Stillness 8-2: In the Ancient Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day, which describes our after-death journey, it is our heart, or ib, that is our source of intelligence, emotions, personality, and memory. Unlike our brain, which was considered useless after we died, our heart was who we were and vital to our journey.
The weighing of the heart is a well-known ritual described in Egyptian tombs: Anubis leads the deceased soul to Osiris and his scribe, Thoth, who stands by the Golden Scales. The goddess Ma’at, representing harmony and balance, places the heart on one scale and a feather of truth on the other. If the heart is as light as the feather, the person would be rowed across Lily Lake and guided onward to the bliss of the Field of Reeds. There they find their old friends and family members, beloved pets, and favorite things from their earthly existence.
But why wait till we die to ensure a lightness of heart? Why not begin now? Wouldn’t we all like our heart to feel as light as a feather?
One way to practice this is being truthful. Speaking truthfully, yes, but more importantly, being true to ourselves and with our selves. When we were very young, our heart was openly and purely generous, kind, and loving toward all things and all people. As we grew older, it became layered with protective bandages, hardened and crusted over from bruises and hurts. We learned to use our brain to think with instead of our heart. We learned to use our brain to remember and to feel things. But when we remember with our heart, we remember how we really feel—which is pure and good. We remember the spark of light and joy that we were born with. We remember who we truly are.
With your eyes closed, gaze lovingly and deeply into your heart of hearts. Gently reveal to your grown-up self the person you truly are. As you look on yourself with the eyes of truth, all your beauty, compassion, passion, enthusiasm, and joy is revealed. Your heart lightens of its own accord.
And if there are shadows on your heart that weigh it down, now is the time to shine light on those shadows. Weigh them against the feather of truth. You’ll discover those shadows are put there by your brain: shame, guilt, anxiety, fear … those are not truths, they are illusions. Shine the light of truth on them. Ask yourself, is it true that you are ashamed? Ask not from the voice of your brain but from the voice of your heart. Seen through the eyes of Osiris, Thoth, and Ma’at, your heart is as pure and loving as a child’s. You always did the best you could at the time. The only thing weighing down your heart is your own judgment of yourself—no one else’s.
“May I walk every day unceasing on the banks of my water, may my soul rest on the branches of the trees which I have planted, may I refresh myself in the shadow of my sycamore.”