March Devotional Service at The Goddess House

March, the month considered to have been named after the Roman God of War, Mars, who was also associated with conquest and heroism.  However, an earlier version of Mars seems to indicate that he was in fact Deity associated with fertility and agricultural Deity. This means that Mars, along with other Deities such as Ceres and Cybele, oversaw the new growth of Spring, and encouraged the continuation of life (fertility, sex, procreation in human, plant and animal realms). 

March, at The Goddess House, contains the Autumn Equinox and it is this Sabbat that will form the theme of the next devotional service that will  be taking place on 8 March.

The Equinoxes are times when the hours of darkness and light are equal .. and it is this concept of balance, of equilibrium that will form the basis of the March devotional service at The Goddess House.

One of the more Goddesses to work with in relation to balane and equilibrium is the Egyptian Goddess of the Scales Herself - Ma'at.  Also considered to be a personification of the concepts of "truth", "justice" and "right action", She was the Goddess of the physical and moral law of Egypt, of order and truth.

Ma'at was depicted in the form of a woman wearing her symbol which is the “Shu” or ostrich feather.  The feather implies air and the breath of life, implicate in the terms found in ancient Egyptian text, like “breathing in Ma’at”.

Another symbol of Ma’at is the primeval mound upon which the Creator God is said to have stood at the beginning of time.  It was from this mound that when the world was created and chaos was eliminated so that the principles of Ma'at were set in place.  The Egyptians believed that if the pharaoh ever failed to live by and maintain Ma’at that chaos would return to Egypt and that the world would be destroyed.  The success of the pharoah’s reign would be measured by how well he did this. 

Scenes depicted in the “Book of the Dead” show the judgement of the deceased within the “Great Hall of the Two Truths”.  Here Anubis, the Guardian of the Duat (the Egyptian Underworld) would lead the deceased to have their heart weighed against Ma’at feather.  If the heart of the deceased are as "light as a feather", they were granted eternal life in the Duat as the near-weightlessness of their heart indicated that their souls were not burdened with was and evil.  If their heart however did not "measure up", the soul of the deceased would be consumed by the Goddess Ammit. 

Ma’at embodied the concepts of truth, justice and cosmic order.  She was mentioned in the “Pyramid Texts” as standing behind Ra, implying that she is the source of his power, determining the course his boat took across the sky each day.  In this context, she is described as giving delight to Ra and giving “life to his nostrils” (reiterating the importance of breath). 

The Goddess House is located only 20 minutes north of Adelaide's CBD, at the rear of a private residence.  If you are interested in attending our March devotional service, please contact the Priestess in Residence for details or visit the above page on devotional services.