”

But then did it occur to me, “When are we now? Will you allow me to know, what time is this? Would I be amiss in believing we are here amid such shear desolation just after such adverse curse?”

Maftet did not dismiss my speculation with humiliation. “No, not so terribly amiss; we are here after the fact — the terrible act of the ddiafol — but some time after, in another generation to chime another lesson in your ongoing education.” Maftet supplely coupled me and smiled. “There is always reason for every season in your life; we are not here merely to bathe but to further swathe your intellect and increase your faith.”

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Note: Egyptian goddess by Robyn Jane as found on http://www.deviantart.com; Painting of Nile River by Frederick Goodall Londra at http://www.artslife.com

Ma’at and the Pyramid of Truth, Part III

Cars sped down Main Street, leaving rubber scars on asphalt wearing under the tearing of the inexplicable race of people who had no ability, or sense, to better pace themselves for the sake of their own health and well-being, apparently not seeing the destruction of such flurry and hurry upon themselves as well as others. Ma’at leaned close as she screened the pointless madness and carefully preened her boy-love appropriately for such reckless scene.

She, too, was dressed for the time and scene, and I was no less impressed. Ma’at was overwhelming in magnificence with no need for extravagance nor any grandiloquence; she could simple be and anyone could clearly see her stunning beauty. “Ah, look!” She pointed to an elderly Greek priest, so obviously humble and meek. “Theophilus, venerable Theophilus! Old now but never cold; his name means ‘lover of God,’ and thus his claim to local fame, but he could just as well be named Faroqh, meaning ‘truth,’ for above all he loves Dyēus of truth and love, yet in all truth Theophilus loves love above all, for truth and love call to one another, and bind themselves together in unbreakable bond in Dyēus. And so this is Theophilus, truly heaven-sent, now bent with age, this wizened sage.”

Walking deliberately with careful gait, Father Theophilus did not long wait at the thick-wooden, double doors to step inside onto sheen marble floor of the gold-domed building with sharp cross atop that seemed to prop the very sky. “Yes, my pup, you would do well to drink of his cup, for he learned long ago to walk the Noble Path in sacred silence, with talk of only what is sound and pure, profound and sure. But in learning the burning pain of this world, he was enlightened to the truth that these clouds of pain are what give rain of joy.”

She wove her arm in my arm, and talked while we walked. “And in dispossessing himself of all, he found himself in possession of all, and so in dying to the lying of worldly pleasure, he was reborn to adorn the world with heavenly treasure. And so in him death took its last breath, which freed him from the endless cycle of futility to live forever in happy humility, and more, to live to give grace in every case and place to every face. In this, he travelled further along the Noble Road toward celestial abode, though Buddha of long ago, flowed freely, and showed in his day the higher way, and glowed with radiance without variance of truth.” We continued walking down the side walk, bustling with people hustling here and there and everywhere but seemingly nowhere, past a pair of drunks sharing a park bench with stench of alcohol.  “There is trouble everywhere; you don’t live in a bubble… What would Lao Tzu do here and now, and how?” Question. Hesitation.

“Did not Maftet show you the tower built for power, sitting in the blow of snow and ice, place of all evil and vice?” I nodded. “Look around you; here is a profusion of towers of confusion, and what would Jesú say today? The might of light penetrates the darkness, which cannot harness its brightness. And for all the people scurrying and hurrying in and out, about their business worries, those buildings loom large in the city like empty tombs. But watch! There is an intricate nautch of goodness, flowing throughout the frenzied madness, celestial dance envied by angels. The old woman selling her flowers is herself a tower of joy, and the boy with the papers, too. The middle-aged man opening his bistro is a veritable maestro of  generosity and honesty, as well as the street sweep, who keeps in his heart more gold than the old banks along these streets so replete with greed. And look at the little girl meeting the need of the homeless man; she’s not rich like the bitch passing by with irritated sigh. That small angel is giving in silence her whole allowance today, what she was going to use to pay for a tea-party tray. She comes from a healthy family, though by no means wealthy. She simply loves and gives because that’s how she’s been taught to live, brought up in the way of virtue from day to day.”

Ma’at turned me to the right, holding me tight. “And look there at the precious boy with golden hair. They call him cripple, but I tell you he stands tall and walks through life with longer strides, stronger than most anyone with legs that hurry and scurry. He has no money at all to give, like the angel-girl, but he can hurl more treasure from the depth of his soul with pleasure, blessing all life around, even the least of beast, with yeast of kindness and hope, mildness and wide scope of happiness that drives away all loneliness.” Her eyes were sparkling and dancing as she turned me to face her again. “You see! Don’t be so sad! Yes, there is bad in the world and you see it abound all around you, but if you’re not careful you’ll miss the bliss of heaven that leavens even this district that evil would otherwise constrict. Look around you, and you’ll see goodness in bloom and plenty of room for more; only open the door of your heart, my love, and let it flow like a river of silver and gold of untold worth … all you were given from birth.”

One long, strong kiss and … home again.

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Note: First image from http://www.pixshark.com; second image from awakeningthegoddesswithin.net