6 Months of Grief Project: Day 42

Maat's Scale of Justice - image from my art journal

This is Day 42 of my #6MonthsOfGrief Project. To learn more about this practice, feel free to visit Day One, where I explain this project in more detail.

In thinking about and researching death and death rituals, I re-connected with Maat or Ma'at, the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. She regulated the stars, seasons, and the actions of both mortals and the deities, including continuously preventing the universe from returning to chaos. She also was the "weigher of souls" or "weigher of the heart," which takes place in the underworld, after death. Her feather was the measure that determined whether the souls (considered to reside in the heart) of the departed would reach the paradise of afterlife successfully.

When I made today's drawing, I had no idea that there were 42 Divine Principles of Maat. Talk about synchronicity - that I would draw and share this image on the 42nd day of this project! Wow!

Here are the top ten Divine Principles that will be weighed in the underworld:

1. I have not committed sin. 
2. I have not committed robbery with violence.
3. I have not stolen.
4. I have not slain men or women.
5. I have not stolen food.
6. I have not swindled offerings.
7. I have not stolen from God/Goddess.
8. I have not told lies.
9. I have not carried away food.
10. I have not cursed.

Ancient Egyptian Goddess, Maat

Now, my husband was no saint. In fact, he was convicted felon when he passed away. But he was also a hugely generous spirit who loved and inspired so many people. His memorial service had over 100 people in attendance, and those were just the ones who could come with less than a week's notice. There were twice as many people who reached out to me, wishing they could attend. What would have happened if his heart was weighed against a feather? What would happen to my own? Or to yours? We all make mistakes in life. I think what means so much more is how we affected the people in our life's journey. Did we create more magic and joy then before we arrived?

Today's drawing is a reminder to me to live my life to the fullest and to be as kind as possible - whether my heart will be weighed against a feather in the underworld, or not.

PLEASE NOTE: I'm currently in Big Sur, and the Internet there is spotty at best, so my future posts may be sporadic. If this happens, please know that I'm okay and will be back soon. I will of course, still be making an image a day, as part of this practice.

_____________________

I am very aware that this project can bring up a lot around yours or other's grief and loss, I will always follow every post with some online grief support resources that have helped me. Please feel free to let me know of online support that you have found healing in your grief, as well:

Art with Grief:

• Photographer [Sarah Treanor] Takes Moving Self-Portraits to Cope with Her Fiance's Death by Jillian Wong
• When the Fall Comes, a film about Grief by Adriana Marchione
• Self-Portraits: Expressing Emotion Through Art on What's Your Grief?
• The Hard Romance of Grief by Mark Liebenow
• The poetry of John O’Donohue

Resources for Widows:

• Camp Widow

• Soaring Spirits International

Living with Grief Resources:

• Modern Loss's excellent resource list
• Grief Bibliography on Grief Healing

• Teresa “TL” Bruce's What to Say When Someone Dies
• They Brought Cookies: For A New Widow, Empathy Eases Death's Pain by Ann Finkbeiner on NPR
• A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit

• Megan Devine’s Refuge in Grief

• The Geography of Sorrow: Francis Weller on Navigating Our Loses, interviewed by Tim McKee in Sun Magazine

• How to Be a Friend in Deed by Bruce Feiler in the New York Times

• 12 Things to Know About the First Year of Grieving Someone You Can’t Live Without by Laurie Costanza in Elephant Magazine

And remember, I am sharing this project on a variety of platforms, including my Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook feeds, as well as my Pinterest page on Grief. I use the hashtag #6MonthsOfGrief, so it can easily be found on any platform. Please share this project with anyone you think might need it.

Thank you, and (hopefully) see you tomorrow.